Tony Cartledge’s Blog
Possumbilities
I don't know how the critter got under our house, which is brick to the ground except for small screened vents that can barely accommodate a curious bug, much less a marsupial. However it got there, it must have found enough bugs or worms or spiders to survive for a...
A day to remember
Some days you never forget: sometimes for good reasons, sometimes not so good. This is about one of the happy ones, and fortunately, it keeps turning up. In 2015, my wife Susan and I volunteered to spend three weeks digging with the Fourth Expedition to Lachish,...
High priests?
We've heard of "high church" worship, the kind of liturgy that includes robes and processions and formal hymns with no one directing the music, maybe even the occasional scent of incense. In a surprise finding, archaeologists have learned that some ancient Hebrews had...
Just need to say . . .
My role as contributing editor and curriculum writer for Nurturing Faith gives me opportunities to blog on a variety of subjects, from devotional thoughts to curiosities to archaeology. Lately I've focused more on archaeology. Rarely do I venture into politics and...
A Baptist World Pentecost
Elijah Brown, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), announced this week that leaders will celebrate Pentecost amid the pandemic by hosting a "virtual global BWA worship service" on Friday and Saturday, May 29 and 30. Both services will feature a short...
Good news and bad news
In the field of archaeology, there's good news and bad. We might as well get the bad news out of the way first: virtually the entire 2020 digging season for volunteers has become a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most digs in Israel, at least, take place in May,...
Hopeful Images
Since the COVID-19 pandemic sent us all home, Faculty and staff at Campbell University Divinity School have been posting "Words of Encouragement" to our students and others twice a week. For this week, I thought it would be appropriate to share some of the students'...
Pandemic pondering
If the global COVID-19 pandemic hasn't accomplished anything else, it has given us something new to think about, often ad infinitum. Out of the overflow, I share a few miscellaneous ponderings in case anyone's bored enough to read them and commiserate: The news cycle...
Essential services
No one needs reminding that life is currently different from anything we've known before. With large gatherings banned, in-person church meetings have been called off with no clear end in sight. As more and more states impose "shelter in place" guidelines, everyone is...
Let’s get a grip … on something other than guns
I confess to having been a bit surprised by the outright panic many people seem to be experiencing in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. It is a crisis: don't get me wrong. We need to take it seriously and pay attention to advice from health authorities. We need to stay...
You saw it here first
First, Susan uncovered what first looked like a spear point, but turned out to be the head of a bronze scepter. Everyone gathered around to look at the find, and some dirt near the edge of a baulk was displaced. As soon as the others left, I scooped up the displaced...
The temple beneath the bridge …
Beneath a huge bridge on the main road from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, just past a huge subdivision called Mevaseret Zion and less than four miles northwest of the Old City, one can find the remains of an ancient temple that may have been used to worship both Yahweh and...
Have we erred on Ur?
For years, most Bible readers have assumed that Abraham’s hometown should be identified with the great city of Ur, located in southern Mesopotamia, an area known in ancient times as Sumer. The area is now in southern Iraq; the site of Ur is near the modern city of...
Pardon my skepticism
Several news outlets have reported what some see as exciting news with headlines like "Relic believed to be of Jesus' manger returned to Bethlehem" (UPI) and "After Two Thousand Years, Jesus' Manger Returns to Bethlehem in Time for Christmas" (Haaretz). The headlines...
Intriguing find; political drama
Doing archaeology is hard work under any circumstances, not just in the physical labor of uncovering ancient layers of civilizations, but also in walking the tightrope of ethical propriety. Such an issue is plaguing a newsworthy excavation in East Jerusalem: an...
Ninety years a servant
Sara Ann Hobbs was a force of nature with a heart for others. When she died August 28 in Silver City, New Mexico, in the home she shared with long-time friend Nancy Curtis, Hobbs reached the end of a long and pioneering journey. The journey began in Anniston, AL, in...
A bad day frozen in time
Archaeologists from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte recently announced that they and Israeli colleagues in the "Mount Zion Archaeological Project" have uncovered poignant remains from the brutal day Babylonian soldiers pillaged the city of Jerusalem...
Looking to the hills …
Nurturing Faith Inc. has many sides, including its faith-based Nurturing Faith Journal and Bible Studies to a website with daily news updates, inspirational blogs, and a publishing arm that produces books. Perhaps the most fun side of Nurturing Faith are the Nurturing...
BWA Affirms Women, Decries Religiously-Motivated Violence
It has been my privilege (not always an easy one!) to serve as chair of the Resolutions Committee for the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) during the 2016-2020 quinquennium. Since we won't do resolutions at the BWA World Congress in Rio de Janeiro next year, that...
