Listening to the Giants

One of the most strange (and possibly disturbing) facets of Lewis’ life was his consistent commitment to a woman who is called, “Mrs. Moore”. A recent Lewis’ biographer sets the background, "Jack," as Lewis was known to his family, enlisted during the First World War while still a teenager. While undergoing training, he befriended a young man named Paddy Moore, who had a divorced mother (Mrs. Moore) and younger sister, Maureen, back at home. The young men promised each other that if one of them were to be killed in combat, the other would look after his friend's parent.” As providence would have it, Jack survived and made good on his promise…. a promise that would last for more than 30 years. To those who are unfamiliar with this feature of Lewis’ life, this commitment likely seems very noble and even ethical. Yet it was the degree of commitment and concurrent mystery surrounding this relationship that concerned many of Jack’s friends. Since Jac...

John Wycliffe’s last work was called Gospel Work . His latest biographer assessment of it is interesting. She states, “The drift of this last book on Scripture seems clear. There are no automatic, special, divine preferences for any particular class of Christian, priest or monk or friar; it is personal virtue which counts. The Bible is not reserved for the educated or the ordained. The Bible is for all the people of God.” History states that the heart of Wycliffe was for the laity, so that they could own and read the scriptures for themselves. Because of his passion for God’s word, millions of Christians have multiple bibles in their homes. And yet many Christians often lament that they themselves, though they own a bible, are unable to understand the Bible. Here are 6 main reasons Christians struggle to understand the Bible. ***Please understand when I write “you”, I mean you, me…any Christian who struggles with this. Reason #1—You do not ask for Divine...

These blog entries are going to be somewhat challenging because of one glaring fact: John Calvin did not like to talk or write about himself. Here is an excerpt from the biography I am currently reading:  “The location of Calvin’s grave is unknown, and that was the way he wanted it. Nothing would have horrified him more than the monument to the Reformation in Geneva with its enormous image of the Frenchman. He deliberately wrote next to nothing about himself and his life. ” You might ask, “And yet this is the “giant” you want to write about?” You bet it is. So what made this man great? Well….there were a lot of reasons, but what I want to focus on in the next few paragraphs is the discipline of John Calvin. Now it should not be a shock to any student of church history that every “giant” was disciplined to a certain degree. Theodore Beza (Calvin's spiritual son in the faith) wrote, “He (Calvin) worked hard at his university studies and there are still trustworthy men ali...

Every pastor-scholar must spend time in his study. No man who aspires to such a position can avoid it. Undoubtedly, there are some men who thrive on it. Others die trying (one of my older peers in seminary died during finals week). Yet few were like Edwards. Edwards’ first biographer penned the words that would forever define him: “He commonly spent thirteen hours, every day, in his study.” Impressive, huh. Yet many fault Edwards for such diligence. They accuse him of being an “ivory tower” theologian, who was aloof and disengaged with the sheep he was called to “shepherd”. Is this assessment of Edwards correct? No….well, mostly no. Here is a more balanced understanding of Jonathan Edwards: First , Edwards’ study was always accessible to his family and his congregants. Samuel Hopkins (Edwards’ first biographer) writes: “He believed he could do more good conversing with persons under religious impressions in his study where they were treated with all desirab...

These are my favorite quotes from George Müller. History does not label him the most profound Christian, but he was practical and holy . I would take that over “profundity” any day of the week. Here are #1--#12: #1—“My own experience has been, almost invariably, that if I have not the needful sleep , my spiritual enjoyment and strength is greatly affected by it.” The reader must digest the implications of “needful”. Different people, different needs. But we all should be suspicious of the flesh. In other words, the Christian must discern between needful sleep and lazy sleep.   #2—“There may occur cases when travelling by night cannot be avoided; but if it can, though we should seem to lose time by it , and though it should cost more money , I would most affectionately and solemnly recommend the refraining from night-travelling; for in addition to our drawing beyond measure upon our bodily strength, we will be losers spiritually.” Here is Müller’s point: L...