my burg

Our reading group just finished studying Four Quartets , the remarkable series of poems T. S. Eliot completed in 1942. Here Eliot explores the riddles of -- and the intersections between -- time and eternity, beginning and end, motion and still-point.   In these poems I was frequently reminded of Ecclesiastes and of Pascal's Pensées . We also saw the influence of Dante upon Eliot's imagery.    I recommend Thomas Howard's Dove Descending (Ignatius, 2006) as a helpful, and not overly analytic guide for understanding Eliot's words and allusions.  Eliot's closing stanza brings together the themes of beginning and end, Eden and afterlife, and the unitary role of fire (which destroys and purifies) and the rose (which is life and beauty).  Both the fire and the rose have the one purpose of returning us to the Garden, that we might "know the place for the first time."    Eliot writes,  "With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this   ...

A great blessing for me since my conversion as a college student many years ago, has been to fellowship in churches which practiced the weekly observance of the Lord's Table (1 Cor 10:21; also called the Lord's Supper, or Communion ). In the Plymouth Brethren tradition this usually takes place in a group setting which allows for spontaneous singing, sharing, prayer, Scripture reading, and periods of silence among those gathered. I've been thinking about how important that time has been to me through the years. Here are some thoughts... WHY THE LORD'S SUPPER (Or, Communion) IS IMPORTANT.  1) This observance should be valued by us because it is important to our Lord . He began the meal as a Passover observance, and then transformed it into a new ordinance, which we call the Lord's Supper, the Lord's Table, or Communion. He longed for the disciples' participation, saying, "I have earnestly desired [ἐπιθυμίᾳ ἐπεθύμησα] to eat this Passover with you." ...

"And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought."  (1 Chronicles 28:9 ESV) "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." (Ephesians 6:4 ESV) As we approach Father's Day, I thought I'd repost a poem I have appreciated through the years.  The author was Merrill C. Tenney (1904-1985), a Professor of New Testament and Dean of the Graduate School at Wheaton College. He wrote this for his two sons. Its sentiment, however, expresses what we desire for all of our children.   A Father’s Gift To you, O son of mine, I cannot give A vast estate of wide and fertile lands; But I can keep for you, long as I live, Unstained hands. I have no coat of arms that insures Your path to eminence and worldly fame; But longer than empty heraldry endures A blameless name. I have no t...

"From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me." (Nehemiah 4:16-18 ESV) The great London preacher, Charles Spurgeon, published a monthly magazine called The Sword and The Trowel; A record of combat with sin and of labour for the Lord. It was published from 1865 to 1892. The cover of the journal had a drawing taken from Nehemiah 4, which included both a trowel (representing the work) and a sword (representing the fight). The sword was necessary to protect what the men with trowels were building. These citizen-soldier-builders would successfully complete the wall aroun...

"A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit." (Proverbs 15:4 ESV) After posting the other day in my newsletter, Afterwords ( "Words fruitful or fatal" ), I was asked by a reader, "Then, is there no room to speak up for truth? Are you saying that we shouldn’t express our thoughts? It seems we would be committing a sin of omission if we don’t speak clearly against evil."  Indeed, we are to speak truthfully about good and evil! The problem is, according to the Bible, many of us don't know how to do that in a godly way, at the right time, and without pride or self-righteousness or vindictiveness. It's difficult to speak truth in a way (and time) that invites repentance and healing. For example, we go amiss... ...when we are uninformed, or misinformed, or make a hasty accusation: "The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools." (Proverbs 15:7) ...when we are too selective in the truth we sha...

As my wife and I approach our fiftieth wedding anniversary, I'd like to share a few of my favorite quotes regarding marriage...  ON THE COVENANT A good motto for the bride and groom: "We are a work in progress with a lifetime contract." (Phyllis Koss) "It is not your love that sustains the marriage, but from now on, the marriage that sustains your love." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer) "Marriage isn't supposed to make you happy -- it's supposed to make you married. "  (Frank Pittman) "I didn't marry you because you were perfect. I didn't even marry you because I loved you. I married you because you gave me a promise. That promise made up for your faults. And the promise I gave you made up for mine. Two imperfect people got married and it was the promise that made the marriage. And when our children were growing up, it wasn't a house that protected them; and it wasn't our love that protected them -- it was that promise."   (Thorn...

Here are a few excerpts from Cornelius Van Til's tract,  Why I Believe in God . He is debating with a skeptic the use of reason, experience, and science in defending the Christian faith:  ---------   "...by my belief in God I do have unity in my experience. Not of course the sort of unity that you want. Not a unity that is the result of my own autonomous determination of what is possible. But a unity that is higher than mine and prior to mine. On the basis of God's counsel I can look for facts and find them without destroying them in advance. "I see both order and disorder in every dimension of life. But I look at both of them in the light of the Great Orderer Who is back of them. I need not deny either of them in the interest of optimism or in the interest of pessimism. "And yet I find all these, though standing on their heads, reporting much that is true. I need only to turn their reports right side up, making God instead of man the center of it all, and I have...