StephenBarkley.com

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels © 2008 IVP Academic: InterVarsity Press 443 pages Anyone’s who is convinced they understand the life and times of Jesus need to read this book. I thought I had a pretty good grasp on the gospels after a lifetime of reading and 7 years of [...]

Here’s a great description of the process every believer goes through when approaching scripture (in Prayer): God’s epiphany compels the hearer to kneel in humble submission. The latter had imagined that he was dealing with a word he could grasp and evaluate, like other great and profound utterances of mankind; yet once he enters its [...]

I started blogging in May of 2005 by writing small devotions on the book of Ezekiel. Back then my url was pastorsteve.typepad.com. When I moved to my own WordPress install, the transfer of archives didn’t go so smoothly. The formatting was so messed up it was difficult to read. Add to that the cumbersome nature [...]

Change Your Church For Good, Revised © 2010 Thomas Nelson Publishers 300 pages I don’t know what to give this book for a rating. Let me explain. Brad Powell is the lead pastor of a church in Detroit that went from traditional and ineffective to relevant. In this book, he shares a number of keys [...]

J.S. Bach –2 vols– © 1905 (French), 1908 (German), 1911 (English) Adam & Charles Black 428+498 = 926 pages If you have some classical music training and a serious love for Bach, then this book’s for you. I was surprised by this work. Before spotting it on the shelf of a second hand bookstore in [...]

Here’s Wright’s understanding of hell (The Epistles of Paul to the Colossians and to Philemon: An Introduction and Commentary © 1986): Unless we are to rob human beings of all meaningful responsibility for their actions, and to underplay the utter holiness of God, hell must always be at least a possibility. The presence in the [...]

Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting © 1989 Eerdmans 217 pages Keeping the Sabbath Wholly is a window into how Marva Dawn practices the Sabbath. She focuses on the four elements of the subtitle (ceasing, resting, embracing, feasting) as critical attitudes for robust Sabbath-keeping. The book is filled with personal anecdotes and stories [...]

I know it’s old (1957), but I still enjoy reading a good F. F. Bruce commentary. Even where the scholarship’s eclipsed by recent advances, wisdom rings through. Here’s his note on Colossians 2:2 (Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians): As against all those who tried to intellectualize the Christian faith, speaking of knowledge (gnosis) as [...]

Good News in Exile © 1999 Eerdmans 116 pages This book is what happens when three pastors rethink their theology and praxis. With the help of Brueggemann, who provided a foreward and clearly inspired their reflections, Copenhaver, Robinson, and Willimon sketch out how the liberal church can be relevant in a world where liberal religion [...]

Here’s some good advice for ministers from Arthur Miller. This comes from Proctor, a farmer who’s criticised for not attending church (in The Crucible). I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation. Take it to heart, Mr. Parris [the preacher]. There are many others who [...]