There is much more I can say about this.  
I determined early on my family’s development that I would always go to Sunday Church. I think the reason was this: that I wanted my kids to love the church, even in it’s glaring flaws and inconsistencies. Since that time, the Local Church has not been exemplary in its display of the biblical standard. Yet, we have rarely missed attendance over the years.

There is a growing interest in departing from the church along with its local manifestations. …

On the Oregon coast we are bombarded with signs warning us of sneaker waves.  I know of a young lady who died as a result of one of these waves sneaking up on her unexpectedly and carrying her out to sea.   Even though we are warned of these dangerous waves, not many of us watch out for them.  I mean, really, what do you look for on a surf that is roaring all the time and each wave seems much like the last one?
There is an analogy here.  Just when …

Doctrines are not God:  they are only a kind of map. But that map is based on the experience of hundreds of people who really were in touch with God.
CS Lewis, Mere Christianity Bk IV, Chap 1, para 4, p136

We need regular reminder of the role presuppositions play in our interpretation (of scripture) and we must moderate our opinion with healthy doses of humility.  Blomberg I Corinthians, NIVAC p 226
Traditional consensus, of course, is not inspired, but weighty arguments are needed to overthrow it.  Craig Blomberg, I Corinthians, NIVAC p …

I thought you would enjoy this article written by my son Sam…

Throughout the history of Christianity, many great apologists and philosophers have attempted to develop logical arguments to rationally demonstrate that God exists. One of the most notable of these attempts is that of St. Thomas Aquinas, who laid out several persuasive arguments for God’s existence in his multi-volume work Summa Theologica. No argument can really prove God’s existence, but cumulatively they can be very compelling and persuasive. One of the less well known of them but one I …

The key to continual and deeper spiritual renewal and revival is the continual re-discovery of the gospel.
I have read and reread the article by Dr.Timothy Keller on The Centrality of the Gospel.   I hope this excerpt challenges you as it does me every time I read it…
Since Paul uses a metaphor for being “in line” with the gospel, we can consider that gospel renewal occurs when we keep from walking “off-line” either to the right or to the left. The key for thinking out the implications of the gospel is …

If our faith comments on government at all, its comment must be this – that the man should rule who does not think he can rule.  Carlyle’s hero may say, ” I will be king”;  but the Christian saint must say “Nolo episcopari.” (I do not wish to be bishop).  If the great paradox of Christianity means anything, it means this – that we must take the crown in our hand, and go hunting in dry places and dark corners of the earth until we find the one man who …

There are no ordinary people.  You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal , and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat.  But it is immortals whom we joke with , work with, marry, snub, and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn.  We must play.  But our merriment must be of the kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who …

Anyone in our world who devotes his whole life to seeking heaven will be like Reepicheep. (CS Lewis, Letters to Children)
In the CS Lewis fantasy The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, when presented with an opportunity to enjoy a daily king’s feast and stay back from the risk and peril of continuing on to the “World’s End,”  Reepicheep replies:
“My own plans are made.  While I can, I sail east in the Dawn Treader. when she fails me, I paddle  east in my coracle. When she sinks, I shall swim east …

It is evident by both Scripture and reason, that God is infinitely, unchangeably, and independently glorious and happy; that he cannot be profited by, or receive anything from, the creature;  or be the subject of any sufferings, or diminution of his glory and felicity, from any other being. Jonathan Edwards, The End for Which God Created the World
Infinitely, unchangeably, and independently glorious and happy!  AND he cannot be profited by OR receive anything from, the creature.
Remember this, that God IS happy, all the time… because His will is always …

I was reminded of this quote from CS Lewis.

In self-giving, if anywhere, we touch a rhythm not only of all creation but of all being.  For the Eternal Word also gives Himself in sacrifice; and that not only on Calvary. For when he was crucified, He “did that in the wild weather of His outlying provinces which he had done at home in glory and gladness.”  From before the foundation of the world He surrenders begotten Deity back to begetting Deity in obedience. and as the Son glorifies …