I couldn't resist lifting this from the Desiring God blog...
"You can be so interested in great theological and intellectual and philosophical problems that you tend to forget that you are going to die." - Martin Lloyd Jones, Preaching and Preachers, p. 193
Ouch. A good thing to keep in mind.
Well, so that is that. Now we must dismantle the tree,
Putting the decorations back into their cardboard boxes...
There are enough left-overs to do, warmed-up, for the rest of the week--
Not that we have much appetite, having drunk such a lot,
Stayed up so late, attempted--quite unsuccessfully--
To love all of our relatives, and in general
Grossly overestimated our powers. Once again
As in previous years we have seen the actual Vision and failed
To do more than entertain it as an agreeable
Possibility, once again we have sent Him away...
The Christmas Feast is already a fading memory,
And already the mind begins to be vaguely aware
Of an unpleasant whiff of apprehension...
“Do you really want a solution or is the constant refrain ‘why’ a way of escaping the responsibility of the answer?”
When we cry out “Why?” in the midst of the unthinkable violence of our time, our predicament, I believe, is the same. There are some clues we already have--enough to bring correctives within our reach. But do we really want the truth?
- from 'Miltons in a Weary Land' by Ravi Zacharias
For anyone who reads blogs (and does not yet use RSS) => Better Blog Reading from Desiring God Blog
I have got to read this. Regularly.
"If we can discover how God conceives of work and why he wills it, then that huge portion of our lives that may seem so separate from religion and faith can be just as God-focused as our more religious acts."There are four other articles by John Piper related to this one:
I remember when I was in seminary, the dean of our seminary came to school this one day...
He pulled up at the seminary and he was walking with a bounce to his step. And I said,
"Dr. --- , you look particularly pleased with yourself today!"
He said, "I am, Jerry!"
He said, "I finished my Bible, today, devotionally, for the 200th time."
I said, "Wow.
Then he corrected himself, "I don't count the number of times I've read it in Greek and Hebrew, I mean the times I've read it devotionally."
I said, "Well sir, you've sailed your ship a little further on this sea than I've sailed mine. Are you still finding anything new in it?
He said, "On every page... on every page."
- Encoded from "C.S. Lewis' Approach to Apologetics" by Dr. Jerry Root.
"One encounters a self-effacing humility and honesty in his writing; he is not at all condescending in his apologetic work. Brilliant as he was, his arguments do not set him apart from his audience, but place him on the same road with his listeners as a fellow pilgrim. Furthermore, Lewis was a master at the use of the imagination; he was able to develop images and metaphors in order to help his audience grasp difficult concepts. He used analogies as an artist uses his brush. Lewis had a first rate mind and a poet’s power of expression."
Read the outline or listen to this lecture by Dr. Jerry Root at bethinking.org
I like this article I found about John Stott in the New York Times (from way back in 2004). What a breath of fresh air!
Thank you, David Brooks, for pointing out the unfair representation we often get.
"This is why so many people are so misinformed about evangelical Christians. There is a world of difference between real-life people of faith and the made-for-TV, Elmer Gantry-style blowhards who are selected to represent them. Falwell and Pat Robertson are held up as spokesmen for evangelicals, which is ridiculous. Meanwhile people like John Stott, who are actually important, get ignored."
John Piper read Ayn Rand. In fact, he says he went on an "Ayn Rand craze" back in the seventies, and even sent her an essay (critique) 3 years before her death. Rand is still so popular that I hadn't realized she lived nearly a century before me.
I'm enjoying my stay at Shelfari, a social networking site for booklovers. My shelf's still a mess, but getting more manageable. I'm making friends, getting book recommendations, discussing my thoughts with others and even occasionally writing book reviews. It's the first SNS I've actually participated in, and I really like the people I've met so far.
Finally, God's answer to my request for a book club of some sort. This is fun! I wonder why I never joined the booklover's club back in school...
"The hardest part I'm always told, is letting go..."
I am secure because God secures me.
Safe and sound"The greatest part now I know, is letting go."
just knowing that You're big enough to wrap around my heart completely
Safe and sound
just knowing that You know me.
I really like MercyMe's Coming Up to Breathe album. I'm posting favorite lines I want to remember.
At the top of my list is "Where I belong", which talks about the universal search for life's meaning and purpose, and the incredible experience of one who has found these in Jesus. "Where I belong" and "I would die for You" are the theme songs of my year 2006. :-)
This excerpt from "Where I belong" -
Everybody tries to find the purpose for their lifereminds me of another song I like ("More than fine" by Switchfoot) that goes
and hopes that one more day is justified
But once you truly see the very reason why you breathe
It becomes so much more than getting by
More than fineGoing back, the chorus is spectacular. I would love to sing this together with a congregation that is just amazed, delighted, and humbled before God.
More than bent on getting by
More than fine
More than just okay
So I raise my hands
and shout Your name
To praise You with my song
My dreams at hand
I've found my place
the place where I belong
Wait, I can hardly wait
To look into Your face
When the world disappears into Your eyes
Wait, I can hardly wait
To bow down at Your feet
Kiss the scars
that bore my sins away
Breathe, I can hardly breathe
In anticipation
Waiting for the day to come
When You will shine on me
- Favorite lines from "Wait" by The Afters.
I spent much of this day reading book reviews at Discerning Reader, and emerged with several books to add to my ever-lengthening wishlist (Wish I could/will read these):
