“Why do we marry, why take friends and lovers, why give ourselves to music, painting, chemistry, or cooking? Out of simple delight in the resident goodness of creation, of course; but out of more than that, too. Half of earth’s gorgeousness lies hidden in the glimpsed city it longs to become. For all its rooted …
Because Dead Children Can’t Breathe Fresh Air
“Some excellent brethren seem to think more of the life than of the truth; for when I warn them that the enemy has poisoned the children’s bread, they answer, ‘Dear brother, we are sorry to hear it; and, to counteract the evil, we will open the window, and give the children fresh air.’ Yes, open …
Written in 2003
“I have defined postmodernism as a turning from rationality, and at the same time an embracing of spectacle . . . The image waits for a political life . . . . There are more reasons to fear fascism than communism in a postmodern world. For one thing, fascism is anti-intellectual (communism is predicated on …
A Protean Shape-Shifter Takes Office
It has been a while since I went off on postmodernism, which is clear proof that I have been being good, so allow me this oblique observation. With the election of Barack Obama, we now have in the White House the kind of protean shape-shifter ideally fitted for the pomo ethos. This provides us with …
Slavic Reformation
Let me take this opportunity to commend this ministry to you. Remarkable things are happening in that part of the world, and the Slavic Reformation Society is part of it.
New Songs, Both New and Old
This exhortation concerns something we do in every worship service, and consequently it is possible for the whole thing to start becoming “old hat.” I am referring to the practice of psalm singing, and want to urge you to not do it in a way that we can simply check off our list. “Sang my …
Bread for Strength, Wine for Joy
In Psalm 104: 14-15, we are told that God feeds the world. As part of this, the psalmist mentions wine and bread as part of God’s great gift. He tells us that bread is given to strengthen the heart of man, and that wine is given to gladden the heart of man. As we gather …
If You Know What a Head Shot Is . . .
I just finished a book that was more informative than good. The author had some really decent observations and concerns, but that was not the really illuminating part. The illuminating part was his simple reporting. The book was called Fame Junkies, and I heard the author, Jake Halpern, being interviewed on Ken Myers’ Mars Hill …
Nothing Like Going Natural!
At a recent conference, I had said a few things about some of the unnatural things that we call natural these days, and during one of the breaks a pleasant and informed young lady let me know something about fat-free milk, about which I must have said something. I must have said something like “never …
The Stimulus Packages Headed Your Way
I was thinking about the financial monkeyshines of the really smart people who have been running our major insurance companies, brokerage houses, and banks, and I was also thinking about the solons who are passing these lunatic bailouts, and a passage of Scripture came to me. It is not talking about high finance, but it …