Coffeehouse Theology: The New Name For My Theology Project

Now that Coffeehouse Theology is on its way to publication, I have been working with NavPress on a new name. We have settled on Coffeehouse Theology: Reflecting on God in Everyday Life. Previously I was referring to the book as Theology for Everyone and before that Conversations in Context, but of course none of those are all that marketable.

More updates on the book will be coming soon!

Books on the Emerging Church

Andrew Jones has quite an extensive list of books and other documents related to the emerging church. Check out his post here.

Where Things Stand

At the moment Theology For Everyone in Postmodern Times is under review with a publisher. I’m excited that this important tool for the church is one step closer to publication. I’ll keep posting updates as things progress.

For now you can read my daily theological musings at inamirrordimly.com and find all kinds of articles on the emerging church, theology, and mission on my theological resource page.

The Spirit of God

I am reading through Paul’s description in the book of 1 Corinthians of God’s wisdom that is revealed by the Spirit.

Such as . . .

2:6 Now we do speak wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are perishing.
2:7 Instead we speak the wisdom of God, hidden in a mystery, that God determined before the ages for our glory.
2:8 None of the rulers of this age understood it. If they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
2:9 But just as it is written, “Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him.”
2:10 God has revealed these to us by the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
2:11 For who among men knows the things of a man except the man’s spirit within him? So too, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
2:12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things that are freely given to us by God.
2:13 And we speak about these things, not with words taught us by human wisdom, but with those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.
2:14 The unbeliever does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
2:15 The one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is understood by no one.
2:16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to advise him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Courtesy of the NET Bible

On Certainty, Truth and Scripture

Notice in 1 Thessalonians how Paul referes to the scriptures and how the believers have certainty.

1:4 We know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you,
1:5 in that our gospel did not come to you merely in words but in power and in the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction (surely you recall the character we displayed when we came among you to help you).

and then . . .

2:13 And so we too constantly thank God that when you received God’s message that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human message, but as it truly is, God’s message, which is at work among you who believe.

God Himself validates the truth and gives certainty through the Spirit.

(All scripture is from the NET Bible)

Books and Links

There are some new books and links posted on each page now. I’ll be updating them as they become available. I’d like to also have a section with articles from the ooze, next wave, and other news stories about the emerging church.

Most of them are hanging out in my del.icio.us account.

The latest book that I have been reading about ministry in the postmodern/emerging context is Organic Church by Neil Cole. I’ll be reviewing it as soon as I wrap it up.  So far it has been incredible.

What Just Laws You Have . . .

Check out this verse from Deuteronomy:

“And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this whole law that I am about to share with you today?”  Dt. 4:8

This is a fairly loaded statement about culture in a small space. We often read the Old Testament, the Torah no less, and are amazed by the laws listed.

There are all kinds of penalties that seem rather harsh to us. Some rules seem oppressive. But in its day, the Mosaic Law was radical. It revealed a merciful and just God.

Obedience to this law taught the nations around Israel about the God of these alien people who appeared out of the desert.

God is always revealing himself in a particular time and place because that is how we are made. He meets us, in many ways, on our own terms so that we can truly get to know him.

Shaking Things Up

WordPress has generously allowed users to make major modifications to their templates in the free hosted version offered at wordpress.com. This is good for me because I didn’t really like the limitations of their templates, but paying for a static template and a few extra features for a Typepad account wasn’t exactly cutting it either.

So today I began the transition. I will be moving my typepad blog, which covers my theology and culture project, over to this wordpress blog. This little blog started as an experiment and exploration of the benefits of wordpress. I kept it hoping that the day would come that the templates could be modified.

And so there are still bits and pieces of the old blog laying around, but things will start looking more and more like a theology blog around here in the near future.

For now I’m going to stick with the Ambiru theme. I like keeping all of the links down below so that the focus is on the writing.

I hope to have more to share from the Conversations in Context project. I’m currently finishing the proposal and hope to have more up here soon.

Ryan Bolger on Newbigin

In case you haven’t heard of Leslie Newbigin, Ryan Bolger has a nice little summary of Newbigin’s significance for the emerging church today and the missional church movement in particular.

I have listed a number of Newbigin’s books below on my suggested reading lists, including The Gospel in a Pluralist Society and The Open Secret. Though his works can be a bit dense, they are well worth the investment of time.

