Now that I’m on sabbatical, projects have seemingly sprung up out of nowhere to keep me busy. One that has been in the back of my mind for a while has now taken a prominent place in my active imagination. I’ve always wanted to write something about C. S. Lewis. While reading a recent biography of him, I grabbed hold of an idea that I hope will come to fruition. I would like to assess, as much as possible, the… Read more »
I’ve written previously in this blog about the blessing I’ve received for the coming academic year: a sabbatical to do research and writing. I also promised to provide updates. For the past week, I’ve been at Wheaton College in Illinois, delving into the papers of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and also materials relating to C. S. Lewis. I’ll talk about Lewis in tomorrow’s post; today, I’ll focus on Graham. As a reminder, one of my projects during this… Read more »
So now we’re sending humanitarian aid—finally—to those displaced in Iraq by the bloodthirsty ISIS terrorist organization. And we’re dropping a few bombs on ISIS positions. I wonder how many Americans have been fooled into thinking this somehow represents decisive action? I don’t recall which military spokesman it was, but someone in the last day or two clearly stated that our pinprick policy of bombing wasn’t going to put any real dent in the ISIS forward movement. Back when President Obama… Read more »
The Pilgrims survived the voyage to the New World. They avoided civil disorder by establishing the Mayflower Compact. But they weren’t able to escape the specter of disease and death. How did they handle this new challenge? First, they had to search out a place to call home. They sent out a party of men to try to find an opportune piece of land, but the Cape Cod area wasn’t hospitable to farming, and they also had their first encounter… Read more »
A couple of Sundays ago, I offered an excerpt from Winkie Pratney’s book The Thomas Factor: Dealing with Doubt. As I’ve been steadily reading it, using it as a devotional, I keep coming across passages that make things so crystal clear, I want everyone to read them. So I have another section of the book to give you today. It’s in a chapter where Pratney is talking about how every Christian experiences, for want of a better phrase, “the dark… Read more »
“The Weight of Glory,” a sermon delivered by C. S. Lewis at Oxford in 1941, has to rank in the upper echelons of all his thinking/writing. It is filled with memorable images. One of the best is this one: If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics… Read more »
I’m not going to say much today, except to draw attention to the plight of Christians in the Middle East. Latest reports are that even children are being beheaded by radical Islamists. They have no mercy. Please devote at least a few minutes to praying for those suffering this persecution. We need to remember those who are standing for our Lord. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as… Read more »