Tony Cartledge’s Blog
I don’t get it …
There are some things in life that I don't understand. I try not to be a curmudgeon about these things, but remain baffled by them. Why do perfectly healthy young college students line up at the elevator to go down two floors when class is over? Down! The elevator in...
Does this look like money?
A record was set April 9, though it didn't make many headlines. A clay cylinder marking Nebuchadnezzar II's reconstruction of a temple to Shamash (the sun God) in Sippar (modern Tell Abu Habbah, in Iraq) was auctioned by Doyle's of New York for a cool $605,000. The...
Will children support their parents?
The April 6 Parade magazine included an interesting take on relations between the "boomer" generation, now moving into retirement, and their children, the "millennials." (Here's a similar report from NPR). While demographers and sociologists vary in their definitions,...
BWIMNC believes God is still creating
GREENSBORO -- Baptist Women in Ministry of North Carolina (BWIMNC) celebrated its 31st convocation March 28 at College Park Baptist Church in Greensboro, focusing on the theme "God is Creating Still." The group's annual Anne Thomas Neil Award was awarded to Alicia...
CBFNC looks to the future
GREENSBORO, NC – Transformation, engagement, and community are the operative words in a new vision plan adopted by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina (CBFNC), which celebrated its 20-year history by looking forward. “We want to be agents of God’s...
A hard right KO’s World Vision decision
Less than a day after World Vision U.S. president Rich Stearns announced that the billion-dollar charity's board had voted not to discriminate against potential employees in legal same-sex marriages, he released a second statement announcing that the board had changed...
The power of encouragement
Last Friday I was witness to the power of encouragement -- and the flip side of that -- in two different ways. Episode One: Knowing that I'm a Duke fan, my wife Susan bought us tickets for the Duke-Mercer game in the NCAA tournament's round of 64. Duke was expected...
Surviving email …
Does email in your inbox multiply like rabbits? Do you ever sit down to work on a project, but find yourself, two hours later, still dealing with email? Email wouldn't be such a plague if were not also such a blessing. Provided one has Internet access, email is free,...
Propaganda? Really?
While Russian president Vladimir Putin celebrates his success in taking Crimea away from Ukraine and using his bully pulpit to excoriate the West, Franklin Graham is endorsing Putin's campaign against homosexuals. Graham, who now leads the Billy Graham...
Roots and vines
The vines have covered my roots. In a way. In Philadelphia for meetings of the Baptist World Alliance and North American Baptist Fellowship last week, I finally had an opportunity to go in search of my first American ancestor's headstone. In November of 1682, at the...
Where no one has gone before …
FORT WASHINGTON, PA -- "Space: the final frontier." Participants in the North American Baptist Fellowship's (NABF) "FutureBaptists Convocation" gathered March 6-7 to imagine what missional challenges for Baptists might lie 50 years in the future. John Upton, president...
History made here
The most important room in American history, one could argue, sits on the east side of what was once the Pennsylvania State House, and is now known as Independence Hall. A morning break between the Baptist World Alliance Executive Committee and the North...
Storybook time …
A winter afternoon in Amish country has a storybook feel despite the traffic. One doesn't have to venture more than 30 miles west of Philadelphia to be surrounded by picturesque hillsides blanketed with snow and punctuated with farm silos. Every home, it seems, has a...
Chilly in Philly
The largest shopping mall in the U.S. -- measured by retail space -- is in a Philadelphia suburb with only 20,000 permanent residents. Go figure. Early settlers in Pennsylvania had a sense of humor about place names: the place is called "King of Prussia," a moniker...
This thing called church …
Sometimes, less can be more. Recently I was given the challenge of writing a meditation that speaks to the church as a good gift of God for which we should be thankful. In 50-90 words. That's about three tweets' worth. How to describe something as big and...
The real wonder workers …
I can't remember the last time I went to a circus ... until we recently decided to check out the latest edition of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey's "Greatest Show on Earth" on its Raleigh stop. Expand the picture and look closely: you'll see five...
It’s a small world …
I read a story recently about Disneyland's "It's a Small World" ride being renovated, in part to introduce wider seats because "small world" visitors were getting bigger. I haven't been on that ride in many years and would be perfectly happy if I never do again: five...
Another week, another storm …
Are we tired of snow yet? It's as beautiful as icing on a cake, but -- not unlike fluffy buttercream frosting -- it's possible to have too much of a good thing, even for Southerners who rarely see the stuff. I made the mistake of venturing out for some paraffin...
