Jesus Creed

I have been skipping through some of Leo Tolstoy of late, and came upon William Shirer’s incredibly insightful study, Love and Hatred, which details the turbulent relationship of Leo and Sonya Tolstoy. For years and years they fought and warred and called one another hateful things, and then worked out their feelings in their diaries.…

Last night at Willow Randy Travis gave a mini-concert. The place was packed. We are not country fans, but his song on the three wooden crosses was good enough to make it on all kinds of charts, and won our hearts. He then led everyone in a worship song. And then he finished off with…

I’ve been left wandering in my thoughts in my commute of late with a challenge to reach our world and our local communities more effectively. And my thoughts have considered at times how it was that Jesus drew so many to the kingdom. Here’s my conclusion: Jesus had the ability and willingness to establish permeable…

In Julia Keay’s new book, Alexander the Corrector, we are introduced not only to a long-standing controversy — was Alexander Cruden mentally unstable or not? — but also to the power of labeling. In this book, which reads like a detective novel, Keay seeks to rehabilitate Cruden from a host of labels and mistakes. Who…

Can anyone dispute the unimpeachable character revealed in this observation: James Kaplan, who wrote for TV Guide, once said this of Mr. Fred Rogers: “Fred Rogers is more Mister Rogers than Mister Rogers.” Recently read the splendid memoir of her meetings and correspondence with Fred Rogers by Amy Hollingsworth. I’ve had my wonders about Mr.…

Everyone believes telling the truth is vital. Until the truth one has to tell is about one’s self, and one has to tell it to God.

The End, in its technical sense, for which one lives shapes one’s entire life. If one’s End is the Final Judgment, one will become holy. If one’s End is the needs of others, one will become compassionate. Bunyan, Edwards, even Dante, had the Final Judgment as their End. Henri Nouwen, Jean Vanier, and Jim Wallis…

Social justice is the name of the game today for the progressive evangelical. The new heroes include writers like Ronald Sider and Jim Wallis, Christian Smith and Michael Emerson. But, so it seems to me, few are asking the right question: what is social justice for the Christian? For most Christians, when they enter the…

In the last three or so years I have been struck, through my reading of the most influential writers on Christian spiritual formation, by how many of them were committed to the “divine offices”. “Divine offices” refers to a rhythmical prayer life. These Christians prayed three times a day (in the monastic traditions even more…

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