CHRIS MACLEAVY – Page 9 – Thinking Theologically about Life & Culture

Wednesdays on the Web (11/01)

Published by Chris MacLeavy on January 11, 2017

Are You Curious? I don’t know a whole lot about what I’ll be doing in March, but I know I’d love to be checking out Barnabas Piper’s new book The Curious Christian. While I wait (with bated breath, whatever that means..), I can content my curiosity by checking out his 12 Ways to be a Curious Person. In this teaser to the book, Piper outlines ways in which curiosity is a gift from God which we are to engage for our growth and his glory. Alongside encouragements to explore, ask (and really listen!), read, and try new things, he reminds us Curiosity is about God and for God. It is an expression of worship and it honors Him by exploring the depths and breadth of…

Is Your Personal Testimony Enough?

Is Your Personal Testimony Enough?

Published by Chris MacLeavy on January 10, 2017

I am an American Ninja Warrior Fan. There’s something about watching people going through obstacle courses and performing feats of endurance, athleticism and strength that I could only dream of doing. I’ve seen 7 seasons so far and amidst all of the amazing feats there is something that has stuck out to me because of its familiarity. One of the big things that they do is try and get to know the contestants and there’s been a familiar story that comes through over and over again. “I was a drunk/drug addict/suicidal/depressed/didn’t have a place in the world… but then I discovered American Ninja Warrior and I started trying to do some of the stuff and it helped me turn my life around and now I’m…

Wednesdays on the Web (04/01)

Wednesdays on the Web (04/01)

Published by Chris MacLeavy on January 4, 2017

More Than Just a Mom Gloria Furman snapshots a correct biblical theology of motherhood to correct misconceptions. There’s no such thing as “just” a mother. 2017: A Year of Digital Detox David Murray has decided to dedicate much of his time on the Head Heart Hand blog this year to opening our eyes to the reality that digital technology is not only diminishing our relationships (with others and with God), but killing our peace, our health, and our morality. We need a serious overhaul of our self-control, self-awareness, and digital self-discipline, and Murray is determined to help us get there. Digital technology has punctured every part of our being and is slowly psssssssing the life out of us. I, for one, will be following along with what he has…

The 2017 Reading Challenge Begins

The 2017 Reading Challenge Begins

Published by Chris MacLeavy on January 4, 2017

Now that the new year is here, I’m well underway with mapping out the books I’m excited about reading in 2017. I found last year’s choices enriching and enlarging (read that post here) and I’m looking forward to maintaining that wide variety and varied diet in the year to come. Below are the first five books I’m diving into in January (I doubt I’ll have time to review them all). Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them I thoroughly enjoyed this latest work from J.K. Rowling when it lit up the silver screen. I’m not entirely sure how I’ll fare given that her screenwriting debut has been presented through this hardcover in movie-script style (complete with stage directions, scene numbers, etc), but I’m looking forward to…

Wednesdays on the Web (27/12)

Wednesdays on the Web (27/12)

Published by Chris MacLeavy on December 28, 2016

So it’s that unusual time of the year between Christmas coming to an end and the new year having not quite begun. That time of year where I’m not really sure where I am, or what to call it, or what I should be doing. I haven’t found much time for technology in general (which, of course is a good thing in many respects). Here’s this week’s round-up. Christmas (and Shopping) for Others Jessica at Wondering Fair shares some wonderful reflections. While Jesus’ birth announces the coming of a kingdom of peace and justice, the coming of that kingdom is also a new proclamation of war against the brokenness, suffering and evil that so frequently characterize the world. Dealing with Darkness at Christmas A beautiful…

Your Family Needs Your Theology

Your Family Needs Your Theology

Published by Chris MacLeavy on December 27, 2016

Perhaps something strange was said in a sermon. Maybe a curious question was raised by a friend over a coffee or at school. Maybe sinful nature and doubt will simply get the better of them some days when things seem too hard to handle. Whatever the situation husband, your family will be subjected to dialog, doubts, and deceptions that will often run contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ with near-daily frequency. If you’re a Christian, I’m sure you’ve met people in church (perhaps even in your own church) who hold firmly to the “I don’t ‘do’ theology, I just love Jesus” line. These are the type of people who will look down their noses at the “thinkers” of the Myers-Briggs personality type; claiming that theology is unnecessary…

