Torrey Gazette is the combined work of everyday Christians blogging on books, family, art, and theology. So pull up a seat and join us. Family Table rules apply. Shouting is totally acceptable.
In a culture that is hyper concerned with crafting a presentable self through social media, yet finds itself bankrupt when it comes to truthful self-reflection and understanding, learning to remember well and speak our lives truthfully is a vital practice to be relearned.
The Church is the gathering together of a people who are self-conscious pilgrims awaiting their heavenly home (or, it should be). Our home is an eschatological reality, but it is not entirely future.
What is necessary is not the creation of symbols. The symbols (like marriage) are already there. What is necessary is that we have our eyes opened to the Biblical symbolism that pervades our world and that we view the world through that lens rather than the symbol-averse of late-modernity.
The disordered desires of a people result not only in individual sins but ultimately take shape in the world we inhabit. Too often we limit the scope of our sin to our personal relationship with God or (a little better) to the ways our sins affect our closest relationships. Now, while sin certain does have a (powerful) affect on those things, Smith points out the cultural and cosmic effects of sin as well.
As the gospel reaches into the cracks of the fallen, depraved and defeated, the firm foundation of Christ’s kingdom is laid. This is postmillennialism.
To reduce the gathering of God’s elect to worship the triune God to merely a time of self-help is a great tragedy. When the people of God gather to worship they are doing much more than simply edifying their individual relationships with Jesus.
Ultimately, we come to learn the ways that God works like we have just been doing here, searching the scriptures. Too often we assume that our current categories of evaluatiion are the ones that God is using. God has revealed to us in His word the ways that he deals with His creation. We should look to saturate our minds with God's word in such a way that we can view the world through Biblical eyes and evaluate the world in wisdom.
Unwrapping the Greatest Gift seems an excellent addition to Advent centered households with children.
As you may or may not have noticed St. Anne’s Manor went radio silent last week and didn’t publish any blog posts. I felt the need to explain why before I just reassumed a regular blogging schedule this week.
There are the seasons with weekly Steelers games and their appropriate jerseys/shirts. There is the much longer hockey season with its multiple games a week when we wear our "hockey shirts!" (Kenzie's phrase of choice). And there are the daily moments of "naked baby" which typically involves some lack of clothing on the part of our children running throughout the house.
Crossway’s ESV Reader’s Bible is both stylish and reasonably practical. Neither of these things can be undervalued. The Scripture flows wonderfully with absolutely no extra material. Tack on the common book order and the ESV Reader’s Bible is the most accessible Bible for the average reader.
The Lord has seen fit to bless me and my family this year with many books. Now it is time to give back a little bit. So instead of just one prize for one giveaway, this giveaway will have four winners with a plethora of prizes.
Q42. Since Christ has died for us,
why do we still have to die?
A. Our death does not pay the debt of our sins.
Rather, it puts an end to our sinning
and is our entrance into eternal life.
Despite my growing affinity for hardbacks this edition does seem as if it would be better served for personal use (with respect to style) in a softcover form. However, this edition seems excellent for those seeking a hardcover for personal use or churches seeking a high standard pew Bible.
Admittedly, the dichotomy has a limited range of usefulness but I want to flex a little within its arena. As an individual who has struggled with being pertinent and occasional flights of fancy concerning my self-worth this dichotomy has become something of a benchmark for taking thoughts captive.
Alby’s Amazing Book has been a happy read in our household. The children have enjoyed the illustrations and our explanation of the Biblical scenes depicted.
The Christmas Promise is a fun (just wait till you see the angels “celebrating” as they announce the birth of Christ to the shepherds) and extremely well illustrated attempt to communicate the main theme of Mathew’s gospel (while retaining elements of Luke’s gospel).
"The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it."
