processing: Summer 2010 Reading (I)

For The Beauty of the Church

Ed. David Taylor

Since meeting a popular songwriter we hosted in college and being told to check out Steve Turner's Imagine, I've maintained a detached interest in the merger of theology and the arts.  As my theological mind has expanded, so too has my appetite for this intersection.  Duke's (by way of Austin, TX) David Taylor writes and edits this wonderful volume replete with talented and interesting authors and a panoply of perspectives.  Besides Peterson, who can hardly do wrong by me, I was surprised, edified and provoked by John Witvliet Worship piece (I look forward to thinking about original songwriting & worship with some amazing songwriters in our community) and especially Jeremy Begbie's musing on Art and Eschatology.  I highly recommend this to anyone who's ever even considered the role of art in the life of the Church.

Practice Resurrection

Eugene Peterson

The capstone to his prolific Spiritual Theology series, Peterson embarks on a thorough and serious treatment of growing up, being the Church, and living in terms of the resurrection existence Christ inaugurated, as articulated by the letter to the Ephesians.  I really appreciated how constructive this work was.  While providing harsh and prophetic criticism towards the failed and unfaithful ways we North American Christians attempt to build, progress, and grow, the tone and timbre of the whole matches the exciting, creative, and counterintuitive character of the great biblical letter it explicates.

Resident Aliens

Stanley Hauerwas and Will Willimon

About halfway through this book I really began to resent whoever chose our entrance reading requirements a couple years ago for Duke.  While Dean Well's Power and Passion was somewhat helpful, I can't really think of something else that could provide such a succinct and challenging primer to how things are thought and done at Duke than Prof. Hauerwas' and Bishop Willimon's landmark book.  I might have spoken louder, earlier, and more often in some precepts had I tackled this one prior to the summer before my final two semesters.  Spanning ecclesial ethics, the dangers of no-holds-barred modernism, and introing a Yoderian, post-Constantinian vision, these two master communicators also realize the importance of both eschatology and worship for the life of the Church in the world.  This work begs to be engaged with and achieves the provocation the cover advertises.

The Prodigal God

Tim Keller

I was really excited to dig into this one.  The final parable in the Luke 15 series has always been one of my favorites to read, preach, and re-evaluate.  This fall at Gathering Church, we're looking to focus on Keller's take.  His dealing stuck me as a bit unique, devoting a lot of space to the consideration of the older brother in the story (and going on to portray Jesus as True Elder Brother), going as far as to interpret him as but one of a couple of Lost Sons in the story.  I liked the accessibility and intrigue created by this.  It seems it will be a great entry point for those without a ton of study and small group experience as well as those, who know the story well.  It also made me go back to last summer's read: Volf's Exclusion and Embrace, to re-visit his brilliant exegesis of the characters within this keystone parable.  One main gripe I have is the  over-villianization of the Pharisee character in the story.  While I don't deny the teeth the the story has towards that crowd, the NPP-reader and Mel Gibson critic in me cringes at the careless portrayal of Jews as the epitome of flagrant unfaith.  All this said, I'll return back to Prodigal God (no spoiler alert: prodigal means extravagant, excessive) quite a bit more as a resource.

Deep Church

Jim Belcher
Anyone looking for some sort of positive assessment of the messy tangle encountering evangelical(-ish) church-life to come, should pick this one up.  Belcher offers an accessible and erudite survey of the landscape and painstakingly critiques and offers a way forward (which he, following CS Lewis coins the deep church).  This "third way," for him, is rarely a synthesis of the other two poles, though Belcher possesses all the charity, skill, and machinery to form such syntheses.  Belcher instead looks and, more often than not, finds a true new way.  This way of Orthodoxy and Engagement, truth and warmth, set-apartness and engagement must be the way forward and the type of leaders needed for such a grand endeavor must be committed to ecumenism, creativity, and generosity.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  It accurately mapped and widely conversed un order to generate a gravitational vision around the Triune God in community.  Well done.

Johnny Cash: The Revelator

Resources for presentation given in Dr. Hays' Revelation Exegesis class.

Download the Powerpoint.

Download the Handout.

