Tag Archives: Books

Now on Patheos: “Review of Brian McLaren’s Upcoming Book”

My review of Brian McLaren’s newest book Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha and Muhammad Cross the Road? is now on Emergent Village.  This one is going to be another installment of much needed upheaval in the Christian world about how to relate to the other world religious traditions. Brian contends a strong, benevolent identity is a better path to navigate these essential relationships with everyone who inhabits this beautiful planet.  I challenge anyone who reads to check out Brian’s blog and consider his approach.  It is hard to dispute the fact Jesus embodies a strength and benevolence that approaches the other uncompromisingly and lovingly.

This is Jericho Books first full length publication.  I’m excited for all that they are doing to cultivate a new approach to Christian publishing which is unafraid to ask the hard questions and face the reality of a flawed Christian existence.

2011 INSPY Award Winners

The second annual INSPY awards have been announced today. This has been another great year of promoting Christian writing by the ardent team led by Amy Riley. The INSPYs passion for quality Christian fiction and creative non-fiction is truly commendable. 

I have been honored to participate as an Advisory Board member this year. Thanks to Amy, Hannah, Rel, Deb and Lydia for making this a pleasurable and successful venture. I appreciate your many labors as writers and connoisseurs of finer Christian writing.

Congratulations to the INSPYs 2011 winners. 

Read the Shortlist of Finalists

RAW: A Poetic Journey

I did not fully realize what I signed up for when I submitted my work to a poetry contest. I failed to read the fine print. I’m glad I did.

My first two published poems are in RAW: A Poetic Journey edited by Aimee Maude Sims with a forward by Jennifer Knapp. My public writing journey began with a piece on Burnside that discusses Knapp’s lesbian lifestyle entitled “Protestant Planks: A Lesson in Grace.” It is divinely ironic that she introduces a book that has two of my poems. RAW is what I have been for a long time. My life has been truly unorthodox so when I read the contest guidelines for real prayers and heart cries, I knew that I needed to be among them.

A perusal through the list of contributors reveals a group of men and women whose faith has carried them through some very hard times. Despite the raw and unorthodox nature it possesses, they cling to a good God who loves. His love is so vast and variegated that it encompasses the fringes. Jesus came for the outcasts, and I believe he would be named among these, too. For his mission reaches into the broken places. And such are we.

Brian McLaren News

I’ve been doing a series on Brian McLaren’s upcoming book Naked Spirituality for Examiner.com. It releases March 15th, so leading up to the release he has been releasing bits of his work each day. I’ve decided to share my weekly impressions.Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5 – Part 6

Today he also reposted my question about success in publishing. You can read his thoughts on how to overcome the challenges of writing well despite the current economic woes.

It is Finished!

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After nearly thirty days of writing abandon, the moment I have waited for has come. I have finished my Nanowrimo 2010 madness.  I am so happy to report that I completed the insane notion of 50,000 words in 30 days. More to come, but I had to shout it to the blogosphere before retiring to bed for much needed sleep.

Acceptance vs. Accommodation

The Jesus I Never Knew and Church: Why Bother? illustrate the value of honesty and acceptance. Yancey is one of my favorite authors because he is not afraid to ask honest questions about the Church’s mission. The key to his approach is in the truth that acceptance is not accommodation. Acceptance is the willingness to see the other person for who they are – no matter what they believe or what they do – and to remain committed to one’s own beliefs. Accommodation is yielding one’s beliefs to those of another. The Church of the 22nd century must accept the world, not accommodate it.

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Now on Burnside: “It’s All Gonna Burn…Or Is It?”

I suppose this has been a good summer for me. On many levels, I have realized some important things about faith, the future and our future faith. For those of you who have endured the journey of my faith blog and seen it come full circle, I present to you a clearer explanation. I have stopped blogging on Our Future Faith and have brought it as an archived site in my personal site.

Why would I just quit in the midst of so much hubbub? Because there has been an awakening of Evangelical consciousness upon the future. I am delighted to share this and feel my part is done in that stage of blogging.
Also, consider this my brief but lucid review of Brian Mclaren‘s books that I digested eagerly this summer.