Obsessing

I have probably entered the "obsessing" phase of writing a book. While in-between drafts I have begun to obsess over the title. Is "Beginning Conversations" saying what this book will really be all about??? Hmmm. My latest candidate is "Conversations in Context."

Back when I thought of this project, the idea was provide a tool that would act as a catalyst for theological conversation and consequent action. Hence "Beginning" conversations.  But now it seems that these conversations are happening. The issue remains though, that we need some kind of reference point and guide when constructing theology in context.

I can’t leave behind the concept of informal conversations, because that is where I believe theology needs to move and is moving. Whether through blogs, gatherings of friends, or gatherings in churches, the postmodern context demands that we all play our part.

So for now, it’s "Conversations in Context." I’m thinking about changing the header here, but not yet. I don’t want to have musical titles. Of course whoever publishes the book will change it anyway, so why all of the fuss?

NT Wright: On Being Born Again

In discussing John 3 and the topic of "being born again," Wright makes some helpful observations. Just as no one ever frames a birth certificate and talks at length about the details of his/her own birth at great length, so it is a bit odd to make the moment of our conversion the focus of our discourse when sharing the Gospel. What truly matters is our relationship with God in the here and now. Wright comments,

"What matters for most purposes is not that once upon a time you were born – though of course sometimes it matters that you can prove when and where you were born. What matters is that you are alive now, and that your present life, day by day and moment by moment, is showing evidence of health and strength and purpose. Physical birth is often painful and difficult, for the baby as well as for the mother. But you don’t spend your life talking about what a difficult birth you had, unless for some tragic reason it has left you with medical problems. You get on with being the person you now are" (Wright, John for Everyone 29)

God is moving here and now today. Who wouldn’t want to share what God has done today, yesterday, or in the past month rather than a conversion experience that occurred long in the past. The conversion is important and it may be appropriate to share it at times, but if all we have is a conversion, then our lives are spiritually bankrupt.

Christianity has become, in many ways, a cultural change, but not an internal, spriitual change.

NT Wright for Everyone

I hit a used book sale at the library in Manchester, VT last Friday and struck gold. While I got my hands on a biography of Harry Truman by his daughter Margaret that I’ve been on the look-out for, my real find was Tom Wright’s commentary on the Gospel of John, chapters 1-10. It’s part of Wright’s NT commentary series for everyone, complete with his own translation and discussion of each passage.

I have heard good things about this series and have been waiting for an opportune time to grab a copy. So far I have not been able to put it down. First of all, Wright’s translation strikes me as a nice blend of the Message and the ESV. The words are still familiar to readers of the NIV, NASB, etc. and seem to capture the essence of what was happening, but there is a fresh, new sense that is not odd and corny as the Message can occasionally be. No slang, no over-use-of-hyphens, no cheesy phrases, but also no stilted, antiquated words and expressions that somehow stick around because of the KJV’s influence. All in all, it’s a very good translation that is enjoyable to read.

Another area where Wright succeeds is in providing just enough information in his commentary. The ban of commentaries is the feast or famine of information. Short commentaries are like a leaf of lettuce for a hungry man and exhaustive, scholarly commentaries are like a 12 oz steak for a new born. It’s quite hard to find a commentary that provides ample background, contextual, and linguistic information to be helpful without losing the reader in grammatical, theological debates that need not be mapped out in extensive detail for the average reader. Wright toes the line down the middle, erring on the side of giving less, but always putting a solid meal on the table.

My recommendation? If you’re looking for an accessible commentary that will help you dig a little deeper into the text without having to buy a massive library of enormous commentaries, check out Wright’s series. He’s "the man" on Paul, so you may want to check out his commentaries on Paul. But in any case, I trust no one else like I trust Wright. Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: wright, gospel of john

Christian Theology for Everyone in a Postmodern World

After agonizing for over a year, I think that I have finally settled on a sub-title for this project. The conversation part of it has always been fixed in my mind. This is just the beginning of (hopefully) many discussions about God in a culturally sensitive manner. Yet, I have struggled to find the exact words that capture where I’m going with all of this. My goal is to provide a lay-level theological method that takes into account our cultural context. I think that this title and sub-title finally convey that message.

