Everything Must Change

It's no secret that Brian McLaren is one of my favorite writers. When a friend recommended "A New Kind of Christian" to me years ago as being reflective of my own journey in following Jesus, I immediately knew I had found a close friend (only in writing; I've never met Brian, but I will use his first name a lot because McLaren is harder to type...). In the semi-fictional New Kind of Christian series, Brian introduces us to some characters that are grappling with following Jesus without the constructs of modernity. Some of his other books regurgitate earlier material, but last year's "Everything Must Change" is, I think, a groundbreaking work for what followers of Jesus ought to be doing in our world today.

So since I'm nearly finished reading the book, I want to spend some time blogging on it as a review for myself and hopefully a challenge for you, the 3.4 readers of this blog.

In chapter 1, Brian introduces some of his (awesome if you ask me) metaphors used throughout his speaking and writing. He talks about our "framing story" or worldview, or what Lesslie Newbiggen called "plausibility structures" as what really needs to change. Throughout the book he confronts us with places where we've bought into an unbiblical, even ungodly framing story and somehow baptized it with a few Christian pieces and claim it as belonging to Jesus.

He also uses the term "suicide machine" to describe the corrupt systems that infiltrate our world--particularly the economic, political and military systems--and reprograms them to work for evil instead of good. He alternatively uses "an undetected storm, an undiagnosed disease, an unacknowledged addiction, or a machine that has gone destructive" metaphors to describe "our plethora of critical global crises" in our world today.

What are those crises? Let's end today's post with Brian's list:

1. Environmental breakdown directly caused by corrupted, unsustainable economic systems in the suicide machine (prosperity crisis).

2. The huge and growing gap between rich and poor (equity crisis).

3. The danger of cataclysmic war we constantly live with (security crisis).

4. The failure of the world's religions to provide a framing story capable of healing or reducing the three previous crises (spirituality crisis).

Hardcore Baptist Pickup Lines

I got this from The Door's online version. Scott La Counte has created a hilarious list!

Hardcore Baptist Pick-up Lines01/24/2008 Filed Under:Commentary
Satire
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By Scott La Counte

Baby, you’re like a burning bush. I feel like Moses, all I want is a glimpse of the Promised Land.

You look like the whore of Babylon—and I mean that in a good way.

You look like Ruth from the Bible. She was a Christian—at least she would have been if she was born a few hundred years later. Are you a Christian? Because I only court Christians, and I’m very interested in courting you if your father says it’s okay.

Everything you say is moving my heart and I don’t think it’s just because you’re speaking in tongues. Is there an ancient language called Babe?

I used to believe only faith could make a sick person well until I saw you, because, baby, you just healed something deep inside me that I'd never let Benny Hinn touch.

Baby, the rapture's coming soon-let’s hold each other tight before the non-Christians wage war and kill us all.

I’m sure glad your mama was pro-life.

Let’s go back to my place—I've got the complete VeggieTales.

Bathsheba was naked before David, and that worked out in a totally Biblical way. I'm sure you'll be way more awesome than she was.

Hey, babe, if you were the mission, then I'd be a missionary.

Should Christians write futuristic novels about killing people in future religious wars?

What would you do if suddenly your car didn’t run, all power to your home was gone, your house furnace and central air conditioning were disabled, your refrigerator and freezer became warm storage cabinets for rapidly decaying food, and your employer was permanently out of business?

How would you survive? Where would you go to escape the harsh realities of the climate where you live?

And suppose that on top of this calamity there came a horde of marauders riding swift horses into your city to murder, rape, burn, and pillage? Police, firefighters, and National Guardsmen would be powerless to put up much resistance since they couldn’t operate vehicles or equipment to get to the site of the conflagration.

Do you own a gun? Could you bring yourself to fend off your formerly friendly neighbor who is now murderously intent upon taking your last food reserves to keep his family from starving? And how many bullets would it take to repel thousands of heavily armed invaders, all intent upon killing you for your beliefs and stealing your family and property?

In this fanciful but not far-fetched page-turner, xxx xxxx portrays a world where the ultimate weapon of mass destruction has instantly propelled the United States hundreds of years backward and turned society into a vicious, dog-eat-dog, stone-age madhouse of chaos. This weapon is out there, in the hands of insane men and it could happen!

I found this interesting. I met the author of this book last week, and he asked me to peruse his website. He seems like a good writer, but when I read the paragraph above that begins "do you own a gun..." I couldn't help but wonder if the paragraph was hype or if we were really supposed to contemplate shooting our neighbor to keep him from stealing our food or storing up ammo to kill "thousands of heavily armed invaders"?!? Reminds me of the "Who Would Jesus Bomb?" bumper sticker you can by at www.landoverbaptist.org...

More truck monkey!

Here's the link to even more trunk monkey ads...you especially have to check out the alien one...

"I don't do probes..."

The trunk monkey???!!!

Now, why haven't I seen this before? This is the funniest thing, maybe ever!

The conundrum of all change agents...

The Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today the papers are full of memorials to Dr. King, and rightly so. Few people have truly allowed the teachings and lifestyle of Jesus himself impact how they affect change in the world, working from the position of servanthood and nonviolent stance for truth.

I'm not a fan of political leaders and candidates preaching from church pulpits. In this year's race, religious progressives are having a stronger impact on the race than in the past, where it's mostly just been religious conservatives. I wouldn't want to see the progressives make the same mistakes as conservatives by having their cause tied to closely with the Democratic Party.

Having said all that, Barack Obama preached yesterday at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. My friend Texas in Africa has the full text of the speech here, and it's worth reading regardless of how you feel about politics.

This is funny!

Unless my wife is reading, and then not so much...

God as con man

Leadership Weekly has a great article here on the deeper meaning behind God's trickery. Interesting read.

I first discovered Hosea's "I will lead her into the wilderness" verse (Ho 2.14) nearly 10 years ago when my pastor and friend left the church he had started and I had joined to help. I spent 6 months as the interim pastor, and preached extensively about God's leading into the deserts of life. We don't often understand his movement, his leading. His purposes are often probably totally different than we think, and honestly probably even different than the ones we look back on in reflective moments years later. We just may not know. Period. But the desert can be a good place.

I spent 20 years in El Paso, so I know.

The Privatization of Culture Part Deux

There is a multitude of impacts that culture privatization has on the US. Certainly we see it in politics, in entertainment, in economics. But I think the most devastating thing for the message of Jesus has been the impact on religion, especially the "christian" religion.

USAmericans are religious people. 86% believe in God. Huge numbers attend religious services every weekend. And while there is no question that religion is less of a socio-cultural influence than it was say 50 years ago, I would still put it in the top 2 or 3 cultural powers.

However, Jesus didn't come to establish a religion, even the "christian" one. So Evangelicals, responding to the privatization of cultural expression (among other things) have pushed for certain religious symbols and expressions to be unprivatized: prayer in school, "under God" on the pledge, nativity scenes, etc. We look for political candidates who thank God, entertainers who praise God. We allow just enough "God" to get back into public that we've created a caricature--not unlike those drawings of my kids when we go to Sea World--and that caricature has come to pass for the real thing. So "god" becomes an important aspect of the US allowable public expression of culture.

But it ain't God.