The Secret Garden and the Necessity of Work for Children

May 07, 2015 by Mathew B. Sims in Creation, Culture

The opening lines of a book can make or break an author. I can’t tell you how many books I’ve picked up because the cover and title pulled me in only to read the first few lines or paragraphs and be put to sleep. One of my favorite opening lines is from J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit:

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”

Who doesn’t know “Call me Ishmael” is from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick? Or what about Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice? “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” There’s also the ever classic A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dicksons:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness

How the Magic of Being Ordinary Transforms Us

May 03, 2015 by Mathew B. Sims in Guest Post, Family, Creation

CS. Lewis says, “It is a good rule after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between.” I’ve found as a writer and editor that’s a hard rule to follow, but I’ve made it my goal this year to have my readings weighted towards time tested books.

One that I had owned, but had neglected was G. K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy. One theme that winds throughout is wonder at the ordinary. He reminds us that fairy tales often take the ordinary person and set him on an adventure. This happens because only an ordinary person is startled at “a mad world” (Orthodoxy [Moody Classics] [pp. 29-30]. Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition.) Think of some of the most popular fairy stories of this last century.

J. R. R. Tolkien’s adventures in middle-earth—the hero is an ordinary hobbit who is swallowed by a larger than life adventure. C. S. Lewis’s Narnia—ordinary children transported to an extraordinary world. J. K. Rowlings’ Harry Potter—an ordinary boy living in a cupboard in Privet Dr. finds out he is a wizard.

5 Basic Postures Toward Culture

April 19, 2015 by Mathew B. Sims in Consummation, Imago Dei, Culture, Creation

I recently returned from The Gospel Coalition Conference in Orlando, FL. I enjoyed hearing the preaching and fellowshipping with friends old and new. One of my favorite events was the Christ and Pop Culture panel with Alan Noble, Richard Clark, Mike Cosper, and Derek Rishmawy. This panel discussion started a conversation on the ride home with my travel companion and good friend Chad McKinnon. We talked a lot about engaging with culture and how to know when to reject certain cultural artifacts. It made me think that these conversations might be helpful for my readers.

In his book Culture Making, Crouch says,

“I wonder what we Christians are known for in the world outside our churches. Are we known as critics, consumers, copiers, condemners of culture? I’m afraid so. Why aren’t we known as cultivators—people who tend and nourish what is best in human culture, who do the hard and painstaking work to preserve the best of what people before us have done? Why aren’t we known as creators—people who dare to think and do something that has never been thought or done before, something that makes the world more welcoming and thrilling and beautiful?”

So how should we posture ourselves toward culture?

Review: John H. Walton’s The Lost World of Adam and Eve

March 12, 2015 by Mathew B. Sims in Book Review, Creation

In May, I read John H. Walton’s The Lost World of Genesis One and was challenged by Walton’s Scriptural handiwork and exegetical focus. “As interpreters of Scripture and as theologians, we are accountable to the biblical text ” (12).

It was a set up. I didn’t know at the time, but The Lost World of Adam and Eve was a companion volume expanding the thesis of Genesis One. In a nutshell, Walton argues the creation account is primarily about function, not material origin. Once you’ve agreed with him on that point, it’s hard not to agree with him in Adam and Eve.

Culture Creators: An Interview with Dr. Tom Holland

February 22, 2015 by Mathew B. Sims in Creation, Culture, Discipleship, Reading, Writing, & Books

One of my favorite ongoing blog series is LifeHackers' How I Work. Simple questions about how people in a variety of workplaces get stuff done. As I read more and more of these, I kept thinking about wondering about creative people I know and what their answers might be. That got me thinking. Why not host an interview series at my own blog with Christians who are working with excellence, who I admire, and who do creative stuff? I was concerned about getting enough people to host a meaningful series, but the yeses kept rolling in. So here we are.

Who is Dr. Tom Holland? Tom was born in Liverpool during the war years when the city was being devastated by German bombers because of its strategic importance as a major port. He left school at the age of 15, which was the lot of most young people at a time when higher education was the experience of a privileged few.

His early career as an engineer explains Tom’s interest in inventing and solving problems, and he continues to be fascinated by all forms of engineering achievement. His birthplace, Liverpool, explains his support for the football club of the same name and although its the music capital of the world, he’s the only member of his family who doesn’t play a musical instrument.

