The speed of light is approximately 186,000 miles per second – a speed impossible to wrap our minds around. But the universe is massive on a scale that makes even such incomprehensible speed seem somehow not fast enough. For example, the sun is around 93 million miles away from earth. This means it takes a bit over 8 minutes for light from the sun to reach our planet. In other words, we are seeing old light. By the time we see the first light of the sun each morning, the sun itself is actually 8 minutes ahead, and when the last light of day reaches earth, the sun has in…
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You Are Being Formed
When children are young, we recognize how impressionable they are. Children pick up the world around them like sponges, and often regurgitate whatever they have been soaking in. If they see smiles, they give smiles. If they hear foul language, they speak foul language. Their world shapes them in ways that are easy to define and recognize. As we become adults, we tend to believe that we are set in stone; we are no longer malleable. The reality, however, is that all of us are constantly being formed. Formation did not cease when we became adults. We are still soaking in the world around us and adapting in various ways.…
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Spiritual Formation In A Secular World
I recently read some comments from Tim Keller on modern secularism, and how it is now seeking to evangelize Christians. Keller points out that children need to be inoculated against secular thinking, because we’re now surrounded by this evangelizing force in our daily lives: “We don’t have as much control over what our kids hear now. … So basically, they are getting catechized. So if you just take them to church and to Sunday school or youth group, that’s nothing compared to what they’re getting” While Keller’s focus is on children in this context, it applies to older generations as well. It’s not just kids who are being formed by…
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The Destroyer Of Christian Community
“Those who love their dream of Christian community more than the Christian community itself become destroyers of that Christian community.” Thus wrote (in paraphrase) Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book “Living Together.” Bonhoeffer understood something which many of us struggle to accept – Christian community isn’t easy. Especially in a modern society so used to material comfort, we don’t like when our Christian communities get uncomfortable. We want things to be easy and without conflict. Nevertheless, real, authentic Christian community is going to be messy and challenging. That is because real, authentic Christian community is like a family. We get angry at family. We disagree with family. We get hurt by…
