: Just led a group of church members through the first part of The Didache; a very eager and …
: “…It is common to use the same name [church] to speak of the building in which those …
: Currently reading: Seculosity How Career, Parenting, Technology, Food, Politics, and Romance Became …
: Currently reading: Being Christian: Baptism, Bible, Eucharist, Prayer by Rowan Williams 📚
: Currently reading: A History of the Cure of Souls by John Thomas McNeill 📚
: Finished reading: Small Preaching by Jonathan T. Pennington 📚 So good. Really practical tips for …
: First Light (c. 1928) by Joseph Stella:
: Finished reading: The Myth of Good Christian Parenting How False Promises Betrayed a Generation of …
: Finished reading: Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down by Marva J. Dawn 📚 Dated in some spots, but …
: Two generative questions from Alexis Madrigal’s lecture “To Know A Place": How big …
: The Shape of Paris (I used to be really into skateboarding…)
: Currently reading: The Myth of Good Christian Parenting How False Promises Betrayed a Generation of …
: Finished reading: Just Immigration: American Policy in Christian Perspective by Mark R. Amstutz 📚
: Chris Arnade offers some sobering reflections on the ‘public disorder’ that’s …
: I don’t know that I believe in onomatopoeia. Plenty of people have tried to convince me, but …
: Finished reading: Matilda (Puffin Modern Classics) by Roald Dahl 📚
: Corrie Grace Bowman arrived at 5:30am on March 4th (her due date)! We are smitten.
: Currently reading: Small Preaching by Jonathan T. Pennington 📚
: Watched: Barbie 🍿 Watched this one over two nights with Kristyn. I enjoyed it when we saw it in …
: Currently reading: Just Immigration: American Policy in Christian Perspective by Mark R. Amstutz 📚
: Finished reading: Protestants : the radicals who made the modern world by Alec Ryrie 📚 Essential …
: Finished reading: Beyond Welcome: Centering Immigrants in Our Christian Response to Immigration by …
: Arthur Weasley, commenting on AI: “What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can …
: Currently reading: Beyond Welcome: Centering Immigrants in Our Christian Response to Immigration by …
: James Wood provides a helpful intervention into the “spiritual formation” conversation …
: Eugene Peterson: Prayer is not a patient wait for the rule [of God] to come into effect at the end …
: In commenting on Psalm 93, Eugene Peterson offers these words deserving of our most serious …
: David Zahl: The blessed assurance of grace announces that the high-wire game of proving ourselves …
: Eugene Peterson: The single most widespread American misunderstanding of prayer is that it is …
: Currently reading: Where Your Treasure Is: Psalms that Summon You from Self to Community by Eugene …
: R. Lucas Stamps: Moral transformation isn’t something we do; it is something that happens to us, …
: Currently reading: The Age of Choice by Sophia Rosenfeld 📚
: Finished reading: The Open Secret by Lesslie Newbigin 📚 So much still to chew on here. I’ll …
: Lesslie Newbigin: Even when the church has done its best to discern the signs of the times, to …
: Lesslie Newbigin: The church lives in the midst of history as a sign, instrument, and foretaste of …
: Lesslie Newbigin: The ideology of the free market now has nothing to limit its claims. There is no …
: I enjoyed watching Godspeed, and was arrested by this line from Eugene Peterson: …
: Jonathan A. Linebaugh: A deep part of the puzzle of human living is that our desire to be …
: Worth revisiting annually: David Zahl’s Eight Theses for Surviving the Internet.
: Derek Thompson, arguing that isolated, hyper-online young men are not actually experiencing “a …
: Matthew Burdette, describing why Christian faith feels elusive today: My most profound flashes of …
: I’m loving the trad energy of this 1993 ad from The American Organist. Also, it appears Buzard …
: Finished reading: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson 📚
: Finished reading: The Edge of Words by Rowan Williams 📚 A stunning, mind-bending achievement. There …
: Lesslie Newbigin: Jesus appears to have taken no steps to embody his teaching about the kingdom in …
: Marva Dawn: The greatest danger of a marketing approach to sharing the gospel with the world around …
: Blame the Victorians for our modern obsession with self-optimization.
: Study of Cirrus Clouds (1815) by John Constable:
: Currently reading: Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down by Marva J. Dawn 📚
: Finished reading: Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton 📚 I read this with a few …
: David Zahl: “Free Will is Idolatry.”
: our day-after-Thanksgiving tradition continues
: “Gen Z Now Leads in Church Attendance.” There are some interesting findings in the …
: The good folks at the library at Austin Seminary let me and a buddy rummage through a bunch of old …
: Some really interesting ideas on meeting neighbors and forming community right where you live …
: From a few years back: Alan Jacobs on exhaustion, its causes and treatments
: Finished reading: The Art of Pastoring by David Hansen 📚 An instant classic. I knew a few chapters …
: Finished reading: Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman 📚 A splendid book that develops several …
: David Hansen: The less said explaining the sacraments, the better. Pastors administer the …
: Todd Brewer on reckless charity and infinite grace.
: currently listening: Blue by Joni Mitchell
: Lesslie Newbigin: At the heart of the life of the church is the eucharistic celebration, in which …
: Lesslie Newbigin: If the church is the bearer of the presence of the kingdom through history, it is …
: Kristyn and I arrived home last night from a lovely and refreshing couple days in Fort Worth …
: Lesslie Newbigin: The reign of God is a reality that can only be announced in parables. It is a …
: Lesslie Newbigin: A great deal of the substance of the Western Christian tradition—its liturgy, …
: currently listening: What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye
: Currently reading: 100 Poems to Break Your Heart by Edward Hirsch 📚
: currently listening: Abbey Road by the Beatles
: David Hansen: For me there is one spiritual mass I must fly over daily in order to catch the …
: David Hansen: Jesus specifically directed us to follow him in his life’s general direction, …
: David Hansen: Pastoral ministry is a life, not a technology. How-to books treat pastoral ministry …
: Currently reading: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson 📚
: Ross Byrd’s five signs of a true leader: Articulate Purpose Assume Responsibility Provide A …
: photo cred (and staging) goes to: Bella
: Currently reading: The Art of Pastoring by David Hansen 📚
: I’m picking out a few gems from Abigail Favale’s “Rethinking …
: Currently reading: Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman 📚
: I’m finally getting around to this Mary Townsend piece on ditching your smartphone. Her advice …
: Why modern life feels meaningless? Answer: The nature of modern work and the loss of great …
: Finished reading: The Soul of Shame by Curt Thompson 📚 Really helpful treatment of shame (and one I …
: Had a great time last night with my friend Dan Lisa: beer/food at Lazarus, stimulating conversation, …
: Currently reading: Making Disciples by Alex Fogleman 📚
: Finished reading: Jesus the Great Philosopher by Jonathan T. Pennington 📚 I absolutely loved this …
: Bob Thune has written the perfect response to Brad’s essay on the death of magisterial …
: Currently reading: Jesus the Great Philosopher by Jonathan T. Pennington 📚
: Enjoyed a stimulating lecture this evening from the inimitable Matthew Crawford on the question, …
: Music to my anti-productivity attuned ears (courtesy of Todd Brewer): “Time Management and the …
: Zac Koons convincingly argues that we ought not outsource praying and preaching to the AI chatbots …
: I’ve become increasingly suspicious of morbidly introspective forms of Christian piety, so a …
: Currently reading: Protestants : the radicals who made the modern world by Alec Ryrie 📚
: Finished reading: Terrible Beauty: A Story of Calling, Breaking, and the Unmaking that Made Me by …
: Currently reading: Table Grace by Douglas Webster 📚
: Poplars on the River Epte (1891) by Claude Monet:
: Poplars on the River Epte (1891) by Claude Monet:
: Three Trees in Grey Weather (1891) by Claude Monet:
: Poplars in the Sun (1891) by Claude Monet:
: Poplars (Wind effect) (1891) by Claude Monet:
: Three Poplar Trees in the Autumn (1891) by Claude Monet:
: Poplars (Autumn) (1891) by Claude Monet:
: Poplars at Giverny, Sunrise (1891) by Claude Monet:
: Poplars in the Sun (1891) by Claude Monet:
: The Four Trees (1891) by Claude Monet:
: Matthew Crawford (in a comment on Substack): Apprenticeship is dismissed as being too narrow an …
: Finished reading: Managing Leadership Anxiety by Steve Cuss 📚
: “We’re making forts for the ants.”
: This Mockingbird interview with Aaron Zimmerman is brimming with wisdom (and grace!). Any aspiring …
: currently listening: Thank God We Left the Garden by Jeffrey Martin I don’t remember the last …
: Currently reading: Terrible Beauty: A Story of Calling, Breaking, and the Unmaking that Made Me by …
: Finished reading: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 📚 A page-turner.
