The following piece appeared in the 8 December 2008 issue of Christian Courier, as part of my monthly column, Principalities & Powers:In the liturgies of some churches, the congregation stands at the reading of the gospel lesson. There may even be a gospel procession in which the celebrant walks . . . . Continue Reading »
They keep coming out with “studies” steeped in hysteria intended to convince us to destroy our economies in order to stop climate change, which is impossible, and halt a human-caused global warming that may not be happening. The newest one is that animals and plants may have to . . . . Continue Reading »
This is the eleventh part in a twelve part devotional commentary on “O Holy Night.” See the introduction here.Sweet hymns of joy In grateful chorus raise we,Let all within us Praise His holy name.The third response to the gospel in O Holy Night is deeply rooted praise from a joyful . . . . Continue Reading »
When pondering the nativity, I’ve heard much made of the fact that the manger is a place of great humility for the King of Kings to be found, and rightly so. I’ve seldom given much thought, however, to what the manger was —- a feeding place for animals.There’s little evidence . . . . Continue Reading »
It’s a Christmas tradition in many homes to read the Christmas story before the festivities begin, which is of course a good thing. Most of us open up Luke 2, read down to through the Shepherds, pray a brief prayer, and then we begin with the wrapping paper and the mixture of joy and . . . . Continue Reading »
More people unclear on that whole ” Thou Shalt Not Steal” concept : With the recession, shoplifting is on the rise, according to booksellers. At BookPeople in Austin, Tex., the rate of theft has increased to approximately one book per hour. I asked Steve Bercu, BookPeoples owner, . . . . Continue Reading »
With some of the discussion regarding the gospel, I wanted to point out a recent post by Mark Jones titled “The Gospel and Sanctification.” Mark did his doctoral work on the Puritan Thomas Goodwin, so some of the essay references Goodwin’s work regarding the nature of the gospel. . . . . Continue Reading »
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. John 1:1,2. Following Edith Stein in her discussion of Essential and Eternal Being we see that all meaningful existents are enclosed by the divine . . . . Continue Reading »
So I was at a local Christmas party last night. There I met a most admirable young man with six beautiful and happy children and a seventh on the way. He makes his leaving as a boutique metal worker (cupolas and such), and he’s obviously a fine craftsman and an able entrepreneur. Not only . . . . Continue Reading »
I will not let it go. I have a piece on The Church Report about how the Rom Houben “awakening” brought Terri Schiavo powerfully back to minds and hearts. I won’t belabor most of the points again here, since we have talked about it a lot. But I will leave you with . . . . Continue Reading »