Wednesdays on the Web (21/12)

Wednesdays on the Web (21/12)

Published by Chris MacLeavy on December 21, 2016

A Tip for Husbands Erik Raymond offers this über-practical, easy, fast tip for husbands who are looking for another way to show their wife they love and care for them. Personally, I’m on board. What Does the X in Xmas Mean? I see this pop up year after year on social media. The Christian community is exclusively concerned with this apparently critical issue; with often polarising outcomes. Read as R. C. Sproul gives a logical, level-headed take on the scandalous X. A Must for Christmas Reading I’ve only recently come across Kim’s blog, but I’m loving her style (I mostly love it because it’s different to mine). Having read the book she’s recommending earlier this year myself, I wholeheartedly agree, and I love that she’s…

Love: The Fourth Sunday of Advent

Love: The Fourth Sunday of Advent

Published by Chris MacLeavy on December 18, 2016

Having re-lit the candles of hope, peace, and joy, we take this fourth Sunday of Advent to reflect on the coming of love. In God taking on humanity to seek and save humanity, we see clearly the greatest loving act that the world has ever known. This transcendent God – who himself made everything that was made – loved broken humanity so much that he humbled himself to take the form of a man and lived among us. The arrival of God incarnated in human flesh was itself a wondrous, supernatural, history-changing event; yet the Bible tells us that he had no great status, handsome features, or charismatic personality with which to draw a crowd. But come the crowds did. This Jesus, born in a…

Wednesdays on the Web (14/12)

Wednesdays on the Web (14/12)

Published by Chris MacLeavy on December 14, 2016

14 Words of Advice for Guest Preachers Sam Bierig offers these punchy pointers for the times when you may be extended an invitation to preach at a church other than your own. Adhere to these, and you just might get asked to come back again. Don’t Take Your Religion So Seriously “I have no religious beliefs. None…. There’s a better word for what I am: an apatheist. It’s a neologism that fuses ‘apathy’ and ‘theism.’ It means someone who has absolutely no interest in the question of a god’s (or gods’) existence, and is just as uninterested in telling anyone else what to believe.” Ryan Dueck from Wondering Fair ponders the plausibility of this statement by a Canadian journalist offering apathy as an alternative religious worldview.…

Joy: The Third Sunday of Advent

Joy: The Third Sunday of Advent

Published by Ben Smith on December 11, 2016

Having spent the last two weeks considering that Jesus is both our hope and our peace, we come to the third Sunday of Advent and remember that Jesus is our joy. We live in a society that is pulled between two poles when it comes to joy. Either life and the world pull us down so much that we have no joy or we find our joy in our life and the world. To both of these positions Christmas reminds us that Christ is our joy. For many people this year has been tough; it seems like everything has gone wrong and to top it off the world around us is becoming increasingly unstable. Culturally the Church has become largely irrelevant at best and hated…

Review: The Mission of God (C. H. Wright)

Review: The Mission of God (C. H. Wright)

Published by Chris MacLeavy on December 9, 2016

The mission of Israel was to live as God’s people in God’s land for God’s glory. But what of the Christian living in the twenty-first century under the New Covenant? How should the story of Old Testament Israel influence our reading of Scripture, and by application transform how we live? In clarifying his missional hermeneutic for the whole bible, Wright begins with a definition of terms. Most crucial is the acknowledgement that mission is not ours; mission is God’s. For Wright, a Christian worldview asserting that there is one God at work in human history and that (from the point of view of humanity) ‘mission’ means our committed participation in his purposes for the redemption of his creation is essential. Using this as the basis…

Peace: The Second Sunday of Advent

Peace: The Second Sunday of Advent

Published by Chris MacLeavy on December 4, 2016

Having lit the candle of hope last Sunday, we take time this week to remember that as well as being the hope of the world, Jesus is also our peace. In the busyness of the Christmas season, it’s easy to get carried away with the pressures and anxieties that society places on us through the expectations of the season (or, what we in the West have imposed on it). But God desires that those who place their trust in him should not live as ones who are characterized by stressfully straining to succeed with the perfect presents or the most magnificent meal. Rather, we remember that after God created the heavens and the earth he rested (Gen 2:2), that Jesus taught us seek to peace…

