Chapter Five of When the Church Was a Family, “The Church in the Roman World,” notes the high bar of commitment expected of church members, including leaving professions regarded as […]
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Sefer Shpiel - "When the Church Was a Family" (Chapter Three and Four) Paul and the Family Business
In the Third Chapter of When The Church Was A Family, Joseph Hellerman looks at how Yeshua imbedded Mediterranean familial assumptions in the group he formed, and how these assumptions […]
Sefer Shpiel - "When the Church Was a Family" (Chapter Two) Yeshua's Spiritual Family Counseling
In Chapter Two of his book, When The Church Was a Family, Joseph Hellerman highlights the nature and benefits of familial spirituality as modelled in the New Testament. While western […]
Sefer Shpiel - "When the Church Was a Family" (Chapter One) - Jack, Rose, and a Titanic Problem
Hellerman names his Chapter One "The Group Comes First," which he contends is a fundamental worldview assumption of the first century home group model. To examine this contention, he first […]
Sefer Shpiel - When The Church Was a Family (Introduction - "Integrate or Disintegrate")
(This series of blogs coordinates with parallel YouTube videos, providing further and more formal background to what is said there. This arrangement is meant to accommodate people who learn better […]
What's The Big Idea? Your Worldview and How You See REALITY
Some ideas are so pivotal that they can and do lead to paradigm shifts, fundamental changes of perspective that give rise to entirely new questions and new answers. It is […]
Review of Bari Weiss, How to Fight Anti-Semitism
Weiss, Bari. How to Fight Anti-Semitism. New York: Crown, 2019. Bari Weiss is an opinion writer for the New York Times who formerly wrote for the Wall Street Journal and for […]
Why A Really Great Sermon Just Isn't Enough
This morning I preached a great sermon. I preached one as good or better last week. And I have done a lot of them in the past six months. But […]
The Sunsets of Our Lives and Father Abraham
Yesterday, as dusk approached, I went for a walk with God in the fading California sunshine. We talked about one of his oldest friends: Abraham, whom the Bible calls “the […]
E Pluribus Unum, The Torah, and Reuniting the U.S.A.
A question for you. Do you know anyone who believes our country is becoming more unified? Neither do I! And we’re not alone! At the time of the 2018 […]