Skip to main content

I'm ruined

So I have always had a place in my heart (right next to Jesus of course) for the Christian literature that fills the bookshelves of Christian bookstores in our Christian country. Okay, that was a little sarcastic. But really, I have enjoyed many Christian Living books over my years and particularly found mysef drawn to the "relationship" ones. Since I have been traveling so much recently, I haven't had the chance to read any recently. A girlfriend of mine loaned me one of these books that week and last night I started reading it. I realized within the first few pages that I would not be able to read this book as I had in the past. That my understanding of Christian living as a whole has changed. I now cringe at straight line bible applications. For example, the story of Ruth is not meant to be a prescriptive account of how young Christian women should pursue older Christian men. It is a descriptive account of God playing out His redemptive story in the lives of His people. But we focus the bible on ourselves, as opposed to the true focus of every verse in the old and new testaments: Jesus.
So anyways, this whole biblcal redemptive narrative theology is causing me to pause as I read these Christian self-help books. They are usually written with great intentions for growth and godliness but the authors seem to misunderstand the purpose of God's word. Anyways, biblical theology: love it, it's ruining my nice little North American Christian culture bubble, but that's just how it's going to be.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

a good sign

I live near a long thin park called Parque Forestal. It's really quite a nice park and it has a long stretch of a lane for riding bikes or jogging. And since I have a fear of riding bikes in this city, I jog. It's really pleasent. I usually listen to radioDisney on my mp3 player and jog along to Jonas Brothers, Beyonce, or Julieta Venegas. Great stuff. Yesterday on my jog I noticed that the trees were beginning to change. Fall has finally arrived and I am glad for the change. But as I was jogging through the falling leaves, I began to think about how much I like fall. And I had this special moment when I realized that I want to be here in Santiago, jogging through this park for many falls to come. After the past few weeks of cultural adjustment being a little more painful than normal, this was a nice thought to have.

la musica de chile

For a moment I would liek to ponder the music of Chile. You see, I listen to just about everything (except non-live jazz). Even country, although in this category I limit myself to Dixie Chicks and The Judds (only the old stuff). Here in Chile there is really only a few types of music. One, the corny romantic music that belongs on programs like "Delilah at night". Being the hopeless romantic that I am, I love this type of music. Another type of music is Reggaton (not sure about the spelling, but do I ever spell words correctly?). This is Latin America´s response to Hip Hop. Very good for dancing. I also love the fact that most Reggaton is in Spanglish, my favorite language. There is this other type of music that I like to call the "Corny Electric Piano Musica". Too corny for me and I can only take so much electric piano in one song. I am amazed at how much Englsih music is played here. And people sing to it. they actually know the words, but they have no clue what t

murderous thoughts for cats

I got home from work today, exhausted, only to face the horrible whining of the neighborhood cats outside my window. They used to be really loud, and then in the cold of the winter they disappeared. But now they seem to have returned in full force. I sure hope I can sleep tonight!