Aaron Armstrong's Blog, page 56
February 6, 2018
Links I like (2/06)
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Welcoming the Wandering SonScott James:
My son broke my heart the other day. He had just finished reading one of my favorite books, The Yearling, and he was telling me how the closing scenes affected him. If you’ve not yet read this classic, I’ll spare you the main spoilers but suffice it to say, the young protagonist Jody Baxter experiences significant family strife near the end of the story. Furious and feeling betrayed, Jody runs away only to find that life away from his family is even m...
February 5, 2018
Weird things writers brag about
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Because many writers tend to be terrible self-promoters, you might think writers to be humble. After all, writers are focused on the craft, not the accolades or the sales. (Definitely not the sales.) But this is less true than some might think. At least, as it applies to me. Which is, I hope, an indication of some level of self-awareness. Anyway…
I’m an irregularly published author. My first book came out in 2011. The second in 2012. Then there was nothing for a while.1 So it’s not like I’m...
February 4, 2018
Delight, the Law and Leviticus
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We’re just around the time when many people have fallen off the rails with their Bible reading plans. Genesis was solid; Exodus started strong but by the end was getting challenging. And then, Leviticus. Laws. More laws. Very specific laws about every area of life.
For us, in our current context, these laws seem strange. They don’t fit with how we relate to God, nor to one another. So we tend to ignore them, which is so different than the psalmist who wrote, “I will delight in your statutes”...
February 3, 2018
Weekend reading (2/03)
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For Tom Brady, football has become religion. No, really.Bob Smietana:
Reflections on the MegachurchBrady and his New England Patriots teammates are favored to win Super Bowl LII, which would be their sixth NFL championship in eight tries under Brady and Coach Bill Belichick.
But Brady is after something bigger than football, said his friend Gotham Chopra — something bigger than wins and losses.
Brady’s on a spiritual quest.
Ed Stetzer:
Obviously, for too many pastors, church attendance is...
February 2, 2018
What I read in January
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I am always consuming books, whether they’re physical, digital or audio. Every month, I like to share a breakdown of everything I read, including the books I abandoned. I do this because it gives me an opportunity to introduce you to books you might not have had an opportunity to read while practicing the art of writing concise book reviews.
In December, I read 9 titles to completion, and started several others that I have yet to complete. Here’s what I read:
Justice League Vol. 7: Darkseid...February 1, 2018
Links I like (2/01)
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The Proper Use and Abuse of Hypocrisy-CheckingDerek Rishmawy:
Everybody’s an inconsistent hypocrite. At least, that’s the lesson the internet is teaching us in 2018. (In case we hadn’t learned it from Scripture already.) I’m referring, of course, to the ever-present (and much commented-on) practice of hypocrisy-juking and various forms of whataboutism.
I was struck by it once again yesterday, when a number of conservative friends began to (correctly) point out the relative silence of progre...
January 31, 2018
Pause, reflect, and start again
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I’ve been working on some crazy huge writing projects for the last six months. One, you found out about last week thanks to Brian tweeting about it. Devotional Doctrine is, as far as my editors and I are concerned, done.
Content is locked.
Caveats are caveated.
Endnotes are endnoted.
Marketing plans are planned.
Final review by one person on the team is in progress, then we’re off to design for release in a couple of months (yep, we’re working fast on this).
But that’s not all. Yesterday, I...
January 30, 2018
Links I like (1/30)
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They Spoke of Me: How Jesus Unlocks the Old TestamentMy friend Brandon has a new book out, cowritten by Everett Berry. I’m only just getting into it, but I like what I’ve read so far.
3 Ways to Learn from the Joyously Annoying Memory of ChildrenMichael Kelley:
One of the most often repeated phrases at the Kelley house right now is, “But you said…”
You can fill in the blank afterward. For us, it usually has to do with a dessert or a “special drink” (something other than water). Kids are lik...
January 29, 2018
He’s done the impossible
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I never thought I’d see the day when the Canadian media would start talking about Canada’s position on abortion. Or rather, it’s lack thereof.
See, Canada is one of the only countries in the world with no restrictions on abortion. This isn’t because there are very progressive laws in place. It’s explicitly the opposite. There are no laws in place, with the preexisting ones struck down in 1988 following the Supreme Court’s decision in R v Morgentaler. Since then, it’s been a more-or-less unto...
January 28, 2018
Six marks of wisdom
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I’m trying something a little different this year. Along with my regular Bible reading, I’m trying to spend a few minutes each day working through Timothy Keller’s God’s Wisdom for Navigating Life, a devotional focused on the Book of Proverbs. For the last week and change, the book has been focused on how we become wise, and in it, Keller offers six positive characteristics—six marks of wisdom drawn from Proverbs 3:
Trust in God. “You can believe in God yet still trust something else for you...
