Samuel Stufflebeam and John Brown – Abolitionists
I am finishing the final edits on a book I've written dealing with St Paul as a former Slave. I've published an article on the topic for Christianity Today earlier this year, appearing as the front page featured story. Over the last few da ...
Gidengelmez – The Land of No Return
This is a land in which it is forbidden to hike. We were stopped by an officer of the Turkish National Park service who told us not to enter the area. The terrain makes it impossible to negotiate a trail through these mountains and those who have tr ...
Alacin Fortress
Known today as Alacin Monastery, this structure was not a monastery, but rather a fortress. In the mountains of northern Galatia, the fortress was tucked away in a valley beside the Pazar River, guarding passage to Ancyra (Ankara). The fortress is d ...
The Montanists and Pepuza
Pepuza From the middle of the second century, the Phrygian settlement at Pepuza was the centerpiece of the Montanist Christian movement. Pepuza was thought to be the New Jerusalem, the place where it was believed that the coming kingdom would arr ...
Council of Nicaea – 1700 Years – AD 325-2025
Celebrations are planned revolving around the discovery of the now submerged basilica – probably the place where the council met. Read all about it in my book: The Underwater Basilica of Nicaea: Archaeology in the Birthplace of Christian Theology. T ...
The Gamble
We gamble with time, and we always lose. Time holds all the cards. Time does not need to cheat to win. But it cheats, nonetheless. Time cheats us in our relationships. It cheats us with our spiritual growth. It cheats us with lost opportunities. ...
Fulbright Scholar Research – Nicea’s Underwater Basilica
Director Pascal Guerin and I are standing at the site of the submerged ancient basilica in Iznik (Nicea) during a break in filming. Pascal and his film crew were with me in Iznik filming the discovery and research of the underwater church. We are te ...
Monuments of Rough Cilicia
The hinterland of Rough Cilicia is loaded with rock cut reliefs high up n the canyon walls, in the gorges and on the sides of cliffs. It is difficult to reach many of these places, but the reliefs are in great shape. Most of these depict soldiers wh ...
Valla Canyon and Horma Canyon
Thought to be the second deepest canyon in the world, Valla Canyon and nearby Horma Canyon are practically impassible. A portion of the canyon can be traversed on a three kilometer wooden walkway that is attached to the canyon walls. Several waterfa ...