Three Micro Book Reviews

January 13, 2010 By 4 Comments

I get sent a lot of books to read, and most of them are, to put it bluntly, skubalon.  Some I endorse, some I do not.  And, to this point, I have not reviewed many on my blog.  However, I’d like to make a point to start reviewing some here.  But I’m only going to post positive reviews, and that’s primarily because I’m not a book reviewer by trade.  Those people, like restaurant critics, need to maintain a certain distance from their subjects in order to maintain some objectivity.  I, on the other hand, have lots of friends who are authors and others in the publishing industry, and I have no desire to say hurtful things about them here.  So, I will start writing micro-reviews of the books I like and will continue to stay silent about the ones I don’t.

The Boundary-Breaking God: An Unfolding Story of Hope and Promise by Danielle Shroyer.

Danielle, pastor of Journey Church in Dallas, has been a huge fan and proponent of Jürgen Moltmann‘s theology for many years, and this book is the outgrowth of that love.  And yet, the book doesn’t read that way.  In fact, if you didn’t know Moltmann, or skipped the preface, you wouldn’t know Danielle’s indebtedness to him.  I say this because this book, while deeply theological, is one that could easily be given to laypersons and small groups for study.

The book traces the entire arc of the biblical narrative through the lens of hope and promise (Moltmanniacs will here recognize Danielle’s nod to Jürgen even in her method).  What this means is that Danielle works through the story of God’s interaction with creation as told by the biblical authors and finds the points of hope and promise throughout.  And, on top of it being a book with great theologically insight, it’s wonderfully written.

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Filed Under: books, christianity in america 4 Comments

Jeff McSwain Speaks Out about Young Life

January 12, 2010 By 7 Comments

One of the most highly trafficked posts in the history of this blog is, “Something Is Wrong at Young Life,” which I wrote shortly after the firing of Jeff McSwain from Young Life staff.  At the time, I wasn’t the only voice in the mix, either.  Christian Smith (whose book I’m working through this week) and others spoke up, and both Christian Century and Christianity Today covered the mess (the differences in the headlines of those two articles is telling: CC: “Young Life draws fire over new ministry guidelines;” CT: “Entire area Young Life staff out after evangelism mandate.”)

Whether or not McSwain and his staff were evangelizing kids was never in question; the question was the content of their message.  McSwain follows post-Barthian theologian, J.B. Torrance, in believing that the starting point of God’s relationship with the world is reconciliation, not hell.  Thus, McSwain did not follow the Young Life plan of camp talks which starts by telling kids that they are separate from God and leads toward embracing the reconciliation of Jesus.  Instead, he taught that Jesus’ reconciliation is the starting point, and he encouraged kids not to reject that gift of grace.

McSwain has now written about his experience at length, and defended his theological position for the Other Journal.  Here’s a taste:

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Filed Under: christianity in america, theology, youth ministry 7 Comments

Liberals Are Non-Biblical and Ahistorical? Not So Fast…

January 10, 2010 By 6 Comments

Mark Jordan, professor of divinity at Harvard Divinity School, writes at Religion Dispatches about how he has answered journalists’ questions when they call him for a quote about sexuality issues in the church.  He often found the journalists to be dumbfounded because, even though the journalists might be progressive themselves, they had, to a man, bought the conservative line that the conservative version was the authoritative version of the biblical narrative.  He would say,

“I support ordaining openly lesbian and gay candidates because that’s where I’m led when I study scripture and pray.”

“My belief in incarnation pushes me toward the blessing of same-sex unions.”

The reaction was mostly awkward silence. I could hear the typing stop at the other end of the line.

So I decided to attack the assumed familiar plot directly—to go after the division, enshrined by Steinfels, between tradition and innovation. I began to tell reporters what I fully believe: no present church position on sexuality would be recognizable to Christian writers of two hundred years ago—much less two millennia ago. Part of the reason is that the basic terms and psychological models have changed astonishingly in the last century. All Christian writers, even the most “traditional,” assume the existence of things (like “sexuality”) and mechanisms (like the unconscious) that are neither scriptural nor traditional. But the more striking difference is the scope contemporary “traditionalists” give to sexual pleasure in marriage. Evangelical writers famous for attacking homosexuality write pillow books for Christian newlyweds advocating sexual techniques that church traditions classify as unchaste and unnatural—indeed, as acts of sodomy.

via ‘Traditional’ Christianity vs. ‘Liberals’? It’s Not That Simple | Religion & Theology | ReligionDispatches.

