It is difficult, some would say nigh impossible to do justice to Paul and his thought and ministry in a short book. While that is true, there are some short books on Paul that do him some justice, and are well worth the read. One such book is the revised edition of E.P. Sander’s Paul: A Brief Insight. The book was originally published in 1991 by Oxford and then again in 2001, and then it was picked up for an... Read more

Ian Rankin is a front rank crime fiction writer, and he has the added advantage that unlike his fellow Edinburgh resident, J.K. Rowling, he sets his stories in the city he knows intimately, completely— his home town. There are many crime novels that are set in London (including the new series by Rowling under a pseudonym), but not many that feature Scotland and Edinburgh. This most recent offering in the John Rebus series of novels finds Rebus back on the... Read more

(picture courtesy of Tarsem) AFTER THE FALL After the Fall, The nakedness The shame, a tell tale sign. After the Fall A wariness, The centering on the self. After the Fall Deception A lie disguised as truth. After the Fall, ‘J’accuse’! ‘This woman whom you gave’. After the Fall, The curse. ‘And he shall lord it over you’. After the Fall The suffering Labor pains galore. After the Fall The dying, Disease, decay, and death. After the Fall The killing... Read more

Going through Hezekiah’s tunnel is an exhilirating experience, and especially when you do it with family and friends like these. Read more

June 26th was supposed to be the night Ann and I finally got to see Paul McCartney. But Sir Paul hasn’t been well, and postponed until Oct. 28th. Stay tuned. Instead, we went and saw (here in Lexington) an even older performer—- Gordon Lightfoot, who is an amazing 76 years old, and still singing away (he bragged he was doing eight shows in ten days on this mini-tour). I must confess I would never have guessed that the man I... Read more

On the last afternoon of our pilgrimage, we went to the famous Istanbul Archaeological Museum, which is actually three museums in one— an Oriental/ANE museum, a tile museum, and the main archaeological museum…. It’s an embarrassment of riches… We walked down an old street to reach the main gate, passing various lovely old houses… Once you pass the gate, you run right into Aslan, the guardian lion (as I mentioned aslan is the turkish work for lion). Immediately to the... Read more

One of the more important churches (now a museum) in all of Turkey is the famous Chora Church, so-called because it was out in the country originally. Now it’s in a crowded Istanbul neighborhood, which makes it difficult to even get a picture of the building. So you have to settle for a picture from a distance… Or you have to settle for a picture of a picture… Then you run the gauntlet of the vendors, the hawkers of icon... Read more