the journey

The challenge of Easter

I'm reading Dallas Willard's The Divine Conspiracy for the very first time. I've had it on my shelf for quite awhile (not unlike a few other books) & I'm just now getting to it.  I'm trying to read it devotionally; we'll see how that goes.

While reflecting on the chapter entitled "Gospels of Sin Management," which, incidentally, is very good, I was struck with the following thoughts:

• Some only focus on life after death, to the exclusion of life before death,
• Some only focus on professing Christ, to the exclusion of living for Christ,
• Some only focus on loving God, to the exclusion of loving others-in-need,
• And some only focus on spiritual experiences, to the exclusion of character transformation.

I suppose the challenge of Easter-- living in the wake of the resurrection-- is to help people discover that one-dimensional Christianity just doesn't cut it. 

It leaves you-- it left me-- feeling like I was missing something.

And I think I was. 

Technorati Tags: Christianity, Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy

My favorite books of 2008

Now that several of my favorite blogs have posted their end-of-year list of book recommendations, I suppose it's time for me to get on the "favorite books of 2008" bandwagon.  ;-)

Ok, here goes...

I wish I had kept better records of my reading this year.  In previous years, there was a "just finished reading" Typelist on the blog that kept a chronological record of all my reading (with my notes/assessment of each one).

That is, until this year when I eliminated that Typelist altogether in an effort to streamline the blog.

Hmmmm. So much for that idea.

Oh well.  Here are here are a few good books listed in no particular order.

1. The Monk Downstairs by Tim Farrington (Hands down the best book that I read in 2008). The book's been around for awhile, but I just got around to it this year. 
2. A Christianity Worth Believing by Doug Paggit (Loved the Trucker Frank story, wow!)
3. The New Christians: Dispatched from the Emergent Fronteer by Tony Jones (A good account of the Emerging Church movement)
4. Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne (loved Shane's passion, but hated the cluttered, hard-to-read format)
5. Soul Graffiti by Mark Scandrette
6. Twilight by Stephanie Meyers (Completely captures the psyche of the adolescent female)
7. Rick & Bubba for President by Bill Burgess and Bill Bussey (light-hearted fun)
8. They Like Jesus But Not the Church by Dan Kimball (hits the nail on the head)
9. Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright (I was intrigued/surprised by the "life after life after death" discussion).
10. And two books that I've started but haven't finished:  Storm Front (Dresden Files, Book 1) by Jim Butcher and finally, last but not least, World Without End by Ken Follett.

Well, that's my 2008 reading in-a-nutshell.  If you have "good reads" you'd like to recommend, be sure to mention them in the comments section below.

Tags: favorite books, favorite books of 2008

It came in the mail...

we've got mail.
Originally uploaded by ::reflecting truth::

[Click on photo for larger versions.]

I recently volunteered to review a book for Zondervan Publishers.
It's Scot McKnight's upcoming book (November release), The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible. If you're unfamiliar with Scot, he's a well-respected theology professor at North Park University in Chicago, Illinois, and has plenty to say at his personal blog, Jesus Creed.

Now I find myself anxiously awaiting the new arrival.

I'll be posting more, so stay tuned.

Technorati Tags: Scot McKnight, The Blue Parakeet, The Jesus Creed

More about "The Shack"

The Shack is selling like crazy-- it's a New York Times best-seller.

I typically don't get caught up in mainstream Christian best-sellers--they're usually much too conservative, too shallow or too cheesy for my tastes.  Case and point: The Left Behind series.

Having said that, however, I've been watching The Shack phenomenon with a great deal of interest.  And because of the reviews posted below, I'm thinking about reading it for myself.

• Review by Ben Witherington
• Review by Bob Hyatt
• And here's Mark Driscoll's charges of modalism (not that I necessarily agree with him).

If you have any thoughts or comments on this topic, I'd be interested in hearing them.

Technorati Tags: The Shack

Preparing us for life before death

Though I certainly don't agree with everything Shane Claiborne has to say, particularly his view on excommunication, but I wholeheartedly agree with this assessment:

. . .[W]e are convinced Jesus came not to prepare us to die but to teach us how to live. The kingdom of God is not just something we hope for when we die but something we live "on earth as it is in heaven." And we're not willing simply to promise the world that there is life after death when the world is asking, "Is there life before death?" We are thankful for heaven, but we are not willing to stand by and watch people live through hell to get there.