: Oliver O’Donovan, on the challenges of actually reckoning with the end of World War II and its …
: Currently reading: The Soul of Shame by Curt Thompson 📚
: Currently reading: Managing Leadership Anxiety by Steve Cuss 📚
: Linking this article (via @ablerism) for later reference: How churches use data and AI as engines of …
: currently listening: Total Cinema by Ken Yates
: Rowan Williams: There seems to be some connection between language and the acknowledgement of a …
: Rowan Williams: Ritual includes elements of drama, but is not identical with it…. Ritual is …
: Rowan Williams: Drama highlights what we recognize to be true of our existence as human agents in …
: Lesslie Newbigin, on how the ecclesial debates over social justice versus individual salvation are …
: Lesslie Newbigin: One almost universal feature of the world scene…seems unlikely to change …
: Lesslie Newbigin: We are forced to do something that the Western churches have never had to do …
: Currently reading: The Open Secret by Lesslie Newbigin 📚
: Finished reading: Forgive by Timothy Keller 📚 A really thorough treatment of the topic of …
: and that’s why I have rattled on from day one…
: Finished reading: Who Is an Evangelical?: The History of a Movement in Crisis by Thomas S. Kidd 📚 A …
: Thomas S. Kidd, on the tension that has always existed within evangelicalism between the …
: Currently reading: Who Is an Evangelical?: The History of a Movement in Crisis by Thomas S. Kidd 📚
: Brad East, with an intriguing comment in the midst of his review of Ryan Burge’s new book: As …
: Currently reading: Forgive by Timothy Keller 📚
: Currently reading: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 📚
: This post (via @Jonah) is spot on: Another Bible Study Night Will Fix It… Really???? …
: Finished reading: The Big Relief by David Zahl 📚 I don’t know if there’s a person …
: Interior with Young Man Reading (1898) by Vilhelm Hammershøi: (featured on the cover of The Edge of …
: What our 4th of July celebration looked like (yes, that’s me jumping the firework)
: Finished reading: Untamed Hospitality (The Christian Practice of Everyday Life) by Elizabeth Newman …
: Elizabeth Newman: That our bodies are so deeply configured in ways antithetical to the body of …
: Elizabeth Newman: We never abandon ritual and myth, even in our seemingly quotidian lives.
: Elizabeth Newman: All education is ultimately formation in love of something. As Augustine states, …
: Elizabeth Newman: As frequently noted, a liberal polity that focuses only on individual rights (and …
: Elizabeth Newman: Liberal politics embraces the idea that there is not one end but many. But such …
: Elizabeth Newman: If we had to choose between a politically imposed good and a politics in which …
: Elizabeth Newman: Far from being apolitical, the practice of hospitality is always sustained by …
: Christian Wiman: John Keats once said that no tenet of philosophy is ever really accepted in us …
: Finished reading: Waterloo by Karen Olsson 📚 Kinda fun to read a novel set in Austin, but there …
: Finished reading: How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg 📚 Very helpful and practical book from …
: Currently reading: How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg 📚
: I recently finished listening to the podcast series The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill by Christianity …
: Elizabeth Newman, on not reducing Christian worship to a private affair disconnected from our …
: Elizabeth Newman: The problem with consumerism…is not first of all its materialism. Rather, …
: Kristyn and I watched The Godfather (finally)
: Currently reading: The Big Relief by David Zahl 📚
: Currently reading: Waterloo by Karen Olsson 📚
: Finished reading: How to Know a Person by David Brooks 📚 Brooks' recent work has really resonated …
: Finished reading: Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill 📚 Read this across the two flights from …
: Finished reading: Weird City by Joshua Long 📚 Interesting study about how the “Keep Austin …
: Matthew B. Crawford: AI will be the consummation of bureaucracy as regime-type. The official, …
: Currently reading: Zero at the Bone by Christian Wiman 📚
: Currently reading: How to Know a Person by David Brooks 📚
: Currently reading: Weird City by Joshua Long 📚
: Finished reading: Lost in Austin by Alex Hannaford 📚 This Texas Monthly review, while harsh, is …
: Ross Byrd’s 20 Proverbs for the Digital Age is worth revisiting annually.
: Currently reading: Untamed Hospitality (The Christian Practice of Everyday Life) by Elizabeth Newman …
: Rowan Williams: Representational speech will carry a good many features that are irrelevant to …
: Rowan Williams: Literal and metaphorical speech are not related as more and less …
: Currently reading: The Edge of Words by Rowan Williams 📚
: Finished reading: God Save Texas by Lawrence Wright 📚
: Finished reading: Church Unique by Will Mancini 📚
: Finished reading: Exclusion & Embrace by Miroslav Volf 📚 One of the best theological texts …
: ‘It must be inconvenient to be made of flesh,’ said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully, …
: Brad East, on how grace is received corporately—on how we learn to respond in gratitude as a …
: Currently reading: Church Unique by Will Mancini 📚
: Currently reading: Lost in Austin by Alex Hannaford 📚
: Had a blast running with my crew and Mikayla & Tanner in Mission Waco’s RaceONE 5k this …
: Ross Douthat: “An Age of Extinction Is Coming. Here’s How to Survive."
: Christ on the way to Calvary (1308-11) by Duccio di Buoninsegna:
: a little origami fun last night with Lily and Bella’s aunt Lynné (my sis)
: This is a brilliant idea: Author and journalist Lawrence Wright proposes turning Camp Mabry, a …
: Finished reading: The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America by George Packer 📚 A collage of …
: currently listening: SABLE, fABLE by Bon Iver
: Oliver Burkeman: [W]e desperately want to be saved. We want to find some person, or some philosophy …
: Music to my ears: Jen Pollock Michel criticizes the tendency of elevating “efficiency” …
: Reverend Scott Bailey, All Saints Episcopal Church. Photograph, August 30, 1951 by Neal Douglass …
: I’ve been digging into Austin’s history (religious and otherwise) a little bit and was …
: Currently reading: Serving a Movement by Timothy Keller 📚
: McWay Rocks II (Big Sur) by Tom Killion:
: Mt. Tamalpais from Corte Madera Creek II by Tom Killion:
: Finished reading: Christ-Centered Preaching by Bryan Chapell 📚 Can’t imagine a preacher who …
: Kristyn and I finally sat down to watch Conclave last night. A gripping film that raises some rather …
: I’ve had a contrarian streak that dates back to when I was much younger, though it seems to be …
: Cardón, State of Oaxaca (1887) by José María Velasco:
: The Great Comet of 1882 (1910) by José María Velasco:
: Finished reading: The Wounded Healer by Henri J. M. Nouwen 📚 Nouwen’s work is simple, yet …
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: Perhaps the main task of the minister is to prevent people from suffering for …
: Religion in the United States (source):
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: Without hope, we will never be able to see value and meaning in the encounter …
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: Christian leadership is a dead-end street when nothing new is expected, when …
: Carl Rogers (quoted in Henri J. M. Nouwen): …I have—found that the very feeling which has …
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: …[W]hen one has the courage to enter where life is experienced as most …
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: After so much stress has been laid on the necessity of leaders preventing their …
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: None of us can stay alive when there is nobody waiting for us. Each one of us …
: Currently reading: God Save Texas by Lawrence Wright 📚
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: It is not the task of Christian leaders to go around nervously trying to redeem …
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: But here we must be aware of the great temptation that faces Christian …
: Currently reading: The Wounded Healer by Henri J. M. Nouwen 📚
: View of Scheveningen Sands (c. 1630s) by Hendrick van Anthonissen :
: This is basically the Platonic Form of what I previously wrote against at Mere O: Redeeming …
: The Great Walnut Tree (Le Grand Noyer) (1875) by Camille Pissarro:
: Keller, Center Church, pt. 2 (Gospel Renewal) Part One covered Keller’s discussion of “Gospel Theology.” Obviously, it’s …
: Lily and Bella’s favorite part of the Veloway: the bearded dragon belonging to the super kind …
: Finished reading: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle 📚 Enjoyable read, even if the ending …
: Miroslav Volf, describing the communal analogue to his notion of a “catholic …
: Miroslav Volf, unpacking what he calls a “catholic personality”: When God comes, God …
: Miroslav Volf: A genuinely Christian reflection on social issues must be rooted in the self-giving …
: Miroslav Volf, explaining why he chooses to focus more on social agents than social arrangements …
: Currently reading: Exclusion & Embrace by Miroslav Volf 📚
: Finished reading: Saving Eutychus by Gary Millar and Phil Campbell 📚 One of those books that …
: currently listening: Help! by the Beatles
: Finished reading: Preaching That Moves People by Yancey Arrington 📚 Really helpful book on an …
: Currently reading: Preaching That Moves People by Yancey Arrington 📚
: Currently reading: Saving Eutychus by Gary Millar and Phil Campbell 📚
: Finished reading: The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis 📚
: Currently reading: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle 📚
: currently listening: Coming Home by Leon Bridges
: Finished reading: Preaching by Timothy Keller 📚 Pure gold. Keller was one of one.
