Musings

Are We Practicing Convenient Christianity?

In The Elephant in the Auditorium Paula Harrington encourages us to get off the pew and go live out our faith. She writes,

Convenient Christianity is forfeiting our responsibility to our Savior by letting the paid preacher be the only proclaimer of God’s goodness in our community.

Christ’s love calls us to action. It beckons us out of our comfortable lives and into the lives of those in our neighborhoods. It motivates us to get out of the auditorium and into that Samaritan city with great love and mercy.

What About Doubt?

Trevor Cox wants Christians to consider doubt. In Doubting Our Definitions of Faith he writes,

If we have all the answers, we have no need for faith. We have it figured out, there is no need for trust in something bigger than ourselves. If we are no longer asking questions about our faith, then our trust is placed in our own ideas of God. Faith is about the radical surrender and search to experience God as God truly is.

Trials and Spiritual Growth

Tyler Brassfield explains how trials in his life have led to spiritual growth. Check out Growth.

Power is Made Perfect in Weakness

How do we approach tasks in which we feel inadequate to perform? In Massaging the Thorn Rob O’Lynn talks about what he has learned as a tone deaf song leader. I have been there too.

Understanding Suicide

There have been many things written this last week about the death of Matthew Warren. I have read a few of them, but this article by Thomas L. McDonald seemed to do what others did not. It helped me to understand some of the thoughts a person contemplating suicide might be having. If you are called to minister to people in difficult situations please read The Mysterious Joy of Matthew Warren

To the Wonder

Roger Ebert’s last review was for Terrence Malick’s new film To the Wonder. It is a beautiful piece of writing. Here is his last paragraph,

There will be many who find “To the Wonder” elusive and too effervescent. They’ll be dissatisfied by a film that would rather evoke than supply. I understand that, and I think Terrence Malick does, too. But here he has attempted to reach more deeply than that: to reach beneath the surface, and find the soul in need.

You can read the full review here.

Watch Your Tone

Dr. Henry Cloud teaches us how tone can impact the way our message is received by others. He says, “the more our tone is negative towards someone, or angry, or escalated, the less chance we have of getting the outcome we desire.” Check out The Only Thing More Important Than What You Say Is How You Say It

Bob Dylan

Many people forget that one of the greatest songwriters of all time went through a period where he made nothing but Christian albums. The video quality is not great here, but the audio holds up well.