A poem for Easter, from John Donne: Death, be not proud, though some have called theeMighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrowDie not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,And … Continue reading A Poem for Easter
Author: plstepp
The Day After Good Friday
Yesterday was Good Friday; what is today? "Holy Saturday" seems somewhat nondescript for what must have been a difficult, dark day for Jesus' followers. Everything they had ever hoped for, everything they thought had come true in Jesus, had come crashing to the ground, completely collapsed under the weight of a dead messiah. That sabbath … Continue reading The Day After Good Friday
Retrospective: WARREN ZEVON
Great essay about one of the best albums of the 70’s. “Desperados Under the Eaves” has one of the greatest lyrics of all time: And if California slides into the ocean, Like the mystics and statistics say it will; I predict this motel will be standing until I pay my bill. This is a seriously … Continue reading Retrospective: WARREN ZEVON
Presenting Svedočanstvo propoviedanja (The Witness of Preaching)
The Biblical Institute of Zagreb recently had the honor of partnering with the protestant fakultet of the University of Zagreb, Matija Vlačić Ilirik, in publishing a Croatian translation of Thomas Long's The Witness of Preaching. This book is a standard seminary textbook for learning to preach, with nearly 100,000 copies sold. I was invited to … Continue reading Presenting Svedočanstvo propoviedanja (The Witness of Preaching)
Wright on the Gospel and the Mission of the Church
When it all comes down to it, the gospel message is very simple. The creator God loved the world so much that he gave his only son, so that all who believe wouldn’t perish but would share the life of God’s new age! The Son of God loved me and gave himself for me! If … Continue reading Wright on the Gospel and the Mission of the Church
Too Good 2B True …
… but funny nonetheless. Did you hear the story about the college student who told his grandma and grandpa that “LGBTQ” stood for “Let’s get Biden to quit”? So his grandparents went around writing LGBTQ on everything? Their email signatures, etc? I CANNOT be the only person who thinks that’s funny. Even though it’s probably … Continue reading Too Good 2B True …
What Is “Woke”?
As a public service, I shall now attempt to define "woke" for all of us (myself included) who don't always know what it means. “Wokeness” exists at four different levels, increasing from harmless to virulent. At its most basic level, "woke" refers to seeing things you haven't seen before. The way you look at the … Continue reading What Is “Woke”?
Race Essentialism
So: a series of posts on race, this and the next focusing on race essentialism. A couple of observations to begin with: FIRST, black people living in America know a lot more about what it's like to be black in America than I ever will. Ergo, I don't plan to talk much about what black … Continue reading Race Essentialism
2 Timothy 1.8-10
For the past couple of days, I have been stuck on this passage: Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel in the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not in virtue of our works … Continue reading 2 Timothy 1.8-10