I remember reading about Jesus’ parables and laughing as a minister confessed, when asked if he would ever write a book on them, that the pastor would when he finally understood “The Shrewd Steward” (see Luke 16:1-13). By that time he had only been preaching about 50 years. I share that because if you’ve ever […]
Archive | The Bible and Popular Culture
Psalm 137 and Popular Culture
Just when you think popular culture has shelved the Bible as passé, along comes a haunting version of Psalm 137 sung by American singer-songwriter, Don McLean,* and captured on this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTnspbSjKVc A lament over the destruction of Jerusalem, McLean’s version of Ps. 137 captures the ache of those who were taken from their homes and brought to […]
Movies, Journeys and Acts
If you love golf, you probably know about a gem of a film, Seven Days in Utopia. You might not have connected it to the New Testament’s Book of Acts, but see what you think as you read. (Note: you won’t learn enough here to need a ‘spoiler alert’, so treat yourself to the film […]
Jonah: How Big is our Love and other Lessons for Today
In this third and final blog on Jonah and love, we explore how to bring the text forward, building on last week’s focus on the world BEHIND the text. This is the linchpin of Bible Study, the ‘so what’ question? “So what does this have to do with life today?” If we don’t apply the text, […]
Jonah: An Ancient Archie Bunker?!
Last week’s blog in this three part series was the world OF the text. Now is part two: the world BEHIND the text (concerns, circumstances and experiences of individuals). One way to initially unpack a Biblical text is to find out when it was written– providing often-significant context for why this story, told at this […]
