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 Great Books of the Western World: Embarking on a Survey of Western Thought
I'm embarking on the long and oppressive road of the Great Books of the Western World. Here I give the purpose of the set and my purpose in reading it.
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 moreTim Cook and the New Ideal (the Anti-Ideal)
Tim Cook won't judge a man for being straight or gay, but he will judge a man for judging a man for being gay. He doesn't see morality in sexuality, but he does see it in social relationships. How ironic.
Read moreThe Nervous History of a Compulsive Journaler
When I first started journaling I thought that God would like me more and show up more frequently, more passionately there with me, if I used highlighters.
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 more∞ In Defense of Difficulty
"A culture filled with smooth and familiar consumptions produces in people rigid mental habits... They know what they know, and they expect to find it reinforced when they turn a page or click on a screen. Difficulty annoys them, and, having become accustomed to so much pabulum served up by a pandering and invertebrate media, they experience difficulty not just as “difficult,” but as insult."
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 moreQOTD: John Piper on Mastering Your Bible
I've long thought that our goal as Bible readers isn't to check off a Reading Plan list; it's more than that. But for the longest time I didn't know what it was. John MacArthur said once that Scripture isn't an end in itself, only a means to an end--and that end was knowing God. But before we can know God, we must know His Word. Therefore, our goal is to become fluent, biblically fluent. We are to achieve mastery of this great book so that we can come to know God in full, holistic, deep ways.
∞ 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.’
Get 2 Free Audiobooks or Lectures--No Joke
Audible isn't just for books, it's also for lectures, like The Great Courses, The Modern Scholar and more. These courses cost anywhere from $100-400 each, but the audio is on Audible for $50-80 each, and, if you are a member, you can get them for $15.
Read moreHow Long, O Lord? by D. A. Carson
D. A. Carson has written How Long O Lord? as a manual for Christians to understanding suffering. He includes personal anecdotes and a proficient use of Scripture as he makes his case for an intelligent, faithful understanding of the hardships of life.
Read moreLearning to Think 2: 5 Steps to Thinking Your Way out of a Paper Bag
Most of the time we “think” we are thinking without thinking about it. Our default setting is to sit in the sand and draw on a paper sack with a crayon, oblivious to the drafting table, .05mm pencil, and precise instruments right beside us.
Read moreLearning to Think 1: Reclaiming Your Mind from The Google
Most people hate to be alone, they hate quietness and stillness, and most of all, they hate to think. There never was a person born who didn't hate the thought of deep thinking. But, as great minds soon find out, it is extremely rewarding.
Read moreLessons from Sherlock Holmes on How to Think, or The Mind Palace
We need people who can think their way out of a paper bag. Religion has been accused (and most of the time, rightly so) of giving brain-dead people lies couched in pleasing rhetoric. But that is not the sole fault of religion, that is the fault of evil people using religion to their gain.
Read moreLove 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 moreUnbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
Against all odds Louie and his friends survived. While so many lost hope, gave up, and simply let go of life, Louie hung on all the way to the end, never giving up hope.
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.
Read more