Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Calling on The Name of The Lord: A Biblical Theology of Prayer
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a new title in the New Studies in Biblical Theology series is in want of a place on my bookshelf. On first glance, today might seem better suited for a different kind of post. But, as I read recent events, it’s a call to start taking prayer seriously.…
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Our Ministry in Orlando: The Recent Years
I left off the story on Tuesday in mid 2013. I was working several jobs, Ali was crazy busy at her job, and our involvement at church was waning. We tried to leave, but found no open doors. We pulled back from leading a small group and discipling multiple people and just focused on us…
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Rooted, Unparalleled, and Philosophy in Seven Sentences
I’m always on the lookout for helpful primers on the subjects I study. Often, introductory texts can be so daunting it is hard to know where to start. Thankfully, new books continued to be published. Even if there is overlap at times, that just means there are more options for just the right audience. In…
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Our Ministry in Orlando: The Early Years
As of last month, we’ve been in Orlando 5 years since moving from Dallas. Well technically, Ali was here most of her life. After we got married in 2009, she made the move out west for my last two years at Dallas Seminary and got enough Texas to last a lifetime. We came from The Village…
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One Nation Under God: A Christian Hope for American Politics
Few things are more American than working when you’re supposed to rest. So, here I am writing this book review on the Fourth of July. But, I guess it’s ok because it’s for Bruce Ashford and Chris Pappalardo’s One Nation Under God: A Christian Hope for American Politics. At least I can be patriotic, especially since…
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2016 Reading Challenge: June Update
I mentioned last month that May was a mess. June didn’t get too much better in terms of local events that became national events. However, as you can see below, I did a lot of reading. I’ve intentionally tried to read more books outside of my normal patterns (biblical and theological studies) and it has…
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True Paradox, A Doubter’s Guide, Disappearing Church
Apologetics is becoming more and more about finesse. Maybe it always has been. Straightforward presentations of facts and figures don’t usually cut it. There’s gotta be an angle. I think some of this comes down to the audience. If you’re writing apologetics for other Christians, you don’t have to pay as much attention to persuasion.…
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Ministry in Orlando: Some Demographics
You may remember seeing this picture. It comes from a Business Insider post from 2013. The counties in blue contain roughly one half of the American population. You’ll notice as well that there are three clusters. Well, four if you separate Northern and Southern California. The other ones are first, the one connecting D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia,…
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A Theological Add-On to Challies 2016 Reading Challenge
At this point, the year is almost halfway over, and I’m more than halfway through Tim Challies Reading Challenge. You can see how far I’ve come on Friday. As I’ve been reading, I’ve enjoyed getting out of my usual patterns. But, those patterns were well developed and it took a while for me to master the…
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Our Summer Ministry and Beyond
Ever since Ali and I moved to Orlando, we’ve been involved with the college students at our church. Since this past September, we have lived within reasonable walking distance of UCF, the largest university in the country by undergrad enrollment. For scale, I grew up in Knoxville, home of the University of Tennessee. UCF is twice as…
Got any book recommendations?