Well 2006 has been a good year for books. I felt i have learned a lot this year from many amazing author. I thougth i'd share a couple of the highlights.
The Call to Conversion: Jim Wallis
Repenting of Religion: Gregory Boyd
Through Painted Desserts: Donald Miller
The Post-evangleical: Dave Tomlinson
Why Men are the Way they are: Warren Farrel
The Secret Message of Jesus: Brian McLaren
Are Women Human: Dorothy Sayers
The Beauty Myth: Naomi Wolf
Meeting Jesus again for the First Time: Marcus Borg
The Search to Belong: Joseph Meyers
The Younger Evangelicals: Robert Webber
The Prophetic Imagination: Walter Bruggemann
The Jesus Creed: Scot McKnight
Practicing Passion: Kenda Creasy Dean
Exclusion & Embrace: Miroslav Volf
Velvet Elvis: Rob Bell
The Great Giveaway: David Fitch
Evangelical Theology-An Introduction: Karl Barth
Tortured Wonders: Rodney Clapp
The Irresistible Revolution: Shane Caliborne
Friday, December 15, 2006
Friday, December 08, 2006
Where do you sit on the Evangometer?
Well you might be wonder what a 'Evangometer' is..and asking why is Chris making up words. Actually, I found the word in an article 'An evangelical body, broken for you . . . into six convenient types' by Anna Bowen found in the recent issue of Geez Magazine(http://www.geezmagazine.org/issue4/anevangelicalbody.html). An 'evangometer' is tells how evangelical you are. This is an interesting point as in the last couple years the word evangelical has become harder to define.
I feel Bowen does a good job. I have a couple of interesting points. Under Liberal Evangelicals she puts Rick Warren, C.S. Lewis, and Bono. Wow that is quite a contrast of people..first off don't think anyone has called Warren a liberal before, but i have realized he has been critized by the religious right for his involvement in Africa with a AIDS pandemic. The other interesting point is that both Bono and Lewis are really controversial. Bono some think is a universalist, and Lewis..is one of those people that evangelicals revere..but as Brian McLaren pointed out in his brillant book 'A New Kind of Christain' that people sometimes don't want to hear it in a sermon.
The other interesting point is the 'emergent evangelical' first off..i am impressed that Bowen put the emergetn type relevtively high on the evangometer. But i have no idea what the Vintage Church is. I feel i am fairly fluent in emergent lingo..and have yet to come across this term. But all in all i feel that Bowen assess the group fairly.
But, my main criticsm for Bowen is to do with Christian Leftists. I think the people she lumps into this group is a bit rash. I feel the distinction she makes between the Christian Leftist and the Social Justice Folks. I guess my main disagreement is with her putting Jim Wallis and John Shelby Spong in the same group. Personally, i feel Wallis is a modern-day Prophet. I don't know what distinguishes him from the socail justice folk. So yeah..just a brief summary of the article..if you get a chance to pick up Geez, it is definately worth it...espeically if you feel uncomfortable in the conservative church...probably feel...i have found a home. Hope you enjoy...
I feel Bowen does a good job. I have a couple of interesting points. Under Liberal Evangelicals she puts Rick Warren, C.S. Lewis, and Bono. Wow that is quite a contrast of people..first off don't think anyone has called Warren a liberal before, but i have realized he has been critized by the religious right for his involvement in Africa with a AIDS pandemic. The other interesting point is that both Bono and Lewis are really controversial. Bono some think is a universalist, and Lewis..is one of those people that evangelicals revere..but as Brian McLaren pointed out in his brillant book 'A New Kind of Christain' that people sometimes don't want to hear it in a sermon.
The other interesting point is the 'emergent evangelical' first off..i am impressed that Bowen put the emergetn type relevtively high on the evangometer. But i have no idea what the Vintage Church is. I feel i am fairly fluent in emergent lingo..and have yet to come across this term. But all in all i feel that Bowen assess the group fairly.
But, my main criticsm for Bowen is to do with Christian Leftists. I think the people she lumps into this group is a bit rash. I feel the distinction she makes between the Christian Leftist and the Social Justice Folks. I guess my main disagreement is with her putting Jim Wallis and John Shelby Spong in the same group. Personally, i feel Wallis is a modern-day Prophet. I don't know what distinguishes him from the socail justice folk. So yeah..just a brief summary of the article..if you get a chance to pick up Geez, it is definately worth it...espeically if you feel uncomfortable in the conservative church...probably feel...i have found a home. Hope you enjoy...