It’s not that hard
All of us find some things hard to understand. Calculus, for instance, was difficult for me. I did fine until we got to imaginary numbers, and I couldn't imagine them. Other things are much simpler in concept, but frustrating to understand in other ways. At the top of...
Inmates are people, too.
I spent part of last Friday afternoon in prison -- not being fingerprinted or "scared straight," but hanging out with Terri Stratton, the first female senior staff chaplain in the 130-year history of North Carolina's Central Prison. Central Prison, just outside of...
No days like snow days
For folks who rarely see a good snow, a few inches of powder that doesn't melt upon contact can make for exciting times. Local TV stations pre-empt scheduled programming for round-the-clock reports of traffic conditions while shivering reporters stand at empty...
Looking for Martha
February is approaching, and with it the Martha Stearns Marshall Month of Preaching, when churches are encouraged to invite a woman to preach at some point (or more than one point) during the month. Those brave (and smart) churches that alreay have a woman pastor are...
No better friend
The church never had a better friend than Robert Stewart. Baptists, either, for that matter. Rev. Stewart, who succumbed to cancer on Jan. 20, began his life's journey in a town with the delightful name of Walhalla, South Carolina, and he proceeded to spread delight...
Undercover evil …
Observing the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. has become iconic on our calendars, though for many it marks more of a free weekend for skiing or traveling than for remembering the Civil Rights pioneer. The MLK memorial in Washington, DC.For many people -- and I...
Of calendars and light …
The calendar is an amazing thing. From antiquity, when time was measured by the cycles of the moon, until the present, when years are measured to the fraction of a second, humans have wanted a system that allows them to organize time, plan for the future, and remember...
Thank you, President Obama
I've spent a good part of today sitting in a hospital room with my oldest son, who will leave in a couple of days with an astronomical hospital bill and no major medical insurance to apply to it. Because of pre-existing medical conditions, he has been unable to...
Seven reasons to love really old stuff (and you won’t believe number six)
Have you noticed how many web stories have titles like "17 Life Hacks for Girls," "10 Foods You Should Never Eat," or "8 Places You Must See Before You Die"? They often include subtitles like "You won't believe number four!" Articles are written and pitched that way...
Inside, outside
Downton Abbey fans were cheered Sunday night by the American premier of the "upstairs/downstairs" drama's fourth season on PBS. That's true, at least, for those who haven't cheated by watching the previously-aired British version. One of the challenges for...
Same old, good old …
Image from http://www.hdwallpapersinn.com.So here it is, another new year, and I find myself making the same resolutions I made last year, and the year before. Perhaps you've had that experience? Surprisingly, I don't find that frustrating at all. Such resolutions as...
Duck Dogma
I've refrained from comment on the ongoing flap over "Duck Dynasty" partriarch Phil Robertson's comments about homosexuality in part because it seemed that more than enough had been said, and in part because the whole thing just seemed too ridiculous. Photo from...
In our world …
I don't have many Christmas traditions, but there is one thing I try to do every year: at some point during the Christmas season, I watch Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas. The 48-minute muppet special first aired in 1977, so it's been a part of Christmas at my house...
More, and more …
After living in North Carolina for 34 years, I finally got around to visiting the Biltmore House, famously known as America's largest private home. At 250 rooms and almost 180,000 square feet, the French Renaissance structure has few competitors. I confess to having...
Interpretation gone awry
The appropriately massive memorial service for anti-apartheid activist and former South African president Nelson Mandela monopolized the news Dec. 10, as thousands gathered in a driving rain to hear an ark-load of speeches from political and religious leaders from...
A time, two times, and half a time …
Daniel's cryptic reference to a three-and-a-half year period for the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes comes to mind when I try to get my head around what time it is. It's the last week of the semester and the middle of the Advent season, but I'm preparing for spring...
Piling up
It's the time of the year when things pile up. At Campbell, students walk around like zombies as they complete papers and study for exams. The library is open 24 hours. In homes all around, to-do lists for the Christmas season get written far faster than they can be...
On being useful …
This image from www.groveparkinn.com.Guests at Asheville's Grove Park Inn get lots of company on Sundays through Thursdays during the Christmas season, when the public is invited to view a display of top choices from the National Gingerbread House Competition. One of...
Interpretation gone awry
The appropriately massive memorial service for anti-apartheid activist and former South African president Nelson Mandela monopolized the news Dec. 10, as thousands gathered in a driving rain to hear an ark-load of speeches from political and religious leaders from...
A time, two times, and half a time …
Daniel's cryptic reference to a three-and-a-half year period for the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes comes to mind when I try to get my head around what time it is. It's the last week of the semester and the middle of the Advent season, but I'm preparing for spring...
