Me Quoting Keller Quoting Lewis

I’ve heard Tim Keller describe Christ as “the world’s idiots’ guide to God.”  We’re all idiots because we would not know God if he had not descended down here to Earth to reveal his fulness in the form of man.  This quote was taken from one of Keller’s sermons (2007) included in Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus.

 

Messiah on the iPod

Today, Justin Taylor brought my attention to an essay written a few years ago by Daniel Block on the biblical theology of Handel’s Messiah.  In the hustle and bustle of our modern age, it takes some concentration to sit down and really listen to the piece, but I think reading others thoughts challenges me to really listen.

 

Worship and Christmas Songs

Following our church service each Sunday, the person running sound usually puts on some music to play in the background as we pack up equipment and move chairs.

Last Sunday, I couldn’t help but recognize Sarah McLachlan’s rendition of What Child Is This while I was stacking chairs.  Each Christmas we see droves of musical artists releasing their takes on Christmas classics.  Some artists release multiple albums–I believe we own two of Harry Connick Jr.’s three.

 

Advent: Day 4

Choose hope this Advent. Live like you have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Instead of hording be giving. Let your life stand out in hope, in the Hope of the World.

 

Noel Piper on Advent

For four weeks, it’s as if we’re re-enacting, remembering the thousands of years God’s people were anticipating and longing for the coming of God’s salvation, for Jesus. That’s what advent means—coming. Even God’s men who foretold the grace that was to come didn’t know “what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating.” They were waiting, but they didn’t know what God’s salvation would look like.

 

Advent: Day 3

Whitefield charges us to speak of Christ’s birth regularly during this season.

 

Advent: Day 2

Yesterday, as Leah and I were hanging ornaments on the tree and arranging the Nativity figurines on the mantle, I came up with the idea of writing about this year’s Advent.

 

Sentences that Cut to the Bone

Every once in a while I run across a sentence that connects like a punch in the face.

 

Music from Fairy Land

Plato was a pagan, but that doesn’t mean that every word he wrote was untrue. In fact, many of his works are filled with insightful observations about nature, man, and morality. If we approach his writings with discernment, there is even the possibility that we may walk away edified.

The same could be said about the music of Sigur Rós (though their impact on Western civilization will undoubtedly be a bit smaller). A few months ago

 

Offending Parties

“People suck.”
-First point of Calvinism

Laurie, the kids, and I were at a going-away party a while back for one of her best friends who was moving away with her husband and daughter. Most of the partygoers were either total stranger or acquaintances we hadn’t seen or talked to in several years. Typically, Laurie and I have different attitudes about