Since I’m sick and lacking much energy to do much else other than the essential things in life (blogging not being one of them), I encourage you to read Kari’s thoughts on reading, and why it stirs our souls so much. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Honey for our Souls", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2007/11/01/honey-for-our-souls/" });

“What we suffer from … is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays, the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert — himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought to not doubt — the Divine Reason.” (emphasis mine) –(G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (Garden City, NY: Image Books Doubleday...

We can’t ignore Joel Osteen, though I wish we could. His “church” in Houston hosts more than 35,000 attendees each Sunday, and more than 7 million viewers watch his messages on TV each week (no need to wear a cross, just put on an IWJO lapel). While Osteen’s message is far from the biblical Gospel Jesus Himself preached, people are clamoring for his self-help mantras. His message appeals to the longings of the natural mind — we want money and happiness, but we do not want God Himself. The gifts are more beautiful and compelling than the Giver. We want what God...

Kari is continuing her retelling of our story, “The Road to Santa Clara,” detailing our experiences in leaving all for a ministry opportunity a few years ago. The lessons learned along the way have proved to be invaluable, and although we wouldn’t sign up for it again, we wouldn’t trade it for the world. It is a redemptive story of God’s sustaining grace and the depth of friendship in the midst of confusion and frustrating circumstances. The entire story is now up: Ch. 1: The Phone Call | Ch. 2: The U-turn | Ch. 3: The Jeep | Ch. 4: The Apartment | Ch. 5: The Meeting | Ch. 6: The Rack...

Monday night I arrive home from class to find a box awaiting me. It was books the books I bought from the DesiringGod special $5/book sale back in late June. I was among 11,000 orders than day (they normally get about 100 daily), so I understand the delay. It was worth the wait. (And by the way, a disclaimer: I looked at the box of books and then to Kari and said, “You are worth more than all my books; I’m not opening these tonight. I’d rather be with you.” We were able to catch up from our days and the books waited until today to be sorted out.) Now the books of John...

Christian Audio has made available a great free resource this month: The Life of David Brainerd (Unabridged) by Jonathan Edwards as a free audiobook. Be sure to use the coupon code OCT2007 I cannot recommend this book more highly. In fact, if I ever get my copy back, after someone borrowed it , I will read this book again, and again, and again. For now, I’ll listen to it. This book was chiefly compiled and expanded from Brainerd’s own daily journal by Jonathan Edwards, who was affected mightily by the young missionary. Although Brainerd died at the young age of 29 — of...

“The Chinese join two characters to form a single pictograph for busyness: heart and killing. This is stunningly incisive. The heart is the place the busy life exacts its steepest toll.” – Mark Buchanan, The Rest of God SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Busy?", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2007/10/01/busy/" });

Justin Taylor brings us this quote from C.J. Mahaney’s book Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God (pp. 49-50), about transitioning one’s soul during the commute home from work. It struck me as powerful, practical, and very effective for being essentially a small thing. Seeking to do this has had great impact on our home life, and it is easy to tell when I haven’t paused and calmed my soul to be “all there” at home after a long day in class or at work. Let’s strive to be better husbands and fathers. Here it is: When our first two children were still quite young,...

Owen Strachan recently wrote this thought-provoking post: Seeking Honest Answers: Are You a Christian? …. Here is a very short list of questions to ask those who claim to be saved but who show little evidence of such commitment. It’s not exhaustive but is intended to help start conversation. Do you love God? In your heart, do you desire to follow Him, worship Him, and obey Him? Does your professed love for God stretch into action? Does it have any practical effect on your life? Would others characterize you as one who loves God? Do you adore God? Do you want to adore Him? Do...

Six years ago Kari was stuck in Birmingham, AL with about 15 others coming home from a short-term missions trip in Brazil. Their plane was rushed to land and all their items left on-board for four days in wake of the World Trade Center attacks. I was on a runway in a plane in Atlanta headed home with about 40 others (in our group), and we too had to halt our travel plans. We all walked off the plane, confused, checking voicemail, looking at the TV monitors in the airport, trying to figure out what was going on. (To the right is Kari holding up a paper the next morning in Birmingham.) September...