Month: April 2016

Lewis on the Proper Christian Spirit

Last Saturday, I wrote about how C. S. Lewis warned against what he called a type of “band-wagoning,” in which we can, at the expense of our principles, decide to become part of a system with which we say we disagree. He continues the discussion in Reflections on the Psalms with what he believes are more subtle forms of the problem that can easily deceive us. Many people have a very strong desire to meet celebrated or “important” people, including… Read more »

Jesus My Refuge, My Peace, My Overcomer

Did you ever have one of those days? You know the one I mean, when you wonder why you even try? When the best of intentions and the desire to make a difference doesn’t seem to make a difference at all? I had one of those days yesterday, and it might continue today. Evil abounds. What about God’s grace, which means the strength to withstand the evil? I don’t want to give in to the temptation not to care anymore…. Read more »

Lewis: On Bandwagons & Integrity

In Reflections on the Psalms, C. S. Lewis takes aim at people who jump on bandwagons for their own personal benefit. In a chapter he titled “Connivance,” he writes of those in ancient Judea “who fleeced their fellow-countrymen to get money for the occupying power in return for a fat percentage” of the take. He was, frankly, astounded by the attitude he witnessed in one young man who had studied at Oxford. The man had been an avowed socialist during… Read more »

My Forthcoming Lewis Book

During my sabbatical year in 2014-2015, I finally had the time to fulfill a dream—research and write about C. S. Lewis. Out of that sabbatical emerged a book-length manuscript that I hoped would find a publisher. That hope has now come to fruition. A Christian publisher, Wipf & Stock, has accepted my manuscript, and the probable date for publication is late summer-early autumn. My goal in this book was to shed light on how Lewis has influenced/impacted Americans. No one… Read more »

Lewis on Gnat-Straining & Camel-Swallowing

I’m not a seminary-trained theologian. Everything I’ve learned about Scripture is the result of deep personal interest inspired by a desire to get closer to the One behind the Scripture. That’s why, as a young man just out of college (with a degree in radio, TV, and film production), I spent countless hours with a cassette-based course learning Koine Greek. (Anybody remember cassettes?) Some might say that I shouldn’t be so theological in my commentary because I don’t have the… Read more »

Trump’s Biblical Insights

It’s a dangerous things for some politicians to talk about the Bible in public. In the book of Exodus, we’re told, “But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.” The impetus behind this command is to ensure that whenever someone has committed a wrong, the penalty will not be greater than the wrong that… Read more »

Lewis: God & Chocolate Easter Eggs

I think I’m doing what C. S. Lewis wanted readers of his Reflections on the Psalms to do: I’m reflecting. He provides such good material for reflection as he shares insights in this little book. For instance, he refers to how the psalms always talk about seeing the beauty of the Lord, yet it’s not the Lord directly that the typical Jew saw, but rather the rituals in the Temple or some other aspect of the outward symbols of God’s… Read more »