The world descends on Russia for the month-long festival of football insanity that is the FIFA World Cup. I already have my picks logged in at Fox Sports and am ready for 64 games of end-to-end delight. And with that comes my Top Ten List of "Intriguing Items About the 2018 World Cup".
1. Germany will repeat...There seem to be many signs that Die Mannschaft will chug its way to back-to-back crowns in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium. Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels anchor a crushing defensive backfield, and Thomas Muller can still score goals as well as anyone else in the world. Young lions such as Joshua Kimmich, Julian Brandt, and Timo Werner add spice to a team laden with experienced hands like Toni Kroos and Mesut Ozil. And there is no better managerial mind in the world than Germany's Joachim Loew.
2. ...and they might not. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer looks rusty in his return from a broken foot last September, leaving analytical minds wondering if Marc-Andre ter Stegen would be better between the pipes (He was fabulous in the 2017 Confederations Cup). Sami Khedira is not getting any younger, nor is Mario Gomez. And there is no telling if leaving Leroy Sane and 2014 hero Mario Gotze off the squad will be the right call. But you still have a squad with only three players over the age of 30, so if they beat Mexico in their first group stage game, look out.
3. We have a slate of amazing initial group stage matchups. Portugal/Spain highlights the Friday slate, and one wonders if Sergio Ramos, the doctor of thuganomics, will try to impale Cristiano Ronaldo. Odds are he will try with the subtlety of a Belfast car bomb (and I don't mean the drink). On Saturday, perennial contenders Argentina clashes with World Cup debutants Iceland, and if the Viking clap overcomes Lionel Messi and company, we might see Diego Maradona go into a Bueno Aries bar and do one final, fatal line of cocaine. And that Germany-Mexico contest on Sunday gives each side a chance to shake off some recent international friendly cobwebs.
4. A four-peat of sorts is in the works. Not in terms of a team repeating (no one ever has except for Italy in 1934/38 and Brazil in 1958/62), but in terms of individual scoring. If Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Tim Cahill of Australia put the ball in the net in Russia, then they will join the illustrious PSK Club...PSK standing for Pele, Uwe Seeler, and Miroslav Klose, the only players to have scored at least one goal for four consecutive World Cup tournaments.
5. Announcing could really suck. FOX Sports will be assigning twelve announcers to their 2018 World Cup coverage, and eight will be American, and only four will be on site in Russia! That means the rest will be announcing from the FOX Sports studio in Los Angeles. Oh, and no Ian Darke or Martin Tyler. The soccer announcing gods hate the world, apparently.
6. Who we'll be missing. Italy will not be there, courtesy of their playoff loss to Sweden. The Netherlands will follow their runner-up status of 2010 and third-place finish in 2014 with no appearance in 2018, thanks to a third-place finish in their group which Iceland won. The USA is out due to a final-game qualification collapse against Trindad and Tobago. Wayne Rooney of England is an international participant no more. And the players who notched the game-winning assist (Andres Schurrle) and goal (Mario Gotze) will not be on this year's German team.
7. One of the following will happen: Corrupt officiating costs a team a game. Or Russian forest-fighting hooligans or other fans will ruin a game with flares or other incendiaries. Or the Russian team will have its numbers cut in half by getting nailed for blood doping.
8. Lionel Messi will win the Golden Ball for best player. And people in his homeland will still diss him because he will not have World Cup championship on his resume.
9. I am praying for an Egypt-Spain matchup in the first knockout round. Because I want to see the flash-boil temperature of that contest with Mohammed Salah and Sergio Ramos back on the field opposing each other after this thug shot during the Champions League final.
10. And hopefully, #10 comes true tomorrow in the form of a selection of North America to host the 2026 World Cup.
Check back for daily commentary on World Cup action over the coming months!
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Saturday, June 9, 2018
A Tale of Three Families
In a sense, commenting on three different faith communities' meetings is a lot like swinging at a knuckleball in the dirt with two strikes. You're asking for little chance of true success unless the ball skips past the catcher and you can take first base.
Next week, by the way, is the knuckleball. Here I am swinging.
During the days of June 12-22, there will be three key families of evangelical churches that will meet for national (two of them) or international (the last one) convocations. All three--if words are to be believed--are seeking to be as faithful as possible to their theological heritage while facing the future with purpose.
All three are facing critical junctures in their history, and that is what makes next week so interesting from the vantage point of church history and futures.
The first--and shortest of--the three groups is the Southern Baptist Convention, which is having its annual meeting in Dallas, with most of the events transpiring from the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center. The two-day confab (June 12-13) could normally mean some high-pressure immediacy to the SBC's actions, as shorter meetings tend to blow through matters with the speed and pace of the Gospel of St. Mark. The backstory to the SBC's gathering, however, has outlets like the Washington Post weighing in on the SBC's #MeToo collision. Paige Patterson, seminary president and Baptist preacher who led the SBC's Conservative Resurgence in the late 1970s and early 1980s, has been caught in a web of historic stonewalling of justice for victims of sexual assault, as well as past comments that are demeaning to women. It wasn't until yesterday that Patterson pulled out of his role of delivering the convention sermon on the morning of June 13th, to be replaced by Kie Bowman of Austin, Texas.
