Reformation21

This past week, the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, kissed a seven year old boy--on the stomach! Context: the President had bent down to ask the boy his name; the boy in embarrassment rolled up his T-shirt over his face thereby exposing his stomach; what else was a politician to do? Almost...

Waiting for a flight to Philadelphia in Heathrow Terminal 4 recently, I engaged in my usual ritual: buying my children copies of the Beano and the Dandy comics, and some chocolate that tastes like real chocolate (seemingly illegal in the USA), and finding a present for my wife. A couple of years...

"To invert a famous quip of Gore Vidal, in theology, it is not enough for heretics to fail; the church must succeed." Last summer, I was fortunate enough to spend some weeks working at a church in Scotland, just outside of Edinburgh. It was certainly good to enjoy extended time back in the old...

A simple, isolated statement about belief in scriptural authority is not enough on its own to distinguish Protestants from Catholics. Some months ago, Wheaton College was thrust into the limelight in circumstances which caused what can only be described as a nightmare for those in charge of the...

The Braves are playing poorly. Not that I'd notice too much. You see, it's my wife's love--baseball that is, not mine. And she has lost something of her joie de vivre . I try to console, but when those guys swing and miss all the time, it makes for an unhappy time. Baseball is her way of relaxation...

Recently, I had occasion to fly to Korea via San Francisco. Flying across the US on a clear day is one of those rare pleasures which really allows you to get the geographical measure of the place: how flat much of the country is; how the snow-capped Rockies push the land upwards towards the sky in...

The Latin phrase semper reformanda --usually translated "always reforming"--is the widely known slogan of the Reformed tradition. It has become quite popular. Authors conjure it. Theologians cite it. Trendsetters love it. But I have become suspicious. And my suspicions stem from seeing the phrase...

"Are you going to the dogs this year?" was the question put to me. I suppose my initial reaction was that I should respond in the affirmative. I tend to think that I am making little progress in anything as the years go by. This year I probably am going to the dogs... Then I realised that "dogs"...

"In da Bginnin God cre8d da heavens & da earth."-Genesis 1:1 The above translation of Gen.1:1 is taken from the hippest new version of the Bible to date. Does the language look familiar? Well, it might for some of you. If you are among the millions who use their cellular or mobile phone to not...

I had intended to start my writing this year by waxing eloquent about Bruce Springsteen; but events have overtaken me, and meditations on `the Boss' will have to wait for a month or two. In fact, it was another icon of popular culture, Sir Elton John, or, to give him his full name, Sir Elton...