Today’s commentary is more personal. If you would rather find something about the shutdown or the debt ceiling, you won’t find it here today. Now’s your chance to go elsewhere before you read any further. Okay, too late—you must now continue. Professors are people, too. Sometimes we get discouraged. Even those of us who are doing this as a ministry and sense the call of God on our lives to teach can, at times, wonder what we are accomplishing. Although… Read more »
Did you see pictures of what happened yesterday? Veterans groups descended on Washington, DC, and picked up and carried the “Barrycades” from the WWII Memorial to the White House. Here’s some photographic evidence: The second photo shows the “Barrycades” being deposited on the lawn in front of the White House. Looks like some people have had enough. This administration’s attitude toward veterans has become one of the lightning rods of this “slimdown.” As I’ve noted in previous posts, there’s no… Read more »
Charles Finney often went against the conventions of the day in his teaching and preaching. Some of his most vociferous critics were fellow ministers who had been formally trained in the colleges. Finney had been largely self-taught and was therefore thought to be ignorant of the proper manner of speaking. Yet he had results where others did not. In his autobiography, he provides some detail on this controversy: All through the earlier part of my ministry especially, I used to… Read more »
God does take the initiative to reach out to us, yet His impact on our lives depends on our willingness to reach back. C. S. Lewis touches on this in his Mere Christianity: When you come to knowing God, the initiative lies on His side. If He does not show Himself, nothing you can do will enable you to find Him. And, in fact, He shows much more of Himself to some people than to others—not because He has favourites,… Read more »
Of all the outrages being committed in the name of government “shutdown” this past week, perhaps the most disturbing have been those directed against the military. By now, we all have pretty well rehearsed the attempt to keep WWII veterans from their memorial. Barring wheelchaired veterans from visiting the memorial wasn’t one of this administration’s best optics. But it’s as if they didn’t really care how it appeared to the public. All they were interested in was inflicting pain: A… Read more »
“It’s disgusting.” Who said that? A National Parks ranger when asked to comment on the directives the National Park Service has received from the Obama administration with respect to shutting down national monuments and parks and closing off access to the public. Here’s his full quote: It’s a cheap way to deal with the situation. We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. It’s disgusting. I commented last week on the shutdown of the WWII… Read more »
Personal confession time: sometimes reading Charles Finney makes me extremely uncomfortable. He seems to have a knack for pointing out my weaknesses. Perhaps this is because some weaknesses are more widespread than others and focusing on them brings conviction to a large audience. Whatever the reason, when he writes about prayer vs. simply bringing truth into people’s lives, I see myself far too much. Here’s what Finney says in his Revival Lectures: Some have zealously used truth to convert men,… Read more »