The salve that brings, however, is overshadowed by the vote for convention president. Some call it a matchup of the old guard and the new generation, with Ken Hemphill and J.D. Greear both nominated for the post. Hemphill is a seasoned pastor, professor, and leader who has the backing of Baptist legends such as Richard Land and First Baptist-Dallas pastor (and President Trump acolyte) Robert Jeffress. Greear has revitalized the Summit Church in Durham, NC, and functions with a warm heart beating for church planting and a Kuyperian approach to the biblically-driven activity of laypeople.
Twitter is hot and heavy in the debate over who should get the nod, with enough informal polls to lose track of the number and with enough pronouncements that this is a watershed moment in the identity of the SBC. It is tempting to separate the Patterson/#MeToo issues from the presidential election, but I consider them linked. Whoever takes the reins of leadership and influence will dictate the response of the SBC to how females are honored and connected throughout the denomination. Expect a thunderous reaction either way coming out of Dallas. It would be nice to see wounds get healed in a united front, but I'm not certain this is that year for the SBC. But I can still pray for it, because I have a number of SBC friends and allies.
Atlanta--or more specifically, the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta--hosts the 46th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America from June 12-15. It's true, if I would head to Atlanta, I'm much more inclined to see college friends, go to the Varsity for lunch (and dinner!) and also visit the College Football Hall of Fame. However, the PCA has some hot-plate matters before it next week: the role of women in the ministry of the church, declarations about marriage in its church constitution, and reception of its report on racial reconciliation.
Overtures aplenty have the potential to turn the GA into a minefield. No less than three overtures ask to put more force behind the affirmation of marriage being solely between one man and one woman, and a further request from Pittsburgh Presbytery desires to take a look at another denomination's critical study on same-sex marriage. These matters are not without context, as the PCA still has not given a unified declaration to Obergefell v. Hodges and the Revoice Conference will proceed here in St. Louis six weeks after the end of GA.
Women in ministry has been a rising issue over the last ten years in the PCA, with its ascendant push provoking thoughtful questions but (in this writer's opinion) offering answers that are more pragmatic than biblically-oriented. The report of the Racial and Ethnic Reconciliation Study Committee will be received and discussed. Full disclosure: I participated in the survey that will be discussed. While this is a matter that needs frank discussion, I prefer to call this a matter of "multi-ethnic unity and reconciliation" (yes, I believe race is a social construct). And I was not impressed with the leading nature of the survey's questions. Certainly, this issue will bring up some pointed chatter.
As with the SBC, leadership will matter. The PCA votes on a moderator to run the proceedings rather than a convention president, but like the SBC, there are some pronounced divides. Confessional defenders, evangelistic dynamists, and cultural transformists broker their hoped-for nominees, and the moderator will be key to which group might feel the most heard.
Finally, from June 17-22, another monumental gathering takes place. The difference is this family reunion is highly multi-national, multi-denominational, and multi-ethnic, not to mention it takes place halfway around the world. It is the Jerusalem Conference of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in which 2000-plus Anglican leaders from around the planet will descend on the Holy City for days of prayer and planning. While not a denominational assembly of any legislative teeth, there are principles that all must assent to the statement of faith that unites supporters of GAFCON.
What has happened in the last fifteen years of worldwide Anglicanism is quite honestly amazing. As Christianity withers in the West, the Global South has risen as the energetic epicenter of Christianity in general and Anglicanism in particular. Gone are the days of Canterbury's dominance; rushing in has been the missionary and church planting endeavors of churches from Nigeria, Rwanda, and others, which have brought about a harvest through denominations such as my present tribe, the Anglican Church in North America.
(Wow, that was about the worst kept secret in the world. Yes, I am no longer PCA. I am an Anglican evangelical.)
In a call to prayer before GAFCON's Jerusalem Conference, the chairman of the Primates Council, Nicholas Okoh--the Archbishop of All Nigeria--has put forth a request for prayer. In fact, it's a published booklet called Fuel for Prayer, outlining the hopes for equipping believers and evangelising the nations. Of particular interest is how Anglicans might be praying for the launch of nine networks for worldwide gospel effectiveness. The networks are Global Missions Partnerships, Church Planting, Theological Education, Bishop's Training, Youth and Children's Ministry, Women's Ministry, Sustainable Development, Intercessory Prayers, and a Lawyer's Task Force. With leaders from around the globe in Jerusalem to pray and launch these initiatives into existence, it will be intriguing to watch how the resurgent wave of Anglican evangelicalism moves forth from here. So far, a significant amount of what has united GAFCON has been a battle against progressive Anglicanism that disdains the authority of Scripture. Ten years into GAFCON's existence, the time is ripe to move from a battlefield to more mission fields.