Junkanoo and protocol, too
The 2019 Annual Gathering of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) got off to a rousing start Monday with a packed house gathering to enjoy welcome activities offered by the meeting's Bahamian hosts. A string of dignitaries were introduced and recognized by name and title...
Celebrating “HERstory”
The 2019 Baptist International Conference on Theological Education (BICTE) wrapped up July 7 with a panel discussion featuring 11 representative global pastors, counselors, and theologians responding to questions raised by participants in the meeting, which drew about...
23 and Philistine
Bible scholars have long speculated about the origins of the Philistines, who showed up in southern Palestine during the transition from the Late Bronze Age to Iron Age I, somewhere around 1200 BCE. After failing to conquer Egypt in a sea battle that cost the...
Lost in translation
The second day of the Baptist International Conference on Theological Education got underway with a stirring paper by Valérie Duval-Poujol of France on the subject of "Bible Translations and How They Have Affected Women's Engagement in the Church and Society."...
Women, Baptists, and theology
Every five years or so, the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) sponsors a conference with the ungainly acronym of BICTE: the Baptist International Conference on Theological Education. Meeting either before or after the BWA's Annual Gathering, the conference generally...
Zucchini Gump
One of my favorite movies is Forrest Gump, and there's a memorable scene in which his army friend Bubba recites to him all the different ways his coastal Louisiana mother knows how to cook shrimp. Fried shrimp, boiled shrimp, shrimp scampi, shrimp alfredo, shrimp...
Dealing with Br’er Briar
The first stories I can remember hearing as a child were from Joel Chandler Harris' collection of African American folktales as told by a fictional character known as Uncle Remus. Harris became a respected journalist in Atlanta during the post-reconstruction era, but...
From mountains to museums … to home
Some folks might wonder why I keep posting blogs cataloging each tour group I take to Israel, the West Bank, and occasionally Jordan: I've done it (you can look them up!) in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, and this year -- not to mention other travels for Campbell...
The old story in the Old City …
For friends, family, and other folk traveling vicariously through Israel and the West Bank with Campbell University Divinity School and Nurturing Faith Experiences, here's a quick review of our day in (mostly pictures) of our day in the Old City of Jerusalem. We began...
To, beside, and in the Dead Sea …
For travelers with Campbell University Divinity School and Nurturing Faith Experiences, Saturday was a day to experience the western side of the Dead Sea, including the sea itself. We began by driving from Jerusalem, at 2400 feet in elevation, to the Dead Sea, at...
Down under … ground
Friday is a good day NOT to be in Jerusalem, especially during Ramadan, with special services in both mosques and synagogues, the Temple Mount crowded with thousands of Palestinians bused in from the West Bank and the Western Wall with thousands of Jews from Jerusalem...
Down south and up west
Adventurers with Campbell University Divinity School and Nurturing Faith Experiences said goodbye to the Galilee on Thursday and headed south to a double destination. The ancient tel of Beth She'an towers above the Hellenistic/Roman city of Scythopolis, built as one...
Looping through the Galilee …
Travelers with Campbell University Divinity School and Nurturing Faith Experiences spent their second full day in Israel on a looping excursion through the northern Galilee. We began with a morning devotion on the portico of a small church on the Mount of Beatitudes,...
Let’s have a Jesus day …
Wednesday was "Jesus day" for the good folk traveling with the 2019 Nurturing Faith Experiences and Campbell University Divinity School Bible Lands Study Tour. We began with a visit to a museum adjacent to our kibbutz hotel at Nof Ginosar. The museum houses what...
Want to go along for the ride?
Twenty-six people traveling with Campbell University Divinity School and Nurturing Faith Experiences are enjoying the beautiful hills and wildflowers of Galilee. Vicarious travelers are welcome to join us. We arrived late in the day on Sunday, so we spent the first...
So now we know?
We’re all familiar with the biblical story about how God rained down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah, cities known for their cruel treatment of visitors. The story is told in Genesis 19. The cities were known for their wickedness, according to the...
CBFNC Celebrates 25 Years
Fellowship and worship marked the occasion as Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina (CBF) marked its twenty-fifth anniversary March 28-29 at First Baptist Church of Greensboro. A service of celebration was held at Revolution Mill, where Executive...
BWA reporting upswing
The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) stopped a six-year slide in contributions with a ten percent growth in gifts during 2018, but General Secretary Elijah Brown cautioned Executive Committee members gathered March 4-6 in Falls Church, Va., that one year’s growth does not...
Remembering Fido
My wife paints pets, one of several ways she finds joy in expressing her considerable artistic talents. She's been working for some time on a triptych of large oil paintings depicting women who sit along the crowded alleyways of the Muslim Quarter in the Old City of...
