Living It!

       On Facebook, I follow a page called Hebrew for Christians.  This was one of their most recent status updates, and I absolutely had to share it with you!  Truly living the faith we claim is a heart cry of mine, and this just spoke volumes to me.  I've included two links after the quote.  The first is to their Facebook page, the second is to their website.  I've only recently found this site (as I have only recently become interested in the Hebrew language), but I have rather enjoyed it.  Hope you do as well!

"Only the truth that is lived matters. Students of the great sages would go to their master's home to see how he ate his soup, how he drank wine, how he treated his wife, how patient he was with his children, etc. God does not want "lip service" or your acknowledgment of the theology that others have worked to understand. "Truth is not something you can appropriate easily and quickly. You certainly... cannot sleep or dream yourself into the truth. No, you must be tried, do battle, and suffer if you are to acquire truth for yourself. It is a sheer illusion to think that in relation to truth there is an abridgment, a short cut that dispenses with the necessity of struggling for it. With respect to acquiring truth to live by, every generation and every individual essentially begin from the beginning." - SK"

1. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hebrew-for-Christians/56347292809

   
   

   http://www.hebrew4christians.com/

Book Review - Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

 Personally, one of the best things I’ve found to deepen my own faith (apart, of course, from scripture itself) is to read and learn about past heroes of Christianity.  I’ve found that I come away inspired to a deeper commitment to God, and in the case of this Dietrich Bonhoeffer biography, I come away also with an intriguing look at the questions and theologies that he wrestled with.  Reading Bonhoeffer’s own material has challenged me to think more deeply and take serious consideration of many of the theological/ethical questions he addresses.  It’s amazing to me how relevant these questions are today, even after things in our world seemed to have changed so much.

    In, Bonhoeffer:  Pastor, Prophet, Martyr, Spy, Eric Metaxas presents an exhaustive account of the life and person of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian and pastor during the time of Hitler.  The level of detail given about Bonhoeffer’s life is so extraordinary that it leaves the reader feeling as if they actually know and understand him.  What I enjoyed even more, though, was the ease with which this quite lengthy biography read. The language is conversational, and I never felt that making my way through the 500-600 page book was tedious.  In fact, I couldn’t put it down!

    If you’re looking for a faith-building book to read, let me suggest this one!  It will not only provide a good biographical story, but leave you considering more deeply questions of pacifism, civil disobedience, spiritual responsibility, and following God at all costs.  I got so much out of it that I’m willing to purchase it again, just to have it on my Nook!