Dr Jonathan Downie on Nostr: I was thinking about #influence today. In a decade or so, most of the popular and ...
I was thinking about #influence today.
In a decade or so, most of the popular and debated theology books and Christian Bestsellers will be only available from second-hand bookshops and specialist libraries.
In a week or so, that viral tweet or popular toot will be all but forgotten.
But 408 years ago, a man called Nicolas Herman, was born in an unremarkable town to a peasant family. Much of his adult life revolved around doing dishes in a French monastery. As far as we know, he never wrote a single book, nor did he go on a promotional tour.
But he left a deep impact on people. So much so that, after his death, letters he has sent were collated into a book. This book, The Practice of The Presence of God, published under the name of Brother Lawrence, the name Nicolas took in the monastery, is still read today and still affects people, hundreds of years after he died.
One ordinary man's peace and desire to always be close to God affected generations after generations.
What does that mean to me?
I would rather chase what God says is meaningful than what the world rushes after. I'm probably not going to influence generations like Brother Lawrence but I can influence my family and I can seek the Kingdom first, just like he did, and just like Jesus told us too.
#theologadon #theology #books
In a decade or so, most of the popular and debated theology books and Christian Bestsellers will be only available from second-hand bookshops and specialist libraries.
In a week or so, that viral tweet or popular toot will be all but forgotten.
But 408 years ago, a man called Nicolas Herman, was born in an unremarkable town to a peasant family. Much of his adult life revolved around doing dishes in a French monastery. As far as we know, he never wrote a single book, nor did he go on a promotional tour.
But he left a deep impact on people. So much so that, after his death, letters he has sent were collated into a book. This book, The Practice of The Presence of God, published under the name of Brother Lawrence, the name Nicolas took in the monastery, is still read today and still affects people, hundreds of years after he died.
One ordinary man's peace and desire to always be close to God affected generations after generations.
What does that mean to me?
I would rather chase what God says is meaningful than what the world rushes after. I'm probably not going to influence generations like Brother Lawrence but I can influence my family and I can seek the Kingdom first, just like he did, and just like Jesus told us too.
#theologadon #theology #books