Three families, three gatherings. I have links to all three. I pray for all three. I have cautious hope for all, with the overarching hope that God is sovereign.
Next week, by the way, is the knuckleball. Here I am swinging.
During the days of June 12-22, there will be three key families of evangelical churches that will meet for national (two of them) or international (the last one) convocations. All three--if words are to be believed--are seeking to be as faithful as possible to their theological heritage while facing the future with purpose.
All three are facing critical junctures in their history, and that is what makes next week so interesting from the vantage point of church history and futures.
The first--and shortest of--the three groups is the Southern Baptist Convention, which is having its annual meeting in Dallas, with most of the events transpiring from the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center. The two-day confab (June 12-13) could normally mean some high-pressure immediacy to the SBC's actions, as shorter meetings tend to blow through matters with the speed and pace of the Gospel of St. Mark. The backstory to the SBC's gathering, however, has outlets like the Washington Post weighing in on the SBC's #MeToo collision. Paige Patterson, seminary president and Baptist preacher who led the SBC's Conservative Resurgence in the late 1970s and early 1980s, has been caught in a web of historic stonewalling of justice for victims of sexual assault, as well as past comments that are demeaning to women. It wasn't until yesterday that Patterson pulled out of his role of delivering the convention sermon on the morning of June 13th, to be replaced by Kie Bowman of Austin, Texas.
The salve that brings, however, is overshadowed by the vote for convention president. Some call it a matchup of the old guard and the new generation, with Ken Hemphill and J.D. Greear both nominated for the post. Hemphill is a seasoned pastor, professor, and leader who has the backing of Baptist legends such as Richard Land and First Baptist-Dallas pastor (and President Trump acolyte) Robert Jeffress. Greear has revitalized the Summit Church in Durham, NC, and functions with a warm heart beating for church planting and a Kuyperian approach to the biblically-driven activity of laypeople.
Twitter is hot and heavy in the debate over who should get the nod, with enough informal polls to lose track of the number and with enough pronouncements that this is a watershed moment in the identity of the SBC. It is tempting to separate the Patterson/#MeToo issues from the presidential election, but I consider them linked. Whoever takes the reins of leadership and influence will dictate the response of the SBC to how females are honored and connected throughout the denomination. Expect a thunderous reaction either way coming out of Dallas. It would be nice to see wounds get healed in a united front, but I'm not certain this is that year for the SBC. But I can still pray for it, because I have a number of SBC friends and allies.
Atlanta--or more specifically, the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta--hosts the 46th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America from June 12-15. It's true, if I would head to Atlanta, I'm much more inclined to see college friends, go to the Varsity for lunch (and dinner!) and also visit the College Football Hall of Fame. However, the PCA has some hot-plate matters before it next week: the role of women in the ministry of the church, declarations about marriage in its church constitution, and reception of its report on racial reconciliation.
Overtures aplenty have the potential to turn the GA into a minefield. No less than three overtures ask to put more force behind the affirmation of marriage being solely between one man and one woman, and a further request from Pittsburgh Presbytery desires to take a look at another denomination's critical study on same-sex marriage. These matters are not without context, as the PCA still has not given a unified declaration to Obergefell v. Hodges and the Revoice Conference will proceed here in St. Louis six weeks after the end of GA.
Women in ministry has been a rising issue over the last ten years in the PCA, with its ascendant push provoking thoughtful questions but (in this writer's opinion) offering answers that are more pragmatic than biblically-oriented. The report of the Racial and Ethnic Reconciliation Study Committee will be received and discussed. Full disclosure: I participated in the survey that will be discussed. While this is a matter that needs frank discussion, I prefer to call this a matter of "multi-ethnic unity and reconciliation" (yes, I believe race is a social construct). And I was not impressed with the leading nature of the survey's questions. Certainly, this issue will bring up some pointed chatter.
As with the SBC, leadership will matter. The PCA votes on a moderator to run the proceedings rather than a convention president, but like the SBC, there are some pronounced divides. Confessional defenders, evangelistic dynamists, and cultural transformists broker their hoped-for nominees, and the moderator will be key to which group might feel the most heard.
Finally, from June 17-22, another monumental gathering takes place. The difference is this family reunion is highly multi-national, multi-denominational, and multi-ethnic, not to mention it takes place halfway around the world. It is the Jerusalem Conference of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in which 2000-plus Anglican leaders from around the planet will descend on the Holy City for days of prayer and planning. While not a denominational assembly of any legislative teeth, there are principles that all must assent to the statement of faith that unites supporters of GAFCON.
