The Rev. Dr. Chris Wright is the President of the Langham Partnership International, a position held previously by John Stott, and is an ordained Anglican minister. Raised by missionaries, Wright has held numerous mission related roles throughout the years including a professorship at Union Biblical Seminary in Pune, India, and a professorship at All Nations [...]
Archive for the 'Books' Category
The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative by Christopher J. H. Wright
Published by January 24th, 2008 in Bible, Books, Missiology, Social Issues, Spiritual Dynamics, Spiritual Practices, Theology and Western Christianity. 1 CommentiFeedReaders
New Testament and Mission: Historical and Hermeneutical Perspectives by Johannes Nissen
Published by October 25th, 2007 in Books, Missiology, Theology and Western Christianity. 2 CommentsiFeedReaders
INITIAL OBSERVATIONS
Johannes Nissen is Associate Professor of New Testament Exegesis at the Department of Biblical Studies, University of Aarhus, Denmark. Nissen’s areas of research emphasis and the majority of his publications focus on faith, ethics, the Bible, (the Bible and ethics, New Testament, research methods) and the Church (diaconal work, ecumenical work, liturgy, and [...]
Announcing the Kingdom: The Story of Gods Mission in the Bible by Arthur F. Glasser
Published by October 18th, 2007 in Bible, Books, Kingdom, Scripture and Theology. 1 CommentiFeedReaders
SUMMARY
Contending that “only if the church understands the full biblical revelation of God [from both Old and New Testaments] concerning the mission of God’s people, stimulated by confronting Scripture with today’s questions, will they be responsibly challenged to offer to God the devotion of heart, strength, time and resources essential to its completion,” the authors [...]
Helen Barrett Montgomery - The Bible and Missions
Published by October 2nd, 2007 in Bible, Books, Church, Faith and Politics, History, Leadership, Missiology, Politics and Theology. 1 CommentiFeedReaders
INTRODUCTION
Helen Barrett Montgomery may be on of the most influential Christians you have never heard of. Her groundbreaking text The Bible and Missions was required reading for one of my Fuller classes (review follows) but her life is more an inspiration than any of her individual writtings.
Montgomery (1861-1934) was a social reformer, [...]
Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard
Published by August 19th, 2007 in Books, Church, Kingdom, Spiritual Dynamics, Spiritual Practices, Theology and Western Christianity. 1 CommentiFeedReaders
SUMMARY OF INITIAL OBSERVATIONS
Dallas Willard is professor and former director of the School of Philosophy at the University of Southern California. Willard’s work in the field of philosophy has been mostly in phenomenology, exploring the work of Edmund Husserl. He also writes extensively about Christian spiritual formation. Influences in this work include John [...]
Jesus and Community: The Social Dimension of Christian Faith: by Gerhard Lohfink
Published by August 14th, 2007 in Books, Church, Global Christianity, Kingdom, Spiritual Dynamics, Spiritual Practices, Theology and Western Christianity. 4 CommentsiFeedReaders
SUMMARY OF INITIAL OBSERVATIONS
Reflecting on experiences of his childhood, German Catholic Theologian and Scholar Gerhard Lohfink once wrote: “I saw men and women who were forced to sew a yellow star of David on their garments; then one day I didn’t see them any more.” This memory would bring about a reconsideration of faith [...]
Book Review: The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity by Philip Jenkins
Published by August 9th, 2007 in Books, Global Christianity and Global Issues. 2 CommentsiFeedReaders
SUMMARY OF INITIAL OBSERVATIONS
Philip Jenkins is Distinguished Professor of History and Religious Studies at Pennsylvania State University. He has written over twenty books that deal with various topics in the fields of history, religion and criminal justice. Because of his meticulous research, he has been in demand as a speaker and expert on [...]
Book Review: A Community of Character: Toward a Constructive Christian Social Ethic by Stanley Hauerwas
Published by July 31st, 2007 in Books, Church, Faith and Politics, Philosophy, Social Issues, Spiritual Dynamics, Theology and Western Christianity. 5 CommentsiFeedReaders
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stanley Hauerwas is a renowned theologian, ethicist and professor. His educational background includes a Ph.D. from Yale and a D.D. from the University of Edinburg. He is the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke University. He was named “America’s Best Theologian” by Time Magazine in 2001. [...]
