It’s spring break this week and I am taking care of all those things I don’t do when classes are on. I know people who all at the same time are able to carry a full teaching load, be a father and husband, take care of the home, publish, preach, etc., all so seemly well. I cannot do this. I am not sure if it is because I am just lazy, unintelligent, unproductive, or a combination of these. Maybe I’m more normal than I think. It is frustrating, though, when I see how far I’ve let things go around the house. I’m sure my wife shares the frustration, but she is very forgiving.

I watched the Discovery Channel special The Lost Tomb of Jesus, as well as the debate that followed. My impression is that whatever the outcome of the investigation, what was shown was not ready for prime time. I am not a naysayer to the project; if Jesus’ bones were put in that ossuary, I for one think everything possible ought to be done to prove it. Finding the body of Jesus would hand Christian theology, as most have known it, a great blow. J. Dominic Crossan and others may be perfectly content with a “spirit being� resurrection, but the theology of the church has been that Jesus’ resurrection was his glorification, the first fruits of our own. Apart from the resurrection and ascension I have a very difficult time explaining the birth of the earliest church within a Jewish context and the concept of second coming. If it can be proven that Jesus’ bones were in the box (something that must be pursued, but I'm doubtful can be shown), then Paul was not only a great formulator; he was also the creator of Christianity as we know it. I’m sure we’ll hear more about this issue.

March 8-10, I will be in Cleveland, TN, at the Society for Pentecostal Studies yearly meeting. It is not a meeting that I often attend. I plan to every year, it just seems that something comes up making it impossible. I will report on my reflection of the meeting in my next entry.