“Probably not pastoral.” I scribbled this note in the margins of Book IX of Augustine’s On the Trinity. He was in the middle of some obscure-sounding argument that the Trinity makes sense of the biblical idea that “God is love.” Because the act of love, “involves three things… a person who loves, that which is loved, and love,” we can understand that the Father loves the Son with the love who is the Holy Spirit. These...
“Jack, you’ve got a really sharp mind.” My boss at the Denver Institute for Faith and Work loves our rapid-fire, intricate theological conversations.; they’re so fun. I smiled as I remembered quoting Von Balthasar and Lewis over Costco food court turkey sandwiches to critique modern epistemologies. But that compliment this morning had been preceded with by the qualifying, “This is going to be a difficult conversation.” So we talked about my written communication. Several of my recent emails...
Grief hurts. And it hurts for at least two reasons. There is on one hand the active pain of a particular loss. On the other, there is the God-problem: ‘How could God let this happen?’ I think C.S. Lewis gives us a great framework in his memoir, A Grief Observed. Three Views of God The occasion for Lewis’ reflections in A Grief Observed is the tragic death of his wife and his consequent grief. His reflections...
Whatever sung worship is, it is not just a matter of taste. I’ve heard a lot of metaphors for what worship may be. Here are five major paradigms: 1. Family dinner. Why do we do things a certain way? Because always have and always will. Traditions remind us that we’re not alone, but part of great family spanning space and time. I become a Franicevich by eating my great-grandma’s chocolate rum pudding. I become a Christian by singing...
In Centuries of Meditations, Thomas Treherne writes, When you love men, the world quickly becometh yours: and yourself become a greater treasure than the world is. For all their persons are your treasures, and all the things in Heaven and Earth that serve them, are yours. For those are the riches of Love, which minister to its Object. (II.64) As I’ve tried to discern God’s will for my life, I’ve rarely found myself satisfied with...
“I don’t know,” said Gavin, feet on the dash, brow furrowed in thought, “college students just aren’t that hospitable.” Driving away from a youth theater performance of Singin’ in the Rain, we exchanged reflections on home-finding, transience, and living on a micro-budget. While hospitality may slip by the wayside, students do a lot of other important, hard work, looking forward to the day we’ll graduate, find work, and really make home. But I think hospitality...
Receiving Personal Gifts What does it mean to give a personal gift? Well, we know what it means to give an impersonal gift. It’s the annual iTunes gift card from the step-uncle you only see on Christmas Eve. Or, it’s the “Jack likes books, let’s get him a book” that started in junior high and seemed like such a good idea that it hasn’t changed. We can be grateful, but we can also be philosophical....
So many of us are lonely. Modern Western culture — Christian and not — has all but lost its rich heritage of friendship. Below is my first try at writing out an idea I call “Covenantal Friendship.” I wrote this piece to get out of an assignment for a seminary counseling course. I’d treasure your feedback. What’s Wrong? In a 2011 address to the Biola University student body, Dr. Matt Jenson argued, “The Church is...
“Because of you,” spoke the old friend of God, trembling, holding back heavy tears as he looked out over a sea of remorseless faces, “Because of you,” he spoke, perhaps with frank shock and bewildered grief, “Because of you the LORD became angry with me.” (Deut. 1:27) . Moses These words are among the first of the last sermon of the humblest man of his time: Moses. His text, biblical history to date. His congregation,...
What does it mean to participate in the Lord’s Supper faithfully? Paul’s instructions in 1 Corinthians 10 highlight the central story of Numbers to teach a lesson. . That’s how the chapter opens: teaching us a lesson from Numbers. The lesson is negative: “They all ate the same spiritual food [as us] and drank the same spiritual drink… Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now...
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