: Early Sunday Morning (1930) by Edward Hooper:
: Overpasses (2.2) (2022) by Raluca Iancu:
: George Packer: In the unwinding, everything changes and nothing lasts, except for the voices, …
: George Packer: Alone on a landscape without solid structures, Americans have to improvise their own …
: George Packer: The unwinding brings freedom, more than the world has ever granted, and to more …
: George Packer: If you were born around 1960 or afterward, you have spent your adult life in the …
: George Packer: No one can say when the unwinding began—when the coil that held Americans together …
: Currently reading: Christ-Centered Preaching by Bryan Chapell 📚
: Currently reading: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame 📚
: Currently reading: The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America by George Packer 📚
: Finished reading: Radical Hope: Ethics in the Face of Cultural Devastation by Jonathan Lear 📚 A …
: The workaround in our household CC: @frjon @ayjay
: Finished reading: A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller 📚 This one had my name all over it …
: Finished reading: Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer 📚 A spiritual classic. As with so much related …
: Dietrich Bonhoeffer: In Christ’s incarnation all of humanity regains the dignity of bearing …
: newest addition to the living room
: Crossed the ten-mile threshold for the first time last night! (my knees are sore this morning)
: Finished reading: 8 Hours or Less by Ryan Huguley 📚 I usually avoid this kind of book like the …
: currently listening: Mood Ring by Joan Shelley
: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, on the difference between “works” and “fruit” in …
: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, arguing that Christian sanctification requires identification with the visible …
: Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Whatever the disciples do, they do it within the communal bond of the …
: Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A truth, a doctrine, or a religion needs no space of its own. Such entities …
: Currently reading: 8 Hours or Less by Ryan Huguley 📚
: Currently reading: Preaching by Timothy Keller 📚
: An Open Road by Patrick Nasmyth:
: Currently reading: Radical Hope: Ethics in the Face of Cultural Devastation by Jonathan Lear 📚
: Finished reading: A Century of Poetry by Rowan Williams 📚 What a marvelous collection of poems. I …
: Finished reading: The Insider’s Guide to ADHD by Penny Williams 📚
: Disabled email and internet browser on my phone for the new year. Still early (obviously), but …
: Finished reading: Understanding Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism by George Marsden 📚 This book …
: Merry Christmas from Lewis and Trooper (photo cred: Kristyn)
: Landscape with Snow (1888) by Vincent van Gogh:
: Lesslie Newbigin, on keeping the right priorities in evangelism: The first priority…is the …
: Lesslie Newbigin: How can this strange story of God made man, of a crucified saviour, of …
: Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Genuine prayer is not a deed, an exercise, a pious attitude. Rather it is the …
: Dietrich Bonhoeffer: The only required reflection for disciples is to be completely oblivious, …
: the true meaning of Christmas
: Currently reading: A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller 📚
: Currently reading: This America: The Case for the Nation by Jill Lepore 📚
: Finished reading: The Virtue of Nationalism by Yoram Hazony 📚 A very readable book. Hazony’s …
: George Marsden, describing the conflicting impulses within modern fundamentalism (i.e., the …
: “Advent” by Sarah Klassen (source: Rowan Williams' A Century of Poetry) We are waiting …
: Keller, Center Church, pt. 1 (Gospel Theology) The first section of Center Church (“Gospel”) comprises two parts: “Gospel …
: George Marsden, describing the “American pattern of secularization” at work in American …
: Finished reading: Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis 📚
: Kristyn took this one on her NYC trip
: They just don’t make ‘em like they used to (in this case: covers to popular Christian …
: George Marsden, concluding a chapter on evangelicalism since 1930 (published in 1991): One of the …
: Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Loving one’s enemies leads disciples to the way of the cross and into …
: George Marsden, summarizing how certain positive signs of “health” for American …
: Currently reading: Understanding Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism by George Marsden 📚
: Kristyn is in New York for a few days with her mom and sister; they’re enjoying NYC at …
: Finished reading: The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero 📚 A little repetitive, but …
: Writing in Mockingbird, Simeon Zahl surveys competing “theories of change” in Christian …
: Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Everyone enters discipleship alone, but no one remains alone in discipleship. …
: Currently reading: Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis 📚
: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, reminding us that Jesus' burden—that of bearing one’s cross—is lighter, …
: An incredibly illuminating essay from John Ehrett on Protestant theological retrieval. Ehrett …
: With all due respect to those who’ve weighed in on Jordan Peterson’s new book (I’m …
: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, with words every minister should take to heart re: how failing to offer Jesus …
: Currently reading: Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer 📚
: Finished reading: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by Clive Staples Lewis 📚
: Finished reading: Evangelism as a Lifestyle by Jim Petersen 📚 The best book I’ve read on …
: Sabbath Notes for Future Self (inspired by Marva Dawn's Keeping the Sabbath Wholly) Things to plan before each Sabbath: Meals Sunday obligations Creative Time Outings/Events? Rest …
: C. S. Lewis: One is sometimes (not often) glad not to be a great theologian; one might so easily …
: James R. Edwards, commenting on Mark 7 and Jesus’s controversy with the Pharisees and scribes …
: Trooper was not being especially hospitable to our friend Carlos last night
: Lunch with the staff team at Leroy and Lewis
: Currently reading: The Virtue of Nationalism by Yoram Hazony 📚
: Currently reading: The Insider’s Guide to ADHD by Penny Williams 📚
: My family knows the way to my heart
: I’m teaching on the Ascension in the morning: an oft-neglected doctrine that’s become …
: Finished reading: Migrations of the Holy by William T. Cavanaugh 📚 A disjointed book, to be sure: It …
: William T. Cavanaugh, on the “visibility” of the church: To say that the purpose of the …
: William T. Cavanaugh: The most common way that people are attracted to God is by seeing other …
: Lewis, chilling in his hoodie (thanks to Lily and Bella)
: Currently reading: The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero 📚
: William T. Cavanaugh: There is a longing in nationalist ritual that bespeaks a desire for communion …
: We get an extra hour of sleep tonight as well, right?
: William T. Cavanaugh: Globalization cannot simply aim at a borderless world, and in fact the …
: Aaron Renn made a splash recently with a tweet, subsequently expanded into a Substack post, in which …
: William T. Cavanaugh: The church’s confession of sin can become a kind of resignation to the …
: William T. Cavanaugh: The American nation-state has found its solution to the problem of pluralism …
: I’m teaching on Christology and the Council of Chalcedon in the morning. In honor of the …
: I really shouldn’t aspire to anything beyond what Jake describes in this piece: You Must Never …
: Rob Horning, on “the emergent way of seeing” encouraged by generative AI: No one is …
: What percentage of my life is taken up with re-staging the pillows on our living room couches? I …
: William T. Cavanaugh: What takes place in the modern era…is a reconfiguration of space that …
: William T. Cavanaugh: The story of the death of the sovereign God and his rebirth in the sovereign …
: Keller, Center Church, pt. 0 (Intro: Theological Vision) As I previously alluded to, this is the first installment in what will be roughly nine posts in …
: Finished reading: The Community of the King by Howard A. Snyder 📚 I didn’t find all of …
: Howard A. Snyder: Kingdom witness and church growth are not matters of bringing to the church what …
: Currently reading: Migrations of the Holy by William T. Cavanaugh 📚
: Currently reading: On Repentance And Repair by Danya Ruttenberg 📚
: Kirsten Sanders, in an essay ostensibly about the current online discourse around “Rules of …
: Scott Swain: All Christian social order has an equalizing tendency toward friendship, toward mutual …
: Scott Swain: The systematic theologian’s job when it comes to theology is not to invent the …
: Finished reading: The Ideas That Made America: A Brief History by Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen 📚 Meh. …
: Afternoon run at Lake Pflugerville with Lily - she rode her bike and wore her new watch!
: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, clarifying why debates over “day” in Genesis are exercises in …
: Currently reading: Creation and Fall by Dietrich Bonhoeffer 📚
: Currently reading: A Century of Poetry by Rowan Williams 📚
: Joshua Heavin, concluding an article on the scandal of hypocritical church leaders and the need for …
: Howard A. Snyder: Many churches do not share the gospel effectively because their communal …
: Howard A. Snyder: Contrary to popular myth, normal church growth is not limited by lack of …
: Region Rowe, Massachusetts (1918) by John Marin:
: Hoosic Mountains (1918) by John Marin:
: Finished reading: Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls 📚
: Currently reading: Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard 📚
: Me and the girls had some fun on Saturday scootering/boarding while Kristyn was off at a …
: Currently reading: Evangelism as a Lifestyle by Jim Petersen 📚
: Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen, describing Benjamin Franklin’s quest for self-improvement and, in …
: Currently reading: The Ideas That Made America: A Brief History by Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen 📚
: On the Lake of Como (1781) by Francis Towne:
: Finished reading: Center Church by Timothy Keller 📚 I’m frankly in awe of what Keller achieved …
: Peter Leithart, on the Eucharist and the way things really ought to be: The Eucharist is one aspect …
: Alan Jacobs, providing some of the best writing advice you’ll find: Writing that matters will …
: Alastair Roberts, with some very useful reflections on memory: While many people think about memory …
: Finished reading: Low Anthropology by David Zahl 📚 A book that hooks you from the start: Zahl is a …
: David Zahl: Jesus knows that telling people to have faith doesn’t do all that much. He knows …
: David Zahl (channeling his inner Lewis): In so many ways, the Christian actually seems to remain …
: David Zahl: Love is…an area of human operation almost impervious to reason and rationality, …
: David Zahl: There is such a thing as authentic authenticity. It is simply not an active attribute; …
: Lewis Hyde: I should now state directly a limitation that has been implicit for some time, that is, …
: Night Rain (2008) by Michael Mazur:
: Fall Garden - 2 Chairs II (1977) by Michael Mazur:
: Autumn (2000) by Michael Mazur:
: Howard A. Snyder: Too often the church has let the world define the nature of the battle. If the …
: David Zahl: An inflated estimation of human nature capsizes love for one’s neighbor. If you …
: David Zahl: I have preached nearly twenty years' worth of sermons at various churches across the …
: Currently reading: Low Anthropology by David Zahl 📚
: Finished reading: The Revenge of Conscience by J. Budziszewski 📚 An interesting work on the …
: Finished reading: Prince Caspian by Clive Staples Lewis 📚
: Tim Keller: Legalistic Christianity leads to dualistic Christianity. When people fail to grasp the …
: C. S. Lewis: When a man says that he grasps an argument he is using a verb (grasp) which literally …
: A few gems from Calvin on preaching: Commenting on Romans 11:14: "Observe here that the minister of …
: James Wood provides a moving account of his conversion, highlighting in particular how the gospel …
: Ed Feser, with five gradations (of increasing sophistication) in one’s conception of God: …
: Brad East, offering his answer to the question “What is the greatest threat to the church in …
: Snagged this at an antique shop today and, upon further investigation, discovered that the picture …
: Alastair Roberts, on “The Anglicanism of C. S. Lewis,” in which he explores Lewis' …
: Zacatlaxcalli Vignette (2023) by Eva Peréz Martínez:
: Highlights from Freddie deBoer’s “Selfishness & Therapy Culture” (and I should …
: Do non-human animals grieve?
