Snippet: My Weather (Thrill Series)

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

Another snippet from The Thrill of Orthodoxy: Rediscovering the Adventure of Christian Faith by Trevin Wax.

“…You may have your preferences, but you don’t say my weather and your weather, because you’re not in control. It’s something that’s there, something that happens, to which you must adapt.”

“…We shelter ourselves from the extremes of weather today, choosing the comforts of a house perfectly suited to the temperature we desire….Only extreme weather shatters our illusions of control—when a storm knocks out the power, or a hurricane forces us to flee. It’s only when we plan an event outside—a picnic, a wedding, or a game—that we run the risk of the weather changing our plans. Most of the time, we control our comfort.

“When someone says the adventure of life is in discovering or speaking their truth, it’s like being enamored with the thermostat, excited to set the temperature that will produce the mild comfort of an air-conditioned home. The bigger adventure of orthodoxy calls us outside, away from the domesticated doctrines and palatable heresies of our time, and into a wild and glorious world of wonders.”

God is God. We don’t invent him. We can try to make him in our image, but that won’t change who he is. He is. He calls himself, “I am.” And he reveals himself to us so we can know him personally. Him, not our imaginations of him. And what an adventure to discover more and more about him from him, not from our preferences or imagination.

Photo by Olga Guryanova on Unsplash.

Snippet: When Truth No Longer Wows (Thrill Series)

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

This one is from The Thrill of Orthodoxy: Rediscovering the Adventure of Christian Faith by Trevin Wax. The Elders recently read and discussed it. I’m going to do a series of snippets from the book over the next few weeks. I’ll call it the “Thrill Series.” Each one should give you plenty to think about, but if you just decide to read the book and skip the snippets, I’d be thrilled.

“The church faces her biggest challenge not when new errors start to win but when old truths no longer wow. J. R. R. Tolkien once said that the most regrettable feature of human nature is how quickly we become unsatisfied with the good.”

That’s how the book starts.

And “wow” was my reaction throughout the book.

Here’s a short bio of Trevin Wax, who is one of my favorites:

Trevin Wax is vice president of research and resource development at the North American Mission Board and a visiting professor at Cedarville University. A former missionary to Romania, Trevin is a regular columnist at The Gospel Coalition and has contributed to The Washington Post, Religion News Service, World, and Christianity Today, which named him one of 33 millennials shaping the next generation of evangelicals. He has taught courses on mission and ministry at Wheaton College and has lectured on Christianity and culture at Oxford University. He is a founding editor of The Gospel Project, and the author of multiple books, including The Thrill of Orthodoxy, Rethink Your Self, This Is Our Time, and Gospel Centered Teaching.