The Preaching Event – Finally Comes the Poet
I am reading a book right now entitled, Finally Comes the Poet, by
Walter Brueggemann. It’s not a new book. It was actually written in 1989, but
so far it has truly captured me. Brueggemann writes with such elegance and
fluidity that it seems like I can’t read enough of his stuff. The book is about the daring and
important work of preaching the word of God.
A couple of days ago while Robi and I were driving to
Seattle, I read a portion of the book to her out loud. It was a strong experience – I
literally was gushing as I read, being moved by the ideas. In the book he talks about the need for
the poetic in preaching. When he says poetic, however, he is actually referring
to the idea of being prophetic. He relates the poet to the idea of the prophet
in the Old Testament.
Life in the Spirit
I love this quote by Francis Chan. He writes, “I don’t want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit." Forgotten God
Review: Brian McLaren’s ‘A New Kind of Christianity’
Brian McLaren has grown tired of evangelicalism. In turn, many evangelicals are wearied with Brian. His most recent book, A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming
the Faith (HarperOne), must be understood as his latest iteration of a project of deconstructing the old and reconstructing a new kind of Christian faith. In it, he poses a question that this review will seek to answer. It is a question he asks of himself: "How did a mild-mannered guy like me get into so much trouble?" Or, as he asks one page later, "How did I get into this swirl of controversy?"