By grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone
I have been into C.S. Lewis as of late, “The Screwtape Letters”, especially. If you are not familiar, the old and cagy demon Screwtape is mentoring his inexperienced nephew, the demon Wormwood. Screwtape’s letters of advice concern how to best secure the damnation of the young man assigned to Wormwood by Satan. So, it reads […]
The dinner table never had been so full, chairs wrapped all the way around. Hungry mouths gathered to be filled. The laundry room was busier than ever. Would the old washer be able to keep up? And then there was the bathroom. It always seemed to be in use. The whiny question from the hall, […]
The 19th century Scottish minister and author, George MacDonald, wrote a parable where we are to imagine ourself as a house. When we come to saving faith, God begins the remodel. At first, we mostly understand what He is doing. You were aware there were some obvious “fixes” needed in some of the rooms. There […]
In Lewis’s “The Screwtape Letters”, the old and experienced demon Screwtape is mentoring his novice nephew, the demon Wormwood, on how to best secure the damnation of the young man assigned him by Satan. In one of his letters to his prodigy, Uncle Screwtape writes, “One of our great allies at present is the Church […]
Some cringe at the thought of opening up their home. Visions of cleaning up the strewed messes, making sure the toilet bowl sparkles, and fearing guests will see the couch stain has barred visitors from crossing your threshold for years. Plus, you do not have an open-concept home and there is no shiplap anywhere. How […]
There was a time in our past where the ascetics headed for the desert and the monks hid behind high walls. Removing oneself from society was thought the way to keep oneself pure. But like our shadow, we take our sin with us wherever we go. For two-plus centuries the church has had a good […]
Charles had become good at crawling in the shadows. He had been doing so for some time. When you are behind enemy lines, you keep your head down and you stay low. It was unclear how he got there. But the landscape did not lie. He was in enemy territory. The thought of getting caught […]
Is the sun setting on America? No one knows. He does, of course, but we don’t. The temptation is to assess matters based upon snapshots and not videos. Snapshots capture a moment in time. Videos record much more. A photograph of Russell Wilson surrounded by three imposing defensive linemen doesn’t look good. A video doesn’t […]
On the shore of the River of Life, a small group of friends had assembled. The topic of testimony came up. The Apostle Paul said he was in his late twenties when he got thrown from his horse and heard Jesus’ voice from heaven. Zacchaeus said he was in his mid-thirties when Jesus called him […]
Evangelical Reformed Church was founded 24 years ago. Ours was an unusual birth. There were no other church or churches involved, just five families who believed it was what the Lord would have us do. With not much more than our faith, we rented a church building, and opened up our doors to 58 people […]
We breathe culture. We do because society’s norms are all around us. Culture codifies acceptable conduct. And therein lies the problem. Culture is dictated by what man thinks. Therefore, we must be careful. The question becomes, “Are we breathing in man’s wisdom and norms, shaping how we act and think, which often runs counter to […]
The Wilderness was beautiful. It was open, it was wild, it was free. It was full of opportunity and promise. But the Wilderness was also dangerous. Many did not see it that way, though. Maybe this was because it was so enchanting and captivating. There also was a misguided thought one could live there as […]