Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Join a group study of the book "A New Kind of Christian" by Brian McLaren. Buy the book now and plan to begin on February 1!
Hello All,
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to being a part of the group; this will be a great experience!! I was perusing the book yesterday, which I love to do with a new book, when I noticed that the introduction to the Introduction is at the end of the book (p.177); it's actually part of the Reader's Guide. Don't miss reading it before you begin the real introduction. :)
Jean S.
PS Was that completely confusing????
My dream for the church: I'm longing for a number of close, personal, supportive relationships through which we can overcome our own garbage and be Christ for the world. I feel that most church people know a lot of folks, but don't get into close, covenant relationships. I like how the book sets these up, because they don't take place inside the walls of a church building.
ReplyDeleteI grew up 'in the church' but have often felt like an outsider. I love God, but think the church is missing most of what it should be about. I feel restless, but hopeful!
Nope, I jumped right in and skipped that :) I do find that the comments on how hard it is to discuss such issues frankly interesting and truthful.
ReplyDeleteMy parents were not avid church-goers when I was a kid. When I graduated from college, I joined a local Lutheran church because I wanted to get involved in outreach and I liked the pastor. Thirteen years and two children later, that pastor is gone, and the outreach is more of the "spend your money, not your time" variety. I am still there, but mostly because my kids want to go.
ReplyDeleteI look at this amazing world and can't imagine that it developed by accident, but I do wonder sometimes if God is still listening. My son (like a growing number of children) has asthma, and while his is not as severe as some, it is hard enough that I can't imagine how parents of sicker kids deal. And it makes me look at people who suffer even worse than asthma -- women and children in Darfur, victims of cancer and other natural disasters -- and I wonder how God can see this and let it happen.
I am interested to learn more about the author's crisis of faith and to see how he got through it with his faith stronger than ever. I read the intro, and it was interesting enough that I started into the first chapter. We'll see how it goes!
Mandy and Mike: I'm glad we're not all veteran church-goers in our group. Our perspective gets a little skewed sometimes. I will warn you...this book doesn't really end, it continues into a trilogy. #2 is "The Story We Find OUrselves In" and #3 is "The Last Word and the Word after That". Each book focuses on a few different areas of faith and Christianity that are in flux and lets the characters struggle with them. I hope some of our other members will jump in and get this discussion going!
ReplyDeleteMandy, I understand exactly what you mean when you look at the world and wonder if God is still listening. I have struggled with this thought for many years (right, Sandy?). How can a loving, merciful, compassionate God continue to let this crazy world continue to exist? There is so much terrible pain and agony - and has been for all time, I know. I pray that God's kingdom will come soon, and a tiny voice inside me says that it is up to us here on earth to bring about the kingdom. And to me that is an overwhelming thought. Several years ago my stepdaughter said to me that she couldn't believe in a God who allowed terrible things to happen to the children in the world. And I had no answer for her. . .
ReplyDeleteI, too, read through the introduction and found is interesting, and I kept reading, so that now I am in Chapter 1.
Maybe this can, indeed, be a forum for us to grow together and to be able to discuss diffult issues.
Jean & Mandy-you've hit on the #1 question in this world...why God 'allows' suffering. (it's called theodicy)I think McLaren does a good job dealing with this as we get further into the book. Don't you think that the core of our faith comes down to what we believe about this topic? Is God directing everything every moment? Or has he set in motion a universe that takes certain turns because of laws of nature and acts of humanity?
ReplyDeleteCarla, see my comment on Pete's blog!
ReplyDeleteMy copy of the book does not seem to have the "inroduction to the introduction." I have not gotten very far in it but thought that the idea that dark depression/suicidal thoughts can be the result of mourning over a paradigm or world view that one has had to discard was very interesting.
ReplyDeleteTania-Sometimes I wonder if the church is in a period of dark depression overall...declining membership, lack of energy, etc. because we're stuck. We're convinced that something needs to change but aren't willing to mourn over the lost paradigm and embrace something new. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteI think that sounds right but it is easier to push off thinking about it or facing it directly.
ReplyDeleteOh, My faith history. Lets see. I didn't attend church until Tania got me to see Stan. Then we hopped on over to Ohio, and Pete and Carla. So, that makes me a recent Methodist... and a lifelong contrarian. A lot of people came across pretty hard with religious views in my childhood, and I learned to verbally hit back hard. It was not uncommon for people to spell out the reasons I was going to Hell as a kid, in public. I got tired of the spectacles. The bad side is I have trouble talking about religion without offending people, as my views are quite outside the norm.
ReplyDelete