Modern Jerusalem is quite a sight. It is a city of three-quarters of a million people, covering 48 square miles of Judaean hills. Every year, nearly 10 million tourists and pilgrims come to the city, so the city sprawls over a much greater area than would be required by the population. The air is full of… Read More »
Our family is reading the book of Jonah, and we are considering God’s grace to the people of Nineveh, and today we read Jonah’s words after the people of Nineveh repented. O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to… Read More »
Last week, I reposted a list of eleven things you need to know about your pastor. I wanted to follow that list up with some things that pastors need to remember about the people of their congregations. As a pastor, whose vocation is the ministry of the gospel, it is easy to forget that not… Read More »
As a student of history and the Bible, I often find myself telling people to learn the background and context of things before making definitive statements. As of late, however, I am discovering that the only thing more dangerous than ignorance of historical context is the abuse of incomplete knowledge of history. People who develop… Read More »
My daughter turned nine last month. She is one crazy, smart, rhythmic kid. She got all of the best of both parents, and I have no doubt that when she grows into womanhood she is going to be outrageously, stunningly beautiful. This is both a source of great joy and unholy terror. I know how… Read More »
Lyn Swenson is one of our dear friends and a veteran of decades of ministry in Japan. He is a member of our congregation and a voice always worth hearing. This Sunday, after the worship gathering Lyn handed me a newsletter from First Baptist Church, Portland, Maine. The newsletter included something that Pastor Keith Moore… Read More »
Have you ever gotten to the bottom of a cup of coffee and taken that last swig only to encounter a mouthful of coffee grounds? Is there anything more surprising than expecting a beverage in your mouth and discovering what essentially amounts to bitter-tasting dirt? Those of us who came out of established (and sometimes… Read More »
The full title of this book is The Life of Thomas Linacre, Doctor in Medicine, Physician to King Henry VIII, the Tutor and Friend of Sir Thomas More, and the Founder of the College of Physicians in London with Memoirs of His Contemporaries, and of the Rise and Progress of Learning, More Particularly from the Ninth… Read More »
Thomas Linacre, physician to King Henry VIII; a man of Greek and Latin and yet very learned in the field of medicine. He restored the aged and the sick, and even the lost soul. He translated many of the Latin works of Galen with a unique elegance. Shortly before his death, at the request of… Read More »
I am currently reading an advanced copy of Tom Standage’s Writing on the Wall. It is an interesting look into the way human beings have communicated in groups over the years. We often think of social media as an innovation of recent years, but when you look at human history, it becomes obvious that we have used… Read More »
