Lig, that was an interesting report from brothers & sisters overseas.  Thanks for pointing us to it. 

My family & I have just returned from some good vacation time together.  I know Al and CJ & you have been away.  It will be good to get back to a little blogging.  (Lig, I had a great dinner with your brother John & his family last week.)

One thing I get to do when I travel on vacation with family is to visit churches.  And when I do I am reminded of how much good work there is going on; and I'm reminded of some characteristices of many modern evangelical churches that grieve me.

One of the other things I get to do when I'm away is to have more time for reading.  I was looking over David Wells' books again, and am impressed afresh at what a service he has done is in publishing his series of 4 books--No Place for Truth, God in the Wasteland, Losing our Virtue, Above All Earthly Pow'rs.

Dear readers, if you haven't already, GET THESE AND READ THEM.

I'm wondering about possibly having our elders go through them.  Just to give you a taste, early on in this latest and final volume to the series--Above All Earthly Pow'rs--David refers to the response to 9/11 in evangelical churches, and how the, well, seriousness of the event caught so many by surprise.  I should simply let David give you this comment in his own words.  "What has become conspicuous by its scarcity, and not least in the evangelical corner of it, is a spiritual gravitas, one which could match the depth of horrendous evil and address issues of such seriousness.  Evangelicalism, now much absorbed by the arts and tricks of marketing, is simply not very serious anymore."  (David Wells, Above All Earthly Pow'rs [2005], p. 4).

One thing I appreciate about the Southern Baptist Seminary, First Pres Jackson & Sov Grace Ministries is the way each of these ministries understands the weightiness of the issues we're involved in, and in different ways, expresses that regularly, naturally, and compellingly.

God forgive us when silliness more marks our churches than seriousness.

God grant us a confident, joyful, humble and compelling seriousness for His glory.

David Wells' careful reflections may help us all in this.