When The Man Comes Around J.R. Cash  (American/Lost Highway/Columbia 2002) Spoken: And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder: One of the four beasts saying: "Come and see." And I saw. And behold, a white horse.  There's a man goin' 'round takin' names. An' he decides who to free and who to blame. Everybody won't be treated all the same. There'll be a golden ladder reaching down. When the man comes around.  The hairs on your arm will stand up. At the terror in each sip and in each sup. For you partake of that last offered cup, Or disappear into the potter's ground. When the man comes around.  Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers. One hundred million angels singin'. Multitudes are marching to the big kettle drum. Voices callin', voices cryin'. Some are born an' some are dyin'. It's Alpha's and Omega's Kingdom come.  And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree. The virgins are all trimming their wicks. The whirlwind is in the thorn tree. It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks.  Till Armageddon, no Shalam, no Shalom. Then the father hen will call his chickens home. The wise men will bow down before the throne. And at his feet they'll cast their golden crown. When the man comes around.  Whoever is unjust, let him be unjust still. Whoever is righteous, let him be righteous still. Whoever is filthy, let him be filthy still. Listen to the words long written down, When the man comes around.  In measured hundred-weight and penny-pound. When the man comes around.  Spoken: And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts, And I looked and behold: a pale horse. And his name, that sat on him, was Death. And Hell followed with him.

Revelation 6:1-2a “There's a man going 'round taking names (taking names)/He's been taking my fathers name/an' he left my heart in vain/there's a man going 'round taking names” (Leadbelly) Gen 28:12 Jn 1:51 Mt 27:7 Also: Mt 27:9; Jer 19 Mt 24:31 Also: Rev 1:10; 4:1; 8:13 Rev 1:8, 21:6, 22:13 Job 38-40 Mt 25:1-13 Paul’s conversion in Acts 26 Rev 22:11 Rev 16:16 Lk 13:34 Rev 4:10/Rev 7:15/Mt 2:7-12 Rev 4:10 Rev 6:6 Revelation 6:6a, 8

Johnny Cash Playlist

Further Listening: 

American Recordings (I-VI)

Unearthed (Box Set)

Personal File

My Mother’s Hymn Book

Live from Folsom Prison

Further Reading:

Johnny Cash, Man In White (Thomas Nelson, 2008).

Johnny Cash, Cash: The Autobiography (HarperOne, 2003).

Antonino D’Ambrosio, A Heartbeat & A Guitar: Johnny Cash and the Making of Bitter Tears (Nation Books, 2009).

Leigh H. Edwards, Johnny Cash and the Paradox of American Identity (Indiana University Press, 2009).

Michael Streissguth, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of a Masterpiece (Da Capo Press, 2005).

Steve Turner, The Man Called Cash (Thomas Nelson, 2005).

Dave Urbanski, The Man Comes Around: The Spiritual Journey of Johnny Cash (Relevant Books, 2003).

Further Viewing:

Gospel Road (1973)

Walk the Line (2005)

The Johnny Cash Show: 1969-1971 (2007)

processing: Tim Keller- The Reason for God: Belief in An Age of Skepticism

Catching up on posting for some of my end of summer reading:

I am intrigued by Tim Keller. He's one of those names that you here again and again as someone doing big things, and seemingly doing them the right way. Keller seems to combine intellectual rigor and appeal with pastoral concern and care, no doubt a proper cocktail for the urban ministry he heads.

While, generally proofs by reasoning and apologetic for God only marginally interest me (one can't afford ignore the Mere Christianity's & Simply Christian's), Keller's accessible and widely-read erudition holds great appeal. I don't know many "hot" Protestant ministers engaging with care and creativity minds and work from Flannery O'Connor to Niebuhr to Foucault.

Various Excerpts:
[referring to the charge of injustice and fanaticism] "What if, however, the essence of Christianity is salvation by grace, salvation not because of what we do but because of what Christ has done for us? Belief that you are accepted by God by sheer grace is profoundly humbling. The people who are fanatics, then, are so not because they are too committed to the gospel but because they're not committed to it enough (57)."

