Living in a Van Down by the River
The late Chris Farley created a character for Saturday Night Live called Matt Foley. Matt was a Motivational Speaker – but not a very good one.
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Three Important Lessons
A noted church growth expert once produced an inspirational film on location at a circus to teach principles of effective church growth.
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The Problem of Evil
If God is all powerful and all loving, then how can evil exist in the world?
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Father and Son
Cat Stevens released the song “Father and Son” in 1970. The song is a dialogue between a father and his son.
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Crossing Niagara
Charles Blondin (1824-1897) was one of the greatest acrobats of all time.
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Life Lessons in the Las Vegas Airport
A few years ago on a return flight from Los Angeles to Nashville, I had a layover at the Las Vegas airport.
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Wish You Were Here
I love a good metaphor. I also love a good classic rock song. So it is especially gratifying to hear a good metaphor in a good classic rock song.
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Intoxicated
I love to read and I am always reading something, but occasionally I go on a bender.
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Are You Carrying Your Cheese?
I sat recently with my friend Wolfi Eckleben, the pastor of the Every Nation Church in London. We were in Krakow, Poland attending a conference...
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The Heart of the Matter
“I’ve been trying to get down
To the heart of the matter.
But my will gets weak,
And my thoughts seem to scatter.
But I think it’s about forgiveness,
Forgiveness.”
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One Small Step
I used to get Dominos as a present when I was a kid, and I loved them. But I never learned to play the game until a few years ago.
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My One Consolation
My little terrier has developed a food allergy. She scratches herself so badly that the hair will not grow on her legs.
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John Locke
John Locke (1632–1704) was an English philosopher, scientist, and political theorist. He was a devout Christian, an Anglican with Puritan leanings.
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Get Your Free Hugs Here!
I was in downtown Seattle yesterday and I saw my first “Free Hug” display. Two people were standing at a crowded intersection with signs that said, “Free Hugs.”
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Everyone is a Critic
I do not like talk radio. It brings out the worst critical attitudes in people. Everyone has something bad to say about someone or something.
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Speaking the Truth (In Love?)
I started watching American Idol last year. My family hooked me. They would sit in the living room and laugh and cry and shout...
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Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was an English physicist, mathematician, and natural philosopher, and one of the most important scientists in history.
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Ain't No Man Rigtheous (No Not One)
Here is another one of my favorite Dylan poems. I don’t know if it represents his current state of mind, but it is powerful nonetheless.
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Lessons From Middle Earth II
You can learn many spiritual lessons from reading J.R.R. Tolkien. In Book II of The Fellowship of the Rings, the company comes to Caras Galadhon...
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Rene Descartes
The next series of articles will feature significant thinkers and their influence on the Western mind. The first article is about Rene Descartes.
René Descartes (1596–1650), the French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician,is often called the “father of modern philosophy.”
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Lessons From Middle-Earth
You can learn many spiritual lessons from reading J.R.R. Tolkien. I am a huge Tolkien fan. I have read The Lord of the Rings Trilogy seventeen times...
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Seven 20th Century Art Movements
The last seven articles have briefly examined a few of the influential art movements of the 20th century in an attempt to understand the modern world. One of the best ways to understand a culture is through its art because art both reflects and shapes its worldview.
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Free Bird
I was raised on Rock and Roll. And 35 year later, I still love the classic rock songs.
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Everything is Broken
One of my favorite theologians, Bob Dylan, provides us with a vivid description of a world corrupted by sin in his poem “Everything is Broken.”
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Pop Art
In the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, a new art form began to take shape. This new movement rejected the traditional distinct between high art, with its transcendent message and lofty portrayal of the human spirit, and the trendy and fleeting spin of commercial advertising.
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A Feature-Rich Covenant
A man separated from Christ is a stranger to His covenants – he does not know what they are, and he is not eligible for their provisions.
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Abstract Expressionism
The chaotic randomness of life characterized by Dada and the subconscious world of the Surrealists merged into the school known as Abstract Expressionism. The first public exhibitions of these artists were held in New York City in the mid ‘40s.
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The Soul of Punctuality
“Does anybody really know what time it is?
Does anybody really care?”
Apparrently not. It seems that punctuality has become a lost art.
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The Transcendental Interferer
In his book Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis described his attitude toward Christ before his conversion.
