“Apart from his detestation of Lester, there was also the pastoral folly of counseling drunks. He had learned that lesson years before—like sweeping water uphill.”
Impatience Notices
“Chad was being a little bit slower on the motor skills front, and so John waited patiently for him. And by ‘waited patiently,’ John had been a pastor long enough to know it meant he was actually waiting impatiently. Whenever he was waiting patiently, he didn’t notice that he was waiting patiently, and John was noticing.”
No, Not That Kind of War Song
“[Deidre] was a solo-obsessed soprano in their makeshift choir and was always calling with criticisms of the choir director disguised as prayer requests. Mitchell’s mother had always called church choirs the war department. Luther once said that when Satan fell, he fell into the choir loft.”
Not What’s Done
“As a conscientious pastor, John regretted having given a fellow clergyman a black eye. Not entirely intentional, more a confluence of events that was larger than everybody involved. But still, hardly what he had learned in seminary.”
Evangellyfish, opening lines, p. 9
A Reasonable Point, I Think
“This is as good a place as any to insist that all the characters in Evangellyfish are fictional, and I made them up out of my own head. Any resemblance to any real people, living or dead, is their own darn fault. If they quit acting like that, the resemblance would cease immediately and we wouldn’t have to worry about it.”
Evangellyfish, front matter
Letters in Mid-April!
Wokery: Thank you for this. Would you mind explaining briefly what “woke” is, in laymen terms, and would you mind giving a brief explanation of why it’s sin? I agree that it is sin, but there are these contrary mind daggers competing for the moral high ground. Therefore, if I had a concise statement on …
Sorry Not Sorry
Introduction: In these perilous times, when apologies have been fully weaponized, I would like to urge everyone to obtain and read, and depending on the circumstances, possibly memorize, the essay by C.S. Lewis called “Dangers of National Repentance.” It can be found in God in the Dock, and is a word for our time. I …
Talk Back Tuesday
Marry Young, I Say: So . . . that’s why the average godly guy should be married by the time he is 23! You said it even better this time, Wilson! Hang in there gals! I expect some decent guys might get the right idea after this post! Jason Will you say anything to young …
Nubile Young Women, The LA Times, and Me
Introduction: The trick is to write a headline that gets people to read just the first couple paragraphs. After that, the overall quality of the writing has to hold them. So wish me luck. So taking the occasion of the Roy Moore story, last weekend The LA Times published an op-ed piece by Kathryn Brightbill …
Reading List of Completed Books
As you peruse this list, please keep in mind that these books were read, and evaluated, over a period of many years. As my understanding of God’s Word (not to mention the world) has grown, the predictable result is that I would now evaluate many of these works differently — DW 2024: 1. The Rights …