[referring to the response to Jesus' use of miracles in Matthew 28:17] "The most instructive thing about this text is, however, what it says about the purpose of Biblical miracles. They lead not simply to cognitive belief, but to worship, to awe and wonder. Jesus' miracles in particular were never magic tricks, designed to impress and coerce...Instead, he used miraculous power to heal the sick, feed the hungry, and raise the dead. Why? We modern people think of miracles as the suspension of the natural order, but Jesus meant them to be the restoration of the natural order (95)."

processing: Miroslav Volf- Exclusion & Embrace

Perhaps my favorite element of this weighty work comes in Volf's careful and imaginative exegesis of Scripture in relation to the various images and metaphors he sets up for the processes of reconciliation. He masterfully supports his own devices not only through philosophical discourse (much of which is honestly lost on me), but through revisiting the stories of the Prodigal Son, the Syrophoenician Woman, the Passion narratives, and more. I also found quite useful and insightful his "double visioning" strategy for understanding others' point of view and determining best practice for love and conflict resolution. This work is rather weighty, but deserves the time, effort, and attention.

On our goal in using a "Double Vision":
"The most important theological reason for practicing double-vision lies not in the example of Jesus, but in the inner logic of the theology of the cross...on the cross God made space in God's very self for others, godless others, and opened arms to invite them in. The practice of double-vision...is the epistemological side of faith in the Crucified" (214).

"In a creaturely way we should try to emulate God's way of knowing. Not that we can crawl inside the mind of God and see things from God's panlocal perspective. But we can try to see the other concretely rather than abstractly, from within rather than simply from without. What human way of seeing corresponds to God's seeing "from everywhere"? Seeing both "from here" and "from there." Only such double vision will insure that we do not domesticate the otherness of others but allow them to stand on their own" (251).

On God's justice and grace:
"Consider, first, the foundation of the Christian community, the cross. Christ unites different 'bodies' into one body, not simply in virtue of the singleness of his person or of his vision, but above all through his suffering" (47).

"God's justice & God's kindness (Ps 145:17), God's righteousness & God's salvation (Is 45:21) are intertwined. When God saves, God does justice; when God does justice, God saves-unless one refuses to be saved. There is a profound 'injustice' in the God of the biblical tradition. It is called grace" (221).

On the Parable of the Prodigal (Luke 15):
"Departure was not an act of exclusion by which the self pulls itself out of the relationships without which it would not be what it is, and cuts itself off from responsibilities to others and makes itself their enemy" (158).

"For him [the prodigal] whose project was to 'un-son' himself and who is still in a distant country, 'sonship' can only be a memory, but it is a memory that defines his present so much that it sets him on a journey back" (159).

"Without the father's having kept the son in his heart, the father would not have put his arms around the prodigal. No confession was neccesary for the embrace to take place for the simple reason that the relationship did not rest on moral performance and therefore could not be destroyed by immoral acts. The son's return from 'the distant country' and the father's refusal to let the son out of his heart sufficed" (159).

On memory's role in forgiveness:
"In my memory of the other's transgression the other is locked in unredemption and we are bound together in a relationship of nonreconciliation. The memory of the wrong suffered is also a source of my own nonredemption" (133).

preaching: I Am the Bread of Life: The Giver is the Gift (Jn 6:35)

Sermon given on 09 August 2009 (Proper 14, 10th Sunday after Pentecost) @ Allensville/Trinity UMC Roxboro, NC Lectionary Texts: Psalm 34:1-8 * Ephesians 4:25-5:2 * John 6:35, 41-51

We live in a society largely void of hunger. Let me clarify that. We live in a nation that is voraciously hungry, each of us is hungry, but in many ways are incredibly equipped to deal with that hunger. Many off us, myself included, have never, or rarely felt true hunger pangs. We have access like no other time or place to cheap food in abundance. We bask in the red heat lamps of buffets, around family tables, at intern-honoring covered dishes, and in the comfort of our driver’s seats awaiting our order from the clerk behind the sliding glass window. Our stomachs love food, our taste buds delight to be teased, our days are ordered around our next provision. We “do” hunger, but we “do” fulfillment of that hunger better. Or so we assume.

As we’ve been hearing from the gospel of John the past few weeks, we sit listening, daydreaming, or somewhere in between thinking about the breakfast we’ve just eaten or ready for the lunch we will soon sit down to. We can’t help think about food and hunger, void and satisfaction.

We recall...

· Two weeks ago, we heard of the unlikely feast on the hillside, feeding five thousand folks from a lunch pale.

· Last week, prior to sharing the Eucharist together, we heard Jesus’ prompting the people away from the food they relied on that goes bad, and towards the everlasting food God gives, a sort of divinely preserved, original “Wonderbread.”

