What my nine-year-old son hears: I’m going to be gone for about a week…so you’re the man on the house, Son. You’re the one to slay the Kraken if he’s released in our neighborhood. You’d better sharpen all your weapons, lay them out on your bed, and be ready to use them. If someone breaks into our house, you’ll need to be the one to disarm him, render him helpless, and pin him to the floor with your ever-growing biceps until the police arrive. Do all this…and you’re the one who … [Read more...]
You know we’re confused about the human nature and where evil comes from when we have a problem with a three-year-old deaf child who signs his name in a way that looks like he’s pretending to hold a gun. (The boy's name is Hunter, so the sign for his name involves a gun-like motion. Click here for the story.) I’m sorry, but this is silliness amped up on steroids and run amuck. Don’t misunderstand me. I’m for the enforcement of existing gun laws. I’m for background checks … [Read more...]
Entitlement is the thistle taking over the garden of the American dream. It simply will not die…and the more space it’s given, the more space it takes. What nobly began as the “unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” has turned into the unalienable right to not be uncomfortable, impoverished, or relatively poor. Now, I don’t wish anyone to be uncomfortable. I sincerely don’t. But there’s a tremendous difference between wanting everyone to be … [Read more...]
Sdrawkcab. Oops, I mean, backwards. That’s how our government is interpreting and handling the First Amendment with the Affordable Care Act. To be specific, the mandate that “most new and renewed health plans” are now required to cover without cost sharing “all FDA-approved forms of contraception” has forced many religious organizations into an impossible situation—ironically, a situation that the First Amendment was designed to protect them from. The First Amendment of the … [Read more...]
I'm feeling sad over the death of Calvin Miller. I not only appreciate his books, but I greatly enjoyed spending a couple of hours with this gracious man. While I was in seminary at Talbot, he was a guest lecturer. He insisted on buying my wife and me lunch and then urged us to spend time with him before he returned home (Beeson Divinity School). He made it feel that we were the honored guests for the following two hours. Knowing about his life and ministry has reminded me that … [Read more...]
This video was good for a Monday morning belly laugh (thanks to Kevin DeYoung). About a minute into the video, pay particular attention to the buffalo shaking his head when he says, "No, don't do it, man..." I can hear Roger Ebert saying, "I sensed genuine concern and compassion from the buffalo for his friend. Very believable!" … [Read more...]
I’ve blogged in the past about being careful to not make our children deal with images from our past that could hurt them. If our transgressions screw-ups have been removed from us as far as the east is from the west, we must be very careful about dredging them up and making others think about them, especially our children. But...that being said, parents who walk by grace will regularly share their neediness for the help of God with their children. One of the great goals of … [Read more...]
This will be a bit like a child who never mastered finger painting trying to describe Claude Monet, but humor me for a moment. I grew up listening to Van Morrison. And I mean ALL of Van Morrison—every album he’s made since 1967 (“The Bang Masters”). My vinyl copy of “Wavelength” wore out at least a dozen diamonds on my turntable between junior high and college. Van still defines musicianship and vocal mastery for me. He understands music so well that he can bend it, warp … [Read more...]
In three months we might have a sportsman for our vice president, and that thought thrills me. But I’m aware that it confuses many. Those who don’t hunt and fish tend to struggle with those who do. A man asked me two weeks ago, “Doesn’t it bother you that your favorite sports involve taking lives?" That’s a fair question, and because a sportsman has now been thrust into the political spotlight, I’d like to present a few thoughts about this odd activity that many of us enjoy. … [Read more...]
A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began by reading, I must finish by acting. -Henry David Thoreau We finished scarfing down dinner and washing the dishes by 6:30 last night, two hours before our kids’ bedtime. What to do? What to do? We popped a huge bowl of popcorn, settled into the sofa, and then I read out loud three stories from Grimm’s Fairy Tales and a chapter from Lewis’s The Last … [Read more...]
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