I remember him differently than some might. He seemed at once formidable and yet gentle. A towering intellect, and yet a sweet spirit, with a good sense of humor as well. In some ways outgoing, but in some ways shy, especially on the telephone or in casual conversation. Had you only seen Charles Kingsley Barrett behind the pulpit or the lectern you would only have known one side of the man, the public face as it were. You would not… Read more

Edith Mary Pargeter (1913-95) was a Shropshire lass born and bred, and she lived there until the close of her life. She became famous under her nom de plume, Ellis Peters, and in particular for her Brother Cadfael mysteries set large in Shrewsbury. She knew that English region bordering on Wales very well indeed, and her vivid descriptions of the region are found again and again both in her medieval mysteries, and the ones set in post WWII in the… Read more

Old things can last a very long time. Take for example that door pictured above, one of the back doors into the cloister of Durham Cathedral. It’s got a Norman arch that dates back to the 11th century A.D. That’s pretty remarkable longevity. There are of course people that live a long time in this world. I had two great uncles who lived to 102. That’s remarkable by modern standards. So youth oriented is our culture that we have invented… Read more

Our’s is a culture fixated on youth, and ‘youth must be served’. We are the people that idolized the Pepsi generation, and became fixated on young people’s sports, young people’s music, young people’s remarkable feats, whether it’s the Little League World Series or the National Spelling Bee or a plethora of other things. We have advertisements all the time for children’s hospitals, like St. Jude’s, and telethons to raise money for ‘saving the children’. The idea of helping our youngest… Read more

Certainly one of the major trends since 1990 when it comes to ‘having church’ is the invasion of the casual. There are no dress codes, there are no rules about drinks or food or cellphone usage. It’s the come as you are picnic. Of course there are exceptions to this in some churches, but not many in North America whether one is talking Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox. Yes the ministers and the priests and the choir and the liturgists dress… Read more

(picture courtesy of Rolling Stone Magazine) Summer is concert time, especially outdoor concerts, and I’ve seen hundreds and hundreds of them, so it was hard to choose just twenty of my favorites during my adult life. There are various factors which make for good live concerts: 1) a good venue, and if indoors the acoustics need to be good. Many a good concert has been ruined by bad acoustics or worse bad managing of the sound. Some of the concerts… Read more

This 2nd edition of one my bestsellers has been completely updated, and has a new chapter on Complimentarianism and its problems, and also on Pentecostal theology as embodied in the work of Gordon Fee. It should be out in November. Stay Tuned. Read more

Rain on the brain, Leads, in the main, To plain thinking… And hydroencephaloid pain Thunder, on the other hand, As in thunderstruck Makes or breaks or wakes Your synapses from their lapses To new levels of insight or delight Then there’s the jolt of lightning Shock and awe at what you saw The spark of an idea A flash of brilliance Illuminating the mental landscape Alleviating the tedium Of a cerebral grey day You want to go away, But the… Read more

Mark Fairchild is a Professor of NT at Huntington University in Indiana. I have spent lots of time with him exploring all sorts of Biblical, Greco-Roman, early Christian, and ANE sites in Turkey. It is thus not unexpected that he would produce a first rate book on Christian Origins in Turkey, this one focusing on the Western end of Turkey, namely Ephesus and Asia Minor. The book is published by an Istanbul publishing house, Arkeo-ege, and is full of Mark’s… Read more

Let’s be honest, almost anything is possible in church in Kentucky– snakes, speaking in tongues, being slain in the Spirit…. or alternately, total boredom. I’ve passed the little church whose sign is shown above a million times. It’s on Highway 68 just outside of Wilmore Ky. But this time as a I passed, something was going on on the church lawn that was…. well, not exactly like the persona of this sleepy little country church. I saw the sign heading… Read more