Here are links to all four posts in the Living Together Before Marriage series:

• Statistics on Living Together Before Marriage
• Scriptures on Living Together Before Marriage
• Living Together Without Sex
• What If We Already Lived Together Before Marriage?

Here are a couple C. S. Lewis clips I found on YouTube. The first clip is from Lewis’ March 21, 1944 radio address on BBC. This is the only surviving footage from Lewis’ 1941-1942 broadcast talks (which later appeared in book form as Mere Christianity). In this clip Lewis talks about prayer.

Lewis on BBC (Video length: 9:16)

This is just a portion of the surviving footage. You can listen to the
full audio clip at the BBC website.

The second clip is an excerpt from a lecture where Lewis talks about the novels of his friend and fellow member of The Inklings — Charles Williams.

Lewis talks about Charles Williams (Video length: 1:56)

HT: A Place for the God Hungry
Click here for Narnia related posts.

At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.” He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.'” (Luke 13:31-32)
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Jesus calling Herod a fox catches us a little off guard here. Did Jesus really call people names? Yes, when appropriate. He did not do it to hurt people’s feelings or out of childish anger or to be unkind. But Jesus called a spade a spade.

What did he mean by calling Herod a fox? A fox is a small, weak, wily animal that lives by cunning rather than strength. Jesus was drawing attention to Herod’s crafty, treacherous side. Herod was not a man worthy of trust or respect. He divorced his wife to marry his own niece, who happened to be his own brother’s wife. He beheaded John the Baptist because of a foolish promise made at a birthday party. He was a man of weak character who used his political power for selfish ends.

Now, we need to be careful here. As Christians we are called to love, forgive, forbear and be courteous to others. We should not go around calling people names as a general rule. Jesus rarely did. But there are times when we also must call a spade a spade. Sometimes a thief needs to be called a thief; the unfaithful spouse must be called an adulterer; the pornographer needs to be called perverted. There are times when evil must be confronted and named. There are times when Herod must be called a fox.

(from the message: Traffic and Tears on the Road to Jerusalem)

Bobby Lee Cutts, Jr. was sentenced to 57 years to life in prison yesterday for the killing of his pregnant girlfriend, Jessie Marie Davis, and their unborn daughter, Chloe. Cutts and Davis also have a 3-year-old son, Blake, who is now being raised by Jessie’s mother, Patricia Porter. Through tears of grief Patricia spoke directly to her daughter’s killer in the courtroom, extending the following words of forgiveness before the judge imposed the sentence.

I have had this conversation in my head with you a million times. It is a day I will never in my life forget. When I walked in that room, the presence of evil was so strong in there you could hardly breathe, and I knew my daughter was dead. I never ever thought she walked out of that room. And when you walked up there that morning, Bobby, I never in my heart wanted to believe you could have hurt her, but in my soul I knew you had.

I remember pulling into the driveway the next day and asking God, “Where is my daughter?” and he said, “She’s with me, and she’s fine.” And I made up my mind that day that whoever did that, I would forgive them because I never wanted to allow that kind of hatred into my life. I would have never been able to raise Blake and hate you. And I’ve written a lot of things here, and none of them seem to make any sense. None of this makes sense. There’s mornings I have to cover her picture up or I can’t get out of bed. And I just move on. I pretend that one day she’ll walk through the door again, but you and I know she won’t.

I serve an amazing God, Bobby, a God that forgives and heals and restores people. And I want you to know today that I do forgive you. And I know that it’s only through him that I am able to do that, and I pray that you find him, and you find the forgiveness that nobody else in this room can give you. It doesn’t matter what anybody else in this room feels for you. And that one day you will tell the truth. I think you lied to so many people. I don’t think you know how to tell the truth. I think you’re going to have to learn all over again.

And, your Honor, I may not have a family to go home to after this, but I pray that you make a way for this man to someday be able to get out of there and begin a new life, and to hold his son, maybe as a man. And I hope you pray that I’m able to raise him to forgive you. He knows what you did. You would not believe the stories he’s told us.

