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How Happy Are People Who Sponsor a Child?
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Apr 21, Prayer for financial stability
Lord, I am not worthy, I know fully well my money belongs not to me, but to you. You have graciously provided for me in the past and I have misused your
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Are American Christians Really Being Oppressed, Or Are They Just Whining?
Last night I had family over and at the end of a long day we collapsed on the couch to watch a movie.
I searched through pay-per-view to find a movie and happened upon a temporary category in their download section called “Faith and Family Films”...The list was long and pretty good.
Are American Christians Really Being Oppressed, Or Are They Just Whining? is a post from: Storyline Blog
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Worth a Look 4.21.14
Interesting links for Monday, April 21, 2014.
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Our Redemption Cost Us Nothing
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; ~Ephesians 1:7 In this Beloved One “we have our redemption,” i.e., deliverance, first from the guilt of sin, and afterwards from its power and its penal
The post Our Redemption Cost Us Nothing appeared first on The Scriptorium Daily.
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Don’t Waste the Easter Season
What if we are missing the opportunity to enjoy not just Easter Sunday, but also the Easter season, the 50 days between Easter and Pentecost?
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A philosophical reader writes: Anti-foundationalist
I was quite happy to read a second one of your books, "A Generous Orthodoxy." I just wanted to comment though on the anti-foundationalist aspect of your thinking in application to scripture. I personally think that the anti-foundationalism of Richard Rorty and Cornel West based on the neo-pragmatism of Charles S. Peirce is better than the post-modernism of the structuralists. Peirce rejects the Cartesian starting point for knowledge and says that all knowledge is mediated by signs (words in part) which go in an unending direction toward no beginning foundation. One concept is understood only in terms of other concepts. But Peirce also adopts an epistemological realism which means that signs do point to something real in the world and in certain areas of knowledge, we need to be exact, particularly in the physical sciences. Paul Ricoeur, the French Christian philosopher who wrote extensively on Biblical Hermeneutics while writing other works on philosophical hermeneutics said that the sign and symbol of the text speaks to the Jungian archetypes in the unconscious and unleashes power. I would add to this that this is unlike structuralism which sees all knowledge as socially constructed and a kind of myth-making not necessarily pointing to anything real in the world. My final comment is that to filter ancient Hebrew thinking through a Greek-influenced progression of philosophical thinking in the West does a disservice to the text even though I just did that. The midrash of the ancient Hebrews, including during Jesus' time, was non-literalist enough and yet in some areas literal enough to stand on its own.Thanks for your comments. I agreed with everything you wrote except your assumption that I am "anti-foundationalist." I'm not sure what you mean by that. I would be more comfortable with "post-foundationalist" - the approach described so well in the work of theologians John Franke and Stan Grenz, and practiced online by John Sobert Sylvest. Post- is not anti-, but rather seeks to work in light of, but not necessarily within the limits of, what has gone before. Not sure which of my other books you've read, but in my more recent works, you'll find me joining you in an attempt to read Hebrew texts without filtering them through later categories of Greek philosophical thought. I'm not a professional philosopher, obviously, but I try to be as informed philosophically as I can be - and the philosophers you mention (from Pierce to Ricoeur) have been of great help to me. If you haven't read Dan Stiver's Theology After Ricoeur, I think you'd enjoy it a great deal.
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Marriage Is for the Courageous
[Editor’s note: today’s post is adapted from the book Open: What Happens When You Get Honest, Get Real, and Get Accountable by Craig Gross with Adam Palmer]
I once spoke at a marriage conference…where I heard an interesting fact about the relationship between happiness in a marriage and the amount of times the husband and wife in that couple were engaging in sexual activity. In other words, the more frequently husbands and wives have sex with each other, the happier they tend to be with their marriage…
Sadly, the flip side of that is something else I learned at this marriage conference: there is a shocking number of married couples who aren’t having very frequent sex. They are taking this critical component of marriage and sidelining it, for whatever reason. For some it’s a heart issue (there are problems in the marriage and one or both partners are withholding sex for an emotional reason). For some it’s a time issue (one or more of them spends a lot of time away from home for work purposes or something, so the amount of time they have together is limited), for others it’s a schedule issue (both of them are just too busy and wind up tired every night), and for others it’s an opportunity issue (both of them are willing but something—kids, illness, etc.—keeps getting in the way).
