John Mark Comer on Why We Need to Get Quiet

Maybe the way to speak with clarity into a loud and angry age starts with learning when not to speak at all.

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Most of us know what it is to feel overwhelmed by noise…not just the literal kind, but the pings and alerts, the demands and arguments, the constant sense that something somewhere requires our attention right now. John Mark Comer, author of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, returns to talk with Russell about his new book, Into the Quiet: Following Jesus in a World of Noise (October 6th). And, as Comer argues, quiet isn't simply a way to calm down. Sometimes the first thing we encounter in silence is everything we've been using the noise to avoid.

Russell and Comer talk about why solitude can initially make us more anxious rather than less, how to distinguish the voice of God from all the other voices rattling around in our heads, and why God's silence isn't the same thing as God's absence. They also consider what churches might look like if they became refuges from noise rather than competitors in it—and why the Christian call to “lead a quiet life” doesn't mean retreating from a troubled world. 

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