Matthew R. Green's Blog, page 105

An Alternative Prayer

Someone on Facebook recently posted a prayer asking God to bless, heal, and provide for oneself, family, and friends. Having been rereading The Divine Conspiracy lately, it sort of struck me oddly. I couldn’t help but think of Jesus’ words on the Sermon on the Mount (paraphrased), “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute […]

A Brief Look at God’s Take on Creation

“So we must understand that God does not ‘love’ us without liking us – through gritted teeth – as ‘Christian’ love is sometimes thought to do. Rather, out of the eternal freshness of his perpetually self-renewed being, the heavenly Father cherishes the earth and each human being upon it. The fondness, the endearment, the unstintingly […]

Make Good Art

So I’m sitting here on the computer, worn out from the last few days and in the midst of a string of games of Bejeweled (it’s like Candy Crush Saga, but significantly less evil. Still evil, but significantly less) when I think to myself, “This is a giant waste of time. God, what should I […]

There’s Guilt, and Then There’s Guilt

English is a really weird language. My German teacher in high school commented that, when he immigrated to America at nine years old, he thought we were crazy when he had to figure out how to deal with thought, though, rough, and through. I rather don’t blame him. One language quirk that I’ve thought about […]

The Emotional Heart

As of the time I write this, more than 80 people have been killed in protests in Egypt as people attempt to wrest control over the nation from one another. Locally, a young man pulled a knife on a streetcar and ordered everyone off, only to be shot dead by police. Of course, there is also […]

The Visions You Already Have

I was reading through Willard’s Renovation of the Heart again recently as I thought it might have some worthwhile thoughts for my dissertation. I got to thinking about his VIM model – you must have a vision, the intention, and the means to accomplish any kind of task, including self-improvement and, in this case, spiritual transformation. There’s […]

Projection Junction… What’s Your Function…

I’d like to start out by apologizing for the terrible, terrible title. Really. I’m so sorry. Christians often end up in conversations and musings, it seems, about other viewpoints and beliefs. I just landed in one this last week, which, I have to confess, I regret a bit. It got me thinking about how we […]

Too Much of a Good Thing?

I sometimes feel like Christians are obsessed. It’s not like they’re obsessed with something bad exactly, but isn’t is possible that obsession is problematic regardless of whatever it is you’re obsessed with? I’ve been a part of a number of churches and worked in numerous Christian organizations. For that matter, I’m a pastor’s kid, so […]

God and Drive

I once was talking to a pastor about his work habits. It sort of came around to a question of what drove him, and he commented, “I don’t want to get to heaven and have God say to me [in an exasperated voice], ‘What were you doing?’” I’ve thought about his comment many times over […]

Theory and Practice in the Spiritual Life

I’m a student. I have been for… let’s see… 2/3 of my life. I am officially horrified to see that fraction.  I like to think that I’m an unusual student in some ways, or at least that I have been for the past decade or so because certain aspects of academia have really come to […]