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Wednesday, 16 May 2012
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Responding to Creation
By Sam at Creative TheologyBelow are the notes from my Spark talk at Luminous:
There is a literary term, ekphrasis, which is made up of the Greek words ek and phrasis, which are literally translated “out” and “to speak” respectively. When combined, they form the verb ekphrazien, which means to speak out, or proclaim.
In literature, ekphrasis poetry is writing in response to art.
Beyond literature, we know this conceptually in our own lives.
It’s why musicians are compelled to make music after hearing a great song, a writer picks up their pen after reading an epic tale and a painter picks up their brush after witnessing beauty. More Here...
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This is My Beloved Son: Hebrews 1:1-3 and Luke 9:28-35
The Book of Hebrews is the epitome of the Old Testament focused through Gospel lens. Nowhere does this Gospel message come into sharper focus than in these opening three verses of the epistle.
Christ, Christ, CHRIST
A couple of years back I taught a Bible study on Hebrews and was especially struck during this prolonged look at that wonderful book with how central Christ is in our salvation. And how that all-importance of Christ in our lives actually crowds out and rids me of cherished notions I used to hold on to as Christian.
Yes, I know that Christian readers might right now just skip over that sentence about Christ being central, as if I was stating the obvious. "Yea, I know all that. And...?" But I am not stating the obvious. I am pointing out the overlooked. I mean that the utter, crucial centrality of Christ in our lives is something that is really neglected today: Many Christians are quite clear on what Christ did on the Cross. They have certainly heard enough sermons. And they are reasonably clear on how Christ will come for His own and take them to Heaven. More Here...
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
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Praying My Mental Illness Away Didn't Work
Mercy Ministries is a six-month residential treatment center that treats young women with “life controlling issues” such as self harm, eating disorders, victims of abuse, drug abuse, alcoholism, suicidal tendencies. They are a multi-national, popular, charismatic, Christianity based, residential treatment center that I’d like to see shut down.I was 20 when I stayed at Mercy Ministries America for four months in 2008 to deal with issues that had been affecting me for years -- eating disorders, PTSD, dissociative disorders and severe chemical depression. By the time I made it to Mercy I had been in a dozen or more psychiatric wards and all I wanted was to feel better. To feel ground under my feet. I was greeted with something far from that. It was much more then just throwing me out the door. What they did to me was very wrong.
Going into Mercy I was basically promised the world. I was promised freedom from my illnesses if I would just obey them and in turn obey God. If I did as they said I would be free. And that's all I wanted was to feel better. If you told me that walking across country would make me better, I would have done it. I was weak, I was vulnerable, I was very sick. I knew going into Mercy that it was a "tough" program. But I was convinced that's what I needed. More Here...
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