I just watched a New York Times bloggingheads debate between Molly Ziegler Hemingway of Christianity Today Sarah Posner of Religion Dispatches over the matter of same-sex marriage. Hemingway took what appears to me to be the most popular evangelical line, a...
Mark Ward
Why I Chose the ESV over the NASB
The ESV and the NASB are very similar translations. When the ESV first came out in 2001 I started an Excel spreadsheet to record passages where I believed one to be superior to the other. I evaluated them based on accuracy, mainly. In the end, they came out neck and...
Remark from a Carrot Top
Thank you, politics. Without you, I wouldn’t even know any racial slurs. Ignorance is bliss, and I’ve been happy for a long time. But along comes politics, and I have to learn words I didn’t want to know. You would think that the number one rule politicians learn in...
Blog Advice
NOTE: If you arrived here by trying to go to my old site, markandlauraward.com, update your bookmarks. This is my new URL. Same content. New address. A friend just asked me for advice in starting a blog. This is what I sent him: Have a definite purpose and audience...
Io voglio credere!
One place I visited in Israel was the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, named after Jesus’ famous prediction of Peter’s denials. The site afforded a nice view of the Aceldama (see picture) and the intersection of the Hinnom and Kidron valleys. We didn’t go...
Tel Aviv Conversations
At the end of my Israel tour, Continental Airlines offered me a generous voucher if I would delay my flight from Tel-Aviv. They put me and one other volunteer up in a beautiful brand new hotel downtown. The other volunteer, Kay*, was a very nice middle-aged...
Extravagant Music
While I was on the Israel tour, I had some great discussions about modern choral music with Aaron Greene. It’s always a thrill to find someone who likes the same arcane stuff I do, let alone someone who already liked it during his freshman year when I had never heard...
Mebbe Tevye
I was somewhat skeptical about the value of touring Israel before I found out I was going myself! I am no longer skeptical. I do believe in the value of a visit and a thorough tour. Let me list off some of the benefits of my two-week trip: It is valuable to stand on...
Israel
I'm off to Israel early tomorrow morning. The Lord provided funds for me to go for two weeks with my pastor. I hope to provide a few updates from the field. Mebbe (as they say in Hebrew—rhymes with "Rebbe") daily ones. Mebbe.
Tyndale Tech
Make sure to check out Tyndale Tech’s latest release. David Instone-Brewer seems to know all about what’s going in the technology of biblical studies. He mentions a good number of interesting sites I wasn’t even aware of.