Culture Creators: An Interview with Joffre “The Giant” Swait

February 08, 2015 by Mathew B. Sims in Creation, Culture, Series, Work

Who is Joffre “The Giant” Swait? Joffre lives in old mill house with two cats, five chickens, five children, and only one wife. He believes that rugby is the highest athletic expression devised by man, and that every man should know at least one poem by heart.

Cultural Creators: An Interview with Nick Ng

February 01, 2015 by Mathew B. Sims in Creation, Culture, Work

Who is Nick Ng? Hailing from Chicago, Nick resolves to make lives around him less iffy and way more spiffy. He is a designer at Roosevelt University, a metropolitan institution founded on the ideal of social justice, and was the senior designer at Trinity International University, which also houses Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. A higher ed designer by day, he dons his freelance cape by night and weekends to join forces with small businesses, startups, and organizations to fight ugliness. When not creating or shaking a fist at pixels, he spends time with his wife, four young kids, a compost bin of worms, and two annoying parakeets. You will find him being among friends at Redeemer Anglican Church, hunting for tasty gyros, and whizzing by (and snickering at) traffic on his bike.

Culture Creators: An Interview with Dr. O. Alan Noble

January 26, 2015 by Mathew B. Sims in Creation, Culture, Series, Technology, Work

Who is Dr. O. Alan Noble: Dr. O. Alan Noble is an Assistant Professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University, the Managing Editor and Co-Founder of Christ and Pop Culture, and a Freelance writer for The Atlantic. He earned his PhD in Contemporary American Literature at Baylor University in 2013, writing on manifestations of transcendence in twentieth-century American literature. His wife, Brittany, currently teaches in the Math Department at OBU whiling finishing her Master’s in Economics at Baylor. They have a 5-year-old daughter and a 2.5-year-old son.

Review: James K. A. Smith’s Imagining the Kingdom

January 23, 2015 by Mathew B. Sims in Book Review, Culture, Creation, Work

“When we worship on Sunday, it spills over into our cultural labor on Monday” (3).

Imaging the Kingdom is volume two of James K. A. Smith’s Cultural Liturgies series. I previously reviewed volume one Desiring the Kingdom. At the core, Smith argues, “[W]e are, primarily and at root, affective animals whose worlds are made more by the imagination than by the intellect—that humans are those desiring creatures who live off stories, narratives, images, and the stuff of poises” (xii). Smith’s stated goal is “the renewal of practice” (xvii). If the end of worship is action (going into the world) then we must “recruit our imagination” (6). Our imagination is what will grab our hearts as we go out into the world on the missio Dei. Love and our affections are at the center of his proposal (7).

Imaging the Kingdom splits into two neat parts. Part one reviews French theorists Mzerleau-Ponty and Bourdieu laying the foundation for his liturgical anthropology. Part two offers a more “tangible discussion” that the “theoretical toolbox” from part one furnishes (xvii).

Culture Creators: An Interview with Michael F. Bird

January 18, 2015 by Mathew B. Sims in Creation, Culture, Jesus Christ, Series

Who is Dr. Michael F. Bird: Dr. Michael Bird (Ph.D University of Queensland) is Lecturer in Theology at Ridley Melbourne College of Mission and Ministry. He is the author of several books including Jesus and the Origins of the Gentile Mission (2006), The Saving Righteousness of God (2007), A Bird’s-Eye View of Paul (2008), Colossians and Philemon (2009), Crossing Over Sea and Land: Jewish Missionary Activity in the Second Temple Period (2009), and Are You the One Who is to Come? The Historical Jesus and the Messianic Question (2009). He is married to Naomi and has four children.

Culture Creators: An Interview with Matt Heerema

January 12, 2015 by Mathew B. Sims in Creation, Culture, Discipleship, Series, Technology, Work

Who is Matt Heerema: Matt Heerema lives in Ames, Iowa and is a bi-vocational pastor and Web agency director, husband, father of four daughters, musician, and massive geek. He serves with a team of six pastors at Stonebrook Church where he helps oversee corporate worship ministries (he can’t bring himself to say worship pastor, all pastors are worship pastors . . . ) and theological training. He owns and directs Mere Agency, and is very excited about their recent launch of MereChurch: effective Web sites for small churches and ministries. Matt is also working on a Master’s of Theology Degree through the Antioch School for Church Planting and Leadership Development. He posts occasionally on his blog at mattheerema.com. Find him on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and all the other places.

