The GAB December 24
Sharing the Good and Beautiful with you...
A warm welcome to you! I hope you enjoy this months selection of articles, podcasts, and music. May they point you, as ever, to our Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.
Podcasts
“Understanding the pruning that is happening with Christ. Yes, it’s hard, but there’s deep soul care work here going on. It’s about your fruitfulness” - Fyfe Blair
Fyfe Blair is a faculty member of LTI’s Selah Certificate Program in Spiritual Direction (Europe cohort). Fyfe is also the Project Lead for “The Caim" - a large garden in the small village in rural Scotland where he resides. With hands-on knowledge of horticulture, Fyfe joins Steve and Matt to share reflections between tending to a garden and tending to the garden of the soul.
A preview of Dr Ian Hamilton’s video session study ‘ Where Authentic Discipleship Begins’ on The Whole Counsel podcast.
In this episode of "The Artistic Vision" Gary and Alex interview the Rev. Dr. Hans Boersma. Boersma speaks of artists having a Sacramental vision in an asymbolic age, and how seeing the world in this way influences artistic practice. He describes the ultimate task of the artist as drawing others into the presence of God--artists are instruments of grace.
‘We are by nature grumblers and malcontents. We take offence easily, and become critical when our desires and expectations are disappointed. Paul Levy, in this week's main article, helps us to see that these tendencies aren't mere quirks, or 'weaknesses', but sins of great consequence in the church of God. Moreover, they are sins to which we are often tempted at times of great growth and kingdom advance.
Through a discussion of the beginning of Acts 6, he helps us see how this dynamic was negotiated by the apostles, and how we can take evasive action against it today.’
Articles
James Williams on neither despair nor blind optimism but a third option for believers on Gospel-Centred Discipleship:
‘Christians have hope no matter what happens. While some well-meaning believers may argue otherwise, Scripture never tells us that we will win the culture wars. The Bible never states that if Christians vote correctly or boycott the right companies, the kingdom will spread, and the church will grow. Conversely, the Scriptures warn that believers need to prepare themselves for persecution.’
Jacqui Grace traces the last 50 years of her life and evidence of God’s hand upon it:
‘I know that a change is in the air. I am unsettled again, questioning my “why’s”, being challenged to lay down some of the things I’ve been holding tightly, to let go and surrender my hopes and expectations, as well as my ego and pride. I’m asking honest questions about my motivation and my purpose.’
The team at Mockingbird share the Old Testament Bible passages that have changed their lives:
‘Moses asks the question I can’t stop asking, “Who Am I?” When I was young like Moses when he was prince of Egypt, I would’ve told you that at 35 I’d know the answer – but like Moses, I don’t. How relieving that God doesn’t answer Moses’ question, not really. Rather than manifest for Moses the million reasons why he’s good, the fire’s answer burns up the law with incendiary grace, “I will be with you.” At my most beat-up and insecure — so, basically every Monday morning — there is a voice from beyond the beyond that burns hotter than burnout. “Who am I?” “I. Am. With. You.”
Matt Croasmun on education, curiosity and abiding with Jesus:
‘Our own class ends but a handful of students linger. One with little prior exposure to the Bible asks: So is Jesus ultimately interested in people being with him? Is that the point of all of this? Is it worth all the confusion? We puzzle it over a bit. I confide that, at times, it seems to me that life is like Jesus’ parables—almost designed, it seems, to confuse us, to drive us, puzzled but hungry, to Jesus. Seems like that’s got to be at least part of it. I told them to keep their eyes and ears peeled for the next day when we will discuss John 15 and Jesus’ invitation for folks to abide in his love.’
Kori Morgan on not wanting to be a border walker:
‘I can’t leave my doctrinal convictions behind when I spend time with artists who hold different views. Similarly, I can’t check my art at the door when I go to church.
True integrity comes from being a whole person, not just a combination of parts we can turn on and off when it’s convenient. The Spirit of God makes this possible for each of us individually as well as the many members of one body.’
Music
Articles Part Two
Nadya Williams asks what are bookstores for?
‘Such warning tales remind us of the power of bookstores, though, and why we shouldn’t give up on them quite so easily yet. For if they could on occasion in the past have been used for objectionable purposes, they mostly have been a remarkable good. In particular, they can be used now to assist the project of redeeming our culture and the public imagination—and our culture quite desperately needs redeeming and renewing! In Romans 12:2, Paul notes “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
And again on the local church as a continuing education for the people of God:
‘We’re an emotional people, it seems, so loving God with the heart seems easy, at least on the surface. And yet, such a love is always going to be shallow and incomplete. A love that only leans on the heart is also going to fail that second commandment—about loving our neighbor. Why? Because sometimes our neighbors don’t seem lovable (and, by the way, oftentimes neither are we). But genuine love goes beyond just feelings and vibes, and that is true both for our love for God and for other people. This brings us to the importance of loving God with all our mind. Our theology (what we think about God) is always connected to our anthropology (what we think of other people and, therefore, how we treat them).’
Beth Claes on seasons of growth and the road to burnout:
‘If I am not at rest in Christ, I am defining myself by something else. Having an “in Christ” identity is what safeguards my peace, allows me to rest, and maintains my hope. When each of those things are marked by fragility, the only way back is through repentance. It requires the replacement of the faulty pieces of my identity with gospel truths.’
Nicholas Lewis on the beginning of his journey into Healthcare Chaplaincy:
‘I ended the phone call with the chaplain. I was overwhelmed. Maybe I shouldn't have applied for that 5 hour a week hospice chaplain position just a couple weeks ago. At least I knew now that they had most likely already rejected that application. One look at my credentials - right into the garbage can.
Far from it.’
John E Dobbs on trees telling the story:
‘In our own seasons of darkness and exposure to sin, we rely on the One who was offered on a tree in our behalf. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning and live for righteousness. By his wounds you were healed.” says First Peter 2:24.’
Leah Boden on nourishing your mind in a busy season:
‘Life feels full and brimming over. When people say, “Slow down,” it often feels absurd. How can I slow down with so much to do? But I’ve learned that slowing down doesn’t have to mean abandoning everything. It can mean slowing your movements, clearing a corner of your space, and creating room to absorb things that feed your mind and soul.’
Music Part Two
The Last Word
Jason M Baxter on why beauty matters:
‘For the next several years, as I began to become more independent, I was driven by this strange desire, and I think it’s at the root of my wanderlust. I went to every symphony I could, although I had no idea what I was doing. I biked across Prince Edward Island with my friend, Jacob, to look at light houses on precipitous coasts. At one particularly loud coast, we sat there in awe for an hour, smiling into the wind and mist, and then turning to smile at one another. I went backpacking for two weeks in Alberta. We almost got eaten by a bear.’
An Advent Poem by
This is the season
of waiting.
The winter trees
stripped bare by the wind
lift up their arms
and ask
“How long?”
Thin-limbed children
in parched
and war-torn lands
lift tear-stained faces
to the iron sky
and pray for sun,
or rain—
anything but hellfire.
Crowds roar
as Caesar ascends
another throne,
promising a peace
that will never come:
a “golden age”
ushered in
by the edge of a sword,
meanwhile,
the beggars sit
on the steps of the temples,
hoping only
for a crust of bread.
All this I ponder
as I sit in silence
in the dark of my room
abiding the longest night
with a flickering candle
while the winter trees
tap against the window.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
Grace and peace to you and yours this Christmas,
Ishah Xx