The Joy of Finishing Well

The Joy of Finishing Well

Published by Chris MacLeavy on November 30, 2016

Back in January, I jumped on board Tim Challies’ 2016 Reading Challenge (which looks like this). Working full-time, finishing my final year of study, and expecting our third child, this seemed a little ambitious even on the lightest plan (complete 1 book every 4 weeks). What I learned in the early months was that all I needed was to break away from my conventional reading style (I’m a physical book kind of guy) and by tapping in to resources like Audible and Kindle I could keep my attention span longer, and get through more because of that. Accepting this challenge was in no way a head-over-heels scramble to simply achieve the number though; rather I tried to be intentional about every book I invested time…

Hope: The First Sunday of Advent

Hope: The First Sunday of Advent

Published by Chris MacLeavy on November 27, 2016

Today is the first Sunday of Advent; the season of anticipation leading up to the celebration of the arrival of the one Lord and Saviour of the world. But before we rejoice and sing “it is the night of our dear Saviour’s birth”, we remember our desperate need for such a Saviour to save us from sin which is not only in us, but is us. We look to the history of Israel – which the apostle Paul tells us is our shared history through the finished work of Christ – to their hope for God’s coming Messiah to save, forgive, and restore them. Traditionally, the Sundays of Advent are marked by the lighting of a candle. The candle for this first Sunday is hope.…

Life After Seminary

Life After Seminary

Published by Chris MacLeavy on November 22, 2016

I just clicked submit for the last paper required to complete my studies. While I sit with my bittersweet feelings and uncertainty about where I go from here, I know more than before that it’s important for me to have a vision for the future. So while I wait for my final grades, I consider the places where my reclaimed time and energy can be best redirected, and perhaps those places will come as no surprise. 1. More Family Discipleship My first responsibility and greatest privilege is not to crowds of thousands, or to a global audience via social media, or even to my dearly loved local church. The primary souls for whom I remain accountable to God for are my own congregation; my wife…

2016 Reading Challenge – APRIL UPDATE

2016 Reading Challenge – APRIL UPDATE

Published by Chris MacLeavy on April 15, 2016

2016 is well under way, and I’m making progress on the Challenge. Finding time to read is about to become a lot more interesting, as our third child is due at the end of April. So while the next list might be shorter, I’ll continue to post updates, as (so far) I highly recommend everything I’ve read. I haven’t listed the categories that these fit into, nor have I listed the numerous comic books that I’m reading each week, nor the texts that I’m reading for study; so this list is limited strictly to the 2016 Reading Challenge. If you read (or have read) any of these, I’d love to have more conversation about them so drop me a line! God Made All of Me,…

Communicating for a Change

Communicating for a Change

Published by Chris MacLeavy on February 15, 2016

Every journey begins and ends somewhere. The same should be said for every sermon. Unfortunately, what most of us grew up hearing were messages built around several points rather than one clear destination. Andy Stanley and Lane Jones explain that the point of having points is to move people systematically through an outline of information; but if life change is your goal, point by point preaching is by far the most effective approach. I haven’t written a hundred sermons. But I know that when I write, I have a dangerous tendency to structure a sermon too much like another one of my seminary papers; and that becomes obvious the moment its read aloud. Communicating for a Change contains so many implications, insights, imperatives, and instructions (one…

Pneumatology

Pneumatology

Published by Chris MacLeavy on February 3, 2016

All too often relegated to a minor role, one of the most exciting developments in 20th century theological thought is a resurgence of interest in the Holy Spirit. While historically there have been a broad spectrum of views held with regard to the person and work of the Holy Spirit, no denomination or movement can be said to hold a monopoly on the Spirit’s activity or involvement, and the Bible itself presents no systematic view of the Holy Spirit any more than it presents such a neatly delivered package on any other doctrine. In his book Pneumatology: The Holy Spirit in Ecumenical, International and Contextual Perspective Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen surveys the Biblical canon (with commentary from church history) to form a solid ‘core’ for understanding the Holy…

Through the Trials

Through the Trials

Published by Chris MacLeavy on January 25, 2016

I’ve just finished reading Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield. Reading about his various trials made me think of what our comment as Christians would be to him. I think a lot of us would tell Mr. Copperfield that the answer to his life’s woes is to become a Christian. Now I do agree of course that we should want and encourage everybody to know Christ, but I think we tend to sell that by making promises that God doesn’t make. We have a theology that says God will give us all sorts of blessings, and it implies – if not states outright – that when bad things happen it’s because we’ve stepped out from God’s covering or we’re being attacked by the devil.

