In Part 1 I related how my heart was touched by the holy sites of Israel. I'm definitely not above the innocent wonderment of, say, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem or the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem. I was also reminded while in Israel of the "scandal of particularity." This phrase can be found in Christian academic and journalistic sources such as Jonathan...

Visiting Israel for the first time, I wondered what to expect. Would it be over-commercialized? Would the holy sites be little more than tourist traps? More lamentably, would I be too old and cynical to appreciate the simplicity of, say, the Garden of Gethsemane or the Jordan River? As it turned out, these fears were unfounded. I loved Israel. I was touched deeply by...

Part 1 is here. How do we communicate the gospel to kids? I'm no expert. But I am an experimenter. Here's the latest: I'm working with two of my grandsons, age 11 and 9. I love them both! They're growing up in a strong Christian home. My main thesis is that they (and many kids) need a why for the faith. Simply a "what"...

In the prior post, I suggested an overall conversational approach for relating to Gen Z. It involves asking good questions, listening carefully, sharing from our own lives, and using "I" statements rather than definitive "truth" statements. This approach helps build trust if done sincerely and prayerfully. At some point the Lord may open a door for presenting ideas from Scripture to a Gen Z...

In my prior post I offered some general notes about Gen Z gleaned from online and InterVarsity sources. My own "additive" consists of four suggestions for relating to Gen Z. They arise from my many experiences in dorm lounges, classrooms, student unions . . . and too many zoom calls to count. The four suggestions are: 1. Ask questions. I like to start conversations...