With various helpful videos in the internet about helping us understand the modern world by asking "what if the world were 100 people" I have had in my mind to make something similar for my own discipline, namely what would the Roman Empire look like if it were 100 people during Jesus' day?
As a teacher and a scholar of the New Testament, I’m passionate about good resources for Bible study. The reality is that most of the best resources cost something, particularly the more in-depth resources. But, the good news is that there are still a number of great resources that don’t cost a dime.
I am teaching for the first time a class on the Gospel of John, and having a great time doing so. One of the first things I tackled in the class was authorship – namely, who is the Beloved Disciple, the author of the Gospel?
I'll make a confession on behalf of all professors: we dislike poorly formatted papers. And while students may find it nitpicky, there are actually very good reasons for properly formatting an assignment. It allows the professor to focus on your content, rather than getting distracted by how presentation.
It has been awhile since I made a YouTube video and thought it was about time! I chose a passage of scripture that for pretty much my entire Christian life I have seen misused in the context of a communion service. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and please be sure to share this post if you liked the video, so more can see it! (below is a transcript if you'd rather read it than watch it).
What continues to excite me is the advance in textual criticism of the New Testament. Not only do there continue to be classic books on this subject, but there are now fantastic websites and resources devoted to educating others about NT textual criticism.
We all have a list of books we want to read, whether it be an actual list written down, or a mental list that we frequently add to but rarely go back to. Almost all of us (certainly the majority of my audience) recognize the value of reading books. Even in the information age, we know that there is so much knowledge that still is accessed primarily through published books.
I got to say, I like this: biblical and historical scholars who know the time and text the best putting their hand to some fiction. It is a great way to teach about these times, and could be great fodder for both classrooms and church small groups.
In case you couldn't tell, that is a picture of an "ivory tower." And today it is easier than ever for academics to get out of the ivory tower and harness the power of the internet to educate, inform, and connect with people worldwide.
Back in March I wrote a series of blog posts on my practice of waking up early. Those were some of my more popular posts, and it has continue to be a passion of mine and didn't feel like I've yet said everything on the subject. So today I'm happy to announce on my blog that I've created a brand new course…
It has been awhile since I made a YouTube video and thought it was about time! I chose a passage of scripture that for pretty much my entire Christian life I have seen misused in the context of a communion service. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and please be sure to share this post if you liked the video, so more can see it! (below is a transcript if you'd rather read it than watch it).
In this post, I want to talk about recovering the biblical mandate for proper discipline of children. Having 3 children of my own, I see a lot of parents interacting with children. Some of what I see is great, some isn't. In my own parenting, I see some that is good and some not so good. Too many children, it seems to me, are very much lacking in discipline.
I came across the word Edupreneur two weeks ago in a random comment somewhere on the internet and I instantly new that this was the perfect label to describe myself.
Every laptop comes with a trackpad and every computer has a mouse. We recognize how much our hands are on our keyboard, but often it escapes us how much time moving our right hand back and forth goes to the keyboard and the mouse. Using the mouse, while sometimes necessary, is actually used a LOT more than it actually needs to be. I would wager a guess that 50-75% of what you do with your mouse could have been done without it
Today marks the three year anniversary since the release of my first App ParseGreek for iOS. I followed it up later with the Android release, and followed later by FlashGreek. I've been so pleased with how it was received and continues to be received. It currently has 14 five★ rating on the Android store (average is 4.2), and 14 five★ reviews on iTunes (average 4.5).
A critical part of my job and career is to continue to educate myself in my field of expertise as well as cognate fields. This means reading a lot. Over time I have developed a fairly solid way of reading and processing the information from my readings that I want to share with readers.
In this final post on getting up early I want to provide some tips on waking up early and making the most of your morning time (see part 1 and part 2). I've at the very least convinced you how important my morning ritual is to me, and hopefully I have perhaps intrigued you at the possibility of your having your own morning routine. That doesn't mean that it is always easy for me to get up. I still struggle at times with rolling out of bed. And my struggles don't always end there. Sometimes I distract myself and sabotage my own morning plan.
In my last post, I briefly described my morning routine. In this post I will explain the positive benefits it has had for me, and hopefully convince you that it can make changes in your life too. Following this post will be my last post on the subject, which will provide you with some tips and tools to start your own morning routine.
I am launching a new product today for my fellow colleagues in Biblical Studies and theology called A Digital Supplement for the SBL Style Guide, 2nd Ed. A big thanks to my TA Evan Colford for helping me finalize this product and get it ready for distribution.
There is a very ordinary and unassuming practice that many people just like you subscribe to — I'm one of them. It helps them feel better, get more done, and feel more focused and centered. I'm talking about Waking Up Early.
Two weeks back we had our annual Simpson Lectures at Acadia Divinity College. This particular lectureship was more intense and demanding than past events, which resulted in me being very busy from Monday to Wednesday. I saw my children for a few minutes in the morning, and about 15 minutes for each supper time. I really don't like being away that much. And neither do my kids.
It is hard to believe, but even people who read a lot of non-fiction can become stuck intellectually on the same speed. They continue to learn new things of course, but they are a bit stuck on a single lane of learning. The cure for this, I think, is jumping into the deep end and occasionally reading over your head. Let me tell you my story to illustrate.
Logos is recognized as having the largest digital library for Biblical and Theological studies. Most people don't realize that Logos as a software is itself free - just go to the download page and download it.
Logos 6 has introduced a total of 24 brand new interactive media resources to their library. Much of this interactive media is cross-linked throughout the software (in the guides, factbook, etc.) but can also be accessed in both the tools menu as well as in the library, where they are categorized as "interactive."
I'm happy to announce today that I am working hard on video courses aimed at the same groups of students my two eBooks are aimed at, using my go-to platform Udemy. Just last week, the first of these courses went live. It is called Practical Study Skills: Set Yourself Up For Success.