I will continue to write for Burnside and any other communities I can infiltrate. Thank you for reading and commenting. I have thoroughly enjoyed this journey so far and I pray that something I have written will jar some goodness and grace in your souls, too.

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Brian McLaren Repost!

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I browsed my usual websites today and stumbled upon an amazing tribute from Brian McLaren. I emailed him to express my appreciation for his work and I am overwhelmed that he returned the favor. He maintained my anonymity, but I am more than willing to disclose my identity as “a former pastor.” I have recently started reading A New Kind of Christianity. I will do a full review later, but for now, I can say with all my heart that I have envisioned this for years. Brian McLaren has put perspective and a game plan to my heart’s cry. I am truly grateful for that. There is a new kind of Christianity emerging. I feel it. I believe it. I love it.
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Support Your Local Library

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My wife and I have discovered a jewel in our community that is worthy of mention. The local library near my home has become a staple element of my family’s entertainment. For some time I have mulled over the idea to post a promo for local libraries, so here’s my take on them. They are essential to building strong, healthy communities.

Our library has a county-wide exchange program, so it is an access point to all the libraries in the county. Basically, its holdings are small in comparison to others, but it is an amazing tool nonetheless. I have Los Angeles County’s book holdings at my finger tips. This juicy revelation has provided hours of great reading over the past year.

I am also ecstatic to relay that my son has a similar passion for it. The video section has saved me hundreds of dollars in rentals or purchases. His attention span is as fleeting as any three-year old, so I don’t have to scramble to acquire the latest fad kids show at the local video store. We take him to the video section in our local library and give him the run of decades of solid children’s programming on video and DVD. He also loves to check out their kids book section and we always have one or more children’s books, which we incorporate into our nightly reading routine.

We have been involved in their children’s reading hour and are patrons at their Friends of the Library store. With the universities a few paces away, there always is some great work of philosophy, religion, art or popular non-fiction that I have to wrestle not purchasing as we all leave the wonderful facility.

Bottom line: you should try to make the library a staple source of enjoyment for your family, too. It is the eco-friendly, economic solution to our voracious desire to consume media. If you can’t fight this, at least you can not go broke trying to fill the void.

I would love to hear your local library stories as well. Please comment and let’s consider building momentum for our local programs.

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Stages of Faith

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The powerful fact about Fowler’s theory is that it applies to belief in anything, regardless of religious persuasion. What he realizes is that we all are believers to some degree. The difference is the object(s) of our faith(s). The pivotal point in this about our future faith is that believers of the future will need to realize that the battle is not against “unbelievers” and “believers.” Persuading others to simply believe is futile.

The stages progress from 0 to 5. Everyone falls in one of the stages. Babies through small children would be stages 0 and 1 with the most basic conception of the world. Stage 2 is slightly more advanced but typically focuses upon stories of faith. Christian children often relate to Old Testament stories of figures like Noah, David, or Daniel. Stage 3 is the communally defined stage. Faith consists in consensus. Stage 3 believers see faith as a uniform state of being. Belonging is primary. Stage 4 is the beginning of the individuation that inevitably occurs. Stage 4 believers typically have trouble with Stage 3 or vice versa. Their foci are very different as can be naturally understood. Stage 5 believers reach the unique status of universalizing their faith such as Buddha, Jesus, Gandhi and Mother Theresa. These are the world shakers. These are leaders of movements and world religions. Few reach this fifth stage.

Our future faith necessitates this mature understanding and interaction of faith stages. I would urge you to reflect upon this and consider where you feel most comfortable. Or, you may be in a transition. When I left the ministry I was in a transition from Stage 3 to 4 and my perspective was very different from the community which I led. Leaving was the best thing I could have done because it taught me how to be my own person and to stand in faith as an individual. The challenge I now face is to reconnect with others and use this information and individuation for the collective good.

I pray that you feel some benefit from reflecting upon your stage. The reassuring thing is that we all share a faith journey of some kind. It is part of the joy of being alive.

