Eclipse Of Heaven (South Bend, IN: St. Augustine Press, 1992)

Every now and then I run across a book that has a tremendous impact on my life. Many of the books make an impact, but there is the occasional book that just really hits hard. Eclipse of Heaven by A. J. Conyers is one of those books.

I originally heard about this book through a podcast I listen to regularly, the Every Thought Podcast, from a few of the professors at Ozark Christian College. I was intrigued, so I added the book to my Amazon wish list for reading material and didn’t think too much more about it. But episode after episode of the podcast continued to refer to this book, so I purchased it and started in on it.

This is one of those books that not only makes an impact now, but the implications will last for a long time to come. In this short book, Conyers, who was a professor of theology at Baylor University, address the loss of transcendence that our culture has experienced. And that loss has impacted us in far deeper ways than we might realize.

Written in the early 1990s, this book feels incredibly relevant for the second and third decade of the 21st century. We’ve lost our sense of the divine, our sense of heaven… transcendence. Because of that, our views of the value of life and the meaning of death have shifted. We’ve taken on a much more shallow view of both. Because we no longer live with heaven in mind, our culture has dipped further into moral decay.

This is evident in the way we view community, in the way science has taken the lead in our understanding of the nature of all things, and in the way that religion has faded to the level of a discarded crutch that we once needed. (Although we’re still very much “religious.” Our religion has just shifted from being about God to being about us.)

Our way of thinking has shifted, maybe more deeply than anyone has realized, and we are going to have to regain our focus on what’s beyond this mortal existence, or we run the risk of losing more and more of our humanity. It’s time to refocus our sights upon eternity, and reclaim the hope that we can have because of what God has done on our behalf.

I highly recommend that you read Eclipse of Heaven. But be warned; it will challenge they way you look at life and the way you react to everything around you. If you’re willing to see how this cultural shift has impacted us, and to strive to reclaim the hope that we need, get this book and read it carefully. You can find it on Amazon.

Looking West To Wilderness

The Need For A Spiritual Retreat

Colorado is probably my favorite place on this planet; and to be more specific, a small retreat center in the mountains west of Colorado Springs is my favorite place on this planet. And I go there every year.

Wilderness at Bear Trap Ranch

Recently, I have been writing about my thoughts and ideas concerning all the stuff in my life, and all the stuff going on in my life. I have come to realize that it is time for some simplification, some reorganization, and some reprioritizing of much of my life. That’s not always easy to do, simply because the regular pressures of the day to day grind can prevent us from taking the time to really evaluate where we are and compare that with where we want to be.

I have found that a spiritual retreat can be a very helpful tool to help accomplish this. This is something I have implemented into my life on a regular basis for several years, and have seen some very amazing results in my life. I do this at two different levels: Annually, I take a week and head to Colorado with several other people in ministry. It’s a time of refreshing and renewal. More on that in a moment.

Keep An Eye On Your Giving

A Look At Matthew 6:1-4

Matthew six is the second part of Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount. In this section, Jesus tells his listeners to watch certain areas of their lives: their giving, their praying, and their fasting.

Keep An Eye On Your Giving - A Look At Matthew 6:1-4

Jesus begins this section of Matthew 6 with the phrase, “Take care,” which carries the force of, “Beware.” That immediately tells us that this is an area of our lives that we need to keep a close watch on so that we do not go astray. And, as with the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus doesn’t just deal with our actions, he deals with the motives and attitudes behind them. He gets to the root, and in the case of our giving, if the root motive isn’t right, it won’t be long before we are off course.

The next thing that is interesting is the connection between giving and righteousness. The Pharisees had several outward expressions of their righteousness, and Jesus address three of them in this chapter: the giving of charitable alms, prayer and fasting. But when they are performing the acts of righteousness for show, so that others can see how pious they are, their root motives are wrong.

But don’t misunderstand what Jesus is saying here. He is not saying that others should not see any of our righteousness, or that we must keep it hidden, he’s condemning those whose motives is to be seen by others. The fruit of our life must be displayed, so that others can see Christ in our actions, but our motive must be pleasing to God first and foremost.

Strategically Simplifying

Choosing The Best Things

For the past few weeks, I have been evaluating some of the things in my life, and reducing or reorganizing a lot of it. What I’m doing has been called by many “simplifying.” But I’m trying to be much more strategic than that.

Strategic simplification

Often, the things that we have can get in the way and become a distraction to us. I believe that is the case much more often than people realize, and when “things” get too important, we lose track of our proper priorities.

The Bible calls that idolatry.

But what we need to stop and realize is that it’s not the thing itself that is the problem, it’s our motives and attitudes towards it. So when we start looking into our lives to simplify things, and to remove distractions, we need to look more into our hearts than into our homes. Because that’s where all of this is rooted.

So I have been seeking to be strategic as I simplify my life some. I have been reevaluating a lot of stuff. Do I really need to keep this? It this something that God can use through my life to accomplish good for his Kingdom? Or is this something that I am attached to too deeply? Those are the kinds of questions I’m asking.

But it’s not just about the physical possessions. Sometimes it’s other things as well. And sometimes, in order to simplify our lives, we need to strategically add some things in as we take some others away.

Sometimes, You Just Need To Throw Stuff Away

What To Do When Life Gets Full

Right now, I am in the process of purging some of the things in my life that I have accumulated. I’m shooting for something more simplified, maybe even leaning towards minimalism, in theory. And I’m finding it very hard to do.

Sometimes, You Just Need To Throw Stuff Away

My life is complicated.

I don’t state that in a complaining fashion, because I know just how many different things I have going on in my life. Some I can control, others I cannot. My wife and I have a large family, with seven kids. A couple of them are in early adulthood, a couple of them are teens, or soon to be, and the rest are younger children. That fact alone ensure that we are busy, and that we live in a cluttered home.

I’m also in ministry. Every time I see something that might be a resource, I’m tempted to grab it and hold on to it. More on that in a moment.

My wife is also very frugal. She’s always thinking ahead, so if she sees a deal on something that we don’t need now, but will need later, it’s quite likely to be brought home and stored until we need it. She saves us a lot of money that way.

Sometimes, You Just Need To Take A Deep Breath

What To Do When Life Gets Crazy

You may have noticed that things have been pretty quiet around here lately. That has been both good and bad, for a number of reasons. I hope that I can maintain a regular schedule again soon.

Sometimes, You Just Need To Take A Deep Breath

Sometimes, it’s just time to take a step back from things and take a deep breath. In a way, that has been good for me. I have been able to focus on a few things that needed some attention, and a few things that I have wanted to do for a long time. But at the same time, stepping back wasn’t great, because the habit of writing regularly has slipped a little. This is still a priority in my life, and a slipped habit will be a bit of an obstacle to overcome.

Let me share with you a few of the things that have impacted my schedule over the last few months.