I'm moving this blog.
My apologies to anyone who might be following this proto-blog, but I needed to consolidate: I'm merging the content of this blog with my Tumblr blog, where I post movies, books, and music I recommend.
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Nov 26
Nov 7
Light pollution is a theological issue.
The effect of light pollution on people's perceptions of God is vastly underappreciated. "The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship" (Psalm 19:1). But unnecessary and unshielded anthropogenic lighting all but prevent us from seeing them, at least at night.
Think about how awesome it would be if every time you left your house on a clear night, you saw this above you. Instead, in much of the populated world we get something like this, which grays out all heavenly sense of smallness and wonder and peace.
There's a certain fiendish fellow who masquerades as an angel of light who I'm certain smiles about this. Guess I'll have to go join the International Dark-Sky Association.
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Nov 5
"No regrets" is about as useful a behavioral code as I can think of.
Some platitudes aren't all that banal that if you actually apply them. Thinking "no regrets" before all moral and relational decision-making and keeping "no regrets" as an attitudinal check and inspiration to action will inevitably result in a satisfied, good life.
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Oct 8
Christians idolize marriage and family.
I write this to as a Christian to Christians in hopes of propagating a meme that’ll benefit the next generation of Christians: I’d like to float out there that evangelical Christian culture idolizes marriage and family such that some would-be avid do-gooders choose to get married and start a family without knowing the consequences it’ll have on their capacity for extra-familial ministry. Check out Paul on the subject:
"[O]ne who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and his interested are divided" (1 Corinthians 7:32-34).
My experience so far as a family man bears this out: I am less at liberty, time-wise and energy-wise, to minister to others because I must also minister to my wife and children.
Is that a bad thing? Of course not. I delight in giving myself to my family. I wouldn’t have gotten married and had kids if I didn’t. But I didn’t realize the extent to which doing so would impinge on my availability to others. I didn’t realize it because it was nowhere to be found in the discourse of the Christianity in which I grew up.
Thankfully, I think that's changing: I just learned from the of a book that I'm itching to read called Redeeming Singleness that broaches the subject in an apparently profound way. If anyone has already read it, let me know what you think.
People delay or forgo marriage and family these days for career and convenience al the time. May Christians starts doing the same for Christ.
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Oct 3
Differences of opinion are cause for discussion, not reason to separate or eschew talking.
Too often in the face of apparently opposing viewpoints we take the easy way and simply separate from the other person, or at least cordon off certain subjects as being taboo when talking with him or her. But check out what Paul has to say on the subject: "Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment" (1 Corinthians 1:10; cf. Philippians 2:2). Doctrinal, practical, political differences be damned: We're supposed to at least try to agree, and the only way to do that is to humbly converse about our differences. I find that when we give ear to the fellow with the apparently contradictory opinion -- and that both parties respect one another and are willing to confess that they don't know everything -- everybody wins: Your opinions and thoughts are sharpened and/or changed for the better, and your hearts are drawn closer to the other person's heart.Comments [1]
Aug 28
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might" (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
If you follow this advice, you'll find your work much more enjoyable, no matter how menial or unrelated to your expertise it may be.
To me, it also suggests -- "whatever your hand finds to do" -- that God doesn't necessarily have a specific plan for your career.
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