Book Review: LeadershipNext: Changing Leaders in a Changing Culture by Eddie Gibbs -Part 4
Published by July 31st, 2007 in Books, Church, Leadership and Western Christianity. 1 CommentiFeedReaders
What are some of the unique strengths and weaknesses of younger leaders?
As a relatively young leader in an emerging church context who desires to be more effective, I paid special attention to Gibbs assessment of characteristic strengths and weaknesses in younger church leaders. According to Gibbs, younger leaders have a distinct advantage over older [...]
Book Review: LeadershipNext: Changing Leaders in a Changing Culture by Eddie Gibbs -Part 3
Published by July 29th, 2007 in Books, Church, Leadership and Western Christianity. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
What cultural changes are occurring that require a change in our understanding of leadership?
Through my experiences as the pastor of an emerging church, I have felt that tremendous cultural change is rendering previous modes of leadership largely ineffective in many church contexts. I noted that Gibbs shares this view and I was interested to [...]
Book Review: LeadershipNext: Changing Leaders in a Changing Culture by Eddie Gibbs -Part 2
Published by July 27th, 2007 in Books, Church and Leadership. 1 CommentiFeedReaders
How does leadership need to be redefined if the church is to accomplish its’ mission?
Approaching this book, I was interested in how Gibbs rooted the need for a change in leadership traits, attitudes and styles to the success of the mission of the church. Beginning with generic descriptions of leadership, Gibbs quickly moves toward [...]
Book Review: LeadershipNext: Changing Leaders in a Changing Culture by Eddie Gibbs -Part 1
Published by July 25th, 2007 in Books, Church, Leadership and Western Christianity. 5 CommentsiFeedReaders
Rapid cultural change is occurring globally, especially in developed nations and cities where technological innovation is taking place. The church finds itself in the midst of this change, struggling to maintain any kind of influence and rapidly losing its connection to people ages thirty-five and younger. For church leaders to engage the emerging [...]
Cultivating Kindness in the Midst of Self-Sufficiency
Published by June 28th, 2007 in Books, Kingdom, Spiritual Dynamics, Spiritual Practices and Western Christianity. 4 CommentsiFeedReaders
“Christians are moved by the Spirit to reach out and help others because their own identity is intimately tied to the help they have received at God’s hand.” “…we regard people as kind because they go out of their way, often quietly and without fanfare, to engage in kind actions. Nitty-gritty, concrete, everyday kinds [...]
Cultivating Peace in the Midst of Fragmentation - Life on the Vine Pt. 4
Published by June 24th, 2007 in Books, Kingdom, Scripture, Spiritual Dynamics, Spiritual Practices and Western Christianity. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
The biblical definition of peace or “shalom” carries the connotation of wholeness or even salvation, including the state of well being, wholeness and harmony that infuses all of one’s relationships. It is a condition that is inherently social and not a mental serenity confined within ones psyche. This theme of peace—peace and wholeness [...]
Cultivating Joy in the Midst of Manufactured Desire - Life on the Vine Pt. 3
Published by June 22nd, 2007 in Books, Kingdom, Spiritual Dynamics, Spiritual Practices and Western Christianity. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
: Kenneson tries to illuminate the true nature of biblical joy by contrasting it with mere pleasure: “The more that we are drawn out of our selves, the more we likely characterize our delight as joy rather than simply pleasure.” The words used for joy in the New Testament “both imply the [...]
Life on the Vine Pt. 2 - Cultivating Love in the Midst of Market-Style Exchanges
Published by June 21st, 2007 in Books, Kingdom, Spiritual Dynamics, Spiritual Practices and Western Christianity. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
Kenneson uses the bulk of this book to offer a biblical exposition of each fruit of the Spirit, “followed by an explanation of some of the ways in which the dominant [North American] culture inhibits its cultivation.” He begins by discussing: Cultivating Love in the Midst of Market-Style Exchanges: “How do we cultivate [...]
Life on the Vine Pt. 1 - Why Focus on the Fruit of the Spirit?
