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Search...“What was the original Gospel?"
Comments Last May, I posed a simple question to readers on the blog: “What is the gospel?” More than forty of you responded, each with a slightly different answer. As a follow-up, I posed the same question to some of my favorite bloggers and writers—Jonathan Wilson Hartgrove, Jennifer Fulwiler, John Armstrong, Julie Clawson, Matthew Paul Turner, Mary DeMuth, Ben Arment, Adele Sakler, Eugene Cho, Kathy Escobar, and Renee Altson. Not surprisingly, each one of them respond... read moreChrist Has No Body...
Comments Photo by Amy Conner, World Vision On the highest hill in Cochabamba stands the Cristo de la Concordia, the second-largest statue of Jesus in the world. At 112-feet tall, this steel and concrete “Christ of Peace” towers over the city with arms outstretched, tiny windows dotting his hollow body so that tourist inside can peer out into the world. On our last day in Bolivia, we took the narrow, winding road up Sand Pedro Hill to see the statue. (Believe me, Elizabeth Esther... read moreWhen grace is just a doctrine
Comments photo © 2009 Slawek Puklo | more info (via: Wylio) Grace is my middle name. Literally. I was born Rachel Grace Held—named after my great-grandmother, Grace Burleson, who taught school in rural Appalachia during the Depression and who, when I was young and she was old, used to pull me onto her lap to tell me stories about the ghost that lived in the hen house at the old farm. Grace is a good name, a gentle name, one I’d like to pass down to my own daughter someday... read moreHow to follow Jesus…without being Shane Claiborne
Comments So I’ve recently discovered that my Christian faith tends to fall into a sad and predictable cycle, complete with five phases: Phase 1: My commitment to Jesus is primarily an intellectual one. He is an idea I believe in, not a person I follow. Phase 2: I read through the Gospels again and realize that Jesus doesn’t want me to simply like him; he wants me to follow him. Phase 3: I buy the latest Shane Claiborne book, read it in two days, and resolve that following Jesu... read moreJesus, God in Sandals
Comments It’s Tuesday! Today’s excerpt from Evolving in Monkey Town comes from Chapter 8, entitled “Jesus, God in Sandals.” The most startling thing I noticed as I grew more acquainted with the Gospels was that Jesus had a very different view of faith than the one to which I was accustomed. I’m not sure when it happened, but sometime in my late teens or early twenties, it was as if Jesus packed his bags and moved from my heart into my head. He became an idea, a sort... read moreJesus, The Impossible Mentor
Comments photo © 2006 midiman | more info (via: Wylio) Today’s guest post comes from Ray Hollenbach, a longtime participant in our online community and great supporter and friend. Ray is on staff at a Vineyard church in Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Kim, and the last of their three children. After twenty years in the business world and a dozen more as a pastor, he’s convinced that both the church and the marketplace need more Jesus and less religion. He blogs at Studen... read moreRachel, the Very Worst Pacifist
Comments photo © 2008 Deana | more info (via: Wylio) The title of today’s post is inspired by my friend Jamie, the Very Worst Missionary, who I’m pretty sure is not actually the very worst missionary since that title should belong to the friar who threw a Bible at King Atahaullpa back in 1532 and then gave the conquistadors permission to slaughter the Incan people because their king didn’t know how to read it. I’m against that sort of thing because I’m a... read moreWhy Glenn Beck Isn't A Big Deal
Comments “Go and be evangelists for America.” – Glenn Beck “I preach Christ crucified.” – Saint Paul There were hymns. There were shouts of “amen”. There was a preacher. There was a congregation. But the object of worship on August 28 was not the God of the universe who is actively involved in restoring all things to Himself…and it certainly wasn’t Jesus Christ. The object of worship at the Restore America rally wa... read moreBlessed are the Peacemakers: Messages of Goodwill on 9-11
Comments Today marks the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 2001, and I’m beginning to suspect that it’s the most significant September 11 since the towers fell on that horrible day. It is significant because this year the national dialog has turned to the question of how we should respond to our Muslim neighbors in light of those attacks, and I believe that the ways in which we answer that question will determine whether we allow September 11 to turn us into people of hate ... read moreDoubt, Family, and Friends: Part 2
Comments How have your friends and family responded to your book? I’ve been asked that question more than any other since the release of Evolving in Monkey Town, and it’s a question I often receive from readers like Dave who are struggling to share their doubts and ideas with the people they love. First let me say that my immediate family—Mom, Dad, Amanda, and Dan—have been incredibly supportive throughout this whole process. Even when they disagree with me on the details,... read moreWhat is the gospel?
