on the walk

The Christian life is a life of great promise and great joy, and it is also a life of great sacrifice and struggle.  At times we will find ourselves counting the cost of following Christ and wonder if it is really worth it.  The Desert Monks of early Christianity called this despair, “the noon-day demon” but it can strike at any time and in almost any circumstance.  Here is an excellent comment on understanding and battling this kind of despair from a neat series called Desert Spirituality for City Folks.  You can find the whole series here.

Listening to the podcast will take only about 8 minutes and while it may not brighten your day, it will leave you better prepared for those days that are dark.

on the walk
-Ethan

Ken Idelman had an article that was focused on preaching, but shared a truth that is relevant for all of us.  We live the life that we have prepared for.  We cannot (however much we may want to) choose in a moment to live in a way that is beyond how we have prepared to live.  If tomorrow, there were some urgent reason I needed to run a marathon, I could not do it.  The need of the moment would not matter, my lack of preparation would determine my choices in that moment.
This is true sometimes in our spiritual life.  If we want to live a life of excellent faithfulness to God, we must prepare for such faithfulness.

It won’t take long, and it is worth reading. Check it out: Christian Standard – Preaching from a Well-Prepared Life.

It is good stuff.

on the walk

-Ethan

Alex Lozada draws our attention to two radical acts of Christian resistance.

How would you respond?

on the walk

-Ethan

I occasionally spend my free time reading blogs.  One that I frequent is the blog First Things.  It generally presents perspectives that are enough different from mine that I am challenged to think and question my assumptions.  Here is a link to a recent post that has stuck with me as a compelling call to the beauty of all life, and our call to love even those that may seem less than normal by our common standards.

Check it out.

on the walk

-Ethan

Mark Roberts has just begun a series of posts on the last words of Christ.  If you are looking for a guide to prayer and reflection during this week of preparation, you may want to check out today’s post or the whole series.

on the walk

-Ethan

John Stackhouse just posted a great article about sex.  In it he argues that part of our culture’s problem with sex is that we are not realistic enough about what sex is.  He argues that sex is something quite apart from whatever we may wish it to be and that even though many of us wish that sex were many different things and act as if it were many different things, it remains what it is.

I am not paraphasing him very well, but maybe I have you interested enough to go read it.  It will be worth your time.

After you you do, you can help me think about these questions. Continue Reading »

I don’t normally think in violent metaphors, and I am not a big fan of guns. (I have fond memories of a pump action BB gun, a fence and coke cans, but that is as far as my fond gun memories go.) But lately I have been thinking about gun barrels. Continue Reading »

He keeps rolling with good stuff.

Check it out.

on the walk

-Ethan

My friend and former preacher Jim Street has had a couple of fantastic posts lately.  (In fact everything he writes is pretty stunning.)  He has been considering how easily and quickly we are ready to depend on anything other than God.  Even when we know better, it often seems that God is the last one that I think to rely upon.  I am more likely to try to rely upon myself or my friends or crooked schemes or hard work or anything other that God.

If you understand that dilemma, you will want to read Jim’s posts on Feigning Piety and Sidling Up to Satan.

on the walk

-Ethan

I can’t add to it, I can only ask you to read it.

John Stackhouse asks, “What do you want for Christmas?”

on the walk

-Ethan