Snippet: Respite from the World's Horrors

Snip·pet | ˈsnipit | noun a small piece or brief extract.

Here’s one from John Witvliet in a Christianity Today article/post:

“Painfully, in the worship of far too many churches, there is barely even a mention of the world’s horrors. Instead of lamenting, confessing, and interceding with specificity and honesty, these churches tend to avoid, deny, or minimize the public trauma that is all around them. The understandable desire for a respite from trauma ends up perpetuating a pattern of disengagement from society.”

One of the best things to come out of Covid for our worship gatherings was the new “prayers of the people” element in our services (we now do it monthly).

It has given us a way to lament, acknowledge the world’s horrors, and (most importantly) pray together for them.

One more snippet on why this is important:

“It aligns our prayers with the breadth of divine concern, it forms us into people of priestly concern for the world God loves, and it responds directly to biblical commands to pray in and about all circumstances.”

Read that again. God’s concerns become our concerns. Our “priestly concern.” Wow!

Photo by Hermes Rivera on Unsplash

Snippet: Do You Want to Read More Nonfiction Books?

Snip·pet | ˈsnipit | noun a small piece or brief extract.

Here’s one from Tevin Wax in a post called “Work Out Your Body and Your Soul”:

“If you read for just 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening, you’ll get through multiple books a year, even big books that demand your attention and focus”

I read a lot related to my work. Two of my StrengthsFinder strengths are "Learner” and “Input.” So researching a topic for a sermon is fun for me. Listening to podcasts and reading articles is fun and easy. These “snippets” posts are a way I try to leverage something I love to do.

But for some time now, listening to podcasts and articles (on the Voice Dream app) has been cutting into the time I use to devote to reading and listening to whole books.

So there’s a book I’ve been wanting to read for weeks now. Not just listen to it but read it carefully and mark highlights.

Reflecting on the above snippet, I realized I could have finished the book weeks ago by developing this simple 15/15 habit.

So I did it and finished it in about five days.

I’m a fairly slow reader so I have a hack I use when I want to read faster but need to highlight the book.

I download the book on Kindle and, as I read it on my iPad, I listen on Audible or Scribd at high speed on my iPhone.

It’s amazing!

I don’t know if it can work for most people, but I doubt just “giving it a try” is sufficient to determine if it works for you. You may have to train a little with practice.

But even reading slowly without my hack, the snippet is still true. You can read a lot of substantial books.

You can do the same thing with one of the new BibleProject courses or prayer or focused conversation with your spouse or a friend.

It adds up quickly. Three and a half hours a week by taking two 15 minute slots.

Give it a try!

Photo by Road Trip with Raj on Unsplash