J.R. Briggs
Attempting to behold the miracle long enough without falling asleep
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Archive of "Faith" Category
Advent Readings: Week 1
Yesterday marked the beginning of Advent – the season where we intentionally, prayerfully, deliberately prepare our hearts and our lives for the coming of the Christ child.
Advent has been around for quite some time and is a beautiful rhythm to enter into. It's a season of reflection, contemplation, preparation and anticipation of the coming of hope. If you've never done it before, you should join many of us who are participating in these readings together. For more information check out this Wikipedia entry.
Here are some Advent readings for the season. Let me encourage you to read them with friends, family, roommates, children and/or your spouse. This rhythm doesn't take long, but it does help us engage our hearts and souls with the hope of Christmas. (I'll post the readings for the week on the following four Monday mornings).
Monday 12/1: Romans 13:11-14
Tuesday 12/2: John 18:36-37
Wednesday 12/3: Psalm 24:7-10
Thursday 12/4: Luke 4:10-19
Friday 12/5: Isaiah 62:10-12
Saturday 12/6: Psalm 62:5-8Organized non-religion?
Check out this fascinating article (thanks, John).
A dare for Christmas
My brother is passionate about providing people with clean drinking water.
This Christmas he has a challenge.
Check out this video he created.A visual representation of the Psalms
My friend Kjersten from Colorado took some great shots with her camera on a fall hike and artistically incorporated those pictures into a familiar prayer by the Psalmist.
Check them out here.Tuesday mornings: spontaneous coffee shop conversation
Last Tuesday morning I was waiting to meet someone at a coffee shop in Lansdale when I noticed a guy reading a pamphlet titled "Islam and Christianity." I asked him what he was learning and what his motivations were for reading a pamphlet like that. He explained to me that he believed in Jesus, but wanted to know more of the similarities than the differences between the two religions. He told me that he is believes in Jesus, but isn’t a Christian – and doesn’t desire to be. Brian told me he is much more New Age in approach, relying on the powers and energies of the world. [It was apparent that he has a very syncretistic faith, mixing and matching certain elements of different religions in order to make up his own, which is becoming more and more common in our culture.]
As we talked a Pakistani woman named Zanara looked up from her notes she was studying for her medical exam, turned around and said, "That’s really cool…I’m a Muslim and its good to hear people are wanting to know more about the truth of Islam." Zanara told us her story and how she and her family are practicing Ramadan (Muslim holy month of fasting) this month.
Brian and I asked more questions of each other and of Zanara, which resulted was a 30 minute conversation about faith and where we all fit into it as humans. They asked me why I was a Christian and I told them about Jesus and the cross and the point of Church and its purpose, role and function on the earth. They were intrigued and both said that they wanted to know more about Renew.
Brian was most intrigued by it all, saying that he’s used to Christians judging him and putting down other religions, not willing to ask more questions and learn more. We shook hands as he was leaving and said, "Hey, I’m sorry I judged you. Maybe I’ve judged Christianity by a few small interactions I’ve had with some. Your explanation of following Jesus is intriguing. We should stay in touch and meet here and talk again. What’s your email?"
I love these conversations but I’m sometimes overwhelmed by the fact that there is so much need for the expression of a clear and compelling gospel in our area. Pray for Brian and Zanara and for opportunties for future interactions and conversations with them.
Moby and Faith Part II
To hear the second part of the Moby interview click here and then go to ‘Christianity and Celebrity.’
What Do You Believe But Cannot Prove?
Last week, my father-in-law turned me on to a book called “What We Believe But Cannot Prove: Today’s Leading Thinkers on Science in an Age of Certainty” Edited by John Brockman.
The concept: identify 109 of the world’s leading thinkers in diverse fields (psychology, religion, history, physics, biology, journalism, etc), ask them to answer the question, ‘What do you believe, but cannot prove?’ and have them write their answer is three pages or less.
An absolutely fascinating book.
Their answers ranged from intelligent design to human cognition to the importance of faith and our health.It made me think, ‘What if there was a book out there that dealt with this question only in the realm of spiritual faith?’ I think it would be an intriguing concept to think about that specifically from a Judeo-Christian perspective.
The answers couldn’t simply be “God, Jesus, the Bible” type answers.
They had to be more specific (i.e. the Trinity, the virgin birth, how God deals with the Jewish people, etc) – those questions that are just so thick and huge that we could spend our entire lives wrestling with these questions.How might you answer that question specifically?
What do you believe in matters concerning God and life that cannot be proven?
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