Filed Under: christianity in america, glbt Tagged With: , 6 Comments

Five Predictions for 2010

January 5, 2010 By 28 Comments

I was on Doug‘s radio show on Sunday, and he asked me to make some predictions about religion in the news in 2010.  While I’m no Bono, I thought I’d give it a shot.  So, here they are:

5. A Handful of Evangelical Leaders Will Soften Their Stance on Gay Issues

You can see that I’ve got a couple caveats in that one — “handful” and “soften” and “issues.”  I don’t think that 2010 will see a great revolution in how evangelicals will view same sex marriage or gays in the church, but I do think that some leaders will speak out in support of civil unions or gay Sunday school teachers or something like that.  And I don’t think it’ll be Rick Warren or anything like that, but I do think it will be three or four leaders (authors, pastors, professors, etc.) will encourage evangelicals to take baby steps toward more inclusion of GLBT persons in church and society.

4. Rick Warren’s Cultural Influence Will Wane, and the Media Will Anoint a New Evangelical Spokesman

Rick Warren

That last two news items about Rick Warren in 2009 were not kind to him.  First, he dragged his feet for a couple weeks before speaking out against the proposed legislation in Uganda (where Warren is very popular) that would have made homosexuality a crime punishable by imprisonment and would have legalized the execution of those with HIV/AIDS.  Then, last week, he issued an “urgent plea” t0 his mega-church congregation on December 30 asking them to cover the church’s $900,000 shortfall.  Last weekend, Warren preached that the church’s $2.4 million response was a “miracle.”

Honestly, Warren pastors one of the nation’s largest congregations in one of the country’s wealthiest counties (Orange County, California).  In what sense is asking people for money and having them give it a “miracle”?  It’s for these reasons and others that I think the national media will start looking elsewhere for a fresh, young face to speak for evangelicals.  It won’t be Joel Osteen, because being “evangelical” is not a primary aspect of his public persona.  It won’t be Franklin Graham, because he’s not articulate enough.  It won’t be Rob Bell, because he eschews labels, and because the evangelical intelligentsia will not approve of him.  It won’t be Mark Driscoll for the same reason.  I think it will be a young (40-ish) pastor of a mega-church who lands himself a radio show and writes a best-seller.  Look for a guy like that on top-ten religion news lists at the end of 2010.

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Filed Under: christianity in america, glbt, theology Tagged With: , , , , , 28 Comments

A Call to Clergy: Stop Performing (Legal) Marriages!

January 4, 2010 By 108 Comments

In 2008, after the passage of Proposition 8 in California, I blogged about my support for gay and lesbian persons and their right to be married.  If there’s one thing I’ve noticed in the time since, it’s been how few people paid attention to the nuances of my position.  So I thought I’d take the opportunity to write a bit more about it now.

It is very odd to me that in the U.S., clergy act as agents of the government at weddings.  In my state, for instance, the bride and groom apply for the marriage license at the county court house, but they don’t actually sign the license.  Instead, it’s signed by a member of the clergy and by two witnesses.  And, of course, without the clergy signature, it is invalid.

When I talk to pastors and priests about this, almost all of them express extreme discomfort at this situation, for it actually requires the clergyperson to act as an extension of the state.  And that conflicts with the theology held by many pastors, Calvinist and Arminian, Protestant and Catholic.

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Filed Under: christianity in america, glbt Tagged With: , , 108 Comments

Lonnie Frisbee and the Non-Demise of the Emerging Church

December 30, 2009 By 79 Comments

Well, it seems that my long-time friend and occasional sparring partner, Andrew Jones (TSK), has (once again) said we’ve reached the end of the emergent/-ing church movement.  TSK’s ambivalence for the “emergent/-ing” language and the partnership that some of us in the States have with publishing houses is well known.  And I think it’s always dangerous to start to declare something over as an historian when one is still up to one’s ankles in it.

