Meet the Authors Shane Claiborne is a founder of The Simple Way, a New Monastic community in inner city Philadelphia that has helped to birth and connect radical faith communities around the world. He "writes and travels extensively speaking about peacemaking, social justice, and Jesus." Claiborne is the co-author of several previous books, including The Irresistible Revolution (2006 with Jim Wallis), Jesus for President (2008 with Chris Read More …
Jesus
Consumerism as Idol (#0923)
Tony Campolo is an ordained American Baptist pastor, professor emeritus at Eastern University, founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education, author of 35 books, and popular speaker. Recently he wrote these challenging words: . . . the enemy of the Church is consumerism. We have made an idol out of the things that are being sold. We bow down and worship the commodities that are paraded before us on television. We are enslaved to a mindset Read More …
Safety is Not a Virtue (#0919)
John Richardson, communications director at Generous Church, recently blogged about how the Christian faith calls adherents to step away from a life of safety and security. After quoting Craig Groeschel, Erwin McManus, David Platt, Francis Chan and Jesus, he summarizes the big idea thusly: Here’s the problem with playing it safe - safety is not a virtue in the Kingdom of God. Instead, the Gospel calls us to the exact opposite: a radical departure from the “safe” Read More …
Danger of Thinking Small (#0917)
John Ortberg is the Senior Pastor of the 4,000 member Menlo Park Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) and the author of multiple books on spiritual formation. In the Fall 2012 edition of Leadership Journal, he wrote an article entitled “Our Presumptuous Calling,” in which he challenged followers of Jesus to live into that calling by living out the Great Commission in big and bold ways. Ortberg cautions all followers, but especially pastors and ministry leaders, to avoid Read More …
A Challenging Question (#0916)
Kathy Vestal recently asked a question that many avoid, yet one which should be addressed directly on a regular basis by those who seek to follow the way of Jesus: Are we following the Church’s teachings more closely than we follow Jesus’ teachings? So What? In an ideal world, perhaps one would simply assume the teachings of the church and those of Jesus would be identical or overlap so significantly that any attempts to differentiate the two would seem artificial. In Read More …
Dignity, Respect, Gentleness & Love (#0901)
Bill Tammeus, a Kansas City area author and religious blogger, recently offered practical wisdom that is worth reading often and living daily: All the great religions teach that we should treat people with dignity, respect, gentleness, love. And with good reason. All of us are fragile. All of us in one way or another are trying to handle the various -- and sometimes vicious -- curveballs life has heaved at us. So What? The way of Jesus is love. As a follower of Jesus, what Read More …
The Only Jesus (#0898)
I have heard people with widely divergent theological perspectives utter the same message on many occasions: you may be the only Jesus others see. In the parish I serve, the senior minister often challenges the congregation to live into this truth. So What? For those who follow the way of Jesus, the quest should be a 24/7/365 venture. How do the words "you may be the only Jesus someone sees today" inspire you to live out your faith? Read More …
Review of Selling Water by the River (#0897)
Meet the Author Shane Hipps is a second career pastor. This portion of his journey started after working as a strategic planner in advertising. Hipps served as lead Pastor of Trinity Mennonite Church (2005-2010). He is now nearing the end of his time as teaching pastor at Mars Hill (2010-2012). Hipps is the author of two books: Selling Water by the River (2012) and Flickering Pixels (2009 - my review) as well as the co-author of The Hidden Power Read More …
Football, Jesus, and Ninja (#0896)
Football, Jesus and ninja sound like words that might be associated with some form of a youth group game. In fact, I may have played a modified version of ninja football on a retreat years ago. Interestingly, these words can be found on the list of the 25 Most Popular Passwords of 2012. So What? Reality check. Apparently many people still don't take security seriously. How else could the #1 most popular password be "password"? Also appearing on the list Read More …
Televising Jesus’ Return (#0892)
In reviewing news stories for potential discussion on this blog, I have encountered many unusual happenings. The latest to make that list is the preparation being undertaken by not one but two "Christian" television networks to ensure they have the resources necessary to provide live coverage of Jesus' second coming. Daystar, one of the two networks, now features a live stream from the Mount of Olives on its website. So What? Over the years I have heard Read More …