Weblog
Saturday, 18 February 2012
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Writers Are Observers
By Sam at Creative Theology
Response to Creation, which is section 2.3 of Creative Theologyhas the following sentence:Even patches of the man-made counterfeit can bring pause
The sentence, which is about the impact creation can have on humans, came out of a writing exercise I completed as part of a non-fiction writing course at the University of Iowa. Not the sentence itself, but the epiphany that had to take place in order for the sentence to be written. The exercise was to carry around a notebook, everyday, and observe our surroundings. What struck us as unusual, or out of place, or mysterious, or beautiful?
Although I walked the same paths to and from class, sat in the same classrooms, roamed the same hallways, and maintained the same schedule, I began to notice peculiar things. One day, I remember being particularly struck by a bright red fire hydrant planted in a swatch of prairie grass. I was also struck by the beauty of the pentacrest lawn. The manicured shrubs and mowed grass, the precise spacing of trees, and the mixture of giant aged trees and young saplings. This was the landscape that surrounded me everyday, but I had never allowed myself to observe. More Here...
Friday, 17 February 2012
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The Pope Who Quit: A True Medieval Tale Of Mystery, Death, And Salvation
The Pope Who Quit: A True Medieval Tale Of Mystery, Death, And Salvation
by Jon M. SweeneyAt the close of the tumultuous Middle Ages, there lived a man who seemed destined from birth to save the world. His name was Peter Morrone, a hermit, a founder of a religious order, and, depending on whom you talk to, a reformer, an instigator, a prophet, a coward, a saint, and possibly the victim of murder. A stroke of fate would, practically overnight, transform this humble servant of God into the most powerful man in the Catholic Church. Half a year later, he would be the only pope in history to abdicate the chair of St. Peter, an act that nearly brought the papacy to its knees. What led him to make that decision and what happened afterward would be shrouded in mystery for centuries. The Pope Who Quit pulls back the veil of secrecy on this dramatic time in history and showcases a story that involves deadly dealings, apocalyptic maneuverings, and papal intrigue.
I thought that this book sounded very interesting. It is about Peter Morrone, the pope who quit. A hermit, a reformer, an instigator, a prophet, a coward, a saint, and possible murder victim -- it all depends on who you talk to. That really made me interested in the book, which I received for free through Goodreads and was able to read before it hit stores 2/14/12. More Here...
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Christian Persecution: A Call for Believers to Aid One Another
I'm so heated up right now, I just don't even know where to start!
"This is just one guy's passion. Others feel differently."
"This was written in 1967 (revised 1997). It isn't pertinent today."
"Sure someplace is like that, but I don't know where; world's always changing."
"Ok, I get it, but there isn't anything that I can do about it, so why should I even know this stuff?"I held on to these excuses for a little while. A very little while. Not long after I read Tortured for Christ, Michael received his latest Newsweek which contained the article Ayaan Hirsi Ali: The Global War on Christians in the Muslim World.
Pastor Wurmbrand said that, when his foot was clubbed, his tongue cried out. Why would his tongue cry when it was not clubbed? It cried out because the foot and the tongue are part of the same body. So also are we part of the same body. And they are hurting. We cannot just ignore (abandon) our brothers and sisters in Christ. More Here...
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The Wrong Kind of Healing
By Sharon at SheWorships
Anyone who has had even the tiniest smidgen of counseling training has probably been told that there’s no wrong way to grieve. Whether you or someone you know has endured a loss, everyone has a different response and none is necessarily better than another.
I think there is a lot of truth to that. The journey of grief is slightly unique for every person, a truth that gives us patience with loved ones who are grieving. It encourages us to give them space to be, even when we don’t understand their behavior, and I can affirm that principle.
However, the fact that there is no wrong way to grieve does not mean there is no wrong way to heal.
To explain what I mean, let me tell you about a friend of mine who suffered a sports injury as a kid. He fractured his arm but his dad thought it was a sprain, so he never sought proper medical attention. Eventually the arm healed but it healed incorrectly. As a result, my friend cannot straighten his arm all the way, and he has a limited range of motion in his hand. More Here...
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Sin and Struggle: Can You Help?
[Editor's note: The author of this post has been very open about the sin issues affecting his life. Please be sensitive to this and comment in a respectful manner.]I'm new here. I have been a Christian for years, and I love God deeply. I was filled with joy and hope the moment I accepted Jesus as my saviour.
However, I started to fall away months later. I'm having problems with sexual sin. I have been trying so hard to resist temptation and not to succumb to evil desire, but each time I fall after some inner struggles.
I want to be holy and do the right thing, and I can't tolerate sinning this way against God over and over again. I feel guilty each time after I sin, and I detest it so much looking back on what I've done. I have the tendency to go to porn when I have sexual desire and indulge in masturbation. Soon after that, I'm guilt stricken and feel extremely bad about myself, and I go back to repent each time. More Here...
