I’m listening to a book called Low Anthropology (by David Zahl). In the book David talks about the tyranny of positivity. The tyranny of positivity is stuff like, a 15 year old kid gets last place in a tennis tournament, and while driving home the kid’s dad says, “Don’t let this get you down. You’re […]
Think of a leader. Someone you actually know. Like a teacher. A principal. An elder in your church. A police officer. A fireman. A business owner. A mentor. A parent. An upstanding citizen in your neighborhood. Think about their family. Think about their spouse. Now, ask yourself, do they have another spouse ? Do they […]
Yes. It’s an inescapably peculiar reality, but we do indeed encourage everyone (including children) to read the Bible. Which means, sooner or later, they will perhaps read the following… A certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow at the command of the Lord, “Strike me, please.” But the man refused […]
I was recently reading some ancient literature about Jesus of Nazareth, and to be perfectly honest there were some things that made me uncomfortable. For instance, Jesus of Nazareth was from NAZARETH! That place was seedy! It’s hard to imagine anything good ever emerging from Nazareth! And it seems like anyone from Nazareth should probably […]
Yesterday we had a big meeting to imaginatively inhabit some of Isaiah’s prophecy. We envisaged an itsy-bitsy fragile shoot growing out of a rotting stump. We assumed that nothing good could ever come from this stump, and this tiny sign of life did not in the least persuade us that wholesale redemption was going to […]
PROTECTING SELF As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, “Saul has struck down […]
The most famous, influential, important person in history. We didn’t even know He had arrived. We didn’t know He had arrived because the announcement was made by a deranged vagabond, and His arrival was in hicksville. Moreover, beyond the broadcasts of the deranged vagabond, the only other form of announcement came via astrology. This announcement […]
I have a rock climbing buddy named Roth who loves to read. As we’ve ‘talked books’ he’s mentioned that certain books ‘really do something to him.’ There are hilarious books, riveting books, inspiring books, intriguing books, ruminative books, etc. But then there are books that intimately impact you, and convert you to a cause, and […]
“The more stupid one is, the closer one is to reality. The more stupid one is, the clearer one is. Stupidity is brief and artless, while intelligence squirms and hides itself. Intelligence is unprincipled, but stupidity is honest and straightforward.” – The Brothers Karamazov [Fyodor Dostoevsky] Tyler’s commentary… truth is often disdained and dismissed in […]
Once upon a time God hosted a huge party. A lot of ‘important & impressive’ people were invited, but none of them came to the party. Some of the ‘important & impressive’ people declined to attend because they were preoccupied with renovating and decorating their houses. Others didn’t show up because they were busy with […]