Posts Tagged ‘Jesus our Greatest Need’

The (never-ending) Pursuit of Happiness

Do you want to be happy? Chances are, if you’re like most of us, the answer is a resounding yes. We Americans are obsessed with being happy. We pursue it with a sense of fervency and urgency—“if only I could have this experience, or that job, or this relationship, or that thing then…”—which should tip us off to the fact that something has gone amiss. Like a perpetually receding end zone, happiness remains in view but always 10 yards away.

Knowledge of God & Knowledge of Self

Can we really know ourselves if we don’t know God? Can we really know God if we don’t know ourselves? John Calvin doesn’t think so. Or how about: can we be happy without God? Can we flourish in light of our nature apart from loving God? Again, Calvin doesn’t think so. I think Calvin is right.

Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, and our Longing for Wholeness

The classic book The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde does something to me. It scares me. It is a chilling, vivid picture of what happens when we allow our base appetites to overtake our rational and spirited faculties (as Plato would say). The story also awakens something: it awakens within me a desire for wholeness, a wholeness where all of my thinkings, willings, and emotions are fully integrated.

The Supremacy of Christ in a Postsecular World

Over the last 50 years, with the rise of (what sociologists call) secularism—that is, an ideology promoted by devotees (secularists) who encourage free-thinking people everywhere to work for religion’s demise–it was predicted that belief in God would soon be a thing of the past.

The “Unforgivable Sin” and understanding the Bible

Recently, I was asked to preach on Matthew 12:30-32—the passage where Jesus talked about the “unforgivable sin” and “Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.” After my initial shock at being asked to preach on that passage, I realized that I had questions of my own about it. What is the deal with this passage? What is the unforgivable sin? And more to the point—have I committed it?

In Praise of Personal Retreats

I just returned home from a mini-personal retreat (36 hours) at the St. Francis Springs Retreat Center near Greensboro, North Carolina. I’m not one to typically “get away.” I’m a “do”er, not a “be”er, or so I say to myself. Add to this, the fact that we leave for a month of travel tomorrow—how can I possibly afford to get away for 2 days? How can I not?

Christianity in the 21st century: Christ and Crisis

In a little book entitled Christ and Crisis written in 1962, Dr. Charles Malik, the former president of the General Assembly of the United Nations, wrote:[1]

Men without Chests

Here is a handful: A culture that denies the existence of objective value (that is, beauty, goodness, and justice are merely in “the eye of the beholder” and not “out there” in the world) will inevitably produces “men without chests.” And without “chests,” humanity will disintegrate—our thinkings and willings will be at cross-purposes and we will become empty, hollow at the core, fragmented, and unable to living a flourishing life.

The revolution of the human heart brought on by Jesus

I just finished reading A Heart for Freedom, the story of Chai Ling, one of the student leaders of the 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising in Beijing. Her story is a gripping account of the heart’s longing for freedom, purpose, justice, and significance. It is also a picture of the fact that the only true revolution is the revolution of the human heart brought on by Jesus.

Why be good? Plato and the Gospel

In Plato’s Republic, one of the central questions is Why be good? On the face of it, it seems that being immoral or unjust is more profitable than being good. If so, then no one is willingly good—and perhaps then we have found a pragmatic reason for religion—fear of divine wrath keeps the immoral masses from perpetrating evil acts. I say this is exactly backwards—and Plato’s own answer to his question points us in the right direction.