My Growing and Consuming Desire: Lately, I am more and more convinced that the ability to hear God’s subtle voice in the mundane is vital to following Jesus. I can believe in Jesus—faith in the first sense according to C.S. Lewis—without it manifesting itself in my thought and behavior. I can be a good person but care little about what is on God’s mind for the day. To follow requires close and constant contact. God did not just give us the Bible only, but also the Spirit. The Spirit can whisper “tiny” words here and there to help us navigate ordinary life. While He often uses the Scripture to do so, He doesn’t always. Today in John I read about John the Baptist. Someone comes to him and essentially says, “Hey, look, people are leaving you and following Jesus instead.” Undeterred, John replies (paraphrase): “The bride is not mine; I am only a friend of the bridegroom. I have listened and waited, and now, at least, I have heard His voice. That is all that I need. My joy is fulfilled. Let him increase. My time to decrease has come” (John 3:26–30). Oh Lord, I want to hear and respond to your voice like a true friend. Make me someone that you can turn to with the cares and burdens of your heart.
A New Favorite Author: How did I just discover Nancy Pearcey? Frankly, it is embarrassing. Cut out of the same theological and philosophical cloth as Francis Schaeffer, her thinking and writing are so clear, helpful, to the point, rich with stories, and apologetic in nature. Currently, I am listening to her book, Finding Truth, on Scribd. I am having a hard time stopping. She is brilliant, concise, and not afraid to appeal to Scripture. This is part of the “About Nancy Pearcey” description on Amazon: Nancy Pearcey was one of the hippies who stumbled across Francis Schaeffer’s ministry L’Abri in Switzerland in the early 1970s and was surprised to discover that there are actually good reasons and arguments supporting Christianity. She gave up her agnosticism and ever since has been writing about Christianity as a worldview that applies to every area of life. I have begun the process of reading through all of her books. Here are two other books by her that I am excited to read:
- Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality
- Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity
Join me in reading her!
Vision: If you do not have something you are aiming at, then you are a “slave” to the “urgency of the moment.” You will awake each day and simply react to what is in front of you. But if you have a vision for your life, then you have a filter that can help you decide what to do with your time, money, and other resources. So, what are you aiming at? Or are you a slave to the daily grind?
BJ Condrey, Ph.D. 