Lived Faith
- Prayer is conversation, and conversation can be awkward, dry, emotional, angry, or… anything. Sometimes I think it sounds a lot like muttering to yourself.
- God loves us, even when we do not get it. Honest, intentional, and consistent relationship with him and one another through Christ is the life of faith.
- Fear of retribution is a sign that the Christian needs to draw closer to God in love.
- The church’s biggest need is to hit pause and listen to God’s voice with all due care and trust. God’s truth and our trust in him are crucial, as are affections.
- Worship is not something we put on like Sunday clothes. Worship is how the Spirit conforms us to Jesus’s likeness.
- The Father never promises comfort on Earth, but he does promise that the Spirit is with us all the way.
- God is absolutely trustworthy. Trusting is required for relationship. Life requires relationship. Therefore, trust.
Ecclesiology
- The Church is a kingdom of priests, and the priestly ministry of Christians is participation in the priestly ministry of Christ. I have begun to think that being a kingdom of priests may be our primary task. As priests, Christians practice praise, prayer, and proclamation. Carrying out our earthly work under the one High Priest, Jesus, makes us fit for the Kingdom. Further, every Christian is just as much a priest as every other Christian, so we are all servants of one Head.
- Christians are the community of those who point to Jesus. This is who we are, and being who we are means practicing extravagant love that glorifies Jesus. In this way, the church lives out an identity that is grounded in and reflective of Christ.
Thinking
- Never stop working on your thinking toolbox. Take time to reflect on what you have perceived, making sure you understand at least the what, when, where, and how. A good place to start reflection is with the bit that seems out of place, for those bits tend to be the most interesting. Analysis helps with this, as it seeks to understand parts and relations within the thing and the relationship of the thing with its context.
- Good thinking needs space to play. Create a daily routine that provides both stability and space for play. Adapt as needed. Have one area on which to focus but always leave time to play amongst the new and random.
Judgment
- People. Humans cannot judge persons because we lack the capacity to do so, and it is simply not our job: only God judges persons. On the other hand, it is our responsibility to judge actions and draw responsible conclusions.
- Claims. Judging the correctness of claims takes time, for one ought to converse with the one making the claim before deciding whether or not to agree.
Sources
Scripture
Definitions
- Affordance – Merriam-Webster; Cambridge Dictionary; Wikipedia
- Analysis – Oxford Dictionary
- Appoint + Anoint – Oxford Dictionary
- Flaneur + Randomness – Oxford Dictionary
- Pleonasm – Oxford Dictionary
- Presence, reconciliation, and persistence – Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament
- Priesthood – Evangelical Dictionary of Theology
- Traction – Oxford Dictionary
Pondering
- My thinking routine
- Christ as king and priest and the church has a kingdom of priests
- Becoming the community that glorifies
Books
- A Calendar of Wisdom (Leo Tolstoy)
- The Art of Worldly Wisdom (Baltasar Gracián)
- The Christian Ministry (J. B. Lightfoot D.D.)
- The Handbook of Scholarly Writing and Publishing (Rocco and Hatcher)
- Holman Commentary
- Life Together (Bonhoeffer)
- Phenomenology of Practice (van Manen)
- Where Prayer Becomes Real (Strobel & Coe)
Quotes
- Dandemis on judgment
- Conan Doyle on when to theorize
- Feynman on what is most interesting
