Progress To A Transformed Christian Life
When I was in college, a "revival" broke out on our campus, at least that is what the papers told us. The word spread among fellow Christians, and people started traveling from all over the state to be a part of our movement. A handful of our students were being asked to come to other college... Continue Reading →
In Greater Expectations: Succeed (and Stay Sane) in an On-Demand, All-Access, Always-On Age , Claire Diaz-Ortiz discusses a particular problem and one that constantly tempts me. Diaz-Ortiz laments the time and soul sucking nature of constant information and social media. She honestly admits that her responsible and vocational intentions often fly out the window due... Continue Reading →
I know many in my circle wouldn't know Ash Wednesday from Waffle Wednesday but this day marks the start of Lent (again one of those foreign concepts to many). Why is this important? It is a time set aside for Christians to pray, fast, and reflect on their life and need for repentance and forgiveness.... Continue Reading →
Digital addiction, in my opinion, is kind of like what smoking must have been in the early 20th century - completely ubiquitous with little thought to its harmful effects. Seventy years ago, the death causing aspects of smoking were fairly plain to see yet few people seemed to make much effort to remove its sway... Continue Reading →
Richard Foster's book Freedom of Simplicity was written more than 30 years ago. For a book that discusses money, materialism, and possessions, there is not much that needs to be updated. What strikes me is that so much of what he touches on in this book - moderation, simplicity, and generosity - has not become... Continue Reading →
One disturbing trend I have found in my long study of Spiritual Formation and discipleship is how quickly these ideas can be reduced to a listing of spiritual disciplines or a discussion on spirituality that seems very foreign and inaccessible. Then someone like Ruth Haley Barton comes along and Spiritual Formation moves away from what... Continue Reading →
The Power of God. This was the phrase that was repeating in my head after I finished Deeper Experiences of Famous Christians by James G. Lawson. The author used this phrase over and over to describe great and miraculous things that happened through the work of well-known and slightly well-known Christians. It has been several... Continue Reading →
Perhaps nothing is more mysterious in scripture than the story of the Magi who come to visit baby Jesus. Who were these people and where did they come from? Why make such a long journey? Couldn't they have just been satisfied with the knowledge that they had received from the stars? In The Story of... Continue Reading →
Scot McKnight always has a way of deconstructing a difficult and sometimes foreign topic so that, at the very least, the reader is forced to think and discover answers for themselves. In Fasting: The Ancient Practices, McKnight takes a spiritual practice as old as the Bible and removes some of the mystery surrounding it so... Continue Reading →
I didn't know what to expect when I first opened Thomas Kelly's A Testament of Devotion. I knew the book was listed among the best in Christian spirituality but I didn't know anything about the book.I didn't know that Kelly was a Quaker and that the essays within the book were taken from talks that... Continue Reading →
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