Raining busts and horses?
It's been dry in Israel for several years, a small reminder of periodic droughts mentioned in the Bible. That recently came to an end with a spate of heavy winter rains. Israel typically has seasonal rains, usually beginning with scattered showers in October,...
Time’s a wastin’!
The first newspaper comic strip I remember reading was "Barney Google and Snuffy Smith," a mostly lame characterization of a hillbilly family from a place called "Hootin' Holler." One of the oldest strips around, it started in 1919 and still continues, 100 years...
Maybe, maybe not
Christianity Today recently released a list of "Top Ten" archaeological discoveries in 2018, and several important things were announced during the year, though some of them had been found earlier. On the first day of 2018, for example, Israeli archaeologists...
A good life lived
She had been giving Phyllis, the weekend daytime caregiver, step-by-step instructions on how to prepare chicken and dressing in the crock pot. “People will eat that,” she said. “It’s going to be good.” She worried about having enough eggs for cooking when the family...
Don’t. Just don’t …
Israel, like America, has its fair share of ideological activists determined to have their way even if it endangers the country -- and possibly the world. For years, a group of Ultra-Orthodox Jews -- supported by American fundamentalist Christians anxious for...
Not just plain vanilla
A paper presented at the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) meeting last week put me in the mood for pound cake. Really. I didn't get to hear the lecture, because my teaching schedule renders it impractical to attend both ASOR and the Society of Biblical...
Oh, come now!
I've generally tried to stay away from politics lately not wanting to repeat the obvious flaws of our current administration that so many others do an effective job of point out. But here's something that has an Old Testament/Ancient Near Eastern connection, so I...
Even rocks change
I've found it increasingly hard to blog on current events these days, given that the political situation is so hopelessly in a shambles that any comments from me would be just restating the obvious. Hurricanes and other disasters likewise get more than adequate...
You never know what you’ll find …
Every other year, Campbell University Divinity School and Nurturing Faith Experiences co-sponsor a study tour of Israel and parts of the West Bank. And every year, one of the most memorable outings occurs at a place many participants had never heard of: Maresha....
What does the DNA say?
Two recent stories highlight the growing role of DNA analysis in archaeology. One of them offers a reminder that Israel -- a land bridge between Africa, Asia, and Europe -- has always been a land of migrants. In 1995, a large karstic cave (one formed by eroding of...
Walking on holy ground …
Want to Experience Israel in 2019? Here's how ... You can join me and New Testament professor Alicia Myers, along with veteran guide Doron Heiliger, for a 10-day tour of Israel and the West Bank May 11-22, 2019. Here are the details: The cost is $3850 from...
The cost of not thinking ahead
I had the best of intentions, planting that tree, 24 years ago. I'm a sentimental sort, sometimes perhaps overly so, and I was looking for ways to symbolically remember my young daughter Bethany, who had fallen victim to a drunk driver in January 1994. So, I stopped...
The world’s oldest bread …
Some excitement accompanied a recent announcement that archaeologists from the University of Copenhagen have discovered fragments of carbonized flatbread in the remains of a fireplace dating back to 14,400 BCE, 4,000 years before the date traditionally associated with...
Things I learned in Switzerland
The Baptist World Alliance held its Annual Gathering in Zurich this year, providing an ideal opportunity to explore that old city between meetings -- and to enjoy some vacation time in Interlaken the following week. Here are a few things I learned. The Swiss are...
BWA finds fellowship in Zurich
The Baptist World Alliance wrapped up its Annual Gathering on Friday after meeting in Zurich, Switzerland July 2-6. Three hundred and twenty Baptists from 46 countries gathered for the annual time of fellowship, worship, commission meetings (16 of them, with 60...
Up to our ears — in dirt
Today the Jezreel dig team traveling through Campbell University Divinity School and Nurturing Faith Experiences finished our last day of serious digging: tomorrow involves lots of brushing, cleaning, photographs, and odd jobs. The crew has been faithful and fabulous,...
Dig these stories … Part Four
Here's another in our series of reflections from participants in the Jezreel Expedition archaeological dig traveling with Campbell University Divinity School / Nurturing Faith Experiences. Dale Belvin is a 2009 graduate of CUDS. For the past seven years, he has been...
Dig these stories … Part Three
Participants on the Campbell University Divinity School/Nurturing Faith Experiences Jezreel Dig team have much to share about their thoughts and experiences. My two previous posts included thoughts from six participants: here are three more who benefitted in some way...