Piling up
It's the time of the year when things pile up. At Campbell, students walk around like zombies as they complete papers and study for exams. The library is open 24 hours. In homes all around, to-do lists for the Christmas season get written far faster than they can be...
Really old stuff …
Thanksgiving came about as late in the month as it can this year, leaving shoppers with fewer shopping days before Christmas. Even so, the only frantic shopping seems to be among those in search of the few deeply cut Black Friday specials whose limited quantities...
Hebrew in the air
These folks really like their coffee -- there's a Starbucks at the front of the line. Meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) always intimidate me a bit. The crowds, for one thing. Members of SBL and the American Academy of Religion (AAR) brought more...
The difference a day makes …
On Monday I posted a few photos taken around sunrise at Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island, but the morning was filled with a ghostly fog, leaving the deadfall stark, though no less beautiful, as if drawn in black and white. Tuesday morning the skies were mostly clear...
Driftwood, deadfall, and hanging on
Sunrise on Jekyll Island's Driftwood Beach during a staff retreat for Baptists Today ... the beachfront on the northeast end of the island is a twisted mass of dead trees, some standing and some fallen, some unmoved for a hundred years, some washed ashore. The rising...
Neither mega nor church, but still …
How did I manage to miss this until now? Several newspapers and TV outlets have reported the past few days on a supposedly thriving movement of "atheist mega-churches." Photo from 123RF.comFrom what I find in the news reports, the meetings aren't really that...
Whose party was it?
I've observed that birthday parties are often more about the person throwing the party than the one being honored. Children's birthday parties, for example, can become de facto competitions between parents who want to outdo other kids' parties: who has the biggest...
In living color …
It happens every year, about this time. The bright green leaves hit every shade on the spectrum involving yellow and red, and it seems the sunsets have a little extra punch -- or maybe it's just that, with the time having changed, we're more likely to see them. As the...
Tut, tut
I couldn't help taking interest in recent news that Egypt's famous King Tutankhamun -- the boy king behind the solid gold death mask discovered by Howard Carter in 1922 -- had a really bad time of it both before and after his death. Paleopathologists who studied the...
Tall boys and a tricky question
On Hallowe'en night I was buying gas near Aiken, South Carolina, and was deeply engrossed in washing my windshield when my peripheral vision caught a white mini-van coasting up to the adjoining pump. My attention was focused on a couple of stubborn bug streaks and I...
Charge me more, please. Or accept less.
As big cuts in supplemental nutrition programs take effect on Nov. 1, the fast food industry continues to thrive on subsidies from the federal government. There's no law that says congress will pay $1.2 billion annually to subsidize McDonald's, for example, but that's...
Give your pastor a break
I was working at a card table in front of the TV on Sunday afternoon so I could keep tabs on the Goody's 500 NASCAR race at Martinsville, and most of the race was typical short-track racing: lots of bumping and shoving, spinouts, and drivers getting short-tempered as...
Psst! Want some Oreos?
You knew it all along, didn't you -- that Oreos are as addictive as cocaine? To lab rats, at least. And I suspect there's a little rat in all of us. The Oreos don't even have to be the deep fried variety currently on sale at the North Carolina State Fair (no, I didn't...
Why you should chew your fingernails
Perhaps you saw one of the recent articles about how the Kenya Wildlife Service is planning to implant microchips in the horns of every rhino in its country, hoping it will help them to track, capture, and prosecute poachers. Last year, according to the article, 745...
Free at last …
Folks who had felt hostage to uncertainty during the 16-day government shutdown may feel a bit more free today, able to stretch their emotional legs and smile a bit more after a short term deal was approved. Three cows in South Africa are doing the same. A...
Turning the tables …
You're familiar with the popularity of cute animal videos? I hardly ever click the links, but see them "shared" on Facebook all the time -- kittens and puppies being adorable in their own right, grown cats and dogs doing surprising or amazing things -- happy vignettes...
Possums old and young …
On Wednesday night I enjoyed the North Carolina Theatre's impressive production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats," which I'd seen before but happily attended again (tickets are still available through the weekend, theater fans!). The musical, which first opened in 1981,...
Some really hot heads …
I found an interesting article about some hot heads lately, and amazingly, the story had nothing to do with partisan sniping in Washington. The hot heads in question are 4,000-year-old skulls, containing surprisingly intact brains. Image of a 4,000-year-old brain,...
More for me …
The current impasse in Washington is fueled by many things, but one of the underriding issues is plainly old-fashioned greed. A powerful faction whose primary focus is cutting government spending so wealthier folk can keep more for themselves is flexing a lot of...
