Liam Byrnes

Every Friday I’m posting links to things I’ve read this week that I think you might find interesting too;

Next week I want to start sharing some links readers of the site are finding interesting…If you read something you think should be featured here submit it here, starting your message LINK LIST SUGGESTION.

Theology

• A couple of weeks ago, I got myself into the troubled waters of the homosexuality debate critiquing the two common sides of the debate and offering something of a third way. Theologues gave a great run down of some texts from early christianity and their perspective on abortion.

I don’t find myself wanting to snuggle up alongside the Pro-life or Pro-Choice camps for similar reason as I stated in the homosexuality post and think the final advice from Alvin Rapien is an important word to us seeking to not only speak but enact a public witness in the midst of societal moral trends.

While critiquing abortion, early Christians were also saving the lives of children who were abandoned, and then they “baptized them, and brought them up with the aid of community funds” (Durant, 751). Here is where you find the secret of early Christianity: while critiquing the culture around it, it was a movement of grace. Perhaps this is what true Christianity looks like.

• Lance Ford on Brad Brisco’s blog helps cut through the noise of Big Church vs. Little Church observing something I have also seen to be true;

I have seen tiny churches pastored by guys with egos and arrogance the size of Texas. I have seen megachurches pastored by guys so humble you would think they held no authority at all.

Read more at Missional Church Network here

• On the Emerging Scholars blog a review of a book about CS Lewis and his contributions to Spiritual Formation (known more recently as discipleship) – and includes this great observation on a life of prayer;

The longer I go, the more true I find Lewis’s statement on truly praying: “May it be the real I that speaks. May it be the real Thou that I speak to.” So many problems I’ve had in prayer come of speaking from a “false self” and speaking to false perceptions of God

and some more of Lewis’ wisdom on Doubt in Faith;

He wisely counsels in terms of doubt that we should never try to make ourselves think or feel in a certain way, but simply to continue to live in the Way, both pursuing the questions honestly that we wrestle with and continuing to act in obedient faith in the things not in question.

Read more here

• The Story of Monasticism makes for an interesting read on addressing mis-conceptions of monasticism and how we might recover some of the aspect of it for a more fully christian and devoted life. Read more here

Miscellany

• With all the hype over the recently deceased Lion, this piece reveals the lack of clarity the west and africa have of one anothers life – “In Zimbabwe, we don’t cry for lions”

In my village in Zimbabwe, surrounded by wildlife conservation areas, no lion has ever been beloved, or granted an affectionate nickname. They are objects of terror.

We Zimbabweans are left shaking our heads, wondering why Americans care more about African animals than about African people.

• Tools and Toys gave a great run down of board games. We have overcome our shame and become public fans of Settlers of Catan, but are looking around for some other similar type strategy games, some of which are mentioned here

• My Good Friend Jonathan is back on the blogging bicycle at his blog change writer, I recommend you go and read some of his older stuff (including a post I wrote for his site here) in anticipation of his resuming writing

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