Ecclesiastical Myopia

Perhaps the most remarkable statement I ever heard a man utter from the pulpit was: "He has a penurious epistemology, which tends to be myopic."

Excellent article by R.C. Sproul highlighting America�s tendency towards ethnocentrism and our arrogance towards the rest of the world. These are attitudes we must overcome as Christians before we can realize Christ�s vision of a unified Body. America isn�t that special; it is temporal while Christ�s Kingdom is both very real and very eternal. And for anyone who thought America was something special, it isn�t going to be for long, according to Peter Hitchens:

�The Night We Waved Goodbye to America�Our Last Best Hope on Earth�

This article was eye-opening; especially coming from the perspective of a British writer. That said, I want to emphasize that I will support our next president and I don�t believe that it is healthy to trade in doom-and-gloom scenarios of despair. This world is not my home and I am just passing through. My King is of Heaven and He is going to win in the end.

Google Flu Trends

I love what technology and the information age can do for us. This latest project from Google.org is a prime example of leveraging the information economy in innovative ways for the good of society. And it is just plain cool.

Something else that is cool: WHO DONE IT (live action �Clue�)

Watch that video. It is amazing. Really messes with your mind!

Any relationship has to have face time in order to grow and deepen. Its true in parent-child relationships, its true in marriages, its true in friendships. There must be communication often and in depth. And this same principle applies to our relationship with God.

But God is not a friend you can call up on the phone or a family member you can sit down at the kitchen table with. God is somewhere out there and is a great, big, kinda scary being, and is a non-physical spirit. How can we commune with him?

I think different people have different ways. I like to hike. To just take off into the wilderness, where I can appreciate the beauty of his creation, collect my thoughts, and talk out loud to him without anyone else hearing.Its amazing how I will get out there, start telling him about my struggles, and he will bring to mind Scripture to point my thoughts in a completely different direction. He has a great way of gently guiding my thoughts away from my tiny problems to his overarching priorities.

Case in point: This evening, I needed some answers. I needed some specific direction on where to go in a breakout session I am speaking at on Thursday about Quest. I went out hiking for a couple hours and started laying this out before God. He pointed me back to my own heart, speaking to it with some Scripture, then pointed me towards some interesting thoughts for this breakout session. Honestly, I would have never come up with these ideas on my own. But the work of the Spirit is to illumine Scripture and enable me to understand it better.

Getting alone with God is crucial. How you do it is up to you.

What works best for you?

Did you know that I have been blogging since 2005? Over the weekend I read a number of my posts from the last few years and found it to be a fascinating story of how I got to be who I am today: The development of my ideas and passions, the struggles and the triumphs, and all the wacky little subplots along the way.

• I shared some of my struggles along with some key insights into the nature of God. It’s fascinating how my day exactly a year later (the past Friday) ended up being almost exactly the same sort of struggle. So these truths are very a propos for me to remember right now.
• I found several links related to fatherhood, and the importance of fathers raising their sons right.
• David Seah told about his approach to learning new topics. I applied that topic quite successfully this past year to learning about photography; in fact, you can see my “Spellbook” in the header image on the left.
• The story of a modern day military hero inspired me with a renewed vision of manliness.