A New Blog and Podcast

I began this blog back in the late summer of 2010.  My family had just moved to Dublin, Ireland, and so I created "Near St. Anne's and the Sea" as a way to journal some of our experiences on the Emerald Isle.  It was not a day-to-day journal, nor was it a "missions report".  It was just a way to capture some of my observations and experiences in Dublin's fair city.  I continued the blog when I returned to the States, but I must confess that I have been negligent and inconsistent in its writing.  This is the 199th blog and my plan is to write one last blog after this one.  Ending it on number 200 seems right.  The blog will remain up, but I will not add any other posts.  It will serve as a snapshot of the last 11 & 1/2 years - an incomplete and at times blurry snapshot.  

As me and my family begin a new chapter in our lives, I plan to continue to document my observations and occasionally, some of my experiences.  In addition to this, I am going to start a podcast.  The podcast will be focused on "obscure and difficult" Biblical texts.  Each podcast will be between 5 and 15 minutes.  It obviously will not be the definitive exposition on these texts, and at times, I may simply wander around in circles.  What this podcast will not be is a way to try to "harmonize" these difficult passages with any systematic theology, nor will it be an attempt to fit square pegs into round holes.  I hope to raise just as many questions, as I provide answers.  And of course, my answers will always be inadequate at best.  I hope to engage the best of Biblical scholarship from time to time and I may even invite a theologian or two to contribute their two cents.  But at the end of the day, I will simply put forth my opinion, or at least my best guess at this stage of my journey.  As always, I am open to amend my thoughts and change my mind as further information comes to light or further reflection alters my perception.

By way of confession, I admit at the outset that I cannot read a lick of Hebrew and I struggled with Biblical Greek.  But for the past twenty years, I have immersed myself in the Biblical text and I have read a wide variety of scholars and theologians.  What I lack in technical scholarship, I try to make up with grit, passion, and workarounds.  Some people know just enough Greek to be dangerous - thankfully I don't even know that much.  And I know I don't know that much.

So, watch this space for links to the new blog and the new podcast.  Thanks for reading and please consider lending me your ear. - Shay