What has happened in the last fifteen years of worldwide Anglicanism is quite honestly amazing. As Christianity withers in the West, the Global South has risen as the energetic epicenter of Christianity in general and Anglicanism in particular. Gone are the days of Canterbury's dominance; rushing in has been the missionary and church planting endeavors of churches from Nigeria, Rwanda, and others, which have brought about a harvest through denominations such as my present tribe, the Anglican Church in North America.
(Wow, that was about the worst kept secret in the world. Yes, I am no longer PCA. I am an Anglican evangelical.)
In a call to prayer before GAFCON's Jerusalem Conference, the chairman of the Primates Council, Nicholas Okoh--the Archbishop of All Nigeria--has put forth a request for prayer. In fact, it's a published booklet called Fuel for Prayer, outlining the hopes for equipping believers and evangelising the nations. Of particular interest is how Anglicans might be praying for the launch of nine networks for worldwide gospel effectiveness. The networks are Global Missions Partnerships, Church Planting, Theological Education, Bishop's Training, Youth and Children's Ministry, Women's Ministry, Sustainable Development, Intercessory Prayers, and a Lawyer's Task Force. With leaders from around the globe in Jerusalem to pray and launch these initiatives into existence, it will be intriguing to watch how the resurgent wave of Anglican evangelicalism moves forth from here. So far, a significant amount of what has united GAFCON has been a battle against progressive Anglicanism that disdains the authority of Scripture. Ten years into GAFCON's existence, the time is ripe to move from a battlefield to more mission fields.
Three families, three gatherings. I have links to all three. I pray for all three. I have cautious hope for all, with the overarching hope that God is sovereign.
Thursday, June 7, 2018
Steering Through the Fire
And with the completion of another book comes another book review. Also dealing with Anglican history, yet in a different vein, Roger Steer's Guarding the Holy Fire: The Evangelicalism of John R.W. Stott, J.I. Packer, and Alister McGrath gives a lively account of the evangelical wing of the Anglican Communion.
Despite the title, the work is not centered upon the lives and teachings of Stott, Packer, and McGrath, but rather deals with the theological tradition that led to their continued influence. Steer's work begins by tracing the genesis of English Reformation action starting with John Wycliffe, through the Henrican/ Edwardian/Elizabethan expressions of the Reformation, a bruising run through the Caroline Divines and ending with the death of Richard Baxter. The story continues with the Wesleys, which gives a great deal of lively detail although it would have been nice to see more of how Arminianism made impact upon the Church of England in those days.
Steer devotes separate coverage to the development of Anglican/Episcopal activity in North America and England from 1730 to 1900. While the English church was marked by missionary endeavors and the zeal of people like J.C. Ryle, the American church found the going rough amongst the multi-denominationalism of the Revolutionary War days. I was especially warmed by the narrative of Devereux Jarratt and his faithful ministry amongst Anglicans in Virginia even in the face of intrusions and attacks by other denominations that would dominate the American frontier.
Honest displays of unity and fragmentation flood the remainder of Steer's work. The Nottingham Congress brought Anglican evangelicals together in 1977 but with little gas in the tank left for future endeavors. The divide between churchmen such as John Stott and D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones is covered with a fine balance between detached narrative and editorial opinion.
Another area of fragmentation is in the area of sexuality, even more so than women's ordination to holy orders. Steer--using primary documents of correspondence--shows the wheedling of progressives such as Bishop John Spong. Although no one's hands are fully clean, one can clearly see that Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, comes of smelling more like a rose than Bishop "Sponge".
Splashed within the book are interesting tidbits, as well. I never knew that J.I. Packer wrote Stott in 1952 about the possibility of becoming a curate at All Souls' Church in London. Stott politely yet firmly declined. I wonder what Packer's career would have been like if Stott said yes!
Steer gives a bracing yet authentic list of strengths and weaknesses of Anglican Evangelicals at the end of the book. The reader is left with a proper spirit of "Good job. There's work to be done. Let's get to it" for fellow evangelicals throughout the Anglican Communion. As one should have.
Despite the title, the work is not centered upon the lives and teachings of Stott, Packer, and McGrath, but rather deals with the theological tradition that led to their continued influence. Steer's work begins by tracing the genesis of English Reformation action starting with John Wycliffe, through the Henrican/ Edwardian/Elizabethan expressions of the Reformation, a bruising run through the Caroline Divines and ending with the death of Richard Baxter. The story continues with the Wesleys, which gives a great deal of lively detail although it would have been nice to see more of how Arminianism made impact upon the Church of England in those days.
Steer devotes separate coverage to the development of Anglican/Episcopal activity in North America and England from 1730 to 1900. While the English church was marked by missionary endeavors and the zeal of people like J.C. Ryle, the American church found the going rough amongst the multi-denominationalism of the Revolutionary War days. I was especially warmed by the narrative of Devereux Jarratt and his faithful ministry amongst Anglicans in Virginia even in the face of intrusions and attacks by other denominations that would dominate the American frontier.
