John Mark Reynolds

No means no, sometimes forever, and God is a great enough lover to know it.I have never experienced greater pain than hearing “no” from someone I loved. Friends have heard “no” from spouses and that “no” never changed. Remarriage made reconciliation impossible, . . . . Continue Reading »

Eugene Peterson wrote a blurb for Rob Bell’s new book on hell. His comments in a recent interview are worth noticing, because it points to a problem. He is careful not to agree with Bell, but makes it very hard to disagree with him. Rob Bell has views that are (at least) similar to those that . . . . Continue Reading »

Having readexamined and digested this pamphlet in book’s clothing on my Kindle ...Where the publisher gouged me for more than the usual amount proving in publishing love may not always win, but Harper-Collins does.I wondered if the older brother “getting it all” in the . . . . Continue Reading »

O! Canada!As Sarah Palin jets to India to gain foreign policy credentials, I followed her example by jetting to Canada. This is important, because in our house I make all the Important Decisions such as trade policy toward other nations. Hope decides less important issues such as what we eat, wear, . . . . Continue Reading »

A friend whose birthday fell on 9/11 spent a few years worrying about his parties. Was it in bad taste to party on a day so many were mourning?Some people are odious by ignoring national or global pain. Other folk are the false messianic types that try to bear the weight of the world’s evils . . . . Continue Reading »

I owe a great debt to the American Spectator for pointing to me to this story. By itself, it is not worth comment, but it does incarnate a disease of our age: the “brave and compelling book” that is neither brave, important, or much of a book.Evidently James Frey dares “ignite a . . . . Continue Reading »

It might be Lent. It might be my continued struggles with gluttony. It might be the number of friends and former students struggling with alcoholism. Whatever the cause moderation has been much on my mind. Prudence used to be a popular name. Other virtues, hope and charity, still retain their . . . . Continue Reading »

Bottom Line: the new Jane Eyre film is the best movie adaptation yet, but has some serious flaws.My wife loves Jane Eyre enough to have named a daughter Jane. It is my favorite English novel and saved our marriage from my Wuthering Heights view of romance.This our twenty-fifth anniversary and we . . . . Continue Reading »

God be with the men and women of Japan.A major earthquake in a heavily populated place is bad news. I booted up “The Daily” and as usual it crashed, but not before hearing that there had been disaster someplace.Hope told me there had been an earthquake in Japan, proving once again that . . . . Continue Reading »

God and LoveGod is Love and a Christian is called to worship God. (I John 4:8) Christians are, therefore, a people who worship at the feet of personal Love. All love springs from the recognition of beauty and the source of this beauty is God.For a Christian, God is both the source for humans’ . . . . Continue Reading »