This summer will mark my 68th trip to the Holy Land since my first visit with my family in the summer of 1962 at age 16. All but two of these trips have been since 1990. I find the number astounding looking back. By far most of these trips have…
I met Billy Graham two times. The first was on his first London Crusade in March, 1954. It was his first crusade abroad and he went on to Holland, France, and Germany. I had just turned eight years old but I remember it well. In addition to preaching at Wembley…
So much has been in the media over the past two decades on the 1993 Waco tragedy with a plethora of new TV specials marking the 25th anniversary in 2018. Sorting through the mass of information is a daunting task. In terms of the older productions I recommend in particular…
In terms of perspectives on the 1993 Waco disaster I would particularly recommend the following in order for anyone who wants to get up to speed on what went on, right and wrong. The first chapter of Why Waco is available on-line: https://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520208995 but the rest of the book gives the whole story.…
I have been invited to join Mike Collins “Charlotte Talks,” on WFAE our local NPR station, this Monday, Feb 12th, at 9am, for a Waco Redeux, with the “real” characters, namely survivor David Thibodeau and FBI chief negotiator Gary Noesner—both of whom have published books on the subject. The show is…
January seems to be the month for a host of retrospective TV documentaries and specials looking back on the disasterous events outside of Waco, Texas during the 51 day siege of the Branch Davidian Mt Carmel Center in 1993. As a result David Koresh and 80 of his followers died,…
Tonight on the Jewish calendar marks the beginning of one of the lessor known festivals in the biblical calendar. Many non-Jews have heard of Passover, Pentecost (Shavuot), Rosh HaShanah, and Yom Kippur, but the larger culture knows little about Sukkoth–sometimes called the “feast of Tabernacles.” Sukkoth begins when the moon…
I want to thank my dear friend of over 45 years, Dr. Philip Arnold, with all his dignity (Ph.D. in New Testament from Rice University) and courage to put himself out there this way! He is a fine scholar, a philanthropist extraordinaire (https://reunioninstitute.net), a devotee of the historical figure of…
April 19th has become a day of infamy in American history with the Branch Davidian tragedy in Waco, Texas in 1993, and the horrible Timothy McVeigh Oklahoma City FBI building bombing in 1995. Next year marks the 25th anniversary of Waco. As some of you know this hits home with…
Don’t miss “The Real Jesus” that premiers on Sunday at 8pm ET on the Smithsonian Channel. This four-part series takes the famous 1977 Franco Zeffirelli’s “Jesus of Nazareth” film star, Robert Powell, who became to the masses the quintessential blue-eyed “Jesus,” back to the Holy Land on the 40th anniversary…