From C.S. Lewis . . .
All this is flashy rhetoric about loving you.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through;
I want God, you, all friends merely to serve my turn.
Peace, reassurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin;
I talk of love--a scholar's parrot may talk Greek--
But , self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.
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In times of great debate (family, church, politics, etc.) I'm always drawn back to the heart of The Jesus Story: sin, evil, and corruption do not exist "out there" . . . sin, evil, and corruption run right through the middle of me. I think that's what Lewis's poem is doing.
Please wait one moment . . .
About the Book (The Feast)
About Me
- Josh Graves
- Nashville, TN, United States
- I'm the best friend of Kara, father of Lucas, minister, author (The Feast), life-long Piston fan . . . I am the Preaching and Teaching Minister for the Otter Creek Church (Nashville) and I am working on a doctorate degree (second year) at Columbia Seminary studying the relationship of postmodernism and Christianity.
Some of Josh's Published Work (essays, books, articles, reviews)
Links
- Barbara Brown Taylor
- Brian D. McLaren
- Bronx Fellowship of Christ
- Chris Lindsey
- Columbia Seminary
- Donald Miller
- Doug Sanders
- Dry Bones--Denver
- Duke Chapel
- Focus: HOPE
- Greg Boyd
- Greg Stevenson
- Greg Taylor
- Jason Steckel
- Jesus Creed
- Jinja Mission Team
- John Mark Hicks
- John York
- Jonathan Storment
- Josh Ross
- Kara Graves (My wife and best friend)
- Kibo Group
- Larry James Urban Daily
- Lauren Winner
- Lee Camp
- Luke Norsworthy
- Mark and Lori Manry
- Mark Love (Missional Church)
- Mike Cope
- My Twitter Page
- New Wineskins Magazine
- Otter Creek Church
- Patrick Mead
- Randy Speck
- Rochester Church
- Rochester College
- Rubel Shelly
- Sean Palmer
- Stockman Family
- The One Campaign
- TOKENS (Lee Camp and the Arts)
- Wade Hodges
- Walter Surdacki
- Will Willimon
Blog Archive
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2008
(192)
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November
(20)
- LIFE OF PI
- Missing from the Table
- Sex and the Church
- Prep
- Who Ministers to the Minister?
- The Weekend
- Pocket of Sunshine
- More Photos from Cass Park
- No title
- Looking for God
- Cass Park
- The Definition of a Saint
- Scars and Secrets (Part Three)
- Scars and Secrets (Part Two)
- Scars and Secrets (Part One)
- Holy Brawl!?
- Jesus Feast
- A Scholar's Parrot
- The Dust is Beginning to Settle
- Brueggemann Disciples
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November
(20)
2 comments:
Thank you for that reminder that sin is not only "out there", but a daily struggle for us all.
Found your blog through Josh Ross, I am at SVCC.
Josh,
I really appreciate this post. I feel that during the whole political show of the past year I have considered myself above it all, and thus the problem was out there. I feel like I need to amend my response to your question on your last post. The political mood here in middle TN is as one would expect. The values that dominate the thinking of the masses dictates whether they are happy or distressed about the outcome of this election. Thanks for the post!
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