Arts and Culture on Delight

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What A Delight Perspective Is!

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Paolo Uccello, an Italian painter and craftsman of the early Renaissance, lived in Florence during the late 14th and early 15th centuries. His obsession with perspective was so intense that he would s...

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Near a Wonderful Beauty

Author

Donald McCullough

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Scripture

Ecclesiastes 3:11, Genesis 1:31, Psalm 19:1, Psalm 8:3-4, Romans 1:20, Psalm 96:11-12, Psalm 65:9-13, Colossians 2:2-3

J.M. Montgomery’s novel Emily of New Moon has a passage that conveys the attractive and terrifying aspects of the mystery of God: It had always seemed to Emily, ever since she could remember, th...

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Fumbling for the Right Words

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

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Scripture

Proverbs 16:24, Ecclesiastes 10:12, 1 Corinthians 8:2-3, James 1:5, Psalm 39:17-18

The renowned Russian pianist and émigré Vladimir Horowitz (1904–1989) sometimes struggled with the nuances of the English language. During a meeting with Mrs. Hoover, the wife of U.S. President Herber...

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Author

Norman Wirzba

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The Garden of Eden, literally the “garden of delight,” is humanity’s original and perpetually originating home, the place of our collective nourishment, inspiration, instruction, and hope.

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We believe, O Lord, that you have not

Author

Richard Allen

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We believe, O Lord, that you have not abandoned us to the dim light of our own reason to conduct us to happiness, but that you have revealed in Holy Scriptures whatever is necessary for us to believe ...

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Returning to Joy

Author

Cyd and Geoff Holsclaw

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 12:3, Isaiah 41:10, John 15:11, Romans 15:13, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Ideally, when a baby is born into a healthy family, she is received with gladness. Her parents look on her with delight and the baby responds with joy. The baby is wanted—is loved. Her parents will ma...

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Lord, may your glorious Majesty

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Scripture

John 14:16-17, Matthew 26:36-46, Psalm 32:8, 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Acts 9:1-19, 1 Corinthians 2:2, 1 Timothy 1:17

Lord, may your glorious Majesty surround us, the blessed Trinity protect us, and the eternal Godhead preserves us. Your unlimited mercy support us; your loving kindness encompass us; your favor c...

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Psalm 111

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Scripture

Psalm 111:null

Hallelujah! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, in the congregation. Great are the deeds of the LORD! they are studied by all who delight in them. ...

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Review: How to Know a Person

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

There are there a few books that I come across now that I’m officially “retired” from the pastorate that I sincerely wish I had been able to read, digest and act on as a young pastor. David Brook’s la...

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Les Misérables: A Tale of Transformative Grace

Author

Scott B. Bullock

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Scripture

Ephesians 2:4-5, Colossians 3:10, Romans 8:38-39, Philippians 4:6-7, Psalm 23:1-4, Isaiah 40:31, Jeremiah 29:11

A Great (and Weighty) Work of Literature That Will Delight Like Moby Dick and War and Peace , Les Misérables is a hefty novel. Affectionately known as the ‘Brick’ for its formidable length, it c...

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Almighty and gracious Father, since our

Author

John Calvin

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Scripture

James 1:21-22, Luke 10:38-42, Acts 17:10-12, 1 Samuel 3:1-10, John 17:17

Almighty and gracious Father, since our whole salvation standeth in our knowledge of thy Holy Word, strengthen us now by your Holy Spirit that our hearts may be set free from all worldly thoughts and ...

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Lord Jesus—the same yesterday, today

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Matthew 5:9, Ephesians 4:32, James 5:15-16, John 14:27, Psalm 34:18

Lord Jesus—the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, and the author of change, who’s constantly doing “a new thing,” which makes us sit up and take notice. We admit, we’d be more comfortable with a pred...

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O Lord and Father of the household of

Author

Hughes Oliphant Old

Scripture

1 Timothy 2:1-2, Galatians 6:2, Romans 12:10, Micah 6:8, James 5:16

O Lord and Father of the household of faith, we thank you for the gift of faith worked within us by your Holy Spirit. We thank you for having called us to yourself, for consecrating us to your ser...

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A General Thanksgiving

Scripture

1 Samuel 2:1-10, Luke 17:11-19, Job 1:21, Acts 16:25, John 6:11

Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery ...

