Can’t see them happening – but I thought these ideas were neat:
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ASBO Jesus: The Greed Creed
A very relevant cartoon from Jon Birch – even more so after the riots of the last few day I think….
A Review: ‘With’ by Skye Jethani
If you have ever visited the ‘Out of Ur’ blog, then you should be familiar with the easy writing style of Skye Jethani. For me, he writes with his reader in mind, making sure that he carefully walks the line between communicating facts and providing satisfaction, and as such, I always find his writing a joy to read, and his new book, ‘With’, is no exception.
His stated purpose for the book is to examine the reality of how we as Christians often approach God, and then to consider a better way that ‘brings life and freedom’. He does this by distilling the essence of the Christian experience into a series of postures, described by using the prepositions ‘under’, ‘over’, ‘from’, ‘for’ and ‘with’ , explaining how they relate to one another, and ultimately, how they influence our relationship with and attitude towards God. It is an easy to read, but challenging book, very much in the style of authors like Philip Yancey and John Ortberg, using illustration to good effect in order to communicate wisdom, insight and truth in a style that everyone can understand and enjoy. However, I must confess that at times I found it hard going, with some repetition and maybe a little too much padding in places, especially in the first half, but thankfully, this didn’t spoil or reduce the impact of the book. Overall, I think ‘With’ is a good book, and one that is well worth reading, but be aware, it will challenge your Christian worldview, and make you think deeply about how you relate to God. As for me, I found it inspiring, and at times felt like Jethani had written the book personally for me as it spoke clearly into my current condition. My prayer is that it will do the same for you.Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the US Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Carl Trueman: Consumerism and the church
There is an exert of an interview with Carl Trueman, professor at Westminster Theological Seminary, on the Q portal which I though interesting, so I have reproduced it in full below:
Q: You argue at great length about the negative impact of consumerism on the Church. How has it influenced us?
A: In economies that depend upon people buying things, there is a need on the one hand to instill the notion that, in some sense, the meaning of life is to be found in the acquisition of goods, or, perhaps to be more precise, the process by which one acquires goods; on the other hand, there is a need to constantly recreate markets or find new ones. The impact of this is huge and I cannot give an exhaustive account here, but the following would be examples, in no particular order. In society in general: First, it fuels the the infantilisation of society. Youth is a huge market, and the selling of goods to such a market not only appears to have fostered a view among young people that they are of central importance and much wiser than their elders, it has also created a situation where the desire to be young and trendy percolates through all age brackets. That flies in the face of biblical teaching, where a premium is generally placed on age and experience. Second, it encourages huge levels of personal debt. Economists know that a certain level of debt is good: it oils the wheels of the economy, fuels creativity, helps with social mobility, etc. But unsecured debt linked simply to purchasing can very quickly grow to a level where it is actually hindering all of those things. When the values of the culture link status to possessions, and when credit is easy to obtain, the recipe for bad debt is clear; and that, of course, is a large part of the economic problem, both macro and micro, with which we are facing today.Third, and more subtly, it produces notions of truth and ethics that are as malleable as the market place. By placing individual purchasing power at the heart of the system, public morals are made dangerously vulnerable to all manner of transformation. The right of private choice, the centrality of consent, and the need to avoid hindering the economy are all related to consumerism. We see this in the arguments in California about how anti-gay marriage legislation is bad because it impacts the economy by discouraging gay tourism; similar arguments can be, and have been, made about abortion. If it makes my life better and does not hurt anybody else, how can it be wrong (see the current debate about the Columbia professor who had an incestuous relationship with his adult daughter)? And if it helps the economy as well, surely it must be right?
In the church all this is evident in a number of phenomena: the obsession with youth culture; a model of ministry that judges success in terms of numbers, not faithfulness; a culture which disregards the past; a dislike of anything approaching discipline, as the church is there for my needs, to scratch where I am itching. When church is just one more product to buy or leave on the shelf, then marketing, not theology, become the driving forces in her life.
Any thoughts or comments?
Read the original article here.
Reading In Progress: August 2011
Just in case you wondered, here is the list of books that I am reading at the moment:
I am in the middle of reading Skye Jethani’s new book ‘With’ as part of the Nelson Book Sneeze programme – so watch out for a full review in the next couple of weeks.
There always seem to be one or other of Tom Wright’s (or NT Wright’s) books in my reading list – and I am currently working my way through ‘Surprised by Hope’ again, having read it once before. This is a brilliant book, easy to read and full of revelation and Spirit-filled reflection on the subject of heaven and our future hope. Highly recommended.
