Introduction A few days ago, when the news about that huge Hindu image of Lord Hanuman was first going around, my friend Joe Rigney inquired if anyone knew whether @MichaelCassidy had anything ...
Battle of the Gods
Amber Holiness
“And so I pray to be able to preach
With the fearful noise of Ezekiel’s wheels
Coming up from behind, overtaking us all.
I pray I would preach while standing rock-firm
In the glow of Your amber and terrible crystal.”
21 Prayers, p. 111
Letters for the Edification of All
Letter to the Editor: You published a letter from a man who objected to his wife reading romance novels. Your response was for him to talk to her, with the implication that he should scold ...
Fully Qualified
“In Your grace, You use nothing but unsuitable instruments
And here we are now, assembled for service.
I qualify as just such an unworthy servant,
So use me, I ask You, according to grace,
In line with Your goodness, in line with Your purposes.”
21 Prayers, p. 110
Pretty Simple When You Think About It
“Those who are in favor of smaller government are, when this is translated, in favor of a smaller capacity for coercion. Those who are in favor of bigger government are in favor of increased opportunities for coercion.”
And Their Coercion Is Invisible to Them
“Jesus hates socialism. He hates statism. He hates crony capitalism. Why? Because it doesn’t run on love. Love is obligatory, but it is not coercive. Coercion, masked as it is by the lies of modern statist theory, is their great counterfeit of love.”
Explosive Glory
“But we want to see You glorified now.
And deliverance that comes like a bolt from the blue
Would also be glorious, and Your name would be praised in it,
But I pray we might see this grace as its building.
Father, I pray for a gathering crescendo
That then reaches in glory a climax of wonder.
I pray that Your glory comes in like a thunderclap,
So that we might try to match an amen.”
21 Prayers, p. 106
The Pluot Thickens
With His Left Hand
“Your Spirit can move as He always has.
Why don’t You come down—show up and show off?
Throw them all down and all their devices.
And with the left hand of Your cruciform power?”
21 Prayers, p. 105
Mild or Orgiastic
“The choice between secular options on the right is like a competition between a gentlemanly Epicurean and a rowdy one. The former walks at dawn in a manicured flower garden, contemplating chess moves and Rawlsian political theory, while the latter is more interested in crack cocaine and hoochie mamas. Without an overarching standard governing the two of them, we are simply comparing a longer life of nobler, milder pleasures, and a shorter life consisting of a blowout filled with orgiastic ones. But when we have to choose on those grounds, it is simply a matter of personal preference.”