When I first came into Jewish ministry (June 1972), I had very little knowledge of Judaism. I had the best of Evangelical Christian education and also studied at a liberal Christian Seminary.  My professors taught about Jewish backgrounds for understanding the New Testament, but not about post-New Testament Judaism. I thought I should study Judaism;… Read more »

We live in a time of many narratives about many aspects of life.  The very word narrative, as the story or description that is how we see reality in various realms, has become ubiquitous.  Fifty years ago, we hardly ever heard the term narrative except in literature. Postmodern Philosophy constantly tells us that there is… Read more »

Young adults are again calling for social justice, just as they did in the 1960s. It is a crucial issue, but sometimes the agitation is not based on a sound understanding of justice or a good analysis of the issues. Many see things in black and white, and over simplistic narratives prevail. We see this,… Read more »

In the decision to investigate Israel for war crimes the ICC discredits itself.  They remind me of the most liberal judges in America’s courts that make the U. S. Constitution say whatever they want it to say; even the opposite!   Let’s list some of the reasons.  The first point of investigation is that Israel’s… Read more »

I do seek to limit my posts on the issues of Donald Trump and the divisive political situation in the U. S.  I have my view of Donald Trump. I will add a bit to this post for you to know. Recently Chris Wallace said that Donald Trump’s attacks on the press as corrupt and… Read more »

On a recent night, I was driving home from a discipleship class in Tel Aviv.  The program is for recent Army grads and some who can get off from the Army for a few days.  The administrator is a young woman of great spiritual quality. As a group of us rode home, I mentioned my… Read more »

Probably almost 2 billion Christians, whether nominal or really committed, celebrate Christmas as the birthday of Yeshua.  They celebrate the meaning of the incarnation. We will soon be treated with internet writings, Youtube teachings, and Facebook posts telling us how awful it is that Christians celebrate Dec. 25 as the birth of Yeshua (and have… Read more »

Unless something happens in just two days, Israel will have again failed to form a government.  I see several reasons why. First the fault of Benjamin Netanyahu. Here are the reasons we cannot have a unity government.  He will not give up his Faustian bargain with the Ultra-Orthodox parties.  I call it Faustian because I… Read more »

One of the big differences between the Jewish majority in the United States and the Jewish majority in Israel is how they perceive the Palestinian Arabs. In the United States the majority Jewish leadership, Reform, Conservative and secular are all for a two-state solution. Somehow, they think Israel and the settlements are the problem. The… Read more »

Four decades ago, my wife Patty asked me, “Where are we going to send our children to school?” I knew that she was hinting at our starting a new school. She did not want to send our children, who were just approaching school age, to the public schools. She sensed that if we did so,… Read more »