Israel/Palestine Geography from the Air

Below are four videos that give you a feel for the topography of Israel/Palestine.

Finding God in English Grammar

I have been reading Marilyn McEntyre's book Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies. In this wonderful little book she skillfully reminds me of the beauty of English grammar. As a writer and a teacher I need to continually work against lazy writing habits and to pursue the beauty of the written word.

Lewis Smedes wrote in his spiritual memoir that God "liked elegant sentences and was offended by dangling modifiers. Once you believe this, where can you stop? If the Maker of the Universe admired words well put together, think of how he must love sound thought well put together; and if he loved sound thinking, how he must love a Bach concerto; and if he loved a Bach concerto, think of how he prized any human effort to bring a foretaste, be it ever so small, of his Kingdom of justice and peace and happiness to the victimized people of the world. In short, I met the Maker of the Universe, who loved the world he made and was dedicated to its redemption. I found the joy of the Lord, not at a prayer meeting, but in English Composition 101." May we pursue excellence in every way and, as Sinead O'Connor sings, "make something beautiful for God."

Beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman

Today the Pope beatified Cardinal John Henry Newman while in Birmingham, UK. The cardinal once stated: “To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often"; may we continue to change with him. Congratulations Blessed John! You can watch  excerpts of the mass below. To read the complete homily go here.

Part 1:

Part 2:

And it continues with part of the pope's homily here in part 3:

A Soul & Neuroscience Event (Watch it Online)

During Sept. 23-24, 2010, I hosted Joel Green from Fuller Theological Seminary for a two part lecture series exploring the concept of the Soul and neuroscience. It well attended and created many wonderful conversations on our campus. If you would like to benefit from the lectures you can see them on youtube: Lecture 1: "What Are They Saying About the Soul?: The Bible, Science and the Soul" and Lecture 2: "Neural or Sacred?: Minds, Souls and Humans". Happy viewing!

Tony Campolo and Mary Darling - Connecting Like Jesus

Tony Campolo and Mary Darling (a professor in Spring Arbor University's MSFL program) will be having an event at the Spring Arbor Free Methodist Church tonight. If you cannot make it, we are filming it and I'll post the video link here once it becomes live.

Modern Book Making

The Making of Papyrus

Mother Teresa on Seeing Jesus

Linked here is a short video of Mother Teresa talking about seeing Jesus in the poor.

Speaking of Faith changes its name to Krista Tippet on Being

One of my most favorite NPR talk shows "Speaking of Faith" is changing its name to "Krista Tippet on Being." Unfortunately I fear that this change will make what was a wonderfully produced show into an unspecified mishmash of feel good stories. The name change seems to be an experiment in killing a great radio program -- as if going from faith to ontology is exciting! I can only hope I'm wrong. For her justification of the name change click here.

If you have never been on their website it is filled with wonderful stories. Check it out at http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2010/from-faith-to-being/