· This week, we find the continuation of this conversation. Jesus has pitched the importance and superiority of this bread God gives such that his audience is asking, begging for this bread, now and always.

I know all week you’ve been hanging on this suspense. What does Jesus have here behind his back? What does he offer, so as not to disappoint? How does he top the previous signs of God’s glory he produced (feeding & walking on water)? What is the punch line?

He simultaneously offers nothing and everything. His hands are empty, but he points to himself, to God. He says confidently, “I am the bread of life.” Just when they are convinced that Jesus shall and is able to give them the forever cure for their hunger, he says this. They want physical, they want now, they want something that they can have, hold, devour, and hoard. I’m sure we can’t identify at all with that mentality, can we?

But Jesus gives himself. All of himself, for their life, their nourishment, their growth, their sustenance, their pleasure and fulfillment. The crowd to which Jesus speaks seems to have a taste for bread; they have a desire, and a hunger to be met. This hunger though is two-fold. They can answer the bell of their stomachs and that is their primary concern. But do they understand here the call of their hearts, the desire of their souls? The one overarching desire which all their other desires mimic?

Reminding us of Saint Augustine's famous Confession, "Thou hast made us for Thyself, O God. And our hearts are restless until they find rest in Thee." Likewise, in realizing Jesus as the Bread of Life, we declare, "Our hearts are dead & hungry until they find fulfillment from the Bread of Life."

Let’s not be too hard on these guys though, after all, the story keeps bringing up Moses and their ancestors in exile. If we remember correctly, one of the things the Israelites were taught by the manna is that they were dependent on the God who provides, and knows best. The Israelites were both physically nourished and spiritually taught by this bread. They were not to take too much, they would never have too little, there would be plenty for all, and no room for selfishness. To be sure, the Israelites grumbled their way through the desert even though they had God leading them, keeping them, providing for them. They grumbled despite their guarantee of manna, they grumbled while a bread from heaven was in their midst. Why shouldn’t these folks in our gospel reading still grumble while THE Bread of Heaven is in theirs? These explicit parallels between the mysterious “bread from heaven” of Jesus’ mysterious seaside-smorgasbord, and the enigmatic “manna from heaven” back in the day don’t end here though.

While Jesus’ reference to the manna becomes more and more obvious as the story continues, the showstopper occurs in verse 35. Jesus’ words are, “I am the bread of life.”

· For us, a clear statement.

· For those familiar with the gospel of John, this is the first of a string of seven “I am” statements (bread of life, light of the world, gate, good shepherd, resurrection & life, way/truth/life, true vine).

· For those in Christ’s presence, this was a scandalous identification with their God (the Great “I am”).

This jumps of the page in its original Greek (ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς). ἐγώ εἰμι= I am: God’s calling card, given to Moses at the burning bush. The Creator, the God of their ancestors, their provider, the personal God in covenant with them. Jesus reminds them in their amnesia, that they are re-living the story they think they know so well. They are neglecting the Giver for the gift. They are grumbling while being showered with bread from heaven. To phrase it according to this morning’s psalm reading: they have ceased to allow themselves to taste the Lord’s Goodness, instead they pass on it altogether.

One Hebrew commentator adds that the word used for “taste” in Psalm 34 has the sense of “trying something by experiencing it.” How often do we decline the best experience of God in favor of our grumbling or presuppositions, our own tastes or perceived desires?

So here we find an intersection of two stories. This is one of the artful and beautiful things that I love about the Forth Gospel’s account of Jesus: irony. Jesus teaches them a story that they already know, that is etched in their heritage- who they are, and what they already understood. Just like them, we assume that we know what we need. That we are the bosses of our hungers, desires, wants, dreams, fantasies. That we understand our history and our tendencies, that we can put a lid on the “what I need and how I get it” story the way they thought they could close the book on Moses & the manna.

In the same way Jesus jars this image of the Moses story open for them, reminds them of their ancestors in the desert, whose assumptions of need were turned upside down by God’s generosity and provision, I am reminded of a very important story of my youth. The popular 1973 illustrated children’s book, The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein comes to mind. I remember reading and having it read to me until I could nearly recite it by heart.

It tells the story of a tree and a boy. The boy spends his youth delighting in the tree, gathering its leaves & apples, laying in its shade and climbing on its branches. As the boy grows, he distances himself from the tree, neglecting it for other, “better” sources of fun, food, and leisure. The tree waits. As the boy grows older and returns the tree beckons him to come again, and find the fulfillment of his youth in its branches, trunk and fruit. The boy responds not with delight, but by taking.

