Thoughtful Christianity

What it means to walk in humility - thoughtful and thought provoking Christianity

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September 23, 2018 • Thoughts on Personal Growth

What it means to walk in Humility

Humility is one of those traits that is so out there on the spectrum of human emotion and character. It goes against so much of what we have come to know about being a growing, successful person. Especially when we look at culture, humility seems to only be used as a tool to look better, which is one of the greatest flips that can be done.

Why should we show humility?

This is a matter of ethics; how we ourselves treat others. Humility is one of those virtues that scales. It works in a marriage between two people. It works at your job. It works in society. It scales.
Additionally, it is one of the founding principles of the Christian faith. Humility is what gets us out of our heads and into the lives of other people. We can’t adequately love other people if we want to have them known how great we are through their lowly situations.

What is humility?

A dictionary would say that humility is a lowly-sense of yourself, especially having the perspective of there being other people outside of yourself. However, I would be tempted to say that it is more like the knowing the existence of our own shortfalls and weak spots in life when we are made aware of other peoples.

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Christians engage culture by thoughtfully and carefully inserting themselves into contexts that aren't usually Christian. They must be careful because not every part of any culture is healthy for Christian living. They must be thoughtful because there are a thousand nuances that can make you engaging with a certain group or make you a sore thumb with them.

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July 8, 2018 • Culture

How Christians Should Engage Culture – Part 1

Christians engage culture by thoughtfully and carefully inserting themselves into contexts that aren’t usually Christian. They must be careful because not every part of any culture is healthy for Christian living. They must be thoughtful because there are a thousand nuances that can make you engaging with a certain group or make you a sore thumb with them.

How can Christians Engage Culture?

This begs the questions, how can a Christian Engage with Culture Thoughtfully? and, How can a Christian Engage with Culture Carefully?

I will separate these two questions for a bit more clarity. But I think it is important to think of them together. We want to be thoughtful in how we engage culture (and various subcultures; geographically and ideologically), otherwise, we will never truly connect with these people or benefit them with the Gospel. They will be annoyed that we are trying to sell our religion to them without knowing anything specific about them.

We must engage culture carefully because there is a real threat that Christians can absorb too much of the culture. Christians can be well-intentioned yet dumb when they approach others. They often change the way they think in order to draw lines closer to their target audience which just creates a pseudo-Christianity and an aggressive mix of a new Cultural Christianity (emergent church anyone?).

Being unthoughtful leaves you babbling at people who are walking away from you and being uncareful leaves you with a compromised Christianity.

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July 6, 2018 • Biblical Thinking

Why We Really Get a Sabbath

It’s a bold claim to say that you aren’t entitled to your day of rest when so many Americans think they are entitled to their weekends and vacations. It is bold, but it isn’t without reason or distinction. To understand this, we need to understand the historical reasons for the Sabbath and what Jesus has called us to with the Sabbath.

Key Biblical Texts for Understanding the Sabbath

If you want to read the article and reference them as I do, go ahead, it may save you 6 minutes.

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Morality vs. Moralism is not just a distinction without a difference.

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June 28, 2018 • Biblical Thinking

Do you Know the Difference between Moralism and Morality?

Moralism is more about the compulsion for doing moral things whereas Morality encompasses the hopeful impact of moral actions.

A common by-product of our increasingly complex lives, as modern citizens of the world, is that we have available to us hundreds of perspectives and deviations of any sort of thought; in an instant. Suppose you were to research the science behind a new diet. Jump over to Google or maybe Youtube and what you would find are hundreds of people providing their 2 cents of anecdotal reasoning and the pontifying of that given method, fad, or diet. And again, you may find another hundred people demonizing the very same thing. Interesting enough, they often use the same words, the same sources, but just have different slants or opinions which causes even more confusion for us.

This makes wading through the massive amount of data out there, cumbersome, to say the least.

Key Working Idea: There are Complex Thoughts that are Butchered through Simplistic Thinking

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How about we live as aliens in this land? How about we lose ourselves to find our true calling? Let’s provide for our families and selves in a less lavish and more purposeful way. Jesus is worth it and you will find out soon enough.

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May 27, 2017 • Biblical Thinking

Consumed Generation

We live in a consumed age. Those from the city busy themselves with nightlife and high-stress careers. Simpler folk from Rural Town, USA gorge themselves with fishing trips and fried foods. Introverts take to their books and movies; hardly ever looking up. Extroverts plan for parties and dinners. Men with sports and ladies with fashion.

Generalities, yes, but the picture is sure. Every ounce of our American culture has taken on various forms of self-indulgent behaviors and habits. We are consumed with our desires and sooner or later wake up realizing the slaves that we’ve become. Continue Reading

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March 14, 2017 • Thoughts on Personal Growth

When You are Hurting

When you are hurting: Pour, pour, pour into others. It’s not fair; it’s better.

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Biblical Manhood and Womanhood 50 Crucial Questions Piper and Grudem

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January 19, 2017 • Biblical Thinking

50 Questions on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood – eBook Resource

I stumbled across this refreshingly nuanced explanation and defense of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. In a day and age where the Bible is taken less and less seriously (most notably among Christians!) it is of utmost importance that we think deeply and dialogue well with people and culture. God  has always spoke to His people but we don’t listen all that well or often.

50 Crucial Questions is a short read going over many of the questions that come up when talking about this subject. It is both thorough and concise. Something that I’ve grown to enjoy about Piper and Grudem.

The issue we face in this book is how men and women should relate to each other according to the Bible. We are concerned especially with how they relate in the home and in the church. The position we take affirms the complementary differences between men and women and spells out the implications of those differences for the way men and women relate to each other in the most fulfilling way.

We defend what Larry Crabb calls “enjoying the difference,” namely, that “the sexes are distinct in what they were fundamen- tally designed to give and in what brings them the greatest joy in relationship. . . . At the deepest level, a man serves a woman differently than a woman serves a man.”

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