Source: Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne, p. 290.

Technorati Tags: Shane Claiborne, Kingdom of God

The Great Awakening

I have this book listed on my Amazon wishlist.

Though I don't receive any perks by mentioning this (or any other book for that matter), I wanted you to be aware of a book dealing with the juncture of politics and religion.

Here's an endorsement:

“For more than 30 years, Jim Wallis has pointed the way to a road less traveled—a way of integrating faith and public life in the spirit of the biblical prophets. Now, having tried the alternatives and found them disastrous, more and more people are realizing that Jim’s chosen path is the right way forward to higher ground. At once inspiring and substantial, The Great Awakening invites us to become part of a new spiritual and social movement and make a difference.”

— Brian McLaren, speaker and author of Everything Must Change

Tags: Jim Wallis, The Great Awakening

An intriguing statement of faith

Rather than getting bogged down in a quagmire of theological terms and definitions, this church chose to concentrate on a few important basics:

We at [insert church name] acknowledge that God's coming to earth in the person of Jesus Christ and recounted in the Gospels turns upside down what we used to think about concepts like "truth." For in him, "Truth" walked around, talked to people, and even cried and bled.  We're left with a faith that, while deep, is also paradoxical and difficult. As a result, we committed to leaning on each other as we collectively try to follow Jesus. We're confident about some things: Jesus' coming to the earth was good news, it's still good news, and there's more good news to come. You're welcome to join us anytime.

Source: The New Christians by Tony Jones, p. 162.

Tags: The New Christians, Tony Jones, statement of faith

Holistic evangelism

Here's something to consider:

We participate in a citywide project that provides food for the working poor. We have run tutoring programs and food pantries in the poorest part of Minneapolis.  We are committed to bringing an end to human trafficking in our city and around the world. We have done most of these while offering very little of what some Christians might think of as "soul evangelism" to the people we help.  We haul cement blocks and talk about decreasing the sugar in their diets and cook chili for them, but not as a cover for talking about the "really important" spiritual issues. All of this leads some people to ask why we put this kind of focus on such "temporal" things rather than focusing on the important issues of eternity and the soul.  There is the sense that the work we're doing is nice, but it doesn't really count unless it's a means to a greater end.

I'm not trying to make the case that meeting physical needs is as important as meeting spiritual needs. I'm making the case that there is no difference, that there is not separate categories of need, that when we minister to people, we minister to the whole person.  That is the implication of holism, not that we pick one side of the old debate between caring for the physical needs and caring for the soul but that we understand and live in the reality that the "difference" between them is not what we may have thought it was (emphasis mine).

If we're not careful, compassion can be conditional, manipulative and agenda-driven rather than no-strings-attached.

Source: A Christianity Worth Believing by Doug Paggett, pp. 83-8

Tags: evangelism, holistic evangelism

Rick and Bubba for President

Rick and Bubba for President
Uploaded by Insane Zamboni

[Click on graphic for larger view.]

I was recently introduced to radio personalities Rick and Bubba on the afternoon Sean Hannity radio show. They appeared publicizing their brand new book, a tongue in cheek announcement of their willingness (and desire) to serve as co-presidents of the United States (along with their political platform).

It looked fun, so I purchased a copy and read it in it's entirety yesterday.

Though it wasn't particularly brilliant or insightful (it wasn't meant to be), it was an entertaining comedic look at what it would be like to have "the two sexiest fat men alive" living in the White House.

I particularly enjoyed the chapters on the National Debt, the 10% flat tax, the presidential limousine and Air Force One.  The giant pizza oven and the home entertainment added to the president's plane was a nice touch. ;-)

For a fun summertime read, you might want to consider this book.

Technorati Tags: Rick and Bubba, Rick and Bubba for President

To be the message

Here's a quotation that capture my imagination this morning:

The work of Jesus was not anew set of ideals or principles for reforming or even revolutionizing society, but the establishment of a new community, a people that embodied forgiveness, sharing, and self-sacrificing love in its rituals and discipline. In that sense, the visible church is not to be the bearer of Christ's message, but to be the message. 

~Anabaptist theologian John Howard Yoder

Source: The New Christians by Tony Jones, p. 178.

Technorati Tags: Tony Jones, The New Christians