A friend of mine recently checked an item off his bucket list: playing The Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland, the course commonly thought of as the birthplace of golf, dating back to the 1400s. As he crossed the iconic Swilcon bridge on the last hole, Dan created a 30-second video of him presenting pictures he had printed … [Read more...]
“The Way” to Holy Wow
Quick question: Which of the following are most likely to generate a “wow!” reaction from you: Mountains, ocean, a concert, a video, an unexpected good grade, a shooting star, a sunrise, a sunset, a surprise favor from a friend Quick follow up: Think about the “wow!” reaction for a minute. Why do we react that … [Read more...]
On a Personal Note
My wife, Jessica, and I welcomed our daughter, Rachel Lee Shafer, as she made her grand entrance into this world on Tuesday, July 21, coming in at a healthy 7 lbs, 15 oz. Mother and child are home and doing fine, although mother and father are navigating the new normal of parenting 13-month old Reade and newborn Rachel. So far … [Read more...]
A.D. The Bible Continues…A Bible Background Brush Up
If you haven’t checked in yet with A.D. The Bible Continues, you might want to. As a point of confession, I am not hugely enthusiastic over Bible story depiction. I’m not sure why, partly because the depictions over the past decades tend to run through the filter of western Christianity and come off, well, cheesy. … [Read more...]
In a Nod to Draft Day: A Bible Football Team
A few years ago, as a simple ice breaker, I asked a group of middle schoolers to draft a football team from people in the Bible. Being a creative group, they actually came up with an entire football operation: team members, team administration, and even people you don’t want on the team. This was not only a fun … [Read more...]
Tax Day: The New Reminder to Love. Really.
In Jesus’ day there wasn’t a much more reviled occupation than “tax collector.” It wasn’t so much out of a general distaste of all things IRS as you might see today, but more because the system was rigged for tax collectors to game the system, which they did. It was made worse when tax collectors gamed the system against their … [Read more...]