Dig these stories … part two
Participants on the Campbell University Divinity School/Nurturing Faith Experiences Jezreel Dig team have much to share about their thoughts and experiences, and I'm posting a few along the way. All students received scholarship help from the Snellings Fund. Several...
Dig these stories …
Readers hear enough of me ... I've asked participants on the Campbell University Divinity School/Nurturing Faith Experiences Jezreel Dig team to share some of their thoughts and experiences, and will be posting a few each day for the next several days. All students...
Getting down and dirty …
Archaeology lovers who have joined the Jezreel Expedition archaeological dig for the next two weeks started getting down and dirty on Monday and Tuesday. Monday began before sunup with an orientation walk from Jezreel's upper tel to the lower tel, with interpretive...
By sea and river and hills …
Thirteen travelers associated with Nurturing Faith Experiences and Campbell University Divinity School made their way from Jerusalem to Jezreel by a circuitous route on Sunday. We began the day by driving from Jerusalem down the Jericho Road to Qumran, where the Dead...
The adventure begins . . .
Adventures come in many forms. For an intrepid group of travelers with Campbell University Divinity School and Nurturing Faith Experiences, adventure these next two weeks comes in the form of a trip to Israel, where we're spending the better part of three days on a...
Oh, wait …
I was sitting in a second-floor conference room overlooking a nicely landscaped office park when I saw the saddest looking man I'd come across in awhile. In a pool of shade beneath a small tree, a youngish man was sitting cross-legged, his head in his hands, his long...
Don’t disrespect the donkey
Donkeys get little respect in this world, but ancient civilizations depended heavily on the stubby beasts of burden. The earliest evidence of horses being used in the ancient Near East is from around 2000 BCE, in tombs where horses were buried along with chariots,...
Fast food and making change
Maybe it's a sign of age, but I cannot bring myself to make small purchases with a credit or debit card when cash money is still available. I know that there are many people who carry no cash at all, and pay for everything from coffee to clothes with a debit or credit...
Isaiah’s signature? For real?
Has a lump of clay bearing the prophet Isaiah's personal seal been discovered in Jerusalem? Maybe, maybe not. Archaeologist Eilat Mazar, in a Biblical Archaeology Review tribute article to retiring editor Hershel Shanks, recently described a clay bullae found in the...
Last call!
I know you're out there, and you know who you are: someone who has always wanted to spend a couple of weeks on an archaeological expedition, to get down in the dirt and dig up amazing things from the soil of ancient Israel. Nurturing Faith Experiences and Campbell...
Take care with camel lips
If you've ever been around camels, you can't help but notice that they have large lips, but you don't generally get too close to them, as they have been known to bite and spit -- and camel breath, well, enough said. Camels are a big deal in Saudi Arabia, and not just...
Pence, Jerusalem, and the Trumpocalypse
Vice-president Mike Pence's recent visit to Jerusalem marked a towering victory for right wing fundamentalism, both Christian and Jewish. Pence's fervent speech to the Israeli Knesset, rife with biblical references and described by the newspaper Haaretz as a "Zionist...
No, it’s not the end.
To my friends around the world: Yes, America appears to have gone off the deep end wearing lead boots. No, we are not going to drown, despite the rising waters of bigotry and greed. Yes, evidence continues to mount that we have made a terrible mistake. Somehow, this...
Where everything old is new again . . .
Yikes. That's what I said to myself when I realized I hadn't posted a blog in more than a month: that's what finishing up a semester and the big rush of completing a book can do for you -- along with being determined to take a few days off during the holidays. So here...
Does history matter?
One of the more interesting books I picked up at the Society of Biblical Literature meeting is a new one by Richard Elliott Friedman, a professor of Jewish studies and Hebrew Bible at the University of Georgia. Friedman does the best job of anyone I know in explaining...
A real horse town
Sunday at the annual Society of Biblical Literature meeting as a day of learning on many counts. If you're curious about things biblical and archaeological, keep reading ... Rather than reviewing all of the (sometimes) fascinating sessions I attended and boring...
From arcane grammar to wilderness wanderings …
The annual Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) meeting offers an opportunity to hear from a broad variety of scholars addressing hundreds of topics serving an overflowing smorgasbord of interests. Sessions relate to every conceivable part of the Bible, along with...
What you don’t know …
An old saying claims "What you don't know can't hurt you," which is manifestly false, as anyone who's stepped in a hole they didn't know was there can attest. What you don't know can also slow you down and generally wreck your plans. Case in point: I arrived in Boston...
Rev it up, Rev …
Day in and day out, I putter in my Prius like geezer, trying to break the 70 miles per gallon barrier. Every now and then, though, a man needs to be near some real horsepower. Welcome to truck racing. Thanks to my friend David Daly, I recently spent a day at the...