Published by June 16th, 2007 in Books, Kingdom, Spiritual Dynamics and Spiritual Practices. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
Kenneson notes that disciples of Jesus Christ have a loyalty and allegiance that is first to Christ, which relativizes all other loyalties and allegiances. This discipleship requires a willingness to locate one’s story within the wider, more-encompassing narrative of God’s ongoing relationship with Israel and the church through Jesus Christ. Living primarily as [...]
Book Review: Life on the Vine, Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit in Christian Community
Published by June 12th, 2007 in Books, Spiritual Dynamics, Spiritual Practices and Western Christianity. 5 CommentsiFeedReaders
Of all of the books I’ve read in past two or three years, few have impacted me as much as this one. I look forward to generating some conversation here based on Phillip D. Kenneson’s work. Kenneson writes from “the conviction that the church in the United States is seriously ill.†His [...]
A Theology as big as the City - Part 3 - A Surprising Source of Urban Leaders
Published by June 8th, 2007 in Books, Kingdom and Leadership. 1 CommentiFeedReaders
Bakke reflects on the life of Moses and his emergence as the leader in God’s liberation of Israel from slavery.
“…the great Exodus movement began with poor urban women who broke the law by having illegal babies. The law, genocidal and totally unjust, made this a case of civil disobedience. Moses mother [...]
Book Review: Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach: The Power of Dialogue in Educating Adults by Jane Vella
Published by May 1st, 2007 in Books. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
Jane Vella writes from the assumption that adult learning is best achieved in dialogue. Breaking down the Greek roots of the word, she points out that “dia”+ “logos” most literally means: “the word between us.” Dialogue education functions around the core idea that adults posses a breadth of life experience and that they [...]
Book Review: Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders
Published by April 19th, 2007 in Books, Leadership, Prayer, Spiritual Dynamics and Western Christianity. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
As a part of my academic journey with Fuller Seminary, I will be doing a lot of additional reading. Since I need to review each of these books anyway, I thought I would post my reviews here for the benefit of readers who are interested in my synopsis of these resources. This weeks [...]
Not for Sale - David Batstone
Published by March 16th, 2007 in Books, Faith and Politics, Global Christianity, Global Issues, Immigration, Justice, Politics, Poverty, Social Issues and Western Christianity. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
I just finished Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade–and How We Can Fight It by David Batstone. Batstone (a graduate of Westmont College here in Santa Barbara) does a tremendous job of storytelling through the issue of modern day slavery. Thoroughly researched and compellingly written, Not for Sale exposes [...]
Can Emerging Churches survive the “Wish Dream” Phase?
Published by March 2nd, 2007 in Books, Global Christianity, Spiritual Dynamics and Western Christianity. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
I recently read for the second time Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together, the Classic Exploration of Faith in Community. Bonhoeffer writes:
“Innumerable times a whole Christian community has broken down because it had sprung from a wish dream. The serious Christian, set down for the first time in a Christian community, is likely to [...]
“The Rest of Your Life” by Mary Andrews Dalbey Ph.D
Published by January 9th, 2007 in Books, Philosophy, Spiritual Dynamics, Spiritual Practices and Western Christianity. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
Today I had the privilege of reading, and writting a brief review for “The Rest of Your Life” by Mary Andrews-Dalbey Ph.D which is set to be released later this month by CarePoint . Here it is:
“The Rest of Your Life” by Mary Andrews-Dalbey Ph. D. is a powerful ray of light piercing the [...]
Brian McClaren on the Da Vinci Code
Published by May 9th, 2006 in Books, Movies, Pop Culture and Western Christianity. 3 CommentsiFeedReaders
Found this article courtesy of Jack “the drinker” @ Black Coffee Reflections (thanks!) As usual, McClaren has done a pretty good job articulating and giving words to some of the dis-ease I have been feeling and questions I have had (This time as it relates to certain knee jerk responsed to this book and upcoming [...]
Newbigin on Conversion
Published by April 27th, 2006 in Books, Global Christianity and Philosophy. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
I cannot doubt that the call to conversion is essential to any authentic understanding of the gospel. The ministry of Jesus began with such a call: “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” The crucial question concerns the content of conversion. The widespread misunderstanding of the word is illustrated in [...]
