February 2021 Issue
The last word of the book of Daniel A grammatical mistake or a conscious choice?
Artur Stele
It is not news to students of the Bible that the book of Daniel was written in two ancient languages, Hebrew and Aramaic. Daniel starts the book in Hebrew but, beginning with Daniel 2:4, he shifts to Aramaic and continues in it until the end of chapter 7. Then, beginning…
Losing lives—but keeping hope
Leonard Johnson
Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities presents life as an alternation: “the best of times” and “the worst of times.”1 With our planet held hostage by a deadly coronavirus that reared its head at the beginning of 2020 and roared like a lion at the year’s close, we…
The gift of continuing pastoral education
Sharon Aka
Lifelong learning, a natural human drive, leads to increasing knowledge, self-improvement, productivity, professional and personal ability, and social relevance.1 Lifelong learning for pastors helps pastors as well as those they serve.2 In many professions, learning…
From surviving to thriving Effective ministry and evangelism in the COVID-19 era and beyond
S. Joseph Kidder, Willie E. Hucks II
New Year’s Day 2020 dawned with the hope of a brand-new year. Many churches held a clear vision for what would transpire for the next 12 months. Then COVID-19 struck. While some have bemoaned this as an unwelcome disruption of church life, others have grasped this…
Three ways to ensure a healthy pastoral placement
Iwankiw, Peter
I knew it couldn’t work. It was an obvious mismatch—and it was stressing me out. I felt impressed to start praying for two things: momentum or a move.When you feel as if you are just stuck because of a poorly matched church district, you hope that, beyond all apparent…
