My hands fall into my lap as I finish playing, “I Surrender All” for the congregational “Hymn of Response”. We would always end the hymn singing the chorus acapella. As my voice joins the congregation, my heart is a mixture of hope and doubt. Why do I continue singing this song throughout my life not… Read More I Surrender All
The Goodness and Goal of Creation Before turning to the Fall’s impact on our theological discussion, we must pause to re-emphasize the inherent goodness of creation. Why do this? Because inherent to the theology of fitness and health is this realization. To establish the inherent goodness of creation is itself to lay the foundation for… Read More The Goodness and Goal of Creation – Toward a Theology of Health and Fitness, Part 4
Hearts long to be home. They yearn to belong. They want to be found. But things tend to get complicated quickly, when our hearts pull us in directions that promise all these things, and yet miserably fail to deliver, and we find ourselves on yet another goose chase. But the goose chase is good. For… Read More An Augustinian Insight on Sheep
She sat upon her pile of toys, like a dragon upon its throne. Dressed in the tattered rags of the daily-worn Rapunzel dress, she looked down with haughty eyes upon the eager, empty, energetic hands of her one-year-old sister; hands held out in the hope of participating in the joys of her sister’s carefully guarded… Read More A Lesson in My Daughter’s Library
The more I read of Christians trying to advocate for physical fitness, the more I am burdened with the need to safeguard the Gospel against developing a new legalistic set of rules to follow. There are various diets advertised as being the most Christian or certain body types or external images put forth consciously or… Read More Thoughts on Legalistic Dieting and Fitness from the Diet of Worms – Toward a Theology of Health and Fitness
Over breakfast this morning, two of my children were trying to come up with a strategic way of picking up household trash so that one would not do more than the other. I almost said something along the lines of, “What would Jesus do?” but instead I found myself telling a different story… “There once… Read More Our Hope Does not Lie in Hope Chests
I stayed outside. A glance through the partially opened door was enough. Enough to see painful images and feel an indescribable sorrow at my own hardness of heart. I wrote my last post with this most recent and last visit to our house on Brodrecht Road in mind. Nine years ago, Jeff brought us there,… Read More Houses of Pain and Mercy: A House on Brodrecht Road
Creation as Communication from the Trinitarian God In order to understand God’s purposes and designs for fitness and health, we must begin with the creation account, to glean all that we can from God’s purposes before sin entered the world. Just as when training for the medical field, it is important to understand the proper… Read More Fitness and Health in the Story of Creation – Toward a Theology of Health and Fitness, Part 3
“Who do you think Edmund is to remind us of, in the story of salvation? Satan?”. I was rather shocked by her suggestion. My daughter, Aletheia, who is reading C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe for school, was bent over a worksheet at the time, waiting to jot an answer down. This… Read More Narnia, Mrs. Beaver and Edmund
Unfortunately (although now I can say with thanks), my wife and I have walked through many of these valleys (idolatry or avoidance of health, fitness, or food), which you may or may not care to understand. These experiences are the context in which I write. However, my aim and trajectory in this endeavor is inherently… Read More My Context and Aim of Writing – Toward a Theology of Health and Fitness, Part 2
