After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters by N.T. Wright

After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters by N.T. Wright

If you want to write a Christian best-seller these days, there are a few tried-and-true methods. One is to write Christian self-help; how to have your "best life now." Another is to write taking an extreme position on some theological matter or another, like how we need to change or die, or why we need to retrench in our received traditions or die. But what if the things that pique our ears are drowning out other, subtler - but absolutely crucial - themes in Christian spirituality, themes long-lost and long-overdue for recovery? This is the conviction of New Testament scholar, gentle provocateur, and Anglican bishop of Durham, England N.T. Wright. Following up on his widely-acclaimed Simply Christian and Surprised by Hope, Wright poses a simple question: What is our purpose? If that question sounds familiar (see the above discussion about Christian bestsellers), Wright's answer is decidedly unfamiliar in today's spiritual and intellectual climate: Christ-like virtue in the here and now. And if that answer sounds boring, well, you haven't heard it coming from Bishop Tom's pen. Wright dispels the common misconception that Christian living is nothing more than a checklist of dos and don'ts. Nor is it a prescription to "follow your heart" wherever it may lead. Instead, After You Believe reveals the Bible's call for a revolution—a transformation of character that takes us beyond our earthly pursuit of money, sex, and power into a virtuous state of living that allows us to reflect God and live more worshipful, fulfilling lives. In so doing, the question of what we're doing in this ambiguous time between baptism and funeral becomes much less staid and much more invigorating, as we discover the essence of Kingdom living here and now. [hide] :: Special Viral Blogger Section :: I'm so sorry, we're requested-out of this title! (You can, of course, always purchase it at your local bookseller or here [1].) But! We have two awesome [2] (and somewhat opposing) books on The Gospel [3] available for review; 'The Gospel You've Never Heard' is particularly Wright-ian. Feel free to select BOTH of these, actually, as I'd love to hear your point/counterpoint reviews on this all-important subject. ------- Requesting After You Believe Due to the high expected demand for reviewing this title, we have an additional request made for anyone who would like After You Believe: Could you have it reviewed within 10-14 days of receiving it? It’s an engaging read, and once you begin it’s doubtful you’ll want to put it down. We’re not asking you to relax your usual standards of writing and podcasting integrity; you can love the book, loathe it, or anything in between. But the publisher has requested that we get our initial reviews into the blogosphere coinciding with the book release date, and we’d like to honor this request. You’ll be among the first readers on the continent to receive a copy of this book, weeks before the release date. Link-love for your review: N.T. Wright doesn't maintain a personal web page, but a comprehensive one is maintained for him here: http://www.ntwrightpage.com/ [4] Browse inside: http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780061730559/After_You_Believe/index.aspx [5] Interview Availability: N.T. Wright is available for a limited amount of interviews with bloggers and podcasters. If you’d like to be considered for a review, email me at zoecarnate@theooze.com [6] and I’ll connect you with his publicist. [/hide] [1] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061730556?ie=UTF8&tag=zoecarnatecom-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0061730556 [2] http://viralbloggers.com/tag/gospel/ [3] http://viralbloggers.com/tag/gospel/ [4] http://www.ntwrightpage.com/ [5] http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780061730559/After_You_Believe/index.aspx [6] http://viralbloggers.commailto:zoecarnate@theooze.com