Posturing
We've all seen it, I'm sure -- most commonly when we were four or five years old, maybe even nine or ten, in more elaborate fashion. Some kid makes a loud noise in class, or draws an ugly caricature of the teacher on the blackboard, and when the teacher seeks the...
Blugrass music in a white collar town …
Sir Walter Raleigh got into the spirit outside the convention center.When civic leaders from Raleigh persuaded the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) to leave Nashville and host its annual shindig in a city known more for wine sipping than string...
Good news, but at risk …
Along with countless other Americans, I remain mystified that House Republicans insist on holding the country hostage -- on threat of a government shutdown -- if the Affordable Health Care Act (aka "Obamacare") is not repealed. The plan will make health care coverage...
Presence
An overnight trip to the high country early this week offered multiple opportunities to be reminded of God's presence. From near Todd, NC, looking southwest toward Boone. The mountains themselves shout with it, of course, whether in the morning, when fog pools in the...
Cooling the hot buttons
Photo from telegraph.co.ukThe recent interview with Pope Francis, "the people's pope," was yet another sign that a fresh new breeze is stirring the dusty air of the Vatican. That makes the more stodgy types really uncomfortable, of course, but it brings hope to...
Some days …
Some days it's hard to write, especially when I feel that I have nothing to say. Today is not one of those days, but it's still hard to write, largely because I've already said what I want to say about the wild lunacy of a philosophy that seems to believe the more...
Save the WHAT?
AP photo from foxnews.com, weapons from a gun buy-back program in Trenton, NJ.It's enough to make you puke. As if North Carolina's super-majority right-wing legislature hasn't done enough to flaunt its power and make life harder for many of its citizens, lawmakers...
Disparity and despair
The current income disparity in the U.S. is enough to make most anyone despair -- at least those outside the top ten percent. The rich have made out like bandits during the recovery from our most recent greed-induced "great recession," while poor and middle class...
Heads up …
"Green," by Nathan SawayaHere's a double-entendre for you -- haven't we all felt like this guy at some point? As if we wanted to just rip our heads right off? And the other side of the heads up: if you'd like to see some amazing art -- for free -- check out "The Art...
Older adults?
Like many other people (especially older ones), I took note of the announcement that cognitive scientists have tested a video game that they say "can improve the short term memory and long term focus of older adults," according to an article in the New York Times. The...
One less character …
My cousin Rae Stribling died over the weekend, and one of God's most unique people has made the transition from corporality to memory. Rae as a girl, along with my father (top) and my uncle Tom. Rae was my grandmother's sister's daughter and a favorite of her Aunt Van...
A verbal potpourri
A brief hodgepodge of thoughts on this Labor Day weekend ... Food: Homeless folk in Raleigh will be a bit less hungry this weekend. After getting a major earful from concerned citizens at a meeting on Wednesday, the City Council agreed to allow charity workers to...
A tale of two cities …
... and their callousness. Hugh Hollowell and other workers with "Love Wins" speak to a police officer who would not allow them to distribute food to the homeless. I was surprised, if not shocked, to learn that the city police in Raleigh, N. C., are now threatening to...
One thing overlooked …
North Carolina's governor Pat McCrory has called for the legislature to return to Raleigh for a special session to deal with two bills he vetoed, one a discriminatory demand that some welfare applicants be tested for drugs and the other an immigration bill that he...
Why can’t the prosperity gospel work?
Anyone who's watched much television preaching or visited certain churches has certainly run across someone promoting the prosperity gospel, the notion that God wants to make us all rich so we can be an example of divine beneficence to others. It's tempting to buy...
Changing times …
Campbell University held its faculty orientation August 15, and change was in the air. The new School of Osteopathic Medicine has opened, for one thing, to much fanfare. The afternoon session was held in one of the two high-tech 200-seat classrooms in the new...
You never know …
You never know what interesting things a day will bring, if you only pay attention. Image from http://www.sakheer.comFor example, I recently ran across an article detailing ways in which researchers in Saudi Arabia are touting camel urine as a treatment for cancer....
Scary but important words …
I'm often late to the party, not just in matters of style or music (if I ever get there), but in terms of keeping up with great thinkers who are saying important things. That's why I was behind the curve -- but no less delighted -- when I discovered pschologist,...
Could it be real?
In a surprising turn of events, Israeli officials who tried for 10 years to have a stone Hebrew inscription declared a forgery have now filed suit to keep it because it is an "antiquity." The artifact, known as the "Jehoash Inscription," is a dark sandstone tablet...
