The exercise of authority, whether in business, politics, or at home, is a difficult task, at least for those who wish to exercise it for the benefit of others and not merely for self-aggrandizement and the raw use of power. People in authority are in positions of service no less [...]
Today, I begin a series of lessons on parenting. Drawing on my own experiences as a parent, my experiences with others in my ministerial career, and my readings from various experts. In particular, several of the topics I've chosen come from an article in First Things, October 2016, “Don't Ask [...]
Perhaps you've been encouraged to take advantage of your time because of hearing the mantra, “This moment is everything.” Maybe you have been captured by the Latin phrase, “Carpe Diem,” (seize the day), made famous by one of the worst movies ever produced. On the good side, each of these [...]
Robert Louis Stevenson wrote The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. His novel tells the story of a good doctor who was transformed into the mysterious and evil Mr. Hyde by ingesting a strange potion. Little did Stevenson know that his novel would spawn a name descriptive of [...]
A number of years ago, while working in my garage, I accidentally splashed a chemical in my eyes. My eyes weren't seriously damaged, and in the emergency room a nurse washed my eyes out. Nothing serious happened from it; unless you realize what an opportunity I was given. Once the [...]
Those who know me know that I encourage people to read. Informed Christians are more able to defend their faith and deepen their understanding of the times we live in. With that in mind, I recommend God and Churchill. Written by Churchill's great-grandson, Jonathan Sandys, and journalist Wallace Henley, the [...]
In last week's post on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, I could have used a quote from Albert Einstein but decided it would be relevant also for this week. “Having always been a partisan of freedom, I turned to the Universities, as soon as the revolution broke out in Germany, to find the [...]
If you've heard the phrase, “cheap grace,” you know something about the one who made it famous, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He coined the phrase in his book, The Cost of Discipleship. As he looked at the churches in Nazi Germany, he found many that relied on the grace of God but [...]
William Wilberforce was a member of the British parliament at the turn of the nineteenth century. Though a man of small stature, he pulled off one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of the British empire: the abolition of slavery. Defeating such an evil institution required a stamina and [...]
(Author's note: if you are new to The Lazarus Chronicles, you will be surprised that I talk with Lazarus [see Gospel of John, chapter 11). Of course this is simply my way of exploring issues through dialogue. This regular feature of the blog is called “Coffee with Lazarus.” I hope [...]
