May
24
2010
Worth a Look 5.24.10
Scot McKnight reviews N.T. Wright’s After You Believe:
Wright’s virtuous circle, instead of being the classical spiritual disciplines (fasting, solitude, contemplation, etc), which tend toward the individualistic, includes Scripture reading, stories, examples, community, and then practices. But even the “practices” shift from the dominating paradigm in the United States, forged by a Quaker and a Baptist, neither of whom is as Eucharistic as an erstwhile Anglican Bishop: worship, eucharist, baptism, prayer, giving (yes, giving), and public Scripture reading.
J.D. Greear on “The Generosity Matrix”:
When you say, “If you give, God will bless you,” that can be a form of compulsion, the compulsion of greed.
When you say, “good, radically generous Christians give,” and people go out and give because they want to feel like good, radical Christians, they have given under compulsion, the compulsion of wanting to earn the identity of “good Christian.”
When you say, “only radically generous Christians are really saved,” and people rush out to give to prove they are saved, they have given under the worst possible compulsion: the compulsion of works-righteousness.
Paul gives the radical, dangerous, but profoundly Gospel-centered and liberating instruction about giving: not under compulsion.
Pentecost FAQ – What’s the Celebration All About?:
Pentecost is not as well-known or as popular as the Christmas and Easter, though it commemorates a watershed event in Christian history. It many ways, Pentecost is the birthday of the church.
No single gene is a guaranteed fountain of youth. Instead, the secret of longevity probably lies in having the right “suite” of genes, according to new studies of centenarians and their families. Such combinations are extremely rare — only one person in 10,000 reaches the age of 100.