: Finished reading: The Lord’s Work in the Lord’s Way and No Little People by Francis A. …
: Francis Schaeffer: Quietness and peace before God are more important than any influence a position …
: Francis Schaeffer, reflecting on Jesus' words in Luke 14:7-11 and, in the process, offering …
: Francis Schaeffer: Nowhere more than in America are Christians caught in the twentieth-century …
: Francis Schaeffer: To be wholly committed to God in the place where God wants him—this is the …
: “And now we know what it feels like for the Jinn,” said Edmund with a chuckle. …
: I guess it’s high time I read some Albert Borgmann…
: Wheatfield (1879) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir:
: Just finished Catch Me If You Can - sadder than I remembered; curious what connection the movie has …
: Got these wonderful prints from Scale House Print Shop based out of Hartford, Vermont
: Why do older people—with almost no exceptions in my experience—call it MACdonalds?
: Currently reading: Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls 📚
: Currently reading: The Community of the King by Howard A. Snyder 📚
: Francis Schaeffer, (unintentionally) providing evangelicals with a diagnostic tool for assessing …
: Francis Schaeffer, on the central problem facing the church in every age: The central problem of …
: Francis Schaeffer: A Christian can never say, “I knew the power of the Holy Spirit yesterday, …
: Currently reading: The Lord’s Work in the Lord’s Way and No Little People by Francis A. …
: Finished reading: Uprooted by Grace Olmstead 📚
: Enjoyed celebrating with my mom on Thursday at the opening for the ACC Faculty Exhibition
: Tim Keller: Traditional evangelical churches tend to emphasize personal piety and rarely help …
: Tim Keller: Most American evangelical churches are middle class in their corporate culture. That …
: Brad East, on the detrimental effects of the current online writing ecosystem to the actual craft of …
: Tim Keller: The massive growth and influence of cities in our time confront Christian mission with …
: Finished reading: Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World by Jason Hickel 📚 This was my first …
: Landscape with a Woodland Pool (c. 1497) by Albrecht Dürer:
: Courtyard of the Former Castle in Innsbruck without Clouds (1494) by Albrecht Dürer:
: View of the Arco Valley (1495) by Albrecht Dürer:
: Currently reading: The Revenge of Conscience by J. Budziszewski 📚
: Philip Bess, in an old two-part essay at Public Discourse (here and here), makes the surprising …
: Did this to get the folding table flush with the dining table. Who says medieval history isn’t …
: Our makeshift table in the living room for dinner/games with family this evening. It passed …
: An interesting piece from Jake Meador at Mere O on the reigning paradigms of cultural engagement …
: I’m currently listening to The Second Mountain by David Brooks on my commute (not reading it, …
: Brad East, in the course of encouraging pastors to read fiction and poetry, describes how such …
: Charles Marsh, in a long essay in which he responds to criticisms of Strange Glory (particularly …
: Finished reading: Strange Glory by Charles Marsh 📚 A truly great biography. Marsh succeeds …
: Currently reading: Uprooted by Grace Olmstead 📚
: right before we loaded up for the return trip to Austin
: on the way up to Pike’s Peak
: a few more pics from CO (my sister took these)
: Day 2 of our journey to Colorado Springs (left Amarillo this morning; will cross into NM soon)
: Bonhoeffer (quote from Marsh’s bio): The earth that nourishes me has a right to my work and …
: Finished reading: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by Clive Staples Lewis 📚
: Kristyn and I spent a few nights away in Comfort, TX on a marriage retreat (which was great!). At …
: Why do extroverts insist on calling themselves introverts?
: currently listening: Blonde on Blonde by Bob Dylan
: Finished reading: Technopoly by Neil Postman 📚 A persuasive account of the rise and triumph (heh) of …
: In the concluding chapter of Technopoly, Neil Postman provides some ways that the “loving …
: Keturah Hickman, on the allure of being irreplaceable and the deeper joy of becoming replaceable: …
: Neil Postman: One characteristic of those who live in a Technopoly is that they are largely unaware …
: Neil Postman: Norbert Wiener warned about the lack of modesty when he remarked that, if digital …
: Neil Postman, on the computer as Technopoly’s dominant metaphor: The computer redefines …
: Neil Postman: In Technopoly…subjective forms of knowledge have no official status, and must …
: Evening, Honfleur (1886) by Georges-Pierre Seurat:
: Currently reading: Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World by Jason Hickel 📚
: James Wood, in a strange article on evangelical preferential treatment of those on the left, repeats …
: Neil Postman: One way of defining Technopoly…is to say it is what happens to society when …
: Neil Postman, on the new world—the “improbable world”—called into being by Technopoly: …
: Neil Postman: The milieu in which Technopoly flourishes is one in which the tie between information …
: Neil Postman, describing the Founders' vision of the public square (implied in the First Amendment), …
: Neil Postman, on what results when traditional controls on information break down: One way of …
: Neil Postman: The fact is, there are very few political, social, and especially personal problems …
: Neil Postman: The world we live in is very nearly incomprehensible to most of us. There is almost …
: Neil Postman, on the assumptions undergirding Technopoly (as expressed in Frederick W. …
: Jake Meador, on how various responses to the difficulties of life, whether it be to urge therapy on …
: In Technopoly, Neil Postman offers a threefold taxonomy of technological cultures: 1) tool-using …
: Farmhouse in Nuenen (1885) by Vincent van Gogh:
: Cottage with Peasant Woman Digging (1885) by Vincent van Gogh:
: The cottage (1885) by Vincent van Gogh:
: Finished Heavyweights tonight (though it was a slog)…glad to see I’m not alone in …
: Joe Biden is setting old people back so much…
: Matthew Crawford, writing in The Hedgehog Review on how LLMs (i.e., large language models such as …
: Tim Keller: Some churches hold to orthodox doctrines but with imbalances and a lack of proper …
: The St John Ophthalmic Hospital, Jerusalem (1927) by David Bomberg: Mount Zion and the Church of the …
: Storm Clouds (c. 1932) by David Bomberg: Flowers (1943) by David Bomberg:
: San Justo, Toledo, Spain (1929) by David Bomberg: Ronda, Summer (1954) by David Bomberg: Evening in …
: Evening, Cornwall (1947) by David Bomberg: Sunset, the Bay, North Devon (1946) by David Bomberg: …
: Tim Keller: Over time, all churches, no matter how sound their theology, tend to lose sight of the …
: Kristyn and I finished watching Food, Inc. this evening, which means I’m now taking any and …
: (from the CD booklet for Arcade Fire’s Reflektor, vol. 2)
: Tim Keller: The gospel is not a simple thing…. The gospel has supernatural versatility to …
: (from the CD booklet for Arcade Fire’s Reflektor, vol. 1)
: Kristyn and I celebrated eleven years of marriage this evening; had a lovely time at the Blanton, …
: currently listening: Painted Ruins by Grizzly Bear
: Neil Postman: New technologies alter the structure of our interests: the things we think about. …
: Neil Postman: Technological change is neither additive nor subtractive. It is ecological. I mean …
: Neil Postman: Embedded in every tool is an ideological bias, a predisposition to construct the …
: Neil Postman: Stated in the most dramatic terms, the accusation can be made that the uncontrolled …
: Currently reading: Technopoly by Neil Postman 📚
: Currently reading: Center Church by Timothy Keller 📚 The time has finally come…
: Finished reading: Outgrowing the Ingrown Church by C. John Miller 📚
: Kirsten Sanders, concluding a piece about how religious deconstruction, which she formerly offered …
: Currently reading: Strange Glory by Charles Marsh 📚
: Fire at the Grand Storehouse of the Tower of London (1841) by J. M. W. Turner:
: Watched Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958) this evening with Kristyn. Will need some time to mull this …
: Finished reading: Strong and Weak by Andy Crouch 📚 Crouch has become a must-read author for me.
