Happy Friday Rejects. How are you? Well, I hope. As for me, I’m pretty darn sick, which also means I haven’t been my usual blogging self. Hopefully, by next week I’ll be feeling better and ready to take on the world (which just means write some actual blog posts). In the meantime…
Here’s what I managed to read and discover this week though between hot cups of tea and honey and much needed naps:
The Importance of Being Earnest and Ann Voskamp. I’ll admit that I’m not the world’s biggest Ann Voskamp fan. I love what she writes, I just don’t prefer how she writes it, but her prose is what so many people really love about her. All that aside, this post challenged me to rethink the way I perceive her and not just her, but any bloggers, writers, or individuals who are different from me, as a whole.
Love People, Not Projects. A short, but power-packed post from none other than Jamie the Very Worst Missionary (who, by the way, I want to be like when I grow up).
Oh, Hello Friend. I discovered this little gem of a blog last week and am addicted. It’s not a “Christian blog,” but it is a total chick blog filled with lovely things for you and your home, that happens to be written by a Christian. Cool.
Praying for Pentecost. I really enjoyed this post from the always brilliant and challenging Q Blog. Here’s a taste: “For our own pentecost, we need then to pray for the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of depth, the spirit of courage, and (given the over-sophistication of so much of today’s entertainment) the spirit of chastity.” So good and there’s much to chew on.
Quiet Anthem. This is the blog of Renee Ronika Klug, who I “know” through friends here in Phoenix. She is a wonderful writer (and I’m not just saying that). She is quite talented and has a remarkable way of weaving beautiful prose into stories of grace and hope. I think you’ll be happy to have found her. And how great is the name of her blog…Quiet Anthem?
Biblical Balance? This is a post that discusses what it means to be Biblically balanced…an interesting read, to say the least.
Porn as a Marital Aid? A simple and practical post from the genius of XXX Church on how to renew sexual excitement in your marriage….especially post porn.
Is there any doubt that a table, some chairs, bread and wine kills rivalries? Like you, I’m not a fan of Voskamp (at all), but I so appreciate her grace. Jesus was a master opponent to pharisees and yet, he came over their homes and broke bread.
If we really took care to pay close attention to the Lord’s supper, we would be wise to know that it wasn’t so much about the “bread” or the “wine” than about the purpose, community, grace and theology that is enforced behind a dinner table.
Someone once said that Jesus’s reputation of a glutton and drunk was because His theology was one of communion, inclusiveness and grace. When you invite someone to your table, you are laying a big white flag of grace and accepting your guest just as they are. Very powerful.
Well, Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell is a book I finished reading not too long ago and he has a lot of very interesting things to say. I love his rawness, his honesty – I don’t always agree with his views of the bible but Velvet Elvis is good. Anne Lamont… Love everything about her, to me she is real. A real Christian woman trying to get along. Plus she is hilarious. Lastly, Frances Chan. Just read Erasing Hell, which was a response to Bell’s most rescent book and now I’m reading Crazy Love, which I love. I’m one of those people who read too many books at once. Oh, and I agree with your statement on Anne Voskamp, I love her message and her grace, subscribe to her blog, but the prose gets… I don’t know… Gets to be a bit much. I like the real talk, less fluff. By the way, I found you on prodigal Magazine and love your style. I look forward to more of you. Ps. Sorry for the ramble. Ha!
Nicole,
Thank you for bringing these issues up, providing the whole follow up emails too. I enjoy and appreciate Ann Voskamp. I hadn’t been aware of Challies review and feelings on her, but I appreciate his apologizing too. That’s brother and sister life in Christ.
Jennifer Dougan
http://www.jenniferdougan.com
Nicole! New friend whom I can finally–here’s hoping!–meet!
We’re in the Valley and just got Internet today, so I was surprised by the joy of finding that you shared my blog here. You brought much needed encouragement during a time where I was really second-guessing myself and my work. Thank you.