Bye bye, ties
Fall reading days offer professor types an opportunity to change gears for a bit. This year I've benefitted from a retreat with my support group of brothers in ministry that has been going on for 29 years, a day of hiking with my lovely wife, and a few more days to...
Diggin’ it — for real
Have you ever wished that, just once, you could participate in a real live archaeological dig in Israel? Here's your chance! Nurturing Faith Experiences, in partnership with Campbell University Divinity School, has arranged for a limited number of participants to join...
Sermon stealing
The topic of pulpit plagiarism has been in the news since pastor Bill Shillady sought to capitalize on a series of devotions he sent Hillary Clinton during her ill-fated presidential campaign by publishing them as Strong for a Moment Like This. After the book came...
Not so fast
One frustrating aspect of archaeology is that it takes time: no matter how large the team, you can't descend on a promising tel and uncover all of its secrets in one season -- or even in twenty. Archaeology is a meticulous business that requires careful digging and...
Empowering hatred
On August 11 and 12 hundreds of avowed white supremacists converged on Charlottesville, Virginia, protesting the city's decision to remove a prominent statue of Robert E. Lee in a symbolic step away from celebrating the Confederacy's failed attempt to preserve chattel...
Now, that’s evil …
In a very nice cabin set in majestic old forest growth outside of Helen, Ga., Susan I looked forward to several days of hiking on some of the area's charming and challenging trails -- but have been foiled by three straight days of rain. I like hiking, and I like rain,...
Visiting Vietnam
When the United States instituted a draft lottery during the Vietnam War, my draft number was 19 – which meant I was sure to be drafted if I had not been in college at the time. As it turned out, America’s involvement came to an end just before I graduated in 1973. I...
Laos Living
Laos is home to much that is beautiful and much that is quaint, but my favorite thing about visiting new countries is seeing how people live. Local guides insist that visitors see things that are unusual or impressive, but the best part is often getting there. We...
Temple Time
Many countries carry faith-labels. America is called a “Christian” nation, though only a small percentage (including many who wear the label like a flag) take the teachings of Jesus seriously. Israel is officially a Jewish nation, but most of the Jews are secular....
Virtual Tourism
In the following posts I offer "virtual visitors" a chance to travel along with Susan and me as we visit new places, learn new things, and experience cultures other than our own. I will try to make them more entertaining than Uncle Ed's slides about his trip to the...
BWA Annual Gathering 2017 Highlights
During its 2017 Annual Gathering, held July 3-7 in Bangkok, Thailand, the Baptist World Alliance: HONORED Neville Callam of Jamaica for his ten years of service as General Secretary of the BWA. Callam was elected at the 2006 Annual Gathering in Accra, Ghana, and will...
A Thai-riffic Welcome
Thai Baptists rolled out a colorful carpet of entertaining singers, dancers, and actors Tuesday night as they welcomed global Baptists to Bangkok for the Baptist World Alliance's 2017 Annual Gathering. Vocal offerings ranged from a throaty version of "His Eye is On...
A day in Bangkok
As a sketchy excuse to share some interesting pictures, I offer this bullet-point sketch of our Tuesday in Bangkok at the Baptist World Alliance Annual Gathering -- and not. 8:15 a.m. -- Breakfast at an impressive buffet inside what is at night a fancy Japanese...
What did you find?
Talk to anybody about your participation in an archaeological dig, and at least one question is inevitable: "What did you find?" Or, its variation: "Did you find anything good?" No one would dig if they didn't hope to find something, but what archaeologists look for...
Life on the kibbutz
A highlight of digging with the Jezreel Expedition is the opportunity to spend some time living on a kibbutz. The first kibbutzim (the plural form) were formed in the early 1900s as part of the Zionist movement encouraging Jews to move into Palestine, and the movement...
Pottery tells the tale
Archaeology has many facets, and all of them are important as we seek to interpret what we're finding and how that speaks to us about a given site. In some cases, we can gather some information from texts such as the Bible or archives of royal records from neighboring...
Tools of the trade
An archaeological expedition requires a number of things, beginning with a promising site (and permission to dig it), qualified directors, a strong staff, a bevy of volunteers (here known as team members) willing to pay their own way to do hard labor while following...
Getting oriented
Our first day of participation in the Jezreel Expedition involved no digging, but lots of orientation. The 2017 dig began two weeks ago, and has two weeks to go. The ancient city of Jezreel sits on a high knoll among the foothills of the Gilboa mountain range -- we...
