How Can We Be Angry and Not Sin?

Body

“God wants us to understand our anger by speaking to our souls, by contemplating the anger in silence, and then by doing the next right thing. And this will demonstrate by our acts that we trust in Yahweh, and not in our own devises.” - TGC

Discussion

The Role of “Passion” in Christian Experience

The use of the term passion has seen a huge uptick in conservative evangelical life in the past 25 years or so, roughly paralleling the sharp rise in influence of Reformed Charismatism in conservative evangelical theology and hymnody. The term passion is used in an overwhelmingly positive sense as the antidote to lethargy and ambivalence toward God and spiritual things—a problem that young, restless Christians seem perpetually to discover in previous generations.

Discussion

Lincoln, C.S. Lewis, and Our Politics of Passion

Body

“… the most troubling element in [contemporary American politics] lies beyond our mere partisan differences. It involves a distinctive politics of passion that could, if left unbridled, lead to the ruin of our experiment in republican self-government.” - Law & Liberty

Discussion

Fading Joy: Am I Seeking an Experience or a Relationship?

Reposted from Rooted Thinking.

The lights dim as the music begins to play. The energy in the crowd seems to almost crackle audibly. You feel a surge of anticipation for the songs you know, the empowering words you always hear, and the inspirational, larger-than-life people you see standing before you. At a well-designed worship service, Bible conference, or summer camp, God seems real, close, and exciting.

Discussion

Our Theology of Prayer Matters More than Our Feelings

Body

“I relished reading about prayer, talking about prayer, trying different kinds of prayer, and encouraging others in their lives of prayer. And most of all, I loved the sweet intimacy of prayer itself …. And then one day, without warning, reason, or explanation, that sense of sweet intimacy was gone.

Discussion

“Offend”–That Word Might Not Mean What You Think It Means

Body

“We must take great care that we do not sin against one another and that we do not place stumbling blocks in the way of others. However, our discipleship obligations to one another require that we say hard, uncomfortable, and sometimes emotionally distressing things to one another.” - P&D

Discussion

From the Archives – Good and Angry

They may not be many in number, but they do exist: Christians who are thoroughly confused about anger. During counseling, reading, and sermon-listening, four myths have come to my attention repeatedly. Here’s a brief, non-expert—but hopefully thought-provoking—response.

Discussion

Musing About Music

Reposted, with permission, from Theologically Driven.

WikiAnswers poses the question, “Why does music exist?” then self-replies: “Because it brings happiness to people all over the world.”

We must grant that WikiAnswers is scarcely an authoritative reference source, but it does offer a window on popular culture. It reflects that a common reason (and perhaps the most common reason) for the societal “doing” of music today is to forget the pain, grief, anxiety, dreariness, and simple ennui of life and enter an imaginary world where one can have the emotional experience of his choice—usually a happy one. Ironically, the historically central idea of “music” (fr. the Grk. μοῦσα, to muse, think, remember, or reflect) has been transformed in the last century into its own etymological opposite—an occasion, whether active or passive, for not “musing,” or, supplying the alpha privative, a venue foramusement. This is not to say that music as amusement or as a means of forgetting is always bad (see in principle Prov. 31:7), but it does reflect a total reversal of the Western tradition concerning the central purpose of music.

Of course, history only slightly improves on Wiki in terms of warrant. Still it is interesting to know that the perceived function of music from the classical period to the rise of populism was as an aid to musing and remembering, or perhaps better, as a means to creating the affective distance necessary to fostering reflection.

Discussion