Beloved and Saints Romans 1:6-15 I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Romans 1:7 Paul is writing the letter we call Romans to the people in Rome we’d call Christians. He addresses them differently, as people “who are loved by God and called to be his own holy people.” This... Read more
I’ve listened and read quite a bit of nonsense in response to the horrific actions of Anders Breivik and his apparent claim to be a Christian. Tim Dalrymple of Patheos has written a wise, sane column on the question: Was Anders Breivik Really a Christian? I commend it to you highly. Thanks, Tim. And if you want to something both fascinating and occasionally distressing, see the discussion that follows Tim’s column. Read more
As you probably know, John Stott died on Wednesday, at ninety years of ago. He was an amazing man who influence on the church throughout the world is vast. A brilliant theologian and a deeply caring pastor, Stott help the church to be more truthful and more loving, and to see its mission in broad, transformational terms. I did not know John Stott well. In fact, we met only once, and talked together for perhaps two minutes, thirty-five years ago.... Read more
Thank You, God, for My Dad Today is a special anniversary in my life, a day of joy and sadness, of loss and thanksgiving. I thought I’d share with you my Daily Reflection for today. Luke 17:11-19 He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. Luke 17:16 Today, I want to share with you one of my prayers of thanksgiving. It concerns my dad. He died twenty-five years... Read more
Today’s New York Times reports on the genuine possibility that the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, may be purchased by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange. If this $50 million purchase were to do through, it would lead to the “conversion” of the most prominent Protestant church icon in Southern California. The reason behind the possible sale is the bankruptcy of Crystal Cathedral Ministries. Founded by the Rev. Robert H. Schuller, this ministry, which flourished in the 1970s and... Read more
You Don’t Need More Faith A few days ago, this post was my Daily Reflection, which appears on The High Calling website and is emailed to 15,000 people each morning. It stirred up some interesting conversation, so I thought I’d share it with my blog readers. Luke 17:5-6 The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.” The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this... Read more
Part 23 of series: How Does God Guide Us? In this series I’ve tried to show some of the ways that God guides us. I’ve explained that God guides us through: • Circumstances • Scripture • Community • Reason • Dreams and Visions • Divine Whispering • Spiritual Direction I suggested that we can confirm God’s guidance in various ways, especially through taking the risk of stepping out in faith. In my last posts, I showed that God’s guidance is... Read more
Part 22 of series: How Does God Guide Us? In my last post, I used an example from the movie The Sound of Music to illustrate how God’s directions for us are best, even when we can see this in the moment. Like the Reverend Mother who sent Maria back to the von Trapp family, God oftens “sends” us to places that don’t seem best to us. But, in fact, they are the best. We can see this illustrated in... Read more
Part 21 of series: How Does God Guide Us? In my last post, I suggested that God’s guidance is not only for our personal benefit, though we are surely helped when God guides us. But divine guidance is often for the sake of others, and ultimately for the sake of God and His purposes. This truth about God reminds me of a wonderful scene from The Sound of Music. Maria had set her heart upon becoming a nun and was... Read more
Mark D. Roberts
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John Stott: Not an Evangelical Blowhard according to the Times
John Stott gets a thumbs-up from the New York Times. Specifically, Pulitizer-prize winning op-ed columnist for the Times, Nicholas Kristof, gives the late John Stott his stamp of approval, his imprimatur, if you will. (To be accurate, this is the second time, to my knowledge, that the Times has approved of Stott. The first came in a 2004 op-ed piece by David Brooks, “Who is John Stott?”) In “Evangelicals without Blowhards,” Kristof admits that he is “not particularly religious.” Nevertheless,... Read more