History, Real Life, and Faith
Have you ever heard of W. E. Blackstone? Was he important? If you’re interested in Christian world evangelism, he was. The self-educated evangelical’s 1878 book, Jesus is Coming, sold millions of copies in the late-nineteenth century. Blackstone’s basic facts Born in 1841 New York, William Eugene Blackstone grew up in a Christian home that stressed devotion and service to God….
Read More
The “mother tongue” trips me when I’m writing and often makes me laugh. I’m referring to the language I learned, well, from my mother. Which is how my English dictionary defines it, too, or “the language learned as a baby at home before a child goes to school.” You’ve got one, too! What’s the issue with the mother tongue? If…
Read More
Grief and Streams in the Desert
Becoming Elisabeth Elliot is the title and subject of Ellen Vaughn’s new authorized biography. This is my official reaction: I am undone. Ellen Vaughn’s Becoming Elizabeth Elliot is the best book I’ve read in a long time. I’m an admitted fan; I’ve written half a dozen blog posts about Elliot’s influence on my life, but this biography is so beautifully…
Read More
Why everyone should write a spiritual memoir
A camp meeting was a seminal feature of Protestant Christianity for a time in the United States. But what were they? Opportunities for Christians in a community to gather and worship God. Folks would come together to hear Biblical teachings, to mingle, and to be refreshed. They were particularly important in frontier days. Early camp meetings The first camp meeting…
Read More