Classical Education in the Times

The most recent issue of the New York Times Magazine features a remarkable profile of New St. Andrew's College and focuses on the burgeoning Classical Christian education movement.

What I'm Reading

Building Stonehenge

Breakfast Lectures

David Dillard and I will be offering four Friday morning breakfast lectures on the history of Iraq starting this next week. We'll be covering a wide range of time and subjects:

Lecture 1: Ancient Iraq--From Eden to Ottomans (September 28). We'll survey the cradles of civilization, the tides of the great empires, the devastation of the Islamic conquest, and the denouement of the Ottoman Empire.

Lecture 2: British Iraq--Wars and Wishes (October 5). We will give an overview of the discovery of oil, the tumult of the World Wars, and the British occupation.

Lecture 3: Revolutionary Iraq--Coups and Chaos (October 19). We will provide some context for the struggle for national identity, power, and the rise of Saddam and the Baathists.

Lecture 4: Whose Iraq?--Desert Storms and Hopes (November 2). We will conclude with the story of the American occupation, the emergence of ethnic strife, and the search for lasting peace.

Thankfully, pre-registrations exceeded the capacity of our first venue so we have had to change locations--to a much larger facility. Even so, the new venue is already almost full as well. So, if you've been wanting to attend but weren't able to get in before, now's your chance. Pre-register ASAP by visiting the Servant Group International website. MP3 CDs of these lectures may also be pre-ordered on the site--in addition to a host of other helpful resources.

In My Nano

In Memoriam

Rejection

Ever been rejected? Well, welcome to a very esteemed club. According to a remarkable story in the New York Times, Anne Frank, Pearl Buck, George Orwell, Jorge Luis Borges, Isaac Bashevis Singer, A. J. P. Taylor, Barbara Tuchman, Vladimir Nabokov, and James Baldwin were all rejected by the zealously discriminating editors at Knopf before going on to become mega-bestselling authors. Maybe there is still hope for your “great American novel” after all.

Truth Stranger than Fiction

The Dawkins Delusion

"Angels fly," G.K. Chesterton once said, "because they take themselves lightly." Maybe they provide an example Richard Dawkins could learn from--at least that is the premise of a new book by John Cornwell, Darwin's Angel: An Angelic Response to the God Delusion, delightfully reviewed in the London Times this week by Salley Vickers.

D. James Kennedy (1930-2007)

"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, says the Spirit. They will rest from their labors, and their deeds follow them" (Revelation 14.13).

D. James Kennedy, was one of the most influential Christian pastors, thinkers, writers, social reformers, educators, evangelists, and broadcasters of our generation. He was also my pastor, my friend, my boss, my mentor, and my hero. This morning at around 2:15, Dr. Kennedy went home to be with the Lord--he had been quite ill over the last several months. A memorial service has been scheduled for Thursday, September 13, at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

The last time I saw Dr. Kennedy face-to-face, he called me his "son in the faith." I have never been paid a greater compliment. May God continue to multiply Dr. Kennedy's words, his example, and his influence for the glory of Christ and His Kingdom--and may I have the courage to uphold his legacy of Gospel faithfulness as a true "son in the faith."