Seen "To be loved by God, not merely pitied but delighted in." C.S Lewis wrote this while describing what the promise of heaven is really about. It's not only forgiveness, or rescue from the worst. It's delight. He admitted that it sounded almost impossible. Notice the word he chooses. Pity is something we offer from … Continue reading Offline (S1 E12)
Yeast “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.” Ask Zechariah when the temple was being rebuilt, and the foundation looked laughably small next to the one Solomon had laid. The old men wept when they saw it. The work was real, but it … Continue reading Offline (S1 E11)
The Ring of Gyges "Character is what you are in the dark." In Plato's Republic, a young man named Glaucon tells the story of Gyges, a shepherd who finds a ring that makes him invisible. Once he's free of consequences, he seduces the queen, kills the king, and takes the throne. Glaucon's challenge to Socrates … Continue reading Offline (S1 E10)
The Unnamed "The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts.” George Eliot closed her great novel with a line that reads like a eulogy for everyone history forgot. She added that many who lived faithfully a hidden life now rest in unvisited tombs. The Bible is full of those people. Anna, … Continue reading Offline (S1 E9)
He Walked Away "Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life." Henri Nouwen was a Dutch Professor who taught at Yale and Harvard, then left both to live alongside people with disabilities. He knew something about walking away from applause. His line isn't an invitation to become a hermit. It's a warning … Continue reading Offline (S1 E8)
The Back Side of the Desert “Pain is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." Many a thinkers have argued that suffering is one of the ways God gets through to people who have stopped listening. It's a hard line. It's also the key to every story that happens in the wilderness. As much as … Continue reading Offline (S1 E7)
Buried “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant.” Tertullian wrote that around AD 197, addressing Roman officials who believed that killing Christians would end Christianity. It did the opposite. Every burial became a planting. Jesus used the same image about Himself: "Unless a grain of wheat falls … Continue reading Offline (S1 E6)
The Audience of One “If a man knows not what harbour he seeks, any wind is the right wind.” Most of us want many things at once: to do right, to be respected, to be liked, and to look good while doing it. Purity of heart, means narrowing all of that down to one thing, … Continue reading Offline (S1 E5)
Nazareth Nothingness "We can do no great things, only small things with great love." Nathanael's question stings: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" He wasn't being cruel, just accurate. Nazareth was a small, obscure village in Galilee with perhaps a few hundred residents. It isn't mentioned anywhere in the Old Testament. It was the … Continue reading Offline (S1 E4)
Sawdust "The only Christian work is good work well done." Notice what isn’t said. It’s not said the only Christian work is preaching, or ministry, or anything with a stage. It is good work, well done. Most of us resist that idea, but it means God cares how the table is built. When Nazareth's neighbours … Continue reading Offline (S1 E3)
