I have the great pleasure of facilitating every week a Bible discussion group with several high school students. We've been discussing the Gospel of John this past year, and we finally finished tonight. We enjoyed the humorous scene John writes about in this last chapter. The great apostle John can't help himself when it comes to embarrassing his fellow inner circle apostle; the denial of Christ, his slowness in getting to the empty tomb, and this event in the last chapter.
John 21:7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.
What's the joke? Well John is the first to realize that Jesus is on the beach, #humblebrag, but then Peter puts ON his coat before jumping out of the boat? I've seen some academic ink spilled trying to explain this weird behavior on the part of this fisherman (good one her…
I first heard of Alexander John Shaia on Rob Bell's podcast two years ago. (His interviews can be found here.) His approach to the gospels intrigued me so I put his book Heart and Mind on my Amazon wish list. He came back on the podcast late last year noting an updated version of his book had come out. But I did not get around to purchasing it. Then right before Lent, Mike Morrell at Speakeasy offered a review copy. Not only am I all about free review copies but this book turned out to be especially meaningful to me during this Lenten season.
What makes his take on the gospels so intriguing? He was raised in a Lebanese Catholic family in the deep south, where he watched his grandmother's house burn to the ground from arson because of her faith and skin color. Importantly, her response to her gathered family was "No hate." He grew up expecting to become a priest. He went to Notre Dame and after graduating with degree in Anthropology he went to seminary, which he discov…
It's been two years since I bought a bike. Every two years or so, I tend to buy a new bike. At least they've been coming down in price. Last time I bought a Townie 7D and loved it, see my review. Back then I finally admitted that my recumbent was not good for winter commuting. I found out that the Townie's had a mild pedal forward design and found a local bike shop selling them, Niantic Bay Bicycles. I shop in the winter when sales are slow, it's my birthday and I have a little extra cash in my pocket, and the previous year's models are marked down to make room for the new year's. I put big metal baskets on the back of the Townie and rode happily for two years. When I dropped in for a complimentary tune-up at the shop I saw a marked down bike with a couple things I've been coveting in the Amsterdam flavor of bike. The Simple 3 was solid, had wider tires, had a rack that took panniers, had fenders, had an internal hub (3-speed), and pedal brakes. This is des…
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