Honest displays of unity and fragmentation flood the remainder of Steer's work. The Nottingham Congress brought Anglican evangelicals together in 1977 but with little gas in the tank left for future endeavors. The divide between churchmen such as John Stott and D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones is covered with a fine balance between detached narrative and editorial opinion.
Another area of fragmentation is in the area of sexuality, even more so than women's ordination to holy orders. Steer--using primary documents of correspondence--shows the wheedling of progressives such as Bishop John Spong. Although no one's hands are fully clean, one can clearly see that Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, comes of smelling more like a rose than Bishop "Sponge".
Splashed within the book are interesting tidbits, as well. I never knew that J.I. Packer wrote Stott in 1952 about the possibility of becoming a curate at All Souls' Church in London. Stott politely yet firmly declined. I wonder what Packer's career would have been like if Stott said yes!
Steer gives a bracing yet authentic list of strengths and weaknesses of Anglican Evangelicals at the end of the book. The reader is left with a proper spirit of "Good job. There's work to be done. Let's get to it" for fellow evangelicals throughout the Anglican Communion. As one should have.
Saturday, June 2, 2018
Quite the Standard
There are some books out of an entire corpus that absolutely have to be read, just as there are some songs by different groups that must be identified.
If you have read any Pat Conroy, for example, it is imperative that you read The Great Santini. If you like Kansas, Dust In The Wind is a must-listen.
What about if you are exploring the history of a religion? Well, if the franchise is the Anglican tradition, then there must be essential space on your bookshelf for Stephen Neill's Anglicanism and time in your schedule to digest it.
Neill served as a bishop in the Church of England and spent a great deal of time as a missionary and traveling evangelist in south India before teaching in Germany and Kenya. His sense of the worldwide nature of the Anglican Communion and his experience ministering on many different shores gives scope and strength to his work.
Neill lands roughly in the Broad churchmanship territory as he works through the details of the past with solid historiography. He notes that from the beginning, there was a fierce independence in the British Isles to any interference from the Roman church. Thus, when Henry VIII refused to accept Pope Clement VII's annulment denial, it was not a sudden eruption but a link in a chain of many coltish attempts to throw off Rome's influence.
Neill's coverage of the Reformation, particularly the work of Cranmer, Hooker, and the Elizabethan via media, is impeccable. Notably, Neill turns a considerable amount of criticism toward Archbishop William Laud, not so much for theological error as for strategic stupidity.
The expansion of Anglicanism to different nations unfolds clearly from Neill's pen. He covers the work of missionaries for gospel impact, then goes back through the lineup to demonstrate the increasing difficulties of organization and episcopacy in relation to Canterbury. Missionary efforts could be costly and inefficient, and the work of the Anglican church could be charitably called "leading from behind" in certain areas. Neill is not shy about showing why he thinks other outposts of the Communion work in error. His criticism of the Episcopal Church in the United States for having a Presiding Bishop with no see is one such example.
In the end, Neill admits the Anglican Communion is an amalgam of strengths and weaknesses. Any organization of millions of people will exhibit these particulars, to be fair.
It is difficult to put forth a comprehensive history of one's faith community, especially when it covers the entire globe and a heritage of hundreds of years, while being appreciative of its strengths and facing its problems. But Neill does so admirably. Anglicanism is not a quick read; one must plow through it deliberately. Still, since it is the key declaration from the vocal cords of Broad churchmanship, it is a necessary volume for an understanding of how the Anglican faith makes impact even today.
If you have read any Pat Conroy, for example, it is imperative that you read The Great Santini. If you like Kansas, Dust In The Wind is a must-listen.
What about if you are exploring the history of a religion? Well, if the franchise is the Anglican tradition, then there must be essential space on your bookshelf for Stephen Neill's Anglicanism and time in your schedule to digest it.
Neill served as a bishop in the Church of England and spent a great deal of time as a missionary and traveling evangelist in south India before teaching in Germany and Kenya. His sense of the worldwide nature of the Anglican Communion and his experience ministering on many different shores gives scope and strength to his work.
Neill lands roughly in the Broad churchmanship territory as he works through the details of the past with solid historiography. He notes that from the beginning, there was a fierce independence in the British Isles to any interference from the Roman church. Thus, when Henry VIII refused to accept Pope Clement VII's annulment denial, it was not a sudden eruption but a link in a chain of many coltish attempts to throw off Rome's influence.
Neill's coverage of the Reformation, particularly the work of Cranmer, Hooker, and the Elizabethan via media, is impeccable. Notably, Neill turns a considerable amount of criticism toward Archbishop William Laud, not so much for theological error as for strategic stupidity.
The expansion of Anglicanism to different nations unfolds clearly from Neill's pen. He covers the work of missionaries for gospel impact, then goes back through the lineup to demonstrate the increasing difficulties of organization and episcopacy in relation to Canterbury. Missionary efforts could be costly and inefficient, and the work of the Anglican church could be charitably called "leading from behind" in certain areas. Neill is not shy about showing why he thinks other outposts of the Communion work in error. His criticism of the Episcopal Church in the United States for having a Presiding Bishop with no see is one such example.
