When I first signed on to blog at Patheos, I expressed my hesitation at being siloed. Nevertheless, I was put in the “Progressive Christian” Portal, formerly called the “Mainline Christian Portal.” I asked that my blog also be listed in the “Evangelical” Portal, and beginning today, I am listed there. And I’m grateful for and happy about this. Notwithstanding the fact that I’m identified in places like the Washington Post as an “evangelical pastor,” I write about lots of things... Read more
The Church and Pomo blogged has moved to The Other Journal, which I think is a great home for it. To celebrate, they’re running a contest among commenters who suggest a new column for their regular writers. Two of the commenters will win copies of the books from their (excellent) series. And, if you take a very brief survey on how your faith intersects with your reading habits at Media Buffs, you’ll be entered in a contest to win a... Read more
Earlier this week, before we learned of the death of Steve Jobs, someone I hadn’t seen for many years saw my laptop and said, “I remember when you used to brag about not using Apple products.” “Yeah,” I replied, “Then I saw the light. It’s true, I used to joke about how I was the only person in the emerging church movement who didn’t have a Mac. I used Dells and Gateways, and I had a Verizon flip phone. My... Read more
Part Two of Jana Riess’s interview with me has to do with self-publishing: What do publishers add to the equation for authors nowadays? Supposedly, traditional publishers have this thing called a marketing department. That’s hilarious. That’s just hilarious. I know, I know. Silly me, Pollyanna that I am. They have a way to distribute books to retailers that you and I lack. But Amazon, and B&N, and the iTunes store take care of part of that problem by going directly... Read more
Jana has posted part one of her interview with me. This part is about my new book. Part two will be about self-publishing. Here’s a taste: What do you identify as the shortcomings of the ECM? In chapters 4 and 5, that’s where I land the plane. The reader has suffered through the literature review and the definition of terms in those early chapters. Later in the book, I argue that the ECM has done some cool stuff ecclesially, but... Read more
Hospitality is a key virtue in the emerging and missional church movements, as I’ve even argued in my latest book. In some ways, it is an understandable response to the perceived inhospitality of the late-20th century church. The conservative/evangelical church is seen as inhospitable for its exclusivistic theology. And the mainline/liturgical church is considered inhospitable for its anachronistic practices and rites. While each claims to be “seeker sensitive,” both, it can be argued, are relatively inhospitable. That’s led me to... Read more
From Slate, Neuroscientists say that “evil” does not actually exist: That is the real “problem of evil” (or, to use the technical term philosophers employ for conscious, freely-willed, evil-doing: “wickedness”). We tend to believe it exists: Popular culture has no problem with it, giving us iterations from Richard III to Darth Vader; politicians use it promiscuously (“the axis of evil”). But even religious thinkers continue to debate what it is—and why a just and loving God permits evil and the... Read more
Since I’ll be writing about hospitality this week, here are some books I recommend on the subject: Other: Loving Self, God and Neighbour in a World of Fractures by Kester Brewin Unclean: Meditations on Purity, Hospitality, and Mortality by Richard Beck Hospitality-The Sacred Art: Discovering the Hidden Spiritual Power of Invitation and Welcome (Art of Spiritual Living) by Nanette Sawyer Making Room: Recovering Hospitality As a Christian Tradition by Christine Pohl Any books I’m missing? Read more
A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of talking with some students at Rochester College about hospitality. They are masters-level students, investigating missional leadership, and the virtue of hospitality is core to that investigation. We had some great conversations, which I want to muse on this week on the blog. The biggest question that we raised, I think, was this: How hospitable is God? In the Hebrew scriptures, in the Christian scriptures? It’s easy to criticize the church and... Read more
If you’re preaching tomorrow, you might be looking for a little inspiration. Well, let me recommend The Hardest Question, a lectionary-based website that I curate, along with my friends Russell Rathbun and David Schoenknecht. This week’s posts are by Russell, on the week’s lectionary texts in the Gospel and the Psalm. Plus, as always, Russell and I have video musings on the Gospel text: Read more
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