Reading

The Saving Life of Christ

There is something which makes Christianity more than a religion, more than an ethic, and more than the idle dream of the sentimental idealist.  It is this something which makes it relevant to each one of us right now as a contemporary experience.  It is the fact that Christ Himself is the very life content [...]

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The Narrative That Re-Plots Our Identity

The Good News is not just a series of facts to which we yield our assent but a dramatic narrative that replots our identity. Think of it in terms of a theatrical play. Each week we come to church with our own scripts. If yours is anything like mine, it’s “the show about nothing.” Yet [...]

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Brian McLaren’s New Book and the Use of the Word ‘Heretic’

Brian McLaren has written a new book, A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith.  I’ve followed some of the blog chatter in response, and while there are some supportive and gracious reviews, too many have taken on a vitriolic tone.  Healthy, vigorous discussion of ideas has given way to name-calling [...]

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The Boundaries of God’s Grace: Toward a Larger Vision of Truth

In preparing to speak this Sunday on Luke 4:22-30, I’m struck by the ways Jesus (then and now) challenges our boundaries and blows open the scope of his grace. The Quaker author and activist, Parker Palmer, writes in The Company of Strangers: Christians & the Renewal of America’s Public Life: “At the heart of any [...]

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With An Eye Toward Lent …

We’re less than a month away from the season of Lent.  Beginning on Ash Wednesday, February 17, followers of Jesus have the opportunity to enter into a period of preparation for Easter.  Now is the perfect time to consider what you might do as a spiritual exercise to make Lent a meaningful time. I’m going [...]

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Triple Evils, Interrelated

Communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis. It is found in a higher synthesis that combines the truths of both. Now, when I say question the whole [...]

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Most Intriguing Book Title

The Great Giveaway: Reclaiming the Mission of the Church from Big Business, Parachurch Organizations, Psychotherapy, Consumer Capitalism, and Other Modern Maladies Now, that is a book title!  It’s by David Fitch, and I’m intrigued by the title, almost enough to order it on the spot.  I’ll probably seek out some reviews and maybe check an [...]

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My Reading Wishlist

Here are a few books I’ve got on my “to read” list: Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon: A Guide to the Best Time to Buy This, Do That and Go There Letters and Papers from Prison Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith Prayers for [...]

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