Not your ordinary day …
What do you do with a day in the Old City of Jerusalem when the sites you want to see are closed? While waiting to meet up with the team we'll be joining to dig in Jezreel, Susan and I had a free day in Jerusalem. How often does that happen? We took a cab from our...
Get up and go!
As Susan and I have returned from a meaningful tour of Israel, Palestine, and Jordan -- and as we prepare for an upcoming trip back to Israel for a dig, then on to Bangkok for the Baptist World Alliance, then to Laos and Vietnam for fun and cultural enrichment -- I'm...
One last, long day …
The last day in Israel was one of devotion for travelers with the Campbell University Divinity School and Nurturing Faith Experiences study tour of Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. We began the day on a long and winding road that we don't usually take. Because Mr. Trump...
Things look different …
Monday was a day of playing tag with security forces preparing for Donald Trump’s visit to the Old City of Jerusalem, trying to work in what we could amid the upheaval of business as usual. We started early, as usual. Trying to avoid some traffic, we entered the Old...
Over, under, and through
Sunday was a day of experiential ups and downs for the Campbell University Divinity School/Nurturing Faith Experiences group traveling in Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. We’re in Jerusalem now, doing our best to work our schedule around the havoc caused by Donald...
From Palm Sunday to Palestine
Another day, another full quota of new experiences for the Campbell University Divinity School/Nurturing Faith Experiences group traveling in Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. We began this day (for those willing to get up an hour earlier) with a short tour of the dig at...
Back in the land of promise …
Friday began with another crack-of-dawn wake-up call for the Campbell University Divinity School/Nurturing Faith Experiences group traveling in Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank. After two days in Jordan, including a delightful stay in the new spoil-you-in-a-minute...
Rockin’ in Petra
Some stories are best told in pictures, and this blog will be mostly that – a bunch of pictures from Petra. Travelers with the Campbell University Divinity School/Nurturing Faith Experiences group were given a choice as we explored the Nabatean capital of Petra on...
No rush, right?
Wednesday began with a lot of “hurry up and wait” for folks traveling with the Campbell University Divinity School/Nurturing Faith Experiences tour group. We left early and headed straight for the border crossing into Jordan near Beth She’an (no photos allowed)....
You did what?
Travelers with our Campbell University Divinity School/Nurturing Faith Experiences tour group are getting their money’s worth. Our guide told a fellow guide what all we had done today, and he responded: “It takes me three days to do that.” You can believe it. After...
Movin’ on up — to the Upper Galilee
Participants in the Campbell University Divinity School/Nurturing Faith Experiences tour packed two days’ worth of experiences (for many groups) into one day on Monday, May 15. The day began on the Mount of Beatitudes, where Peter Donlon, Alumni and Development...
Day One, and on the run …
A weary congregation of 51 folks traveling with this year’s Campbell University Divinity School/Nurturing Faith Experiences tour arrived in Tel Aviv Sunday morning after a variety of connections and an uneventful but long overnight flight from Newark. We arrived with...
Bits and bytes from the world of archaeology
Understanding the past can sometimes come through written documents, but unlike our modern culture in which technology enables us to record (and broadcast) every moment we consider significant, the vast majority of ancient history was unrecorded. Here are a few...
To sift, or not to sift?
Back in 2011, I had the joy of taking participants on the Campbell University Divinity School's bi-annual trip to Israel and the West Bank to spend a few hours volunteering with the Temple Mount Sifting Project, a salvage operation in which volunteers sift through...
What the donkey dung said …
Archaeologists in the southernmost stretch of the Wadi Arabah recently uncovered a surprising find -- clods of 3,000-year-old donkey dung in an amazing state of preservation. The ancient ordure was found piled against the inside of a fortified wall near the gatehouse...
CBFNC Cliff Notes
"Tweet others as you would like to be tweeted" sparked one of countless smiles shared by participants gathered for the Annual Gathering of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina (CBFNC), meeting at First Baptist Church of Hickory, NC. Associated meetings...
The road still taken …
Woman's Missionary Union (WMU) has been about missions from the beginning, and that has not changed. As always, missions was at the forefront as more than 600 North Carolina Baptist women and other guests gathered at First Baptist Church of Greensboro March 24-25 to...
Eats and treats
Can anything you do at church be more fun than combining a mission project to feed others with barbecue to feed the volunteers? I was proud of my home church -- Woodhaven Baptist in Cary/Apex -- and lucky enough to be in town this weekend when those two opportunities...
A step behind?
Attending some mid-year committee meetings of the Baptist World Alliance reminded me of how lucky I am to be a native English speaker -- and also how far behind much of the world that puts me. Representatives from a slew of countries were there: at a moment's thought...