Greed trumps history
Political crises and massive uprisings in Syria and Egypt are not only taking a toll on human life, public resources, and economic well-being -- they're also contributing to an unconscionable desecration of history. Tomb-raiders strike often in Egypt, as here near the...
The good kind of pride …
Getting one's first car is one of those thresholds of emerging adulthood that most young men and women experience, most often in a good way. I didn't have wheels of my own until I was a sophomore in college, 60 miles from home and longing for something more reliable...
At least we know …
The North Carolina legislature, newly and completely dominated by agenda-wielding Republicans intent on solidifying their position and steam-rolling opposition, has wrapped up its 2013 session, successfully turning the Old North State into what should be a state of...
Foam home
It wasn't ET phoning home, but it felt about as strange when I came across one of America's funkiest roadside attractions while returning from vacation last week. Just north of Natural Bridge, Virginia, within sight of Highway 11, stands "Foamhenge" -- a...
Life happens
Life happens. Calvary Baptist Church at 8th and I streets, Washington, DCSometimes planned and measured, sometimes so fast you don't see it coming. Sometimes it opens onto stunning new vistas, and sometimes it leads down a hard road. And sometimes all of those...
Can you read this?
Archaeologist Eilat Mazar, who has been excavating in the "City of David" area of Jerusalem for several years, has announced the finding of an inscription on the fragmentary remains of a large jar that dates from the 10th century B.C.E. -- the oldest known inscription...
Oh, the irony …
I'm aware that a purist might find my use of "irony" inappropriate, but that's the word that stood up and danced around in my head when I saw that Lottie Moon's home church now has a female pastor. Lottie MoonLottie Moon was many things -- not only a pioneering...
If only we could teach common sense …
People who pay attention to such things are aware that new pastors fail at an alarming rate. Why? Often, it’s because of a lack of skills or characteristics that seminaries either don’t teach, hardly teach, or really can’t teach, according to...
Territorial meanderings …
Coming down to earth from nine days of Baptist meetings in Jamaica had its positive and negative aspects. The upside was finding several ripe tomatoes on my vines, enough squash for multiple meals, and plenty of bell peppers for stir-fry. I've eaten a whole tomato at...
BWA wrapping up …
Things are winding down for Baptists gathered in Ocho Rios for the 2013 annual gathering of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), held July 1-6. For those who might be interested, here are a few highlights from the business sessions. Representatives of new member bodies...
Enforced enthusiasm
Spending July 4 in another country has its ups and its downs. The annual gathering of the Baptist World Alliance is commonly held the first week of July, meaning that I’m usually in another country when July 4 rolls around. Last year I ate lunch in a swirling...
A taste of Jamaica
It's traditional for Baptists from the host country to throw a party for visiting participants in the Baptist World Alliance annual gathering, and Jamaicans know how to party-mon. Loaded onto minibuses -- with fold-down seats in the aisles to fill each one to capacity...
Preachin in Jamaica-mon
Moneague Baptist ChurchSunday morning gave me the opportunity to visit Jamaica's hilly interior and preach at Moneague Baptist Church, described by pastor Delroy Sittol as "a rural church in a market town." Hill country near MoneagueMoneague is in the hill country...
Theological educators deal with a changing world
Baptist educators involved in the training of future pastors and ministers face a variety of challenges as their institutions struggle to remain faithful, relevant – and solvent Representatives from each of the six regions making up the Baptist World Alliance...
Can you say BICTE?
Day two of BICTE VII (the Baptist International Conference on Theological Eduation) focused on a continued discussion of Baptists and the Holy Spirit before turning to a discussion of ecumenical diaglogue and emerging trends in theological education. Graham HillGraham...
Pneumatology and other stuff …
Like long acronyms? Try the "Baptist International Conference on Theological Education" (BICTE). It meets every five years (last in Prague), in conjunction with the Baptist World Alliance (BWA). This year's meeting (the 8th) is in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, where about a...
“We dare not lose heart.”
Baptist Women in Ministry (BWIM) came close to packing the house at First Baptist Church of Greensboro Wednesday night, and Nancy Sehested rocked it with a stirring call for women to remember how far they had come since the organization’s birth 30 years ago....
The sweatered crusader
The summer blockbuster movies are sprinkled, as usual, with heroes who come from other planets, are altered by nuclear radiation, or are simply gifted at violence, but when I hear the word "hero," I don't think of imaginary characters who populate comic books and...
Mixed messages
Reading about the recent decision of Exodus International to apologize for its past offenses against homosexual persons and to cease operations -- along with the expected critique by those who accuse the organization of abandoning the Bible and capitulating to culture...
