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The Christian calendar is coming up to Easter soon (and it is in Lent). One of the questions that often arises is, why do the Eastern and Western Churches often have Easter on different dates? And why doesn't Easter always take place at the same time as Passover?

I attended a Martin Luther King breakfast a few weeks ago and heard a fascinating message from the speaker, a prominent African-American leader in the community. She spoke from Matthew 15:21-28, the account of the faith of a Canaanite woman.

With all this talk about Jesus' tomb, it seems that we have missed a remarkably newsworthy item. The nails that were used to crucify Jesus have not only been found, but they're also for sale on eBay! You can buy them immediately for 10,000 Euros. Isn't that something like two million dollars US. I really feel sorry Canadians interested in this find. I think it's in the billions for them. Nevertheless, here's the link: 

http://cgi.befr.ebay.be/CLOUS-AYANT-SERVIS-A-CRUCIFIER-LE-CHRIST_W0QQitemZ320219417800QQihZ011QQcategoryZ358QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem 

An interesting piece appeared today on the Crosswalk.com site. It is a statistical look at views of the younger generation of evangelicals. Here is a summary of what they see:

One thing I have learned in my research is never to ignore the introduction and conclusion to a book. In these places the author will often set out his thesis such that one can have a good framework to approach the details of the argument. (If one is in a hurry and the intro and conclusion are well written, you can simply work with those to get the basic argument of the book.) Gomes in the introduction states fairly clearly what his thesis is:

At times on PrimeTimeJesus, a post from a colleague will deserve and generate a response from a team member. Such is the case with Robert Webb's note of James Charlesworth's report on the Symposium held in Jerusalem that included consideration of the Talpiyot tomb.

James Charlesworth has written another article, "Rebutting Sensational Claims Concerning a Symposium in Jerusalem" and it is posted on the SBL website. In it he claims that the good work of the Symposium "has been high-jacked by two disturbing and unexpected developments."

I wanted to draw everyone’s attention to a new book on Jesus by Kenneth Bailey. Bailey spent his career working in the Middle East for many years. His earlier books, Poet and Peasant and Through Peasant Eyes (combined as one book later) were provocative and insightful about orality and memory in Middle Eastern cultures.