“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life”– Picasso Whether we know it or not, and whether we like it or not, we swim in a cultural soup, a consumer cultural soup. One of the strength’s of Steve Turner’s book ‘Popcultured’ is in demonstrating just how pervasive the effect of pop culture is on everything from our values to the way we dress, what we listen to and watch, and what we eat. One of the main… Read more

Steve Turner, born in 1949 Northamptonshire England, is a Christian who is a journalist, poet and writer. He currently lives in London. He has written several significant books on famous rock musicians and bands who have had some connection with Christianity— namely on Eric Claption, Van Morrison, and U2. As a music journalist he interviewed many of the mainstays of British pop and rock music, including Lennon and McCartney and David Bowie. He is imminently qualified to talk about this… Read more

[a picture of David and Emily with Ann and myself on their wedding day last October] (This post is written by my son, David, who is an avid gamer and knows a good deal more about this issue than I do. He promises another post in the near future). You might be interested in digging in the forums of Christian gamers, who do indeed ask themselves hard questions about the compatibility of gaming with the Christian faith: http://christian-gaming.com/forums/general/ http://www.christcenteredgamer.com/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=54&sid=cc12006c8a7e4963dffa529dddf48a6a My… Read more

On numerous occasions I’ve been asked to describe a normal day in my life. Usually the question arises due to people wondering how I get so much writing done. Some of the answer to that question comes from the graciousness of my institution not to overload me with committee work and extraneous tasks that do not play to my strengths— teaching, preaching, writing, and mentoring doctoral students (or masters level students). There is also the fact that I do not… Read more

There are now five novels in the Matthew Shardlake series of medieval mysteries written by C.J. Sansom, this being the fifth one. It weighs in at over 600 pages of detailed, carefully argued plot set during the reign of Henry VIII, more specifically this one is set in 1545 when the French came calling at Portsmouth in retaliation for the failed English invasion of France (failed, except for the destruction of the city of Bologne). Here is the published summary… Read more

If you have read any Plato you will know that he argues in the Republic that this world is a world of shadows, of which the substance can be found in the eternal world. You hear something like this in the book of Hebrews as well. Plato conjures up the image of a man seeing images on the wall of a cave with light and the reality projecting those images on the wall. But is it true— that this life… Read more

Ah Nike, you really know how to inspire the fan base. Here is the latest Carolina Panther’s T shirt. My suggestion is go out and buy it quickly…. it will be worth a lot in due course. Take a good hard look at this merchandise and ask yourself this question— What’s Wrong with this Picture? Well, for starters, the Carolina Panthers play in Charlotte, and last I checked that’s 25 miles inside the southern border of North Carolina. So the… Read more

(This was sent to me by Timothy George). http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2013/07/averys-ten-rules Avery’s Ten Rules July 14, 2013 Timothy George Cardinal Dulles The year 2014 will mark the twentieth anniversary of the first publication of the ongoing project Evangelicals and Catholics Together. From the beginning, ECT was more than an alliance of convenience. It was a theological movement grounded in the Holy Scriptures and the deepest impulses of the historic Christian faith. In this work we were guided by two senior theologians, Dr…. Read more