A friend of mine recently pointed out this book: Faith Without Illusions: Following Jesus as a Cynic-Saint by Andrew Byers (Downers Grove: IVP, 2011). As you can probably tell from the quotes I post here on the blog, I'm a cynic to some extent, especially when it comes to the topic of the worldliness so …
They Like Jesus (But Not the Church)
This is an interesting book. Dan Kimball, pastor of Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, California has spent a lot of time talking to younger people about religion and Jesus; the book They Like Jesus is the outcome of those discussions. This in and of itself makes for fascinating reading. Of course most of the …
Five Perspectives on Emerging Churches
This is a good book which serves a good purpose: getting a general look at the beliefs and practices of emerging churches. "Emerging churches" is a broad term, of course, which includes Emergent Villiage to (sort of) the Acts29 network. I appreciated editor Robert Webber's intro and conclusion, which had to do with church, history, and cultural interaction. He put …
The Emergent Manifesto (A Quick Review)
I finally finished this: An Emergent Manifesto of Hope (ed. by Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones). As you may know from earlier posts, I'm about as Emergent as a dead stick. At the same time, the "movement" fascinates me, and is something I as a pastor want to know something about. Also, to be sure, the …
Evangelism: Targets of Marketing
I'm about as Emergent as a dead caterpillar in a sun-dried cocoon, but I appreciated this little bit from Heather Kirk-Davidoff in her contribution to An Emergent Manifesto of Hope (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007). It has to do with the "old school" way of evangelism. "Even if your theology is great, even if your church …
The Reformed Reader Blog 