Category: Spiritual Formation
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Scarlett Letter Today
Inspired by an analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlett Letter, on NPR’s All Things Considered, my friend Nathan Lewis probes beyond the literary and sociologic interests offered from the program. Nathan asks two striking questions: “Have we learned from Hawthorne’s scathing presentation of hypocrissy?” “Would Hester [Prynne] be welcome in our community of faith?” I want to…
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The Mark of the Christian (part 6)
by Francis Schaeffer Love In Practice Let me give two beautiful examples of such observable love. One happened among the Brethren groups in Germany immediately after the last war. In order to control the church, Hitler commanded the union of all religious groups in Germany, drawing them together by law. The Brethren divided over this…
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Solitude
My friend, Seaton Garrett, has developed a great series called Spiritual Formation, Spiritual Disciplines. Here is an excerpt from part 6 on Solitude: To read the whole post click: Solitude Great series, Seaton.
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The Mark of the Christian (part 4)
by Francis Schaeffer True Oneness In John 13 and 17, Jesus talks about a real seeable oneness, a practicing oneness, a practical oneness across all lines, among all true Christians. The Christian really has a double task. He has to practice both God’s holiness and God’s love. The Christian is…
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Happy Belated Earth Day!
Earth Day 2008 just passed me by yesterday. The day came and went with barely my notice. And what little notice I did take came when I saw a blip on the news around 11pm. The day was almost done in the East. That’s a little disappointing because, quite honestly, a few months…
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The Advantages of Pleasing God Rather than Men
The following dozen points are about the advantages to us in seeking to please God, instead of living for the approval of other people. They were originally written by the great English Puritan, Richard Baxter. I have attempted to clean up the language a little, hopefully without dulling the wisdom: 1. If you seek first to…
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The Mark of the Christian (part 3)
by Francis Schaeffer Honest Answers, Observable Love Of course as Christians we must not minimize the need to give honest answers to honest questions. We should have an intellectual apologetic. The Bible commands it and Christ and Paul exemplify it. In the synagogue, in the marketplace, in homes and in almost every conceivable…
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The Mark of the Christian (part 1)
by Francis Schaeffer Through the centuries men have displayed many different symbols to show that they are Christians. They have worn marks in the lapels of their coats, hung chains about their necks, even had special haircuts. Of course, there is nothing wrong with any of this, if one feels…
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Are You Tired of Trying to Measure Up?
Do you ever feel like you have to measure up? Do you wonder sometimes how you are grading out in God’s eyes? I suspect that the answer for most people is “Yes”. Our theologies may tell us otherwise, but I think most people struggle with this from time to time – especially when we feel emotionally…
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Cat & Dog Theology
It seems to be going great. Our church is in the middle of hosting the Cat & Dog Theology seminar as part of our missions conference. And despite those reservations that would usually be expected when a conservative church hosts a seminar with such a preposterous sounding theme, those in attendance seem to be benefiting…
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The Beauty of Human Relationships
by Frances Schaeffer This is the fourth of four posts in a series titled Two Contents, Two Realities. These posts are slightly edited excerpts of a paper delivered by Dr. Francis Schaeffer as part of the 1974 International Congress on World Evangelization in Lausanne, Switzerland. ********* The second reality is the beauty of human relationships. True Christianity produces beauty as well as’…
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Good Enough!
Are You Tired of Trying to Measure Up? Paula Rinehart wrote the article below for Discipleship Journal. *** One fall evening, after months of recurring chest pain and a rather hectic schedule, I found myself thinking out loud with my husband as we watched the sun sink lower and lower in the Colorado sky. We…
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Some Thoughts About Spiritual Formation
Eugene Peterson, in his recent book, The Jesus Way, writes: “Following Jesus necessarily means getting his ways and means into our everyday lives. It is not enough simply to recognize and approve his ways and get started in the right direction. Jesus’ ways are meant to be embraced and assimilated into our habits. This takes place…
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Desiring God
If you are not already familiar with his work, I want to introduce you to John Piper. In particular I commend his book Desiring God. This book is a modern day classic. And in my mind it an almost indespensible aid to gaining a Biblical perspective of the Glory of God. Well, indespensible might be a bit of an overstatement. But, it is…
