Beauty and Desecration
What was the first experience of beauty you remember? When a friend asked me the question years ago, my first answer was “I grew up in Alabama. We didn’t have any beauty!.” But that would be wrong. Even in the…
Breaking in
Do you ever get the nagging sense that you're on the outside looking in – at school, at work, at church, in your city, in the world? Somewhere there's a comfortable inner circle – where everyone knows each other, where…
In Defense of Certainty
Certainty is on the rocks, and Charles Krauthammer is unhappy about it. In the June 1, 2005, edition of Time magazine, Mr. Krauthammer commented on the confirmation hearings then in session for William Pryor, formerly Attorney General of the state…
Quiet Time?
I have a friend who advises against purchasing any Bible with a black cover. Black-spined Bibles, he explains, seem to peer down accusingly from your bookshelf saying, "You SHOULD be reading me right now. Shouldn't you?" (He recommends brown, genuine…
Reading Calvin?
In Romans 12 Paul says to "present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…." The…
Oh, the places you’ll go!
It’s graduation time. Which means it’s commencement address time. I don’t know what university officials ask for from a commencement speaker. My suspicion is that if you’re asking Steve Jobs to come speak, all you can really say is something…
Knowing is for What?
There’s a sermon series this summer. Or is it a book? Something that the church is doing all together. Reading together maybe. What’s the deal? Is this just an effort to keep us all busy? To keep our minds active…