Jojo Agot

Their Lips Would Turn to Clay

Garth Rosell on his father and his preacher friends, which included Billy Graham and Harold Ockenga:

I remember the sense of absolute wonder and awe that would suddenly come over my father when his comments would turn, as they invariably did, to the discussion of the surprising work of God in their midst. And I remember the terrible urgency to preach the gospel that seemed to grip my father and all of his preacher friends. Like Jonathan Edwards before them, they were absolutely amazed that God has chosen them. They were thrilled to be a part of it all, of course, but they were absolutely certain that they had not caused it, and they all knew in their heart of hearts that if they dared to take even the smallest measure of credit from that which belonged solely to the sovereign Lord of the universe, “their lips would turn to clay,” as they often phrased it.

Money and Paper Trails

Why do we talk about money every year? Two reasons come to mind:

First, because our spiritual maturity is most obvious in the way we spend money. I’m sure there are people in your life who you really admired until you saw their attitude towards money. Some, you admire all the more. Others, well, you just shake your head and wish you hadn’t seen them acting that way.

Second, you will know who you love the most by just looking at the receipts of your purchases. I forgot who told me this but about nine years ago, this was revolutionary to my ears. Back then, I greedily stockpiled all the [pirated] DVDs I could find in Quiapo and St. Francis Square. Having been deprived of TV shows and movies in my childhood years, the sight of all the affordable DVDs thrilled me. I bought everything I wanted: Smallville, Lost, ~~Koreanovelas,~~ Terminator Series, Back to the Future, and James Bond, to name a few. Then someone told me that receipts are paper trails of love. The person or thing you spend most of your money on is the true love of your life. Continue reading Money and Paper Trails

Think Deeply or Be Damned

Garth Rosell in The Surprising Work of God:

“The time has arrived,” Ockenga argued, “when the people of this nation must ‘think deeply or be damned.’ We must examine our direction, our condition and our destiny. We must recognize that we are standing at the crossroads and that there are only two ways that lie open before us. One is the road of the rescue of western civilization by a re-emphasis on and revival of evangelical Christianity. The other is a return to the Dark Ages of heathendom which powerful force is emerging in every phase of world life today.” There is a ‘now or never’ urgency in this matter. The time to strike is here. The iron is hot. The door is open. The need is great. Indeed, the world is waiting “for the clear cut, definite, sane and progressive leadership which can inaugurate a new era for Christian influence and effectiveness.”

Pandering Is a Waste of What’s Possible

Seth Godin:

In a race to go faster, cheaper and wider, it’s tempting to strip away elegance, ornamentation or subtlety. If you want to reach more people, aim for average.

The market, given a choice, often picks something that’s short-term, shoddy, inane, obvious, cheap, a quick thrill. Given the choice, the market almost never votes for the building, the monument or the civic development it ends up being so proud of a generation later. Think about it: the best way to write an instant bestseller is to aim low… Continue reading Pandering Is a Waste of What’s Possible

Other Side of the Fence

Paul’s letters always start with the same greetings: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3).”

To our modern ears, that sounds like nothing but mandatory politeness. In Paul’s day, however, those few words carried so much theological and cultural weight. “Grace to you” was a standard Greek greeting; “peace to you” was its Jewish equivalent.

In the first century world, there were three relational hostilities: the Jews looked down on the Greeks, and the Greeks despised the Jews; men were dismissive of the women, and women were embittered toward men; free people saw slaves as sub-humans, and slaves resented the free people in return (Scott Sauls, 2015; Galatians 3:28). Continue reading Other Side of the Fence

You Want to be a Writer? Stay Off of Social Media

If you want to write, stay off of social media. There is a fallacy that people keep repeating about writers and communicators: you have to be everywhere.

Really?

You can’t be reacting and writing at the same time. If you mean to write, you can’t be responding to everything happening on Facebook. Multi-tasking is a myth. Either you create or react. But you can’t do both. You have to make a choice. Continue reading You Want to be a Writer? Stay Off of Social Media