Mortality
Most days we go about our business with little thought beyond getting through our to-do list, but every now and then, mortality stands up and demands to be heard. We don't like it's harsh voice or blunt words, but we can't avoid listening. On May 10, Miriam...
The best thing about summer
Summer saunters in like a waiter with a menu of laid-back opportunities, but the one I usually look forward to first is the arrival of homegrown tomatoes. I typically get my tomatoes in the ground around Easter, if it's warm enough, and I coddle them a little in...
On being social …
One of the Barna Group's latest studies indicates the unsurprising trend that a growing number of pastors and churches are using social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Graphic from Barna.orgThe survery of 1,263 senior pastors in Protestant churches suggested that...
The courage of conviction
Folks who follow politics in North Carolina are aware that things are changing fast, and not in a good way for less affluent Tarheels. Last fall's elections gave Republicans control of both houses with a veto-proof majority -- not that it's needed, because there's...
Someone I wish I’d known …
Will Campbell, a maverick Baptist preacher who'd stand up to anybody for the sake of people on the margins, died Monday night, at age 88. In this strip, Will B. Dunn looked forward to a day when there would be peace between black and white, Catholic and Protestant,...
Much ado about zero.
I ran across a couple of interesting posts this week. In the first, science writer Amir Aczel reported on "How I Rediscovered the Oldest Zero in History." Inscription K-127, from Sambor on Mekong. Photo Credit: Debra Gross Aczel. The zero is a dot near dead center in...
Afterword … Israel2013 Travelblog10
A few days after our return from Israel and almost recovered from the hectic schedule and jet lag, I've had a little time to continue considering a question that Cameron Jorgenson, our tour's co-leader (who teaches theology and ethics at Campbell University Divinity...
Remembering Herod … Israel2013 Travelblog9
Atop the HerodionThe study tour from Campbell University Divinity School didn't intend for our last day in Israel to revolve around the king popularly known as Herod the Great, but several of our stops reminded us of his legacy. Herod was Idumean by ethnic heritage,...
Underground activity … Israel 2013 Travelblog8
Going underground was a major theme for the Campbell University Divinity School travel group on Friday, May 24, as we began and ended the day beneath the earth. Like our cute glasses?The City of David was our first stop -- a southern spur of the larger mountain on...
A day for stretching … Israel2013 Travelblog7
A Jewish boy holding a heavy Torah scroll had his bar mitzvah at the Western Wall.A tour group made up mostly of Baptists (along with three Catholic friends) wouldn't normally pray the Stations of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, but the study tour group...
In and about Jerusalem – Israel2013 Travelblog6
Doron Heiliger describes the "Master Course."The "Western Wall Tunnels" aren't seen by a majority of travelers who come to Jerusalem, but our guide was able to secure us an 8:00 a.m. entry to the excavation, which runs the length of the Western Wall of the Temple...
A summer day by the Dead Sea — Israel2013 Travelblog5
Visitors can't resist taking pictures of the upper falls at En Gedi, as Patty McClure demonstrates. I walked today where David walked -- and didn't find him standing there, but I did drink from where he drank, and tried to imagine what it would be like to try...
A blog on a bus … Israel2013 Travelblog5
Who would have thought I'd end up posting a blog from a wifi-equipped bus? But the hotel Internet is down, so we do the best we can. The ancient boat (an older picture, when they were still studying it).The church of "Peter's Primacy," near Capernaum.The remains of a...
Around the sea and back again … Israel2013 Travelblog4
Walking on the cardo of Scythopolis, with the Beth She'an tel in the background.Pentecost Sunday began, for the Campbell University Divinity School study tour group, with a drive down the western shore of the Sea of Galilee as we made our way to Beth She'an, where an...
A long and fruitful day … Israel2013 Travelblog3
Saturday began for me with a quiet walk along an abutment running into the Sea of Galilee, with the Nof Ginosar hotel swimming area to the left, and a shallow natural inlet, overgrown with bamboo and other vegetation, to the right. The morning air was filled with song...
A northern loop … Israel2013 Travelblog2
Friday for Campbell University's "Bible Land Study Tour" began on the Mount of Beatitudes with an outdoor devotion led by Nathan Morton and surrounded by flowers of many types on the beautifully landscaped grounds overlooking the Sea of Galilee. At Tel Hazor we had...
Where Jesus walked … (Israel2013 – Travelblog 1)
Protestant types love the Holy Land for many reasons, largely for the landscapes, the sense of God's presence in the land, the feeling that when we walk the main street of ancient Capernaum or cross the worn floor of the Roman police headquarters in the Antonia, we...
