Författarbild

Matt Mikalatos

Författare till Imaginary Jesus

19+ verk 476 medlemmar 42 recensioner 2 favoritmärkta

Om författaren

Matt Mikalatos has, like you, experienced the joy of love and the pain of lacking it. He's excited to join you on this journey. Matt lives in the Portland, Oregon, area with his wife, three daughters, and a gigantic rabbit named Bruce.

Serier

Verk av Matt Mikalatos

Associerade verk

Unidentified Funny Objects (1880) — Bidragsgivare — 90 exemplar
Behind the Mask: A Superhero Anthology (2017) — Bidragsgivare — 85 exemplar
Unidentified Funny Objects 2 (2013) — Bidragsgivare — 31 exemplar
Unidentified Funny Objects 3 (2014) — Bidragsgivare — 25 exemplar
Coffee: 14 Caffeinated Tales of the Fantastic (2013) — Bidragsgivare — 19 exemplar
The Cackle of Cthulhu (2018) — Bidragsgivare — 18 exemplar
Dark Expanse: Surviving the Collapse (2014) — Bidragsgivare — 4 exemplar
Daily Science Fiction: September 2015 (2015) — Bidragsgivare — 1 exemplar
Daily Science Fiction: May 2014 (2014) — Bidragsgivare — 1 exemplar
Daily Science Fiction: July 2013 (2013) — Bidragsgivare — 1 exemplar

Taggad

Allmänna fakta

Födelsedag
20th Century
Kön
male
Nationalitet
USA

Medlemmar

Recensioner

Summary: Moving beyond impasses or civil discourse to loving one another in Christian community while honestly engaging our conflicts through the working out of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.

I’ve often found things are little different, and sometimes worse, in Christian community, when it comes to conflict. Often we’ll paper over differences with niceties and placations while we inwardly seethe. Or we just walk away. Or we just keep lots of things off the table and relate at very superficial levels. At its worst, we’ll line up everyone in the church on sides and demonize the others until we split the church.

Some propose the ideal of civil discourse, the best we can hope for in “civil” society. This means rules of engagement separating issues we disagree about and people we respect, reflective listening, avoiding ultimatums, looking for common ground. Kathy Khang and Matt Mikliatos believe we can do better than that in the Christian community because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the fruit this results in that give us the capacity to love across our differences.

The authors, who never met each other in person before writing this book together, practice what they preach. They come from very different cultural backgrounds. They alternate chapters on each of the fruit of the Spirit and ask questions of each other that tease out different perspectives that enrich the discussion. We see the two of them practice this at the very beginning of the book. Matt had initially been approached about writing the book, then Kathy had been proposed as a co-author. Matt thought Kathy would never do it and says, “I decided not to mention it to Kathy. I planned to politely decline for both of us.” Only when a mutual friend asked, “why are you saying no for Kathy” did he reconsider. In the introduction, we read how they process this, how Matt realizes the hurtful impact this has even though intent was good, and how Kathy has often had brothers speak for her as a woman and person of color. What Matt didn’t know was that this was a project she did have energy for. They model embarrassing honesty and grace, and something more–they discover a shared vision for something more than mere civility.

Reading the book, while I appreciated the unpacking of the meaning of each of the nine fruit of the Spirit, what I most appreciated was the dialogue between Matt and Kathy at the end of each chapter. Rather than the “Yes, but…,” that characterizes many dialogues, their are appreciative reflections and searching questions: how can I grow in love toward people I find the most challenging? do you have any examples of a conflict being resolved well and resulting in peacemaking? can speaking truth be kind and comfortable? what is the difference between the “niceness” that makes other people comfortable and the kindness that allows for clear action?

Along the way, discussions of fruit expose dysfunctions in many evangelical churches. The chapter on goodness lays bare the difference between goodness and the legalism many of us grew up with. They explore the difference between joy and toxic positivity. The chapter on self-control not only explores control of body, mind, and emotion but how we deal with anger and when we need to be angry.

Perhaps the key idea in this book is that Christ-shaped Christian community is worth fighting for. Instead of mere niceness or civility, there are times we need to get our disagreements out in the open, even while determined to stay in the ring out of love for those who are called into this same community. We will mess up, need to apologize, and forgive. And the world will see something compelling. The world knows how to fight but it doesn’t know how to love while fighting. The world has seen plenty of fights split people up. It hasn’t seen people fighting to stay together. That’s the kind of loving disagreement that Khang and Milkiatos says the Holy Spirit makes possible. They challenge us to ask, might we do better?
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
BobonBooks | Feb 12, 2024 |
An absolute gem of a book ! Sky Lantern is one of the most life affirming pieces of art I've ever come across. In this day in age, when we turn on the news and are instantly, and constantly, barraged with news of terrorism, and all too harsh realities of life, we need to take the time to focus on the positive, and difference all of us can make, with even the smallest act of kindness. Put this on your must read list.
 
Flaggad
kevinkevbo | 3 andra recensioner | Jul 14, 2023 |
Amazing! I'm reminded of "The Princess Bride" - it's adventure, it's humor, it's romance... and more!

On beyond Narnia, for sure - Mikalatos tells a deep, fun and fast moving story that is (at least part) driven by .... social justice. Now that may sound like a buzzkill - but far from it. This is a good, fun, funny and deep story - I know I'll be back.
 
Flaggad
mrklingon | 4 andra recensioner | May 1, 2023 |
Nice episode - set in, but independent of - the Crescent Stone. A very nice meditation on Christmas.
 
Flaggad
mrklingon | May 1, 2023 |

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Statistik

Verk
19
Även av
10
Medlemmar
476
Popularitet
#51,804
Betyg
3.9
Recensioner
42
ISBN
44
Språk
1
Favoritmärkt
2

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