Responsibility vs. the teaching and example of Jesus
Published by March 30th, 2006 in Books, Kingdom and Philosophy. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
“Virtually every Christian public ethic justifying behavior that runs counter to the example and teaching of Jesus does it on the grounds of responsibility. In many cases, the critics admit that following Jesus would mean something quite different from what they are proposing. But Jesus’ example is deemed irrelevant or irresponsible.
If an action [...]
Worship as a Political Act
Published by February 11th, 2006 in Books, Kingdom and Worship. 7 CommentsiFeedReaders
“Even the word “church” has a political connotation. While the Greek word for “church,” ekklesia, can mean any assembly, it often refers to an assembly gathered for decision making, a town meeting. Thus the church is that gathering of the reign of God assembled to be a sign of that reign, to proclaim [...]
This film has sparked a lot of great discussion the blogworld. Following are a few blogs I regularly read that take up the issue, from its apparent prostitition as “evangelstic tool” to it value as a discusion starter, to the fact that, bottom line, it is a fabulous story from a beautiful series of [...]
Guder et. al, on post enlightenment notions of truth
Published by December 13th, 2005 in Books, Philosophy, Postmodernity and Western Christianity. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
It has become increasingly evident that no one stand outside a particular point of view when it comes to discovering truth. Claims of objectivity and appeal to factuality are now qualified by context, whether in regard to the chemist working in a laboratory or the biblical scholar working in a library of ancient texts. [...]
Missional Church - A vision for the sending of the Church in North America
Published by December 9th, 2005 in Books, Philosophy, Postmodernity and Western Christianity. 3 CommentsiFeedReaders
There will be a few posts in the next week or so on this blog that will be spurred by ideas in this book which I am about halfway through. There a severall thing I really like about this book, not the least of which is the fact that it was loaned to me [...]
Guder et. al, on Enlightement Rationality and Reason
Published by December 9th, 2005 in Books, Philosophy, Postmodernity, Uncategorized and Western Christianity. 0 CommentsiFeedReaders
Enlightenment thinking propelled a move away from the notion of truth as embedded within a tradition or revelation to a notion of truth as discovered through the use of rational method. This represented a foundational watershed in human thought. This shift of perspective within emergent modernity focused attention on the matter of epistemology– [...]
Excerpts from a Book Review: A Primer on Postmodernism by Stanley Grenz, reviewed by Robb J. Hattem
Published by December 1st, 2005 in Books, Philosophy, Postmodernity and Western Christianity. 1 CommentiFeedReaders
I hear the word “postmodern” or “postmodernism” thrown around great deal in various blog spaces and faith dialogues that I am involved in or connected to. And the more I spend time in these conversations the more I am reminded of a great scene in the movie The Princess Bride. Throughout the film, [...]
Richard Foster on Meditation
Published by November 27th, 2005 in Books, Kingdom and Spiritual Practices. 2 CommentsiFeedReaders
Recently Colleen let me borrow her copy of Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. Following are a few excepts on the subject of meditation.
In the fullness of time Jesus came and taught the reality of the Kingdom of God and demonstratedd what life could be like in that kingdom. He established a living [...]
Blogging Through: A Theology as big as the City - Intro
Published by December 31st, 1969 in Books, Global Christianity, Social Issues, Spiritual Dynamics and Spiritual Practices. 3 CommentsiFeedReaders
From the Introduction:
Environments are never neutral. The city has been the context where my theology and ministry have been shaped. So, of necessity, descriptions of urban realities will weave their way throughout this text. But my central goal is to describe my personal quest to find a theology “as big as [...]
A blog about present and future church, contemporary culture, intercultural dynamics, and the implications of Jesus' Gospel of the Kingdom in today's context. 
Recent Comments:
PlanosLie, PlanosLie, billy, Ryan, Cole Davis [...]
Sam Andress, Julie Bradshaw, billy, George P. Wood
Amy Downey, nicholas armitage
billy, nate, billy, George P. Wood
Joseph Carnes
billy, Dave K
billy, Josiah Trandahl, Andy Sudhoff, Barret, LeRon [...]
Susan