Some months ago, the major TV news channel in Israel (Channel 2) aired a documentary on Messianic Jews that was essentially fair. It allowed them to speak for themselves, without the slander that often is present in reporting about believers in Israel. The video is now online, with English subtitles. At nine minutes in length,… Read More »
About six months ago I ordered a commentary of I Kings, by Cogan and Tadmor. One of the series of the Anchor Bible, it’s written by a couple of top scholars but is otherwise a rather ordinary commentary that was published in 2001. I ordered it from Amazon for about $30. Surveying a list of… Read More »
From Arutz-7: Of two Kassam rockets fired from Gaza at Israel Thursday morning, one landed at the entrance to a kibbutz in the western Negev. No one was hurt, but a wheat field was set on fire. Just two days ago, Agriculture Minister Shalom Simchon announced that the farming communities around Gaza would be eligible… Read More »
“It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.” (A. W. Tozer)
I’m about to disappear for a few weeks while I teach a short-term program, but before I go, I thought a brief follow-up to the previous post might be beneficial. I simply want to re-state my main point, and to elevate two helpful comments so that those who don’t read the comments will benefit… Read More »
Many of my college-age friends are finishing their school year today and are heading home with plans to get a summer job. I have some advice for them: don’t work at Starbucks. Or at Wal-mart, or as a waiter or a babysitter. I know, I know, I’m going to make somebody mad. … Read More »
Politics in Israel is cyclical. Or maybe what I mean is that it is not uncommon for politicans to rise, fall (hard), and rise again. Bibi Netanyahu left the prime minister’s office in near disgrace some years ago, but now he has rehabilitated himself and if elections were held today, he would be the new… Read More »
I haven’t been blogging much lately because I’ve just been trying to stay afloat. Tonight is one night where I’m not outside the house so I have a few minutes and I was just struck by how many good things happened today. 1. I read 1 Thessalonians this morning and saw more new things. I… Read More »
This is the part of the semester when time for blogging is hard to come by. This has been a wonderful week, but without time to reflect on it here. I’ve made good progress in grading papers, saw an Iron Age fort new to me, had significant help in preaching in the last chapel tonight, and… Read More »
That trip south that I mentioned a few days ago was amazing. I wish I had time to comment on it a bit, but it’s a challenging week and other things take priority. If I don’t have time, I’ll just mention here that I saw parts of Israel that very few ever see. Beautiful parts. Stunning… Read More »