So I’m back in Israel, with students from Asbury Theological Seminary, and we’re soaking up the experience of studying the Bible “on location” at Jerusalem University College. So many things now are familiar, so many
So it’s my last day in Israel. I leave late Monday night, but Monday will be spent with sorting, organizing, giving away, packing, weighing, re-packing…obsessing and fretting over departure. So today was really my last
I have developed an obsession. For so long, I’ve watched Jews venerate the Western Wall. They touch it, cry at it, stuff paper prayer requests in the stones, they believe it is the constant center
I explained yesterday about the “afflction of soul” not being simply some kind of self-harm, but a fundamental blow to the arrogant human urge to seize control, to be in charge of our own lives.
Wednesday—yesterday—was Yom Kippur, and we are in the height of the fall Jewish holy season. This prompted me to write a bit on the Day of Atonment to illustrate how Christians appropriate theologically and practically
Today marks the most holy day of Judaism, and Jerusalem is eerily quiet. Known as Yom Kippur, the “Day of Atonement,” it occupies the central place in the Fall season’s high holy days. Beginning with
It’s hard to miss it. I have seen “Gibeah of Saul” (aka Tell el-Ful) many times. Typically I spy it from the roof of Nebi Samwil, the mosque-and-synagogue marking the traditional tomb of the prophet
I am not the most traveled person you ever met, though I’ve been to a good many places. I probably don’t have the authority to say this, but I will. I have seen a good
I first saw it in 2006. Walking from the bus station in Bethlehem to the Church of the Nativity, dying for a really good cup of coffee (about which, more later!), my heart jumped at
For those that don’t already know, I am spending the fall semester in Jerusalem, on sabbatical from Asbury Theological Seminary. I’m launching work on a commentary on the book of Joshua and am a Visiting
