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Book Review: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
“They say Aslan is on the move—perhaps has already landed.” ______________ Children easily lose themselves in imaginary worlds. In the days before video games, we lost ourselves in worlds of cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, little green army men, etc. My wife tells me she would get lost in worlds of dolls and Barbies. It’s sad that most of us seem to lose our imagination gift as we grow older. Perhaps we simply fail to continue the practice. (Plus, they frown upon playing cops and robbers at my bank.) But if I no longer can conjure my own imagination at will, then let me find a book into which…
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The Mother of All Virtues
“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point…A chastity or honesty or mercy which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful until it became risky,” C.S. Lewis What will you undertake this coming year that will require courage? God’s people have always been called to bravery. Obeying God, especially when it’s to our own disadvantage, is the crux of the Christian life. Scripture tells multiple stories of those who demonstrated true bravery in the context of their times. In Joshua 1:1-9, God instructed Joshua to lead His people into the Promised…
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Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus
He could have kept a distance, withholding his immanence from the shepherd tending a flock. But, there he was: appearing in a fire that burned, yet did not consume its bushy host. God himself had come. And the shepherd, unable to behold such glory, hid his face while God continued, “’I’ve seen the afflictions and heard the groaning of my people. I know their suffering andI have come down to deliver them out of Egyptian oppression and lead them into a broad land flowing with milk and honey.’” He could have delivered the once-enslaved Israelites from afar. But, there he was: appearing each evening as a flaming fire and each…
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God as the Ultimate Mythmaker
Eighty-five years ago this week, Oxford professor C. S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia) told his friend and colleague, J. R. R. Tolkien (The Hobbit; The Lord of the Rings), that myths were “lies and therefore worthless, even though breathed through silver.” An expert in Norse mythology, C. S. Lewis knew well the pagan myths full of heroism, dying saviors, and resurrections. But Tolkien disagreed. He insisted that myths are not lies, but rather the best if not the only way to convey truths otherwise inexpressible. Humans created in God’s image, Tolkien reasoned, weave myths as a reflection of our original glory. Through poets’ stories, fragments of eternal light shine through. For that…
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Nuggets of Truth in Narnia
C. S. Lewis is truly a gifted writer. If you haven’t read his Chronicles of Narnia, it is never too late to dive into this world of talking animals, a wardrobe with a secret pathway into Narnia, and adventures that range from creation to the final judgment. Nestled in the context of the make-believe world of Narnia are many nuggets of God’s truth.One good example is found in the book, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This is a story of danger and courage with great insights on the issue of forgiveness. Forgiveness is a difficult issue for everyone. It is hard for us to admit that we need it and may…
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What Did the Philosophers Know and When Did They Know it? Part 1
“I should be much more afraid of being mistaken and then finding out that Christianity is true than of being mistaken in believing it to be true” (Blaise Pascal).[1] While revisiting a book entitled “The Great Philosophers: From Socrates to Foucault”, a short synopsis of many of the best known philosophers, I was struck by thoughts of meaninglessness. For thousands of years philosophers have been discussing questions like, “How do we know what we know?” “How can we know anything?” “How do we know we exist?” etc. What futility it is not to believe in God and to disbelieve in the possibility of life after death, to believe everyone eventually…
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Lessons Learned in Narnia
Eustace “There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.” C.S. Lewis, Voyage of the Dawn Treader pg. 1 Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. Philippians 2:3 (Net Bible) If you, like me, have fallen in love with C. S. Lewis’ world of Narnia then you may be quite familiar with Eustace, one of the main characters inThe Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Though you may remember him well, you may not think quite so well of him. He does begin as most definitely “a…
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Teaching our Kids about Pain, Suffering, and Hope
“God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” It's a popular mantra we recite to children in our churches. And it's true. One of the greatest lessons we can teach our kids is that God is good and gracious—it's the heart of the gospel, the anchor of our faith, and what sets our beliefs apart from other world religions. But there's more to what we believe. And sometimes we miss it until we walk through pain and suffering and are forced to confront the fact that Christianity isn't easy. Walking with God, in the most complete sense, certainly involves struggles and even loss. I remember being faced…
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Christmas Changes Everything
“Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight, At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more, When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death, And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Over the years, I’ve come to see Christmas in a new light. Magical to me as a child. Mixed feelings during parts of my adulthood. Now, a time of hope and waiting. The people of God have long been familiar with the concept of waiting. After the prophet Malachi concluded his message from the…
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“Christian” Homosexuality Advocates, part 2
“They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not understand what they are saying or the things they insist on so confidently” (1 Timothy 1:7). These columns are in response to a reader named Donald, who wrote to me in the comments section of my column entitled, “Should a Christian Attend a Homosexual Wedding?” In his comments, Donald laid the foundation for reinterpreting or dismissing the passages of Scripture which teach that homosexuality is a sin. (For part one of this series, see here.) In his response we read, “I do not see Scripture as saying that every homosexual act is a sin, although some translations may…
