This week is the academic annual meeting — called SBL (Society of Biblical Literature) — and Kris is going with me for the first time. It helps that we are in Washington, DC. I’m giving a paper in response to Larry Hurtado’s big book, Lord Jesus Christ.
Blog topic of the week for me: David Fitch’s insightful warnings about what to expect from a missional, emerging church along with Erika Carney Haub’s excellent musings that missional churches also need to be caring for their own.

Stamina blogging award goes to Michael Kruse for his excellent series on Discovering Biblical Equality.
I don’t think about the culture of the police; Alan Bevere does and has some very good thoughts.
By and large, kudos to the Democrats for not gloating over the election results.
It’s Christmas season already: we got 13 catalogs in the mail yesterday; only one of them for fountain pens.
Peter Lumpkins’ 3d interview with Roger Olson; again very good.
I can’t link to Jim Martin and Mark Roberts every week, so I’ll do it this way and that way.
1. No small issue: religion and science.
2. The world’s most corrupt countries: report from Reuters.
3. Kathy Hanson’s 95 Theses. Any thoughts?
4. Bob Robinson penetrates into the heart of biblical justice and righteousness; into the essence of Carl Henry’s proposals. (Good stuff, Bob.)
5. On eating — or its psychology.
6. How to end an argument with one we love: “More than Rid-X“. (HT: Ted)
7. Inexplicable in every way: we’re in a war like no other, we’ve got military doing things never to be done, we’re trying to come up with policies for the impossible.
8. Trevin Wax has a three-part series must-read: a conversion from evangelicalism to Eastern Orthodoxy, from Orthodoxy to evangelicalism, and then his own reflections.
9. Vintage Karen Spears Zecharias and her red Beamer: what a hoot.
10. I’m glad this debate is settled.
11. The “event” of the week has to have been the sentencing of Sadam Hussein to death. I confess to seeing absolutely no use to putting this tyrant to death, especially in public by hanging. Instead, give him a job in a prison where he can contribute to the poor and oppressed of Iraq.

Sports:
I tired of Dan Dierdorf, news commentator, in his bias against the Bears. But, the Bears looked awful. I predicted 14 wins this year; I’m not sure we’ll get there with the next three on the East Coast (Giants, Jets, and Patriots). I keep telling myself that Grossman has only played in about 11 games; he’s still young and learning.
After watching a few minutes of a Bulls game, I have to wonder again why anyone watches the NBA. 8 guys standing around and stuck on a spot; two guys playing. Everything we taught kids not to do when they played basketball. Someone tell the NBA to knock it off.
Bear sightings: tonight, again can’t mention where, we saw another Bear: Danieal Manning. Three weeks in a row; two at the same restaurant.