Wanted: Generous Baptists with Global Vision
A memorable chorus from Cabaret holds that "Money makes the world go round, the world go round, the world go round -- money makes the world go round, it makes the world go round." The song is not only repetitive, but wrong: the earth was spinning happily on its axis...
Collateral discovery
Can militants associated with the so-called Islamic State be given credit for anything good? Not one thing, most of us would say. Still, their misguided and destructive campaign to blot out priceless monuments from antiquity because they were associated with the...
Long before Adam …
It's the time of the year -- especially in an inordinately warm winter year -- when folks start putting out fertilizer and pre-emergent herbicides to suppress the growth of weeds in their lawns, gardens, or fields. It turns out that weeds have been a problem for a...
Diggin’ the art
Here's a Valentine's Day gift for art and history lovers everywhere: the Metropolitan Museum of Art has made high-resolution digital images of more than 375,000 of its artworks, sculptures, and historical objects available to anyone who wants them. Visitors to the met...
Alternative faces
I continue to struggle with what to say these days: with so many bad choices, hurtful orders, and childish displays coming from the White House, it seems irresponsible not to comment on them -- but many others more qualified than I are providing cogent commentary. At...
It’s safe to talk Chinese
For now, at least, it seems safe to talk Chinese. It's certainly not safe to talk politics, at least in a mixed crowd that might include both fans and detractors of the current president. Folks like me can only shake our heads at how he continues to lie with abandon,...
Honor where honor is due
I grew up back in the days when many people seem to think America was "great." It was a time of blatant and unadulterated racism, when it took the hard and dangerous work of activists like Martin Luther King, John Lewis, and other Civil Rights pioneers just to get...
The gift you always wanted
Need a last minute gift idea for someone dear, or even for yourself? Time's a wastin' (as Snuffy Smif likes to say) for you to register for the gift of a lifetime -- a trip to Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan. Nurturing Faith Experiences and Campbell University...
Pressing on …
The paucity of posts I've generated in the past few months reminds me of how hard it's been for me to generate blogs lately. I could claim a lack of time, but I've always had to squeeze blog-writing into what are typically very busy days. I could claim a lack of...
Translating with an agenda …
Scholars sometimes make mistakes because they are lacking understanding or adequate information. That is regrettable, but understandable. Scholars -- or persons who claim to be scholars -- may also err in order to promote a personal agenda. Worse than regrettable,...
All over the map
Attending a meeting of SBL/AAR (the Society of Biblical Literature/American Academy of Religion) is not unlike strolling along San Antonio's famed Riverwalk: options abound, and all of them interesting, at least to people of a certain bent. The Alamo is just around...
Of old papyrus and modern politics …
Americans are not the only ones whose political scene involves multiple perspectives and turbo-charged spin machines ready to frame any event to the advantage of a particular point of view. Israel is a primary case in point. This past week, representatives in Paris at...
YouTube to the rescue
I am not a mechanic, and never wanted to be. There were years when I used to change the oil and do basic tuneups on my cars, but that was back when engines were less sophisticated and more accessible to non-professionals. I was also a poor young preacher at the time,...
A real game of “thrones” …
Apparently, King Hezekiah meant business when he set out to do away with shrines devoted to gods other than Yahweh, the God of Israel. The historian behind 2 Kings 18:3-4a says that when Hezekiah became king, "He did what was right in the sight of the LORD just as his...
Infrequent urbanite
I'm a country boy turned small town guy turned suburbanite for the past 28 years, and I'm fortunate enough to get to visit some nice cities on occasion. I live just outside of Raleigh -- recently named the best city in the Southeast -- and I enjoy spending time...
Planned obsolescence?
My old pair of Nikes must have come with an expiration date I didn't see. I tend to wear my shoes until I wear them out, especially those we euphemistically call tennis or track shoes: I haven't played tennis or run track in more than 40 years. On me, they're walking...
New finds from an old geezer
Tel Gezer (pronounced "geh-zer," not "geezer") has been in the news lately. Though it has been excavated off and on (and sometimes poorly) since the early 1900s, recent excavations offer tantalizing evidence that seems to support biblical claims about the city. Gezer...
Triple dipping
Smart phone apps can be a boon or a boondoggle, depending on whether they promote productivity (thereby saving time), or goofing off (thereby wasting the same). I don't want to suggest that game playing can never be worthwhile, but anyone who has dabbled in addictive...
Big money?
There must be big money in medigap insurance. Apparently some government records that include birthdays are open to the public and regularly mined by companies hoping to profit from the information. I don't know whether information brokers glean and sell such...
