"In the midst of a world of light and love,
of song and feast and dance, [Lucifer] could
 find nothing to think of more interesting than
his own prestige."

C.S. Lewis:--A Preface to Paradise Lost






photo taken in Tilamook, Oregon

pride
C.S. Lewis

Jesus: Alive or Imaginary?

If we think that Jesus did not rise, but
"lives" and "reigns" only in his followers'
memories and imaginations, and is not
actively and objectively "there" in the
place of power, irrespective of whether he
is acknowledged or not, we should give up
hope of our own rising, and of Jesus'
public return, and admit that the idea
of churches and Christians being sustained
by the Spirit-giving energy of a living
Lord was never more than a pleasing illusion.

And, in that case, we ought frankly to affirm that,
though the New Testament is an amazing witness to
the religious creativity of the human spirit, its
actual message is more wrong than right, more
misleading than helpful; and we must reconstruct our
gospel accordingly. Only a weak, muddled, or cowardly
mind will hesitate to do this.

... James I. Packer (b. 1926), "Jesus Christ the Lord", in
The Lord Christ, John Stott, ed., vol. 1 of Obeying
Christ in a Changing World, John Stott, gen. ed., 3
vol., London: Fountain, 1977, p. 34

Let us be brave enough to examine our faith and
question what it is we truly believe and what
we are willing to base our entire existence on.
To do anything less, as Packer says, is cowardly.

photo taken at the Painted Mines, El Paso County, Colorado


J.I.Packer
John Stott

"When we honestly ask ourselves which
person in our lives mean the most to
us, we often find that it is those who, instead
of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have
chosen rather to share our pain and touch
our wounds with a warm and tender hand."

--Henri Nouwen


photo taken in Barnstable, MA

Henri Nouwen

In place of our exhaustion and spiritual
fatigue, God will give us rest. All
He asks is that we come to Him...that
we spend a while thinking about Him,
meditating on Him, talking to Him,
listening in silence, occupying
ourselves with Him--totally and thoroughly
lost in the hiding place of His presence.

-- Charles Swindoll

photo taken near Pueblo, Colorado