Calling the American church out of the shallows and into the deeper waters of the faith
Starting tomorrow, I plan to re-post a series of brief reflections on the events of Holy Week from Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday, written in a fictionalized way from Peter’s perspective. These are from a couple of years ago, so if you’ve been following this blog, you’ve seen them before. Whether you have or haven’t, … Read More “Peter’s Story – Replay” »
This past summer, I spent a morning at the St. Louis Zoo with my daughter. We were having a lovely morning, walking up toward the area of the Zoo set aside for the “Big Cats,” when we came across a peacock in full strut mode, his beautiful plumage on display for all to see. A … Read More “Reflections on a Peacock & the Survival of the Fittest” »
The title of this entry is borrowed from a Charlie Peacock lyric, taken from my favorite song of his, “In the Light.” (Yes, Charlie Peacock wrote “In the Light,” not DC Talk.) The full verse that the lyric is pulled from is quoted below: The disease of the self runs through my blood Like a … Read More “A Cancer Fatal To My Soul” »
With less to say about my own writing than I’d like, I’m going to be doing more blogging about books I’ve read or am reading. I’m starting today with a post about a quote from Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. (I’m reading Gilead because Jonathan Rogers recommended it highly to me while we were on the … Read More “Of Scribes & Prophets” »
This past Sunday, good friends of ours lost their 19 month old boy, Jordan. He had a rare condition, which I won’t try to explain here, but even though he faced serious challenges to his health, his older brother, Josh, who has the same condition, is almost 11. In short, Josh has beaten the odds … Read More “Gratitude in the face of sorrow” »
This is the last of my posts originally written for the Motiv8 website. It caused a bit of a stir there, so I anticipate there may be reactions here. Feel free to comment. With the Tour gearing up to begin in less than two weeks, this might be the last post in our brief series … Read More “More Than Moralism” »
It is interesting how things work, sometimes. The previous post was from Friday, and as the tone of it suggests, I was feeling pretty unsure of where I am as a professional writer and where I am going. That evening when I got home, my wife had picked some movies up from the library. (I’m … Read More “Raise Your Hopeful Voice” »
A definite perquisite of being a published writer, is that on occasion, you get a crack at reading a book that is on its way toward being published but is, as yet, not in print. I don’t know why it is quite so much fun to curl up with a book that isn’t yet available … Read More “Sneak Peaks & Creative Diversity” »
As Christmas draws near, I think of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ famous poem, “The Windhover.” Hopkins dedicated the poem to Christ, but many believe that the poem is itself, about him, not just dedicated to him. The poem revolves around what my literary mentor, Lee Ryken, called the theme of strength that stoops to conquer. It … Read More “Strength that stoops to conquer” »
Part of believing in the basic notion of a supernatural being who made the world and governs its operations is that it removes a lot of the tendency to see “coincidences” as random. Instead, the idea of Providence, that God watches over his people and provides what they need, becomes the prism through which we … Read More “Providence” »