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What are you reading?



What are you reading? I just started PRACTICING GREATNESS by Reggie McNeal and purchased PLANTING MISSIONAL CHURCHES by Ed Stetzer.

Comments

Bill Shiell said…
I'm working through two of Ehrman's latest books. Both relate to the DaVinci debate, especially early Christian thought. "Lost Scriptures" is a collection of primary Christian sources from the first four centuries A.D. "Lost Christianities" is Ehrman's analysis of those texts. He argues that there was a widespread battle for the soul and content of Christianity. I think he presses the evidence too much and overreaches, but the books are worth reading.
Barnabas File said…
The thing I find interesting about Ehrman is that he grew up a conserevative evangelical (BA from Wheaton) and when he found out about biblical criticism and other extant texts, he just chucked the whole thing rather than finding a synthesis. He has also been involved with National Geographic's exploitation of the GOSPEL OF JUDAS.
Cally said…
I finished "Blue Like Jazz" a few weeks ago and it gave an outsiders/insiders view of Christianity. I finished teh whole thing in a few days over a mission trip we took to Bay St. Louis. The author talks about leaving our churchisms and church language and finding ways to communicate with our culture.

See what you can do about getting a website for our blogs. It would be a good way for us to network and be able to go to one source and be connected to others. Maybe Bill would have some ideas.

I read the Davinci Code recently and am doing a class on it, using CBF material, Lee Strobel info, and my own input. We've had a good response.

I didn't know if that counted for "what are you reading?" I don't think my faith was shattered.
Kerry Bond said…
Ircel,
I been Training with S. Kierkegaard lately. Trying to keep up with his thoughts is a workout. But his comments on the Triumphant Church and the Militant Church, I think, is relevant to today's controversy over the church's place in our society.
Barnabas File said…
What is it about Kierkegaard that speaks to our postmodern situation? Is our situation similar to the one he found himself in?

Check these out

Confessions of a Recovering Southern Baptist

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The Bible Tells Me So

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Metaphors of the Kingdom of God

In a recent blog , consultant Seth Godin addresses the power of metaphor.   He points out, “The best way to learn a complex idea is to find it living inside something else you already understand.”   In other words, “this” is like “that.” “When you see a story, an example, a wonderment,” says Godin, “take a moment to look for the metaphor inside.”   Jesus turned this around.   In the use of parables, he told a story or provided a metaphor and challenged his hearers to see the truth within. For example, in his teaching on the Kingdom (or Reign) of God in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus compares the Kingdom to such things as a mustard seed, yeast, a hidden treasure, a net, a king, and a landowner.   His hearers are encouraged to use their imaginations to understand something that they had never experienced.   He also attempted to shift their perspective so that they might see signs of the Kingdom breaking into their present reality.  These are metaphors for the Kingdom. Where do w

The Tragedy of Willow Creek Community Church

File photo of Steve Carter, Heather Larson, and Bill Hybels As Christian brothers and sisters, we need to pray for Willow Creek Community Church.   On the eve of the Global Leadership Summit, a worldwide conference sponsored by the church in cooperation with the Willow Creek Association, church leadership imploded as a result of further allegations against former pastor Bill Hybels. Last year, Hybels introduced the team who would assume church leadership upon his retirement--lead pastor Heather Larson and teaching pastor Steve Carter.  Although the founding pastor planned to stay on to assist in a time of transition, reports of sexual impropriety involving Hybels surfaced early this year.  He accelerated his departure from the church and left the board of the Willow Creek Association. When other charges emerged last week, teaching pastor Carter resigned. On Wednesday evening, Larson and the entire elder board--lay leaders who provide accountability on behalf of the congreg

A Future for the Global Leadership Summit?

Craig Groeschel, the founder and senior pastor of Life.Church. The Global Leadership Summit which began as a project of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, and its founding pastor, Bill Hybels, over 25 years ago was held this week without Hybels. For several years, the GLS has been now produced by the Willow Creek Association, a spin-off organization and a loose network of churches but Hybels has been its driving force. Attended by thousands at the church facility in South Barrington and broadcast to thousands more at satellite locations, the annual meeting brings together not only evangelical leaders but outstanding speakers from business, charitable organizations, politics, and business.  For the first time, Hybels did not appear due to allegations of sexual impropriety brought against him over the past year by former employees, staff members, and business associates.  He has already left the church and resigned from the board of the association.