I was standing in Barnes and Noble the other day with my head cocked to the right and randomly scanning book titles in the religion section. That’s when I saw Charles Kimball’s When Religion Becomes Evil : Five Warning Signs. Intrigued by the title I gave it a quick scan, but didn’t buy it as […]
The Secret Message of Jesus: Part One
In part one of The Secret Message of Jesus McLaren attempts to excavate Jesus’s Kingdom message that he claims has long been buried. In chapter one, he makes a case for why recovering the essence of Jesus’s message is essential for those who do and don’t follow Jesus. He writes, “In one of my previous […]
December 6, 2005 by 1 Comment
So You Want to be a Youth Minister?
My brother-in-law, Houston Heflin, has jumped aboard the blogwagon. Right now he’s reminding me why I’m glad I’m not a youth minister.
December 6, 2005 by 4 Comments
The Secret Message of Jesus
In The Secret Message of Jesus : Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything Brian McLaren does what McLaren does best. He synthesizes and popularizes the work of theologians and scholars so that their work is made more accessible to a broader audience. I don’t mean by this that McLaren is simply parroting what others […]
December 5, 2005 by 3 Comments
McLaren’s New Book
One of the perks of working with Greg Taylor, who is also the editor of New Wineskins Magazine, is that I now have access to a number of “advance copy” books that are sent to him for review. The other day I broke into his office and absconded with a copy of Brian McLaren’s forthcoming […]
December 2, 2005 by Leave a Comment
Workshop Speakers
We’ve got the developing speaker list posted over at the workshop website.
December 2, 2005 by 11 Comments
Kierkegaard on the NT
This quote from SK brought me up short. The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be able to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any […]
November 28, 2005 by 6 Comments
Missing the Point of Salvation Part 3
Part 1 Part 2 I recently conducted an informal poll in which I asked a number of people, “What does the word “salvation” mean to you?” or “What comes to mind when you hear the word “salvation?” Just about everyone I asked said that “salvation means going to heaven when I die.” One person said, […]
November 21, 2005 by 6 Comments
Missing the Point of Salvation Part 2
Part One Let’s take a look at several more stories from Luke. First, Luke 7:36-50. Jesus tells Simon that the explanation for the woman’s radical/over the top/scandalous behavior is that she understands what it means to be forgiven and he doesn’t. She has a radical response to the radical love of God. What really interests […]
November 17, 2005 by 4 Comments
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons