On Race & Intolerance

  

As a Christian, I take seriously the Biblical concept that all men are descended from an original couple, Adam and Eve. Consequently, we are all part of the same family genetically. Sin is what divides people. We tend to cluster around those who are more like us and develop suspicions toward those who are different in physical appearance. Talk of racism always bothers me because I don’t really believe in racial classifications. From the Biblical point of view, there is… Read more »

Reading “The Message”: Seeing Scripture Anew

  

I like reading varied translations of Scripture, just to get different takes on how a passage can be understood. Until recently, I’d never looked at The Message version. I’m sure there are some who shrink in horror from something so colloquial, but I stop and think: how might Jesus have come across to the people of His day? Could it be more like this? For instance, here’s The Message from the gospel of Matthew, the 16th chapter—a quite familiar passage… Read more »

Lewis: Interrupting “Real Life”

  

Do you ever find yourself complaining to God about all those “things” that keep getting in the way of what you want your life to be? If only, we tell ourselves, all the distractions of life could be removed, we could really live. We even get quite spiritual about it and confidently assert we would be so much better Christians without all those distractions. In one of his letters to a friend, C. S. Lewis addressed this, calling out this… Read more »

God Is Alive & Heaven Is Real

  

In an earlier post, I mentioned two movies that I hadn’t yet seen, but planned to, and that I would give my view on them after I had seen them. I’ve now had the opportunity to fit them into my schedule and would like to offer a few comments on God’s Not Dead and Heaven Is For Real. Let me begin by saying I deliberately didn’t read any full reviews of either film; I wanted my perception of them to… Read more »

Finney: The Intent of the Heart

  

Of what does true virtue consist? What determines a person’s moral character? Charles Finney deals with that in his Systematic Theology. His language is not modern, so some of this may be hard to follow for some people, but I would urge you to think this through carefully. Here’s what he says: It has been shown that moral character consists in the supreme ultimate intention of the mind, and that this supreme, disinterested benevolence, good willing or intention, is the… Read more »

Lewis: Reflection on the Incarnation

  

In one of his letters, C. S. Lewis reflects on when God became man in the person of Jesus. Why did He not come as a type of superhero, impervious to physical harm and devoid of emotion? It’s because He sought to be like us and to reveal the heart of the Father: God could, had He pleased, have been incarnate in a man of iron nerves, the Stoic sort who lets no sigh escape him. Of His great humility… Read more »

Eternity Begins Now

  

I’m so glad that, as a Christian, I don’t perceive this world as all there is to life. Frankly, if I thought there were nothing more, and this is the best it would ever get, I would be in constant depression. I certainly wouldn’t get up early enough each morning to write a blog in the hope that it would make a difference, however slight, in shaping people’s beliefs and worldviews. Instead, I would see my “activity” as rather worthless… Read more »