At this point in my life, I think just about all my activities fall into one of these five baskets: God, family, country, friends, and health. A few observations about my choice of those five. First, I do think that four of them probably ought to be on nearly everyone’s short list: God, of course; … [Read more…]
I recently ran across this nicely presented chiasm for Hebrews 12:1-2 (page 207 of David Alan Black’s Learn To Read New Testament Greek): A [H]aving SEATED around us such a great cloud of witnesses >>B SETTING ASIDE every weight and clinging sin >>>>C with PATIENT ENDURANCE >>>>>>D let us run the race THAT IS SET … [Read more…]
Here’s a happy thought I had this spring as I drank my morning coffee: What is the natural sound people most often hear — that is, the sound people most often hear that is not manmade? The answer is birds singing, is it not? And that is a very pleasant sound, is it not? The … [Read more…]
I’ve noted before that a prayer of confession is part of my daily routine, and I’ll take this opportunity to elaborate on it a bit. We’re coming up on Lent next week, a serious time, and a brief daily prayer of confession fits in with that. Now, needless to say, your sins are not my … [Read more…]
A book review on the last day of 2024 in the Wall Street Journal has a wonderful and surprising final paragraph. The reviewer is Maxwell Carter, who is vice chairman of 20th- and 21st-century art at Christie’s in New York, and the book is The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: An Extraordinary New Journey … [Read more…]
What better topic than sin as you draw up your New Year’s resolutions? When trying to avoid sin, it seems to me that two problems commonly arise that are not quite the same thing: They are close but distinct. First, we might wonder whether the Bible labels an action sinful at all. Second, we might … [Read more…]
Of course he was, but you wouldn’t know from the NBC national news tonight. That program closed with a segment that the show promised would describe the important life role played by the late president’s deep personal “faith.” And, to be sure, it did mention”Sunday school” and “God” and even showed briefly a shot of … [Read more…]
Christmas gets some bad press these days for, especially, its commercialism. But let’s not miss the forest for the (Christmas) trees: It’s a great holiday, especially for Christians — and it’s a great way to send the Christian message to everyone else. For starters, how could Christians not celebrate the birth of their Savior? You … [Read more…]
This blogpost has some addenda — pieces by Lyman Stone and Cameron Hilditch — to my earlier one, “What Does God Think of Us Americans?” I begin with an interesting paper in April 2020 by Stone here. Next, Hilditch, in National Review Online on December 13, 2020, cites and discusses Stone here. Stone then had … [Read more…]
Recently I was sitting at a table in the food court of our local shopping mall. As I looked over the court and watched the mall’s denizens, I wondered what America’s Founders would have thought of it all. Of course, when you put the question that way, you think first of what they would think … [Read more…]