I guess this why I am not happy! Thanks ASBO Jesus.

Books I have been reading

While have not been posting these past several months I have been able to get some reading done. Over the next several weeks I hope to share some of my thoughts on the following books that I have read during my blogging absence.

What Would Jesus Deconstruct?: The Good News of Postmodernism for the Church (Church and Postmodern Culture, The)
Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices
The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier
A Community Called Atonement (Living Theology)
Justice in the Burbs: Being the Hands of Jesus Wherever You Live (emersion: Emergent Village resources for communities of faith)
Coming of God: Christian Eschatology
Signs of Emergence: A Vision for Church That Is Always Organic/Networked/Decentralized/Bottom-Up/Communal/Flexible/Always Evolving (emersion: Emergent Village resources for communities of faith)
Evangelism Without Additives: What if sharing your faith meant just being yourself?
How (Not) to Speak of God

What I am listing to!

When I had XM I really enjoyed listing to the commercial free radio on the internet; however I have not had a XM subscription for some time and have been in search of something else. I give you slacker.com, a free internet radio service. While the free version is not completely commercial free there are very few and for a reasonable monthly fee you can get commercial free radio. Take a listen and let me know what you think.

Have the right shrunk God?

Interesting interview on The Colbert Report of Kathleen Kennedy Townsend about her book Failing America's Faithful: How Today's Churches Are Mixing God with Politics and Losing Their Way

Emergent Midwest Gathering Audio

The audio from the Emergent Midwest Gathering that took place a couple of weeks ago is available at www.emergetmidwest.com . So if you where like me and unable to attened you can now listen to some things you missed.

Certainty of Faith

One of my favorite bloggers Scot McKnight poses the question "When we we claim to have certainty about our faith are we actually claiming a kind of justification by works- a work called reason? This is a great question and worthy of discussion.

Blest be the tie that binds

Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above.
Before our Father’s throne
We pour our ardent prayers;
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one
Our comforts and our cares.
We share each other’s woes,
Our mutual burdens bear;
And often for each other flows
The sympathizing tear.
When we asunder part,
It gives us inward pain;
But we shall still be joined in heart,
And hope to meet again.
This glorious hope revives
Our courage by the way;
While each in expectation lives,
And longs to see the day.
From sorrow, toil and pain,
And sin, we shall be free,
And perfect love and friendship reign
Through all eternity.

This song was written by John Fawcett, he became an ordained Baptist minister on this date in 1765. He wrote this song after deciding to stay at the small church he was at instead of going on to a large church in London [i] May this be our song , a song that we can sing honestly. Just as the Trinity is a community so must we live in community, we cannot go it alone.


[i] Robert J Morgan, On This Day (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997), July 31.