Have you seen the news that evidence for the lost city of Bethsaida has been found? USA Today, Newsweek, National Geographic and the Today Show have all reported on it. I’m pinching myself. A student from my area took part in the dig, and I was there myself for a few days. Bethsaida, you may […]
Shalom friends – I’m happy to say that after three years of work, I finished the manuscript for my next book, Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus. Yay! It will be released by Baker Publishing in January 2018, so we still have a bit. Between now and then I’ll share some sneak previews and interesting […]
Have you ever wished you could have been nearby when Jesus explained the Scriptures to the disciples on the Emmaus Road in Luke 24? Wouldn’t it be great to just see where this road was? Believe it or not, scholars have known its location for decades now. The remains of the Roman road are visible […]
Have you ever dreamed of being an archaeologist? You’ll be interested in the project at the likely site of Bethsaida. This is the village near where Jesus fed the five thousand (Luke 9:12-17), and where three disciples called home (John 1:43). If you’ve toured the land, you may have visited a site that is called […]
Below is a talk I gave at the morning service at Cornerstone Church in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts a few months ago. I introduced people to my interest in Jesus’ cultural context and then shared a Hebrew idiom that unlocks part of the Sermon on the Mount. Then I spoke about what it meant to be […]
People often ask me where they can find a Bible that includes the cultural background that I write about, so I wanted to mention a brand new resource that is excellent: the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (Zondervan, 2016). The commentary was edited by two evangelical scholars who are well-known for their expertise on historical […]
I hope you can join me for a brand new seminar based on my upcoming book on October 15, 2016 in Beavercreek, Ohio (near Dayton.) The workshop will be part of the Feast of Tabernacle weekend event hosted by the Church of Messiah on October 14-15. I’ll be giving three talks from 9 AM to […]
Once upon a time there was an old pastor who had served the Lord faithfully all of his life. He had an anointed ministry, and his prayers were always effective. Whenever he prayed for the sick, they were healed. But in spite of his powerful ministry, he was extremely poor, and he and his wife […]
I was recently interviewed on a podcast called “The Dust Cast: Exploring the Ancient Hebraic Context of the Bible.” I had a great conversation with the host, Jason Mahler, about the current book I’m working on, Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus, as well as some questions from earlier books. We talked about the “two […]
For those of you who are traveling to Israel in the near future, here’s some news. Two of my books, Listening to the Language of the Bible and Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus are now printed in Israel and are locally available in Jerusalem. If you are coming to Israel with a group, […]
I just got news from friends about a prayer concern which I would like to share with you. Do you remember my telling about the heroic ministry over there called Shevet Achim? They are a Christian ministry that goes to Gaza, Iraq and Syria to bring children to hospitals in Jerusalem for lifesaving heart-surgeries. When […]
Big news…after fifteen years, the En-Gedi Resource Center has a brand new website at EnGediResourceCenter.com! (Please note the new URL.) The En-Gedi Resource Center is a ministry that I co-founded in 2001 to teach Christians about the Bible in its Hebraic cultural context. It’s where I got my start as a writer, when I began […]