Monday, June 15, 2009

New week, big assignments


Big week this week in the office. Some major work being done in preparation for the sports leagues starting up in the fall, and time moves quickly. I'm working with Marty on the West Coast as we ready some teams for the work to be done. A couple of tours to assemble, and some columns to write today. Lots of time at the keyboard and on the phone. And all while still celebrating my hometown Penguins' Stanley Cup championship. Yeah, the playoffs were great. I have a 1980s era Pens jersey on the wall of our Man Room.

Through the years I've read numerous Christian authors. Some are simple and effective in their message. Others are fairly confusing - at least to me - with numerous high-handed statements and lofty phrases. Still others try for a broad audience and try so hard to make a watered-down version of the Gospel that their weak narrative is downright embarrassing.

Time and time again I keep coming back to C.S. Lewis. As I have said before, I am not a real fan of his fiction (nothing wrong with it, just personal taste) but his apologetics are powerful. I enjoy a writer who is no-nonsense and yet careful to let the reader think. Lewis does not put words in your mouth, so to speak. He gives you a proposal and lets you study. I've always liked that kind of teaching. It might be because I grew up with no father figure who instructed me, so I enjoy a good sit-down instruction that's clear-cut and direct.

Here's a sample from Mere Christianity:

Enemy-occupied territory-that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage. When you go to church you are really 'listening-in' to the secretwireless from our friends: that is why the enemy is so anxious to prevent us from going. He does it by playing on our conceit and laziness and intellectual snobbery. I know someone will ask me, "Do you really mean, at this time of day, to reintroduce our old friend the devil-hoofs and horns and all?"
Well, what the time of day has to do with it I do not know. And I am not particular about the hoofs and horns. But in other respects my answer is "Yes, I do."
I do not claim to know anything about his personal appearance. If anybody really wants to know him better I would say to that person, "Don't worry. If you really want to, you will. Whether you'll like it when you do is another question."