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Live Sent by Jason Dukes

Live Sent by Jason Dukes

What if being ‘missional’ shifted from being about creating a worship gathering to living a well-crafted life? What if being ‘missional’ shifted from a conversion mentality to a contributor mindset? What is the crucial difference between ‘discipleship’ as program and ‘discipling’ as life? All of this and more is explored in Live Sent: You Are A Letter by Jason Dukes. Jason sees the good news of Jesus working in a context of radical interdependence. Here’s how he puts it in his own words: “What’s my part in this epic called humanity?’ The people whom you encounter every day actually need you. They need you, and you need them. We all need each other – to know each other. Our lives both compliment and supplement each other. That’s how humanity works – together.” You are a letter, his premise continues. Your everyday life is more than just a story being written. You were created to receive and send a message intentionally into the lives of the people you do life with daily. That's how love is demonstrated and how relationships happen and how people find abundant life as they were intended to find it. We live out our intended purpose and mission when we live beyond ourselves. Are you giving yourself away in the daily, being to other people the letter of God's love that has been written on your heart? We must be that letter together. Our community needs us. Our world needs us. Let's live sent. “If people think that missional is simply growing a worship gathering instead of releasing people into everyday life, they are misunderstanding missional. Missional is all about “living sent.” Jason Dukes is communicating a message that is vital for people to truly understand the mission for which they were created. I will recommend this book in my spheres of influence.” – Ed Stetzer If this approach to missional living is something that resonates with you, be sure to check out this brief but fresh read. [hide] [1] :: Special Viral Blogger Section :: About Jason Jason C Dukes and his wife, Jen, live in Florida with their four young children. He is a follower and a leader, a learner and a teacher, a writer and a dreamer, a pastor and an entrepreneur, and someone who tries to live sent daily. He hopes you will too. Link-love for your review: There’s a lot of link-love for Jason – he’s wired! Book Blog [2] Personal Blog [3] Jason Dukes interview on the Something Beautiful Podcast [4] Twitter: @jasoncdukes [5] Live Sent on Twubs [6] Humanity Beautiful [7] Westpoint Fellowship [8] Reproducing Churches [9] House Blend Café [10] Jason speaking at the LIVE SENT 2009 Conversation [11] Live Sent YouTube channel [12] Interview Availability: Jason is available for blog and podcast interviews. You will receive his contact information if you select Live Sent to review this month. [/hide] [1] http://viralbloggers.wufoo.com/forms/live-sent/ [2] http://livesent.com [3] http://jasoncdukes.wordpress.com [4] http://somethingbeautifulpodcast.com/podcast/jason-c-dukes-2-36 [5] http://www.twitter.com/jasoncdukes [6] http://twubs.com/livesent [7] http://HumanityBeautiful.com [8] http://westpointchurch.org [9] http://reproducingchurches.com [10] http://houseblendcafe.com [11] http://livingsent.blogspot.com/2009/09/live-sent-conversation-2009.html [12] http://www.youtube.com/LiveSent

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The Justice Project – Edited by Brian McLaren, Elisa Padilla, & Ashley Bunting Seeber

The Justice Project – Edited by Brian McLaren, Elisa Padilla, & Ashley Bunting Seeber

“Justice.” The word thrills, or it terrifies, or it bores. Justice is variously something we’re longing for, something we’re trying to evade, or something we feel vaguely guilty about because – in a post-ONE Campaign world – it’s something we’re supposed to be passionate about. Whither justice? This question is vitally enmeshed in early 21st century life, whether we’re approaching it politically, spiritually, philosophically, or pop culturally. Clothing lines that promise easy-purchasing justice, theological interpretations of the Gospel that say ‘Thank God we don’t get justice,’ and a litigious culture that demands justice for coffee that’s too hot – it’s a hot-button topic, for sure. The contributors to this new anthology The Justice Project from Baker Books [1] feel our pain. And they contend that the world has never been in greater of need of Jesus-followers who "do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God." The Justice League: This collection of essays contains more than thirty brief chapters by some of the most penetrating thinkers in the contemporary Christian ‘justice conversation,’ including voices from evangelical, mainline, and emerging contexts: Rene Padilla Peggy Campolo Will and Lisa Samson Sylvia Keesmaat Bart Campolo Lynne Hybels Tony Jones Richard Twiss many others The essays are fresh, and take nothing for granted. You can read ‘em in order or peruse at will. The Justice Project is eating through my jaded-ness to inspire me to live a beautiful life of justice-making unto God’s new creation. Endorsements "Put together by exemplary leaders, this will be a handbook for any who are committed to working for biblically based social justice. It's comprehensive and brilliantly well written." – Tony Campolo "Absolutely dazzling. Here is a choir for social justice that makes the prophets smile. The editors have conducted a symphony of voices, harmonizing without homogenizing. You may find some voices here a little high pitched or unfamiliar, but together they are magical. These authors are not just the 'usual suspects' of the religious left, but signs of a movement that is coloring outside the lines of partisan politics and stale debates in a post-religious right world. They insist that our faith must be as daring and sassy, as gentle and fascinating, as our lover, Jesus." – Shane Claiborne [hide] This Title Has Been Closed for Review :: Special Viral Blogger Section :: Link-love for your review: Brian McLaren explains his heart [2] behind being the editor – and how his proceeds will be used. Give your readers/listeners a meaty 25-page PDF excerpt [3]. Even the book’s potential theological critics are turning a hopeful eye [4]. Interview Availability: The contributors are available for blog and podcast interview. You will receive a contact email address to reach the contributors via email if you select The Justice Project this month. [/hide] [1] http://www.bakerbooks.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=0477683E4046471488BD7BAC8DCFB004&nm=&type=PubCom&mod=PubComProductCatalog&mid=BF1316AF9E334B7BA1C33CB61CF48A4E&AudId=2CE59DBC134644E48BA21637B1D727C3&tier=26&id=B4D309FFCB8D411C8CAB809B36E4DAAA [2] http://www.brianmclaren.net/archives/books/brians-books/the-justice-project.html [3] http://www.bakerbooks.com/Media/MediaManager/Excerpt_9780801013287.pdf [4] http://witheredgrass.wordpress.com/2009/08/21/the-justice-project-a-look-at-doing-justice

