What is cultural apologetics? Let this book be your introduction & guide. Strange is an engaging writer and humorous observer of the 21st century postWhat is cultural apologetics? Let this book be your introduction & guide. Strange is an engaging writer and humorous observer of the 21st century post-COVID culture. He introduces the reader to the 5 "magnetic points" that every living human is drawn towards, fruit that is borne from the writing & thinking & cultural observations of J.H. Bavinck.
This book introduces you to the term "subversive fulfillment" and reveals (*spoiler alert*) the satisfying fulfillment of each desire that Jesus Christ offers through knowing and following him....more
The perfect follow-up book to my first book of 2022, "The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry". This is a gift of a book to anyone struggling with not ever The perfect follow-up book to my first book of 2022, "The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry". This is a gift of a book to anyone struggling with not ever feeling like they are enough, overwhelmed, thinking they need better "time management", feeling the crushing weight of expectations from yourself or the world. Otherwise, it is a warm series of reflections on why our human finitude is good.
Kelly Kapic invites us to "rediscover that being dependent creatures is a constructive gift, not a deficiency." I love the warmth of his writing that distils 20 years' worth of research and dialogue and collaboration that weaves together some of the most profound quotes on the landscape of thought on this topic.
Here's a smattering:
"The result of busyness is that an individual is very seldom permitted to form a heart." --Soren Kierkegaard, journal entry
"Whoever has any knowledge of people will certainly admit that just as he has often wished to be able to move the to relinquish self-love, he has also had to wish that it were possible to teach them to love themselves." --Soren Kierkegaard, Works of Love
"Grant that whatever good things I have, I may share generously with those who have not and that whatever good things I do not have, I may request humbly from those who do." -- Thomas Aquinas
"Stress is a perverted relationship to time." --John O'Donohue
"God's time is created, gifted, slow, generous, gentle, and designed to enhance the purposes of love." --John Swinton, Becoming Friends of Time
"Experience is the food of all grace, which it grows and thrives upon." --John Owen, Pneumatologia
"Christian virtue, including the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit, is both the gift of God and the result of the person of faith making conscious decisions to cultivate this way of life and these habits of heart and mind." --N.T. Wright, After You Believe
"Part of the intrinsic good of our bodies is that they are an ever-present reminder of our creaturely needs: to be human is to be dependent on the Creator Lord, dependent on other human creatures who provide their presence and love, and dependent on the earth, which provides for our physical needs, from oxygen to lettuce, from shade to springs of water. This dependence, when recognized and remembered, raises serious questions about the emphasis on self-generated identity that is so often assumed and encouraged in our modern world. As embodied finite creatures, do we have a purely self-generated identity? How do I value my particularity without ignoring the countless ways my identity is given as much as it is self-created?"
At the heart of this book, Kapic focuses his reflections on the doctrine of creation, rediscovering its beauty and significance for our lives. In his words, "1. We are not under any requirement to be infinite -- infinity is reserved for God alone. Rather, in and through our creaturely limits we are called to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbours as ourselves. In other words, loving both God and neighbour falls completely within the range of creaturely finitude.
2. We need to stop asking (or feeling that we should ask) for God's forgiveness when we can't do everything..."
He explores how our singularity and particularity and smallness is part of our inherent worth as humans. He then explores why our bodies are necessarily tied to our self-perception, relationships, and worship, and thus why ignoring or abuse of our bodies has significant consequences. He questions that our identity can be self-generated, instead being necessarily linked to our families, cultures, and historical contexts. He does all this in light of sin affecting our own limited self-understanding.
The second part of his book explores what healthy interdependence looks like: from humility, our relationship to time, cultivating awareness of God's presence which can free us from the rule of the clock, and God's good purposes in using the process of time to mature us, and the beauty of the body of Christ, God's church, to do good works in a way that honours our singularity and finitude as part of God's good design.
And his last chapter offers four patterns to live a healthier experience of our human finitude, by: 1. Embracing the rhythms & seasons of life. 2. Recognising our vulnerability 3. Expressing lament & cultivating gratitude 4. Honouring rest in both sleep & Sabbath
Are you looking for a good book to study as a small group (fellowship/Bible study group) or book club? Can I highly recommend this book for your consiAre you looking for a good book to study as a small group (fellowship/Bible study group) or book club? Can I highly recommend this book for your consideration? I'm naming this one of the top books I've read in 2022!
