Reflections on God … Man … Life
Let’s talk about money and accountability for how it is used. Now, that may sound rather mundane, but we do have a money and accountability problem in this nation. Why is this important? Jesus spoke about the connection in Luke 16 when offering a parable about someone who was dishonest as a money manager. It ends with these pointed words to the rest of us: Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is… Read more »
I wrote in a earlier post that I’m preparing to teach C. S. Lewis’s entire Narnia series (in the published order) on Wednesday evenings at my church—the first three in the fall quarter and the last four in the winter (although here in Florida the word “winter” is more like “far less humid and much more comfortable”). My goal is to finish this preparation during the summer, as I will be quite busy when the new semester begins at my… Read more »
It was 243 years ago today that the Continental Congress approved the wording of the Declaration of Independence. Although Thomas Jefferson drafted the document, there was a committee that was responsible for sending it to the floor of the Congress. Two of those committee members were John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. Jefferson later said that he didn’t write anything original, that he was merely putting into words the consensus of the era concerning rights that come from God and the… Read more »
I’m all for presidents trying to reach out and talk with leaders of other countries, even when they’re not our friends. After all, that was a real factor in the fall of the Soviet Union. Ronald Reagan tried to communicate with, in order—Brehznev, Andropov, and Chernenko—but they all rebuffed him. Then they died. He finally found someone he could talk to and arranged a time when they could sit down together. Reagan developed a genuine relationship with Gorbachev, but it… Read more »
C. S. Lewis was no fan of politics. He had listened to political discussions from his youth, as his father was a lawyer with the government, but he found such talk ultimately unsatisfying. Yet that doesn’t mean he wasn’t concerned about good governing and the basis for understanding what is necessary for it. So even though he shied away from writing too much on politics per se, he never avoided advocating foundational concepts that applied to a society—government and culture… Read more »
A few weeks ago, I served on a jury. This was a first for me, not having been called to do so for my entire adult life. There were twenty-one of us interviewed by the prosecutor and defense attorney prior to the criminal trial, so I had no idea if I would be chosen, but when the final six were announced, I was one of them. I wonder if my status on the form I filled out earlier–professor of history–helped…. Read more »
I’ve studied American history in depth now for decades, and I am convinced of one thing for sure: human nature is the same throughout all of history. Now, that shouldn’t be an epiphany for Christians, since we believe that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Yet the study of history only emphasizes that poignant truth. I don’t claim that politicians are some special kind of sinner, but when one lusts for political power, one can… Read more »