I’ve been reading Eugene Peterson’s The Contemplative Pastor again. I’m not sure how many times I’ve read this book. Sometimes I think I should always be reading it for at least a few minutes a day. Today I was struck by this line: “I am busy because I am vain. I want to appear important. Significant. What better way than to be busy? The incredible hours, the crowded schedule, and the heavy demands on my time are proof to myself... Read more
There’s a pretty interesting op-ed in the New York Times by Molly Worthen from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She’s writing on three subjects I care about: immigration, evangelicalism, and the Social Gospel of Walter Rauschenbusch. I think she says some interesting things. Here’s an excerpt: It’s true that Latino Americans tend to be religious (according to Gallup, 54 percent are Catholic and 28 percent are Protestant). However, even those at the forefront of collaboration with white evangelicals stress... Read more
I confess that I am not super excited to write a confession this morning. I confess that every confession I can think of to write down just sounds whiny – so I’ve been using delete a lot for the last 30 minutes trying for something interesting to say. It’s not really working so I’m going to keep it short today. I confess that I am an outstanding maker of brownie sundaes. The key is you have to heat the brownie... Read more
I’ve been thinking lately about Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s speech at the Fano ecumenical church conference and his insistence that ecumenism could help stave off the war he saw coming. As it turns out, Bonhoeffer was right about the war. Even if the ecumenical efforts of the Christians could could not keep a predominantly Christian Western Europe from waging all-out war on each other for a second time in a half century, I think Bonhoeffer was right about ecumenism as well. Their... Read more
Legendary rock writer Dave Marsh wrote a column for Counterpunch yesterday reviewing the book The Frontman: Bono (In the Name of Power) by writer Harry Browne. It wasn’t very nice. Dave Marsh is a grumpy rock and roll journalist who was the editor of Creem magazine and has written for Rolling Stone and The Village Voice and he helped create the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and currently sits on the board. He’s known for his cynically-jaded writing style... Read more
I only found out this morning that Willard was sick. Have had a heavy heart all day thinking about what a tremendous human being he is, and what a profound impact he’s had upon my life. Just clicked on my news feed to see that Christianity Today is reporting that Dallas Willard has died today. I’m totally heartbroken. Christianity Today posted a profile they did on Dallas just a few years back. It’s worth reading. Here’s an excerpt from an... Read more
Christianity Today is reporting that Dallas Willard has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. This is bad news. I hope that you’ll take a moment to pray for him today. **Update here: Dallas Willard dies at age 77. I owe Dallas Willard a tremendous debt. Willard was the first teacher who taught me about the gospel of sin management. He was the first one to show me the gaping hole in my gospel, and shared with me the gospel of... Read more
Full disclosure: I’m an unabashed C.S. Lewis fan – so I’m prone to gushing on the subject. Nevertheless, I think it’s not at all overstating to say that reading Alister McGrath’s new biography of C.S. Lewis is well worth your time. As far as biographies go, it’s not terribly long at 379 pages, and with such a colorful narrative, Lewis’s life is ready made for a biography such as this. What makes McGrath’s telling of C.S. Lewis’s life stand out... Read more
I confess that I have an ailment that I’ve always called “productivity sickness.” I seem to be unable to just “be” in any given situation without trying to get something accomplished. I confess that the enneagram has been quite helpful in helping me to see this tendency in myself. If you have never investigated the enneagram, it’s one of the best tools I’ve ever encountered in terms of its ability to help us see what’s going on in our own... Read more
Okay I’ve thought about this quite a lot actually. After debating world needs v. personal calling and desires, i.e., what I would like to do with my life versus what the world needs, etc. I have to say regarding what superpower I would like to have if I could have any superpower I wanted. I think my answer would be: the ability to speed read super-fast with 100% retention in any language. Can you imagine that? Not only could... Read more
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