Tuesday, May 06, 2008

uncharted waters...

This coming Sunday night I will conclude my foray into the subject of the Christians and Literature. This subject is not new to the church at large. There have been many wise and highly intelligent people who have already written and spoke on this subject: scholars like C.S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer and Dorothy Sayers. However, the subject is new to many 21st century Christians in the evangelical church. The subject is also new to me... as a subject to speak about from the pulpit. As a Christian student and teacher of literature, I have spent considerable time developing a Christian perspective and theory of literary study. What I have begun to realise during this series I am presenting is the need for Christians to develop their understanding of literature. The messages are available on SermonAudio.com. This is uncharted waters for both my church and for me. It is less like preaching, more like teaching. Nevertheless, the congregation has received the messages enthusiastically and positively. I am grateful for their interest and support. As we move forward in this study, I am becoming increasingly convinced by John Piper’s assertion: “imagination is not merely a device for writers, it is a duty for all Christians. We must exercise it or be disobedient.”

These four messages merely scratch the surface of the Christian Imagination. We have lost much ground over the course of the last century. This series, I hope, is a start in the right direction.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is going to be a highly unintelligent comment:

That is SO COOL you being up there on Sermon Audio. You look very cutely wise in your photo as well. I never knew your church used Sermon Audio, but now I can listen to you and WLA on my computer on those snow days and chicken pox days when we can't get to church.

We miss your family very much, and I hope to see you while your wife is still lovely and round in the middle.

And yes, you should read Eats, Shoots and Leaves. She is a hilarious writer. I would not have believed that I could say "I just couldn't put it down" about a book on punctuation...

Jeremy W. Johnston said...

... "cutely wise..." That was the look I was going for...

Thanks for being a "starstruck" fan!

Anonymous said...

Phew! I am so relieved to know who starstruck fan is(saying 'cutely wise) I was thinking I was going to have to hunt down someone and say "he's mine" hands off. Now I don't have to. That's great because I'm too big to catch anyone right now, ha ha. halfpint

Anonymous said...

Yes, halfpint, it is just Jer's wannabe little sister (remember: he is 2 months older than me). And of course, as you are the only one among us who can even think about running at any point in your life, I'm sure you could catch me just fine.