This book is the one I've been looking for as I've had unanswered questions lingering about how to live as a Christian with these two seemingly opposing principles: sacrificial living and enjoying life (alongside Sabbath rest). Mikey Lynch writes a concise but thorough resource, considering both the theology and the practical outworkings of the divinely diverse way in which we've been made as humans but also the wonderful-though-fallen world we live in and want to share Jesus with. He summarises well on a theology of sacrifice and Christian freedom -- which must be understood through the lens of the reality that we are living in the last days (i.e. a good way of living in Christ in light of a proper understanding of eschatology).
He has a concise and catchy way of summarising his content. Here's a taster of this: "In this chapter, I want to say that dying to self, putting Christ first and treating the things of this world as temporary is the best way to live life. It's really good because it's really real and it's really worth it. As we explored in chapter 3, the right way to live is determined by our place in his creation: who we are, where we are and when we are. Since it is in fact the last days, to live well is to live in the light of this."
(I also love the effective alliteration used, e.g. Ch 1: Devotion and diversity; Ch 2: Devotion, diversity and the day-to-day.)
I thoroughly appreciated his teaching of 1 Corinthians 7 in the second half of the book, reading it as a single Christian woman who feels edified and understood -- for both the sacrifices made in choosing & living out singleness at this season of my life, but also for the enjoyment of the freedoms that this has allowed me.
Christian friend, whatever season you find yourself in, whether you are "the strong and sacrificial" type, "the bruised reed", a preacher and teacher and friend, or the "confused and deflated" one, this book has been written with you in mind. What are you waiting for? I urge you to pick up and read, and then discuss with your friends, family, or book club ...more
I already want to name it (one of my) best read(s) of 2022. This is a book published in 2019 and perfectly suited for the covid-19 pandemic years of 2I already want to name it (one of my) best read(s) of 2022. This is a book published in 2019 and perfectly suited for the covid-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. There is collateral damage to our *souls* in our screen-saturated, multi-tasking, consumeristic society (research shows that the maximum productivity per week is capped at 50-55 hours). I too sense something is deeply disturbing running parallel to our interdependence on technology. The author JMC invites you into four practices that he himself aims towards: silence & solitude, Sabbath, simplicity, and slowing (the alliteration uncannily works out!), all while pointing to Jesus who taught & lived these out perfectly so we don't have to. This book invites you into healthy emotional and spiritual living....more
Helpful little booklet to help us pause, and step back and observe the inner world of our thinking -- to marvel at it, engage it more critically, and Helpful little booklet to help us pause, and step back and observe the inner world of our thinking -- to marvel at it, engage it more critically, and steward it for the good of others! I just lent it to a philosophically-minded friend in my Bible study group and will ask what he thinks of it!...more
A incredibly sobering but a essential read for Christians and Christian leaders in this #MeToo era, Diane Langberg writes with theological and professA incredibly sobering but a essential read for Christians and Christian leaders in this #MeToo era, Diane Langberg writes with theological and professional clarity sounding the right emotional tone on this topic. While we would rather naively remain silent, the way in which Jesus uses His power in humility is our example for shining light and speaking out against darkness. Diane writes, "the voices of victims today, of those abused and violated and crushed in our 'Christian' circles, are in fact the voice of our God to his people." Will you listen to them?
Some quotes I highlighted:
"Research on power and compassion/empathy has shown that elevated social power is associated with a diminished reciprocal emotional response to another's sufferings."
"The power of a person is found in likeness to Jesus Christ...Jesus used power not to rule but to influence, to invite, to welcome, and to transform... Humility is the mark of Christ. It is the way of power used rightly."...more
An easy read, a book with a simple truth & message to find meaning in love & living grounded in present acts of compassion. An attractive message for An easy read, a book with a simple truth & message to find meaning in love & living grounded in present acts of compassion. An attractive message for this time of the covid-19 global pandemic....more
The back cover says it very well: "Sometimes we ask 'What is God's will for my life?' when we should really be asking 'Who should I be?' The Bible hasThe back cover says it very well: "Sometimes we ask 'What is God's will for my life?' when we should really be asking 'Who should I be?' The Bible has an answer: 'Be like the very image of God.'"
Again, Jen Wilkin is concise and comprehensive and oh so relevant in her writing for today's Christian. Because of my busy work and life, I found it a good book to read every week at night before going to sleep so I could reflect on it that night and the day after. I'd like to read this book again as a week by week "book club" discussion with a friend....more
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