How to Find More Time to Read

We all have a list of books we want to read, whether it be an actual list written down, or a mental list that we frequently add to but rarely go back to. Almost all of us (certainly the majority of my audience) recognize the value of reading books. Even in the information age, we know that there is so much knowledge that still is accessed primarily through published books.

The problem is not that we don't see the value in books and reading, but it is simply finding the time and structuring our lives to start reading. And that is exactly why I made this video. I hope this video gives you the encouragement and actionable steps you need to start reading more. And if you find the video useful, please do me the favor of sharing it on social media. And see below the video for a special offer.

As you have heard in the video, I'm so happy to announce my newest course, Reading for Information Extraction. In this course, I walk you through my personal reading system that I learned through trial and error in my years of graduate and PhD studies. Let me help you to start conquering that reading list and make the information you find in books more useful to you in the future.

For this week only, I'm offering to my blog readers a 60% discount. With this link, you can get the course for only $10. Read more, and see the promotional video, on the course page.

What a Novel Idea! Historical Fiction Works by Biblical Scholars

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Ben Witherington III as he was at Acadia Divinity College to teach for our D.Min. program. Whenever an NT scholar comes to town, I try and make sure to get some time with them — usually be volunteering to drive them to and from the airport.

I asked Dr. Witherington about numerous things, in particular I wanted to understand how he was such a publishing machine. In the course of that discussion, he mentioned his latest manuscript that had just been completed called a "Day in the the life of Jerusalem." It is a historical fiction novel set into the last days of Jerusalem before the sacking in 70 AD  (p.s. I can't believe a movie hasn't been made of this yet!). The book will be part of IVP's "day in the life" series and I believe will hit the shelves early in 2016. Dr. Witherington has already published a similar book called A Week in the Life of Corinth.

I got to say, I like this: biblical and historical scholars who know the time and text the best putting their hand to some fiction. It is a great way to teach about these times, and could be great fodder for both classrooms and church small groups. I certainly hope to see more of these books, and look forward to hearing more about IVP's day in the life series — and maybe a historical fiction novel is in my future as well! For those interested in these types of historical fiction works, here are some of the recent publications that I am aware of:

Gerd Theissen's The Shadow of the Galilean (1987) is the forerunner to the current little wave of historical fiction by NT historians. Theissen is a historical Jesus scholar, and many not the de-theologizing he does in the book (e.g.: reducing of miraculous). Still, readers will learn a lot about that time as they follow along with Andreas the fictional character.

The Lost Letters of Pergamum (2002) is written by the very respected Bruce Longenecker. It is a story about a fictitious character named Antipas who is a Roman leader. Antipas reads the Gospel of Luke and begins conversing with Luke about Jesus.

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Apocalypse (2004) by Hays and Pate might be just the book needed to help readers understand the book of Revelation (namely, how to stop reading it like Left Behind). Follow the characters Flavius and Antonius as they find the book of Revelation and it starts to make sense of the craziness that was the end of the first century.

In The Flames of Rome (2014), ancient historian Paul Maier follows the mayor of Rome named Flavius Sabinus, describing the events in Rome preceding and following the Great Fire. It captures the arrival of Paul to Rome, the growth of the church, and the story of the persecution of the Jewish and Christian community under Rome.

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In Pontius Pilate (2014), Paul Maier fills in the historical details that we know concerning Pilate, including his rise to power and his later life after the crucifixion. Mair goes into the historic and political details surrounding the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. The goal of Maier is to help readers better understand the political and social complexities of Pilate, Rome's man, trying to rule and keep the peace in Judea.

In A Week in the Life of Corinth (2012), Witherington follows a Corinthian man named Nicanor as he lives his life in Corinth, introducing readers along the way to ancient life and practice. During the story, Nicanor encounters the apostle Paul and enters the Christian community.

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Burge is a great NT scholar and a great writer. A Week in the Life of a Roman Centurion (2015) follows a Roman centurion encountering Jesus and Jewish culture in Capernaum. See Gary Burge discuss the book here.

Hottest off the press is David deSilva's newest book Day of Atonement (2015). This is another one of those "I can't believe hollywood hasn't made a movie on this" (Mel Gibson had planned to at one time I think) periods of history. This novel takes place during the time of Maccabean revolt when Judea fought off Rome and gained its independence.

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If I missed any please, let me know in the comments! Happy reading.

photo credit: Flat Eric on a Saturday Afternoon via photopin (license)

How Academics Can Have a Better Online Presence

In case you couldn't tell, that is a picture of an "ivory tower." And today it is easier than ever for academics to get out of the ivory tower and harness the power of the internet to educate, inform, and connect with people worldwide.

Unfortunately, many academics have no online presence beyond their faculty page on the university website. But there are some great options for expanding one's digital presence that does not take a lot of time or technical expertise. I will present these in order from smallest to largest undertakings.

Academia.edu

I recommend that every academic create an academia.edu profile page. Academia.edu is a bit like taking your universities profile page, putting you in charge of it, and beefing it up. You can see my Academia page here. Academia.edu groups its users by university, so you will see that my URL page connects me to Acadia Divinity College. You can also connect with and follow updates of other colleagues on Academia.edu.

