Finney: The Spirit of Prayer

  

Charles Finney, in his autobiography, provides excellent details on the many revivals that followed him as he ministered in New York in his early years as an evangelist. Yet while he does credit the message itself, he never falls into the trap of thinking the results came purely through man’s efforts. Prayer, he asserts, is the key to success: If anything occurred that threatened to mar the work, if there was any appearance of any root of bitterness springing up,… Read more »

Lewis: How to View the Second Coming

  

For the second Saturday in a row, I want to share some of C. S. Lewis’s thoughts about the Second Coming of Christ. Last week, his comments made it clear that this is a central doctrine of the faith. Yet he also wants us to be wary of trying to pin a date on it. In his essay “The World’s Last Night,” he offers this caution: We must never speak to simple, excitable people about “the Day” without emphasizing again… Read more »

No Moral Equivalence in the Middle East

  

I support Israel. Why? It is the ancient homeland of the Jews, the place where God handed down His law, the center of the world from the establishment of His people through the ministry of Jesus. It is where Jesus suffered and died for us all. It was the scene of His resurrection. Now, none of that necessarily means I should support Israel today. If that nation was a hotbed of terrorism and a threat to the world, I wouldn’t… Read more »

The Pilgrim Story: A Faith-Full Decision

  

The Separatists/Pilgrims made it to Holland and were left alone by the government to worship as their consciences led. So why not stay there? Hadn’t they achieved what they desired? William Bradford, who became their governor at Plymouth for 35 years, was also the historian of the movement during that era. In his History of Plimoth Plantation, he lays out the reasons they decided Holland shouldn’t be their final destination. They were as follows: News of their hard life working… Read more »

Margaret Thatcher: Unintended Consequences

  

I’m taking my time reading through Margaret Thatcher’s The Path to Power, going one section at a time, as I try to increase my knowledge of the history of the United Kingdom in the late twentieth century. As I’ve followed her life from her time with her family, to her university years at Oxford, to her early political career, I’ve been fascinated with her observations of the era. I was struck particularly by a section of the book dealing with… Read more »

Convictions in an Anti-God Culture

  

I’ve been reading evangelist Winkie Pratney’s book The Thomas Factor: Dealing with Doubt. Although it’s not necessarily intended as a devotional book, that’s the spirit in which I’m reading it, and so many of his comments and explanations have served to confirm what I already know and have challenged me to remain committed to the Truth. I was particularly impressed with his treatment of what it means to have deep conviction of belief. Here’s a sample: We are to take… Read more »

C. S. Lewis on the Second Coming of Christ

  

As a college student back in the 1970s, and caught up in the Jesus Movement of the era, I anticipated the Second Coming to be very near, probably sometime in the 1970s, of course. Even though I was spiritually immature at the time, that doesn’t mean the Second Coming is some kind of fantasy. As C. S. Lewis explains, it is essential to a proper understanding of the Christian faith. In an essay entitled “The World’s Last Night,” he had… Read more »