I read this poem tonight and was taken with its spirit. I don’t know authorial intent, but it strikes me as a compelling portrait of life lived without regard for the shifting winds of public opinion, standing for God’s truth regardless of the cost. “It Is Glory Enough” IT is glory enough to have shouted …
There is a striking analogy between the office of a pastor and that of a physician They both have respect to the welfare of men and while the one seeks to heal the diseases of the body the other aims at restoring to health the disordered souls of men. It belongs to each not only …
Several weeks ago now, John Crowder, pastor of First Baptist Church in West, TX, where the fertilizer plant exploded, wrote a moving and very useful column about ministry in the aftermath. He mentions a number of lessons he drew from the event, and several are useful for pastoral ministry. Here, in his words, is one that stuck …
My poem of the week this week is James Russell Lowell’s “Once to Every Man and Nation.” This version, which appears in some hymnals, is edited from Lowell’s original, and I have left out some verses which are problematic. These three verses powerfully communicate the need to stand for truth whether or not you will …
We had a blessed time at our conference, “Read, Pray, Sing: The Psalms as an Entryway to the Scriptures.” One of my favorite comments was from a man who said he and his wife had been attending conferences for 35 years, and this one was “the most reviving to our souls of any we have …
My poem of the week this week is another on the theme of perseverance. I am finishing out the school year with my boys memorizing these as an aid to stir them on to difficult tasks- and to stir me on as well! Be Strong! Be strong! We are not here to play, to dream, …
My boys & I recently read George MacDonald’s Phantastes. C. S. Lewis famously said this book baptized his imagination. I can’t say our experience was so lofty. It is a challenging book to follow, though there are beautiful and wise comments along the way. The last portion of the book is quite good as the …
My poem of the week this week is another selection from Edgar Guest. My boys are to recite it this morning. “Determination” I’ll see it through, whate’er the danger be. One death is all that God assigns to me. I’ll stand erect against the odds and shout: “I may be whipped, but will not turn …
My poem of the week this week is one my oldest son found a few months ago when I gave them a few books of poetry and required them to find one they would read and explain for all of us the following day. After reading it aloud for us he suggested it would be …
My boys and I really enjoyed the recent Hobbit movie. We expected to enjoy it with adventure, fun characters, nobility, courage, perseverance, loyalty- what’s not to like? But I found myself captivated by a certain scene in a way I did not expect. And later I discovered it captivated my boys as well. I am …