by Jason Joyner | Feb 9, 2009 | Blog, books, culture, faith
I’ve been enjoying a new devotional that I recently picked up: A Faith and Culture Devotional: Daily Readings in Art, Science, and Life. I saw it mentioned on The Point blog, and so far I haven’t been disappointed. I’m not very far into it, but it has already had articles from or quoting from Francis Collins of the Human Genome Project and Francis Schaeffer, with future articles from Erwin McManus, Chuck Colson, Scot McKnight, Dallas Willard, Lee Strobel, and J. P. Moreland.
The subjects are collected under Bible and Theology, History, Philosophy, Science, Literature, Arts, and Contemporary Culture. Quite a diversity, but the reading I’ve done so far is quite thought-provoking.
As a teaser, here’s a quote from “Art-A Response to God’s Beauty” by Lael Arrington, with an extensive quote from one of my favorites, Francis Schaeffer.
Schaeffer concludes, “What a Christian portrays in his art is the totality of life. Art is not to be solely a vehicle for some self-conscious evangelism…Christians ought not to be threatened by fantasy and imagination…The Christian is the really free man-he is free to have imagination. This is our heritage. The Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars.
by Jason Joyner | Feb 9, 2009 | Blog, books, culture, faith
I’ve been enjoying a new devotional that I recently picked up: A Faith and Culture Devotional: Daily Readings in Art, Science, and Life. I saw it mentioned on The Point blog, and so far I haven’t been disappointed. I’m not very far into it, but it has already had articles from or quoting from Francis Collins of the Human Genome Project and Francis Schaeffer, with future articles from Erwin McManus, Chuck Colson, Scot McKnight, Dallas Willard, Lee Strobel, and J. P. Moreland.
The subjects are collected under Bible and Theology, History, Philosophy, Science, Literature, Arts, and Contemporary Culture. Quite a diversity, but the reading I’ve done so far is quite thought-provoking.
As a teaser, here’s a quote from “Art-A Response to God’s Beauty” by Lael Arrington, with an extensive quote from one of my favorites, Francis Schaeffer.
Schaeffer concludes, “What a Christian portrays in his art is the totality of life. Art is not to be solely a vehicle for some self-conscious evangelism…Christians ought not to be threatened by fantasy and imagination…The Christian is the really free man-he is free to have imagination. This is our heritage. The Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars.
by Jason Joyner | Jan 29, 2009 | arts, Blog, culture, Dick Staub, faith, The Culturally Savvy Christian
My discussion of Dick Staub’s book,
The Culturally Savvy Christian, was interrupted for a sudden blog tour. The forecast is tour free for the next few days, so I can predict a return to the previous topic.
Here’s the first post, to refresh things.
The book is broken into three sections based off of this statement:
The culturally savvy Christian is serious about faith, savvy about faith and culture, and skilled in relating the two.
First, under “savvy,” Staub makes the case for both popular culture and Christianity being generally shallow and vacuous. Pop culture is described as being superficial and soulless, spiritually deluded, but it has a powerful influence (p5). Yet he doesn’t pull punches with modern American Christianity
by Jason Joyner | Jan 15, 2009 | arts, Blog, Christianity, culture, Dick Staub, faith, The Culturally Savvy Christian
I posted last week about my favorite books from 2008, but I must confess that it was a list of my favorite fiction from ’08. The book I read that meant the most to me was The Culturally Savvy Christian: A Manifesto for Deepening Faith and Enriching Popular Culture in an Age of Christianity-Lite by Dick Staub. It is a mouthful of a title, but it was a powerful book that encouraged and challenged me deeply. I blogged about it before I finished it, and it held true through the end of the book.
I’m very interested in discussing the intersection of faith and culture, as the dearly departed site Infuze Magazine used to put it. I’ve always tried to be serious about Jesus and His Kingdom, concerned not just about the “sweet by-and-by”, but also the “nasty here and now.” I learned about understanding life through a Biblical worldview at a fairly early age, so I’ve tried to view the culture I partake in through that lens. As I’ve delved into writing as a hobby and hopefully part of my vocation, I’ve become more focused in this area.
The Culturally Savvy Christian is a book that fully reaches the sweet spot of faith and culture, yet it is very worth reading for its insightful analysis of our current faith circumstances in the West as well as popular culture.
My original post for this started to break the book down, but I realized quickly that the book was too deep to properly address in one post. Check back over the next week or so as I attempt to break down the book a little bit, and hopefully we’ll be able to discuss our own opinions on faith and culture.
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by Jason Joyner | Jan 15, 2009 | arts, Blog, Christianity, culture, Dick Staub, faith, The Culturally Savvy Christian
I posted last week about my favorite books from 2008, but I must confess that it was a list of my favorite fiction from ’08. The book I read that meant the most to me was The Culturally Savvy Christian: A Manifesto for Deepening Faith and Enriching Popular Culture in an Age of Christianity-Lite by Dick Staub. It is a mouthful of a title, but it was a powerful book that encouraged and challenged me deeply. I blogged about it before I finished it, and it held true through the end of the book.
I’m very interested in discussing the intersection of faith and culture, as the dearly departed site Infuze Magazine used to put it. I’ve always tried to be serious about Jesus and His Kingdom, concerned not just about the “sweet by-and-by”, but also the “nasty here and now.” I learned about understanding life through a Biblical worldview at a fairly early age, so I’ve tried to view the culture I partake in through that lens. As I’ve delved into writing as a hobby and hopefully part of my vocation, I’ve become more focused in this area.
The Culturally Savvy Christian is a book that fully reaches the sweet spot of faith and culture, yet it is very worth reading for its insightful analysis of our current faith circumstances in the West as well as popular culture.
My original post for this started to break the book down, but I realized quickly that the book was too deep to properly address in one post. Check back over the next week or so as I attempt to break down the book a little bit, and hopefully we’ll be able to discuss our own opinions on faith and culture.
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by Jason Joyner | Jan 8, 2009 | Blog, blogging, culture, faith, links
I’ve come across a few links today that I’d like to share.
Conversant Life is a community that discusses faith and culture. This is right up my alley, and so far I’ve enjoyed searching through its many offerings. Looks like a new favorite for me. I’m even posting to some indie music they let you sample.
I Am Second. What do Jason Castro, Joe Gibbs, Greg Ellis, and others have in common? I encourage you to check it out. Be curious.
Finally, win 10 bucks!
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