Readings in Bible and Theology, History, Philosophy, Science, Literature, Art, & Contemporary Culture

Learn and Grow with Christian Thought Leaders including Dallas Willard, John Eldredge, R. C. Sproul, Randy Alcorn and many, many more.

Explore significant ideas, people, and events from a Christian worldview in a format that fits your busy life. A Faith and Culture Devotional will help bridge the artificial gap between learning truth and loving God…

And from Amazon:

Explore significant ideas, people, and events from a Christian worldview in a format that fits your busy life. A Faith and Culture Devotional will help bridge the artificial gap between learning truth and loving God—inspiring you with the wonder at the genius, power, and beauty of Jesus Christ.

Kelly Monroe Kullberg and Lael Arrington offer a daily guided tour through many of the paintings, laboratories, rock arenas, great books, mass movements, and private lives that have shaped the ways in which we think and live. This educational devotional will inspire us to go beyond critique to creativity as we discover the wonder of God in seven subjects—theology, history, philosophy, science, literature, art, and contemporary culture.

The book’s editors Kelly and Lael have also created a blog and will be posting regular updates with more insights along the same vein as their book.  Be sure to check it out, it sounds really interesting!

Anyways, I found an interesting passage that really resonates with me.  It’s about God’s Will, and how it is possible that everything happens according to God’s Will, even though we have free will.  This has always been something that I’ve had a little trouble wrapping my head around, but in Book 2, Chapter 3 (“The Shocking Alternative”), C. S. Lewis reasons through this in a way that makes it sound so simple:

But anyone who has been in authority knows how a thing can be in accordance with your will in one way and not in another.  It might be quite sensible for a mother to say to the children, ‘I’m not going to go and make you tidy the schoolroom every night.  You’ve got to learn to keep it tidy on your own.’  Then she goes up one night and finds the Teddy bear and the ink and the French Grammar all lying in the grate.  That is against her will.  She would prefer the children to be tidy.  But on the other hand, it is her will which has left the children free to be untidy.  The same thing arises in any regiment, or trade union, or school.  You make a thing voluntary and then half the people do not do it.  That is not what you willed, but your will has made it possible.

Why didn’t I think of it that way before?!

One of the most calming things about tonight is that I decided to light a candle. Again, I love candles, and lighting them is something I enjoy, but I just never seem to have the time to light one. If I even think of it, I usually need to leave sometime soon, so I know I’m gonna have to blow it out, so I just don’t light them much. But I did tonight, and it got me thinking.

For something that can be so dangerous, fire is truly beautiful. There are sometimes when fire can be a raging nightmare, and consume everything in its path. But when carefully watched, maintained, and fed, it can offer light and comfort. The flame from my candle is about an inch high, and it points straight up. Sometimes my breath catches in it, and it wavers, but it goes back to its steady stance and offers me warms and a relaxing aroma (not just the scent of the candle, but the smell of the flame itself).

Fire can be misused, such as arson, or it can lose control and devour helpless and harmless creatures, like a forest fire. But it can be used for so many good things too.

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-19

I see our passion for Christ to be like fire. Much like my little flame, our faith can warm us and lighten our spirits. It can be used as a beacon when we are pummeled by the hardships that life throws our way, or it can be a small, quiet reminder of all that is bright in our world. When misused, our faith can cause others to be turned off by Christianity, or it can be the excuse for certain ways of thinking and acting. Our faith can consume us so that we may grow like the dead that is fertilized by the ashes of previous dead things, or it can take control so that we lose track of the reason for the faith to begin with.

And most importantly of all, no matter how small your flame is, you can always share it with someone else. If I take my candle to yours, then you will have a fire as well, and my fire won’t be diminished. From one flame grows another, and we both can enjoy the light. May we all join together with lighted candles and rejoice in the warmth from our Father.