7 Quick Takes Friday (vol. 12): love, friendship, and seizing the day

— 1 —

I had the privilege of teaching at Torch Church last Sunday as part of our #shine series. Jesus left us a new command: to love one another. But what does that really look like? Where do we get it wrong, and how does that affect the way the world views Jesus? And what can we do to better love one another? You can check out the video or download the podcast here.

— 2 —

There is some great conversation going on over at Natalie Trust’s blog this week. She wrote a post (the first of a series, yay!) called Of Friendships Between Men and Women: Dealing With Fear and Shame, as a response to Dan Brennan’s book Sacred Unions, Sacred Passions: Engaging the Mystery of Friendship Between Men and Women. One of the things that strikes me every time I read a post like this is the profound relief in the responses of so many who comment. I love seeing this movement of God to restore our broken ideas about how we ought to relate to each other as it’s surfacing in so many places, and it’s so interesting to me the way this conversation is happening not just in the church but in our broader (Western, at least) culture as well.

— 3 —

photo courtesy of ©Depositphotos.com / PixelsAway

I was listening to a podcast yesterday of a talk Alistair Begg gave at Biola University in April this year. One of his sub-points caught my attention – I’d never thought of it this way before. The phrase “carpe diem” – “seize the day” – is one that has worked its way into our cultural philosophy, but at its root, that phrase expresses the idea that you ought to seize the day because yesterday is gone and you might not get tomorrow – and that’s kind of depressing when you really think about it. But with Jesus, the past has meaning and the future is promising, and that is why today matters. It’s a subtle shift in thinking, but one worth considering.

— 4 —

I read so many great things worth sharing this week. Here’s one – a post from Seth Godin entitled Thinking About Money. Great perspective, and good reminders. Well worth your time.

— 5 —

Here’s another, from Kathy Escobar a few weeks ago, on dealing with our inner Pharisee. I absolutely love the ending: 7 prompts towards things to consider when we’re aware that we’re being judgmental towards someone and need to pray our way out of it.

— 6 —

I’m sure I’m not the only who experiences this, so I’m just going to own it: sometimes coming up with 7 things for 7 Quick Takes is a little challenging, especially on weeks when not much of report has happened. It was a week with a holiday, so there could have been fun stories – but I had the flu, so I’ve been home doing not much of anything except reading and sleeping for the past two days. And does anyone really want to read about that?

— 7 —

Here’s something exciting, tho! There’s a movie coming out soon called Ragamuffin: The True Story of Rich Mullins. Rich Mullins’ music was incredible, and his love for Jesus so visible. (I still remember something he said that so profoundly impacted my own walk with God – he was talking about the passage in the gospels where Jesus is calling His disciples for the first time, and it says that Jesus called those He wanted. “Anybody can be used by God,” Rich Mullins said in that interview. “But to be wanted…” That’s pretty incredible, knowing that God wants us). I’m so looking forward to seeing this film.

(For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!)

7QT friendship gender constructs Jesus judgment love money spiritual journey teaching

By Happy, July 5, 2013

7 Quick Takes Friday (vol. 12): love, friendship, and seizing the day

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