I’ve just finished up co-teaching a class on ‘Readings in Emerging Church Theology’ with Ron Benefiel at Nazarene Theological Seminary. What a joy to be talking church, theology and ministry with pastors-in-training!
Too many conversations on this subject begin, ‘What exactly is the emerging church?’ The response is some variation on, ‘Um…well…it’s sort of...
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The love of country is an excellent school for the soul.
Patriotism is a good measure of the maturity of a man. Young men of our era are often too self-centered to love country, old men too cynical, and all of us have been taught that self-interest and self-esteem trump the needs of the community. Find a true patriot and you will find a man with virtue.
Amongst Christia...
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The San Francisco Palace of the Legion of Honor is an art museum with a notable sculpture collection. It is most famous for its seventy works by Auguste Rodin, the greatest set of Rodin sculptures anywhere in the world besides the actual Musee Rodin. But the city's collection of medieval art is also housed here, and one of the finest pieces --my personal favorite-- is a lim...
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Last week, I had a chance to speak with a very wise man (who has been watching Republican politics since Ike) who thinks Fred (!) Thompson is the guy for the GOP.
This Sage of West Virginia is the closest thing to Rupert Giles for culture watchers.
Giles is excited about Fred (!).
It is not wise to dismiss anything Giles says and so I took a look at Fred (!) Thompson...
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One final method for practicing silence and solitude is what I call a 'solitude retreat'.
(3) Once or twice a year, go alone on a solitude retreat from 9 am one day until 5 pm the next day. Go to a retreat center that has as one of its purposes the provision of a place for individual sojourners. Try to find a center that has gardens, fountains, statues and other forms of b...
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Freddy Age Six, by special request, delivers a vision of heaven rendered in his medium of choice, washable markers. To what shall we liken the kingdom of heaven? Heaven (or, as the stylized swirly writing in the upper right corner has it, "heven") is a kind of castle city.
There are angels everywhere: I see two on the rooftop, two out on the balcony, and at least one an...
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As odd as news is that frequently emerges from the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA), a recent article in The Seattle Times reveals a new depth of dissoluteness. According to an article in the Sunday, June 17 edition, Episcopal priest Ann Holmes Redding is not only an Episcopalian but for the past fifteen months, a Muslim too. That’s right, she’s both a “Christian” and a Mus...
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Two regular practices of solitude and silence:
First, you must remember that when you go into solitude and silence, your basic goal is to do nothing. Yes, nothing! You are to center yourself in quiet and rest. As you do that, you also focus on centering your affections on the Lord and His creation. This is not a time to catch up on your scheduled daily Bible reading or o...
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When J. R. R. Tolkien was a student at Oxford, he found that one of his classmates (Allen Barnett) was from the state of Kentucky, and that this classmate had a lot of good stories about how Kentucky folk talk, behave, and live. Tolkien pumped Barnett for all the Kentucky info he could get out of him.
Years later, Tolkien as Oxford Don had among his students a fellow named...
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Throughout his writings and lectures, Dallas Willard has warned that the hardest thing to get North American people to do is nothing. The regular practice of doing nothing is crucial for spiritual growth. It keeps us from having an inflated view of our importance, it surfaces anxiety, fear, and worry along with our controlling strategies to keep from facing them, and it opens...
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There has been much talk of late of the rise of the "seculars" as a power in American politics.
Religious people can only feel amused at this new furor as the "establishment" in education and the media have been secular for our entire lifetimes. In politics we have frequently been used to get votes while seculars reaped a disproportionate share of the spoils. To the secular...
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Today was my last day with the students of Torrey Europe. Tomorrow like a proud parent I will send them back and some lost luggage not-with standing . . . Schubert put it best when she said that this was a priceless student experience. We have the best students in the world in Torrey from those that are "cutting edge" to the "nearly omnipotent" to those who can sing (yes sing!)...
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