Quotable Luther

By
"I do not believe that all the arts should be removed or forbidden on account of the Gospel, as some fanatics suggest. On the contrary, I would gladly see all arts, especially music, in the service of Him Who has given and created them."

Order my books!













Sign up for my author newsletter!

powered by TinyLetter

Popular posts from this blog

Film Review: The Road to Edmond

By
Image
Whenever a novel, movie, or TV show sets out to tell a story related to faith, these works tend to fall into one of two categories.

The first category is the one that is very up front with the audience about what it wants to do. This tends to include explicit dialogue where two or more characters have a bald theological discussion, usually with a lot of insider language involved. Sometimes the story justifies this by one of the people happening to have a seminary background (think Mack in The Shack), or they just luck into it because the writers just want them to say certain things (pretty much all the main characters in Left Behind). Whatever faith-related point the people in charge want to make is usually at the expense of the story, and the result is an inferior and pedantic piece of art.

The second category allows the story to lead the way, where the spiritual side of things becomes more embodied in what the characters do. The recent Martin Scorsese film Silence, as well as the c…
Read more

The Spiritual Practice of Shutting Up

By
Image
Many people have a certain idea of what prayer is. Call and response. Prayers of unison. Joys and concerns. The Lord’s Prayer recited. Words spoken aloud, usually to petition God for a certain sense of presence or activity on behalf of God’s people. Maybe there are a few token beats of silence, but most faith communities this side of the Quakers speak much, ask for much, state much about what they believe in prayer. We tell God what we hope for; we share with God our deepest longings for parts of the world, for loved ones, and for ourselves. Fortunately, more and more praying people are discovering listening as the other important element of prayer. We can’t always be doing all the talking. After all, even though the pinnacle of the campaign has long passed, some people still like to say that God is still speaking. The writer of Ecclesiastes claimed there is a time to be silent and a time to speak. But when we bring our anxious selves with urgent needs to God, it can take quite a lot of effo…
Read more