Life without Easter for once. Imagine that. I entertained the thought to skip Easter this year. No crowded shopping centers, no Easter bunny, no jelly beans and marshmallow candy, no lamb shaped from butter, no kielbasa, ham, or dyed eggs. No Easter parade. No church services! No blessed basket of food before Easter eve’s start to enjoy Easter Sunday! Not even a new suit, hat, or bonnet. I’d be the Easter crank. Skip it. That’s just what I had in mind after Christmas Day. Skip Easter. Who needs the flu, the hassles, the traffic and parking lots at stores, the expectations we have of one another, and the picture-perfect card with the entire family or else! No decorations? Not even the usual rites of spring’s baseball season with the Detroit Tigers? Forget it! All of it. A trip to Easter Island to escape this holiest day of the calendar year seems so nice. However, as lessons were learned, skipping Easter comes with consequences. It isn’t accomplished as easily as I had imagined. Lessons were learned, and even came alive with fresh, vibrant ways as my idea was explored amid the craziness, chaos, and frenzy that marks this holiday tradition. Easter would not be the same indeed. For sure. Happy Easter!

Life without Easter for once. Imagine that. I entertained the thought to skip Easter this year. No crowded shopping centers, no Easter bunny, no jelly beans and marshmallow candy, no lamb shaped from butter, no kielbasa, ham, or dyed eggs. No Easter parade. No church services! No blessed basket of food before Easter eve's start to enjoy Easter Sunday! Not even a new suit, hat, or bonnet. I'd be the Easter crank. Skip it. That's just what I had in mind after Christmas Day. Skip Easter. Who needs the flu, the hassles, the traffic and parking lots at stores, the expectations we have of one another, and, the picture-perfect card with the entire family, or else! No decorations? Not even the usual rites of Spring's baseball season with the Detroit Tigers? Forget it! All of it. A trip to Easter Island to escape this holiest day of the calendar year seems so nice. However, as lessons were learned, skipping Easter comes with consequences. It isn't accomplished as easily as I had imagined. Lessons were learned, and, even came alive with fresh, vibrant ways as my idea was explored amid the craziness, chaos and frenzy that marks this holiday tradition. Easter would not be the same, indeed. For sure. Happy Easter!

The story of the woman taken in adultery features a dramatic confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees over whether the adulteress should be stoned as the law commands. In response, Jesus famously states, “Let him who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” To Cast the First Stone traces the history of this provocative story from its first appearance to its enduring presence today. Likely added to the Gospel of John in the third century, the passage is often held up by modern critics as an example of textual corruption by early Christian scribes and editors, yet a judgment of corruption obscures the warm embrace the story actually received. Jennifer Knust and Tommy Wasserman trace the story’s incorporation into Gospel books, liturgical practices, storytelling, and art, overturning the mistaken perception that it was either peripheral or suppressed, even in the Greek East. The authors also explore the story’s many different meanings. Taken as an illustration of the expansiveness of Christ’s mercy, the purported superiority of Christians over Jews, the necessity of penance, and more, this vivid episode has invited any number of creative receptions. This history reveals as much about the changing priorities of audiences, scribes, editors, and scholars as it does about an “original” text of John. To Cast the First Stone calls attention to significant shifts in Christian book cultures and the enduring impact of oral tradition on the preservation—and destabilization—of scripture.

Mary Margaret Miller is going to be a junior bridesmaid, but she is also having problems with school buly Brent Helzinski, and her cousin Eden, aka The Bride, is clashing with her mother about wedding plans.

Serving in numerous ministry capacities together, Geoff and Sherry Surratt have valuable lessons and observations to pass along to couples seeking to serve in ministry together. Marriage is hard. Learning to do life with another human being presents unanticipated challenges that take determined, focused, humbling effort to work through. Ministry is hard. Much like marriage, it's full of unanticipated challenges, requires a great deal of selflessness, and often comes with little reward. Marriage and ministry together? It’s a unique calling, yet couples who enter into it seldom receive adequate preparation, training, or even warning! Geoff and Sherry Surratt have been at both marriage and ministry together for over 30 years and have seen the highs, lows, and everything in between—they've managed to figure out a way to make it all work together. But the Surratts aren't the Facebook ministry couple with perfect hair, perfect skin, and perfect children. In fact, Together isn't a how-to-guide to create the model marriage-in-ministry. It's more like coffee with friends who've been where you are going and have learned some valuable lessons that may help you find your way, together.