By grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone
I am old now, soon to go the way of all men. God’s call is coming shortly. I am not long for this world. But I write with excitement and satisfaction. For tomorrow, the State of Washington’s Legislature is voting to outlaw abortion, to rid our state of its 75-year reprehensible behavior of killing children […]
Washington Irving published his fanciful tale, Rip Van Winkle in 1819. The story is set in late 18th century America. Rip was squirrel hunting in the Catskill Mountains, dulled by drink he lays down for a nap. Deep sleep doesn’t explain the half of it. He wakes up 20 years later thinking it was the […]
Decades from now, if the world becomes saner through the Kingdom of God getting larger, we will have a conversation with our grandchildren or great grandchildren. And they may ask us something like this, “Tell us about the troubling times. How did it happen? What was wrong with people? Didn’t they see it coming? Why […]
Samuel Rutherford would have been a great pen pal. The 17th century Scottish pastor did his best work, like John Bunyan, with pen in hand while imprisoned for the gospel. His opponents tried to silence him. What they ended up doing was extending his ministry reach centuries through his letters. Spurgeon gave them the highest […]
The Shadow was growing. Darkness was on the move; light seemed to be in retreat. A nervous fear gripped many. Some hid while others didn’t want to talk about it. But there were some that wanted to know what to do. But formerly trusted voices were silent. A few of those voices spoke out but […]
The “dummy light” comes on every 3,000 miles in our car. Time for another oil change. I appreciate the reminder but do not like it when the red oil can flashes red on my dashboard. But I better pay attention to it. After addressed, I enjoy hitting the reset button that makes it go away […]
Weary from the week and frankly with nothing better to do, Sam went to bed. Besides, he had to winterize the home in the morning. If the weather cooperated, he might even throw up some Christmas lights. Something he hadn’t done for years. He hadn’t been real “Christmasee” for a while. He hadn’t been since […]
In years past political parties used to speak of their “platform,” a formal collection of their positions and aspirations. “Planks” made up their platform, statements and positions on individual issues such as tax rates, domestic goals, foreign policy, and so forth. In years gone by, civil debate and discussion took place between politicians and constituents […]
G.K. Chesterton, a large man with an even larger wit, had the rare gift of saying much with little. His few words on a matter were often poignant, sharp, and provocative. He did not need a paragraph. He just needed a sentence. One hundred years ago he advised his contemporaries, “Do not be so open-minded […]
There are two things I have never done (actually, there are millions of things I have never done). But you know what I mean. The first is that I have never walked into a military recruiter’s office. But I imagine some of their spiel, “Come see the world”; “The GI bill will be waiting for […]
It’s bland. It has little taste, color, or smell. It goes down easy, really easy—no chewing necessary. I’m not talking about oatmeal. I’m talking about evangelicalism. It’s mild, plain, and vapid. It’s been told to stay in the corner and it has for years. It has been told to stay within its four-walls and it […]
We Christians can be a strange and frustrating bunch. We claim Jesus as Lord and Savior and often don’t live like it. We know that. We are not proud of it. There is no excuse for it. We find ourselves regularly confessing our failings to God. We probably should confess more to you, as well, […]