: Andy Crouch: Understandably, the felt need of nearly every young person is how to acquire …
: Winter landcape with figures and tents on the ice by Hendrick Avercamp:
: Winter Scene on a Canal (c. 1615) by Hendrick Avercamp:
: Winter landscape with skaters (c. 1608) by Hendrick Avercamp:
: Finished reading: The Republic of Grace by Charles Mathewes 📚 A thought-provoking book. Published in …
: a cool picture my sister, Lynne', took of the girls, exploring the creek at Pease Park recently
: Currently reading: Strong and Weak by Andy Crouch 📚
: Finished reading: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 📚 Punchy and fun to read. Bradbury’s classic …
: Quote from Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 (Granger speaking): Everyone must leave something behind …
: Lewis in the wingback (photo cred: Kristyn)
: Once Upon a Time in the West (2018) by Matthew Wong:
: The Kingdom by Matthew Wong:
: From the 2019 New York Times obituary for Matthew Wong:
: From a 2018 interview with Matthew Wong, in response to a question about the “hints of …
: Coming of Age Landscape (2018) by Matthew Wong:
: Charles Mathewes: The first virtue of all exercises of authority in this life is mercy. Following …
: Charles Mathewes: Why are we so committed to the idea that we are all unique and fundamentally free …
: Charles Mathewes: Authority seems invisible to us because it is so pervasive in our world. In fact, …
: Charles Mathewes, trying to gesture at a more robust anthropology than the one undergirding consumer …
: Charles Mathewes: Today our capacity to be creatures who love—who have long-standing and deep …
: Charles Mathewes, speaking here on the delicate topic of “understanding” the evil …
: A drawing of Bruce Springsteen by my mom, which she sent to a New Jersey club in 1985 as a tribute …
: Freddie deBoer (HT: @ayjay), in a post that begins with his thoughts on a bad take about Fury Road, …
: Sabrina Little, in an essay for Aeon, takes up a question that I’ve been interested in for …
: Charles Mathewes: If we want to ask the question “what is going on in the world today?” …
: Charles Mathewes: We are not called just to wait around until this hope hits us. We are not simply …
: Charles Mathewes: Hope is transcendent because it looks for genuine novelty, not more of the same—a …
: Charles Mathewes: Hope is a means of accessing reality, of getting at it, seeing the hopefulness at …
: Charles Mathewes (emphasis mine): This, I submit, is the danger we face: a willed blindness to the …
: Currently reading: The Republic of Grace by Charles Mathewes 📚
: Currently reading: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 📚
: James Davison Hunter: It is essential, in my view, to abandon altogether talk of “redeeming …
: James Davison Hunter: Faithful Christian witness is fated to exist in the tension between the …
: Finished reading: Confident Pluralism by John D. Inazu 📚
: Currently reading: Confident Pluralism by John D. Inazu 📚
: The Sheepfold, Moonlight (1856-60) by Jean-François Millet:
: Finished reading: Uncommon Unity by RICHARD. LINTS 📚 An interesting read, though it didn’t …
: Richard Lints: It is [the] mixing of political and ecclesial authority that has led many Christians …
: Richard Lints: The biblical account runs against the grain of the contemporary intuition that …
: Richard Lints: As “images,” we gain our ontological weight from what we honor, how we …
: Currently reading: The Call by Os Guinness 📚
: Brad Littlejohn and Clare Morell, making a conservative argument for government regulation of …
: Finished reading: The World-Ending Fire by Wendell Berry 📚 Didn’t read every single essay …
: Wendell Berry, from “Family Work” (1980) [NB: substituting “internet” for …
: Wendell Berry, from “Family Work” (1980): The upbringing we give our children is not …
: one could do worse than be a swinger of birches
: Wendell Berry’s standards for technological innovation, from “Why I am Not Going to Buy …
: Wendell Berry, from “Word and Flesh” (1989): We must achieve the character and acquire …
: Wendell Berry, from “Word and Flesh” (1989): The question that must be …
: Wendell Berry, from “Faustian Economics” (2006): To recover from our disease of …
: Wendell Berry, from “Faustian Economics” (2006): Our human and earthly limits, properly …
: Wendell Berry, from “Faustian Economics” (2006): The normalization of the doctrine of …
: Wendell Berry, from “Faustian Economics” (2006): In keeping with our unrestrained …
: Currently reading: Outgrowing the Ingrown Church by C. John Miller 📚
: Wendell Berry, from “The Unsettling of America” (1977): Is work something that we have …
: Wendell Berry, from “The Unsettling of America” (1977): Let me outline as briefly as I …
: Wendell Berry, from “The Work of Local Culture” (1988): The loss of local culture is, …
: Wendell Berry, from “The Work of Local Culture” (1988): If there is no household or …
: Wendell Berry, from “The Work of Local Culture” (1988): When a community loses its …
: Wendell Berry, from “Horse-Drawn Tools and the Doctrine of Labor Saving” (1978): It is …
: Richard Lints: The contemporary democratic ethos may look askance at evangelism and proselytizing …
: Richard Lints: Democracy highlights the significance of diversity and encourages us to see more …
: Richard Lints: Doing justice both to the history of discrimination and the complexity of cultural …
: Richard Lints: The polarization of our contemporary cultural conversation has resulted in the loss …
: Richard Lints: An important irony is the ever-growing disparity between the descriptive diversity …
: Richard Lints, on the experience of diversity in modern life: We are ever more conscious of …
: C. S. Lewis in The Great Divorce (quoted in Lints' Uncommon Unity): Life is not like a river but …
: Currently reading: Them by Ben Sasse 📚
: Alan Jacobs, quoted in the same report: Very few churches overall are really interested in …
: Mark Noll, quoted in the “Faith and Healthy Democracy” report with these surprising …
: Andrew Koperski, in reviewing some historical inaccuracies in N. T. Wright and Michael Bird’s …
: (from the CD booklet for i,i)
: (from the CD booklet for i,i)
: Currently Listening: i,i by Bon Iver
: Currently reading: Uncommon Unity by RICHARD. LINTS 📚
: Currently reading: Generations by Jean M. Twenge 📚
: Joseph Lawler, concluding his piece in The New Atlantis on the tradeoffs Austin faces in …
: The Entrance to the Grand Canal, Venice (c. 1730) by Canaletto:
: The Stonemason’s Yard (c. 1725) by Canaletto:
: Some watercolors from Marie Bracquemond:
: Finished reading: Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work by Matthew B. Crawford …
: Matthew Crawford: Today, in our schools, the manual trades are given little honor. The egalitarian …
: Matthew Crawford: There seems to be an ideology of freedom at the heart of consumerist material …
: Matthew Crawford: Somehow, self-realization and freedom always entail buying something new, never …
: Matthew Crawford: The problem of technology is almost the opposite of how it is usually posed: the …
: Matthew Crawford: Maybe we can say, after all, that higher education is indispensable to prepare …
: Currently reading: The World-Ending Fire by Wendell Berry 📚
: Currently reading: Exclusion & Embrace by Miroslav Volf 📚
: Kirsten Sanders, on the role that “certainty” plays in Protestant-to-Catholic conversion …
: Currently Listening: Kid A by Radiohead
: So many questions: about cover design and content…
: Currently reading: Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work by Matthew B. Crawford …
: Finished reading: People Skills by Robert Bolton 📚 Lots of common sense wisdom about listening, …
: Grabbed coffee this afternoon with an old friend at Houndstooth in the Domain and spent the better …
: Last night, Kristyn and I finished Look & See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry. For a while now, …
: To mark the beginning of Providence’s new sermon series on the seven letters to the seven …
: Finished reading: Becoming a True Spiritual Community by Larry Crabb 📚 A compelling account of what …
: Alastair Roberts, explaining why he traded in his obsessive reading of a certain brand of political …
: Alan Jacobs, arguing re: digital technology’s negative effects on us and our kids that …
: The Oaktree in the Snow (1829) by Caspar David Friedrich:
: Memories of the Giant Mountains (c. 1835) by Caspar David Friedrich:
: Larry Crabb: The spirituality of a community can be measured not merely by its doctrinal statement …
: Finished reading: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling 📚 All good things must come …
: It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have …
: W. H. Auden, with an apt description of the “consuming” mind that devours cultural …
: Picture of Austin earlier today
: A composite image from Cooper Lake State Park in Texas (photo cred: Maria Crane) showing different …
: Larry Crabb: The passion to protect ourselves, to keep our wounds out of sight where no one can …
: A Cornfield by Moonlight with the Evening Star (c. 1830) by Samuel Palmer:
: A Moonlit Scene with a Winding River (c. 1827) by Samuel Palmer:
: The Terrace at Saint-Germain, Spring by Alfred Sisley:
: John Stott: The church’s very first need, before it can begin to engage in evangelism, is an …
: Polaroid of Lewis (courtesy of Lily)
: Kristyn and I finally watched Dune: Part One last night (we were riveted!), and now we’re …
: There are not many essays that need to be written, but J. Brandon Meeks has provided one of the rare …
: As a native Austinite, I surely have a biased and overly-sentimental attachment to the great …
: Matthew Crawford, on the problem of science being wielded as a form of authority—in service of …
: Alan Jacobs: A surprisingly large and rapidly growing body of Americans have looked at what the …
: Currently Listening: Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? by The Cranberries
: Currently reading: Becoming a True Spiritual Community by Larry Crabb 📚
: Karl Barth, with important words for preachers on this Easter Sunday: In our preaching on Easter …
: Karl Barth: Nothing, absolutely nothing, can one do who is fated to this life of sin and death, …
: Currently Listening: The Joshua Tree by U2
: Christine Rosen: The rise of public digital surveillance is both a symptom of and an attempt to …
: Christine Rosen, on how private surveillance technologies (e.g., Ring cameras, neighborhood-watch …
: Peter Leithart: Holy Week is a disguised coronation, a masked victory, glorification masquerading …
: Photo cred goes to my wife, Kristyn
: (from the CD booklet for Shut Up I Am Dreaming by Sunset Rubdown)
: (Untitled, known as Christ’s entry into Jerusalem by Pietro Lorenzetti)
: Currently Listening: Room On Fire by The Strokes
: The Goldfinch (1654) by Carel Fabritius:
: Tyler Been, who went through clinical pastoral education (CPE) training as part of his process for …
: (from the inside flap of the CD case for Strangers In Our House by Meneguar)
: Finished reading: Reaching Out by Henri J. M. Nouwen 📚 There were points where Nouwen’s words …
