http://life-mission.org/blog Thoughts about living in intentional Christian community Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:49:34 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Recently, a few of us have been discussing an article about guidance written by Jill Carattini entitled, Running With Plan B. This has stimulated a lot of discussion and has prompted us to think more deeply about guidance. The following are some thoughts I've had about the article: I like the ... http://life-mission.org/blog/2012/02/running-with-plan-a/ "Friends do not love one another because they find the love useful to their pleasures—that is a contradiction. They wish rather to be useful to one another because of their love." Anthony Esolen http://life-mission.org/blog/2011/12/useful-friends/ We're starting a new regular posting that will share the links, books, and articles we've been reading and thinking about in the community. I call it the "Fire hose" because it's the collective unedited and unrelated blast of ideas and thoughts flowing through our fellowship. We don't necessarily agree with ... http://life-mission.org/blog/2011/11/the-fire-hose/ If you find the horror genre fascinating then this blog post is for you. I am about to reveal the secrets for creating your own ghoulish drama, all from the comfort of your own life. This fiendish formula works if you personally want to experience terrifying chills and thrills or ... http://life-mission.org/blog/2011/10/how-to-create-a-nightmare/ ‎"Only when one is aware of one’s own human predicament can one then begin on the path toward personal moral development and true social betterment. A misunderstanding of the self leads to disastrous results. It fosters a degenerative forgetfulness of one’s own limited nature as well as a dehumanization of ... http://life-mission.org/blog/2011/10/know-thyself/ ‎"Perhaps the most basic [fact], one on which every community is built, is that of human insufficiency. To put it differently, every human being needs other human beings. To deny this natural fact of human existence, so Aristotle teaches, is to confirm that one is either a beast or a ... http://life-mission.org/blog/2011/10/human-insufficiency/ Previously, I wrote about applying the TQM management philosophy to our personal growth and relationship development. In essence, this means seeing maturity as emerging from a process of acting, evaluating our successes and failures, and then making adjustments to improve our behavior as a result of the evaluation. This cycle ... http://life-mission.org/blog/2011/09/healthy-introspection/ Years ago there was a lot of talk about Total Quality Management (TQM), a management philosophy that aims to create an environment of continuous improvement. I have found the essential idea of TQM to be helpful in thinking about personal growth, and in particular, the development of relationships. While the ... http://life-mission.org/blog/2011/09/do-review-improve/ Chastity has historically been considered a virtue in almost every segment of Christianity. It has sometimes been, however, the only test of holiness for some Christians, while today there are a great number who hardly see it as necessary. I want to explore why it is a virtue and yet ... http://life-mission.org/blog/2011/08/why-chastity-is-a-virtue/ Two analogies that have helped me to better understand personal growth are airline flights and software development. The first analogy I learned from Stephen Covey. The second I gleaned from my work as a software engineer. Rather than think of growth in dichotomous terms (pass or fail) it is more ... http://life-mission.org/blog/2011/08/course-adjustments-and-bug-fixes/