Loudmouths, Controversy, and Women in the Church

I have writer's block. Some Big Name Bloggers will tell you there's no such thing as writer's block, only being undisciplined or not doing the work of writing. But I have something to tell them: I HAVE WRITER'S BLOCK. I can't spit out a halfway coherent and beautiful sentence, and I have tried. I take full responsibility for the block—early morning classes, a full time job (and starting a new position at my job), dozens of writing assignments this month, a roommate getting married, leading a home-group, and trying to manage other's expectation for my life. All that to say, I'm okay with a little writer's block.

So instead here are some things I've been mulling over since I read them: 

Watch Out for Loudmouths I can't tell you how many times I've used a word to describe someone's beliefs, or assigned a particular characteristic to a group of people, and it was just simply incorrect. No, not all Charismatics believe that if you don't speak in tongues you're not saved. No, being a Calvinist does not mean you don't evangelize. No, being an egalitarian does not mean you're holding pep-rallies braless and branded in the middle of the street. This article speaks of loudmouths in the church and how knowledge divorced from love, well, it's just puffed up, a clanging symbol, and banging gong.

Is the Sabbath Still Relevant? "If we did set apart one day each week for rejuvenation in God, we would immediately add to every year over seven weeks of vacation.  And not for doing nothing but for worship, for friends, for mercy, for an afternoon nap, for reading and thinking, for lingering around the dinner table and sharing good jokes and tender words and personal prayers." Love this short, convicting piece.

Women and The Church My friend Paul has been writing some of his thoughts on women and the church. Paul and I are in agreement about most things theological, except this subject. But his willingness to engage, dialogue, ask questions, and always, always, always submit to the Holy Spirit and the Word consistently blesses me. I've enjoyed reading his thoughts here and regardless of where you stand on the issue, I think it would behoove you to check into these posts.

Do you Love Controversy or People? Internet controversy is everywhere, overwhelmingly so sometimes. This article was timely and good. "Is it love for God and neighbor that gets you into controversy, or is it a proud desire to strut your opinions, flaunt your learning, and see your enemy discomfited?"

Church as Creature of the Word Matt Chandler, Josh Patterson, & Eric Geiger just released a book called Creature of the Word. Since 2/3 of the authors are also my pastors, I feel like I can say with some certainty that this interview is spot on and makes me love my church so much more.

Many people come to The Village expecting that it's going to be as perfect as the podcast they've listened to for years, and well, that's just not the case. We're imperfect, we're doubting, we're stumbling, we're confessing, we're repenting. But here's what we are more than anything: creatures of the Word. We love the word at my church—and because of that, we love God, we laud Him, we exalt Him. We understand that we're the created, the creatures. He's the Creator. And His word teaches us that.

In the same way, that's what I want to do at Sayable. I want to point you to the Word. I want to point me at the Word (You know that's what most of what I write here comes from, right? My simple, confessed need for the words of God?). Writer's block or not, I never want to sit under reader's block.

God, make your Word, your breath, your Son real to us today and let us be students always.