If you read my post about attending the OKWB Mini-Con last month (holy cow, has it already been almost a month since that conference? O.O) you may recall that I mentioned one of the things I needed to work on was community.
I read a lot of blogs. The ones I have linked in my sidebar are a mere sampling – my absolute favorites. But there are numerous other posts that I read and thoroughly enjoy – and I’m often remiss about sharing them.
Sometimes I hesitate to share them because I think my readers wouldn’t appreciate them, or they wouldn’t fit the tone that I’ve ‘set’ for my blog. Well, I’m just gonna start tossing those presumptions out the window, because we’re all more than just the image we make of ourselves online.
So, while I can’t promise that this will be a weekly or bi-weekly or even monthly recurring-style post, I will try to put something like this up whenever I can.
The List
- Neo Pseudo Gnosticism – John W. Otte
This is a series that Otte recently wrapped up on his blog, and while it’s a bit of a long read to go through all of them, if you happen to find theology as fascinating as I do, you’ll probably enjoy it. It deals with a phenomena prevalent in the modern church (and something that I personally think is related to why the Republican party, which is mostly controlled by ‘Evangelicals’, avoids many issues that are linked to environmentalism, but that’s another conversation for another day.) – the idea that this world doesn’t matter in the long run. Which, if you really read and examine Scripture, is very much not the case. This world matters a lot. - When Going to the Doctor Means Losing Consent – New Crunchy Mom
I don’t like doctors. While my experiences with them have not been as traumatizing as Rebecca’s, it was not a surprise to me that she has had these experiences in the medical community. I very much understand her frustration with having doctors who simply won’t listen – and I can’t imagine how horrifying it must be when they’re essentially groping you at the same time. - Adult Coloring Books as New Age Evangelism – Mike Duran
All right. Before you go “Bekah. Bekah. Wut.” just go read it. It’s not what you think – I promise. (But yes, it is another theology post.) - A Story of Chicken Recovery – Oak Hill Homestead
Kathi at Oak Hill Homestead posted her story about one of her new chickens that was in a freak accident. This was right before I was certain that Gabby was going to start laying again, and I couldn’t help but hope that since her chicken had healed so well, Gabby’s recovery was right around the corner, too! It’s wonderful when things work out that way. - You Don’t Have to Change the World with Your Words – The Rabid Rainbow Ferret Society
Yes, this is a Ferret post, but it’s not one by me. This one is by Lissa. It’s a wonderful reminder that simplicity doesn’t have to be lost in an agenda – that words can be soothing, they don’t have to just be altering and necessary.
Lissa Clouser
March 21, 2016 - 2:00 pm ·Thank you so much for the link back! I’m glad that post meant something to you too.
I’m also happy to see you doing a link round up from time to time (however frequent or infrequent it becomes). This is one of my favorite ways to discover new (to me) bloggers. It’s much harder to slog through a general list of people than it is to see a short-list of favorite posts from favorite bloggers. I’d much rather use some of your favorite posts as a springboard to try a blogger I haven’t read before than blindly click a name!
Jean Marie Bauhaus
March 21, 2016 - 2:40 pm ·Thanks for linking the coloring book article. I’d read the original warning the other day and, well, I’m just going to say that I grew up with that kind of knee-jerk demonization of things going on all around me (pretty much everything I liked or enjoyed that was overtly Christian was going to open up a door for me to be possessed or join a Satanic cult and go on a murder spree — gotta love the Satanic Panic), so it didn’t sit well with me. It was nice to read such a reasoned (and scriptural) response.
Rebekah Loper
March 21, 2016 - 3:01 pm ·Some of my most vivid memories of childhood (and even of current things *sigh*) are my grandmother constantly asking for prayer because she was always ‘under attack’ (some of it was legit, but a lot of it was also not), warnings about Harry Potter and DND, etc, I totally get you.
By the time I was 15, I think I’d sat back and looked at things and gone “… Satan doesn’t need to DO anything here. You’ve all got it under control on your own.”
Jean Marie Bauhaus
March 21, 2016 - 4:20 pm ·My mom’s lightened up quite a bit (although I still hear bizarre untrue things about Harry Potter from time to time), but she’s got a church friend who’s always giving me the side-eye for “glorifying demons” by writing about ghosts. Good times.
thatnewcrunchymom
March 21, 2016 - 8:27 pm ·Aww thank you so much for sharing my blog! 🙂 I am flattered. I wish I could have made it to the Mini-Con and met everyone…maybe next year!
Rebekah Loper
March 22, 2016 - 7:02 am ·You’re welcome! Hopefully you can make it to the mini-con next year, it was fantastic!
Laura Weymouth
March 22, 2016 - 6:43 am ·I love this link up, Bekah! I’m slowly working my way through everything but the Otte series was fantastic. If you ever want to have a sympathetic grumble about the craziness of Christians ignoring/denying environmental issues, I’M SO HERE FOR THAT lol.
Rebekah Loper
March 22, 2016 - 7:16 am ·Thanks, Laura!
But ugh. Really, I think Christians should be at the forefront of environmental issues (with a few exceptions – I don’t think it should be prioritized over the value of human life), especially those of us who believe in a 7-day Creation because God literally commended the earth into our care. It’s just something we can ignore because it’s going to be ‘made new’ eventually. How we deal with it determines things for OUR eternity. “Be faithful in little” y’know?
Kathi at Oak Hill Homestead
March 23, 2016 - 7:12 am ·Thank you for including the tale of my hen’s recovery, Rebekah. I enjoyed Gabby’s story as well. Evidently chickens are a lot more resilient than we give them credit for. Congratulations on that egg!