· He takes the apples to eat in his twenties.

· He hauls off the branches to build a house in his thirties.

· He even saws down the trunk at retirement age to build the boat of his desired leisure.

· He returns in very old age, assisted by a cane, the tree having been depleted to a mere stump.

It was that mere stump that the tree was able to offer saying, “Come boy, Come sit down and rest.” The leisure and delight of the boy’s youth returned as he again partook of the tree, not in a misguided or selfish way, not in a way that overlooked the relationship, generosity, and abundance offered, not in a way that haves, holds, devours, and hoards. But in a personal, interactive, and intimate way.

The way in which the psalter entreats, “Taste and see that the Lord is good, happy are those who take refuge in him,” (ps 34:8). The way in which Christ beckons, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty,” (Jn 6:35).

Accordingly we must ask ourselves:

· What am I praying for if not that God be my provider?

· What am I looking for if not the Thing behind the sign, the Giver behind the gift?

· What are you hungry for if not the true Bread from Heaven, the Bread that God Gives, the eternal Bread of Life?

· Do we satisfy those grumblings, not of our stomachs, but of our distracted and misguided souls, with filler, with bread that is not eternal?

· Are we, like the child in the storybook, eager to move onto bigger, better, and more fulfilling things only to later realize where our delight, our true life & savor, comes from?

Attempting to answer these, I invite you

to taste and see that the Lord is good;

to share in the Bread of Life broken for you;

to eat and not be hungry, to believe and never again thirst.

processing: Summer Reading: Part II

No Country For Old Men- Cormac McCarthy

If you can believe it, McCarthy's writing is more haunting than the on-screen portrayal by Javier Bardem. Per usual, his writing is grim, violent, graphic. We are left to ponder the futility of our 'good fight'. Is there even such a thing? The protagonist drifts into the territory of moral ambiguity and we are left feeling disoriented when we realize that the serial killing bounty hunter possesses a singularity and ethic not found in the so-called 'good guy'. Through all this, the narrator, Sheriff Bell seems to be the only one willing to acknowledge the worlds (and his own) decline. Along with, The Road, this book should be on everyone's required reading.

Our Endangered Values- Jimmy Carter

Former President Carter seems to have uniquely improved his legacy more with his post-White House career and tireless advocacy than by anything he did as president. This account is an interesting combination of what else- politics and religion- the two things not to bring up. Knowing both President Carter's devotion to peacemaking and justice (through Atlanta's Carter Center) and his ongoing mediation in Baptist life (New Baptist Covenant & CBF), it is nice to get a firsthand account of his motivations and presuppositions. While I don't agree with him on everything, I admire his courage, incredible endurance, and unwavering posture of engagement and dialogue.

Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World- A.J. Jacobs

I came across this one because I had read his A Year of Living Biblically and curiously enough picked it up at the same time as my friend Nick from church (and disc golf) was getting through it. Jacobs essentially chronicles his quest by picking out and occasionally revisiting the oddest, most profound, and down-right wackiest entries in the EB. What makes it interesting is his wit, candor, and occasional vulnerability when discussing insights from material as varied as Ecclesiastes and aquatic mating rituals. With Esquire-esque humour and agility, Jacobs manages to deftly weave his threads of familial relations, his wife and his struggle for fertility (and subsequent fatherhood), epistemology into a funny and reflective yearlong tapestry.

Jesus and Community- Gerhard Lohfink

Here are a couple insightful excerpts:
“If we ask Paul what significance the existence of the church has for pagan society in his writings...He says that God in Christ has reconciled the world to himself and that the church is now the place where reconciliation, which has already occurred in principle, is to be realized concretely. God has therefore charged the church with the service of reconciliation. The church is the place where, in a new creation, God has inaugurated reconciled society (pg 141).”

“Only in this gift of reconciliation, in the miracle of life newly won against all expectation, does what is here termed a contrast-society flourish. What is meant is not a church without guilt, but a church in which infinite hope emerges from forgiven guilt. What is meant is not a church in which there are no divisions, but a church which finds reconciliation despite all gulfs. What is meant is not a church without conflicts, but a church in which conflicts are settled in ways different from the rest of society. What is meant, finally, is not a church without the cross and without passion narratives, but a church always able to celebrate Easter because it both dies and rises with Christ (pg 147).”

unChristian:What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why it Matters- David Kinnaman & Gabe Lyons

I must say my favorite parts of this book were some of the first-hand insights from contributors at the end of each chapter. These contributors were as diverse as Jim Wallis, Rick Warren, John Stott, Rick McKinley, Churck Colson, Andy Stanley, Andy Crouch, & Shane Claiborne. A wide variety of evangelical voices and a great representation of the polyphony and variance under the umbrella of evangelicism. I remember, however, while reading, being both thankful and disheartened. Thankful that this research was done and that this book was written and pushed through a channel whereby it gets received by the largest possible needed audience. Disheartened that money and time was spent researching and writing to let us, evangelicals, those supposedly most concerned with and incarnate in the "outside, secular world," understand that we have a bad reputation and that reputation is built more on "our" hypocrisy, imperialism, prejudice, sheltered disconnect, & politics rather than "Christ and Him crucified."

Perhaps the most telling statistic was the results from a poll that revealed the disconnect between how the church's hospitality is received by pastors, regular born-again attenders, sporadic attenders, and the un-churched outsider:

Christian churches accept and love people unconditionally, regardless of how people look or what they do. (% who strongly agree)
pastors: 76%
born-again Christians: 47%
Christian churchgoers: 41%
outsiders (all ages): 20%
(pg185)

Blessed Are the Peacemakers- Wendell Berry

This short work pulls out key peacemaking passages (most prominently Matthew's Sermon on the Mount) dealing with living peaceably. Finally there is an essay, previously published in the Christian Century, titled, "The Burden of the Gospels," that seeks to synthesize these passages.

Here are a couple excerpts:
"When Jesus speaks of having life more abundantly, this, I think, is the life he means: a life that is not reducible by division, category or degree, but is one thing, heavenly and earthly, spiritual and material, divided only insofar as it is embodied in distinct creatures. He is talking about a finite world that is infinitely holy, a world of time that is filled with life that is eternal. His offer of more abundant life, then, is not an invitation to declare ourselves as certified "Christians," but rather to become conscious, consenting and responsible participants in the one great life, a fulfillment hardly institutional at all."

"If we take the Gospels seriously, we are left, in our dire predicament, facing an utterly humbling question: How must we live and work so as not to be estranged from God’s presence in his work and in all his creatures? The answer, we may say, is given in Jesus’ teaching about love. But that answer raises another question that plunges us into the abyss of our ignorance, which is both human and peculiarly modern: How are we to make of that love an economic practice?"

God Has a Dream- Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Like No Future Without Forgiveness only much, much lighter. Archbishop Tutu elaborates on the theology that roots his reconciliation efforts in South Africa over the past several decades. This theology enlists the African concept of Ubuntu, a shared humanity, the recognition of the image of God in the other. Endearing and self-deprecating at times, he begins each chapter, "Dear Child of God..." From then on you are engaged and edified by this wise, gentle, and incredibly experienced man. Catching a vision for "Hope in our Time," seems like a worthy pursuit, Tutu's contribution is helpful.

The Sacredness of Questioning Everything- David Dark

I really enjoyed this one. A pleasure: well-written, witty, and penultimately relevant for current popular Christian discourse. Something like a Christian Chuck Klosterman. This is kind of a grown-up Blue Like Jazz, the book that you might loan to someone only peripherally interested in God and spirituality, but culturally, academically aware. From his detailed exegesis of Arcade Fire songs, to his unswerving devotion to Steven Colbert's prophetic truthiness, Dark manages to produce a work both religiously and culturally discerning, and at times critical. Dark bridges the gulfs of his current Vanderbilt PhD pursuit (and talks the talk quite nicely) and his gig teaching English at a conservative Nashville Presbyterian high school. What you get is an account that asks the right questions, provides only some of the answers, lets you do the work and prayer to come up with the rest, and hails the process of loving the Lord with our heart, soul, mind, strength, and questions.

Portrait of Calvin- T.H.L. Parker

[available for free digital download at Desiring God.]
I read this biography to celebrate JC's (the less famous/divine one) 500th birthday this month. I also thought it might be nice to get someone else's than Steinmetz' account of Calvin, after all the good Doctor is an unabashed Luther man. The most striking and personal note struck came in the first few pages in regard to Calvin's choice of education. It seemed obvious for him to go to Paris to study Theology at what was considered the orthodox and best option. Instead he chose to study law elsewhere. "...the intricacies and niceties of the law was gained which he could never have won from the University of Paris. At Orleans and Bourges, the intellectual atmosphere was more free. New ideas were not bogies, but food for interesting speculation. The classics...now seemed most desirable- calling, not to danger, but to delights." This portion both particularly resonates with me and the path I've taken in my graduate studies, and strikes me with a certain sad irony that Calvin's delight came in the freedom and curiosity not as widely afforded in some modern institutions that hail his thought.

Related: SUMMER READING: PART I.

processing: Mark Noll- The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind

This historical survey's brilliance lies in its relevance for our present and future. We must understand where we've been to fully appreciate (/deprecate) where we are and to give us insight into what courses we chart. Noll's writing is both polemical against grievous mistakes the evangelical community has made and pastoral and hopeful of the recourse available. Here is an excerpt that gives insight into his conclusions and advice:

"If God devoted so much of himself to the created realm-in order to purchase the redemption of sinners- is it imaginable that sinners who enjoy the salvation won in that realm might seek more diligently to fathom the realities of that realm- in order to worship their Redeemer?

That possibility is more than just a play on words. Redemption, which evangelicals often consider a means for God to rescue us from this world, was carried out (and is being carried out) in this world.

That reality should not diminish the larger reality of heavenly or eternal existence. Neither should that reality lead to the mistake at the other end of the spectrum, where eagerness to understand the workings of the world becomes an end in itself. John Calvin pit it well when he said that “the human mind is…a perpetual forge of idols.” The solution to idolatry, however, is not to destroy all the material from which idols are made. The solution is to treat the material from which we construct idols appropriate to its reality. The wood and stone from which idols are made do not deserve to be worshiped; because God made them, however, they deserve to be studied as wood or stone.

Once again it is worth stating the central point. The life of the mind is not necessarily superior to any other legitimate human pursuit. But it is a legitimate human pursuit (242)."

processing: Summer Reading: Part I

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals- Michael Pollan
Michael Pollan writes a comprehensive account of 4 modes of eating. It is written smartly (sometimes snarkily so) and the quest-journalism side of me loves the humor and experiential vulnerability displayed. The 4 modes covered are: big box/industrial fast food, industrial organic, local, & hunter-gatherer. Highlights include his interview with Northern VA's Polyface celebrity Joel Salatin and his hunting/shrooming escapades in Northern California. It is interesting some of the conclusions reached here. There is not a free pass afforded to the Whole Foods lifestyle, nor is he regretfully idealistic about hunting wild boar and collecting sea salt and scallops in the Pacific. This book is a solid read, allowing you a philosophical, practical, economic, political, and culinary look at just what is going into your body and what it takes to get it there.


Same Kid of Different As Me- Ron Hall & Denver Moore
These two amateur authors combine for a decently constructed autobiographical narrative about reconciliation, God's providence amid both grinding poverty and rampant selfishness, and the ability of the Holy Spirit to form bonds and relationships that wouldn't be possibly through any other means. Ron is an international art dealer, rolling in cash, subjecting his marriage to the damage of infidelity and the hollowness of materialism. Denver is a former share-cropper (read: modern day slave) turned violent and psychotic homeless man. The two lives emerge through a long forming relationship at a shelter and like any good missions project, the "missionary" emerges changed and taught more than the "mission to be accomplished". If you can wade through some clumsy and often cheesy storytelling, this book is a helpful, touching, and at times heartbreaking tale.


A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I Am A...Christian- Brian McLaren
This one was one of those nagging reads that you feel you need to take a peak at, glean some really positive things, be displeased with some others, but generally come out the better for having powered through. I'll be honest, my first skepticism came from the repeated assurance that the Emergent Church (dunno if caps are needed) need not rely on personalities while McLaren's neutral post-modern mug peers at you from the cover. Then I remember not to judge a book by its cover but rather by its overly long and pretentious subtitle (that's fair don't you think?). There were several parts (in fact most of the book) that I really enjoyed, lined up well with, and feel confident in though. Brian's emphasis on balance, a health patristic appreciation and ecclesial unity and generosity rang loud and clear. I'll continue to keep an eye on McLaren, he seems to be on to something and deserves the hermeneutical generosity he demands.


