May 2012
6 posts
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Da Vinci and the Bible (without the Code)
We have a tendency to perceive our view as right, and others’ views as wrong. We are very quick to say, “can you believe the things those people actually think”, when truthfully, our view may be just as off base. Maybe the majority of views hold elements of truth. We have no perfect view that captures everything. Some are more reliable than others, and one may appeal to us...
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in a mirror dimly: Reflections on Easter →
A good friend of mine, my youth pastor (as a youth) and now an elder at the church I’m in community at just started his own blog. A cyber-home for his very good thoughts. inamirrordimlynm:
Good Friday is a bit of a buzz-kill. I don’t like to think about death. Most of us don’t I would guess. It’s the inevitable shadow at the end of the tunnel we would like to put off as long as possible...
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“I can’t speak for my coreligionists, but, personally, I wish they’d break the...”
– by KYLE CUPP
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“Human beings may separate things into as many piles as we wish - separating...”
– Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World (via invisibleforeigner)
April 2012
7 posts
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10 things that inspire me.
in·spire/inˈspī(ə)r/: To fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, esp. to do something creative.
Inspiration is sometimes an elusive, phantom. Other times an ocean to swim in. Either way it comes, it goes, it’s here and there, but it is always needed. When I gathered this list I was in a particularly uninspired mood, floating along in the doldrums but ironically...
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“When Paul refers to ‘the gospel’, he is not referring to a system of salvation,...”
– NT Wright
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“We, and our opinions and perspectives do not dictate what the Church is now and...”
– Resurrection by Rowan Williams
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Parables retold
Matt Mikalatos had a similar upbringing to me (or I to him), having been fully imersed in Christian culture and education from soother to drivers license.
As he says here
One side effect of growing up in Christian culture can be a certain contemptuous familiarity with the Bible. I remember impatiently tapping my feet when we trotted out the Christmas story, begging for it to end so we could...
March 2012
9 posts
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new old stuff
originally posted by my husband jamtaylor
We went to an auction and got this old steam trunk for $23 (USD). It’s a bit beat up, and it’s not TOO sturdy, but it’s nice. Tiff cleaned it up a bit and it’s now a coffee table.
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“Listen to this again:
Colorblindness has nothing to do with eradicating...”
– undercovernun
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Father, look with compassion on the whole human... →
O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in...
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WatchGo support this on Kickstarter and make it happen!
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The Kingdom of God is... | Involuntary-Guest-Post
Ever so often I read a blog post, a chapter in a book, a line in a song that makes my heart leap and my soul swell with a resounding YES. This post by Sara at her blog Emerging Mummy is one of those.
Here is an Involuntary-Guest-Post. Read the entire post including the introduction at her blog.
All good and perfect gifts come from the Father. The same Father watching a road for a wayward...
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February 2012
14 posts
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Don’t you ever just feel exhausted in your soul?
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Through faith... | Involuntary-Guest-Post →
I really appreciated this blog post by Cory Copeland. So much so, in fact, that’s it’s an Involuntary-Guest-Post.
“During my 26 years, I’ve found myself wrought with doubt. I’ve doubted myself. I’ve doubted my intentions. I’ve doubted my gifts. I’ve doubted my religion. I’ve even doubted God. Through my journeys and struggles, it’s been easy for me to fall to the ways of the...
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“O Lord, you have taught us that without love whatever we do is worth nothing:...”
– - Book of Common Prayer 1979
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Ash Wednesday - a preparation to rejoice in His...
Today is the beginning of Lent in the West. I’ve never observed Lent, having grown up in ‘non-denominational’ Christianity. I probably first discovered lent when, at around 11 years old having just entered public school, I arrived one day to the sight of half the other students sporting ashen smudges across their foreheads. At the time, I’m sure I got an 11 year old...
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“You are the peace of all things calm
You are the place to hide from harm
You...”
– - Celtic Prayer circa the 1st millennium
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“And so I urge you, go after experience rather than knowledge. On account of...”
– - chapter 23, The Book of Privy Counseling
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“…language can be a window through which one glimpses God, but never a box in...”
– Mclaren quoting C.S. Lewis, Generous Or+odoxy
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January 2012
4 posts
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“I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I...”
– C.S.LEWIS I’ve been thinking and fighting and toying with the idea of prayer for a long time… It’s something that confuses and frustrates me in unique ways. Recently an idea that keeps finding me is that prayer “doesn’t change God- it changes me.” I think I...
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Old Christmas: Orthodox Christians flavor Feast of... →
Feast of the nativity on January 7th
Aka the “Old Christmas”
In Russian orthodoxy one tradition is to eat fresh garlic dipped in honey. The first bite of the Holy Supper of Russian Orthodox Christian traditions symbolizes a prayer that the bitter problems of life will be overcome by the sweetness of God’s love and grace.
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“In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for...”
– Siddhartha Buddha
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“I think we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt. I...”
– ― Bertrand Russell
December 2011
2 posts
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A life in colour...
I don’t live in a black and white world with black white answers. Sometimes, I admit, I wish I did. It’s enticing to cling to the comfort of black and white thinking, like old nostalgic photos of family, or the romance of a flickering silent movie.
That’s comforting, but it’s not reality. The world I see is in full colour. With vivid hues and dark tones. I see a world...
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Silent Night? (written in 2008)
Have you tried listening to the radio at this time of year? Out of bored desperation today I tried while waiting in the car for someone as they ran an errand. No matter what station you switch to you will hear one of two things; advertisements trying to get you to run out and buy into Christmas specials, or Christmas Carols. I’ll be honest. I’m not necessarily the biggest fan of...
November 2011
6 posts
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Does love conquer all?
“Ever since Nietzsche it has been customary to sneer at the apparently wimpish vision of human life in the Beatitudes: the meek, the mourners, the merciful, and so on – when surely everyone knows that the people who make the world go round are the arrogant, the go-getters, the people with sharp swords or at least sharp elbows, the pushy, the proud.
Actually, all Nietzsche did was to articulate...
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Life in Christian-Conservative T̶e̶x̶a̶s̶ Barbados
Replace ‘Lubbock, Texas’ with ‘Barbados’ and this says it almost perfectly.
This small island-country is pretty much the Bible-Belt of the Caribbean. And if life in Lubbock Texas seems contradictory and confusing, life here is equally as paradoxical.
Behind the facade of dread-locks, sandy beaches and sunburnt tourists - the Caribbean is a strange blend of extremely...
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October 2011
10 posts
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Barbados
I think you hit the nail spot on about the mix of developed and undeveloped in Barbados. It’s actually one of the things I like the most about it here. And yes, unlike most places the ‘nice’ areas and ‘less nice’ areas here are really quite interspersed. I can’t think of any ‘nice’ area where you can’t walk 5 minutes and end up in...
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valueplus asked: Hey I just thought I'd send another reply here since I blogged the first one - can you recommend some places to visit? Someone recommended North Point so I'm going to head up there this weekend.