Category: The Christian Spirit

Reflections on living as a disciple of Christ.

One Excuse I Forgot

  

In yesterday’s post, I attempted to catalogue the main excuses and rationalizations I’ve been reading and hearing to absolve Donald Trump of his many sins. This morning, I realized I omitted one very prominent excuse. Let me make amends for that. The video was from 2005–it’s old news, he’s changed Probably the only people who can believe that whopper are those who haven’t watched Trump in action for the last year and a half. Changed? Really? Well, he apologized for… Read more »

Enough with the Excuses & Rationalizations

  

I’ll begin with a few comments about the debate last night, but I will then move on to what I consider to be a more important subject. First, it was satisfying to see Hillary Clinton on the defensive, which is where she should always be. I also didn’t mind seeing women in the audience who have accused Bill Clinton of unwanted sexual advances—rape, in one instance—as well as one who was raped by a man whom Hillary defended in court… Read more »

Defining Social Justice

  

Good words and phrases sometimes get hijacked. I think “social justice” is one of those. Justice is synonymous with righteousness; the concept comes straight from the heart of God. Justice in social relations, justice in society at large, should be what we all aim for. What, though, qualifies as justice in a society? Here are my ideas. First, social justice should mean we recognize the inherent image of God in each person and treat one another accordingly. It should begin… Read more »

An Evangelical Scarlet Letter?

  

Increasingly, there is pressure on those of us who have always identified with the Republican party but who cannot bring ourselves to support Donald Trump to lay aside our objections and come together for the sake of unity. And to stop the ultimate horror: Hillary Clinton. Many who were quite verbal in their detestation of Trump early on (such as former Texas governor Rick Perry) have done a complete 180, now saying he’s just marvelous. Perry, who had said Trump… Read more »

Lewis’s Nuggets of Gold

  

Reading through C. S. Lewis’s letters to Americans during my sabbatical was a genuine pleasure. There are so many nuggets of gold in those letters that I couldn’t include them all in my new book, America Discovers C. S. Lewis. On the topic of suffering, for instance, here are a couple of gems. Writing to regular correspondent Mary Van Deusen on this topic, Lewis opines, That suffering is not always sent as a punishment is clearly established for believers by… Read more »

Discerning Good & Evil

  

The Book of Hebrews has always been one of my favorites. I’ve been reading it again on my path through the whole Bible. Two passages in chapter four stand out to me, the first reminding me that in a world filled with selfishness, duplicity, and enmity toward God and His ways, He is still the One who sees everything and takes it all into account: For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword,… Read more »

When Clyde Kilby Met C. S. Lewis

  

Clyde Kilby was the man responsible for bringing the C. S. Lewis Papers to the Wade Center at Wheaton College, where not only Lewis’s papers now reside, but also those of Tolkien and five other British luminaries with ties to Lewis. Kilby and Lewis met face-to-face only once, back in 1953, but the impression from that visit stayed with Kilby the rest of his life. When Kilby returned from England, he wrote about his experience. Upon knocking [at Lewis’s Oxford… Read more »