The (Lieben)GOOD LIFE

I am preaching on Psalm 1 this Sunday. The wisdom song reminds us that a flourishing life is nourished by delightful mediation on God's Word. In reading the first part of Psalm 1, my mind ran to George Mueller  and his description of how he approached each day: It has pleased the Lord to teach me a truth, the benefit of which I have not lost, for more than fourteen years. The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, or how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. For though I might seek to witness to the lost, or to benefit other believers, or to relieve the distressed, or in other ways seek to behave myself as it becomes a child of God in this world; nevertheless, if I myself am not happy in the Lord, a...

People my age, especially educators, who engage with 18-22 year-olds regularly complain that this generation lacks passion and drive: in short, we think they care about nothing. Recently, I got a window into the heart of this generation, and it renewed in me a desire to invest in their lives. This summer I have been teaching an intensive course on the Book of Revelation. In one of my first lectures I highlighted one of Augustine's key insights: the problem of humanity is not that we lack the right information (education) or the right technology; rather the essential problem with humankind is that we do not love the right things. In my lecture I stressed that, in my view,  the Book of Revelation is ultimately about teaching us to love and align ourselves with the right things. In the course of trying to demonstrate this, I showed the class a video clip from a documentary called the Persuaders , a PBS Frontline look into the advertising industry. I was deeply moved by the conve...