In a press conference after the sentencing, Patricia was asked: “Not even just [during] the trial, but beforehand you were very forgiving. How are you able to do that?” Patricia responded:

I know it sounds very cliche, but it’s because of Christ, because I’m forgiven, because I remember when Jesus hung on the cross and he asked his Father to forgive people that killed him. Nobody understands what it’s like to lose a child more than God did. He was able to forgive, and because of that I am able to forgive.

What a tremendous testimony to the power of God’s forgiveness in the believer’s life through Jesus Christ. “Love your enemies, do good to them … Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful … Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:35-37)

As part of an interview at BeliefNet, Amy Grant shares the following about dealing with depression in life:

It’s so funny what age is doing. I never thought getting older would be so great. But when it comes to depression, I have experienced less the older I’ve gotten. And I think part of it is, there are things that I know to look for in myself. I know winter time hits me like a ton of bricks.

My great-uncle told us when were kids, “If you’re born into this family, you need to go take a brisk walk every day.” He didn’t know what endorphins were, but he knew that we battled that downward spiral. If I will make myself get some exercise, that always helps. And then, invest in somebody else. That’s not hard when you’re part of a family. Even if I’m feeling like a piece of wood, I’ll wake up in the morning and I just think, “Somebody’s got to put the bacon on. I will feel better about this moment if I do eggs on toast with a little melted cheese for the kids.” It takes about four minutes to make breakfast for your children in the morning. You start doing little acts of getting beyond yourself. Sometimes it takes days or weeks. But you just learn there is a process to getting out of a slump.

Tiny little things that you have to do, responsibility that you can’t slough off, is good when you battle depression—making lunch for your kids, or having to do laundry because nobody has clean underwear. Rather than grind your teeth over it, go, “Thank God I have got to do this little task that makes me move.” And the more that [I’m] used to the rhythms of [my] own life, the more I realize, as bleak as this feels right this minute, it’ll pass.

Have you ever struggled with depression, whether mild or serious? What has been helpful to you when you are feeling down?

HT: Semper Reformanda

Christianity, culture, creativity and the arts — this has been an area of interest and study for me ever since my days as a student at Berklee College of Music. Here are some of the best books I have read on the subject over the years. Some of these are hard to find, so if you find a good price online, grab them while you can! Here they are, alphabetically by author.

1. The Making of a Christian Mind: A Christian World View & the Academic Enterprise, edited by Arthur Holmes

There are other good books on Christian world view out there, but I have always liked this one. Holmes draws together five concise essays on Christian world view, history, science, psychology and the creative arts.

2. Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art, by Madeleine L’Engle

You may be familiar with Madeleine L’Engle through her Wrinkle in Time series. Walking on Water is a wide-ranging book exploring the implications of the incarnation for human creativity and the arts.

3. Consider the Lilies: A Plea for Creational Theology, by T. M. Moore

Not sure what creational theology means? This book is a great place to start. Moore lays the biblical foundation for many of the ideas about creativity found in the other books on this page.

4. Art Needs No Justification, by H. R. Rookmaaker

This one is my absolute favorite. Although Rookmaaker deals primarily with the visual arts, his observations are appropriate to all fields of creative work. And it’s only 60 pages long!

5. The Creative Gift: Essays on Art and the Christian Life, by H. R. Rookmaaker

Another great book by Rookmaaker. This one is longer, and Rookmaaker is able to go into much greater detail.

6. The Christian Imagination: Essays on Literature and the Arts, compiled by Leland Ryken

My sister, Bethany, gave this to me on my 22nd birthday. This is a wonderful collection of essays with contributions from C. S. Lewis, T. S. Eliot, Thomas Howard, Flannery O’Connor, Leland Ryken and others. (Note: Some of these essays, but not all of them, appear in Ryken’s more recent book: The Christian Imagination: The Practice of Faith in Literature and Writing)

7. Culture in Christian Perspective: A Door to Understanding & Enjoying the Arts, by Leland Ryken

Part of the Multnomah Critical Concern series in the 1980’s, Ryken’s book examines literature, art and music in relation to the Christian faith.