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A Lover’s Quarrel with the Evangelical Church by Warren Cole Smith

A Lover’s Quarrel with the Evangelical Church by Warren Cole Smith

Since World War II, evangelicals have emerged, seemingly from nowhere, as a potent political force and the focus of rapidly expanding retail markets. Megachurches and parachurch organizations like Focus on the Family attract both wealth and publicity, allowing them to reach more people than ever before. But something troubling has happened in spite of this expansion. Overall church attendance is not growing. Political clout has not yielded spiritual renewal. America's high divorce rate is just one of many melancholy cultural indicators that bigger is not necessarily better. Evangelicalism aims to cure these ills. What if, instead, it is actually preying on the body, like a cancerous tumor growing unchecked? In his new book, A Lover's Quarrel with the Evangelical Church, awarding-winning journalist Warren Cole Smith offers an insightful and deeply personal critique of the evangelical movement from the perspective of a long-time evangelical insider.  Using solid research and original interviews with some of America's leading Christian thinkers, Smith offers an assessment of what has gone wrong as evangelicalism has grown in power and size and what must be done if the church is to be salt and light in a culture starved for redemption. “American evangelicalism, for all the good it has done, is in need of a modern reformation,” Smith states.  “There is something toxic in the soil of the evangelical garden, and the poison has been building up over time, tainting everything.  It is evident in our quick condemnation of homosexuality or alcohol or gambling, but our indulgence of greed and envy in the form of careerism.  It’s there in the hypocrisy of religious-right political leaders quick (and right) to condemn big government and its corrupting power, but who think that the big ministries and megachurches they have created are somehow immune to the same corrupting power.” A Lover’s Quarrel with the Evangelical Church reveals the lesser-reported events that have shaped every aspect of modern evangelicalism, starting with the Second Great Awakening (hint: it wasn’t so great).  As only a great journalist can, Smith delivers some startling facts and raises serious questions about many of the practices and institutions that define modern evangelicalism including: · The evangelical myth—is the church really growing? · Body-count evangelism—makes for impressive stats, but at what cost? · The Christian Industrial complex—examining a Christian retail industry that generates billions · The Overhead Church—multimedia presentations a must, no hymnals or bibles necessary Smith wrote the book not as one who is on the outside looking in, but as one who has chosen to remain on the inside for forty years.  As he describes the flawed approach of many of modern evangelicalism’s best-known leaders and organizations, Smith is quick to point out the many problematic activities in which he has actively participated.  He longs to see a church that embraces her ancestry, values spiritual depth over bragging rights, and is shaped more by the words of Scripture than by the whims of youth culture. In the end, Smith’s intention is not simply to lob accusations but to restore health to the body of Christ.  “I call it a ‘lover’s quarrel’ because I believe it is important to speak the truth with love, as Scripture commands, but also to speak it as two lovers would,” Smith says.  “In a marriage, two become one.  When a husband cuts his wife, he injures himself.  So it is with the church.  We are all members of the body of Christ.  When one hurts, we all hurt.  Therefore, it is not the goal of this book to destroy, but to encourage, sharpen, and build.” [hide] This Title Has Been Closed for Review :: Special Viral Blogger Section :: Link-love for your review: http://loversquarrel.net [1] – the official site for Warren and the book. Nice & clean. Interview Availability: Warren is available for blog and podcast interviews. You’ll get his email address if you select A Lover’s Quarrel with the Evangelical Church for your monthly review. Your Commitment: Remember, your commitment is to write a blog post (minimum 50 words) about A Lover’s Quarrel with the Evangelical Church within 30 days of getting it. Please cut & paste your post underneath this entry. Thank you! [hide] [1] http://loversquarrel.net/

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