-
Follow Your Heart: Good or Bad Advice?
I grew up in the 1990s, the heyday of Disney princesses, love stories with happy endings, and the self-esteem movement. I’m almost certain I owned a t-shirt that said “Flower Power” on the front in big, bold letters, and I wore jelly sandals during the hot summer months. I loved figure skating and inspirational stories–remember Chicken Soup for the Soul? And then Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul? One of the most popular phrases of the 1990s was “follow your heart,” an outpouring of the feel-good culture in which I was raised. As a young person, I didn’t take any issues with this idea. To me, “follow your heart” meant…
-
On Getting Bored with the Internet
Something has been gnawing at me the last couple weeks. For years, I’ve followed Tim Challies’ website. I really enjoy his “A La Carte” posts, in which he shares articles from around the internet that he’s read and appreciated. Usually when I check out his “A La Carte” posts, I find at least a couple articles that interest me as well. Lately, however, I haven’t been able to find any. I’ve increasingly felt like I’ve read them all before, even though they’re labeled ‘new.’ The internet, in general, doesn’t seem to be holding my attention like it used to (except Facebook, which drives me crazy). I’ve seen it all before,…
-
A Small Book with Big Ideas: Does It Matter What I Believe? by Samuel James
For this month’s book, I chose Does It Matter What I Believe? by Samuel James. I chose this particular book for two reasons: one, I think Samuel James is an excellent writer. I’ve been reading his articles online for a few years and find them to be insightful and helpful in navigating our current cultural trends. I admire how he engages with modern-day issues from a biblical worldview and expresses his ideas in a way that’s easy to understand; I don’t do this well at all, and I’m thankful for writers who can and do. And two, I was hoping this small book would distill the big ideas of Christianity…
-
Contributing to the Conversation: “Calling Evil Good: The Lie of ‘Christian’ Rock and Roll” by Spencer Smith
I grew up during the era in which contemporary Christian music’s popularity skyrocketed, eclipsing hymns and choral music in church worship services and on the radio. I remember when Switchfoot released their first big single, “New Way to Be Human,” and I loved (and still love) the song “Love Song for a Savior” by Jars of Clay. I sang “Breakfast in Hell” and “Shine” at summer camp, both Newsboys hits, and I can still sing all the words to “Let It Reign” by Michael W. Smith. I also remember when our youth group worship leader chose “Come Thou Fount” as our closing song one evening at youth group. I marveled…
-
Strawberry Cake and Cultivating a Biblical Worldview
Imagine you are making your friend a birthday cake. Your friend happens to love strawberries, so you decide that you are going to make her the most strawberry strawberry cake you can imagine. You go to the grocery store and buy strawberries to decorate the top of the cake, strawberry jelly to put between the cake layers, and strawberry extract to flavor the frosting and the cake. You even buy strawberry ice cream so you can offer your friend strawberry cake a la mode. Strawberry, strawberry, and more strawberry. Now, imagine that instead of making cake layers that taste like strawberry, you make chocolate cake layers instead. Chocolate is your…