What to Do When You Don’t Know a Family’s Immigration Status

1. There is no legal obligation to report someone you suspect is in the U.S. illegally
2. It is best not to assume a person’s immigration status
3. All children are required to attend school, whatever their immigration status
4. Teachers and school authorities are not allowed to ask about the immigration status of children or their families
5. It is not against the law to welcome a family into your home or help them, even if they are undocumented

Did Early Christians Disagree Widely on Which Books Made it into the Canon?

In sum, there is impressive evidence for widespread agreement over the core canonical books from a very early time. Most of the disagreements dealt with only a handful of books—2 Peter, 2-3 John, Jude, Revelation. But even these disagreements should not be overplayed. We should not be too quick to assume that disagreements over a book are due to the fact that its canonical status is undecided. On the contrary, sometimes disagreements are not so much over what should be included in the canon, but are over which books are already in the canon. As David Trobisch observes, “The critical remarks of the church fathers can be better interpreted as a historical critical reaction to an existing publication.”

Kingdom: A Proposal

My proposal in Kingdom Conspiracy is that kingdom in the Bible has five core ideas and kingdom can be defined this way: a kingdom is a people ruled by a king. I break that definition into five elements:

1. A kingdom has a king.
2. A kingdom has a king who rules or who exercises redemptive power.
3. A kingdom has a king who rules a people.
4. Kings rule by way of a law.
5. Kings establish their rule in a place (land).

Five questions follow:

1. Who is the king?
2. How is this redemptive power or rule exercised?
3. Who is the king’s people?
4. What is this king’s will?
5. Where is the kingdom today?

The Centrality of the Word in Discipleship

I’ve recognized this in my own life lately. Over the last year, I have received formal therapy from a licensed counselor, informal counsel from my pastor, and much counsel from wise godly friends over meals or coffee. They have pointed me to books that have offered wise counsel as well. While all of those things have been deeply helpful, they help best as periphery support to the essential infrastructure of personal Bible reading. When I pursue those things without reading the Bible myself, there is a gulf in my heart they can not make up by themselves.

How a Teen from New Jersey Invented the Viral Video

In December 2004, Gary Brolsma, then 19 years old, posted a video of himself lip-syncing to a Romanian pop song called “Dragostea Din Tei,” just for the heck of it. What began as a lark turned into one of the most watched Internet videos of all time.
Even more remarkable, Brolsma’s video, titled “Numa Numa” after a line from the O-Zone tune, went viral without the help of YouTube, which didn’t debut until Feb. 14, 2005.