July 2010
17 posts
revisiting rules
Rules do not teach us how to live.
They serve a valuable purpose—they define parameters, they keep our wandering and far-reaching brokenness in check.
But they do not teach us how to live.
Life would be easier if there was some step-by-step manual of how to live. Imagine it: someone could make a fortune convincing people there was a plan about…
…who to marry and how to make...
“God, joining together humans and God in the incarnate Word, becomes what we are...”
– Scot McKnight, A Community Called Atonement
illuminated by another
If you were born a slave and raised a slave, what life would you know other than slavery?
Would you understand life outside of the rhythms, rules, and suppressed freedom of slavery?
How could you?
If every day of life was slavery, from sun up to sun down, and if every person you knew only knew the same life—more than just your body and time would be enslaved.
Your imagination would be...
“We must let go of ourselves in such a manner that we can become a dwelling place...”
– Peter Rollins, How (Not) To Speak of God
Book of the Month: August
I posted it on Facebook and Twitter yesterday, but it’ll stay up a little longer here. In August I’m going to be reading Rich Christians in An Age of Hunger by Ronald J. Sider and tweeting/blogging about it, as well as welcoming feedback and conversation when available. Feel free to buy it and play along. If you’re going to order a cheap copy off of Amazon, I recommend buying it...
“Why did the omnipotent and loving One not do something about the tsunami before...”
– Miroslav Volf, Against the Tide
absurd is what remains
There’s something powerful about absurdity. Something impossible, unexpected, or unlikely. This, at its core, is the story of Abraham.
As such, it is the story of us.
Think about it. An unfertile, childless, wandering Middle Eastern sheepherder named “Abram.”
His name loosely translates into “father of many.” Which basically means that he was a walking...
“Prayer does not stop with “amen.” It rises to its feet and walks...”
– Scot McKnight, The Jesus Creed
“For Christians cannot be distinguished from the rest of the human race by...”
– excerpt from The So-Called Letter to Diognetus, 125 A.D.
The Birth of Two Kingdoms →
A must read for the weekend.
The Kingdom of God looks like...
Less of sinful humanity, more of the Creator’s generous presence shining in the darkness.
In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, the audience interacts with Jesus’ view of reality. He’s painted a beautiful but haunting description of those who God is near to (the Beatitudes) and interacted with the formative power of the Torah’s commandments and misinterpretations.
...