Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
-
When the Church Was a Family
“The evidence is conclusive, and the voices are unanimous. For Jesus, Paul, and early church leaders throughout the Roman Empire, the preeminent social model that defined the Christian church was the strong-group Mediterranean family.” Joseph H. Hellerman, When the Church Was a Family
-
The most evangelistic thing the church can do today
“…the most evangelistic thing the church can do today is to be the church – to be formed imaginatively by the Holy Spirit through core practices such as worship, forgiveness, hospitality, and economic sharing into a distinctive people in the world, a new social option, the body of Christ.” Bryan P. Stone, Evangelism after Christendom: The Theology…
-
Benedict Option
The blogosphere is teaming with posts and discussion about the Benedict Option, especially since the recent SCOTUS ruling on same-sex marriage. What exactly is the Benedict Option? Rod Dreher, the leading proponent of it explains: “[The Benedict Option is] my name for an inchoate phenomenon in which Christians adopt a more consciously countercultural stance towards…
-
Miniature Home
One of our favorite past times is “construction nights”—those Celebration Nights we set aside to build something together for fun. Over the years, we’ve made miniature catapults, bridges, and vehicles. Recently we were inspired to make a model of our home out of cardboard, tubes, toothpicks, and an assortment of materials from the great…
-
Valentine’s Cards
This Valentine’s Day weekend we continued a tradition of making cards that expressed our love and appreciation for each other. We each picked a name from a bowl and dove in to an assortment of card stock, paper, markers and more. Each one came up with a fun and unique design for their Valentine. The…
-
Smash Brothers Showdown!
For one of our celebration nights this New Year we started off with a little friendly competition. We gathered up our game consoles, split into two teams, and pulled out Nintendo’s Smash Brothers. Some of us already had plenty of practice at this sport, while others were being introduced to the characters’ names for the…
-
“I know! You know!”: A Psych-themed cake for Tim N.
This cake for Tim N. was inspired from the detective TV show “Psych.” As a running gag, a pineapple is hidden in every episode.
-
Balloon Powered Vehicles
Every so many months, our fellowship enjoys the challenge and fun of building something new. This past month, we attempted balloon-powered vehicles! Each team designed and built their own vehicle with an array of cartons, lids, straws, tubes, and other odds and ends. Everyone had different ideas about getting the most mileage out of their…
-
Fiddle Night 2014
Earlier this summer we kicked up our heels to some fiddle tunes. Several of the young people volunteered their time to organize and practice the music and dances as well as deck the back lawn with lights. We all enjoyed joining in on various folk dances, listening to a few solo performances and eating apple…
-
Why We’re Relationally Dumb
Part 3 – Types of Relationships Dallas Willard, describing the state of our modern relationships, says, “[our] most intimate relations are tangles of reciprocal harm, coldness, and resentment.” It’s hard to disagree with Willard when one looks at the society around us. And though there are many healthy relationships we can point to, if we…
Got any book recommendations?