Culture Creators: An Interview with Jonathan K. Dodson

January 05, 2015 by Mathew B. Sims in Creation, Culture, Discipleship, Gospel Story, Mission, Reformed, Technology, Work

Who is Jonathan Dodson? Jonathan K. Dodson (MDiv; ThM) serves as a pastor of City Life Church in Austin, Texas. He is the author of Gospel-Centered Discipleship, The Unbelievable Gospel, and Raised? He has discipled men and women abroad and at home for almost two decades, taking great delight in communicating the gospel and seeing Christ formed in others. Twitter: @Jonathan_Dodson

Culture Creators: An Interview with David Radford of The Gray Havens

December 29, 2014 by Mathew B. Sims in Culture, Creation, Discipleship, Work

“Good, beautiful stories plunge the reader into a fictional world in such a way that when they come out again, they perceive the real world more clearly and with more joy than before. In much the same way, song lyrics—when married to the right melody—can penetrate the heart. Story plays such a huge part in our songs because powerfulnarratives have been so transforming for us personally.” —Dave Radford

Who are The Gray Havens: Based in Chicago, The Gray Havens have established a loyal following since the release of the Where Eyes Don’t Go EP in 2013. This year they have been featured at Under The Radar’s Escape To The Lake event, along with Jason Gray and Sara Groves, among others, as well as Under The Radar’s post-Dove Awards Nashville showcase, alongside Andrew Peterson, JJ Heller, and Andrew Greer and Cindy Morgan. The duo will launch their Fire And Stone release tour in January. For more information about The Gray Havens and their latest release click here.

Jesus is the Better Atoner

November 17, 2014 by Brad Andrews in Biblical Theology, Creation, Gospel Story, Jesus Christ

In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis argues that “we feel the rule of Law pressing on us so that we cannot bear to face the fact that we are breaking it, and consequently we try to shift the responsibility...human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and cannot really get rid of it.” He says that even though humanity knows what is right and wrong, “they do not in fact behave in that way. They know the Law of Nature; they break it.” Truth and untruth are hardwired in us but it’s in the dabbling with untruth that we know there is a culpability. It is in the “breaking” that we taste the bitter loss of innocence. The result? We just can’t seem to get out from under the anvil of guilt.

It all finds it origins in Genesis 3. “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden” (Gen. 3:78). After disobeying God, the first actions of our first parents were to cover up and hide. These are the activities of ones who find themselves mired in disgrace.

Jesus is Better Than Materialism

November 09, 2014 by Kevin Halloran in Jesus Christ, Culture, Creation

Do you make fun of reality TV but secretly enjoy it? I do. One show that I can't help but watch is Hoarders: Buried Alive. Each episode enters the life of a compulsive hoarder who has accumulated so much stuff in their home that they require an intervention from a close friend or family member. The cameras are rolling and things get ugly.

The hoarder usually fills their house to the brim over the course of decades with things ranging in use from thousands of valuable dolls to hundreds of empty milk gallons. Family members bicker about what is important to keep and what is garbage. In one particular episode, the hoarder could not part with old books that were soiled in rat feces.

Doesn't this person realize what they're doing?!

I would argue they don't. Idolatry leads to blindness, and those people cannot see what they are doing (see Psalm 135:15-18). These people love their stuff over loving the God who created them and their stuff. Their love for stuff ties their heart to things that can be destroyed by rust, moths—or in this case, rats.

Why Can’t Everything Be Free?

September 24, 2014 by Mathew B. Sims in Discipleship, Culture, Creation, Work

I love attending conferences and I don’t care how many people know it. Conferences get a bad wrap for a variety of reasons. The most substantial critique examines how they may fester the celebrity culture in Evangelicalism. Although speakers play some role into what conferences I attend, it has more to do with everyone else who attends. I attend for the relational fellowship. Because of that I prioritize meeting with people over teaching sessions sometimes.

I had missed a few of the Together for the Gospel sessions this year knowing I could catch them later on MP3 or video. I found out later that they would only be available for free for a limited time and then there would be a charge. Honestly, I grumbled. Looking back I regret that. We’re spoiled. With sites like Mongerism.com and DesiringGod.org giving away more content than I could consume in an entire lifetime we expect all of our digital content to be free.