“We have to recover the older standards for writing poetry, and if we have the slightest inclination, we should encourage it as much as we can . . . The first stuff we write will probably not be very good, but we should laugh at it and keep going. We are laboring for the kingdom” …
Conservative Capitulation
“In our modern world, the more conservative in theology a particular church or denomination is, the less likely they are to love poetry. Many conservative believers and defenders of the faith have sought to do their work through doctrinal engineering and theological abstractions. This has resulted in a truncated form of the faith — which …
Pious Worry Sessions
“We tend to want our hearts and minds to protect the peace of God within us. Paul actually reverses this and says that the peace of God protects our hearts and minds. But this does not happen simply because we present our petitions to God. It is quite possible to be anxious on our knees. …
Teaspoons and Waterfalls
“We cannot begin to thank God for all His mercies toward us. We are unaware of the vast majority of them — for instance, your liver at this moment is doing a number of things to keep you alive. Each of us, every day, is standing under a Niagara of blessings, and when we ‘give …
Complex, Not Inscrutable
“God has built predictability into the world — every covenant comes with blessings and curses. We are encouraged to look at how we fare in order to understand whether we are living under the blessing of God. At the same time, our analysis of such things must not be wooden. We must be balanced and …
Not Quite an Optical Illusion
“This is one of the curiosities of sanctification. The more someone progresses in the faith, the more they realize how far they have to go . . . The more we grow in grace, the more we understand how great grace is and how much it covers” (Beyond Stateliest Marble, p. 199).
Under Tribute
“For the gracious heart, the law is no more constraining that wings are to a bird. But for someone who has no experience of grace, these standards bite and pinch, and some accommodation must be made for both morality and sin. Anne [Bradstreet] noted this problem clearly. ‘Some Christians do by their lusts and corruptions …
Tight Connection
“A person who is out of fellowship with God could not be holy, and someone in fellowship with God cannot be anything else” (Beyond Stateliest Marble, p. 197).
The Hollow Consumer
“The external world is not the problem, but because of sin, the external world does present a problem . . . The more a man sees, the more he wants. The more he throws things into his soul, the emptier it gets . . . The nature of lust is to demand more and more …
A Bunch of Little Sneaks, In Fact
“Internal lusts are traitors, and must be guarded against diligently. Moreover, they present much more of a threat than any open adversaries outside. Thousands of the enemy outside may assial the walls in vain, while one treacherous citizen inside can secretly open a door, and all is undone” (Beyond Stateliest Marble, p. 193).