One for the books …
Longtime Baptist editor R.G. Puckett died May 12, having spent much of his 80 years in the "Baptist battles" that characterized the last 40 years (at least) of Baptist life in the South. And he loved a good fight. Gene Puckett always had an opinion and was willing to...
Of course I cried …
Photo by Luci PrazeresIt always happens. I'm a sucker for happy endings, so how could I not weep? This year, as graduation exercises for the Campbell University Divinity School unfolded, it was my turn to carry the mace, a ceremonial scepter of sorts the university...
You never know …
A few days ago I was doing some early morning house cleaning while barefooted and still in my pajamas, knowing that I'd work up a sweat with the vacuum cleaner and so saving my shower until the cleaning was done. I had started in the bathroom and was leaning over the...
Amazing to see …
Science and space, ancient worlds and beautiful things are all fascinating to me, so I was particularly taken by an online posting in the April 30 MailOnline, published by the UK's Daily Mail newspaper. Cambodia's Angkor Wat, built as a Hindu temple, later refashioned...
Charity is not a loophole
As the country's congressmen dither over who gets the blame for our ongoing budget uncertainties and sequester-fueled cutbacks in services, lots of notions about tax reform are floating about. Image from yobucko.comSome of the ideas involve closing tax loopholes,...
Teaching an old dye new tricks
I love Egyptian art. Even though it's stylized, repetitive, and has a bit of a "color by numbers" look to it, it's also neat and orderly. The people or gods depicted may seem out of proportion to each other, but there's a purpose in that, as the size of the character...
Cowards? Yes.
Gabrielle Giffords had it right when she called them cowards in an op-ed piece published yesterday in the New York Times. The cravens in question are U.S. senators who have effectively shot down any efforts at making it more difficult for criminals and mentally...
Getting involved
It's one thing to sit around and talk about ideas or projects; quite another to do them. I was reminded of that during the past week. On Saturday, instead of reporting on a mission project, I had a chance to participate with Woodhaven Baptist Church as it observed a...
Read it and weep
The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina has announced a major reorganization and downsizing -- with the biggest cuts coming through the virtual elimination of campus ministry, where 10 people will lose their jobs. According to an article posted by the Biblical...
Another day, another heart attack
Not to make light of heart attacks. But I thought I might have one when I opened a letter from a certain government agency telling me that I owed $27,180 in taxes, penalties, and interest for the 2011 tax year. A heart attack seemed an appropriate way to respond....
Me, a sports nut?
When it comes to sports, for the most part, I can take 'em or leave 'em. I don't remember who played in the Super Bowl, because I didn't care. Basketball's NCAA tournaments are over, and once Duke's teams lost, I lost interest. Are they playing professional basketball...
Late bloomers
Where's a grove filled with cherry blossoms when you need it? A colder-than-average spring threw off horticulturalists' best predictions, and Washington D.C.'s famed "Cherry Blossom Festival," planned for peak blooming week, brought more tourists than blossoms. The...
Arrogance gone amuck
It's a hard time to be a North Carolinian if you have a single progressive bone in your body. The NC legislature, with firm Republican majorities in both houses and a Republican governor in the capitol, is running amuck with bad ideas. There's a new voter ID bill, for...
Well I’ll swan …
You may have to be of a certain age, or have grown up in a certain region of the country, to be familiar with "I'll swan" as a pious euphemism for "I'll swear," used mainly as a colorful interjection. When I was a boy, I most often heard it when my grandmother saw or...
Someone remembered
I skipped church on Easter ... at least the regular sort, which is not to say I didn't experience some sense of church and community. While driving home from a visit with my parents, I stopped along a stretch of the Carolina Sandhills Wildlife Preserve in a...
What’s good about it?
On "Good Friday," I often contemplate the name we have given this day, a day one would think we might call "Black Friday" or something equally bleak. At least one explanation is that the name evolved from a Germanic version of "God's Friday," much as "goodbye" evolved...
Barna and the Bible
Good grief, George. Your latest survey on American attitudes toward the Bible can't tell us much when you ask square questions of a multi-shaped people. Image from barna.orgBarna's latest survey on what Americans think of the Bible was released today, in an apparent...
Liberty and justice for all?
News outlets are abuzz this week as the Supreme Court prepares to hear two cases relative to same-sex marriage. The court's decisions, due by June, could be landmark findings, or a more cautious response. Photo by author, taken 3-4-2013National sentiment has swung...
Fable fashioner found
Writing the Nurturing Faith Bible study curriculum is one of my most challenging opportunities, and I'm always looking for ways to help teachers make their lessons engaging as well as informative. In the online commentary and resources for the March 10 lesson, based...
