StephenBarkley.com

Their corpses shall become food for the birds of the air and the wild animals of the earth. — Jeremiah 24:20, NRSV Last year I went with a friend to the Body Worlds exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. It’s difficult to explain the odd mixture of fascination and repulsion I felt. The exhibit [...]

Yahweh responds by returning the ball. — Daniel I. Block (The Book of Ezekiel: Chapters 25-48) There was a commercial out recently for a job search agency. In it, the employee was stressing the importance of a certain action to his boss. Let me paraphrase the conversation (from memory—apologies to the writers): Employee: Do you understand [...]

Now descend and shake the earth, Wake us into second birth; Now Thy quickening influence give, Blow—and these dry bones shall live! —Charles Wesley (Hymns and Sacred Poems) Ezekiel 37:1-14 is the best known passage in the book. The vision of dry bones is understood even by people who have no idea it was recorded [...]

How often the richest promises made good on by God entail combinations of things neither bargained for nor anticipated. — Christopher R. Seitz (Isaiah 40-66) I like animated movies—as long as they’re not too sentimental. (Cows crying about tragedy in their life does nothing for me.) One feature I did enjoy was Over the Hedge. You can [...]

Grace is the invincible advocate of freedom and the absolute expression of perfect love. — Gerald G. May (Addiction and Grace) I have heard some Christians refer to “the ministry of heaping coals”. It’s a reference to a concept first written in Proverbs 25:21-22 (NRSV): If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and [...]