Owen Strachan begins exploring a theology of ambition:

Christians have always struggled with the tendency to pit prayer and meditation on Scripture against action. Those who do so always lose. If we emphasize prayer to the detriment of action, we overspiritualize life and become passive. If we emphasize action to the detriment of prayer, we live as practical atheists. Neither option is sound, and both will lead to a damaged way of life. Far better to couple prayer with action, to bathe action in prayer, and so to live in a combination of trust and dependence.

Christmas Roundup:

• Dan Edelen on Christian contentment
• Michael Spencer: Three Stories
  
• Ben Witherington on C. S. Lewis and Christmas
• The Krusty Sage on... idiots
• And even a Christmas lolcat!
  

Here's a fascinating, well-written article about the worrisome decline of reading and the accompanying deterioration of the civilized mind. In addition to the disturbing social implications involved, I think the problem carries spiritual significance as well, given Christianity's emphasis on the Word and its legacy of ancient writings. The article missed this aspect, due to its evolutionary perspective, but it's very much worth reading anyway.

HT: A&LD

An excellent post from Ben Witherington, prompted by the Colorado shooting, about gun control and violence:

When you are afraid, it is 'shoot first, ask questions later', and behind all of this is the attitude that my life is more important than the life of the other person, especially the maniac with the gun. I disagree with this whole premise. Every person is a person of sacred worth, and every person is someone for whom Jesus died. Period.

Have a care and read the whole thing.


UPDATE: Greg Boyd weighs in.