Introduction: So a number of officio-pundits are gobsmacked, flummoxed, pole-axed, and otherwise discomfited. Brexit. The Cubs. And now this. What a year. My initial reactions run along the lines of jumping Jehoshaphat, land of Goshen, and oh, my stars and garters. But let me make a number of other snapshot observations, perhaps a tad more …
An Imagination Fortress, Not an Imaginary One
“One of the reasons many apologists are not nearly as effective as Lewis is that they want the cold granite of reason to do everything. But true reason will collapse before a false imagination. False imagination must be answered by a true imagination, and when that happens, reason can flourish in its native habitat” (Writers …
Hunker Down, Everybody
Introduction: Yesterday I exhorted the saints at Christ Church to remember their down ballot duties. I did not mention any specific candidates or issues there because worship is not the place for partisan politics. But it is a place for God’s people to be reminded that their presence in this society is inescapably political. And …
Review: Till He Come: A Collection of Communion Addresses
Till He Come: A Collection of Communion Addresses by Charles Haddon Spurgeon My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is collection of communion addresses by Spurgeon. There are some quite striking (and unexpected) observations here. Well worth it, especially for pastors who administer communion often. View all my reviews
Review: Dare to Be Great Writer: 329 Keys to Powerful Fiction
Dare to Be Great Writer: 329 Keys to Powerful Fiction by Leonard Bishop My rating: 3 of 5 stars Part of my ongoing project to read Wordsmithing books. This one had some helpful things, but the advice was uneven. View all my reviews
What the Actual Mistake Was
“Keep in mind that the battle between Galileo and the church was not a battle between science and mindless fundamentalism. It was a battle between new science and old science, and the error of the church had been that of getting into bed with the best science of the day. And we all know, as …
Book of the Month: November 2016
Joe Sobran was the pithiest of writers. If you doubt me, just consider the title for one of his small works—“Anything Called a Program is Unconstitutional.” Over the years, I have profited greatly from his writing. A few years after his untimely death in 2010, I was pleased to see that some friends of his …
A Real Challenge
“What happens when you try to put eternity into a human life? The same thing as when you try to put the Pacific Ocean into a thimble, only worse” (Writers to Read, p. 88).
The Night of the Rude Post-It Notes
Introduction: Satire is now almost officially dead, because anything one in the satire line might make up in order to paint a little bit purple will be discovered, almost immediately, to be something that was seriously proposed within the last 48 hours by some leading and well-respected pointy-head. I have therefore decided, in an attempt …
Always Helpful
