Marginal Christianity

Q & A's 5 and 6 are new Catechism 1.     Who is the Christian God? “I am/will be who I am/will be” (Ex.3:14). God is and will be utterly faithful to himself and to the world he created. 2.     Why did this God create our world? To live with us here in shalom (a world rightly ordered in every way), lavishing love and expending power to bring this state of affairs to be. 3.     Why did God create us? To be divine image-bearers, royal representatives who reflect God's character and will throughout the world and care for and nurture the creation to its full flourishing.                                                           ...

Biblical Studies , Theology J. Richard Middleton The most well-known, and perhaps well-loved, verse in the Bible is John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (NRSV). God so loved the world — the kosmos , in Greek. Could that mean what we mean today by the “cosmos”? God loves … this universe? We know that elsewhere in the Gospel of John, and also in 1 John, the term kosmos refers to the social order, indeed, the corrupt, fallen “world” that humans have constructed. So 1 John 2:15 tells us: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in them.” This verse understands human beings as loving, desiring creatures; what we set our hearts on shapes our lives. So we’re warned against internalizing the values of this corrupt world, this twisted social order. Love of the world in this sense is antithet...

http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/04/interview-author-cal-newport-on-how-you-can-become-an-expert-and-why-you-should-not-follow-your-passion/?utm_content=buffer7e477&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer Cal Newport holds a PhD from MIT and is an assistant professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University. He runs the popular blog Study Hacks (which I highly recommend) and is the author of four books including, most recently, So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love . Cal and I talked about the secrets to becoming an expert, how deliberate practice works and why following your passion can be a *bad* idea.   My conversation with Cal was over 45 minutes, so for brevity’s sake I’m only going to post edited highlights here. If you want the extended interview I’ll be sending it out with my  weekly newsletter  on Sunday. Join  here .  ——————————————— Don...

http://catholicexchange.com/vocation#.U73wiAGKjMF.facebook Benjamin Mann <img width="660" height="350" src="http://1mpkoh2uj7ew36r28p3t8kxt11gl.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/shutterstock_106484585-660x350.jpg" class="aligncenter wp-post-image" alt="shutterstock_106484585" /> It is quite traditional and correct to speak of “discerning a vocation” – particularly to consecrated life or the priesthood, though also in regard to marriage, careers, and other major commitments. In modern Western culture, however, the idea of vocational discernment has become problematic, producing unnecessary indecision and anxiety. The problem is not with the traditional concepts and language, but with us and our mindset. Shaped by the modern sensibility of intense self-consciousness, and by the consumer culture’s obsession with options and the “pursuit of happiness,” we think too much about oursel...