Monthly Archives: May 2012

Coincidences

Posted on May 31, 2012 by

Coincidences fascinate us and strike us as more significant than they actually are. For instance, in the small seminary where I teach, which has but five faculty, two of them, myself and our adjunct professor, Dr. Jim West, share the … Continue reading →

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You Know You’re Old…

Posted on May 27, 2012 by

You know you’re getting old when your first computer was a Commodore Vic 20. I purchased the machine when I was in graduate school at UCLA just as the 1980’s were beginning. The movie, Back to the Future hadn’t come … Continue reading →

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Denial of Service Attack Against Quartz Hill School of Theology

Posted on May 26, 2012 by

Since shortly after about 12:30 PM on March 25, 2012 no emails to a theology.edu address have been going through due to a distributed denial of service attack originating in 9 countries. Since around 9 AM on March 26, 2012, … Continue reading →

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Myths

Posted on May 25, 2012 by

Certain ideas, certain thoughts, certain beliefs that we accept without much thought or question are sometimes true and sometimes not. The word gullible actually is in the dictionary. Rolling stones do not gather moss. The sky is blue on sunny … Continue reading →

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In Praise of Folly

Posted on May 24, 2012 by

Sometimes you need to do the foolish thing. Or rather, what seems foolish to those who don’t see the point. Chasing a tiny white ball and whacking it with a stick might seem silly. But golf and baseball can be … Continue reading →

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What Defines Us

Posted on May 22, 2012 by

The news each day gives us a bothersome excursion into all the problems afflicting our community. We learn what is not going right in our nation’s capital. We are troubled by the failures in our institutions, the corruption, and the … Continue reading →

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Extraordinary Claims

Posted on May 21, 2012 by

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” So said Carl Sagan. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle put these words in the mouth of his character, Sherlock Holmes in The Sign of the Four: “How often have I said to you that when you … Continue reading →

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Counting Blessings

Posted on May 17, 2012 by

There is an old song that I haven’t heard sung in a very long while. Written by Johnson Oatman, Jr., it was published in 1897. The copyright on the song expired decades ago. It begins this way: When upon life’s … Continue reading →

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Telling God No

Posted on May 15, 2012 by

In Genesis 22 we read that “God tested Abraham.” This test consisted of God telling Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his beloved son and his only heir. Those of us who grew up in church are familiar with the story and … Continue reading →

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Learning Theology from my Daughter

Posted on May 13, 2012 by

Sometimes things do not turn out quite the way I expect them to. I’m an adult, with an advanced degree from one of the finest universities in the world. I’ve been teaching college level courses in ancient languages, theology and … Continue reading →

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