In the end, Neill admits the Anglican Communion is an amalgam of strengths and weaknesses. Any organization of millions of people will exhibit these particulars, to be fair.
It is difficult to put forth a comprehensive history of one's faith community, especially when it covers the entire globe and a heritage of hundreds of years, while being appreciative of its strengths and facing its problems. But Neill does so admirably. Anglicanism is not a quick read; one must plow through it deliberately. Still, since it is the key declaration from the vocal cords of Broad churchmanship, it is a necessary volume for an understanding of how the Anglican faith makes impact even today.
A Gloriously Dark and Troubled Morning
There is something to be said for the fictional (and actual) detective who--in spite of his or her tendency to burnout and imbalance--still shows up and plunges ahead through a well-crafted story. When the metropolitan backdrop is Belfast and the historical context is the vaunted Troubles of the early 1980s, these matters only serve to push my reading happy buttons. The blow-off story of Adrian McKinty's Troubles Trilogy causes readers to walk alongside Detective Sean Duffy as literary paracletes of sorts. In the Morning I'll Be Gone expands the game field to England, mixing in actual events with deliciously-told fiction in typically fine McKinty fashion.
Duffy begins the tale in morose professional waters. Suspended from his position, Duffy--a Catholic gumshoe in the Protestant Royal Ulster Constabulatory (superseded by the PSNI in 2001)--struggles to adjust to dangerous beat duty. But as if the stars become aligned by the hand of Providence, Duffy suddenly finds himself in the midst of two cases where one would tip the other. Approached by MI5, he is asked to parlay his past connections with former classmate-turned-IRA master bomber Dermot McCann so that the Brits can capture him before more damage ensues.
Wouldn't you know it? McCann's in-laws are well known to Duffy. There is a spark of nuclear lust between Duffy and McCann's ex. Another of the sisters perished in a locked-room mystery, and the matriarch of the aggrieved Fitzpatrick family asks Duffy to investigate in clandestine fashion. If he solves the cold case, she will give him information that leads to McCann.
As the story unfolds, one senses Duffy spread even thinner across his responsibilities as both cases play off against the other. One of the MI5 agents has connection to the previous story, I Hear the Sirens in the Street. As the Conservative Party readies for a conference at Brighton, Duffy races against time to solve the Lizzie Fitzpatrick murder, connecting the dots at the last minute to find the locked room wasn't so locked after all. The information on McCann's whereabouts looks doubtful for some time, but the calm only serves to build toward a massive blow-off that finds Duffy fighting for his life and racing to prevent an attack that could cost Margaret Thatcher her own.
Even so, the story ends with Duffy's characteristic yet deepening brooding. For some time, the reader wonders if he will go on to survive in a functional manner, let alone return to the police force. In the end, the reader empathizes, if not outright sympathizes, with Duffy's loss of control and his struggle for hope. Perhaps at the end of this initial trilogy, the true victory happens to be that Duffy is willing to take another step with breath in his lungs. There is something to be said for getting up after being knocked down repeatedly. McKinty--in typical lyrical prose--shines a bright spotlight on the durability of the human spirit.
There is the customary violence that one usually tracks in a McKinty volume, but this is nothing new, and the details fit with the harshness of the Northern Irish landscape. The gritty noir feel empowers the reader to experience every bump of Duffy's BMW, every mortar round, and every dark cloud that comes in off Belfast Lough. McKinty shines in the grand way he helps us smell the sea salt in one nostril and the acrid scent of Semtex in the other. Adrian McKinty has quickly climbed the ladder to the top rungs of my favorite crime fiction authors, and I don't intend to slow down on digesting these narratives any time soon.
Duffy begins the tale in morose professional waters. Suspended from his position, Duffy--a Catholic gumshoe in the Protestant Royal Ulster Constabulatory (superseded by the PSNI in 2001)--struggles to adjust to dangerous beat duty. But as if the stars become aligned by the hand of Providence, Duffy suddenly finds himself in the midst of two cases where one would tip the other. Approached by MI5, he is asked to parlay his past connections with former classmate-turned-IRA master bomber Dermot McCann so that the Brits can capture him before more damage ensues.
Wouldn't you know it? McCann's in-laws are well known to Duffy. There is a spark of nuclear lust between Duffy and McCann's ex. Another of the sisters perished in a locked-room mystery, and the matriarch of the aggrieved Fitzpatrick family asks Duffy to investigate in clandestine fashion. If he solves the cold case, she will give him information that leads to McCann.
