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.
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.