From Bonfire of the Vanities: …in that moment Sherman made the terrible discovery that all men make about their fathers sooner or later. For the first time he realized that the man before him was not an aging father but a boy, a boy much like himself, a boy who grew up and had a [...]
Archive for the ‘reading’ Category
Not a Man But a Boy
Posted in parenting, quotes, reading on January 3, 2011 | 1 Comment »
The Revelation of Jesus
Posted in Bible, reading on September 12, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
In Revelation 1:9ff, John introduces himself to the recipients of his letters as one who, “in Jesus”, shares in “the tribulation, the kingdom, and patient endurance”. He describes what he has seen: the Messiah, the Son of Man, holding the seven stars (churches) in his right hand while he walks among them. Michael Wilcock scatters [...]
What Kind of Church to Expect
Posted in Bible, gospel, missional church, quotes, reading, resurrection on September 7, 2010 | 1 Comment »
The Church is sojourning, going through wild places on the way to an awesome destination. We are being led out of the wilderness, and while we lose a few (and sometimes almost entire generations) along the way, and the task of leadership requires discipline, but that doesn’t mean throwing them under the bus. “The Church [...]
Grace for Our Categories
Posted in Bible, quotes, reading on September 3, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
In biblical scholarship one inevitably encounters data that appear challenging or “threatening” to traditional points of view. To oversimplify, there are three possibilities: head-in-the-sand denial of difficulties; learning to accommodate to them, allowing that God uses Scripture as he chooses, which is sometimes not in ways we would expect; or rejecting the value of Scripture [...]
Chris Wright: Mission is God’s Mission Before It Is Ours
Posted in Bible, gospel, missional church, Missions, quotes, reading on August 31, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Chris Wright, in his fine commentary on Deuteronomy (NIBC series), comments on the “missiological significance” of Deuteronomy (page 8): Deuteronomy is a book for people on the move, literally at first, spiritually and morally thereafter. It sets Israel on the boundary of the land and looks beyond that boundary to what lies in store for [...]
OT Prophecy, the Apocalypse, and Fulfillments Past and Future
Posted in Bible, quotes, reading on August 29, 2010 | 1 Comment »
“When John echoed the Old Testament prophecies of the doom of Babylon and the doom of Tyre, using them to compose his own prophecy of the fall of Babylon, he was not ignorant of their original reference to the great pagan powers contemporary with the prophets who pronounced their oracles. But he saw Rome as [...]
Is Our Faith Escapism or Realism?
Posted in quotes, reading on August 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Speaking on Naomi, David Jackman (cited by Simon Gathercole) notes that despite her grief and complaint, she does not lose her faith: She consciously places all her pain, bitter experiences and hopelessness within the structure of God’s sovereignty, and she leaves the explanation and responsibility with him. Whether that is escapism or realism entirely depends [...]
Lonesome Dove: Fidelity (2)
Posted in quotes, reading on August 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Following up on fidelity in Lonesome Dove, on the flip side, there are commitments that are not necessarily so commendable: * The fellas tend to embody the slogan, “to thine own self be true”. Call keeps quiet even on things that should be mentioned, Gus tells us, because he “ain’t much of a mentioner”. * The [...]
Lonesome Dove: Fidelity (1)
Posted in reading on August 27, 2010 | 1 Comment »
This week I finished Lonesome Dove (the Pulitzer Prize winning book and the miniseries), but I’m not sure it’s finished with me. The book is more a study of the human condition than a morality tale, although there’s some good that shines through and some bad that casts a shadow (sometimes personified, as in Blue [...]
How to Leave Christianity
Posted in idolatry, quotes, reading, theology, worship on August 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve spent a fair bit of time pondering where the divide lies between orthodoxy and heresy, that divide famously defined by J. Gresham Machen as Christianity and Liberalism (whatever the latter happens to go by; it often assumes Christian names for its gods and churches). Al Mohler is the President of Southern Seminary; he thinks [...]