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The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Just when I thought I could not find a better book, I went to my local library and remembered Malcolm Gladwell’s bestseller The Tipping Point. This book is one of the most insightful and riveting compilations of research – and that is no hyperbole. Tipping points are not the obvious, “eye-catching” marketing schemes that inundate us on a minute-by-minute basis within cyberspace. They come from a connectedness, a “stickiness,” a luck in timing, a calculated scheme. In other words, tipping points are conglomerates of sociological, psychological, marketing, and coincidental forces working in unison. Gladwell repeatedly communicates the essential roles of three unique people in tipping points from a very broad spectrum of studies. There needs to be a maven whose knowledge of the industry or product is superior to others. A connector brings people together to experience it. And a salesperson markets it to the public. These three people are what make tipping points possible. What is so striking to me as I consider my writing career is the success or failure of a venture really is not about the masses. Reaching the masses starts with key relationships. Teaming up with merely three key people to start a venture is what really makes for explosive potential. Next time you think of starting something, consider who is an expert in that field, who knows a lot of people and who can sell it to those people. Form a team and let the fun begin.

 

Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaardner

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If you are looking for something to read that is nearly impossible to put down, this is the book for you.  I finished it slowly to try to take it all in, but I had a very hard time stopping when life pulled me away to eat, to sleep, or to spend time with my family.

Why would I suggest a novel about the history of philosophy, you may ask?  It is very difficult to understand what to believe without a historical perspective on philosophy in general.  This is very taxing and nearly impossible for most.  The solution is to make a story about the history of philosophy in which the characters live out the lessons in each era discussed.  Brilliant.

I highly recommend Gaardner’s work. I also strongly believe that Christian writers can get a great example from this work about how to take something so “dry” as the history of philosophy and make it come to life in a new and engaging way that makes the reader want to know more. Imagine if people flocked to stores to consume Christian history books as they have this particular book. There are 118 editions of Sophie’s World translated in multiple languages around the globe. If that’s not proof enough Gaardner’s style works, I don’t know what is.

The Language of God by Francis Collins

Instead of science versus faith, the Church needs to start accepting that science and faith are both necessary components of Christian living. A great example of this is The Language of God, which is one man’s effort to address how science and faith are truly complementary. The dichotomistic approach is not working. It merely alienates the Christian world view from popular opinion. Rather than take the Amish (withdrawal from the world) approach, the Church has to accept that science and technology are here to stay. Instead of fighting that fact, the Church must derive a proper theology and praxis to address the existing and future technopoly of the 22nd century.

Science and Wisdom

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Jürgen Moltmann touches upon something that is crucial to 22nd century faith. Rather than withdraw from the potentialities for vice that technology presents, or passively stand by while others utilizes its potential for their own agendas, the Church needs to engage in the ethical debate in cooperation with the scientific community. Rather than hide our heads in the sand like the proverbial ostrich, Moltmann suggests: “theology and science are now encountering one another at a more fundamental level than ever before, as both face the ethos of the technological acquisition of the power given by scientific knowledge, and the responsibility that power involves.” * The operative words for 22nd century faith are power and responsibility. The struggle between the Church and the laboratory should not be over power, but responsibility. Technology is a means to gain power; however, the responsibility to ethically manage that power is where the struggle lies. Oh, that the Church of the future have a voice in the real power struggle, the struggle for ethical utilization of technology.

 

*Science and Wisdom page 19

 

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A Christian Manifesto – Take 2?

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Nearly thirty years ago, Francis Schaeffer wrote A Christian Manifesto in order to address the Church’s responsibility in the midst of a technological transformation that radically altered the worldview of 1980s society. So many technological generations later, it is time for another manifesto. On the heels of such a revolutionary period in human history, now is the perfect time to pause and consider the times in which we live. This first decade of the twenty-first century is the perfect opportunity for the church to gain its rightful place in the shaping of the next nine decades. A manifesto is presented to the church by the sheer opportunity for Christians to be on the cusp of socio-cultural transformation. A manifesto is presented by the very times in which we live. It is time for the church to rise up to the challenge – to be a global agent of change, to seize the technological advancements and global communications as opportunities, to communicate truth, to call for justice, to encourage the downcast, to be a light amidst growing darkness.