Archive for "June, 2012"

CURRENT EVENT – JULY 8, 2012

A senior professor at Georgia Southern University made the news last month when he e-mailed an open letter to his colleagues detailing the extent of the dysfunction he sees at the university.

A WORD FROM THE EDITOR – JULY 8, 2012

There’s a reason they say never to discuss politics or religion in polite company. Few topics are as likely to provoke passionate debates. Few topics are as likely to cause us to forget the lessons about tact, diplomacy, and mutual respect our parents were so insistent that we learn as children.

REFERENCE SHELF – JULY 8, 2012

Verses 22-32 turn attention directly to Jesus himself, giving further comment to “this thing” (v. 16) that the Jewish audience does not understand (v. 12). Peter’s approach is to summarize the Jesus story (vv. 22-24) and then to quote and interpret Scripture in light of Christian experience (vv. 25-32).

RESOURCES – JULY 8, 2012

In the NT, the term “witness” (Gk. Martus) came to refer specifically to one who had seen Jesus during his lifetime or had seen the risen Lord (Luke 1:2; 24:8; Acts 1:22). Witness to the truth of the gospel was expected of all believers, a witness supported by the Spirit (Rom 8:16).

CURRENT EVENT – JULY 1, 2012

Twenty-five years ago, columnist Sally Quinn lamented the death of the legendary Washington dinner party, a gala event that rose to fame with the Kennedys in the 1960s and the Reagans in the 1980s.

A WORD FROM THE EDITOR – JULY 1, 2012

Is there a church anywhere in the world that doesn’t think it is “friendly”? I don’t want to name names, but I have occasionally had the misfortune to worship in churches where newcomers got the cold shoulder from the every-Sunday crowd, yet even churches like this pride themselves on their warmth and friendliness!

REFERENCE SHELF – JULY 1, 2012

In this section, Jesus finds a new disciple (the fourth named so far in Luke), has a party to attend, and gets involved in a couple of arguments over table guests and overeating.

RESOURCES – JULY 1, 2012

The NT churches were encouraged to practice hospitality (Heb 13:2; 1 Pet 4:9) and did. People both close at hand (Acts 2:44-45) and far away (Rom 15:26-27; 2 Cor 9:1-2) were cared for.