Reflections on God … Man … Life
I received a tremendous blessing recently: Southeastern University awarded me a sabbatical for the upcoming academic year. Once the current spring semester ends in May, I will have until the beginning of the fall semester in August 2015 to research and write. In tandem with a colleague in the college of religion, I will have the opportunity to delve into the subject of spiritual advisers to presidents. Our goal is to begin with a couple of articles on the topic,… Read more »
A few follow-ups today on topics I’ve mentioned recently. Yesterday I commented on Secretary of State John Kerry’s insistence that global warming is settled science and that anyone who questions it belongs to the Flat Earth Society. Never mind, of course, that no one of learning ever really believed the earth was flat; to point that out would be inappropriate. I came across what I consider to be a fine rejoinder to Kerry’s rather smug assertion: Our modern-day skeptics of… Read more »
Secretary of State John Kerry certainly takes his job seriously. He always seems to be in a foreign country. And he’s always giving speeches or making statements that can grab the headlines. Last week, in the midst of a crisis in Ukraine, the growing threat of Al Qaeda in Syria, the Iranian drive to develop nuclear weapons, and the Venezuelan crackdown on the massive protest against its socialist dictatorship, what does he decide to focus on? While Americans are digging… Read more »
What does it mean to be holy? What is Biblical virtue? Can we be holy as God is holy? We’re commanded to be. Some people may misunderstand that. Since we are not God, there is a difference. Charles Finney comments in his Systematic Theology, It is a well-settled and generally admitted truth that increased light increases responsibility, or moral obligation. No creature is bound to will any thing with the intenseness or degree of strength with which God wills it,… Read more »
I teach a historiography course each year. In it, I cover not only the basics of the history of history writing and how to research and document sources, but also the philosophy of history. As a Christian, I see history as an ongoing story of the relationship of man to God and man to man. There was a beginning, there was a key moment in the “plot,” so to speak, when God came to earth in the form of man,… Read more »
So, it’s Presidents’ Day. It didn’t used to exist. In my younger years, we had instead separate days to honor George Washington and Abraham Lincoln specifically, on their respective February birthdays. I’m not even all that sure what the current Presidents’ Day is supposed to focus on. People from my generation probably still consider it a commemoration of Washington and Lincoln, but what about the new generation? Is the intent to honor anyone and everyone who ever served as president?… Read more »
I’ve often remarked how I wish I didn’t have to come across as someone who’s always pointing out the sins and errors in the world, especially that part of the world connected with government. It can get old, and it’s easy to tire of being the Jeremiah. Yet, as I was reading some of Charles Finney’s Revival Lectures, I came across something quite pertinent to my situation, and it gave me a measure of encouragement: If you have the Spirit… Read more »