StephenBarkley.com

Ash Wednesday is here again. As a pentecostal minister with an abnormal affection for liturgy, I was determined not to miss the season of Lent this time around. The problem is, what could I do that would be meaningful? Rachel Held Evans posted 40 great ideas that started my mind whirling. I almost jumped into [...]

Lord Jesus Christ, thou Son of the Most High, Prince of Peace, be born again into our world. Wherever there is war in this world, wherever there is pain, wherever there is loneliness, wherever there is no hope, come, thou long-expected one, with healing in thy wings. Holy Child, whom the shepherds and the kings [...]

I have to share one of the latest posts from James McGrath (Exploring our Matrix). He beautifully describes the roots of Christianity’s inferiority complex. I wonder how the golden rule applies to a stolen holiday? Christmas: The Christian War on Solstice

I’ve been reading an old(er) book lately: Israel’s Sacred Songs: A Study of Dominant Themes by Harvey H. Guthrie (1966). I picked it up at a second hand bookstore when I noticed that Brueggemann wrote a blurb on the back cover. The book tries to situate the Psalms in their ANE culture. Here’s something that [...]

Cool news: I’m participating in a theo-blog tour of Philip Clayton and Harvey Cox’s new books on the future of the Christian Faith. I’ll be blogging through Clayton’s book in the near future. Here’s the press release: . . . Philip Clayton and Harvey Cox both have new books out and they are taking them [...]

I was listening to a discussion yesterday on CBC Radio One. They were debating whether it was wise to allow corporate sponsorship into public schools. On the positive side, it was a tremendous source of income. It also filled a need: kids need chocolate bars and pop, right? On the negative side, the interviewee questioned [...]

A friend recently asked me a simple question: Can we can “touch the heart of God”? The expression is almost too much of a cliché to be meaningful today. (There was an entire series of worship CDs created in the 1990s called, “Touching the Father’s Heart”.) However, since I just reviewed what Paul meant by [...]

Here’s one of those oh-too-true observations from the fine mind over at ASBO Jesus: True on many levels.

Merry Christmas, everyone. I hope you’re having a good Christmas with family and friends. Since no one has time to read this time of year, let me share a short video with you that I found very challenging from Advent Conspiracy (Yes, I know it’s Christmas, not Advent right now—but let’s go with it anyway):

Here’s my response to Dr Jim West’s idea.  Simple and purdy. It’s nowhere near as freakin’ cool as Scotteriology, though. Maybe I should slip in a pic of of Charlie the Unicorn behind one of those trees.