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Are we getting ready.....
So recently I have been thinking how hard it is to practice or participate in Advent. I was in Best Buy today and got this overwhelming sense that the emphasis on Gifts creates a world in which the real reason for Christmas is subverted. Currently I am preparing a small 'talk' for the College and Career Christmas Banquet and am having a hard way concentrating on what to say. While in the line today....any idea of waiting, which is what advent is for...is lost..can a christian practice or participate in advent with all the emphasis on buying, hurry, etc. Just wondering...if anyone has some thoughts on this...please share...
Friday, December 01, 2006
Do you hear it....
Recently i had a chance to attend something called 'Hearing the Silence' at providence college. It was an event that was put on by St. Benedict Table. The event is based that "at the heart of Christian worship lies silence, and in that stillness we, like the prophet Elijah before us, learn to attend to the power of the still, small voice."
I think i have been drawn to silence and stillness more and more over the last couples years. I find the power that lies with in silence penetrates my soul. The space created by silence I believe is a place where God can speak to us. In Rob Bell' Nooma video 'Noise' ..he identifies with this silence. "Does my schedule , my time, my life look like that of a person who wants to hear God's voice." I think this is a dilemma. We live in a world that tells us we need to be busy doing things...while Jesus constantly took time to be still before God. Do the actions of Jesus lead us towards reorienting our Life around our savior...and listening to our creator?
Is there a trend in our world that emphasises doing over being. Like our worth is found in what we do not who we are? One of the most profound times in my life is when i was still before God...not knowing where my life was going..almost feeling like i was aimlessly wandering...as i walked a long the white cliffs in Dover..not talking..not thinking..just being...I heard God' voice. God spoke in a way..that penetrated my soul...so deeply that all i can do was cry. Be in the presence of God. Knowing that was enough. I think in my life i struggle with that...idea..having to do stuff..fill my life with stuff..to gain 'worth' in God's eyes...but i am constantly reminded that this is not the case.
Just want to close with what the essence of this time is...and actually what i feel every time i go to St. Benedict's...i feel they create space...to commune with the Holy God....
The quiet, contemplative singing of Biblical texts
is a kind of centering prayer.
Often the text of a song will be sung repetitively in order to let
the words sink into out minds and then out hearts
We are freed in this kind of worship
to still our hearts and appreciate the presence of
the living God in the midst of His people.
We gather to enjoy the presence of
the Blessed Trinity
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The incense is an outward and visible sign of the
prayers of God's people ascending
to His heavenly throne.
Icons are used in the eastern Christian tradition
as windows which point beyond themselves
to the transcendence of the Holy Trinity.
Let God speak to your hearts this day.
I think i have been drawn to silence and stillness more and more over the last couples years. I find the power that lies with in silence penetrates my soul. The space created by silence I believe is a place where God can speak to us. In Rob Bell' Nooma video 'Noise' ..he identifies with this silence. "Does my schedule , my time, my life look like that of a person who wants to hear God's voice." I think this is a dilemma. We live in a world that tells us we need to be busy doing things...while Jesus constantly took time to be still before God. Do the actions of Jesus lead us towards reorienting our Life around our savior...and listening to our creator?
Is there a trend in our world that emphasises doing over being. Like our worth is found in what we do not who we are? One of the most profound times in my life is when i was still before God...not knowing where my life was going..almost feeling like i was aimlessly wandering...as i walked a long the white cliffs in Dover..not talking..not thinking..just being...I heard God' voice. God spoke in a way..that penetrated my soul...so deeply that all i can do was cry. Be in the presence of God. Knowing that was enough. I think in my life i struggle with that...idea..having to do stuff..fill my life with stuff..to gain 'worth' in God's eyes...but i am constantly reminded that this is not the case.
Just want to close with what the essence of this time is...and actually what i feel every time i go to St. Benedict's...i feel they create space...to commune with the Holy God....
The quiet, contemplative singing of Biblical texts
is a kind of centering prayer.
Often the text of a song will be sung repetitively in order to let
the words sink into out minds and then out hearts
We are freed in this kind of worship
to still our hearts and appreciate the presence of
the living God in the midst of His people.
We gather to enjoy the presence of
the Blessed Trinity
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The incense is an outward and visible sign of the
prayers of God's people ascending
to His heavenly throne.
Icons are used in the eastern Christian tradition
as windows which point beyond themselves
to the transcendence of the Holy Trinity.
Let God speak to your hearts this day.
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