arieljvan.com

I’ve been meaning to link this post forever. J. Dodson at Church Planting Novice (a title I thought about stealing for this blog) looks at the episode where Jesus deals with a demon possessed man, and asks what we can learn about Christ. Great thoughts, and here’s an excerpt from his conclusions:

The Masculinity of Jesus: Jesus was radical but not because he was Van Helsing–vanquishing only evil and preserving good. Jesus conquered evil through counter-cultural redemption. In an age of emasculated, Fight Club, Ultimate Fighting voyerism, men do well to learn from the actions of Jesus. His masculinity was shaped, not by violent outbursts or the destruction of weird and wicked foes, but by mercy and redemption. He encountered the evil and suffering of this world with otherworldly wisdom and bold compassion. Is your Jesus this kind of manly?

Good post from J. Dodson on what he calls “Urbanolatry“:

Much has been made of the “City” of late. On the global scale, over half of the world’s population inhabits cities and urban migration is on the rise. Stateside, burgeoning New Urbanism coupled with a minority of urban-focused evangelicals is generating a growing interest in urban life. The new urban mantra is: “live, work, and play in the city…”

Nevertheless, obsessing about the goodness of urban living can blind us to lessons we might learn from rural lifestyles.