As the story unfolds, one senses Duffy spread even thinner across his responsibilities as both cases play off against the other. One of the MI5 agents has connection to the previous story, I Hear the Sirens in the Street. As the Conservative Party readies for a conference at Brighton, Duffy races against time to solve the Lizzie Fitzpatrick murder, connecting the dots at the last minute to find the locked room wasn't so locked after all. The information on McCann's whereabouts looks doubtful for some time, but the calm only serves to build toward a massive blow-off that finds Duffy fighting for his life and racing to prevent an attack that could cost Margaret Thatcher her own.
Even so, the story ends with Duffy's characteristic yet deepening brooding. For some time, the reader wonders if he will go on to survive in a functional manner, let alone return to the police force. In the end, the reader empathizes, if not outright sympathizes, with Duffy's loss of control and his struggle for hope. Perhaps at the end of this initial trilogy, the true victory happens to be that Duffy is willing to take another step with breath in his lungs. There is something to be said for getting up after being knocked down repeatedly. McKinty--in typical lyrical prose--shines a bright spotlight on the durability of the human spirit.
There is the customary violence that one usually tracks in a McKinty volume, but this is nothing new, and the details fit with the harshness of the Northern Irish landscape. The gritty noir feel empowers the reader to experience every bump of Duffy's BMW, every mortar round, and every dark cloud that comes in off Belfast Lough. McKinty shines in the grand way he helps us smell the sea salt in one nostril and the acrid scent of Semtex in the other. Adrian McKinty has quickly climbed the ladder to the top rungs of my favorite crime fiction authors, and I don't intend to slow down on digesting these narratives any time soon.
Years Well Spent
The clock is ticking down to an event, and a transition, that very few people outside of the Palmetto State's capital city will notice. But it's worth heeding.
Sometime during the hour between 6 and 7 pm Eastern time tomorrow night, June 3, 2018, my father, Dr. Ralph Davis, will enter the pulpit at the historic First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC (the true Columbia of the Southeastern Conference, just so Mizzou fans are aware). He will open to Luke 13:1-21, more likely in his Greek New Testament than any English translation. He will read the Scriptures to the congregation (in English as he translates, not in Greek!).
And then he will preach the final sermon before he officially retires at the close of the service.
There have been truly great men in the history of the Church. There have been honorable individuals in church history. And there have been great preachers.
Call it seeing it through Davis eyes, but I think my dad is one of the few who happens to be a godly pulpit titan of deep integrity.
No, Dad never led a megachurch. No, he was never president of a seminary or international ministry organization. Those things aren't bad things. They just weren't Dad's things.
Dad has always believed Calvin's motto of sixteenth-century Geneva, "After darkness, light." God's people have their eyes and hearts enlightened when Scripture is preached clearly, accurately, and authoritatively in their midst. And there is no shortage of evidence Dad has done this immeasurably well, in locations as diverse as Baltimore and Columbia, SC, among others. Whether the sermon has been three, four, or five points in structure, the main thing is that the content and directives were patiently and clearly drawn from the text. These are no motivational speeches or self-help chats that marks much of the neo-Platonic homiletics of American evangelicalism. The questions Dad has dealt with have been "What does this reveal about God, about Christ, about our need, about our redemption, about grace?"
Those questions meant Dad can preach on any text and do it extremely well. And do so at times that would normally seem odd. Who preaches on Job 19 on Easter Sunday when Job cries "My Redeemer lives!" in the midst of deep anguish? Who preaches on Genesis 38 and the hanky-panky between Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar and show clearly where grace resides in the passage? Dad found a way.
To my knowledge, no one prepares for preaching in more careful, reverent, or exacting fashion. Dad can take the Hebrew Old Testament into the pulpit and translate into English as he reads the text to the congregation. One seminary professor told me last year on Twitter that Dad was a "Hebrew ninja" and I think that's quite correct.
But one can over-prepare and the sermon can still be dull. Sometimes seminary can ruin people. Somehow Dad snagged a Ph. D. in Old Testament Studies and has kept a streak of humor and creativity miles wide and fathoms deep through his preaching, writing, and everyday life. The connecting point between biblical truth and personal belief for many in our postmodern culture is the leverage of story that engages. Dad has always been a preacher for and ahead of his time.
Pastors, though, can do their work with a fair bit of pride and chest-thumping. But Dad has been content to fit his gift-matrix to places where God uses him effectively, not where he'd be the most visible. The message has always been clear: You don't need attention. The important thing is God wants your faithfulness.
Yet a pastor exhibits his gifts best when he faithfully leads his own family above and beyond the church family. In an age where pastors train-wreck their lives, families, and careers on the sharp rocks of adultery, neglect, or disdain for those who need help the most, Christian leaders need to demonstrate integrity and proper headship more than ever. I am hard-pressed to recall any time Dad was not at one of my game to watch me throw a ball into the stands from third base or experience marginal success on the offensive line in high school. There was never a moment of chastisement or discipline that did not have love and tenderness in its wake. And there has never been a hardship in my life where Dad's wisdom has been lacking. Once I was overlooked for a job and vented about the perceived injustice to Dad. He was able to pick me up through his own experience when, after he finished a second master's degree, he wasn't allowed to continue on to a Ph.D. at the same school. He said, "I remember pacing the floor at 2 a.m. wondering what God was up to, but in spite of it all, God led us to Louisville where I got a better education in Hebrew than I would have where we were." Once again, a clear message: God's durable goodness is there no matter how dark the road may be. It's a lesson I make often to my own kids.
