Good Friday

Two videos that gave me chills this morning…

Winter Christian

This post from Richard Beck makes a lot of sense to me.  I definitely resonate with the Winter Christian idea (I’m sure anyone who knows me well will be stunned by that one).  Here’s a small quote that also might explain a few things for Tara & I as we consider faith in our own ways.  In my opinion it’s also a place where most the churches I’ve attended struggle as well, something to consider.

The most powerful impact I’ve seen when I’ve shared this model is from the married couples where one person is Summer and the other is Winter. Before they married they knew each other to be people of faith (i.e., high communion). But little did they know how different they would be on the complaint dimension (i.e., Summer vs. Winter). Each person tended to think there was something “wrong” with the other. She thought his complaint was a sign of unfaith (Recall the polar model?). He thought her lack of complaint was a sign of naiveté. But after hearing the model the couple comes to the realization that he is Winter and she is Summer and each are legitimate ways with God. In fact, each needs the other. No one is wrong. Both are right. So they can transition from trying to change each other to trying to learn from each other.

Saying it better than I could or would

• Money Part 1: Not the Root of All Evil by Andrew Peterson – I thought I’d read it all (or most of it) on this topic.  It’s like he read my thoughts, and came up with some new stuff that seems to make sense.
• The Shipwrecked and the Catchers by Richard Beck – I love the picture of faith he draws here… sounds like my journey.

The Prodigal

Found this one at this blog I’ve been enjoying.

Why Do We Hunger For Beauty?

“It is central to Christian living that we should celebrate the goodness of creation, ponder its present brokenness, and, insofar as we can, celebrate in advance the healing of the world, the new creation itself.  Art, music, literature, dance, theater, and many other expressions of human delight and wisdom, can all be explored in new ways.”

“The point is this.  The arts are not the pretty but irrelevant bits around the border of reality.  They are highways into the center of a reality which cannot be glimpsed, let alone grasped, any other way.  The present world is good, but broken and in any case incomplete; art of all kinds enables us to understand that paradox in its many dimensions.  But the present world is also designed for something which has not yet happened.  It is like a violin waiting to be played: beautiful to look at, graceful to hold–and yet if you’d never heard one in the hands of a musician, you wouldn’t believe the new dimensions of beauty yet to be revealed.  Perhaps art can show something of that, can glimpse the future possibilities pregnant within the present time.  It is like a chalice: again, beautiful to look at, pleasing to hold, but waiting to be filled with the wine which, itself full of sacramental possibilities, gives the chalice its fullest meaning.  Perhaps art can help us to look beyond the immediate beauty with all its puzzles, and to glimpse that new creation (through the resurrection and return of Jesus, the ultimate marriage of heaven and earth) which makes sense not only of beauty but of the world as a whole, and ourselves within it.  Perhaps.” (NT Wright, Simply Christian, p.235-6)

Where I’ve Been 2

I really enjoy Donald Miller’s writing.  I buy his books.  I read them.  Lately, I’ve been thankful that he is sharing a ton of great stuff on his blog instead of saving it all for the publisher.  Here’s some that have caught my eye:

• today’s post on Mother’s Day – heartwrenching but hopeful.  Mother’s Day isn’t fun for everyone – for some people I know it is a very sad and hurt filled day.
• Does God Have a Specific Plan for Your Life? Probably Not.  This made so much sense to me.  I’ve always thought the whole “God cares about what socks I wear” thing was really strange.   Same with the “find your shazam or chowzone” or whatever way of thinking – that everyone of us is going to be a superhero for God.   I don’t want God to care about my socks.  I just read it again – such good stuff.
• Why Doctrine is Only Half the Message

just a sampling …