I really appreciated this letter written in 2002.

Source can be found at this Link

Recently a number of leaders in the Protestant community of the United States have urged the endorsement of far-reaching and unilateral political commitments to the people and land of Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, citing Holy Scripture as the basis for those commitments. To strengthen their endorsement, several of these leaders have also insisted that they speak on behalf of the seventy million people who constitute the American evangelical community.

It is good and necessary for evangelical leaders to speak out on the great moral issues of our day in obedience to Christ’s call for his disciples to be salt and light in the world. It is quite another thing, however, when leaders call for commitments that are based upon a serious misreading of Holy Scripture. In such instances, it is good and necessary for other evangelical leaders to speak out as well. We do so here in the hope that we may contribute to the cause of the Lord Christ, apart from whom there can never be true and lasting peace in the world.

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Written by Douglas Wilson and found here

As we celebrate the coming of the Christ, we must never forget the kind of world He was born into. The blackness that the star of Bethlehem shone brightly from was a creational blackness, the kind of blackness that was visible on the first day of our world—when it was evening and it was morning, the first day, and it was all very good.

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Well, here is the first episode of my Geof Morris inspired music podcast. This week I’m featuring The Beatles so if they aren’t your cup of tea then you might want to avoid this weeks episode. Hope you enjoy it and feel free to leave comments or suggestions.

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(download link should be in the feed)

For my friend Rae

Every once in a while one comes around…

I’ve been thinking about stories, in general, and allegories, in particular, a lot lately. I’ve been working on some posts that defend them in a Christian world that has come to frown upon them. I’ve been struggling to find a title for the series but that struggle ended today. I got Andrew Peterson’s e-newsletter about the release of his new book North! Or Be Eaten, which is book two of Andrew’s Wingfeather Saga (a series I highly recommend)*.

In the e-newsletter, writer/musician Michael Card had this to say in praise of the work:

“Sometimes, in order to find out who we were supposed to be, we need to get lost in other worlds: Oz, Camelot, Narnia. In On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, Andrew Peterson provides new and needed places like Aerwiar, Skree, and Glipwood-places where we need to get lost and found.” (emphasis mine)

Mr. Card summed up what was on the tip of my tongue for so very long. There are times we need to get lost. When we get lost in a story we can step back and view ourselves in an objective way. How many of us have found ourselves in stories. Who has felt the shame of Edmund? Who has felt the despair of Harry Potter. Who has felt the camaraderie of Tom Sawyer? Sometimes we “need to get lost” in order to find ourselves. I hope my posts on the matter will further your love for story, not just for the sake of story, but because of the fact that we are part of The Great Story. May we all get lost in that story!

* You can get signed copies in the Rabbit Room store, as well as discount bundles of autographed books one and two for only $20! The book is also available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble,Random House and retailers nationwide.

A lot of my friends (namely Rae) have been tweeting about cynicism lately. In light of this I though this quote to be very relevant.

“Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no. But saying “yes” begins things.”

-Steven Colbert

(From his Commencement Address to graduating seniors at Knox College in 2006)