Regardless, I was in an accountability group with a bunch of married men. We were about eighteen months into this group at this point, and since we’d all recently experienced a breakthrough in our relationship together, I thought it would be a good idea to test that depth of relationship and ask a courageous question with the hopes of getting courageous answers. So one day I was leading the meeting…and I decided now was the time and threw out this little conversation starter:
“When was the last time you had sex with your wife?”
At first, it was so quiet that I thought something had gone wrong with the phone lines or that my phone had accidentally dropped the call. I had to take it away from my ear and look at the screen to make sure I was still connected to the call.
Every single one of those guys knew I wasn’t looking for locker-room talk, nor was I seeking advice or soliciting ideas on stuff I could take into my own bedroom. I asked this question out of a legitimate concern for my friends’ marriages; this was the serious, gut-wrenching, courageous work that an accountability group is supposed to be engaged in.
We were a tight group, but we’d never gone there.
Hence the cricket-chirping silence.
Finally, one of the guys chimed in, quietly and disappointedly: “Actually, it’s been about three months.” No one said anything, so he continued, sounding like a man with a broken heart: “There have been some issues between us, and I’m not proud of it, but whatever. There you go.”
Courage.
You know what the rest of us did? We thanked him for sharing. In fact, another of the guys said, “Thanks for sharing that, man. On my end, it’s been about a month.” Because the first guy had enough courage to speak out, it gave the second guy enough courage to do the same thing.
That day’s conversation changed our group, altering our dynamic for the better. Even though our group was already pretty courageous, that conversation added even more courage to the equation.
Courage begets courage (Tweet This!). When you start walking in courage, it becomes even easier to continue doing it, and doing it with more courage.
Marriage Is for the Courageous by XXXchurch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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An Hour Upon the Stage
Among the variety of strange notions that we get into our heads, one of the most common is the sensation that we’re being watched. For no apparent reason, we begin to glance around us, not really expecting to find anything, and yet compelled to look anyway. “It’s nothing,” we say, and turn our attentions back [Read More...]
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Revelation 1:17-18 – King Jesus: Our Response
Daily Devotional Bible Verse When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. […]
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Of Tears And Dreams: Becoming Living Art – Week 7
The art of listening involves so much more than my ears and someone’s voice. It involves my heart, my mind, will and emotions and it involves paying attention to the world around me as well as how my body reacts to certain things. After reading Chapter 7 in A Million Little Ways, I have realized […]
The post Of Tears And Dreams: Becoming Living Art – Week 7 appeared first on My Freshly Brewed Life.
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Believe the Promises of God as a Child!
One of my favorite "hidden" lessons in the Pesach (Passover) celebration "Seder" meal is the mystery of the “afikomen.” This specially prepared meal-- during which the participants are reminded of Israel's supernatural deliverance from Egyptian slavery by the mighty hand of God-- also includes 3 particular pieces of matzah, (unleavened bread). These three are placed in a "matzah tash" -- a special pouch containing three compartments...
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Homes of Christians Fleeing Iraq Seized by Gangs
Gangs in Baghdad are seizing homes left vacant by Christian families who have been forced to flee from sectarian violence, according to Barnabas Aid.
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How To Help Other Marriages
Many marriages are struggling to stand and hold it together, challenges from within and without have been buffeting and pushing many couples to quit and throw their marriages away because they think...
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Pushback
Health and Healing. Day twenty-eight...
When the word “pushback” is used in today's culture, we don't usually think about the pushback that backs an airplane away from the terminal. We're more likely to think about the pushback the community had against the proposed low‐income housing addition, or the pushback the parents had against the new middle‐school curriculum.
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Things you hope Jesus didn’t hear your kid say.
Yesterday, right before the start of an Easter egg hunt at church, one of my kids muttered, “This is going to be World War 3.” I instantly wanted to earmuff Jesus, hopeful that maybe he missed that comment. I’m pretty positive my child, who I won’t name in this story because then I’d have to […]
The post Things you hope Jesus didn’t hear your kid say. appeared first on Stuff Christians Like.