Once on Facebook, another pastor found out Ralph Davis was my dad, and he promptly said: "Wow, he's a phenomenal preacher."
To which I replied, "Yes. Amazing preacher. But an even better father."
Yes, retirement calls, but I'm grateful for a father who knows there is no retirement from the gracious call of the Cross.
Sometime during the hour between 6 and 7 pm Eastern time tomorrow night, June 3, 2018, my father, Dr. Ralph Davis, will enter the pulpit at the historic First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC (the true Columbia of the Southeastern Conference, just so Mizzou fans are aware). He will open to Luke 13:1-21, more likely in his Greek New Testament than any English translation. He will read the Scriptures to the congregation (in English as he translates, not in Greek!).
And then he will preach the final sermon before he officially retires at the close of the service.
There have been truly great men in the history of the Church. There have been honorable individuals in church history. And there have been great preachers.
Call it seeing it through Davis eyes, but I think my dad is one of the few who happens to be a godly pulpit titan of deep integrity.
No, Dad never led a megachurch. No, he was never president of a seminary or international ministry organization. Those things aren't bad things. They just weren't Dad's things.
Dad has always believed Calvin's motto of sixteenth-century Geneva, "After darkness, light." God's people have their eyes and hearts enlightened when Scripture is preached clearly, accurately, and authoritatively in their midst. And there is no shortage of evidence Dad has done this immeasurably well, in locations as diverse as Baltimore and Columbia, SC, among others. Whether the sermon has been three, four, or five points in structure, the main thing is that the content and directives were patiently and clearly drawn from the text. These are no motivational speeches or self-help chats that marks much of the neo-Platonic homiletics of American evangelicalism. The questions Dad has dealt with have been "What does this reveal about God, about Christ, about our need, about our redemption, about grace?"
Those questions meant Dad can preach on any text and do it extremely well. And do so at times that would normally seem odd. Who preaches on Job 19 on Easter Sunday when Job cries "My Redeemer lives!" in the midst of deep anguish? Who preaches on Genesis 38 and the hanky-panky between Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar and show clearly where grace resides in the passage? Dad found a way.
To my knowledge, no one prepares for preaching in more careful, reverent, or exacting fashion. Dad can take the Hebrew Old Testament into the pulpit and translate into English as he reads the text to the congregation. One seminary professor told me last year on Twitter that Dad was a "Hebrew ninja" and I think that's quite correct.
But one can over-prepare and the sermon can still be dull. Sometimes seminary can ruin people. Somehow Dad snagged a Ph. D. in Old Testament Studies and has kept a streak of humor and creativity miles wide and fathoms deep through his preaching, writing, and everyday life. The connecting point between biblical truth and personal belief for many in our postmodern culture is the leverage of story that engages. Dad has always been a preacher for and ahead of his time.
Pastors, though, can do their work with a fair bit of pride and chest-thumping. But Dad has been content to fit his gift-matrix to places where God uses him effectively, not where he'd be the most visible. The message has always been clear: You don't need attention. The important thing is God wants your faithfulness.
Yet a pastor exhibits his gifts best when he faithfully leads his own family above and beyond the church family. In an age where pastors train-wreck their lives, families, and careers on the sharp rocks of adultery, neglect, or disdain for those who need help the most, Christian leaders need to demonstrate integrity and proper headship more than ever. I am hard-pressed to recall any time Dad was not at one of my game to watch me throw a ball into the stands from third base or experience marginal success on the offensive line in high school. There was never a moment of chastisement or discipline that did not have love and tenderness in its wake. And there has never been a hardship in my life where Dad's wisdom has been lacking. Once I was overlooked for a job and vented about the perceived injustice to Dad. He was able to pick me up through his own experience when, after he finished a second master's degree, he wasn't allowed to continue on to a Ph.D. at the same school. He said, "I remember pacing the floor at 2 a.m. wondering what God was up to, but in spite of it all, God led us to Louisville where I got a better education in Hebrew than I would have where we were." Once again, a clear message: God's durable goodness is there no matter how dark the road may be. It's a lesson I make often to my own kids.
Once on Facebook, another pastor found out Ralph Davis was my dad, and he promptly said: "Wow, he's a phenomenal preacher."
To which I replied, "Yes. Amazing preacher. But an even better father."
Yes, retirement calls, but I'm grateful for a father who knows there is no retirement from the gracious call of the Cross.
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