I have begun working through my new chapter divisions and am ready to give the project a fresh look. If you look through the posts over the past year, you will notice that Beginning Conversations reads more like a text book than anything else. Now it is time to add some more personal elements and to repackage some of the weighty theological terms. I hope to present a method within my own story and the stories of others. As always I encourage comments on what I’m writing. Whenever possible I will integrate your comments into the project and give you credit for your ideas. Here is the current introduction that I am playing with: 

Beginning Conversations: Christian Theology for Everyone in a Postmodern World
Revision May 2006

Introduction
"Theology is not supposed to make you into a moron." This snide remark in my Theology One class at Biblical Theological Seminary was the beginning of my making amends with theology. Dr. John Franke had just finished telling the story of a disastrous evangelistic encounter that ended with a friend of his telling a woman, "Only God knows if you can be saved, I can’t help you." Yes, we all agreed, theology should not push any of us to the brink of such idiocy.

The sad truth is that theology often does more to divide and disrupt the church than to unite and bring clarity. My own memories abound with theological discussions that took a nasty turn and became full-blown feuds. In other cases I have read vindictive comments, articles, and blog posts online from supposed Christians that may work if channeled in the context of a hockey game, but surely have no place in the body of Christ. And so at this point in my seminary career, I was despairing that I would never find acivil way to hash out theology in a safe way that would not result in arguments and division.

To my relief, there is a way to cut through the fog that engulfs many theological conversations. John Franke’s theology class showed myself and hundreds of others that theology is a discipline that not only serves the church, it is also done by the church. Contributions of prominent theologians not withstanding, the church itself bears a large part of the responsibility to shape doctrines. Nevertheless, in carrying out this mandate, the church often loses its way in two areas. First, the church neglectsits context. Secondly, the church mismanages its priorities and puts all finished theological constructs into the same category as essential dogmas, scripture, and God Himself. I cannot stress this second point enough. If we agree on the divinity and saving work of Christ, the love of the Father who sent Him, and the Spirit who makes him known in order to restore creation, then we have something that should never be broken by disagreements over lesser doctrines such as the end times, predestination, or the final destiny of Israel.

The Secret Message of Jesus

Scot McKnight has begun posting a summary and some reviews of Brian McLaren’s latest book, The Secret Message of Jesus. McKnight notes that, so far, the reviews and comments are positive. Apparently McLaren is less controversial when dealing with exposition of scripture.

The thrust of the book concerns the significance of Jesus’ teachings on the Kingdom of God. McKnight comments:

This is, so it seems to me, the leitmotif of the whole book, but asked
in a question (which he essentially answers in a positive way): “What
if Jesus’ secret message reveals a secret plan? What if he didn’t come
to start a new religion — but rather came to start a political, social,
religious, artistic, economic, intellectual, and spiritual revolution
that would give birth to a new world?” (4).

While McLaren may not be saying a whole lot of new things for him, it’s certainly all put together in one place and is presented in a fairly compelling manner. More than anything, McLaren is poised to capitalize on the release of the Da Vinci Code movie. From a Christian standpoint, this is excellent. I pray that many who are gripped by the spell of the Da Vinci Code will stumble accross this book.

Of course it’s also good business for the publishers, but you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do!

Technorati Tags: da vinci code, mclaren, Jesus

Simplifying

It’s a new regime around here these days. We cleaned up our house quite a bit, I cleaned up our computers, and now I’m cleaning up my blogging/writing life. I wanted the focus of this blog to be its content. I wanted to get away from all colors and fancy designs. I could mess with all of that, but I have other sites for that.

So in my attempt to start afresh and renew my commitment to my readers, I wanted to make a clean break with the "minimalist" design. My goal is to begin rewriting sections of the Beginning Conversations manuscript. My goal in the end is for this project to be collaborative and to contain the thoughts and opinions of a wide variety of Christians . . . and these views would not be limited to church leaders. So as often as I can, I will post the rewritten sections of this book on the blog and leave the comments open for thoughts.

I also continue to read and gather sources. I will post them here as a way of cataloguing them for myself and sharing them with others.

In the future I plan on updating some of the links on my side bar, but one thing at a time. For now, I hope to occupy myself with writing a version of Beginning Conversations that is a bit more user-friendly and appropriate for lay audiences.

As an added bonus, I have also begun using the open source program Open Office. Check it out, it’s worth a look.