Durham Tales: The Morris Street Maple, the Plastic Cow, the Durham Day That Was & More- Jim Wise
Only a town as self-conscious, wacky, and unique as Durham could have a history of such equal qualities. Wise attempts a folky and at times humorous incomplete history of our beloved stepchild of a city. By choosing diverse, minor, and utterly absurd episodes, he, like any good historian, demonstrates exactly why things are the way the are. Bright spots include the geographic beacon of the Morris St maple, the trainspotting recurring throughout the pages, minor characters ranging from the neighborhood mom to the sportsmanship-touting coach, and of course all of the standard players (Dukes, Watts, etc.) that clue us in what has made and continues to make the Bull City tick. If you don't live in or around Durham, do some work and find somehting like this for your town, it will further embed you in it and certainly increase your appreciation and/or sympathy for your surroundings.


The Memory of Old Jack- Wendell Berry
I would recommend one of Berry's Port William Township novels to anyone looking for beautiful prose describing menial happenings. By menial I mean there are no dramatic twists and turns, the characters are common folk in a small town, the novels are not sequels because there's not a plot to advance. Instead these memoirs (of the town more than the actual characters) display tragically, vividly, and carefully the depth of the membership. The Memory of Old Jack narrates the senile patriarch's past and present in heart-breaking terms detailing his doomed marriage, the devastation of a still born child, the awkward relations in a tenant labor system, and everything else that comes with growing old. Like his brilliant essays, Berry displays his passion and penchant for teaching and transmitting difficult topics and subjects in homey, endearing, and provocative terms. This particular book proved valuable to me in my start of field ed, while it describes rural KY, the dynamics parallel Roxboro, NC closely, and the care and respect given to the characters fosters likewise respect for the hardworking simple folk I encounter daily.

Becoming The Answer To Our Prayers- Shane Claiborne & Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
Shane & Jonathan have a precious gift for presenting practical teaching in a candid, comical, and subversive tone. Like their previous works/appearences, they use plenteous personal experiences and interactions to share the counterintuitive good news of Christ and the discipleship required of his followers. Having been over to Rutba and hearing both of these gentleman, you immediately understand a depth in their testamony beyond their words. Their words are secondary to their daily authenticity. If you have a chance, meet them. They are humble, funny and hospitable: as advertized. In this short volume, they tackle prayer: the Lord's Prayer & Jesus' Prayer for unity (Jn 17). Not unlike the exhortation in Jame's Epistle, they teach a seemless and inextricable bond between our prayers and the action resulting from our prayers (think less 'self-fulfilling prophesy' and more of an intergrated 'active spirituality'). The goal then is not to pray our way out of this world, but rather praying to become (and then actually becoming) a part of God's work for the redemption of the world. These prayers are subversive and dangerous prayers, but neccessary and powerful.

processing: Stanley Hauerwas & Jean Vanier- Living Gently in a Violent World

I read this book and really liked it, and think it is really important. The idea and message has really gotten legs around my school. Instead of me neglecting my schoolwork to write a review, I'll link to an NPR interview that aired today:

http://wunc.org/tsot/archive/sot0127bc09.mp3/view

processing: Rob Bell- Jesus Wants To Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile

(this post is indicative of Bell's writing style, take a look next time you're in Borders)

Bell, regardless of whether or not you agree with him on every detail or viewpoint, is a great provocateur in his sphere.

The general message and the interpretive tools he used are not all that cutting edge for academia and Christendom in general.

But they are

for us:

in the West,

in the 21st century,

as part of a potential empire (who doesn't in every circumstance consider itself an empire except for when it is beneficial or convenient).

And as conservative (yes, he is still rather conservative as far as academia goes) and a Zondervan author;

I applaud him. For his guts, soundness, creativity.
I also applaud Zondervan for publishing titles like his, Shane Claiborne's, and a few others that push the envelope for their target audience.

Professor Ben Witherington III says about Bell, "Rob has a considerable gift of being able to speak clearly and directly even about complex theological and ethical concepts, and he understands the need to tease the mind into active thought."

I recommend this book. It makes you think. It points out some things you may have never considered in Scripture, in our culture and abroad. Read discerningly and respond accordingly.