Top

Going Public with My Privates (part 2 of 3)

July 31, 2008

…on becoming post-(whatever I was).

Read more

Gandhi Was Wrong

July 28, 2008

Read more

Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinian Children, Internationals on Way Home from Summer Camp

July 28, 2008

Read more

What’s Enemy-Love Got To Do With It?

July 22, 2008

My friend Rod recently said he’d enjoy having a few of us – his Mennonite friends – try to persuade him to pacifism. The other three of us there all looked at each other and grinned.

“Oh, this isn’t a one-day kind of decision, friend,” Rusty said to Rod with a laugh. We all nodded. Read more

Render unto Washington?

July 18, 2008

Read more

Threading the Eye of a Needle

July 17, 2008

For years I have pondered what following Jesus meant, because somehow, just attending the Sunday morning social club didn’t seem to be it for me. The social club can have some good aspects on occasion, like being with people and so forth. But in the end, all the stuff we read and studied on Jesus in our club meetings didn’t seem to reflect the actual lives we were living. Or at least, my actual life.

Examples have been pondered by many. Things like, if Jesus taught us to give our entire life, why do we only give a fraction (ie: money or tithe)? And why is that fraction given to a church or non-prof for them to decide how injustice can be alleviated with those pennies? Why are North American Christians encouraged to give the fraction while maintaining a status quo life at home and throughout their community? Read more

The Dark Knight of America

July 15, 2008

This weekend thousands upon thousands of movie-goers will flock to see the Dark Knight. According to early reviews, the flick has the potential for greatness.

The Dark Knight combines all the dark grittiness of the best crime dramas with all the eye-candy of superhero-flicks, and processes it through the dark macabre vision that has become a hallmark of the best of the Batman films. Read more

Bringin’ Back Monarchy

July 9, 2008

Us Jesus Radicals should have the best of holidays - we’ve been personally swept up by the King into his revolution of love, peace, justice, and messy grace.  How can we not celebrate this mighty liberation?  If Jesus is risen, then we of all people ought to be partying! Read more

Happy St. Elizabeth’s Day!

July 4, 2008

The problem with summers is that there are precious few holidays–especially in the United States. You’d think that we’d be able to think of a reason to celebrate during the summer. Especially in July. June is a time of spring weddings and a time when students get out of school. August is filled with anticipation–a time when folks go on vacation before autumn busyness crowds the calendar.

What we need is a holiday in July. A day of celebration to give us pause during the height of summer. Today, July 4th would be an excellent day for that holiday! Read more

Brian McLaren: A New Kind of Ancient

June 30, 2008

After reading page 187 of Brian McLaren’s new book, the Jesus Manifesto community is even more blessed to have Brian sit down and accept my request for an interview. It is on that page that he reveals one area of his life where spiritual practices have helped him manage his anxiety and discomfort–answering emails day in and day out. Perhaps my email was a spiritual trial of sorts, meant for Mr. McLaren to be made complete and “lacking in nothing”. At any rate, I hope my email gave Brian the chance to practice some of that “everyday sacredness” that he plugs in Finding Our Way Again. For Brian’s complete bio, check out his website.

So what’s an author whose written about a “new kind of Christian” and who supposedly carries a banner for emerging forms of Christianity doing writing an introduction to a series on ancient ideas?

Yeah, I guess it’s kind of ironic. But then again … one of the characteristics of modernity is the claim that we – we modern, Western, Protestant, Evangelical-fundamentalist-charismatic, and otherwise modified Christians – finally have it right, unlike the backward unenlightened generations that preceded us. One of the postmodern critiques of modernity is that we moderns threw out some babies with the bathwater and that we banished one too many ghosts in our eradication of premodern superstition, namely, the Holy Ghost. So, for Protestants to say we need to learn from Catholics, or for Western Christians to say we need to learn from the East, or for post-Enlightenment folks to say we need to learn from pre-Enlightenment folks … that’s all very much in keeping with the kinds of things I and my friends have been writing about in recent years. Read more

Next Page »

Bottom