Knowing God vs Knowing about God

Knowing God vs Knowing about God

Published by Chris MacLeavy on January 13, 2016

One of the beautiful things about Christianity is learning together in community. This week, the “Christian Classics” reading group that I’m part of began reading J.I. Packer’s theological masterpiece Knowing God. This book is a must-read for every Christian. Reading a chapter a week, I’m sure this won’t be the only post written from this rich contemporary classic. In the first two chapters, Packer defends the critical importance of the study of God. Not just for the academics or pastors, but rather every Christian should earnestly desire to know all that they can about the God who has saved them. He describes the humbling experience of coming to grasp something new of all that God is and does, and the only appropriate response in our learning – that of adoration, praise, and thankfulness.

True Worshipers

True Worshipers

Published by Chris MacLeavy on January 11, 2016

When John Calvin wrote “we should consider it the great end of our existence to be found numbered among the worshippers of God” I’m sure he wasn’t picturing an auditorium with the house lights down, the stage lights up, and a band that is working hard to ‘create an atmosphere’ where people feel drawn to worship. At a time when worship has become an industry, Bob Kauflin (pastor, songwriter, and the director of Sovereign Grace Music) presents this incredibly helpful book that connects our practices as the gathered community of God to the much bigger all-of-life reality of worship.

The 2016 Reading Challenge

The 2016 Reading Challenge

Published by Chris MacLeavy on January 7, 2016

This year, I’m getting together with some friends to participate in Tim Challies’ 2016 Reading Challenge. It’s simple really; I love to read, but I find I always read the same stuff. Whether you’re a light reader or do nothing but read, this is a fantastic, organised way to enlarge your scope of reading across topics and genres. Within the challenge, you can choose to read 13, 26, 52, 104, or (with extra credit) 109 books over the course of the year. That challenge is appealing to me because Tim’s plan will encourage me to read different kinds of books than I might normally read.

Taking the Lead

Taking the Lead

Published by Chris MacLeavy on January 6, 2016

It seems to me that one of the big topics being taught at the moment is that of leadership. We have books on it, we have conferences on it, and it is being taught from pulpits across the world. The message appears to be that the goal is to get as far up the church organisational structure and that the best way to do that is to develop leadership skills. A measure of how good a Christian somebody is would correlate to their position in the church. It seems to me, however, that this teaching doesn’t really reflect the teaching of Christ Himself. Reading the gospels, I find Jesus spends very little time teaching about becoming a better leader, which you would think he would want to do given that he only had three years with the disciples before he was going to leave the church in their hands.

How Siri Helps My Spiritual Life

How Siri Helps My Spiritual Life

Published by Chris MacLeavy on December 29, 2015

I’m a terrible multi-tasker. As much as I’d like to think otherwise, my brain simply can’t give an adequate level of attention to more than one or two things at a time. Most of us have been there; you’re having a time of prayer and the phone rings. Immediately, I forget that I’m spending time bringing my cares to the King of the universe, and instinctively reach for my phone. The phone call ends. I go get a glass of water, walk around the house for a bit, pack up some Lego, then eventually remember that I was praying.

I’m so sorry God! I totally forgot about you!

The distractions aren’t always the fault of my iPhone however; my brain is easily distracted by a million to-do lists for work, study, family, my own interests, upcoming events, you name it. But what if there was a way that my iPhone could be better used to clear the clutter from my brain before it takes over and I forget what really matters? Here are 5 ways Siri has helped me in my spiritual life.

The Light Has Come

The Light Has Come

Published by Chris MacLeavy on November 26, 2015

In many Protestant churches – particularly those who don’t closely follow the rhythm of the traditional liturgical calendar – Advent has faded into the background, and the gap of silence between All Hallow’s Eve and Christmas Eve is filled only with the red and green consumerism that fills store shelves from November 1. But this tradition is rich with meaning and beauty that serves to enhance the significance of not only the coming that it looks back on, but also the future coming to which it points.

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