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Surrealism
One of the best ways of understanding a culture is through its art. Art both reflects and shapes the worldview of a culture. The art forms and artists of the twentieth century reflected and shaped the spirit of the age.
Surrealism was an artistic and literary movement...
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Blue Cotton Candy
“Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.”
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Sometimes Life is not Fair
I started rooting for the St. Louis Cardinals when I was 8 years old. I remember vividly Ken Boyer’s grand slam in game four of the ’64 World Series.
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Dada
Dada was an art movement whose members, in reaction to the brutality of WW I, sought to deride their culture through inane and absurd art. They believed that any faith in humanity's ability to improve itself through art and culture was naive and unrealistic.
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Disease of Conceit
Bob Dylan is among my favorite poets. His poem Disease of Conceit cogently illustrates Psalm 36:1-4. “Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts.”
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A Slight Change of Plans
I saw a double rainbow today. It was an amazing sight. I’ve seen many rainbows before, but never one as luminous as this one.
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Cubism
Cubism was an art movement that originated in Paris around the turn of the century. It was a radical departure from classical painting and even the previous movements of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism.
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Preparing Myself for Death
In 1979, a 35-year-old Canadian woman wandering around an Egyptian burial site stumbled into a deep pit with crumbling sides of earth and sand. She could not get out.
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How to Live to be a Hundred
In 1999, long-time National Public Radio producer Neenah Ellis interviewed centenarians for a radio series about the twentieth century.
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Postimpressionism
Postimpressionism was a movement that stressed the artists’ emotional and personal response to their subject. It was a conscious reaction to Impressionism. They rejected the Impressionists concern with the analytical and objective observation of light and nature.
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A Mighty Fortress
When Martin Luther would get discouraged he would say to his friend and associate Phillip Melancthon, “Let us sing the 46th Psalm.”
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Frozen Theology
I never tire of cathedrals. Whenever I visit England, I try to see as many as I can. The last time I was there I saw Canterbury, Wells, Exeter...
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Follies
Follies fascinate me – architectural Follies, that is. A Folly is an extravagant, useless, or fanciful structure that has no apparent purpose.
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Every Gift is Important
I collected comics as a kid. Spider-Man was undoubtedly my favorite, but the Avengers, X-men, and Captain America were close behind.
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Impressionism
In my last article, I stated that Paul examined the culture of Athens to understand his audience. Following that thought, I will present a series of articles on the art of the twentieth century.
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Customer Service?
I have subscribed to a well-known satellite TV provider the last seven years.
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Apologetic Strategies II
When addressing people who did not share his presuppositions, Paul looked for areas of common ground that would relate to his audience. There are at least three areas of common ground listed in Paul’s speech on the Areopagus.
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The "Call"
It was the bottom of the ninth, and the St. Louis Cardinals were three outs from a World Series Championship. The score was 1-0. The Cardinals had their top reliever...
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Recommended Reading
The two best books I have read in the last month are Creators: From Chaucer and Durer to Picasso and Disney, and 7 Practices of Effective Ministry.
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What Good Am I?
When Paul quoted the Stoic philosophers Epimenides and Aratus in his speech on the Areopagus, he apparently thought they had something important to say.
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Servant Leadership
Salome came to Jesus one day with a small request. “When You come into power, put my boys in the place of honor at Your right and left.”
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Lucy, John Wesley, and Christian Hedonism
I love my dog. You would too, if you knew Lucy. She is a nine-month old Cairn terrier with a zest for life.
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Apologetic Strategies
Acts 17 gives us insight into Paul’s apologetic strategy. “They came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And according to Paul's custom, he went to them...
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A Biblical Mandate to Think
A preacher once said to John Wesley, “God does not need your book learning and fancy education.” Wesley responded with, “God does not need your ignorance either.”
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The Post-Modern Mind
The starting point for understanding the post-modern mind is understanding the primeval mind. “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and
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Discipleship
I put my 19-year old daughter on a plane to South Africa last month.
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Introduction
Apologetics is the branch of theology that is concerned with defending or proving the truth of Christian doctrines. The word apologetics is derived from the Greek word apologia, which means to give a defense. It was originally used to represent a defendant’s reply to the...
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A Thousand Tongues
On May 21, 1738, Charles Wesley suffered a severe attack of pleurisy and took to his bed.
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