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After family and church, Scouting was the most significant influence in my young life. Fifty years ago today I received the rank of Eagle Scout. I am grateful to my Dad, who encouraged me to join Troop 339, sponsored by his church in Smyrna, Tennessee. In 1974, I moved to Troop 120 in McMinnville, Tennessee. One of Scouting’s primary purposes, Dad said, was to teach young men wilderness survival skills. My Scoutmasters – Mr. Craig, Mr. Justice, and Mr. Van Cleve – led by example, and held me to high standards. They made a lasting investment in my life. I no longer have any formal association with Scouting. In 1973, my troop shared the same commitment to my moral and…
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The heart of American Christians rightly goes out to persecuted Christians in other parts of the world. But we mustn’t forget that our nation has its own tragic history of persecuting believers. The persecutors have often been professing members of the Christian church. Sixty years ago today Denise McNair looked forward to a special Sunday. She would participate in her church’s Sunday morning service, which would conclude with the sermon, “The Love That Forgives.” She dressed carefully for the day. The case above includes her purse, Buster Brown shoes, a Ten Commandment bracelet — and the piece of brick removed from her skull, a fragment of the explosion that claimed her life. Three 14 year-old friends perished with her: Addie…
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In the early years of American involvement in World War II, only the Marine Corps suffered a higher fatality rate than the United States Merchant Marine. The Merchant Marine delivered critical military supplies from around the world to besieged Britain and the Soviet Union. Without the courage of its mariners, the war with Germany would surely have been lost. To say that these men were courageous does not do justice to their ordeals, sacrifices, and achievements. Early in the the war their vessels sailed in isolation, making them vulnerable targets for German U-boats. Even after the development of the convoy system, U-boat wolfpacks slipped undetected into convoys and wreaked destruction. When men survived the torpedoing of their ships, chances of…
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When I finish reading or listening to a book, I add it to my annual “books read” list. My 2022 list is at the end of this post. 2022 Reading Highlights Harry Lee Poe’s The Completion of C. S. Lewis surveys the final eighteen years of Lewis’s life. The author provides concise information about the books and articles, placing them in the context of Lewis’s unfolding life and the broader world of English literature. The circumstances of Lewis’s transition from Oxford to Cambridge are thoroughly reviewed. Attention is given to his many friendships and marriage, late in life, to Joy Davidman Gresham. Regarding Lewis, Helen Gardner wrote, “It was impossible to be indifferent to him” (75). And I am not. His books have enriched…
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Bear with me . . . This post is going somewhere. Manokin Presbyterian Church in Princess Anne, Maryland, was organized in 1683. The structure pictured here was erected in 1765, although the Bell Tower did not go up until 1888. The establishment of Manokin Presbyterian Church was the fruit of God’s grace through the work of Francis Makemie (1658-1708), who is deservedly known as “The Father of American Presbyterianism.” Makemie planted the first Presbyterian church in Snow Hill, Maryland, and four other churches on the Delmarva Peninsula. But you can’t have Presbyterianism without a Presbytery, and under Makemie’s leadership, the first American Presbytery, the Presbytery of Philadelphia, was organized in 1706, and he was elected its first moderator. My admiration…
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The Completion of C. S. Lewis: From War to Joy (1945-1963), by Harry Lee Poe. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2022, 413 pages, $34.16, cloth. Sometimes work forces me to read. Lectures and sermons must be prepared, and reading is indispensable to the process. Whether I find the reading especially enjoyable or not, the commentaries and theological books and articles must be attended to. But apart from work, I read mostly for pleasure, and Harry Lee Poe’s three-volume biography of Lewis has been for me sheer pleasure. In addition to surveying the life of one of the twentieth century’s great writers and formidable Christian apologists, I have had opportunity during the past year to read for the first time several of Lewis’s…
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