Desecration distractionWhen he wasn’t busy destroying Venezuela’s economy or risking war with Colombia, Hugo Chavez decided that he was going to solve the mystery of Simon Bolivar’s death.
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1 Peter 1:4, 54…to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in... Read More
“You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small. You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small. A full and fair weight you shall have, and a full and fair measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” Deuteronomy 25:13-15
An Economics of Love (3)
“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 23:22
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Let Us Be Borrowers
An Economics of Love (2)
“You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.” Leviticus 19:14
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This commentary, published November 10, 1997, on the occasion of the 514th birthday of Martin Luther, is as relevant today as ever.
Many Christians know little about Luther beyond the fact that he nailed his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg door and set off the Protestant Reformation. Luther’s insights, including his insistence on justification by faith alone—sola fide—divided the church for centuries. But today these same insights are making it possible for Protestants and Catholics to join forces to preserve the civilization Luther helped create.
Absolutes without absolutism
It’s not as hard as you might think to stand for absolute truth with those who deny it. This BreakPoint commentary first appeared in June, 2001.
Have you ever tried to debate moral principles with someone who doesn't believe they exist? If you have, you know it's an exercise in frustration. In our anything-goes society, even mentioning that there might be such a thing as a moral absolute truth is a good way to get branded intolerant, anachronistic, and a killjoy. And the more frustrated we get with this state of affairs, the more likely we are to turn the stereotype into a self-fulfilling prophecy.... READ FULL ARTICLE
No Stuffed Christians Here
Living Faith in Society
In spite of the complaints and criticisms of many, Christianity has long been a force for good in human society. This BreakPoint commentary first appeared in September, 1992.
A few years ago, the Smithsonian museum put up a new display with Archie Bunker's overstuffed armchair, from the famous television sitcom. A symbol, perhaps, of the narrow-minded, reactionary viewpoint Archie Bunker was supposed to represent.
A lot of people think of Christianity in the same terms--as narrow and reactionary--and they wish they could relegate it to a display in the museum of human history.
But... READ FULL ARTICLE
Recently, while doing some research on Charles Darwin, I was surprised to discover that one of the purposes motivating his voyage on the USS Beagle was to promote Christianity.
The captain of the USS Beagle was a devout Christian who wanted to see Christianity spread to all parts. He used his voyages to survey foreign lands and to spread the Gospel. On his first trip to South America, he had picked up three natives from Tierra del Fuego (the very southern tip of South America) to educate in England. On this second trip, with Darwin on board, he intended to return these individuals to their native land along with a missionary. The captain’s first choice, a local
The Poetry of Secular Science and Christian Theology
All worldviews yield poetry to those who believe them by the mere fact of being believed. And nearly all have certain poetical merits whether you believe them or not. This is what we should expect. Man is a poetical animal and touches nothing which he does not adorn.-- C. S. Lewis
In his essay, “Is Theology Poetry?” C. S. Lewis compared theology with poetry and concluded that while theology is not technically poetry, it does have a poetic element. Indeed any worldview will have poetic elements simply because people inevitably describe their most cherished believes in poetic terms. Even the worldview of naturalistic science—what Lewis calls The Scientific... READ FULL ARTICLE
Now That's a Good Idea
--for Christ plays in ten thousand places, Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not hisTo the Father through the features of men’s faces.
--from As kingfishers catch fire, Gerard Manley Hopkins
We have good ideas, but are we incarnating them, bringing them to flesh and action? This is often a problem for the contemporary church. We have good ideas, ideas that remain in their platonic, abstracted state. We talk a lot, we do little, we change little.
The church doesn’t just have a lot of good ideas, it has the Grand Idea—the idea by which men can be rescued, redeemed and renewed. We get... READ FULL ARTICLE
You shall not covet … anything that is your neighbor’s. Exodus 20:17
“The Necklace” Before he died of syphilis in 1893, Guy de Maupassant – one of the fathers of the modern short story – penned his own epitaph: “I have coveted everything and taken pleasure in nothing.”
His short story “The Necklace” reflects this sentiment.[1] Its protagonist – a perpetually discontented woman named Mathilde Loisel – covets the wealth, luxury, prestige, and approbation which others possess and which she feels are... READ FULL ARTICLE »
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The Primacy of the Heart
Keep an eye on your affections.
“For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”--Mark 7:1, 22
Inside-outside-in
Spiritual growth typically occurs from the inside-out. That is, as we work to be renewed in the various elements of the soul – heart, mind, and conscience – these, in turn begin to direct our bodily members in the paths of... READ FULL ARTICLE
No Joking Matter
You shall not commit adultery. -- Exodus 20:14
A modern morality tale
“This is a story, I supposed, about a failure in intelligence: the Rawlings’ marriage was grounded in intelligence.” So begins Doris Lessing’s 1963 short story “To Room Nineteen” which chronicles the unraveling of Matthew and Susan Rawlings’ marriage and Susan’s eventual suicide.[i]
According to the world’s values, the Rawlings have everything anyone could need to be happy: steady careers, plenty of money, a big house, four healthy children, an active social life, and servants who lift the mundane daily chores from Susan’s... READ FULL ARTICLE