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: It is very hard to tolerate the experience of God as a purifying absence, and …
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: The mystery of God’s presence…can be touched only by a deep …
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: Prayer is often considered a weakness, a support system, which is used when we …
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: The paradox of prayer is that it asks for a serious effort while it can only be …
: Beautiful watercolor from Allen Say’s Grandfather’s Journey
: We’ll see how these do in the raised bed
: Currently Listening: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles
: (from Henri J. M. Nouwen’s Reaching Out)
: Henri J. M. Nouwen, on the necessary poverty of a good host: Once we have given up our desire to be …
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: Many of us have lost our sensitivity for our own history and experience our …
: Henri J. M. Nouwen, with a beautiful meditation on the (I would call it) dignifying work of good …
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: Creating space is far from easy in our occupied and preoccupied society. And …
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: We indeed have become very preoccupied people, afraid of unnamable emptiness …
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: Silence is such a difficult task. Many people who say how much they desire …
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: Hospitality…means primarily the creation of a free space where the …
: I bought a new (old) car this evening—no Bluetooth in it, just a CD player. I’m excited …
: (from the CD booklet of The Radio Dept.’s Clinging to a Scheme)
: Christ Taking Leave of His Disciples (c. 1308-11) by Duccio di Buoninsegna: (I’m posting this …
: Bogumil Jarmulak, warning of the dangers of “mechanical optimism” (of which I’ve …
: (from Henri J. M. Nouwen’s Reaching Out)
: Jeff Reimer, in a moving essay entitled “How Not to Be a Schismatic,” ruminating on his …
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: To wait for moments or places where no pain exists, no separation is felt and …
: (from Henri J. M. Nouwen’s Reaching Out)
: Henri J. M. Nouwen, speaking my love language as he cautions about the dangers of trying to track …
: Currently reading: Reaching Out by Henri J. M. Nouwen 📚
: A good write-up in the Austin Chronicle on Kareem El-Ghayesh, the Cairo-born Austin transplant who …
: Me and Lewis (just chillin')
: Finally checking out First Light Books in Hyde Park - it’s a neat place! (photo pulled from …
: Sudden Showers, Newbury Marshes (c. 1865-1875) by Martin Johnson Heade:
: Sunset over the Marshes (c. 1890–1904) by Martin Johnson Heade:
: Houses at L’Estaque (1908) by Georges Braque:
: The Viaduct at L’Estaque (1907) by Georges Braque:
: Finished reading: How to Inhabit Time by James K. A. Smith 📚 Disjointed and uneven in some ways, but …
: Currently reading: After Emmaus by Brian J. Tabb 📚
: James K. A. Smith: There are lots of religious people for whom their faith amounts to a leap into a …
: James K. A. Smith: God’s sanctifying presence in my life doesn’t erase what’s …
: James K. A. Smith: Shame is a nefarious enemy of grace that thrives on the backward glance. Shame …
: The Burial of the Count of Orgaz (1586) by El Greco: What is going on in these strange paintings …
: An interesting meditation from Ellen Charry on the vexed relationship between church and synagogue …
: Peacemakers (1997) by Paul Hobbs:
: Gentle Breeze (2009) by Paul Hobbs:
: David Ford’s recent commentary on the Gospel of John features the artwork of Paul Hobbs on the …
: Finished reading: A Spirituality of Fundraising (Henri Nouwen Spirituality) by Henri J.M. Nouwen 📚
: Henri J. M. Nouwen , on how spiritual fundraising is driven more by the goal of communion than by …
: Brad East, commenting on how surprising it is (or ought to be) that American evangelicals so …
: Brad East (once more), on how a proper grasp of the essence of Christian worship ought to serve as …
: Brad East, on the church’s uncritical adoption of technology in worship: Long before COVID-19 …
: James K. A. Smith: We are bundles of potentiality, but the possibilities are not infinite. We are …
: James K. A. Smith: What I aspire to is a factor of what I’ve inherited. What I imagine as a …
: James K. A. Smith: A buried past is not dormant. Ignoring the past is not a way to escape it. …
: Cypresse (1889) by Vincent van Gogh:
: Robert Bolton: When listening does not encourage disclosures of feeling, we tend to miss the …
: Robert Bolton (I almost took out the exclamation point at the end, but—alas—I’m not …
: Currently reading: How to Inhabit Time by James K. A. Smith 📚
: My family took a trip to the library this afternoon while I was working and, surprisingly, came home …
: Watched a fascinating little documentary on the ‘winterkeeper’ of Yellowstone, Steven …
: Low Tide (2002) by Howard Hodgkin:
: Dr. Elton Mayo (quoted in Robert Bolton’s People Skills): One friend, one person who is truly …
: Currently reading: People Skills by Robert Bolton 📚
: Despite these slings Despite these arrows I’ll force myself to turn
: Finished reading: God in the Dock by C. S. Lewis 📚 Gold, as expected. For an apparently ragtag …
: C. S. Lewis, in an essay entitled “First and Second Things”—in which he explores the …
: C. S. Lewis, in response to a question about how to develop a writing style: The way for a person …
: C. S. Lewis, in response to those who find modern Bible translations unsavory: The only kind of …
: Kirche in Cassone (1913) by Gustav Klimt:
: Litzlberg on the Attersee (c. 1910-1912) by Gustav Klimt:
: Houses at Unterach am Attensee (1916) by Gustav Klimt:
: Avenue in the Park of Schloss Kammer (1912) by Gustav Klimt:
: Farm Garden with Sunflowers (1907) by Gustav Klimt:
: Watched the first episode of Kenneth Clark’s thirteen-part documentary series Civilisation …
: Listening to Joan Shelley’s self-titled LP (2017) at the recommendation of a friend. I …
: Finished reading: The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in An Age of Diminishing Expectations by …
: Christopher Lasch: The best defenses against the terrors of existences are the homely comforts of …
: Christopher Lasch: More than anything else, it is this coexistence of hyper-rationality and a …
: Christopher Lasch: There is a close connection…between the erosion of moral responsibility …
: Christopher Lasch: Medical justice shares with enlightened childrearing and pedagogy a tendency to …
: Christopher Lasch, anticipating some of Douthat’s arguments re: decadence: Futurology, in its …
: Christopher Lasch: Both men and women have come to approach personal relations with a heightened …
: Christopher Lasch: At first glance, a society based on mass consumption appears to encourage …
: Christopher Lasch, with a passage that would make Matt Feeny’s heart soar: Both parents seek …
: Christopher Lasch: The invasion of the family by industry, the mass media, and the agencies of …
: The Timeless Airport Of the many bizarre aspects of air travel (there are many), the timeless quality of the airport has …
: Heading to Montana in the morning—I have the privilege of teaching a week-long class at MWSB, a …
: Lewis' essay on the dangers of national repentance was cited regularly a few years ago (and rightly …
: Big Brother Playing (1890) by Harriet Backer:
: Blue Interior (1883) by Harriet Backer:
: Sewing Woman (1890) by Harriet Backer:
: Summer Night (1886) by Eilif Peterssen:
: Fra Sevilosen ved Savallen (1907) by Eilif Peterssen:
: Jane Clark Scharl, from an essay on applying the principle of subsidiary to one’s purchasing: …
: Paul Kingsnorth, describing the religious center of civilization and, in the process, highlighting …
: Currently reading: A Spirituality of Fundraising (Henri Nouwen Spirituality) by Henri J.M. Nouwen 📚
: Christopher Lasch: Modern society has achieved unprecedented rates of formal literacy, but at the …
: C. S. Lewis, replying to the charge that he doesn’t ‘care much for’ the Sermon on …
: The White Bridge (c. 1875-1890) by John Henry Twachtman:
: Wild Cherry Tree (c. 1901) by John Henry Twachtman:
: C. S. Lewis: In all true Christian asceticism, [there is] respect for the thing rejected which, I …
: Valley in the Mountains (c. 1930s) by Louis Hovey Sharp:
: Pasadena Light by Louis Hovey Sharp:
: Annie Dillard (HT: Austin Kleon): One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, …
: David F. Ford, commenting on John 13:34-35: Love among the “little children,” in the …
: C. S. Lewis, from “On the Transmission of Christianity”: None can give to another what …
: C. S. Lewis: The people who keep on asking if they can’t lead a decent life without Christ, …
: C. S. Lewis, channeling his inner Leslie Newbigin: Christianity claims to give an account of …
: A portion of my mom’s latest painting
: C. S. Lewis, on the apologetic value of Christians writing on various topics from Christian …
: Finished reading: The Drama of Doctrine by Kevin J. Vanhoozer 📚 A really good, creative work of …
: “To be quiet and still is a special thing.”
: C. S. Lewis: Christianity does not simply affirm or simply deny the horror of death; it tells me …
: Kevin J. Vanhoozer: Gerhard Ebeling famously declared that church history is essentially the …
: Currently reading: The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story by Craig G. …
: James R. Wood, asking in Comment “Can the Church Still Speak?": Can the Church still …
: Afternoon session: “liner” by Justin Vernon
: For those interested: an update on where life has taken us
: C. S. Lewis, in answer to a question about the divided church and the hope of reunion: The time is …
: C. S. Lewis: When any man comes into the presence of God he will find, whether he wishes it or not, …
: It’s like I’ve fallen out of bed From a long and vivid dream Finally I’m free of …
: My first piece for Mere Orthodoxy is up today: What If There Is No Such Thing as …
: Currently reading: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling 📚
: Richard Lovelace: It is hard to generalize about a whole nation as large and complex as our own, …
: Kevin J. Vanhoozer: The first truth about human being is that we are not autonomous but evoked: to …
: Kevin J. Vanhoozer: A hypocrite…is one who fails to achieve identity, a …
: Finally watched (yes, for the first time) It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). Loved it!
: Kevin J. Vanhoozer: The canon is the norm of theology, but it need not follow that theological …
: Finished reading: For the Time Being by W. H. Auden 📚 This was my first time reading For the Time …
: SIMEON: And because of His visitation, we may no longer desire God as if He were lacking: our …
: Oliver Burkeman, giving readers permission to forget what we read instead of trying to feverishly …
: Christopher Lasch: Imprisoned in his self-awareness, modern man longs for the lost innocence of …
: One of our favorite holiday traditions: eating at Chuy’s on Boxing Day
: MARY: O shut your bright eyes that mine must endanger With their watchfulness; protected by its …
: Late Christmas lunch at Arpeggio!
