deconstructing | Stray Thoughts

Some of the great reads found this week:

Why I Didn’t Deconstruct After Church Hurt, HT to Challies. “As we think about church hurt, wisdom teaches us not to elevate every pain into a five-alarm fire (Proverbs 10:12). Not every disagreement, disappointment, or conflict is spiritual abuse or what’s now commonly called ‘church hurt.’ But sometimes, a leg really is broken. The alarm is warranted. I’ve felt the flames. I’ve got the scars too.”

No Chance of Survival: How a Deadly Plane Crash Yielded a Growing Spiritual Harvest, HT to Challies. This is a long piece, but amazing and touching.

Fight the Subtle Seduction of Self-Reliance, HT to Redeeming Productivity. “My devotional exercise asked, ‘What do you look to for your deliverance?’ Essentially, in what are you placing false hope for salvation? While I don’t trust in standing armies or military might for deliverance, I still felt the implied rebuke. I was drawn inexorably to a simple conclusion: I’m my own war horse. I trust in myself.”

Understanding Therapy Culture from Different Generations, HT to Challies. “As a pastor’s wife and a Marriage and Family Therapist, I’ve had the privilege of sitting across from people from every generation: Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z. Each generation carries unique stories, pain, and questions about healing. While mental health awareness has made significant progress, I’ve noticed something concerning: though the conversation has shifted, many still carry a heavy load just in a different form.”

How and Why to Begin Scripture Writing, HT to Challies. “Almost seven years ago, I began a new way of spending daily time in the Word: I started copying Scripture (verse by verse or book by book) by hand. Over the years, I’ve done this both instead of and in addition to a Bible reading plan. . . I can honestly say that Scripture writing has completely transformed the way I approach the Bible and how I interact with God’s Word.” Rebekah includes some downloads for keeping track of what passages you’ve written.

To the Single Lady at the Wedding, HT to Challies. “A soft and discreet whisper of a lie crept in, ‘You are missing out.’ It seemed so faint, but soon it was blaring throughout my thoughts. One of my best friends recently got married. Attending a wedding as a single in the later part of your 20s hits differently than when you are a spry and young college graduate. When you are younger, time nor the future possibilities do not seem to be as narrow. As the years chip away, so does the hope.”

One for the Substackers to Consider as well as anyone who charges for their content: “Do people support you in order to receive exclusive content or do they support you because they appreciate you and the content you write? In other words, does putting the paywall in place necessarily increase reach, impact, and/or monetization? And is it possible that Christian readers think differently about this than non-Christian ones?”

The goal of the Gospel is to rescue you, transform you, and redirect you. J. C. Ryle

Here’s another list of good online reads:

To the Woman Who Is Deconstructing. “You’ve been raised with one understanding of who God is, what His Word means, and how you’re supposed to live, but lately the foundation of your faith feels a little . . . fractured. Something you’ve read or experienced or felt has changed you. It’s like you’re wearing a new pair of glasses. Everything you thought you knew about Jesus suddenly looks very different.” I don’t know that I’d equate deconstructing with questioning—though deconstruction probably begins with questions, it seems to indicate those who have gotten past the questions to actually dismantling their belief system. Nevertheless, this post has some good encouragement for when questions about faith come up.

Pastor, Your People Need the Hard Texts, HT to Knowable Word. Good for writers and teachers, too. “We love the highlights of Joseph and Genesis 39. But we also need the lowlights of Genesis 38. God meets us in the lowlights. It’s there in the wreckage of our lives that God shows us the way out.”

Who Gave You the Right? “The sanctified instinct of the Christian heart should not be to discourage but to encourage, not to further demoralize other people but to give them strength, to give them heart, to give them courage.”

Focusing on What I Can Measure, HT to Challies. “My physical health is more than the numbers I can measure. And my spiritual health is, too. It’s always tempting to focus on what I can measure in my relationship with God.”

Patience: More Than a Virtue for Motherhood, HT to The Story Warren. “The last thing I wanted to hear as I hurried the kids to get ready for church were the words I had spoken to them many times during the week, “Mom, remember patience is a virtue and a fruit of the Spirit.” They can’t remember to say thank you or where they last left their shoes, but they remember this?! I was beyond impatient. I was angry and aggravated—but also convicted. How easy it was to come up with such a memorable and catchy quotable to use on my kids, but how hard it was for me to receive it back from them!”

Identifying Stanzas in Lamentations. An interesting, different, and inspirational way to look at probably the most well-known passage in Lamentations—through the pronoun shifts.

How to Brainstorm a Nonfiction Writing Project. I think this would be good for brainstorming other things as well. I tend to just jot lists, but I can see value in this method.

How to Feel Comfortable in Front of a Camera. Often when trying to get a group photo, someone will protest that they hate having their picture taken. As people try to draw them in, they protest more. By trying not to call attention to themselves, they draw more attention. And I’ve often thought, “We all know what you look like anyway!” It’s not like no one else will see them because they’re not in a photo. But I have known of people who grieved because they had few photos of a departed loved one who always shied away from the camera. April‘s tips will help, whether you’re in a photo with a group or alone.

This video, HT to Steve Laube, reminds me of Psalm 8:3-4: “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” The God who created the vastness of all the planets and stars and space cares about us and the details of our lives.