It is a terrible misunderstanding of the Gospel to think that it offers us salvation while relieving us of responsibility for the life of the world, for the sin and sorrow and pain with which our human life and that of our fellow men and women are so deeply interwoven. --Newbigin

"Divine messengers in our lives..." Having done some reading about angels for my recent Michaelmas sermon, I'm not sure I want to affirm that definition. I think we need to stick to the Biblical references. An angel might say "no." See Joshua 5:13-14 RSV.

This is today's campaign message from our President: "We will cast out the communists, Marxists, and fascists. We will throw off the sick political class that hates our country. We will rout the fake news media, and we will liberate America from these villains once and for all."

Michaelmas is near. This brings the question: is the news of angelic presence largely about divine messengers in our lives, or is it about the apocalyptic confrontation of good with evil? Both, of course, but right now I'm going with #2. What is AI if not an apocalyptic threat?

I don't have much strength these days but I have enough to know extraordinary imagination and faithful exegesis when I hear it. Plus an eye-popping lesson in Old Master art history. notesfromdehart.substack.com…

The whole world has been shaken by the Nepal catastrophe. Now,just in case the USA was feeling safe, here comes the Grand Canyon flood. If there is one issue that Christians should unite on, it is saving God's creation from human heedlessness. Pulpits should be resounding.

As I have been saying all my life, major in English. (Or history, or philosophy.) That will set you up for whatever occurs next. Duke professor and A#1 cultural critic Frank Bruni writes: mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#in…

Again, Ben DeHart. Perhaps the best expository preacher around at present. I read this from the depths of my own present stormy, dark, deep sea (hyperacusis) and was greatly strengthened. notesfromdehart.substack.com…

If anyone has dependable information about hyperacusis, please let me know. Only real scientific info, please, or contact with fellow sufferers. I have only had this dread diagnosis for five months. They say it is "too rare to care"...i.e. little research, little support.

Sometimes all it takes is one Psalm...

Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you; save your servant who trusts in you... be gracious to me, O Lord..., Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. Psalm 86

My beloved husband has gone to the Father's house. He loved Jesus. He spent his last two decades supporting and promoting speakers who eagerly introduced Him to others. He loved to hear a Christ-centered sermon. He loved to support Christ-centered churches. He was loved in return

Among my last words to my husband …to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance

I read a lot--more than you might think--about AI. This article makes all the points, probing the whole question of what is human, what is "creation" (as in "content creation"), and what is our relation to God's creation. nytimes.com/2026/06/14/us/ai…

I'm on Substack now. My first post is about preaching in the age of Trump. I will continue to make side comments on this page 😇

This is a good example of something that should be addressed by preachers. Why should assassination be wrong? all the time? some of the time? What does "love your enemy" mean? These are important questions. wapo.st/3OVVoh4

I was just trying to get a message through to a business about a defective order. After three exchanges with what was obviously AI I threw in the towel, leaving behind what I hope was enough indignation to register even with AI.

Mark Edmundson, professor of English at UVA, recently wrote this. In my opinion the new trend toward public vulgarity at the highest level of politics and government is a serious sign of cultural deterioration. But he says it better than I do. nytimes.com/2025/09/14/opini…

More about children's literature: Rowan Williams, the celebrated poet and former Archbishop of Canterbury, once commented that Disney had ruined Winnie-the-Pooh. Not many will understand this, but those who do will see to it that the youngsters get copies of the A. A. Milne Pooh!

I recommend this new project by Trygve Johnson about the shortage of young aspirants for ordained church leadership. Sometimes all it takes is one respected older church member saying to a promising young person, "Have you thought about the ministry?" open.substack.com/pub/trygve…