Unleash your inner priest
Yes, friends, just in time to train up your children for Passover and other priestly days, it's "Leviticus! The Game." Available as a free iPhone app from the Apple store, "Leviticus! The Game" teaches rules about purity, kosher food, and sacrifices in an environment...
Trust me. Or not …
Flipping through the March 2013 AARP Bulletin, I was struck by a sidebar entitled "Whom Do You Trust?" That led me to the check out a more detailed survey on the group's website. From AARP.org. Click to enlargeThe national poll, done in conjunction with the research...
Political football worth watching
In an age when "going on tour" commonly refers to musical shows, relics of an 2600-year-old royal rock star have begun a seven-city tour of the U.S., and it's well worth making the effort to see. The Cyrus Cylinder, one of the ancient world's most iconic objects, went...
Apologizing to Rosa …
In Washington D.C. for a meeting of the Baptist World Alliance's executive committee, I made a brief pilgrimage to the U.S. Capitol -- not to convince Congress to act like adults and compromise for the good of the country -- but to apologize to Rosa Parks. A nine-foot...
Animal crackers
OK, so there are no crackers, but here are three intriguing tidbits about animals. The first two I gathered from a mail list devoted to archaeology and ancient Near Eastern studies. The third I picked up from a David Stratton sermon illustration at Woodhaven Baptist...
Bless his key pickin’ Baptist heart
It's always nice to learn something new about someone, even after they've left this world. I can remember when pianist Van Cliburn, then a young man, won the inaugural Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow, back in 1958. It was big news at the time. In the midst of...
Don’t curse cursive
My students, who sometimes struggle to read the comments on their marked up writing assignments, can tell you that my penmanship is nothing to brag about. I've always blamed my lack of a fine flowing hand on the fact that we southpaws have to push the pen rather than...
Sweet success
I have some small reputation among friends for trying new foods and enjoying different tastes. One of my favorite dishes is a type of Korean barbecue called bulgogi -- very thinly sliced beef in a sweet soy and sesame sauce that has a flavor all of its own. Koreans...
Eggy faces
How low can Congress go, at least in the category of job approval? An average of seven different polls taken during the past month showed that only 15.6 percent of Americans approve of the job our law-makers are doing, while a resounding 78.7 percent disapprove -- a...
You go girl
Danica Patrick won the pole position for next week's Daytona 500 on Sunday, posting the fastest time among 45 competitors. She was not only the first woman to win the pole for the Daytona 500, but for any race in NASCAR's premier division. Last year she took the...
Sandy’s tricky legacy
We all remember "Superstorm Sandy," the monstrous tempest that left a wake of destruction along the northeastern shore. Since we've come to expect the federal government to foot the bill for natural disasters (including ill-advised construction in flood-prone coastal...
State of the discord
So, I did my duty and watched the State of the Union address instead of SMASH, and was struck (again) by the sharp divisions that mark our country's leadership. President Obama's speech, like all State of the Union messages, was frequently interrupted by requisite...
Good for him … I think
Pope Benedict XVI announced today that he plans to step down at the end of the month -- the first pope in 600 years to resign voluntarily rather than clinging to power and dying in office. Benedict has not been my favorite pope: his strict orthodoxy and...
Leaving hell
I have probably taken pictures of them, just children, young girls holding neon-colored signs like "God hates fags." They couldn't have been old enough to understand what the sign meant, but the indoctrination imposed upon Fred Phielps' children and grandchildren was...
The blame game
Lord, don't we love to call others culpable. Even when there's no skin off our nose, we enjoy the chance to put the onus on folk who might possibly be responsible for any sort of misfortune. Sometimes people deserve it, of course. But sometimes things just happen....
In our wake …
You can tell a lot about a person by what he or she leaves behind. That would be particularly true when someone dies and family members or friends pick through the finances, belongings, or correspondence of the deceased. Was the person a giver or a hoarder? A saver or...
Follow-ups …
A couple of thoughts that follow on two earlier blogs ... Last Friday I meandered on the subject of living and walking positively, with one's head up, as opposed to stumbling along heads-down in a perpetual pity party. Photo from allaboutbirds.comI've tried to keep...
Education under fire?
North Carolina's new governer has raised the ire of educators in the state's university system by suggesting that the only purpose of higher education worth funding is training that will lead directly to jobs. I suspect he's not the only governor doing so these days....
Buzzards and Baptists
Having spent 40 years on the "professional" side of the Baptist world -- as pastor, journalist, and professor -- I've seen my share of "Buzzard Baptists" -- the sort of folks who seem to enjoy dragging up things that stink, flocking around, and generally making life...