For 70 years, this picture has been used to tell the same story – of inequality, class division, “toffs and toughs”. As an old Etonian closes in on Downing Street, it is being trotted out again. But what was the story behind it? Ian Jack investigates. CLICK HERE TO READ

I’m preparing for my last BBT class at Columbia Seminary (coming in July). If you peruse this blog much, you know how important Taylor has been to my formation as a human, writer, story-teller and preacher. I would dare say she has shaped me more than any other preacher/writer. Period.
Two of the books we’re reading [...]

Whether one writes, teaches, preaches, creates films . . . the challenge to communicate well is a weight. I’m trying to be more aware of this in my own preaching, teaching, and writing. The following categories are not original, I’ve seen them in several different venues.
INTELLECTUAL. Some people connect to God through the mind. They [...]

Here’s the intro from a film I recently presented at the Lipscomb Preaching Conference. The joke per China and the growth of Christianity is from Randy Harris (that got left out in the edits, fyi).
Collision

Every five hundred years, the church, whether she realizes it or not, has a rummage sale. The cultural, societal, and philosophical baggage gathered “along the way” must be re-constituted or tossed aside all together.
*Jesus came to bring Israel back to Torah-abiding, justice-executing ways.
*The important council’s of the 5th centuries definitively gave the church language to [...]

There are two ways to be anti-intellectual. One is dangerous. The other is healthy.
First, the dangerous way. In this stream of anti-intellectualism, I hear people say, “Well, I hate to read. I just catch the headlines.” This group (full of conservatives and liberals depending upon where you live) polarizes the conversation (or lack thereof) with [...]