Bible Reading Plans

One of my personal disciplines is to read through the Bible every year. Over the years, I have followed a number of different plans and utilized a number of different translations. So I am not devoted to any singular approach but I am committed to the value and importance of the practice. If you are planning to join me in 2015, you might want to check out this extensive list of Bible reading plans compiled by Nathan Bingham. By the way, it is said that George Mueller had read the Bible through almost two hundred times in his lifetime.

Learning Chinese, Hebrew, and Greek

This article is about translating and writing Chinese but some of the tips are probably applicable to Hebrew and Greek and for doctoral students, French and German.

Merry Christmas!

I want to wish all of you, from our family to yours, a very blessed Christmas.

Top Five Biblical Sites to Visit

This article identifies their suggested top five biblical sites to visit. I'm not sure that all of these would make my top five. For example, how could one choose the Mount of Beatitudes over Capernaum? In any case, here is their list.

1. The Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem
2. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem
3. Sea of Galilee, Israel
4. The Mount of Beatitudes, Israel
5. Mount Sinai, Egypt

Robert Alter on the New Exodus Movie

See this NPR interview with Robert Alter on the new Exodus movie.

The Star of Bethlehem

See the Air & Space Smithsonian article on the star of Bethlehem (Matt 2:2, 9) here. There is not much new here for those familiar with the various astrological theories but I was interested to learn that over 400 books have been written on the topic.