To be fair, TSK clarifies in a comment on the post when he writes that in 2009 the ECM became,

less radical and non-offensive but actually larger in scope and impact than it has ever been.

Let’s take those in reverse order.

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Filed Under: christianity in america, church, emergent church, movies Tagged With: 79 Comments

Video Interview with Andrew Marin

December 23, 2009 By 26 Comments

Andrew Marin

I had a great time hanging out with Andrew Marin last summer at the Cornerstone Festival.  We immediately became friends, and I think you can see the affection in the video that he recently posted on his blog.  Therein, he asks me about my views on gay and lesbian persons in the Christian faith, among other things.  You can watch it below.

Andrew has become the leading spokesperson in the evangelical world for bridging evangelicals and gays, which is not an easy bridge to build.  One of the reasons that he’s found success at this is his endearing personality — plus, he’s a tireless traveler and speaker.  I recommend Andrew’s book, Love Is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community.

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Filed Under: christianity in america, glbt Tagged With: , 26 Comments

Cherished Christmas Songs Written by Jews

December 22, 2009 By 13 Comments

Some of our most beloved Christmas songs are written by our Jewish brothers, to the chagrin of Garrison Keillor.

  • The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)
  • Do They Know It’s Christmas? (Feed the World)
  • Holly Jolly Christmas
  • I’ll Be Home for Christmas
  • It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
  • Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
  • Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
  • Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
  • Santa Baby
  • Santa Claus is Coming to Town
  • Silver Bells
  • Sleigh Ride
  • There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays
  • White Christmas

HT: NewsBusters.org.

Filed Under: christianity in america Tagged With: , 13 Comments

Theological Madness? Or Just Plain Madness?

December 20, 2009 By 11 Comments

It seems that James Duncan is a professor of communications at Anderson University in South Carolina.  And it seems, based on his blogroll, that he’s compatriots with some of the websites who believe that I am the spawn of Satan.

But theological differences aside, he writes an amazing narrative of what happened to him at the hands of a staff person and several members of a church in his city.  It seems he wrote some blog posts critical of the graphic messages on billboards by a church, and some of the members of the church went super Internet crazy on him.

I take no side in this.  But it is an example of this whole Christian Internet thing gone horribly awry.  And, if Duncan’s version is accurate, it does show what a militaristic, violent theology can breed in people.

Filed Under: christianity in america 11 Comments

Hot Button Issues and Theological Polarization

December 14, 2009 By 6 Comments

Over Duke’s Call & Response Blog, sociologist Mark Chaves has posted an interesting graph and some reflections on it.  American politics has become more polarized of late, and sociologists attribute that not to a change a people’s viewpoints, but to the fact that the two political parties have placed hot button issues at the center of their agendas, thus forcing the electorate to once side or another.

Chaves wondered if, in the three mainline denominations dealing with homosexuality, the same thing was happening.  And, sure enough, it is.

Chaves writes,

In short, it seems that in the Episcopal Church, the PC(USA), and the ELCA, churches that lean in the conservative direction on homosexuality may have been pushed by national developments within these denominations to declare themselves to be more theologically conservative, even though their views may not have become more conservative over the last decade. If people within a denomination now are more likely to sort themselves into congregations based on those congregations’ stand on homosexuality, this could produce fewer churches with theologically middle-of-the-road identities. If churches are forced to choose sides on an issue, people will be more likely to choose churches based on which side they are on.

This seems a very reasonable conclusion to draw.

For me, that produces some sadness.  The church in which I was reared, and then served for seven years, was a yellow church.  “We’re centrist,” I heard from the pulpit several times when I was a pastor there, “Not the mushy middle, but centered on Christ and not thrown off course by one theological topic or another.”  And yet, I know that the pastor who preached that and the one who followed him were both asked the litmus test question, “What do you think about gays?” during the interview process.

That church is, once again, searching for a senior minister.  And, if Chaves is right about there being less centrist mainline churches, I bet there are also less centrist clergy candidates from which to choose.

Filed Under: christianity in america Tagged With: , , , , , , , 6 Comments