StephenBarkley.com

In The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation, characters are pictured with angels and devils beside them, each trying to gain influence. I don’t agree with that understanding of anthropology for a couple reasons: It implies that we have the freedom to choose between good or evil, independent of God. It smacks of [...]

If there’s one thing any self-respecting preacher should be good at, it’s the ability to digress. I’m sure you’ve heard a few diversions from the pew. One minute the speaker’s following the inner-logic of the message, the next minute he’s off on some tangent. John does that exact thing in these verses. One minute he’s [...]

Every once in a while you find a song so brilliant that it sticks in your head for days. This is one of those songs. I’ve followed Louris for years now (through the Jayhawks and Golden Smog), and this is one of his finest songs. On the surface it seems like a simple country ditty—don’t [...]

Wise Blood: A Novel © 1962 Farrar, Straus and Giroux 236 pages This book is overwhelming. O’Connor has a knack for placing her vividly imagined characters in bizarre (yet somehow appropriate) situations. I’ve often thought that “classic” novels should be read for the beauty of their prose–the plot is often irrelevant. For example, you can [...]

In Rob Bell’s video, Everything Is Spiritual, he uses a great analogy: is a marker a circle or a rectangle? It depends how you look at it. It’s both. I was faithfully reading Volume 3 of my Harvard Classics when I came across the same idea in Francis Bacon’s Essay, “Of Unity in Religion” (you [...]

I’m still adjusting to the whole parenting thing. Let me share one of my frustrations with you: toys. I remember watching the commercials that came on during cartoons as a kid, longing to own every single trinket that was marketed towards my age bracket. Now, I feel differently. I’ve turned my back on that childhood [...]

Wintergreen: Reflections from Loon Lake © 1999 Key Porter Books 150 pages Beautiful. Simply beautiful. If you’ve ever spent time in the wilderness, you should read this book. You will find yourself mentally revisiting all the places you’ve camped. More than that, Hummel will make you want to return to the outdoors. Hummel’s love for [...]

I’m a sucker for complete editions of any author I enjoy. I found my treasured hardback copy of The Complete Father Brown Stories in a second hand bookstore in Stouffville, Ontario. Chesterton‘s Father Brown stories are brilliant in many ways. Aside from the clever mysteries he invents, the perspective of the protagonist—a Catholic priest—gives Chesterton [...]

Contradictions. Flip-flops. U-turns. These words get a lot of mileage on CNN every election season. The pundits on one side are always looking to find opposing views within the other camp. The public can put up with a lot of things from a candidate, it seems, but not a change of mind. A surface reading [...]

Life with God: Reading the Bible for Spiritual Transformation © 2008 HarperOne 224 pages I expected a lot from this book. Foster’s Celebration of Discipline (along with Lewis’ Mere Christianity) are the two most important books I’ve ever read. I’ve followed Foster for years now, reading everything he’s written. I’ve attended a fantastic Renovaré conference, [...]