On Brandi Carlile returning to herself

By Rod Benson Brandi Carlileโ€™sย Returning to Myself, her first solo release in four years, was recently named Song of the Year at the 2026 Americana Honors & Awards. It is not explicitly a Christian song, yet my friend and Baptist theologian Steve Harmonโ€™s description of it as a work of โ€œtheological anthropologyโ€ is perceptive. In …

Should artists stay out of politics?

Macklemore performs on stage at the Goldencoast Rap Festival in Corcelles-les-Monts on 3o August 2026. Photograph: Arnaud Finistre/AFP/Getty Images By Rod Benson The controversy surrounding Macklemoreโ€™s recent removal from the remaining U.S. dates of Ed Sheeranโ€™s 2026 Loop tour raises a question extending far beyond one rapper, one pop star or one geopolitical conflict. Should musicians use concert …

Six gifts of Celtic spirituality for Christian worship

By Rod Benson Christian worship is enriched when it draws from the breadth of the Christian tradition rather than relying on a single inherited pattern. Among the streams that have attracted renewed attention is the Christianity associated with Ireland, Scotland, Wales and other Celtic-speaking regions. The expression โ€œCeltic Christianity,โ€ however, requires careful definition. There was …

Histori bilong Lae Technical College (Tok Pisin)

Skul bilong wok na save, na wok bilong bildim kantri long Papua Niugini Rod Benson i raitim Lae em wanpela siti em graun na ples bilong en i bin stiaim tru histori bilong en. Lae i stap long het bilong Huon Gulf, klostu long maus bilong Markham River, long hap we wanpela bikpela veli i …

A history of Lae Technical College

Vocational education and nation-building in Papua New Guinea By Rod Benson Lae is a city shaped by its geography. It lies at the head of the Huon Gulf, close to the mouth of the Markham River, where a broad valley opens between formidable mountain systems and the sea. Behind the coastal plain rise the Atzera …