Middletree

It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since John Eldredge's Wild at Heart was released. Actually, it's more like nine, but who's counting? The book, love it or hate it, has been influential in ways nobody could have imagined upon initial release.  It will be remembered as one of the most important books of our time. Now, Thomas Nelson has released an updated version. Wild at Heart, with its assertions that God is wild, that feminism has removed from men the most valuable thing they have to offer (their strength), and that women want to be rescued, created a bit of a firestorm almost as soon as it was released. It has been the subject of criticism from Christians and non-Christians alike, banned from some Christian bookstores and even churches. It was blamed for a killing. But on the other hand are those who assert that WAH has been immeasurably influential and healing in the lives of countless men, and by extension, their wives, and their children. Because of...

The Iceland volcano is understandably getting the headlines this week. Mostly, the reporters, journalists, and such are telling us about the results: grounded flights: the economic impact, the Europeans who cannot get home. While I understand this perspective, I can't help noting that the majority of the things being damaged (essentially planes, trains, and automobiles) are man-made.  If one can suspend their concern for such things for a minute, and look at the event itself, it's quite stunning. I'm not trying to be insensitive to those being adversely affected, but asking all of us to see the incredible event folding before our eyes. Only God could do something like this. Amazing. Click the photo above to see it full-size. It's breathtaking. Click this link to see the original, as well as many more which will make you want to worship the One who created it all. http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/more_from_eyjafjallajokull.html

Is It Impossible To Come Back to God? --What's the point of Hebrews 6:4-6? Hebrews 6:4-6 (NIV) "It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted of the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subject Him to public disgrace." Many have read Hebrews 6:4-6 and interpreted it to mean that someone can be saved, choose a sinful life, and then can never recover their salvation. However, a close examination of the surrounding scripture makes it clear that what the author of Hebrews was saying has nothing to do with the impossibility of returning to God. Is the passage about losing salvation? Whether or not one can lose salvation is an age-old debate and has caused much dissension within the Church. It is possible to come up with man...

When a guy asks a girl for a date on TV or a movie, the two of them invariably come to an agreement for him to pick her up at 8:00. When you count the time he will come in for a minute while she finishes getting ready, then their drive to the restaurant, then waiting to get a table, and then waiting for food after ordering, you're looking at maybe getting some food into your gut by 9:00 if you're lucky. For some reason, when he says "I'll pick you up at Eight", this is acceptable to her. This brings several questions to my mind: Why? Who the heck eats supper at 9:00? Do people in TV Land eat another meal earlier in the evening to tide them over between lunch and supper? Do they call it Lupper? I don't know about you, but if it gets to 6:00 and I haven't eaten yet, my tummy starts barking at me. This is just one more of the many differences between people in the real world and the people in TV Land. Others that come to mind: --People in TV Land ne...

In "A Hole in Our Gospel", Richard Stearns tells his story: a story of leaving a position as CEO of a well-known manufacturer to CEO of World Vision, taking a 75% pay cut and uprooting his family in the process. That story only takes a couple of chapters; the rest of the book proceeds to open the reader's eyes not only to some severe and difficult realities, but to the responsibility of believing Christians to address those realities. I must confess: about halfway into this book, I was unconvinced. Sure, there is value in helping the poor, but it seemed that Stearns was making a mistake that so many well-meaning Christians make: they work to convince others that their particular passion should be the passion of everyone who claims to follow Christ. By the end of the book, however, the truth is inescapable: we (Christians in America) are the richest church in world history, and we're falling so short of Scriptural directives on this topic that it's heartbreaking....

One of the more inexplicable unwritten rules of sports is the one that says that when a team is playing for a championship, someone from the team or school must have pre-ordered some caps and/or t-shirts that declares them the champs, and then they will force the players to wear it within 30 seconds after the clock has ticked down to 0:00. Caps are worse, because you can't recognize the individual players on TV when they wear the cap. But the t-shirts are bad because the losing team has those shirts that nobody will ever wear. Sure, they tell you they donate them to homeless shelters, but have you ever seen a homeless person wearing a "Philadelphia Eagles--Super Bowl XXXIX Champions" t-shirt? Ever?

Today, we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. I can't not think of this scene when I think about this day: Think about Jesus, praying in the Garden, knowing He's about to go through an agonizing death, is about to bear all the sin of the world, and about to be separated from the Father for 3 agonizing days. Jesus prays to Him--the Author of the greatest story ever written--asking if there's another way. But there isn't, so Jesus says "Finish the book. It's a great story. If I have to die so that this story gets written, I will."