Comments I swear I'm not just looking for a quick, easy post. I’ve just been fascinated recently by the variety of responses I’ve encountered regarding this simple, yet profoundly important question. So I thought I'd pose it to you: What is the good news? Or, as we used to ask in the newsroom: What's the headline? (Photo by Zarko Drincic)... read moreHow perfectionism kills community
Comments At The Mission we’ve been talking a lot about community—about how profoundly we long for it, about how seductively our culture lures us away from it, and about how challenging it is to really restore and foster it. Never before have I been so convicted and inspired to live my life alongside other people. And never before have I been so frustrated by the excuses I find not to. Being a part of a church plant has forced me to confront a vicious cycle in my life, a cycl... read moreThe Sign
Comments The Sign You will find Him wrapped in swaddling clothesWrapped in fleshWrapped in bloodWrapped in boneWrapped in the calloused hands of a carpenter’s sonWrapped in scandalWrapped in genocideWrapped in povertyYou will find HimYou will find Him lying in a mangerLying in stenchLying in sweatLying in forgotten places Lying in a disheveled heap on the street cornerLying in newspapersLying in garbageLying in urineYou will find HimYou will find HimWrapped in swollen belliesAching for ... read moreStill Waiting
Comments “O come, Thou Day-SpringCome and cheerOur spirits by Thine advent hereDisperse the gloomy clouds of nightAnd death's dark shadows put to flightRejoice, rejoice, EmmanuelShall come to thee, o Israel” I never really understood the significance of Advent as a season of waiting until this year, as Dan and I have mourned alongside a dear friend recently devastated by the betrayal of someone close. For three weeks now, we have been waiting—waiting for word, waiting for an explanat... read moreShould Christians apologize?
Comments As you may have heard, Shane Claiborne wrote a letter to non-believers for Esquire this week. He opens the letter with an apology, saying, “I am sorry that so often the biggest obstacle to God has been Christians. Christians who have had so much to say with our mouths and so little to show with our lives. I am sorry that so often we have forgotten the Christ of our Christianity. Forgive us. Forgive us for the embarrassing things we have done in the name of God.” Claibrone’s h... read moreThe Sanctity of Free
Comments When was the last time you received something of value for free? For me, the first items that come to mind are all the free books I get in the mail for possible review on the blog. I’m also thinking of the little stack of gift cards accumulating on our kitchen table and those awesome return address labels I get from World Vision every year. Now, think again. When was the last time you received something of value for free…with no strings attached, no expectation for recipro... read moreHow to Give Up on Changing the World
Comments It happens when you peer down a winding, third-world alley to see skeletal children bathing in buckets and widows begging for food. It happens when you receive yet another letter from your favorite charity, with the word EMERGENCY stamped in red across the front. It happens when you turn on the TV to see tanks rolling, cars exploding, and effigies burning. It happens when your insides grind at the site of a needy friend or a supposed enemy. It happens when all the sin and pain inside o... read moreIs the gospel relative?
Comments As you may know, one of the most talked-about debates between the traditional church and the emerging church has to do with the gospel. Traditionalists claim that emergers have reduced the gospel to social justice to the neglect of atonement soteriology and personal salvation, while emergers claim that traditionalists have reduced the gospel to personal fire insurance to the neglect of Jesus’ teachings regarding the Kingdom of God. It’s a topic that Jim Belcher recently explored in ... read moreA New Kind of Fundamentalist, Part 2 - Confession of Faith
Comments Today I’d like to continue our conversation about “a new kind of fundamentalism,” as together we seek to not only deconstruct but also reconstruct our perspectives on Christian faith. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel like I spend more time talking about what my faith is not than I spend talking about what my faith is! For me, trying to identify and focus in on what is truly fundamental to following Jesus represents a first step in the rebuilding process ... read moreThe Difference Between Being Nice and Being a Servant
Comments Let me begin by saying that I come from the South, where you can get away with an hour’s worth of gossip looking like a saint, so long as you add “bless her heart” to the end of each insult to soften the blow (eg: “She’s completely out of her mind, bless her heart”). Niceness is a way of life down here. It’s a part of the culture in the same way that football, grits, guns, humidity, and religion are a part of the culture. I don’t mind... read moreWhat makes someone a REAL Christian?
Comments Last week, I wrote a post about the personal conflict I often feel when asked to support a mission effort directed toward European Catholics. It was humbling and eye-opening to hear from a friend who has a real heart for European missions and who hopes to serve full-time in Germany. (Here’s a link to the “Why Europe?” page on Greater Europe Mission’s Web site.) As she and others pointed out, there are a lot of Catholics who are Christian in name only—Catholics w... read moreThe Gospel (in 10 words) + Gay Conversion
Comments Two stories caught my eye this week…both of which are bound to generate some comments The Gospel (in 10 words) The first is from a blog called Fallen and Flawed, where twelve bloggers were asked to summarize the gospel in ten words or less. I thought it was interesting to see how many of the summaries focused exclusively on Christ’s death, without mention of his resurrection or future return. Hmmm… Of course, a ten-word limit presents quite a challenge, especially co... read moreWho are your enemies? How do you love them?
Comments When I was in fourth grade, I had a nemesis. Let’s call her Samantha. Samantha was popular, pretty, rich, and bossy. Her golden locks were always pulled into a bouncy ponytail on the side of her head and topped with an elaborate bow. She wore name-brand clothes, used name-brand school supplies, and came from a name-brand family. As the teacher’s pet, Samantha would put in a good word for the classmates she liked while tattling on the classmates she didn’t like. She didn&rsqu... read moreAre the teachings of Jesus too radical for public policy?
Comments Our recent discussion about torture brought to mind some tough questions I’ve been asking myself recently. Chief among them are these— 1) To what extent can we apply the teachings of Jesus to an earthly kingdom? 2) Are the teachings of Jesus too radical to take literally? I started thinking seriously about this after a discussion with a friend of mine about the Christian response to poverty. In the conversation, I suggested that care for the poor should be provided regardless... read moreShowing 1 - 25 of 30 Articles | Page 1 of 2
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