Book Review: The Four Loves by CS Lewis

Hello beloved readers of the CCF blog! I read this book and really wanted to share about it with all of you.

Let me begin by introducing one of my personal heroes, CS Lewis. There are few authors that are really awesome. CS Lewis is one of them. I am frequently saddened by the fact that he is no longer on this earth because I can’t meet him and he isn’t writing any more books.  He was born in England, somewhere. He was born in a Christian? home, but became an atheist through his school years. Then, he went to Oxford and realized that Jesus is awesome. For more on this, read another book of his entitled “Surprised by Joy.” (Fun fact! CS Lewis was buddies with JR Tolkien at Oxford)

His book The Four Loves introduces different kinds of love one at a time and contrasts them with other loves, and then explores both the ideal states of these loves and the ways they can be twisted. He mentions how each kind could become a sort of false god, and thus a demon, in our lives. I really encourage you all to read the book as it will be much more thorough and awesome than my attempt to summarize.

Meeting Minutes May 5 2012

May 5th, 2012 Meeting Minutes
Present:
Richard G, Sam E, Peter N, Robb M

Meeting Minutes April 27th

April 27th, 2012 Meeting Minutes Present: Tom H, Richard G, Sam E, Peter B, Tom M Notes: - Important Notes o Third term retreat is April 27

Large Group #3

How do I title this? We were planning to discuss contemporary approaches to Atonement in the Crucifixion, Extravagant Welcome, among other things; instead we had quite a lovely discussion on other subjects. 

Read the full post for some take-away points from our discussion. It's not long, I promise.

Nehemiah Dig-in Recap

Hey everyone,

Last Saturday (April 7) we had our last dig-in (aka 24hr bible study) for the school year. We studied the book of Nehemiah, and it was simply awesome! (both hopeful and depressing at the same time) And so I've posted a couple of notes below about some points that we learned. If there's more you'd like to share, feel free to put it in the comments. :)

And if you'd like to ask questions or discuss, put those in the comments as well.

So why did we study Nehemiah? Because currently at Caltech, we are in trying times (and for some, they have a lot of turmoil in their lives). So our focus was to learn how we should deal with trial, how we can help one another, and how we can help the non-Christians with us as well.

Read the full post to find out what we learned!

Edit 4/16/12: Added the historical context and timeline preceding the events in Nehemiah. Scroll all the way down to read. Props to Tim :)

Large Group #2: Doubt

This week's large group, Sam shared with us a little bit about some biblical principles about belief/doubt, and then sent us off into a flurry of discussion. From his email:

"By doubt I mean anything that inclines us not to believe some statement, or at least to be less certain of it. There are a couple different questions I want to explore, both biblically and in discussion with each other. First, when is it appropriate to doubt what facts, particularly those related to our Christian walk? And second, what do we do with doubts that we experience, whether they be internal or external, general or personal, related to faith, hope or love, rational or irrational? I hope to make this discussion very practical and the lessons you bring away like a rope for when you're in a tight spot."

Read the full post to see some notes I've taken. (Unfortunately I could only be in one discussion group so I don't have everything written down) And any feedback is appreciated :)

And remember to scroll over the bible passages to read them.

Council Meeting Minutes April 6

April 6th, 2012 Meeting Minutes
Present:
Peter B, Richard G, Sam E, Tim J, Robb M