Setting up a personal website is a troubling business. I am not speaking about the trouble of rummaging through thirty years of hard and soft files of miscellanea, much of it occasional in purpose and often only half-finished. No, the trouble is deeper: what is a Christian minister, make that a Christian of any stripe, doing exalting himself on the worldwide web? Well, here are my excuses.
Author: Stephen Noll
“CINDERELLA MAN”: A Video for Our Time
When the film came out in 2005, Roger Ebert commented: “‘Cinderella Man’ is a terrific boxing picture, but there's no great need for another one. The need it fills is for a full-length portrait of a good man.” Still true …
“EASTER WINGS”: George Herbert on the Resurrection
On Easter morning, a grieving but credulous Mary Magdalene saw two Angels seated in the tomb, where the body of Jesus had lain (John 20:12). I conclude my meditations with George Herbert’s fine Easter poem: EASTER WINGS Lord, who created …
THE SACRIFICE: Jesus’ Passion Narrated by George Herbert
This year we are following the gallant sacrifices which many are making to stem the coronavirus, an enemy to our physical health. Holy Week recalls to us that an earlier and greater sacrifice for our eternal life (John 3:16).
TURNING THE DIAMOND: George Herbert on Prayer, Week 3
Continuing the verse-by-verse exposition of George Herbert’s sonnet “Prayer” assisted by Dennis Lennon, Turning the Diamond: Exploring George Herbert’s Images of Prayer.
TURNING THE DIAMOND: George Herbert on Prayer, Week 2
The second week of meditations on George Herbert's gem of a poem on Prayer.
TURNING THE DIAMOND: George Herbert on Prayer, Week 1
Note: the following five meditations on George Herbert’s sonnet “Prayer” were posted serially from March 16-20. I have now compiled then in one edition for “Week 1.” The meditations will continue daily during the second week of March 22-28, followed …
REMEMBRANCE OF THE MARTYRS: Reflections from Uganda 2020
While the Church of Uganda remembers its debt to its founders and stands firm, Canterbury plays politics with the inheritance of the saints.
TWO SEXES, ONE FLESH: A Commonsense Prophecy Awaiting Fulfillment
I’ll utter another prophecy: the time will come when the 1986 definition will be restored and the transformed definition will be as ludicrous as the Emperor’s New Clothes. How many people in the meantime will suffer confusion and loss, and …
SURPRISED BY FILMS: “The Peanut Butter Falcon”
I have had an interest for many years in video as perhaps our age’s most creative medium. My taste, I confess, is rather eclectic, sometimes downright weird. Over the years travelling on international flights, I have found myself scouring on-board …
ARCHBISHOPS TO THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNION: “You May Now Take Down Your Hand!”
The Archbishops’ apology presages a future time when bubbly babble about inclusivity and diversity will not suffice and will be replaced by the grim gruel of political correctness.