music …
Jesse S just passed on this video from Michael Franti and Spearhead ...
... which has obvious resonances to this video based on EMC ...
... which comes from a collection of original music you can download here ...
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Michael Jackson’s most important song?
OK, it's not "Thriller," "Billy Jean," or "Ben," but just maybe "Earth Song" contains the message from MJ that matters most (thanks, Mitch) ...
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Q & R: Why do Evangelicals dislike you?
Here's the question:
Hi Brian,
I was at a conference the other week, and my attention was grabbed when they mentioned your name with some negative connotations. I was wondering if you are able to articulate why you think the evangelical church has a problem with what you're doing? Is is a particular doctrine ... I'm just not understanding their position, and they didn't go into too much detail.
Response after the jump:
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Yellowstone …
Last week was a delight ... I was part of the Ich-theology gathering (a small group of folks who love theology and love fly fishing) in Yellowstone National Park. Highlights included ...
A close and funny encounter with a black bear (more details may follow if photos become available) and the chance to enjoy other wildlife (bison, elk, bighorn sheep, mountain goat, antelope, coyote, otters, beavers, eagles, etc.).
Lots of beautiful cutthroat trout ... plus the perhaps once-in-a-lifetime achievement of catching four kinds of trout in one half-day - cutthroat, rainbow, brown, and brook.
Learning more about fly fishing from the many experts in our group - especially Dick, Rich, Jeff, Jim, and Pat
Too many good conversations about theology and the spiritual life to count.
A suggestion ... if you've never been to Yellowstone, plan a vacation there. Spend at least four or five days, and spend most of your time in the north half of the park. Roosevelt or Mammoth Hot Springs would be great places to stay in a cabin. Hike. Fish. Ride horses. Drive and stop whenever you see something interesting. Take a lot of pictures. Write poetry. Draw pictures of what you see. Go outside at 3 a.m. and watch the stars. Be inspired. Eat every meal picnic-style at a different place alongside the road or trail. Swim in the Gardiner River at the hot springs. Don't be in a hurry. See how your view of God is expanded from the vantage point of Yellowstone's sacred grandeur.
0 Comments2 Minutes
Recent feedback on my books …
From the US, on SMJ ...
B
rian I wanted to let you know about a class I will be facilitating this fall. I work with [XXX] and also get to teach a class among some incredible "older church ladies". they have been reading Secret Message of Jesus. The great thing is these ladies are between 60 and 92. They are determined to be kingdom agents. I wanted to know if you had an update or encouragement for them. We have walked along some incredible paths of study AND they truly love being Kingdom people. thank you so much.
Please let your group of 60-, 70-, 80-, and 90-somethings know that Moses was reportedly a 120-something who was still going strong as one of God's agents ... so this posse of church ladies shouldn't be discouraged even though they're still relatively young! (Think 1 Tim 4:12) Thanks so much for the encouraging note ... and for the following ones as well.
From Australia, on NKOC ...
I'm not sure if you will have the time to read this email. I'm sure you get heaps!! Just finished your book, "A New Kind of Christian" and I absolutely loved it. Thankyou so much for having the guts to write it. I feel like I've become a Christian all over again. I went to the local bookshop and bought copies for my family it really is inspiring, thought-provoking and excellent.
From New Zealand, on AGO ...
I have just finished reading A Generous Orthodoxy and wanted to say in a 100 words or less... I recently heard someone describe the Spirit as the space between the branches and the leaves of a tree where you catch a glimpse of the sky ...reading your book consolidates that concept for me. We have more wrong than we have right in our Orthodoxy - but Together we have it all.
From Norway, on AGO
Hi Brian,
Sorry for the informality. Just some straight from the guts feedback... I started listening to your book "A Generous Orthodoxy" as an audio book on a long walk yesterday. I almost screamed with impatience over the two chapters of "about this book" before I got to hear about the seven different Jesus aspects - which I found very enriching and thought-provoking.
To me all that stuff at the beginning was you trying make a statement to your fellow publicly active Christian leaders....kind of "Hi, I want everybody to play nice here and not say nasty things about each other and especially not about me because I am not trying to upset anybody, I just want everybody to like me and I can be very tolerant, forgiving and understanding and humble, I am so humble you can't possibly be mean to me .... and on and on and on.
I'm sorry. I know this sounds nasty. I am writing it because I think all that meta information at the beginning is really for your peers, not for us readers. And if you mean what you said about hoping that the book could be an introduction to faith for people who are new to Christianity or on their way to believing... how many of them would wade through all that self-justifying and in-speak to get to the heart of the matter? It probably doesn't matter with a printed book. And I can see why the convention is that an audio book contains, word for word, what the printed one does. But in the audio medium... in my opinion ....it sucks.
More, plus a reply, after the jump ...
0 Comments8 Minutes