Charles Dickens’ description of France in A Tale of Two Cities might be easily adapted to the 21st century U.S.A. Dickens: France, less favored on the whole as to matters spiritual than her sister of the shield and trident, rolled…
If you feel that you’re not getting what is due, be very careful
Dave Harvey: Let’s face it: some of our worst moments are how we respond when people don’t give us what we think we deserve. As I previously posted, there are times when we’re so right that we’re wrong. I was…
Rudyard Kipling’s, “Recessional,” “Lest we forget”
God of our fathers, known of old– Lord of our far-flung battle line– Beneath whose awful hand we hold Dominion over palm and pine– Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest we forget–lest we forget! The tumult and…
If
My son, Ben, is 13 today. Here is a poem my mother read to me that I hope he will learn. As a pastor, I have thought often of the line, “If you can trust yourself when all men doubt…
“It is better to suffer wrong. . .”
Samuel Johnson: It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not trust.
“Teach me to feel another’s woe . . .”
Alexander Pope: Teach me to feel another’s woe, to hide the fault I see, that mercy I show to others, that mercy show to me. Do you need to go to work unpacking forgiveness? Here for the thoughts of others…
This may be why you are feeling down: “Sin darkens the soul . . .”
If you’re depressed, sin may be part of the reason. (But, sin is not the only reason – — see also Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure) John Owen: Sin darkens the soul. It is a cloud, a thick cloud,…
Paul Tripp describes where the biggest battles of marriage are fought
I continue to recommend, What Did You Expect?: Redeeming the Realities of Marriage. Notice that sin is antisocial: I have said this and will continue to return to it throughout this book: the big battles in marriage are not the…
Never in the field of military-conflict had so much rested on the shoulders of one man
At 2145 hours on June 5th, Eisenhower gave the go ahead for the Invasion. Today is the 56th anniversary of D-Day. Normandy may be one of the places my family will visit during our trip to Europe. Keeping in mind…
The obvious place to begin in improving the health of a local church
Mark Dever: If a healthy church is a congregation that increasingly displays the character of God as his character has been revealed in his Word, the most obvious place to begin building a healthy church is to call Christians to…