1. Worldview Academy. We had a great summer, ministering to over 1000 students. We spent time in Missouri, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and Philly, and some good spots in between. A few observations:
- Sexual confusion is at an all-time high, even among these Christian teens.
- Moral relativism is a huge issue as well.
- Many of our churched kids have no idea what the good news really is.
- Our students-- the ones raised in the Church and educated in the context of Christian homes-- have no better idea of how to apply Scripture to contemporary issues than those who have never read the Bible. This is a problem of both hearing and application, I believe.
2. What I Read this summer.
- Flannery O'Connor's short stories from A Good Man is Hard to Find. Returning to these dark, quirky stories is always a great joy. She causes me to think more deeply and carefully about the Kingdom of God.
- Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder. Twenty lessons from history in 20 short chapters. Wonderful book.
- NT Wright, The Case for the Psalms. May be our next Wednesday Men book!
3. What I Watched. Movies worth revisiting (only one is completely new):
- Incredibles 2
- Paterson
- A Ghost Story
- The Unknown Girl
- The Fall
- Babette's Feast
4. Two Things that Made Me Think this summer.
- The Bible Museum in DC.
Wow! The great documents of the Reformation, the wonderful early bound editions of the Bible, cool translation stuff, old artifacts, neat exhibits on the impact of the Bible in America, and all sorts of stuff . . . . Highly recommend a visit.
- This picture of Renard Matthews:
Pretty typical American teen, except he is dead. He was murdered in New Orleans in late June.
This is how his family asked the funeral home to prepare his body. Pretty cool they could do it; pretty sad that this is his life.
We are such consumers of culture and entertainment.
May I move away from this more and more!
No comments:
Post a Comment