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- Seeing With New ClarityYesterday
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I recently got a new pair of glasses. I hadn’t had my prescription for my glasses updated in a few years, so it was about time. As it turned out, my distance vision had improved, while my up-close vision had deteriorated. So I definitely needed some new lenses. These lenses, in addition to being just right for my aging eyes, also had a special treatment to reduce glare. The optician promised that I’d see much more clearly if I added this extra (and not inexpensive) treatment.
When I first put on my new pair of glasses in the doctor’s office, I had an experience I’ve only had once or twice in my life, also when putting on new glasses for the first time. The world looked startingly clear and precise. In fact, everything around me almost looked falsely crisp because I had become used to living in a state of bluriness. Even several days after first trying on my new glasses, I continue to marvel at how sharp the world looks.
This is exactly what happens, or what should happen, at any rate, when we become Christians and begin to see life through the lens of Scripture. We’re still looking at the same things – the same actions, events, conflicts, challenges, people, institution, and even ourselves – but we see them differently, with greater clarity. Such vision should enable us to live wit
- Why Stay in a Sick Church?January 7
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Over the past few years, I have at times weighed in on the question of why orthodox, Bible-believing Christians should stay in denominations that flirt with heresy or abandon biblical authority. In particular, I have spoken of my own involvement in the Presbyterian Church (USA), and why I remain in this denomination in spite of numerous frustrations and grave concerns about it.
The Episcopal Church often seems to be plagued with even greater problems than the PC(USA). Many Episcopalian churches and even some dioceses have left their denomination and affiliated with other Anglican dioceses in other parts of the world. Moreoever, there is a move afoot to form a new Anglican denomination in North America. I have many friends who are a part of this movement. I also have many friends who remain loyal to the Episcopal Church, quite a few of whom are solidly evangelical in their theology.
Christianity Today’s website has just published a fascinating interview with a leading Episcopalian who is remaining in his denomination even though, as a solidly orthodox, Bible-believing Christian, he has many concerns about the direction of the Episcopal Church. The Rev. Dr. Ru
- Let It Flow Out: An Interview with N. T. WrightJanuary 6
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Last November, N.T. Wright spoke at a Laity Lodge retreat. I had the privilege to conduct an extensive interview with him on a wide variety of issues. Excerpts from this interview are now available at The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website affiliated with Laity Lodge. I’ll put up the first part of this interview here. You can click on the link at the bottom to finish reading at The High Calling.org. (Many thanks to my colleague, Marcus Goodyear, for his outstanding editing of this interview.)What does it look like to be “Simply Christian” outside the professional church from 9 to 5?
It looks like a million different things. Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote, “Christ plays in ten thousand places, lovely in eyes and lovely in limbs, not His.” In a sense, when you become a Christian, you become your genuine self. You’re called into that fresh selfhood. God made each of us to be really quite different and to reflect in a million little glittering diamonds that sense of the differentness of Jesus. Jesus looks like one way in this person and another way in that person. Ordinary people develop skills
- Complaining About College FootballJanuary 5
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Wherever I go these days, people are complaining about college football. This odd fact will make more sense if you know that I live in Texas and have recently vacationed in Southern California. Texas is, after all, the home of several prominent football teams, including the University of Texas Longhorns. Southern California is also the home of several prominent football teams, most of all the University of Southern California Trojans.
If you follow college football at all, you know that the Longhorns and the Trojans have, in recent years, regularly been in the running for the national championship. In fact, the Trojans won the title in 2004, and the Longhorns narrowly edged Trojans in 2005. This year, both Texas and USC had strong hopes of winning the national championship. But neither school will end up with this honor. However, there are lots of people, including but not limited to Trojan and Longhorn fans, who believe that one of these teams is, in fact, the best in the country. So there’s been plenty of complaining about college football and the odd way it determines a national champion. (Photo: Vince Young of Texas scores a game winning touchdown in the closing seconds of the national championship game for 2005, played in the Rose Bowl on January 4, 2006. U
- Sunday Inspiration from The High CallingJanuary 4
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Serve the Lord
Serve the LORD with reverent fear,
and rejoice with trembling.Introducing a Change in Weekend Daily Reflections:
Starting yesterday, I began to try something new in my Daily Reflections. During the week, I’ll continue to work passage by passage through a book of the Bible. But on Saturday and Sunday, I’ll base my reflections on a Psalm. This will allow for some thematic variation, while still taking us systematically through different biblical books. More importantly, it will allow us to dig deeply into the Psalms, the Spirit-inspired instruction book for prayer. As we work through the whole Psalter, two chapters each weekend, I pray that your relationship with God will become deeper, truer, and more vital.Reflection on Psalm 2
Though most of us are not kings or earthly rulers, nevertheless Psalm 2 speaks directly to us. It calls us to “serve the Lord with reverent fear.” We are to offer our whole life to God, not just the “religious” parts. We serve God by serving others at work, in our families, in our communities, as well as in our churches. Our service results from our reverent fear. We aren