Category: The Christian Spirit

Reflections on living as a disciple of Christ.

Pearls of Wisdom

  

Yesterday at Southeastern University was a good day. My department brought in as a special speaker Dr. Marvin Olasky, editor-in-chief of World magazine, which serves as an excellent commentary on current events from a Biblical perspective. We kept Dr. Olasky quite busy. In the morning, he delivered a message in chapel that focused on how to analyze issues through a Biblical lens, showing that there are gradations in how directly the Scriptures apply to various situations. Some are obvious—abortion, homosexuality—while… Read more »

The Supreme Court Got It Right on Westboro

  

Yesterday’s post was on Libya because I had inquiries about my thoughts on that subject. Today’s post also stems from an inquiry, this time about a recent Supreme Court decision on freedom of speech involving the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas. It seems that most of its members are part of one extended family, and that there are fewer than 100 people in the congregation. I’m not really keen on calling this group a church because I don’t believe… Read more »

God's Original Intent

  

The last two days, I’ve promoted a book of devotionals based on the writings of C. S. Lewis. Id like to offer one more example from that book today. I comment on politics and government regularly, and often I speak of the concept of original intent—how we need to look back at what the author or authors meant when they wrote their words rather than taking them out of context or ignoring their original meaning. Lewis applies that same principle… Read more »

Modern Verbicide

  

Yesterday, I recommended a new book of devotionals based on the writings of C. S. Lewis. Today, I’d like to give you a sample of what you will find inside. One of Lewis’s lesser-known works is Studies in Words, which is primarily academic. However, there are salient points from those pages that apply to everyone. Here’s one entry that deals with the meanings of words, and how we often dilute those meanings. It begins with a quote from Lewis, then… Read more »

The Soul of C. S. Lewis

  

Over the past few months, I’ve been using one particular book as a devotional. I was intrigued by the concept when I first read about it and hoped it would live up to its promise. It has. If you are looking for a thought-provoking book to help you focus on Christian spirituality, I recommend you try The Soul of C. S. Lewis: A Meditative Journey through Twenty-Six of His Best-Loved Writings. All of Lewis’s classics are represented here: each book… Read more »

Bush's Decisions

  

Over Christmas, I took the opportunity to read former President Bush’s new book Decision Points. I did so for two reasons: first, I really wanted to “hear” what he had to say; second, as an American historian, I need to be up to speed on how this former president defends his actions. Let me begin with what I consider to be its strengths. The first strength is Bush’s informal writing style. You get the impression this is exactly how he… Read more »

Starting a New Year with Ronald Reagan

  

On this first day of a new year, I’m not going to say too much. Instead, I’m just going to let Ronald Reagan encourage and challenge you. I believe standing up for America also means standing up for the God who has so blessed this land. We’ve strayed so far, it may be later than we think. There’s a hunger in our land to see traditional values reflected in public policy again. To those who cite the first amendment as… Read more »