I am also slowing working my way through Conor Cunningham’s recent published academic work ‘Darwin’s Pious Idea’. This is not an easy book to read – very technical and aimed at the academic community – but it is worth the effort, since Cunningham, whilst carefully walking the delicate line between science and theology, puts together a well reasoned argument for looking at the evolution versus creation debate from a completely different angle. Hard going but worth it!
Billy Bragg’s ‘The Progressive Patriot’ was recommended to me by a friend, and am really enjoying Bragg’s reflection on his life and politics. I am only a few chapters into the book so far – but the man talks a lot of sense for me – especially in light of the recent riots across the UK. This book is literary ‘Marmite’ – depending on your policital leanings you will love it or hate it.
Move
Loving this short video by Mike Mereki.
Check out the other two videos in the series at his Vimeo page here
A Surprise Call from an Old Friend
I had a lovely surprise yesterday in combination with a really weird coincidence. I have an old friend, as in one that I have known for a long time, although admittedly, he is getting on a bit. I met him at church when I was at University in Leeds in the early 1980’s and up until the last few years, I have kept in touch with him and seen him reasonably regularly. But since moving up here to Northumberland, I have sort of lost touch. We send Christmas cards, and he visited us once about 5 years ago, but other than that we haven’t really had much contact with him, much to my shame.
However, over the last few weeks, I’ve been feeling that I should contact him and get him to visit us. As it happens, I am on business in Leeds next week, and am staying over for the night in a hotel not that far away from where my friend lives. So I decided I would ring him and see if he was available to go for a meal and catch up. The thing is, and this is what is really weird, I was going to ring him last night, but he rang me before I actually got round to it. I haven’t spoken to him for years, and he rings me on the same evening I was going to ring him – how about that for a strange coincidence! But wait, it gets even stranger….. The reason he rang was because at his church in Leeds the day before he’d had the opportunity to talk with a visitor who was just moving into Leeds to start a new job. It turns out that this visitor had previously been in the youth group at our church in Morpeth when I was leader a number of years ago. So my friend rang me to tell me that he had met someone who knew me. I know it can be a bit of a cliche, but sometimes it really does feel like we live in a ‘small world’. Anyway, the good news is that my old friend is coming to visit us in Northumberland in a few weekends time. How good is that? It will be great to see him and catch up on what has been happening in our lives since we were last together. Life is busy for all of us and it’s so easy to lose contact with people – but isn’t it great when you get back in touch with a friend that maybe you haven’t heard from for a while?How about you? Do you have any old friends that you haven’t seen for a while? Maybe you should contact them, because you never know what blessing might come with it.
A Review: ‘Finding Our Way Again’ by Brian McLaren
I must admit, this is the first Brian McLaren book I have actually read from cover to cover. I have lots of his books on my book shelf, and have dipped in and out of them many times, but this is the first time I have ever completed one from start to finish – always seeming to have lots of other books that take a priority.
So I was glad to get the chance to read ‘Finding Our Way Again’, since it’s subject is very close to my heart, specifically, having an authentic experience of the Lordship of Jesus by encouraging the day-to-day use of ancient practices that have been largely forgotten about, or in some cases, ignored in the contemporary evangelical church culture. The whole purpose of the book is explained in the first chapter, that Brian feels that as professing Jesus followers we need to “rediscover our faith as a way of life, not simply as a system of belief”. I couldn’t agree more. Spot on! Does he achieve what he sets out to do? Yes, I think he does. The book is easy to read, with many illustrations and examples taken from his own life, and gives a good overview of a number of spiritual practices that have been used by believers through the ages. However, he doesn’t cover anything in real depth, but I don’t think that was the function of the book. It was written as the first in a series, The Ancient Practices Series, and as an introduction to the others I think it works perfectly. I enjoyed reading the book and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for an outline of how ancient spiritual practices can add practical benefit to your daily walk with Jesus, but don’t expect too much because you will be disappointed. However, having said this, my overriding feeling when I finished it was the desire to read the other books in the series, which from Brian’s perspective, I’m sure, would be considered as a successful outcome.Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the US Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Scott McKnight: Did Jesus Preach The Gospel?
This video in two halves is a must watch if you want to get a proper understanding of what it means to preach the gospel!
Part 1:
Part 2:
Simon’s Cat: Hidden Treasure
If you have a cat then you will love this new Simon’s Cat cartoon:
A couple of weeks ago we had a very similar experience. One of our cats brought a live mouse into our kitchen, which promptly went to hide under our fridge. We eventually got the little blighter out – but only by pulling the fridge out – and then was appalled by the dirt and ‘hidden treasures’ that we recovered from underneath it….
Deliberate Disciple 