Archive by Author
A Walk to Remember?
Posted on 12. Feb, 2011 by Tim Stoner.
A Walk to Remember is a heartbreakingly romantic book. In it the protagonist, now in his late 50’s, remembers a walk that he has never been able to forget. In my fundamentalist tradition the walk we were never to forget was that one we took during the “altar call.” It would serve as the reminder of the iron-clad guarantee of our eternal security. However, Hebrews disabuses us of all notions that our confidence is in a brief stroll in the past. Instead the picture is that of a grueling race in which victory is not at all certain. There is great danger of falling short, falling away, or falling down. Thanks to a sermon by David Platt on the Rich Man and Lazarus, I am wondering whether I am in danger of doing all three.
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Generous Justice: Justified by works not faith alone
Posted on 22. Jan, 2011 by Tim Stoner.
In Generous Justice Timothy Keller does something almost impossible: he wrestles a golden calf off its marble pedestal while keeping the conservative reader from pushing the eject button. The argument he makes is that caring for the widow, orphans, immigrants and the poor is not an option, it is a duty—it is a necessary act of love. Starkly: choosing not to sacrifically serve those in need is not stinginess but “an offense against God”. And most starkly of all: refusing to “do justice” means we have not been truly saved. He does this gently, but for those with ears to hear Dr. Keller has issued a prophetic pronouncement that will rock the boat and hopefully the world.
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Unbroken: Impossibly true
Posted on 15. Jan, 2011 by Tim Stoner.
This astonishing, miraculous true story makes you believe it is possible to transcend yourself. If nothing else it tempts you to think that there is no wall too high, no limitation too restrictive, no pain too intense, and no suffering too excessive, that it need stop us from performing feats of heroic grace. It also says to us that there is always the very real possibility of a miraculous transcendence—despite the terrifying impossibility of the present moment. It is “a celebration of gargantuan fortitude” and easily, the most inspiring book I have read in a decade, at least.
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Breach of Trust: A Leader’s Fiduciary Duty
Posted on 03. Jan, 2011 by Tim Stoner.
Leaders in the church are “entrusted” with something infinitely valuable: the Gospel which is to be guarded and applied to men’s consciences. Standing by as this deposit of truth is pillaged by false teachers (be they ever so winsome and cultured and kind), is to be guilty of criminal negligence. Failing to issue clear warnings and distinguish the holy and the profane is an actionable breach of trust. The consequences, at best, are being fired (as in “being saved as though by fire”), and at worse, becoming complicit in profaning God–if Ezekiel and St. Paul are to be believed.
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Float like a Butterfly and Sting like a Hornet: The Gift of Christmas Blessings
Posted on 08. Dec, 2010 by Tim Stoner.
“The insolent man ruthlessly defaces all the beauty of charity, overwhelms his neighbor with innumerable evils, and stirs up life-long hatreds–driving off the peace which God so desires and giving the devil strategic beach heads from which to effectively attack.” St. Chrysostom is reminding us of the crushing power of the tongue. But it can also restore hope and break the back of despair. This is the immense power of blessing. Presents are forgotten, gifts lose their luster, but a gentle, life-giving word of affirmation can seal a destiny and heal a hundred wounds. It can light a flame that can give light and warmth to thousands.
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The Inalianable Right to Suffer
Posted on 01. Dec, 2010 by Tim Stoner.
Let’s be honest. All of us yearn to be powerful, effective, significant and successful. (Being well compensated doesn’t hurt either.) The assurance that God wants me to be free from serious suffering and heart-breaking disappointment is delicious. It is intoxicating for people raised under the national mythology of inevitable progress and the Constitutional right to happiness. But what to do when you find out the promises are not being kept? Who do you blame when the One you believed issued the guarantees seems to be intentionally dishonoring each one?
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A Ticklish Convergence: Part Two
Posted on 02. Nov, 2010 by Tim Stoner.
It is only a matter of time, Tickle affirms, before the church, out of compassion, adjusts its stance over homosexuality. “What is really at issue [in this debate]is the Reformation doctrine of Sola Scriptura.” When this issue is ultimately decided (in favor), “the Reformation’s understanding of Scripture as it had been taught by Protestantism for almost five centuries will be dead.” For this reason the battle over sexual identity “has to be the bitterest, because once it is lost. . . .It is finished.” Perhaps this is not such a bad thing. Maybe it was time for it to die.
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A Ticklish Convergence: Part One
Posted on 28. Oct, 2010 by Tim Stoner.
Phyllis Tickle is a formidable woman. She is leading the charge for the next great revolution in Christianity called the Great Emergence. She is an expert on religion who is to be taken seriously. She spoke at Mars Hill in Grand Rapids on “The Feminine Atributes of the Holy Spirit.” In it she makes a case for the Feminine Divine and in it we see where Emergent/Emerging Christianity may be heading. To hear her talk, what is on the horizon might better be called the “Great Convergence”–where Christianity and Paganism meld into one.
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My Business: My Mission
Posted on 28. Oct, 2010 by Tim Stoner.
In 2008, I was asked to write this biography of an amazing ministry that has had a hand in creating tens of thousands of jobs in desperately poor countries in the developing world. My Business, My Mission tells the story of a movement that is changing the lives of businesspeople in the northern and southern hemispheres by exposing them to a revolutionary paradigm: the idea that God has called them into mission through business. Interviewing Christ-centered business owners and entrepreneurs in Africa, Central America, Haiti, and the Philippines transformed me. In this book you get to meet these inspiring people
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Last Day of Nonviolence Tour: UC Berkeley
Posted on 19. Oct, 2010 by Tim Stoner.
Last Day: It is the end of the tour and there is one interchange of the hundreds that sticks with me. It occurred in Detroit when a Conservative Jewish Rabbi turned to Sami Awad, a Palestinian Christian, and said: “I respect everything you say. I look at you and I know that with you I have a partner.” A Jewish Rabbi declaring his unqualified support for what an evangelical Christian is saying. Is Sami showing us a new apologetic? Demonstrate the Gospel before you proclaim it. Seems like that is what Jesus did–heal, deliver and then speak. Maybe what we need to pray for courage to love, and power to heal, and then the words to speak.
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Nationwide Nonviolence Tour: USC School of Cinematic Arts
Posted on 19. Oct, 2010 by Tim Stoner.
Day Ten: Dr. Ralph Fertig, who marched during the civil rights days and is President of the Humanitarian Law Project tells us, “What Martin Luther King taught was the need to love the enemy. The flipside of fear is not fearlessness, it is the capacity to see the enemy as a person and appeal to him as such. Violence only begets more violence, whereas nonviolence enables the capacity to love.” This is only the second time during this cross-country tour that nonviolence has been linked to love rather than to pragmatism and politics. Both comments were from non-Christians. I find that intriguing.
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Tim Stoner: send me your address you get a book...
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Emory Hermie: So little done, a lot to accomplish. One's mind h...
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Sara Schimmer: I couldn't agree with him more. The Falls Church ...