Academia.edu is very much about you putting your academic work out there on the internet. While you may think that many students are using library websites to find information, most of the time they are just asking Dr. Google - and if your work isn't easily accessible via Google, there is almost no chance of non-students finding it. Academia.edu provides you a place where you can:

1. Share your CV (This is the the only place where I share my CV from)
2. List your book publications (and hopefully spurn some sales!)
3. List AND SHARE your published articles

This last one is really important. Most academics write things because they want to contribute to the body of knowledge in their field. But the amount of times a journal article may actually get read is pretty small, and usually confined to other specialists in the field. Academia.edu reports that "papers uploaded to Academia.edu receive an 83% boost in citations over 5 years." This is happening, not  because the best articles in the field are found there, but simply that they are being found! Now be sure to consult your publisher (honor the embargo, etc.), but once you can, and hopefully as soon as you can, upload those essays to your Academia.edu page so that they can enjoy a wider readership and have a greater influence.

Choose a Social Media Outpost

Many academics have at least one place that they are present on social media - be it Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. But don't be afraid to stick those links into your email signature so people can connect with you there. More than that, though, is actually using that space to share short thoughts. I have found that I have as much, if not more, of an impact on my current and past students through Facebook than I have while they were in the college. It is a way for me to share my life with them, share thoughts with them, and to forage for interesting reading for them too. Think of yourself as a funnel to share the knowledge that you find interesting with those who follow you.

Website

The next step up from an Academia.edu page is having your own website. More than the others, this requires some technical know-how. The good news, though, is that making great websites is easier than ever, and it isn't at all hard to find someone that for some $$ will build the website for you.

If you want a nice free option, check out Wix.com. It is a very simple drag and drop interface. The downside of a free option is that your URL would be something like "johndoe.wix.com." However, with Wix, you can upgrade to premium plans (Which have a yearly fee) to get your own domain name (i.e. johndoe.com). Another paid option that I have come to love is SquareSpace.com - this website and blog is a squarespace website and I think it's a pretty good website :-) If you are an academic and you are interested in having someone build a squarespace website, email me and I'll be glad to help you out (contact button at the very bottom of the site).

A website gives you a more permanent and nicer looking place on the internet that is all your own. You have the freedom to add pretty much anything you want to your webpage, and it increases your visibility online.

Blog

A blog is easier than a website to create (just go to blogger.com sign up and start posting!) but it is a bigger commitment. I post once a week on this blog, and I post on a wide variety of topics. There are times even for me when I'm not sure what to post on. But a blog that is not really maintained (you should post at least once a week) is pretty useless in my opinion. But if you have the energy and resolve to post more often, a blog is a great way to get more substantive thoughts out into the world.

One thing I do want to recommend to academics who take up blogging (including those who currently blog!) is to learn the medium. Just like we teach students to write academic essays, blogs are their own beast. There are WAY too many academic bloggers who are posting massive articles. The truth is that very few people are reading all the way through those posts (this post is getting too long already!). If your thoughts are that substantive, break it down into a 3 or 4 part series of posts. And learn to use lots of sub-headings, lists, and even pictures. For those interested in both blogging and a website - well, that is why I chose Squarespace. It powers both my website and my blog and is incredibly easy to use.

Podcast

Podcasts have exploded in popularlity - chances are that you listen to a few yourself. But, at least in my area of studies (Biblical Studies), there aren't yet that many podcasters out there — with the exception of apologetics podcasts which are to be heartily commended. Mark Goodacre did one for awhile, but hasn't kept it up (if I'm mistaken, please correct me!). I have thought seriously about doing a podcast in the past, but don't feel yet that I could handle the time commitment, as I would want to be consistent and do a good job. But perhaps you are the one to tackle a good podcast in your area of specialty! If so, all you really need is a decent microphone (this is a great one that I use). Go on to fiverr.com and hire someone to create an intro and outro, and then download Audacity on your PC, or use Garageband on your Mac. Libsyn.com is a great place for hosting a podcast, or if you go the website route, you can also have a podcast using Squarespace. If you are very serious about podcasting, I'd also recommend a podcast tutorial like this one, or check out the Podcast Answer Man.

Academics — put yourself out there! Attract more attention to your scholarly work and connect with new people online.

Do you have any other suggestions? Let us know in the comments.

photo credit: View of the UT Tower from University Avenue via photopin (license)

One More Time: brand new course on waking up early

Back in March I wrote a series of blog posts on my practice of waking up early. Those were some of my more popular posts, and it has continued to be a passion of mine and didn't feel like I've yet said everything on the subject. So today I'm happy to announce on my blog that I've created a brand new course called Waking Up Early: get in shape, gain focus, achieve your goals. And for being a loyal blog reader, I'll give it to you for 50% off (only $5!) until the end of the week.

For those of you who have enrolled in one of my online courses before, you will notice that I am now using a new platform. I have previously published on Udemy and will continue to do so, but my main publishing spot will now be my own course page that you can see right here:

All of my courses will first be published on my own course page, and only later will arrive on Udemy. And the Udemy course will probably be a higher price as well. If you'd like to read more about what to expect in this course, check out the course page right here.

I hope to see you in the course!