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The View from My Ship
Browsing All Posts filed under »Christianity, see also Matters of Faith«
The Great American Awakenings, Redux
We tend to think of ourselves pretty much at the center of the universe, and, in a way of course, we are. We are alive and everyone before us is gone, and those before us are unborn and in the future. But we are tied to the past, personally by our memories, and collectively as […]
Christians in America
October 25, 2020
Not too long ago I read an article, “After the Culture War,” by Barton Swain in his column on “Politics” in the WSJ, October 3-4. When I see the words “culture” and “wars” these days, or someone who actually calls himself a political something-or-another, or in this case a political writer, I usually turn to […]
2020 Election Reader
October 10, 2020
Your Essential Christian Guide to the 2020 Presidential Election Who to vote for? Why should I even vote? What difference will it make? This short book–you can read it in less than an hour if you are not interrupted–will answer some of your questions, and, most important, suggest that the answers are in the Bible, […]
and a woman named Damaris
August 9, 2020
In the Book of Acts, which is really one of the best historical sources for the story of Jesus’s followers and disciples after his Resurrection, there is a short account of the Apostle Paul visiting the Areopagus in the city of Athens during his many missionary travels. The Areopagus fulfilled many functions in ancient Athens, […]
Random Acts of Kindness
May 5, 2020
I always thought the phrase “random acts of kindness” was basically invented by telejournalists to lift up the spirits of their listeners accustomed to 24 hours of bad news, 7 days a week, 12 months of the year. How much bad, or fake, or depressing news of the affairs of men (and women of course; […]
The Biggest Church and the Smallest Church in Town
April 10, 2020
I sometimes drive on Crescent Ridge Road, perhaps going to buy a shrub or some vegetable seedlings for my vegetable garden at Brown’s Nursery and enjoy the wonderful views to the east from the high points along the road. You can see, I bet, for ten or fifteen miles, the woods, and small hills, and […]
The “I”s Have It
March 19, 2020
If you think you’ve heard the expression, “the I’s have it,” you are right, but not using “I.” Rather the traditional expression is “the ayes have it” in referring to a vote where those voting “yes,” say “aye” in the old English. It may be a nautical term, since in the Navy we hardly ever […]
How Writing an Op-ed Column is Similar to Preaching in Church
March 19, 2020
My experience is that you really haven’t preached a good sermon, or written a good column, if you don’t stir the pot, offend someone, and create some controversy, hopefully provoking thought as well as insults. The goal is not however to irritate people, but the strength of any good sermon or column is expressing the […]
The Pollsters
February 23, 2020
Normally I don’t pay as much attention to polls as perhaps others do. I once read that President Clinton made few decisions without a pollster taking the pulse of what the people felt about this or that issue. I don’t know if Bill Clinton was that wishy washy about simply doing what he thought was […]
The Emperor’s New Clothes
February 1, 2020
Hans Christian Anderson penned a short tale years ago, based on a story composed by a Spanish writer centuries before Anderson wrote, about two weavers who conned the king. They promised him a new set of clothes—very fine and expensive—but they would be invisible only to those who are unfit, stupid, or incompetent. No one […]
Bible Gateway’s Verse of the Day
- 1 John 2:1 September 25, 2023“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”
November 16, 2020
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