Volume I in Susan Wise Bauer's much anticipated History of the World is out.

The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome.

Her blog about the writing of this series is (here).

This is part 3 of the interview with Leigh McLeroy, author of The Beautiful Ache.

See Part 1 and Part 2.

GL: Leigh, my next question is going to irritate a lot of readers and you will see why in a second. I know your gracious instinct will be to demur at answering or to soft-pedal your answer because 1) you’ll see me pulling you into a controversy and 2) you’ll know the potential to irritate believers with different preferences. 

But I’m not doing this for the sake of controversy nor to get a few jabs in. Rather, I want to press my serious question as part of doing life together. Doing life together in the Christian community requires, in part, asking honest, hard questions…pushing back with graciousness, seeking truth in love. So my goal is not to irritate, even though my question will irritate many. My goal is to engage the subject of hymns versus contemporary worship songs with one specific thought in mind: in terms of character formation. 

I suspect almost everyone would agree that the primary purpose of singing is to glorify the Lord. As Louie Giglio memorably phrased it, “Worship is our response to God for who He is and what He has done.” 

But a secondary purpose of worship is to form us as believers. The liturgy—literally the work of the people—acts back upon us by shaping us.

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This is part 2 of a 3 part interview with Leigh McLeroy, author of the fabulous new book, The Beautiful Ache.
Part I of the interview is (here). Part 3 of the interview is (here).

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GL: You mention in the chapter titled “The Ache for Adventure” that many of us play it safe. Say more. What have you seen among believers and non-believers that demonstrates timid hearts playing it safe? What do you think goes on in the minds and hearts of those playing it safe? And what is the consequence of playing it safe? 

LMc: We protect our hearts in so many ways. We insulate ourselves with possessions thinking that they equal security or safety. As believers we stay away from topics or even areas of the Bible that challenge or unsettle us, because we’d rather be comfortable – even comfortably wrong or uncertain – than unsettled. We don’t confront one another in love when we sense something wrong because we’d rather be liked than do the hard work of “iron sharpening iron.” 

There’s a chapter in the book called “The Ache of a Prodigal” that describes a year-long struggle I had with a street kid whose court-appointed advocate I was, and being involved in his life was painful. But it was good and right that I was there…and I knew beyond a doubt that God had called me to the assignment. He broke my heart in ways I didn’t know it could break…but I’m reminded of what C.S. Lewis said in The Four Loves: the only place outside heaven where we can be safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is hell. He warned against locking our hearts away, and said that the consequence – and I agree – is that they become safe, but unbreakable. I never want my heart to be unbreakable, even though I do not like having it broken.Read more

Editor’s Note: I’ve known Leigh McLeroy for many years and she is a great friend.  Leigh is a writer. She’s also very much alive. She reads, notices, cares, loves, laughs, cries, rolls up her sleeves and serves. Sometimes she writes what she lives and sees, and that’s a gift to the rest of us.

The Beautiful Ache is all stories, Scriptures and Leigh’s. It’s joyous and heart-wrenching, and suffused with the true grit of real life following the Savior. I love this book.

Part 2 of the interview.  Part 3 of the interview.

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GL: Leigh, it’s fun for me to see your book coming out.  I loved your book, partly because you’re a master storyteller and a great writer, partly because I know you.  And I hope our CGO readers will get to know you.  So let’s start…

I know in one sense you’ve always been a writer.  But when did you begin to see yourself as a writer? What pulls you to write?

LMc: I think every writer is a first of all a reader - and I started reading when I was four and pilfering my five year old sister's kindergarten books. My love of reading morphed into a love of writing fairly quickly. Writing for me is a way to process my thoughts and connect with the world around me. Then when Jesus came into the picture at age eight my writing became a habit. (Once a word-nerd, always a word-nerd I like to say.) Even so, it's only been in the last five years that I could refer to myself as writer without stammering or blushing. I’m still kind of getting used to identifying myself that way - or hearing others do so. 

GL: Do you feel like you have to write? If your full time job entailed you doing non-writing tasks, would you feel compelled to write in your off-hours? What I’m getting at is this—is there a sense of compulsion (or propulsion) that pulls you into writing? Read more

Well, undoubtedly you've been hearing the buzz about the new film AmazRead more

Writer Mark Bertrand lays out what good writing is to him.

Zoe Sandvig is a guest writer. She previously wrote a piece for CGO about "What My Degree Didn't Teach Me," on September 1, 2006.  Zoe is a writer for Prison Fellowship.
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My McDonald’s gift certificate burned a hole in my purse. 

I brushed passed another cup-holding, money-jingling, bundled figure in Chicago’s bustling landscape. I rounded a corner on my way back to the Hilton. A McDonald’s on my left. A homeless figure on my right.

The gift certificate grew hotter with each step further from the hooded figure and each step closer to my comfortable residence at one of the city’s most prestigious hotels.            

Later that afternoon, I went for another stroll. This time, I took a different route back to hotel. It didn’t matter. He was still waiting for me. This time he was younger, paler, and sitting, rather than standing, on the curb. I couldn’t see his eyes, but the cup was the same—maybe less full.
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As if Paul Yanosy's post earlier today were not sufficiently provocative, here is a summary by Peter Leithart of the Federal Vision controversy roiling the PCA and other Reformed precincts.

Hat Tip: The Last Homely House

It is never a good sign to start a post with “this may be heresy, but…” But now that I have your attention, here it goes. This may be heresy, but… why is it that far more Christians I know (including me) seem to struggle with guilt much more than non-Christians? Before jumping to the “pat answers” just let this sink in for a second – this seems kind of weird.

It seems weird that Christians struggle with guilt because this is the core of the Gospel message itself. The Gospel is about “grace” and “freedom” and “forgiveness” and a restored relationship with God given to us in Jesus. Romans 8:1 -- “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 5:1 -- “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” 1 John 1:8-9 -- “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” How can guilt possibly make sense in the midst of this?

The typical solution I hear is that we just need to believe the Gospel more, and if we did, we would not struggle with guilt. But this does not seem right, as it just adds to the guilt – now for not believing correctly or enough.

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