We humans brag while appearing humble, but also while plain-old grumbling. It's hilarious.
Read moreWhat in the World is a Self, and Do I Have One, or Two?
I would propose that the letters S-E-L-and-F are used more now than ever in history (90% usage being in the word selfie, no doubt), but never were we ever more ignorant of what a self is, or could be, or should be.
Read moreStop Being Ok With Being Bored
And Christians are the worst. We come to church and almost *expect* to be bored by the sermon, the Biblical text, and the music--and the amazing thing is, only a select few see through the fabricated "programs" of religion and into the deep sense of boredom those programs and events are meant to cover up.
Read moreMental Models (An Introduction), the Matrix, and Worldly Wisdom
These mental models, then, are the tiny stories and patterns we have in our minds which tell us how to live. They are snippets of practical knowledge... Our mental models define who we are, how we live, and the choices we make.
Read moreThe Purpose-Driven Journal: No, But Really
Deep within the human spirit is this niggling thought that maybe someday you might die, and when you do someone will care enough to wonder how you lived. Keeping a journal or a diary is a natural result. But if you don't journal it doesn't mean you're any less human; it just means you're missing a really good opportunity to become more human.
Read more∞ The Psychological Benefits of Slow Reading
"Recent work in sociology and psychology suggests that reading books, a private experience, is an important aspect of coming to know who we are."
Read moreC. S. Lewis, On the Reading of Old Books
"The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books."
Read moreOn Recovering the Art of Reading
Reading is a dying art, and that is not a good thing. Books are shelved while technology is worshipped. We have apps for everything, and if we could, we'd even turn over our reading and studying to apps themselves. But the more we outsource the disciplines necessary to nurture the human spirit, the further we fall from glory.
Read more∞ John Calvin on Prayer
Prayer requires discipline, and these four principles from Calvin are a healthy reminder.
Read more∞ C. S. Lewis on Imagination and Discipleship
I love this quote Tony Reinke put together from Kevin Vanhoozer's message at the 2013 Desiring God National Conference.
Let me state, in my own terms, what I think I’ve learned from Lewis.
Theology ministers understanding, so that we can live out our knowledge of God. Theology is practical, it is all about waking up to the real, to what is, specifically to what is ‘in Christ.’ For Christ is the meaning of the whole, the one in whom all things are held together.
And disciples demonstrate understanding by conforming to that what is ‘in Christ.’ It’s all about living out our knowledge of Christ. There are no armchair disciples. You cannot be a disciple in theory. So doctrines tell us what is ‘in Christ’ and that’s what we live by.
What is ‘in Christ?’
Incarnation, Trinity, atonement are not abstractions to be thought but meaningful patterns to be lived and entered into. The imagination, then, helps disciples act out what is ‘in Christ.’ Theology exchanges the false pictures that hold us captive with truth, disciplining our imaginations with sound doctrine.
Discipleship is a matter of the indoctrinated imagination.
Now, of course, we have to beware of having our imaginations taken captive by other things. Many of Screwtape’s things have to do with capturing the imagination for Satan’s purposes. If you control the metaphors and stories people live by, you’ve got them.
Imagination is where God gives creative form to his thoughts, and literary forms to his word. Jesus used what we could call the ‘parabolic imagination’ to give story form to his thought about the kingdom of God. And similarly, disciples need this ‘parabolic imagination’ so we can live in that kingdom of God “on earth as it is in heaven.”
Jesus doesn’t describe what the kingdom looks like, he tells us what kinds of things happen there. The metaphors the disciples live by are those that awaken them to the kingdom things God is doing ‘in Christ.’
Love that is Real
The purest honor you can pay someone--the purest love--is to seek to maximize God's glory in their life. If you haven't done that, you haven't loved, no matter how many butterflies you may feel.
Read moreOn Disciplines: An Introduction
Americans love life hacks--productivity hacks, organization hacks, success hacks--which tells us something amazing about ourselves: we want all the rewards without any of the work. And we actually believe that that's a thing. But real life doesn't work that way.
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