Things I learned in Montana
I've been home from the Northwest for nearly a week now, but my mind (and my computer) remain loaded with powerful images of austere peaks, lush meadows, vibrant wildlife, and cottony clouds that fill mountain clefts like ice cream in a bowl. A lot of that time was...
Playing catch-up
Blogging about a trip that's more fun than work feels a bit self-serving, or like bragging, but I figure some folks might enjoy the pictures and a reflection here and there, so I press on. It's easier to read than current politics, at least. Since wifi is not always...
Cold days, warm fellowship
Joining this year's Nurturing Faith Experience in Yellowstone and the Tetons has been quite the experience so far, with an unexpected arctic blast that brought July temperatures into the 30s, but failed to put a chill on the camaraderie among our 19 travelers. It's...
NABF elects new leaders
The North American Baptist Fellowship (NABF) is moving forward with new leadership following a meeting in Vancouver July 7. Elijah Brown was elected to succeed George Bullard as executive director of NABF, an organization of more than 30 Baptist organizations and...
Who owns the land?
Canadian Baptists hosted participants in the Baptist World Alliance's Annual Gathering on July 5. The evening was billed as a celebration with Canadian Baptists, and it was that. The evening was chilly, but we began with an outdoor picnic featuring "Canadian...
Welcome to Vancouver
A scattering of global Baptists have gathered this week in Vancouver for the Baptist World Alliance's Annual Gathering. From Europe and Africa they have come, from Asia and Australia, from South America, Latin America, North America, and Canada we have gathered to...
A boat with room and love for all …
Meetings for state and regional groups associated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship are a standard element of CBF's Annual Gathering and for North Carolina CBFers, always a highlight. This year's gathering attracted a standing room only crowd of 300 or more...
BWIM releases “State of Women in Baptist Life”
Baptist Women in Ministry met for worship and released a new “State of Women in Baptist Life” update during activities at the First Baptist Church on Fifth in Winston-Salem June 22. Executive director Pam Durso previewed the report, the first since 2010. It included...
Beauty and the beast
Long drives are not necessarily conducive to a good vacation, unless the drive is the point, in which case it can be amazing. Susan and I set out last week to spend several days driving the length of the Blue Ridge Parkway from where it begins (or ends, at milepost...
Pride goeth before …
"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall," according to the familiar King James translation of Proverbs 16:18. I was reminded of that on a recent visit to the ancient Greek city of Delphi, home to the famous oracle. Most of the terraced...
The last days …
All good things must come to an end, at least on this world, and study tours are no exception. Though travelers in Greece with Campbell University Divinity School and Nurturing Faith Experiences learned much and grew close during our time together, most were ready for...
The hills are alive …
There is music in Athens, but the hills are mainly alive with the echoes of history, and those echoes rang clear May 23 for folks traveling with Campbell University Divinity School and Nurturing Faith Experiences. From the Divani Hotel Acropolis, we had just a short...
A tale of two islands …
Extended days and insufficient bandwidth are not conducive to regular blogging, but the 2016 Bible Lands Study Tour to Greece and Turkey, sponsored by Campbell University Divinity School and Nurturing Faith Experiences, did not fall into a Mediterranean maelstrom and...
No rest for the cheery …
A cruise through Greek islands of the Aegean Sea sounds like an idyllic and restful way to spend a few days, right? Idyllic, yes. Restful, no – not if you’re traveling with a study tour intent on learning as much as you can in a short period of time. Pilgrims...
Journey to the Center of the Earth …
Jules Verne, the 19th century pioneer of science fiction, fascinated me with his Journey to the Center of the Earth, which involved an expedition deep into the earth's core. On Thursday, participants in the Campbell University Divinity School and Nurturing Faith...
Taking the scenic route …
Travelers in Greece with Campbell University Divinity School and Nurturing Faith Experiences took the long way around on Wednesday, driving west from Thessaloniki to Verea and Vergina, then south through Thessaly to Meteora and across the mountains to Meteora, then...
Virtual Greece
Welcome, real friends and virtual travelers, to a study tour of Greece with a brief side trip to Ephesus, in Turkey. Twenty-five adventurous souls traveling with Campbell University Divinity School and Nurturing Faith Experiences embarked on Sunday, May 15, arriving...
Rules of the race
In the few weeks surrounding the Kentucky Derby, when national attention turns ever-so-briefly to horse racing and wearing pretentious hats becomes cool, it's good to know that some ancient sponsors of the sport were actually good sports. Horse racing was so popular...
Of mountains and molehills …
An eclectic team of scholars from Tel Aviv University recently published research indicating that some Israelite military personnel serving around 600 BCE knew how to read and write. Two Southern Baptist seminary professors contacted by Baptist Press seized on the...