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Links I like
Love people, not evangelism Why study shadows when we have the Son? David Murray: Why study shadows when we have the Son? That’s a question I’m often asked when I’m trying to promote more reading of the Old Testament. The question is usually focused specifically upon typology. Why study the types when we have the […]
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You are invited
The father replied, “My son, you are always with me, and all I have is yours. Luke 15:28-31 (VOICE)
Xylon walks into the party like he belongs. I stay on the fringe feeling insecure that I don’t fit in – angry with myself for hanging back, for wearing this dress, for accepting the invite in the first place.
In no time at all Xylon is chatting away to people he has just met while I hang back. I hesitate. I wonder why I was invited.
I act like I'm gate crashing even while clutching the invite in my hand. Xylon is my +1.
My husband acts like he is invited to the party even when his name isn’t on the list.
I’m hanging out in the corner feeling inadequate and frustrated with myself. I forget that I received an invite to this party. Someone asked me to come because they wanted me there.
I think about how my husband is like the prodigal son – taking his place at the party. While I am like the son who stayed behind – pretty sure that there is no place for me at the feast.
I wonder why I think I don’t belong and I think about what happens in the story of the prodigal son, how the father leaves the party to the son who stayed behind and pleads with him to come to the party.
It reminds me that God finds me when I feel like I don’t belong.
When God finds me checking the invitation to see if I’m invited and he reminds me that my name is on his list.
When I feel like an outcast God will remind me that I’m just as wanted as the person who the party is celebrating.
From my spot in the shadows I’m reminded that if God is throwing a party everyone is invited:
The prodigal.
The brother who stayed behind.
The servants.
The neighbours.
The beggars.
Tax collectors.
Prostitutes.
Fishermen.
The rich.
The poor.
No one is left out.
Everyone is invited.
Everyone belongs.
Ponder: When you have felt like you don’t belong? What helps you feel like you are worthy?
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He Did All of It for Us
Jesus left His home to come to earth. He gave up His sovereignty to be a servant. He was despised so that we could be made divine. He carried our sorrows so we would no longer have to grieve. He was stricken and smitten so we could be saved. He was rejected so we could […]![]()
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He's Leaving
The time draws near. I knew our time together would end; it was only a matter of when.
Even after a couple of years, I still feel so new to this whole military wife thing. Richard enlisted in the Air Force two years ago, and we both love the military. However, I don’t know that I will ever get used to one major area of the military life – deployment. He will be sent out soon. Very soon! Too soon.
A few weeks ago two of my sisters visited us, and all five of us came down with the stomach flu. What fun! Richard and William had it first and got over the worst of it just as we three girls came down with it. The evening my sisters and I felt like death warmed over, I struggled with feeding William and getting him to bed as best I could by myself so that Richard could focus on his grad school homework.
As we were trying to get William to sleep, we all three laid on the bed for a few minutes, and it was just such a nice moment. Richard had a big paper to finish for the end of his first grad school class, William was incredibly fussy and didn't really want anything, and I was feeling just generally ill. But it was so peaceful for those three or so minutes—the baby was quiet, Richard was away from his work, and I forgot my aching tummy.
Maybe because Richard is deploying soon, I found myself thanking God for those three minutes we had. Nothing in life is ever guaranteed (the old death-and-taxes joke aside), and to have moments like those means so much when tomorrow is not a promise.
When I take a picture of Richard with William, I can't help but think that it would so sad if all William had were these pictures of him as a baby with a father he never knew. The song “Billy, Don't Be a Hero” also keeps running through my mind. I swear I'm not normally so morbid! It's impossible to ignore Richard's mortality, though, when he's about to go defend our country on the other side of the world.
This is part of being a military wife—giving your husband up for a greater cause. Richard was called to be an airman; it's a job he loves, he's good at it, and it's definitely where God wants him right now. What the future holds, we naturally don't know, but we do know we need to appreciate the time together that we have now.
If God does decide to take Richard home, then I need to remember it's part of a bigger plan that I don't understand—and I don't need to understand. All I need is to be in the warm embrace of my Savior, confident and content in whatever plan he has for our lives. He loves and cares for us so much that “the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:7)
Love your family and friends. Don't take them for granted. Hold them a little closer. Savor each moment.
Little boy, I hope you grow up to know what a wonderful man your daddy is!
See you in the round!
Christina
*Scripture quotations are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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