Uncertainty and Hope

1 David P. Goldman, in an article entitled “Christianity and Myth: Why There’s No Jewish “Narnia’” says that he thinks J.R.R. Tolkien is a better writer than C.S. Lewis. Goldman goes on to say, Whereas C S Lewis tries to make us comfortable in what we already believe by dressing up the story as a…

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Good Morning!

“Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit “When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is…

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The Road Goes Ever On and On

The Road goes ever on and onDown from the door where it began.Now far ahead the Road has gone,And I must follow, if I can,Pursuing it with eager feet,Until it joins some larger wayWhere many paths and errands meet.And whither then? I cannot say.– J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring At 54 years of…

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Your Mission, Should You Choose To Accept

We are in the midst of a mission. If we are attentive and listen to God, he has a mission for us. The Creator of the universe has made each of us unique and has gifted each one with a mix of talents, given to us at birth, and gifts, given to us at the…

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What Is It That Makes Music Good?

My friend, Malcolm McMillan, who is also a worship pastor at our church, sent me this message on Facebook. Hey everyone, I am giving a guest lecture to a Bible College class in February about art and the nature of beauty, and I could use your help. My talk is supposed to focus on music…

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Breathing

Prayer is relationship. It is much more than asking God for something every time we come into his presence. These words flying out of my keystrokes are really just the confession of a pleading soul. I can easily fill any empty space with wishes, gentle beseeching, or all out demands for God to do my…

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Margaret Atwood and the Future of Food

Most rolled their eyes when they heard of it; others laughed at the silliness of creating synthetic meat in a petri dish when millions of cows walk the earth; some were simply nauseated. Margaret Atwood had a quiet smirk. A Dutch lab invited the media to a press conference at which a researcher sat down…

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Spectacle or Substance

It is fascinating to observe the cultural shifts taking place in North America. The entertainment industry is a great place to watch it happen. Changes in the way music is bought and sold and how people make money in the business are moving rapidly. We live in the era of spectacle rather than substance. We…

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What Every Creative Person Needs to Hear

“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.” ― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

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The Tale We’ve Fallen Into

I first started reading J.R.R. Tolkien when I was about 19 years old. I remember one marathon reading session over a Christmas break from school. I really wanted to finish the Lord of the Rings Trilogy before I went back to reading books for school. The words of these books created amazing images in my…

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