Reflections on the loving kindness of the Triune God
This entry is shared with the Cor Deo site. Please offer any responses there. Thanks! My friend is an evangelist, a global Christian activist who offers the gospel whenever and wherever he finds opportunity. After any restaurant meal, for instance, he’ll fold the tip in a gospel tract. His voicemail message offers a gospel invitation …
Read More EvangelismFour boys were sitting around a bench at the local mall after school today. They weren’t doing anything out of the ordinary—just hanging out and passing time. I suspect they were actually giving each other some sense of meaning. They all looked about the same. For some reason they reminded me of my six months …
Read More Social FabricFaith is a favorite term among active Christians. Someone, for instance, may be having a crisis of faith. Another person may have just come to faith. Still another may be seeking more faith. There is also a collective term—“the faith”—that speaks of Christian doctrine as a whole. It’s an important term because faith is the …
Read More Demystifying FaithI watched a long string of cows moving along the fence line toward a barn. I was driving by a farm as the scene unfolded. It was milking time, I’m sure, and the cows were maintaining their daily routine. An awkward analogy struck me. The cows illustrate our own lives. In the eyes of corporate …
Read More Compliant or captivated?A revised entry, first posted in August, 2008 What makes God attractive? Is it his creativity that formed grand galaxies with striking shapes and colors? Or his intimate gift of spider-spun webs that catch morning dew and sparkle against the backdrop of leaves and roses? Yes, his handiwork is certainly captivating when we ponder his …
Read More Our Attractive GodNote: I’m stepping back from writing a new entry every week in order to have more time for other writing projects. Prayers are appreciated. Look, too, for some edited versions of earlier entries. I attended a Good Friday service this Easter weekend. A local church offered a powerful Good Friday vision: we are sinners and …
Read More The Easter WeekendLast week I traced the enduring debate between Pelagius and Augustine and asked, “What do you think?” The question offered two possible readings. The obvious option was, “what’s your opinion?” But I also wondered where a person’s mind goes when it’s free to wander. Let me chase the second question in this entry. It’s a …
Read More What do you hear?This post is also found on the Cor Deo site. Please offer any responses there. Thanks! A feisty debate stirred the New England churches in 1636. The question at stake was the nature of faith—what is it that makes a Christian? In an early exchange of letters between two of the pastors, Peter Bulkeley asked …
Read More What do you think?Do you enjoy beauty? Perhaps a dramatic sunset, or a remarkable piece of artistry? The scene at the top of my Spreading Goodness site is a sunrise on Whidbey Island, Washington, near my parent’s former home. The brilliant colors and the slow motion of a fog bank rolling in from the right captured me on …
Read More BeautyIn a Cyprus setting properly suited to the standing of Sergius Paulus, Barnabas and Saul were invited to talk about Jesus. We don’t know how or why the meeting was arranged with Paulus, a Roman proconsul, but it was certainly a good opportunity for evangelism. Was the meeting stirred by a connection this figure might …
Read More Straight paths made crooked