: Success! Mom’s gift is finished (see here and here for previous stages in the process). …
: THE THREE WISE MEN: At least we know for certain that we are three old sinners, That this journey is …
: CHORUS: Blessed Woman, Excellent Man, Redeem for the dull the Average Way, That common ungifted …
: Currently reading: God in the Dock by C. S. Lewis 📚
: Anyone else remember Cybiko? It ranks as my all-time most disappointing Christmas gift. I begged my …
: Now that the books have all migrated home, I’m trying to be creative with our limited space.
: Update on Mom’s chairs: have added new foam and padding; now all that’s left is the …
: Currently reading: For the Time Being by W. H. Auden 📚
: The girls enjoying their new paint set, courtesy of aunt and uncle
: Kevin J. Vanhoozer, on what the “mind of Christ” actually is: The “mind of …
: My Christmas gift to the bro-in-law: Pictured here with books:
: Christopher Lasch: A denial of the past, superficially progressive and optimistic, proves on closer …
: Currently reading: The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in An Age of Diminishing Expectations by …
: First time listening to Radiohead in a whiiiiiile
: Finished reading: The Stoic Challenge: A Philosopher’s Guide to Becoming Tougher, Calmer, and …
: Finished reading: The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis 📚 My trek through Lewis' corpus continues. …
: Currently reading: The Stoic Challenge: A Philosopher’s Guide to Becoming Tougher, Calmer, and …
: Marshes in New Jersey (1895) by Henry Ossawa Tanner:
: Flight Into Egypt (1923) by Henry Ossawa Tanner:
: Pomp at the Zoo (1880) by Henry Ossawa Tanner:
: The Annunciation (1898) by Henry Ossawa Tanner:
: The Banjo Lesson (1893) by Henry Ossawa Tanner:
: The Seine (c. 1902) by Henry Ossawa Tanner:
: Checking out Barrett’s for the afternoon
: Finished reading: How to Be Normal by Phil Christman 📚 A fun “how to” guide on various …
: Kevin J. Vanhoozer: “Tradition” names the way in which Christian identity is sustained …
: Naples Afternoon (c. 1948) by William Congdon:
: Broken yolk in western sky My stomach turned, my mouth went dry
: Matt Dinan, on “Friendship as Soulcraft”: Maybe men struggle with living meaningful …
: Landscape after Wang Ximeng (1948) by Zhang Daqian (his rendition of Wang Ximeng’s A Thousand Li of …
: Mist at Dawn (1968) by Zhang Daqian:
: Phil Christman, with a wonderful description of teaching (I’ll be filing away the phrase …
: Phil Christman: We are Americans; our national myth is Footloose. None of us can enjoy our …
: Phil Christman: If the phrase “meaning of a life” is analogous to the phrase …
: Sunset pictures never come anywhere close to capturing the real thing. That fact doesn’t seem …
: Mom’s Christmas gift: reupholstering her old dining room chairs. Will update on progress, …
: After covering the so-called Nazca Lines with the kids as part of our history lesson this morning, …
: Phil Christman, with his concluding paragraph on the problems with “whiteness”: So, I …
: Phil Christman, commenting on Blackness in an essay entitled “How to be White”: We …
: Phil Christman: Many Americans have been trained to believe that feeling is a form of labor, …
: Currently reading: The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis 📚
: Oliver Burkeman, author of the superb Four Thousand Weeks, commenting on our misguided attempts to …
: “I’m getting a snack; do you want something?” my wife asks from the kitchen. …
: Currently reading: How to Be Normal by Phil Christman 📚
: Kevin J. Vanhoozer: The ministry of the Word involves more than communicating a few truths; it …
: Kevin J. Vanhoozer: Theology’s task is to equip disciples to speak and act in ways that …
: Finished reading: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling 📚 Such an enjoyable read. …
: Rowan Williams, with a characteristically beautiful meditation on how God repairs us and the world …
: R. Lucas Stamps, on how the Advent season ought to be marked more by mourning than feasting or …
: “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” came on at Chuy’s this evening while our family …
: Currently reading: The Drama of Doctrine by Kevin J. Vanhoozer 📚
: Apropos of nothing: I’m most of the way through The Half-Blood Prince (this is my first time …
: The Division of the Light from the Darkness (1924) by Paul Nash, which I stumbled upon while …
: Brad East, in an essay on “the ends of theological education,” describing how one end is …
: Parade Hoboken, New Jersey (1955) from Robert Frank’s The Americans
: There is a light Bright star shining In the dark night Old tales come true
: Paul Kingsnorth, with quite the understatement: “It’s almost as if modernity has got human …
: Exquisite botanical paintings from Jacques le Moyne, a sixteenth century French painter who is …
: Finished reading: Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis 📚 Honest, sobering reflections on life without H. …
: C. S. Lewis: Sometimes, Lord, one is tempted to say that if you wanted us to behave like the lilies …
: C. S. Lewis: Five senses; an incurably abstract intellect; a haphazardly selective memory; a set of …
: Saw Ridley Scott’s Napoleon tonight with Kristyn. The battle sequences are certainly …
: Finished reading: Reading the Gospels Wisely by Jonathan T. Pennington 📚 A superb book. Pennington …
: Marseille (1954) by Nicolas de Staël:
: Sicile (1954) by Nicolas de Staël:
: Agrigente (1954) by Nicolas de Staël:
: C. S. Lewis, dropping some truth bombs about the afterlife that might be a little too on the nose …
: Why is it “Febreze” instead of “Febreeze”? The double “e” in the …
: Christmas has arrived at the Bowman’s
: Finished reading: Little Platoons by Matt Feeney 📚 Smart analysis on how American families have …
: Jonathan T. Pennington: Jesus' death was confusing, dismaying, and inexplicable at the time of the …
: My buddy Ricardo recommended to me “Montana” by Slow Pulp (from their debut album, …
: A pet peeve of mine: When a junior scholar—say, a PhD student—writes a hyper-critical and dismissive …
: C. S. Lewis: It is hard to have patience with people who say, ‘There is no death’ or …
: Currently reading: Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis 📚
: Alan Jacobs, with what begins as a balanced take on Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s conversion to …
: Lily and Bella got me NBA trading cards for my birthday. This one of Scary Terry (Rozier) is my …
: One bookshelf down (made completely from scrap wood), two or three to go. At least my books in the …
: Matt Feeney, on the deepest, essentially philosophical, reason for resisting the triumph of digital …
: Matt Feeney: I have no control over the degree to which digital technology rules the world outside …
: Also from the Tomb of Nebamun
: Jonathan T. Pennington: While affirming the essential historical veracity of the Gospel accounts …
: Matt Feeney: Parents gain early knowledge of what gatekeeping institutions want and then refashion …
: Cityscape #1 (1963) by Richard Diebenkorn:
: From Petworth Park (1932) by Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson:
: Hampstead Heath (1921) by John Lavery:
: A Moorish Landscape - Evening (1914) by John Lavery:
: West of Ireland Landscape (c. 1920) by Paul Henry:
: Matt Feeney: The main functional benefit of modern hands-on parenting is not that it makes kids …
: Matt Feeney: From the first queasy hints of pregnancy to the wrenching parental rite of college …
: Currently reading: Little Platoons by Matt Feeney 📚
: Finished reading: The Unbroken Thread by Sohrab Ahmari 📚 I expected a more direct treatment of …
: I’m calling for a moratorium on book subtitles of this ilk: …
: View of Dresden by Moonlight (1839) by J. C. Dahl:
: Frederiksborg Castle (1814) by J. C. Dahl:
: Currently reading: Reading the Gospels Wisely by Jonathan T. Pennington 📚
: The Met is running an exhibition entitled Africa & Byzantium, highlighting the often-overlooked …
: The National’s new album, First Two Pages of Frankenstein, was my wood-cutting soundtrack this …
: Birthday gift for mom (Quick aside: Is there another human who could make the face Springsteen is …
: Finished reading: Esther and Her Elusive God by John Anthony Dunne 📚 A thorough debunking of the …
: John Anthony Dunne, on how the church can embrace the secular story of Esther as Christian …
: John Carpenter, on the ways that consumerism has colonized our imagination, and particularly our …
: Feeling pretty good about this
: Cassandra Nelson, describing the high school learning experience of many of the students she …
: “Nonsense on stilts"—I’ll have to file that phrase away for later. East’s …
: David J. Siegel, on the goods to be enjoyed in pulling back, in both long and short spurts, from the …
: Mary Delany, an 18th-century English artist, with some rather incredible “botanical paper …
: View of Delft by Johannes Vermeer (c. 1660-61):
: Michael White eloquently describes his experience of the Vermeer exhibition at the Rijksmuseum, …
: I read Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel with the kids tonight (my first time ever reading it). …
: “Can you lift me up to a higher place?”
: Finished reading: The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday 📚 A mediocre book, to be sure. The writing …
: I painted this back in 2018; I’m a one-trick pony when it comes to painting.
: A fascinating 2018 documentary on Paul Kingsnorth’s changed relationship to the …
: A “nekyia” scene (i.e., an ancient Greek rite in which ghosts were called up and …
: My wife and I are finally watching Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds for the first time. (I say …
: If at all feasible in your situation, don’t use Amazon. That is all.