8. Rainbows for the Fallen World: Aesthetic Life and Artistic Task, by Calvin Seerveld

Seerveld wrote this book while a senior member at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto. Seerveld’s unbridled enthusiasm for God, Scripture and the arts literally leaps off the pages of this book as Seerveld sets forth a biblical charter for artistic activity.

*Bonus: Here is one that I haven’t read yet, but it looks good. Art for God’s Sake: A Call to Recover the Arts, by Philip Graham Ryken.

So, how about you? Do you have any favorite books on Christianity, culture, creativity and the arts to add to the list?

Related post: God’s Good Creation Series

Here are ten great Bible verses for World Kindness Day (a day to practice random acts of kindness).

1. “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.” (Proverbs 12:25)
2. “He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.” (Proverbs 19:17)
3. This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:23-24)
4. “[God] has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” (Acts 14:17)
5. “God’s kindness leads you toward repentance.” (Romans 2:4)
6. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” (1 Corinthians 13:4)
7. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23)
8. “… the incomparable riches of [God’s] grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:7)
9. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Epehsians 4:32)
10. “When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.” (Titus 3:4-6)

Recommended Books on Kindness:

From George MacDonald: An Anthology (p. 113; edited by C.S. Lewis):

“There is nothing so deadening to the divine as an habitual dealing with the outsides of holy things.” – George MacDonald

The following is excerpted from a beautifully written article by James Russell Miller on living in such a way that “our old age, when it comes, shall be beautiful and happy.” Miller was a Presbyterian pastor who lived from 1840-1912 and who pastored churches in Pennsylvania and Illinois.

How can we so live that our old age, when it comes, shall be beautiful and happy? It will not do to adjourn this question until the evening shadows are upon us. It will be too late then to consider it. Consciously or unconsciously, we are every day helping to settle the question whether our old age shall be sweet and peaceful or bitter and wretched. It is worth our while, then, to think a little how to make sure of a happy old age.

1. We must live a useful life. The fruit of an idle life is never joy and peace. Years lived selfishly never become garden-spots in the field of memory. Happiness comes out of self-denial for the good of others. Sweet always are the memories of good deeds done and sacrifices made. Their incense, like heavenly perfume, comes floating up from the fields of toil and fills old age with holy fragrance. When one has lived to bless others, one has many grateful, loving friends whose affection proves a wondrous source of joy when the days of feebleness come. Bread cast upon the waters is found again after many days.
2. We must seek to make to ourselves loyal and faithful friends in the busy hours that come before. This we can do by a ministry of kindness and self-forgetfulness. This was part at least of what our Lord meant in that counsel which falls so strangely on our ears until we understand it: “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.”
3. Again, we must live a pure and holy life. Sin may seem pleasant to us now, but we must not forget how it will appear when we get past it and turn to look back upon it; especially must we keep in mind how it will seem from a dying pillow. Nothing brings such pure peace and quiet joy at the close as a well-lived past. We are every day laying up the food on which we must feed in the closing years. We are hanging up pictures about the walls of our hearts that we shall have to look at when we sit in the shadows. How important that we live pure and holy lives! Even forgiven sins will mar the peace of old age, for the ugly scars will remain.

Summing all up in one word, only Christ can make any life, young or old, truly beautiful or truly happy. Only He can cure the heart’s restless fever and give quietness and calmness. Only He can purify that sinful fountain within us, our corrupt nature, and make us holy. To have a peaceful and blessed ending to life, we must live it with Christ . . . For such a life death has no terrors. The tokens of its approach are but “the land-birds lighting on the shrouds, telling the weary mariner that he is nearing the haven.” The end is but the touching of the weather-beaten keel on the shore of glory.

You can read the full article at Challies.com (By the way, if you don’t read Tim Challies, you really ought to!)

Justin Taylor at Between Two Worlds has a nice interview with Tullian Tchividjian today. Tullian is the pastor of New City Church in Coconut Creek, Florida, not far from Plantation Community Church where I used to serve. He is the author of a new book on assurance called Do I Know God? and the grandson of Ruth and Billy Graham.

