My ebook "Reviews, Rants, and Reflections" will be available for a free download from Amazon for one day only. Tomorrow, Friday July 12, will be the day. The book contains the best posts of the Eagle and Child blog from 2005. See glimpses of the gospel in such books as "Harry Potter and the … Continue reading Friday Freebie: “Reviews, Rants, and Reflections”
Author: Russell Smith
For Tonight, It’s The Meaning Of Life (A Meditation on Ecclesiastes 1:3-18)
19th century writer Henry David Thoreau moved to the woods around Walden pond so he could experience a life of simplicity. He felt weary of the routine, unexamined life of the shopkeeping townspeople. “The mass of men,” he wrote, “lead lives of quiet desperation.” Thoreau intended to confront life, rather than fill his hours with … Continue reading For Tonight, It’s The Meaning Of Life (A Meditation on Ecclesiastes 1:3-18)
Overcoming Worry Through Prayer.
Don’t worry. Easy to say, hard to accomplish. There are so many things that needle us into worrying: the economy, cultural changes, natural disasters, taxes, epidemic diseases, violence, and mayhem. Beyond those broad cultural forces, we each have individual worries: health, career, relationships, money. I know I worry, and I’m pretty sure that you do to (but … Continue reading Overcoming Worry Through Prayer.
6 Must Read Books for Doing Ministry in the Design Age
As I suggested in my last post two posts, we have moved out of the cynical, deconstructing era of Postmodernity and into an era that I have been calling "The New Creative Era"As I've been reflecting further on this trend, I think we might call this era "The Design Age" (I'll tease that idea out … Continue reading 6 Must Read Books for Doing Ministry in the Design Age
The Dawning of the New Creative Era: are you ready?
Continuing my thinking through my upcoming presentation on "Understanding and Engaging in today's world." I invite you to check out the first post in the series: Postmodernism is Dead.To help get our minds around the new Creative Era we’ve moved into, it might be helpful to contrast a Modernist mindset, a Postmodernist mindset, and a … Continue reading The Dawning of the New Creative Era: are you ready?
Note to Pastors: Postmodernism is Dead (so please stop talking about it)
Note: these are some early musings as I pull together material for an upcoming presentation on “Understanding and Engaging Today’s World” in which I was specifically asked to introduce postmodernism. This series is not a series of fully baked thoughts – I’m asking for your responses, thoughts, arguments, and riddles, jokes or puns. Thanks.I was … Continue reading Note to Pastors: Postmodernism is Dead (so please stop talking about it)
Your Most Undeveloped Resource
Imagine that every human has a valuable commodity – and has been given an equal amount of it. They can spend it as they will. Some will squeeze as much value out of it as they can. Others will fritter it away on triviality, or worse, let it slip through their fingers, oblivious to its … Continue reading Your Most Undeveloped Resource
The Book of Smoke (Meditation on Ecclesiastes 1:1-2)
Sfumato. It is a technical term from art history that describes a “smoky” look, a look without harsh dividing lines. Leonardo DaVinci was a master of sfumato. He accomplished the effect quite masterfully in the Mona Lisa. DaVinci used tiny brush strokes to blend colors, then he applied thin layers of varnish, up to 40 … Continue reading The Book of Smoke (Meditation on Ecclesiastes 1:1-2)
How To Pray For Your Enemies When You Don’t Have Any (and when you do)
When you read, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” (Matthew 5:44) how do you respond? Are you an easygoing person? Do you think you have no enemies? Think again. You don’t have to be paranoid. You don’t have to imagine a vast conspiracy. Just ask yourself, have you been angry, irritated, … Continue reading How To Pray For Your Enemies When You Don’t Have Any (and when you do)
Tim Keller is NOT this generation’s C.S. Lewis
Tim Keller is NOT this generation’s C.S. Lewis.Tim Keller of Manhattan’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church, has ascended to the role of “favorite evangelical intellectual,” though he possibly shares that role with N.T. Wright. Due to his great popularity and prolific output of books, Tim Keller has also earned the moniker “the C.S. Lewis for our generation.” … Continue reading Tim Keller is NOT this generation’s C.S. Lewis
Horizons of the Possible 