10 Oct /cul•tured :: the art of engaging
The world around us is ever-changing and, at times, can feel as if it’s spinning out of control. As believers in Jesus, we must discipline ourselves to set our hope in eternity and to rest in the sovereignty of God. However, we must also learn to be “in the world but not of the world.” How do we engage the culture around us? How do we think well about relevant, current issues in order that we can speak truth?
This monthly blog post is designed to help us think well, to root ourselves in truth, and to “be ready to give an answer for the hope that we have.”
Media :: Arts
5 Ways the Church Can Make Great Art Again,
-David Ryan Gutierrez, Relevant Magazine.
“If the Church is going to reach the current generation and those to come, it must engage culture with more than cover bands and cults of personality.
We must rebuild our creative heart. We must reclaim our place as creative leader in the story of humanity.”
Economics :: Politics
The Price Isn’t Quite Right: Our Money-Hungry Need for More
-Paul Maxwell, DesiringGod.org
“We don’t really know what kind of people we are becoming. We want more. And we gladly avoid eye contact with the devil who holds out the carrot which he will never allow us to reach: satisfaction. That is me. And that is you. I would trade my vision of the one who gave me legs for the one who is willing to pay me a nickel to dance.”
Social Issues :: Cultural Changes
-Brian Smith, Athletes in Action.
“Who knows what motives ultimately drove these men to have this moment, but I do know that their interaction together illustrates what the gospel looks like when lived out. Their dialogue produced the aroma of redemption in a sports context, a post-game discussion manifesting the refreshing life of forgiveness promised in Christ.”
Why My Marriage Will Never Be Enough
-Rachel Awtrey, RachelAwtrey.com
“We glamorize love, romanticize it and look forward to it. We have Hollywood to thank for this. We watch Cinderella and see her in all of her misery, she meets a handsome man, she runs, he follows and they live happily ever after
*cue credits*.
But, just because love happens in real life, like we see in the movies, there’s one major difference. The credits don’t roll. Our story isn’t over. You see, we were created to never find any satisfaction or completion in this world, including the love we find in it.”
The Church Can’t Ignore Racial Injustice in America
-Relevant Magazine
“Lecrae: I think race issues are a festering wound in America. It’s a condition that we have to live with—there’s not really a ‘fix.’ It’s not really that there’s a fix as much as the acknowledgment that you have a condition. And how do we live in light of this condition?
My knees are bad. I wake up every morning knowing my knees are bad. There’s nothing that can be done about that—you can’t give me 20-year old knees again. So now I have to live understanding that I can’t do what I used to; the way I function changes.”
-John Piper, DesiringGod.org
“In other words, it goes both ways. Physical reality affects the heart. And the heart affects physical reality (the brain). Therefore, this horrific news from brain research about the enslaving power of pornography is not the last word. God has the last word. The Holy Spirit has the greatest power. We are not mere victims of our eyes and our brains. I know this both from Scripture and from experience.”