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Month: May 2017

Wednesdays on the Web (31/05)

Don’t Pursue Feelings. Pursue Christ. I am far from emotionally intelligent. I have a long way to go before I can perceive all the nuances of emotion and develop a greater awareness of emotional well being in myself as well as in others. When it comes to considering feelings with regard to our Christian faith, emotion has an important part to play here too; just make sure it isn’t the lead role. Know Your Doctrine “Doctine Divides.” “I find doctrine boring.” This article doesn’t speak to a single crowd, denomination, or ‘tribe’ of Christianity; all of us have a responsibility to pursue the God that we love by learning his ways, and doctrine does not merely inform our minds, but also warms our hearts and reforms our…

What I Read in May

The Biblical Doctrine of the Trinity This month I’ve continued my reading on the Trinity, this time with B. B. Warfield. I thoroughly enjoyed this short walk through every passage of Scripture where the Trinity is present. You often hear people talk about the fact that the Trinity isn’t explicitly revealed in the bible, but Warfield demonstrates how the three persons of the Trinity (and the orthodox position on the Triune God) permeates all of Scripture, from the Old Testament all the way through to the words of Jesus, Paul, and others. Enjoy Another book added to my shelf by an fantastic woman author engaged in solid thinking. For everyone. Read my full review here. The Flash Volume 2: Speed of Darkness I’ve come to love…

Wednesdays on the Web (24/05)

Keep Your Phone in your Pocket “Once your brain has become accustomed to on-demand distraction, Nass discovered, it’s hard to shake the addiction even when you want to concentrate. To put this more concretely: If every moment of potential boredom in your life—say, having to wait five minutes in line or sit alone in a  restaurant until a friend arrives—is relieved with a quick glance at your smartphone, then your brain has likely been rewired to a point where, like the ‘mental wrecks’ in Nass’s research, it’s not ready for deep work—even if you regularly schedule time to practice this concentration.” Where Are the Women who will Write like Him? I’ve seen this call somewhere else recently. Too often Christian women authors seem to be…

What We’re For, Not What We’re Against

Over the last few weeks I’ve observed (or participated in) a number of discussions on hot topics. In almost every conversation, there comes a point at which the art of effective argument disappears and comments become personal attacks instead of rationale and fact. It’s a sad thing to see that often opportunities for mutually beneficial discourse give off more heat than light. All too often, the sad state of affairs is that Christians (not exclusively, but frequently) tend to define themselves by what we’re against. Killing unborn babies. Homosexual relationships. The refugee crisis. We sure can be vocal when it comes to that which we find immoral, unjust, or otherwise against our ideologies. But where’s the good in being known by what we oppose? How does…

On My Table:
Life & Books with Nathan Campbell

This month’s On My Table comes from Nathan Campbell. Nathan is a husband to Robyn, a father to Soph (5), Xavi (almost 4) and Ellie (almost 2); he’s also a pastor of Creek Road Presbyterian Church’s South Bank campus (but the names and ages for all those people would take too long to write down), and a blogger at st-eutychus.com. Because he’s a total Christian ministry cliché he also likes coffee, but he tries not to just paint by numbers when it comes to coffee so he helped start a social enterprise cafe in West End and he has a stupidly big commercial machine plumbed in at home, so that’s not totally boring. What book(s) are you currently reading? I have about 5o unfinished books on my…

Wednesdays on the Web (17/05)

Fast From Food, Not Facebook I cannot fully convey how much I agree with this article. For years I’ve pushed back against the idea that fasting from social media is a valid engagement with this valuable spiritual discipline. It’s not. While I can appreciate those who have specific medical conditions that prevent them from biblical fasting (food), I completely agree with Tim on this one. And while we’re here quit calling the Daniel Fast biblical too. It’s a health gimmick thinly veiled. The End. Learning a “Different World”: Loving Families with Special Needs I have yet to meet a parent of a child with special needs who brags about methods, achievements, plans or systems. Parents of children with special needs, specifically those in the church, are…

Wednesdays on the Web (10/05)

Your Kids Aren’t the Priority Many married couples would have come across (or had thrust upon them) the advice that you must put your relationship with your husband or wife as the primary one.  Here, Ann Swindell adds value to this discussion on how to be purposeful about growing as spouses “even as we parent those small humans who are making lots of noise in the house”. Make Room for Different Kinds of Discipleship Notwithstanding the need for Christians to always be active members of a local gathering of believers, there are many other secondary ways in which Christians can engage in discipleship, mentoring, and be spiritually nourished. It’s good to be creative and reflect on how we can sharpen each other in our many and varied…

Enjoy: Trillia Newbell

I‘m one of those people who always tries to make the most of every opportunity. Need to get in the car? I’d better listen to a Christian podcast and learn something on the drive. I can sometimes find myself in low-level guilt if I simply play or relax without infusing it with more purpose. But can we honour God by doing things for no other reason than that they bring us pleasure? In her new book Enjoy: Finding the Freedom to Delight Daily in God’s Good Gifts, Trillia Newbell asks the question “why did I wrestle with guilt over time spent riding my bike, feeling as if it were a waste of time unless I turned it into something greater?” By exploring the twin realities that…

Wednesdays on the Web (03/05)

Lord, Search my Heart The glorious gospel miracle is that what God requires of us in Micah 6:8, he purchases for us and accomplishes in us. A Marriage Checklist So here’s a book that’s been on my shelf untouched for too long. At a guess, I’d say I’ve read 5-7 books on marriage since purchasing Keller’s The Meaning of Marriage, while it sits with a bookmark at page 1. Expanding on the old idea of Love Languages, Keller discusses love “currency” and here David Murray shares a practical list which is well worth frequenting. Simple, practical, über beneficial (if you get it right!). Grace and The Non-Instagrammable Church The real church is just that. It’s real. It hasn’t been photoshopped. There’s no filter or adjustable…

Christless Christianity

Early on in Michael Horton’s 2008 look at the state of Evangelical Christianity in America he states his case clearly by saying “My argument in this book is not that evangelicalism is becoming theologically liberal but that it is becoming theologically vacuous.” From this beginning he takes the reader on a journey through mainstream evangelicalism and shows where Christ has not been explicitly denied but simply ignored. The first stop is to look at what has replaced Christ-centred Christianity, namely Moralistic, Therapeutic Deism. This is essentially the belief that there is a god who wants us to be good people and wants for us to be happy. While this is an attractive belief system – after all who doesn’t want a god who just wants…