See Me: A Call to Christians in the West to Invite Those Different Than Them to the Table by Randy Woodley

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(Read the Introduction to this series) So, what is the cost to the whole community of faith when a particular part, in this case indigenous followers of Jesus and other minorities, are shut out? One of the most severe and indicting statements made by the Apostle Paul concerned those advantaged believers “hogging” the whole table [...]

(G)od With(Out) Religion OR The God Who BeCame an Atheist

  There is this moment of intrinsic subversion to exclusivity in the Jesus Narrative. But what is moment, if not something captured in and by time. An idea bound and contingent in space, a dependent object that relies upon its own ontological teleology. Meaning that the moment itself finds its purpose in being that very [...]

What Does a Good Leadership Meeting Look Like?

How about this for a monthly leadership meeting? Council Meeting, July 2012 To begin, we lit a candle. Lighting the candle designates our space or circle of friends as unique; holy or sacred, if you like. The light of the candle is always changing and always the same. The flame changes as it consumes, converting [...]

Authentic Jesus Generations: Woodstock to Wild Goose by Randy Woodley

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Although there is not much in general these days that one can say about the church, perhaps the clearest sign we have of change is the ever-widening gap between what I will dub the still too common, “Sunday morning church-building crowd” and all the new faith movements including, for example, Emergents, Neo-monastics, Evangelicals 4 Justice, [...]

do christians (h)ate the world? OR (the european civil wars)

     Any notion that we do not belong to this earth, that Earth is a fallen universe, a prison for our soul striving to liberate itself from the material inertia, is dismissed as life­ denying alienation.  — Zizek Over the course of the last ten years, Hollywood has been producing plotline after plotline that [...]

What I Noticed at Wild Goose 2012

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1. Being cool is overrated. You already know it was hot. However, having spent a few summers in places like the Dominican Republic and Belize, I have learned you just live differently in the heat. You let go of things.  You let go of expectations.  Once again, I had to accept being uncomfortable and grateful [...]

Wild Goose Festival Moving Beyond Cynicism (linked by) Randy Woodley

Randy Woodley at Wild Goose

I recently returned from 28 days on the road with my 13 year old son Redbird. I had the pleasure and the hot, sticky opportunity in the North Carolina heat, to speak at the Goose Fest this year. There were so many things I enjoyed and also got me thinking that I am still collecting [...]

Getting the Courage We Long For

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“Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.”  Maya Angelou Somehow in my thirties I became aware of how much of my life had been occupied and driven by fear and anxiety and [...]

An Economic Pitfall

Social Media Marketing by Paola Peralta Wikimedia Commons

Erich Fromm’s “Marketing Character” pinpoints a major frustration I’ve had with Christendom for the past decade. This principle of socio-economics exposes a monstrous pitfall for the Church lying beneath the surface of American social relationships. This one might hurt a bit since it reveals the dangers of cyber-networks, including our beloved Emergent Village Voice. Fromm’s [...]

Book: Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision by Randy Woodley

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From the Publisher, William B Eerdman’s Publishing: In this book, Randy Woodley draws parallels between the Native American “Harmony Way” and the biblical concept of shalom, arguing that cultivating an appreciation of those parallels can help to bring reconciliation between Euro-Westerners and indigenous peoples, a new connectedness with the Creator and creation, an end to imperial [...]