Tullian went through a season of rebellion in his teen years, and Justin asked him if Billy had said anything in particular to him during his time away from the Lord. I appreciated Tullian’s answer and the wisdom and love demonstrated by his family during those difficult years.

Interestingly, because my grandparents knew that my parents had laid such a solid foundation, teaching me the Gospel from the time I was born, they never preached to me during my wilderness wanderings; they never sat me down and gave me a lecture. They always told me they were praying for me, that they believed God had his hand on me, and that if I ever needed anything, not to hesitate to let them know. Their unconditional love for me during that time was stunning. In fact, from a human perspective, one of the tools God used to bring me to himself was the attractiveness of my grandparents (and parents) unconditional love. Because of my upbringing, I had always known the content of the Gospel but it was the “preaching of the Gospel without words” through my parents and grandparents which helped me to “taste and see that the Lord is good.”

Be sure to visit Justin’s blog for the rest of the interview.

Update: Tullian’s mother shares about the prodigal years from a mother’s perspective. Click here for the article by Gigi Graham Tchividjian.

Related posts:

• Congratulations Coral Ridge, New City and Tullian!
• Father and Son Share about the Prodigal Years (Abraham and John Piper)

Most nights I spend some time with my three sons reading the Bible and praying together. We have done this ever since they were toddlers, and they are now ages 15, 13 and 10. We usually pick a book of the Bible and read it through a section at a time, and then discuss any questions on it. Right now we are reading through the book of Job.

We tried something different this past spring and took a couple months to memorize a chapter of the Bible together instead. We chose James chapter 1. We took it one verse at a time, memorizing the verse and then discussing it together. The next night we would review the verses we had learned and then learn a new verse. If we had been really disciplined at it, I guess we would have finished in 27 days, seeing as there are only 27 verses in James 1. But between nights missed and extra review nights thrown in, it took us a couple months.

The important thing is we kept at it, and all three boys eventually were able to recite James chapter 1 from memory. We also talked about the importance of meditating or reflecting on God’s Word throughout the day. This is really the whole reason to memorize Scripture anyways — that we might store it up in our minds and our hearts and allow God to change us by his Word.

The method we used for memorizing is called the “stacking” method. This is the method taught by Janet Pope in her excellent book, His Word in My Heart: Memorizing Scripture for a Closer Walk with God. You can read more about the stacking method at Lifehack, or you can read John Place’s story of how he used the stacking method to memorize 7 chapters of his psychology textbook, over 23,000 words, when he was in college. Andrew Davis also gives a good explanation and guide in his article: An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture.

People are using the stacking method to memorize all sorts of things. What could be more important than memorizing God’s Word and treasuring it in our hearts?

Update: Later we went back and re-memorized this chapter using the first-letter method. Actually, the stacking method and first-letter method work really well together. You can learn more about the first letter method in The Bible Memory Version: A Tool for Treasuring God’s Word in Your Heart.

Charles Drew is the author of A Journey Worth Taking, a book about work and calling and finding your purpose in this world. Here are some wise words from Drew about worshiping God while working in a fallen world:

It is not always easy to worship while we work. Thanks to the fall, there is no job—whether it is raising children, running a bank, or working as a carpenter—that does not have its dreariness. Nevertheless, God made us for work, Jesus is present with us in our work, and Jesus will one day completely fix work. For these reasons, we should seek occasions to thank God for and in our work.

He then goes on to give these 5 reasons why we can be thankful to God for and in our work:

1. Simply to be given something to do that brings order into our life is cause for thanks. If we get paid for it, all the better.
2. Work often presents us with people to love—and this is good for us (especially when it is hard).
3. There are, or course, those occasional jobs (or occasional tasks within a particular job) that we actually enjoy doing—for which it is only right to worship God.
4. Then there is the recollection of how much worse work might be for us if we lived at a different time or under different circumstances—a recollection that should train our faith to see the hand of the Redeemer at work, and to thank him.
5. Finally, there is the promise of consummation—of a coming world in which all toil will finally be taken from our work—and for this hope we worship God (especially when we are acutely aware of the toil in what we are presently doing).