Deus Misereatur

  Most people see me as simply a Presbyterian minister; almost a one-dimensional character. Some, who have gotten to know me better, see me as a minister and a family man. That deepens their perception of me. But there's another level of me that swims in martial arts, woodworking, and hand-carving. To know that other facet of me enriches a person's awareness of who and what I am. This is the value Jason M. Baxter, associate professor of fine arts and humanities at Wyoming Catholic College, supplies us with in regard to C.S. Lewis, in his new 176-page paperback, " The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis: How Great Books Shaped a Great Mind ". This is a delightful read that will warm the hearts of many Lewis fans. Baxter spends time delving into the part of Lewis's life that most Christian readers are vaguely aware of: the man's passion for, and profession in, medieval literature, ancient languages, and premodern mindsets. This is what the author calls "the third L...

  Joseph Loconte, Director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies at the Heritage Foundation, and a Senior Fellow in Christianity and Culture at The King’s College in New York City, has given readers a potent manuscript to help readers fathom Tolkien, Lewis and the First World War. This volume was penned in 2015, in the middle of the Great War's centennial. With hundreds upon hundreds of reviews to pick from, mine will be short, sweet, and simple.  Loconte marches readers through the lead up to the Great War and many details of its devastating effects. Chronicling the Christian Nationalism that fueled all sides in this war to end all wars, the author guides us out the other side into the growing, decimated wasteland of skepticism that was spawned after the war. Much that he describes before and after the war will cause many to pause and reflect on our own circumstances, the reigning presuppositions blanketing our time, and the potential consequences if they are al...

  A search for a missing prince, a gloomy Marshwiggle, chatty owls, human-eating giants, an underground civilization, a witch, magic, and enchantments. It's all there, and more. Eustace and Jill set out with Puddleglum, the Marshwiggle, to find Prince Rillian, son of Caspian the Tenth. The story is packed subtleties and witticisms that will please younger readers, and cause adults to pause and ponder. I recorded myself reading each chapter, and uploaded them to my channel on YouTube at Michael Philliber . I happily recommend the book.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis My rating: 5 of 5 stars Clearly, neither C.S. Lewis nor "The Lion, and the Witch and the Wardrobe" need any review from me. But what I will say is this. Since most people are under "shelter-at-home" during the Corona Virus pandemic, I decided to live-stream my reading of this book for all kids - younger and older. And I had a blast! I have read this book for myself as a young Christian, and then for all four of my children through the 34 years we had children in our home. If you would like to share it with your children and grandchildren, or just simply want to watch/listen, you can check out my YouTube playlist: " The Chronicles of Narnia ." I hope you enjoy the reading,, and that you will spread it around. I happily recommend this volume to all and any. View all my reviews

While pondering a recent conversation I had with an acquaintance on the topic of sacred space {it may be helpful for you to review what I’ve written on this already, by going here and here ), I tripped over a statement made by C.S. Lewis in his little work titled “Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer” that gently and perceptively speaks to the subject: “It is well to have specifically holy places, and things, and days, for, without these focal points or reminders, the belief that all is holy and “big with God” will soon dwindle into mere sentiment. But if these holy places, things, and days cease to remind us, if they obliterate our awareness that all ground is holy and every bush (could we but perceive it) a Burning Bush, then the hallows begin to do harm. Hence both the necessity, and the perennial danger, of “religion”” (Letter XIV, p. 75). Lewis has hit on at least two risks that accompany the subject. But he has also proposed a healthy way forward. The first risk is t...

There are many, many observations made by C.S. Lewis that are worth quoting, and quoting in full. Some stir up a swelling laughter from deep within your chest; and others leave you pondering for years. The following has caused me to quietly reflect for a long, long time. "It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbour. The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbour’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some deg...

“Contemporary worship” sounds really hip and cool, especially when a person throws it up against the dusty, dry, wrinkly “traditional worship” style. Yet, there are several problems here. What most folks think of as “traditional” is only yesterday’s “contemporary” style. Even Willow Creek Church’s hip style that grew out of the 70s and 80s is now being called “traditional” by the teens & 20-somethings. And what the middle-agers disparage as “Traditional” is really a format that erupted after World War II, when returning soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines spurred on an explosion of new churches all across the nation. Nothing wrong with that, in-and-of-itself. But it did galvanize a specific mode of worship that was quite contemporary in its day. A style that most of our grandparents and great grandparents were comfortable with. Therefore, when I hear people whine about “traditional worship” being old and stodgy, they’re usually referring to the very contemporary-to-the-1940s form...