I noticed something recently for the first time in months.
James
Barnes & Noble and Bad Theology
For as long as I can remember, books have fascinated me. I love finding a good novel and then spending hours in a quiet, undisturbed place to finish the work. I love noticing how different authors employ words to tell a tale. When I need to get away for a while and recharge, I usually head to Barnes and Noble. Give me a few minutes in a bookstore, and you’ll soon have a list of titles I’d like to read. I love books. I also apparently love hypocrisy. Continue reading
Lust: The Ugliest of Pokemon
“Pokemon Go” came out this past week in app stores, and, consequently, twenty-somethings all over are reliving their childhood calling to “catch ‘em all!” By using smartphones, we can now see the teeming masses of Pidgeys and Rattatas that pepper the landscape as we hunt the elusive Scyther on campus (no exaggeration; NOBTS is covered with Pidgeys and Rattatas). I have to admit that I’m sucked into the craze. For a simple enough game, “Pokemon Go” delivers hours of fun.
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A Cup of Coffee and a Poem
A cup of coffee.
A quiet corner of a coffee shop.
Poetry.
This has all the makings of a great night.
The Necessity of Bad News
In 1741, Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon entitled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” to a congregation in Enfield, Connecticut. He had preached this sermon previously to his own congregation in Northampton, Massachusetts, where the message was received with little response. But when he preached in Enfield, where men of faith had been praying steadfastly, God moved in the building in almost tangible ways. People learned to fear the Lord, and lives were forever changed. But before the good news of the Gospel could take hold, the people had to be broken by the bad news. And the bad news was very bad.
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The Swords (This is War)
Shortly after I started leading Bible studies, I grew a strange desire to buy a sword. I knew of a little shop in a mall about an hour away from the university that sold all manner of blades, so, one day, when I had sufficient funds, I made the trek and purchased an epic battle sword. Sadly, it wasn’t sharpened (which is probably for the best), but it still fit the bill: full scale, heavy metal, and awesome. Between this and another sword I was given in college, I felt much more prepared for war, though I wasn’t swinging either blade against the enemy.
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Sovereign Grace
I was able to attend part of a men’s conference last weekend in central Louisiana. Though I didn’t get to stay for the entire event, I was reminded of God’s sovereignty and care in that short span of time, and I left a little more in love with Jesus than when I arrived.
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Trusting When We Do Not Understand
Here’s the setting: You’re sitting in a restaurant with your friends enjoying dinner. This is one of those restaurants that offers complimentary ice cream cones after every meal, and the ice cream machine has been getting a steady stream of traffic since you sat down. As you watch, kids all across the building scarf down their food with enthusiasm before turning (with mouths still full of their last bites) to their parents to get permission to go get ice cream. The kids can hardly stay in their chairs, hopping down and running to the ice cream machine as soon as they get the go ahead. You watch as little boys and girls figure out just how high they can get their soft serve to go on their little cones, and you laugh as the once clean faces are now being painted with vanilla. But then you notice one little boy crying.
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Purpose in Pain
“Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”
Hosea 6:1-3
God’s Faithfulness and Air Conditioning
I’ve learned to thank God for air conditioning after living my entire life in Louisiana. I’ve especially recognized how much of a blessing it is after it went out in the car a few weeks ago.
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as i learn to walk 