I’m sure you’ve heard the story of the person trapped on a rooftop in a flood who proceeds to reject aid from rescue workers because, “I’m counting on God to save me.” It’s a good example of confidence in the Lord gone wrong.
Dependence on God is a different brand of reliance.
The stages…..
At some point in my early teen years I had a teacher who explained growing up as a series of stages. We begin as children dependent on our parents and other adults to care for us and teach us. Then, in our adolescence we work towards independence so that by the time we reach adulthood…..
In memory of summer now past, a poem
There is something breathtaking in the sea,
In the contemplation of its complete constancy:
It is always there, sleepless –
Which is not to say changeless
Because it has its moods:
At times a gamester,
Calling us out,…..
Recently, I read Philip Yancey’s Vanishing Grace in which he notes how often society at large perceives Christians as judgmental and self-righteous, noisily condemning anyone who doesn’t share their views. Even though that’s not my general experience with Christians I know, I do recognize that as the…..
In this era of political correctness, I keep hearing the words “safe” and “comfortable” as goals set for the emotional climate on college campuses. The argument runs that college ought to be an insult-free zone, where, shielded from all offensive material, students are free to learn undamaged by the harshness of the larger outside…..
This past week I read an article* updating the ongoing drama plaguing many older universities over the issue of renaming college buildings. Those advocating for change argue that commemorating men like John Calhoun at Yale, who supported slavery in his era, amounts to endorsing the practice.
I disagree. We need…..
How many of us wake our children up for school because it’s so much easier than relying on them to do it for themselves? While we’re at it we might as well clean up their messy bedrooms, or do their laundry long after they could do it themselves.
These…..
As I’ve said before, one of the clearest metaphors of God’s love for us lies in the complicated love of a parent for a child. A parent “falls in love” with the child but quickly discovers that it’s not only impossible, but also imprudent to give the child whatever…..
Last week I described the instantaneous connection that parents generally feel at the birth of their child as an example of “unexplainable” love. Of course, there are others. Why does Romeo “love” Juliet? What makes us suddenly decide we “love” music, or medicine, or tennis?
Our expression in English…..
Poet John Donne intoned: “No man is an island.” Even the staunchest individualist wouldn’t really enjoy being shipwrecked alone or condemned to a solitary existence. Humans are essentially social creatures.
Unlike us, God doesn’t need society for survival. God could have chosen to be God all alone. Instead,…..