I heard an interview with Marvin Olasky this week in which he mentioned his religious transition from the Communist Party to the Conservative Baptist Church. His description of the first couple of Sundays, ending with the long and insistent altar call, and all the old folks turning around and looking at him because he was …
I have always preferred Advent (the western Christian season of preparation for the Nativity Feast) over the Nativity Fast (the eastern Christian version). It’s not the duration (Advent is usually less than 28 days while the Nativity Fast is 40 days) nor is it intensity (the Nativity Fast, like Great Lent means no meat and …
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who are being …
Continue reading Prepare Your Minds for Action (1 Peter 1:3-9)
We have arrived at the final warning passage in Hebrews. In a previous warning passage, the author was emphasizing self-discipline. I said (in that essay) the challenge was not unlike the challenge of becoming an athlete and the author brings us back to this metaphor in ch. 12. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so …
What is the glory and majesty of God? One of my favorite pictures of that glory is in Ps 93:1. “The Lord is king, he is robed in majesty.” Majesty is also a fearsome concept. Consider Job, for instance, “Will not his majesty terrify you, and the dread of him fall upon you?” Or Ex. …
So what is the relationship between divine grace and human effort? Let's start by imagining me as the quarterback of the Washington Redskins instead of Robert Griffin III … or not. It doesn't matter how much strength training, how much coaching, and how many years of practice I had, I could never be a NFL …
Dietrich Bonhoeffer begins The Cost of Discipleship with a rant. Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting to-day for costly grace. Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks' wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace …
Life is hard. By this I don't mean to say it's full of drudgery (although it can be) or that it is beyond our means to cope (although it can be). “Hard,” in the opening sentence ought not carry a negative connotation. Basketball, when played seriously, is hard. It requires a great deal of sweat …
Morality is the attempt to do the right thing, whether I have the skills or ability to do it or not. Discipline is practice, repetition, stick-to-itiveness, so that I can develop the skills or ability to do what my will and body want me to do. Religion tells me to be moral. Christianity tells me …
Mike Elgan, tech journalist (who also writes the quirky little newsletter called "Mike's List") recently wrote an article at ComputerWorld.com wondering if gadgets have become too small and cheap to be realistically useful. (My source was Cranky Geeks, by the way.) Cheap is good, right? Not necessarily, Elgan opines. "The problem with such low prices …
Just Another Jim 