Life in the university promises a chance to think about the big questions in life, to reflect on who we are and what we’re learning. But all too often, life as an academic seems so busy as to overwhelm anyRead more…
New Tips Series: Growing Spiritually in Your Academic Life
One of the most gratifying and rewarding experiences in both my spiritual and intellectual life was taking a year to read the Bible from my own discipline.Read more…
Engaged Learning in Church
W. Brian Lane shares some ways to use engaged learning techniques in church settings. Read more…
Next Steps for ESN — Scripture
Let us turn to Scripture each day as we take next steps in serving the Lord in higher education.Read more…
The Bible Project — A daily engagement with the word of God
If you are not currently turning to the Word of God in a daily manner, I encourage you to join me in The Bible Project. Today we’re exploring . . .Read more…
After the Election Part 3: Being the Church in a Partisan America
Before the election, we were already living in a partisan and divided country. Republicans and Democrats not only disagreed about policies, but many also doubted the good intentions of partisan opponents. Read more…
After the Election Part 2: Diversity and Unity this Thanksgiving Holiday
This election season has challenged and strained relationships. Nearly four-in-ten Americans report the election has led to tensions with friends and families. This Thanksgiving week, how can we reconcile and restore our relationships when we reunite with family and friends?Read more…
The Week After: Post-Election Series Introduction
The election is over. Now what? In this series, I will use Romans 12 to frame reflections of this presidential campaign and hopefully encourage us to live faithfully as we return to the “ordinary time” of the American political calendar.Read more…
The Least of these My Brothers (Matthew 25:31-46)
God’s promise to Abraham was not that he would be the progenitor of a parochial people, but that his family would be the family through which the whole earth would be blessed. Read more…
The Economy of the Kingdom (Matthew 20:1-16)
But the Kingdom Jesus embodied, announced and inaugurated was not quite what His countrymen had expected…or wanted. Read more…
Jesus: Lord & Servant (Matthew 8:1-17)
Who was Jesus? Indeed, who is Jesus? Read more…
Scholar’s Compass Navigating Beginnings: Relying on God’s Strength and Blessing Others
I remember struggling with staying connected during my second year of graduate school.Read more…
Academic rigor springing from faith
Interview: Barbara J. Hampton on “Reading Scripture Together: A Comparative Qur’an and Bible Study Guide”
While scholars and pundits debate whether in fact we are facing a “Clash of Civilizations” (in Samuel Huntington’s words) between the West and Islam, there is a different kind of encounter that is possible in universities in many parts ofRead more…
Bielo: Bible Study Shapes Identity and Action
In this final post on James Bielo’s Words Upon the Word: An Ethnography of Evangelical Bible Study, I’m writing about both his final chapter — “Negotiating Self and Others” — and his conclusion. Both are relatively short, and in someRead more…
Bielo: Bible Study as “Backstage” for Witnessing
This week, the chapter I’m covering from James S. Bielo’s Words Upon the Word: An Ethonography of Evangelical Bible Study is all about “witnessing.” More on what that means in a moment. First, however, I’d like to mention an unexpectedRead more…
Bielo: The Textual Economies of Bible Studies
James Bielo’s Words Upon the Word: An Ethnography of Evangelical Group Bible Study closely observes several Bible studies in Lansing, Michigan. I’ve been reading and blogging about the book this summer as part of my efforts to gain a sense ofRead more…
Bielo: Answering “Are you a Christian? Are you an academic?”
I’m currently reading Words Upon the Word by James S. Bielo, an ethnography of evangelical Bible study groups in Lansing, Michigan. Last week, I looked at Bielo’s introduction and the question of Bible study as a cultural institution. This week,Read more…
Bielo: Bible study as a social institution
The first selection in my summer research project: James S. Bielo’s Words Upon the Word: An Ethnography of Evangelical Group Bible Study. This summer, inspired by T.M. Luhrmann’s When God Talks Back, I am reviewing several books that provide anRead more…