: Harry did not really listen. A warmth was spreading through him that had nothing to do with the …
: James K. A. Smith, with sage advice on how to visit a museum: When visiting a museum or gallery, I …
: So many questions raised by these scenes, which come from panels on the sound box of a bull-headed …
: Alan Jacobs, arguing that intractable cultural debates are often downstream from philological …
: Quesoff 2023—a food competition my wife could get excited about :)
: We’ll see if this guy’s any good
: Sohrab Ahmari: Barbarism…isn’t the mere opposite of civilization, but simply the …
: Currently reading: The Unbroken Thread by Sohrab Ahmari 📚
: Here’s a current installation of Kawamata’s, “Nest in Liaigre”:
: Stumbled upon the work of Tadashi Kawamata, who reclaims old wooden objects and furniture for his …
: Naples (c. 1841) by John Ruskin:
: Study of Dawn: purple Clouds (1868) by John Ruskin:
: Matt Crawford, on dirt biking as an example of the “humanizing possibilities” of risk: …
: Currently reading: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling 📚
: Geoff Shullenberger, shedding some light on the ultimately therapeutic aims of liberal elites who …
: Currently reading: The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday 📚
: Finished reading: Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich 📚 An unrelenting critique of compulsory …
: Ivan Illich: The alternative to dependence on schools is not the use of public resources for some …
: Ivan Illich: A child on the streets of New York never touches anything which has not been …
: Stumbled upon a video, produced by Fuller Seminary, in which Bono and Eugene Peterson discuss the …
: If you needed further evidence that Lazarus is the best brewery in Austin, they have a summer beer …
: Ivan Illich: I believe that a desirable future depends on our deliberately choosing a life of …
: The Hunters in the Snow (1565) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder:
: Annunciation to the Shepherds by Taddeo Gaddi: The painting is obviously interesting for a variety …
: I’m giving Sufjan’s latest, Javelin, a spin. Three tracks in, it’s vintage Sufjan …
: Awkwardly coexisting is about the best you can hope for with these two.
: Ivan Illich, with a passage that deserves to be read slowly and pondered deeply: If the greatest …
: Currently reading: Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich 📚
: Finished reading: Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Vol. 5: Life Together and Prayerbook of the Bible by …
: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, on how learning to curb our evil words about others in the Christian community …
: Finished reading: The Problem of Pain by C. S. Lewis 📚 With each Lewis book I finish, my awe at what …
: C. S. Lewis: [W]e are afraid that heaven is a bribe, and that if we make it our goal we shall no …
: John Webster, on theological criticism as an activity performed by and for the Christian community: …
: my new office doormat, courtesy of the Davenant Institute
: As I embark on a self-directed course of study in art history, the natural place to begin is the …
: C. S. Lewis, on (gulp) hell: There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from …
: Lewis…doing his thing, I suppose
: C. S. Lewis: The Christian doctrine of suffering explains, I believe, a very curious fact about the …
: C. S. Lewis: The sacrifice of Christ is repeated, or re-echoed, among His followers in very varying …
: Here’s a map of the fictionalized town of Winesburg (Wikimedia):
: I need to return to Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio, a collection of stories centered …
: C. S. Lewis: When we merely say that we are bad, the ‘wrath’ of God seems a barbarous …
: C. S. Lewis: Beware lest you are making use of the idea of corporate guilt to distract your …
: C. S. Lewis: From our own childhood we remember that before our elders thought us capable of …
: How do I say bye to that face?
: Finished reading: In the Name of Jesus by Henri J. M. Nouwen 📚
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: Confession and forgiveness are the concrete forms in which we sinful people …
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: Do you know the incarnate God? In our world of loneliness and despair, there is …
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: The Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to …
: Currently reading: In the Name of Jesus by Henri J. M. Nouwen 📚
: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, commenting on the horizon-expanding effect that singing has on the local …
: Dietrich Bonhoeffer: For Christians the beginning of the day should not be burdened and haunted by …
: design submitted by a reader of Paul Kingsnorth’s The Abbey of Misrule
: Paul Kingsnorth: My belief in the profanity of technology is not widely shared, and…even …
: Finished reading: What Is Christianity? by Herman Bavinck 📚
: Herman Bavinck: What is contained in that Bible is so rich and so broad in scope that it cannot be …
: Herman Bavinck: The unity of the church and Christianity is irrevocably behind us; differentiation …
: Currently reading: The Problem of Pain by C. S. Lewis 📚
: Finished reading: The Decadent Society by Ross Douthat 📚 Douthat’s commentary is unfailingly …
: Currently reading: Esther and Her Elusive God by John Anthony Dunne 📚
: Currently reading: What Is Christianity? by Herman Bavinck 📚
: Henri J. M. Nouwen: The question of where to live and what to do is really insignificant compared …
: Finished reading: The Doctrine of Scripture by Brad East 📚 A joyous, lyrical volume on Scripture. …
: Currently reading: Gardner’s Art through the Ages: A Global History by Fred S. Kleiner 📚
: 1947-Y-No. 2 by Clyfford Still
: Brad East: The home of Holy Scripture is worship. It is the public, not the private, reading of …
: Brad East: There is no one right way to read the Bible. That is the first thing to say about …
: Brad East: It is no accident that monastic life is the location and model of unguarded intimacy …
: Finished reading: Durable Trades by Rory Groves 📚 Durable Trades is the needed cure for what Graeber …
: Rory Groves: The fact is, our perceptions about trades and the people who work in them are mostly …
: Brad East: Scripture is…a book for the mission, a portable library of trustworthy samples of …
: George Macdonald (HT: Alan Jacobs): Instead of asking yourself whether you believe or not, ask …
: from the cover of Brad East’s book
: Currently reading: The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome …
: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, providing me with further ammunition in my assault upon bigness and greatness: …
: Currently reading: Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works: Life Together and Prayerbook of the Bible by Dietrich …
: Brad East: The church’s liturgy is the native habitat, the first home, of Holy Scripture. For …
: A conflicted movie that left me feeling conflicted. Perhaps that was the point…
: Ross Douthat: The truth of America and the West in the first decades of the twenty-first century, a …
: Currently reading: The Decadent Society by Ross Douthat 📚
: Finished reading: Stewards of Eden by Sandra L. Richter 📚 As a work of biblical theology, it offers …
: Currently reading: The Doctrine of Scripture by Brad East 📚
: Finished reading: The Church’s Book by Brad East 📚 Meticulous, verbose even, but engaging and …
: Brad East: The great hermeneutical virtue of the church, therefore, is patience. It is not lethargy …
: On the Bank of the River by Paul Signac (from MIA)
: Currently reading: Stewards of Eden by Sandra L. Richter 📚
: Brad East, in discussing the difficult question of reading Yoder, gives this very useful description …
: Zena Hitz: Nowhere are our true feelings about work clearer than in the growth of jobs which pay …
: Finished reading: The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World by Lewis Hyde 📚 A …
: Finished reading: How to Work with (Almost) Anyone by Michael Bungay Stanier 📚 Don’t bother …
: Lewis is grateful for the rain
: Finally saw Oppenheimer. Great film - my attention never wavered.
: from the cover of James Rebanks' book
: Finished reading: Freedom for Ministry by Richard John Neuhaus 📚 A masterpiece. Hands down the best …
: Richard John Neuhaus: In ministry, as in life, we never arrive, for our ministries and our lives …
: Currently reading: How to Work with (Almost) Anyone by Michael Bungay Stanier 📚
: Richard John Neuhaus: Many pastors report that they do not have time for serious study at all. Or …
: Richard John Neuhaus, warning of the dangers of preaching about controversial social issues (what he …
: Currently reading: Durable Trades by Rory Groves 📚
: For whatever reason, this has been the track for summer 2023.
: Thesis: The best cultural criticism is at least a decade old, and often a good bit older. The reason …
: Given how much I’ve enjoyed his Freedom for Ministry, I thought it wise to read a little more …
: Richard John Neuhaus: It may seem like a cop-out to say that great preaching cannot be defined, you …
: Richard John Neuhaus: Were one to indulge in paradox, it is not too much to say that the most …
: Richard John Neuhaus: The sign on the front of a Presbyterian church in Indianapolis reads: …
: Richard John Neuhaus: If we are honest with ourselves, such signs of really making a difference are …
: Chapter Four of Neuhaus' Freedom for Ministry, entitled “Authority for Ministry,” deals …
: Brad East: Christian theology consists of variations on common themes. What makes one theologian or …
: Finished reading: The Politics of Gratitude by Mark T. Mitchell 📚 The prose was a little formulaic …
: Richard John Neuhaus: While we dare not pander to religious expectations by trying to accommodate …
: Brad East on two ways of reading: One way of reading something is to ask what’s wrong with it: …
: Richard John Neuhaus: It is liberating to know that we do not need to present an apologia for the …
: Matilda of Tuscany, an interesting figure I was mostly ignorant of before today, pictured here …
: Are people able to use Nextdoor in ways that enhance neighborliness? Does the app actually help you …
: Pete Davis: Why is commitment necessary to change? Because change happens slow, not fast. …
: An addendum to the last post. Hadden Turner on “the Burdens of Speed”: Speed, being a …
: William James, in a letter to Mrs. Henry Whitman dated June 7, 1899 (HT: Zena Hitz, who offered it …
: Finished reading: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, Book 5) by J. K. Rowling …
: Martha Nussbaum: There is a kind of striving that is appropriate to a human life; and there is a …
: Currently reading: The Politics of Gratitude by Mark T. Mitchell 📚
: Currently reading: The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World by Lewis Hyde 📚
: Ellen Davis (HT: Wesley Hill): Cultivating unsettledness about biblical language and unsettledness …
: Leo Tolstoy, with some Ecclesiastes-style wisdom: My question–that which at the age of fifty …
: Dorothy Sayers: The one thing I am here to say to you is this: that it is worse than useless for …
: Currently reading: The Church’s Book by Brad East 📚
: Currently reading: Freedom for Ministry by Richard John Neuhaus 📚