June 28, 2021
Odds + Ends
A couple of quick housekeeping notes:
I’m launching a new website soon, and in the process of transferring my domain, I had an email meltdown. If you happened to email me at this address after last week’s Post Script, chances are I did not get it. Feel free to try again! I think we have everything resolved now.
Post Script is going on vacation! Our family has been double vaccinated (or will be soon), allowing us to travel to the States this summer without a quarantine upon return. We will see both of our extended families in late July, early August, then I will travel to Seattle for my first in-person graduate residency. During our weeks of travel, you won’t receive Post Script July 26-August 16—and I’m quite sure you’ll ever survive just fine.
I’ve been buried in the beginning of a new book. I want to tell you more about what I’m writing, but I’ll wait. There will be plenty of time for that in the future.
With my thoughts caught up in this next book and the reading I’m doing for it, I haven’t kept up much on the internet world—not that you’ve really expected me to. But here as always, at the end of every month, are a few odds and ends that I want to pass along to you.
I’m listening to the new CT podcast series produced by Mike Cosper, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. The first episode just released, and it’s as excellently written and produced as I expected it to be. To hear the clips of Mark Driscoll’s preaching, back in the early 2000s, I was a bit jarred. I used to listen to Mark. I used to recommend his sermons to other people. Hearing him again, I wondered why I wasn’t then more alarmed by his manner, even his content. I’ll be looking forward to new episodes.
Because I live in a large (and haughty) city, this particular article hit home: “For Cosmopolitan Christians, Secular Approval is a Common Temptation.” “Believers can’t embrace elitism or anti-intellectualism. We should learn as much as we can from subject matter experts, but without a sense of awe and uncritical acceptance. Professional journals aren’t our Bible, and industry experts aren’t our priests.”
During the pandemic year, I started to post on Instagram more regularly. I have regular misgivings about the platform, even if I also realize the importance of showing up. It seems pastors and ministry leaders must acknowledge this is where people are being discipled. “‘Instaevangelists’ are making disciples. Are you?”
I wrote for Propel Women about habit. (I know that surprises you.)
“Habit has a bad reputation in many Christian circles. When we talk about habit in the life of faith, many of us imagine the rote performance of religious duties. In fact, we’ve probably all heard arguments against making certain practices too regular lest we drain those practices of meaning.It’s true any habit of faith can become mindless. We don’t automatically value something simply because we repeat it. But it’s also true that in the life of faith, habits provide an anchor when good feelings about God are in short supply. They’re the net to catch us in life’s freefall. Habits help us keep a slow and steady pace when emotions ebb and flow.”
And here are my podcast rounds, if you want to give a listen!
Englewood Review of Books: Among the conversations I’ve hosted on the ERB podcast, my conversation with Liuan Huska and Amy Julia Becker was among the most helpful for me. We talked about bodies and limitation, health and wholeness.
Grit ‘n Grace with Cheri Gregory and Amy Carroll. “I always want to say I really think faith is a gift, I do think it’s a gift that we’re given. Because you know, any of us left to our own devices, I don’t think we would have faith.”
Simply Wholehearted with Amy Wicks. I talk with Amy about my Enneagram number. I don’t think the Enneagram is the end-all, be-all of self-understanding, and I certainly wouldn’t say its origins are Christian. Still, I’ve found it personally helpful, especially for healing some of my longstanding resentment in relationships.
Deeper Still with Suanne Camfield. Suanne is Director of Women’s Ministry at Christ Church in Oak Brook, IL. We talked habits (of course!) and the value of reading Scripture.
Thanks as always for reading,
Jen