Fourteen years ago, I started an experiment. I had left pastoral ministry two years before to raise my own support and travel and speak for the Great Lakes District of the Evangelical Free Church, helping train and equip churches and pastors to expand their evangelistic footprint through church planting and more effective proclamation. It was … More Fourteen Years Ago
Repeating History Three hundred five pages into the second volume of William Manchester’s epic biography on Winston Churchill, I found a series of paragraphs that should haunt the politicians and political leaders of the West. Unfortunately, I fear that most of them are dull and insensate to the threat of repeating history. The invasion of … More Lessons from the Invasion of Czechoslovakia
I learned a new word today and it stimulated some new thoughts. “Sprezzatura” is a kind of studied carelessness, especially as a characteristic quality or style of art or literature. Sprezzatura ([sprettsaˈtuːra]) is an Italian word that first appears in Baldassare Castiglione‘s 1528 The Book of the Courtier, where it is defined by the author as “a certain nonchalance, so … More Christians Need to Learn the Art of Sprezzatura
Samuel D. Ferguson is a pastor with a new book that seeks to make thoughtful sense of the explosion of interest and expression related to “transgender identity.” This is a helpful book that I highly recommend but maybe this brief article will serve as a short introduction to both Dr. Ferguson and his book. The … More Understanding the Transgender Mind
This is not a well titled post. Because the reality is that “LOVE and TRUTH” are the same in every historical moment in time. Nevertheless, our historical moment needs to rediscover that love and truth travel together in a Person (Jesus) and to deviate from that Person, that standard, is destructive to both love and … More Love and Truth in This Historical Moment
My pre-sleep reading for the last week has been an older book about a man whose small slice of fame has receded into the obscure shadows of regional history. I’m 120 pages into the R.C. Sproul biography, STRONGER THAN STEEL: THE WAYNE ALDERSON STORY. Have you ever heard of Wayne Alderson? Chances are extremely high … More Sunday Afternoon Book Recommendation
I love books. Over the last four years, I have culled and sold or given away about 2,000 books from my personal library. And yet, over 4,200 books remain on the shelves. In the corner, near a favorite chair is a collection of books with a particular character. There are three Bibles in various translations, … More Finding Surprises that Rock the Soul
More than a few will judge me for revealing that I am a Tom Clancy fan. So be it. The original books were filled with so much submarine tech and knowledge that, as the son of an ex-navy medic, I always found them fascinating. Before Clancy died, he and his books had become a cottage … More Many Pastors Leave Their Churches with Similar Thoughts
Let me disabuse you of some myths. It isn’t the bride, or the husband, or the mother of the bride. Marriage is sacred. That is one of the reasons it is under attack and has been since the dawn of creation. And that is why the following brief paragraph is worth meditating on for a … More Who is the Main Character at a Wedding?
Sunday Musing Jesus’ view of marriage is incomprehensible to the Western mind. But incomprehensible or not, it is better than your understanding of marriage, better than mine and better than any human being who ever lived or will live. Better and right. It is the only way of marriage that maximally supports human flourishing. And … More An Incomprehensible View of Marriage
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