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Inspired by Psalm 10:1-7

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 10:1-7

Leader: Heavenly Father, I confess that I have sinned against you. I have delighted my soul in other things more than I have in you. Why, then, is it any surprise to me that you feel far off from me? ...

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The Kingdom of God is a Public Park

Author

Elizabeth Achtemeier

Keywords

Scripture

Zechariah 8:1-8

What is the Kingdom of God, according to the prophet Zechariah (Zech. 8:1-8)? It is a public park! It is a park where old people are no longer cold and lonely and ill and senile, but participants in a...

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Charles Darwin’s Loss of Happiness

Author

Charles Darwin

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 55:2-3, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Philippians 4:8, Psalm 19:1, Romans 1:20, Ecclesiastes 3:11

Charles Darwin, known for his theory of natural selection, noticed that his later life included a “loss of happiness.” While he never acknowledged that it might have been related to his changing world...

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The Thrill of Being Right: Sermon Illustration Tuesday

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Why is it so fun to be right? As pleasures go, it is, after all, a second-order one at best. Unlike many of life’s other delights—chocolate, surfing, kissing—it does not enjoy any mainline access to o...

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Finding the Right Pastoral Work–Life Balance: A Few Unbalanced Thoughts

Author

Dan Baumgartner

Keywords

Scripture

John 15:null

I might not be the best person to be writing this. After an eleven-year career in business in my twenties and early thirties, I’ve been an ordained pastor now for nearly twenty-seven years. There are...

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Justice is Personal

Author

Andy Crouch

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Scripture

Matthew 25:40, Leviticus 19:15, Galatians 3:28, James 2:8-9, Amos 5:24, Micah 6:8, Isaiah 1:17

When did the topic of justice become important to you?” Gideon Strauss posed that question to two dozen people crammed into our living room one fall evening in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Some of us wer...

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Developing Deep Roots

Author

Mark D. Roberts

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 3:16-17, Colossians 2:6-7, John 15:5, Jeremiah 17:7-8, Psalm 1:1-3

A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I made the long drive from San Antonio, Texas, to Pasadena, California, where we now reside. We passed through hundreds of miles of southwestern desert, most of whic...

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Author

Pamela Steinke

Keywords

Hurry decimates joy, leaves wonder by the wayside. Slow down and breathe deep; the wonder is all about you. See it, hold it close, pay tribute. My creation.”

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Isaiah 35:10 (1)

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Scripture

Isaiah 35:10

Now return to the Lord with joy and gladness. Sing a song of redemption! Let sorrow and sighing be no more. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Thanks be to God.

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Bright Spark, Shot from a Higher Place

Author

Fleming Rutledge

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 24:15-18 , Malachi 3:2-3, Isaiah 6:5-7, Psalm 51:10-12 , 2 Corinthians 3:18, Revelation 22:5

Thus the incomparable George Herbert writes of our glorification in his poem “The Star”: Bright spark, shot from a brighter place, Where beams surround my Saviour’s face, Canst thou be any where ...

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Our Divinely Designed Tastes

Author

Joe Rigney

Keywords

Scripture

John 6:35, Psalm 34:8

The creation of food, tongues, and the human digestive system is the product of infinite wisdom knitting the world together in a harmonious whole. The symphony of glory that sounds from the triune bei...

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Author

Neil T. Anderson

Keywords

Your greatest fulfillment in life will come when you discover your unique gifts and abilities and use them to edify others and glorify the LORD.

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Author

Marcel Proust

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Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

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Almighty and Everlasting God, who are

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Scripture

Psalm 72:18-19, Isaiah 60:1-3, Matthew 5:14-16, 2 Corinthians 4:6

Almighty and Everlasting God, who are the brightness of faithful souls and the desire of all nations; so fill the world with your glory and show yourself by the radiance of your light that all the peo...

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Author

Elisabeth Elliot

Keywords

Work is a blessing. God has so arranged the world that work is necessary, and He gives us hands and strength to do it. The enjoyment of leisure would be nothing if we had only leisure. It is the joy o...

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Author

G. K. Chesterton

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It is a mark of the essential morality of fairyland (a thing too commonly overlooked) that happiness, like happiness anywhere else, involves an object and even a challenge; we can only admire scenery ...

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