Reflections on God … Man … Life
Reflections on living as a disciple of Christ.
Do we really understand what is meant by the word “humility”? There is a popular misconception about that word that C. S. Lewis identifies well in Mere Christianity. He also paints an alluring portrait of how true humility appears: Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call “humble” nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody…. Read more »
Charles Finney relates a very unusual story in his Autobiography, one that has stayed with me ever since I first read it back in the mid-1970s. He was carrying out his ministry as a traveling evangelist when he was approached by an elderly man who asked him to come preach at his village, a place that had never had any religious services. Finney went with the man and, as was his custom, simply relied on the Lord for guidance as… Read more »
C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity is full of pithy statements that catch the essence of truth so well. He has a way of expressing eternal maxims that help us remember them. For instance, when writing of our destiny in relationship with God, he uses this memorable approach: Good things as well as bad, you know, are caught by a kind of infection. If you want to be wet, you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace,… Read more »
In his Revival Lectures, Charles Finney writes about the indications that one is filled with the Spirit. There are a couple of these that have always been difficult for me. Perhaps you may find a portrait of yourself as well in these words: If you are filled with the Spirit, you will not find yourself distressed and galled, and worried, when people speak against you. When I find people irritated and fretting at any little thing that touches them, I… Read more »
Humans seem to want constant happiness and a sense of absolute security. Neither of those is attainable in this life. According to C. S. Lewis, we should be glad that they aren’t. He tells us why in The Problem of Pain: The Christian doctrine of suffering explains, I believe, a very curious fact about the world we live in. The settled happiness and security which we all desire, God withholds from us by the very nature of the world: but… Read more »
Every other year, I have the opportunity to teach a course I call “The Witness of Whittaker Chambers.” I’m teaching it again this semester. Chambers is not well known to most of our generation, but he was to an earlier one. Product of a dysfunctional family, devoid of any Christian upbringing, hit hard by life and seeking answers to the crises of the world after WWI, he turned to communism as the solution. Eventually, he became part of an underground… Read more »
Usually on Sundays, I excerpt something from Charles Finney, who, I believe, was one of the clearest thinkers in church history when it comes to grasping the need for conviction of sin and repentance as conditions for salvation. In the spirit of Finney, I’d like to offer some thoughts today that I hope may clarify where I’m coming from in my understanding of sin, repentance, and the essence of salvation. I’ll do my best to make these comments succinct. Some… Read more »