Reading for Preaching
The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age
In 17th century Amsterdam, residents of the city’s Tugthuis (jail) were given lessons in wisdom literature. In fact a special edition of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Ecclesiasticus was published just for prison use. It was thought that since the jail was meant to cure, among others, spongers, idlers, and beggars the anti-sloth passages of Scripture seemed...
Bird by Bird: Instructions on Writing and Life
“The Gulf Stream will flow through a straw provided the straw is aligned to the Gulf Stream, and not at cross purposes with it.” (P. 156) “You don’t always have to chop with the sword of truth. You can point with it too.” (P. 163) Quotes Donald Barthelme’s observation: “’Truth is a hard apple to...
Wisdom and Innocence: A Biography of G. K. Chesterton
When GK was five his brother Cecil Edward was born. GK said: “’Now I shall always have an audience.’” But what he got was a heckler. “’We argued throughout our boyhood and youth until we became the pest of our whole social circle. We shouted at each other across the table, on the subject of...
Preaching Connection: Wisdom