Gold leaves of autumn New buds in spring Summer’s warm magic Winter’s cold ring— Coming and going Time’s rise and fall Years building ages Time touching all— So our lives mingle So our lives
Among many other wondrous things, Christmas is a preview of Jesus’ second coming. Christmas is bittersweet. The angels announce good will and peace on earth. Unspeakable joy at the birth of a baby, the long-prophesied
Nobel Prize-winning author Sinclair Lewis was alarmed by the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany. In 1931 his journalist wife had interviewed Hitler. Now it was 1935. Lewis decided he’d better write a novel warning
“God works in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform,” said William Cowper in 1774. I fully agree. One of those mysterious ways is providence (a big theme in John Wesley, about which I’ve written).
The Bible reveals a whole and healing gospel. Good News! Today however, a third of the gospel is missing from much evangelical preaching, teaching, and living. Even among Wesleyans. The Bible is the story of
Late last year we had some birch trees cut down in front of our house. The trunks were over a foot thick. I thought the roots would threaten the house’s foundations. Also the trees’ frequent
Marina Warner has written an intriguing book, Once Upon a Time: A Short History of Fairy Tale (Oxford: 2014, 201 pp.). The book plunges deep into the well of fairy tales. From various angles it
How large should your church be? Silly question, you say. Depending on your theology or worldview, you might add: * Large as possible! Bigger is better! * That’s up to God! * I’m shooting for
Ponder these short parables: The king of a great land was about to take a long journey. He called his top three officials together. “I am putting you in charge while I am gone,” he
Let’s ponder the promise and peril of populism. Or maybe the triumph and terror of populism. Follow the news for a random hour, and you’ll probably hear the words populism and populist. “Populist revolt.” “populist
I walk into a shopping mall. In a central courtyard is a beautiful floor made of different colors and sizes of tiles. Admiring the floor, I start to wonder whether the tiles are laid
Taking a class in medieval Christian worship at Notre Dame in 1975, I quickly learned what BVM meant. Blessed Virgin Mary. Not Bureau of Motor Vehicles. This is the season when we especially remember Mary,
