What Are You Reading?

Scott suggested that we should share with each other what we're reading as a church.

Here's what's on my nightstand, in various states of completion:

Shane Hipps: The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture

Overview: Shane is a recent Fuller grad who came and presented on this book in one of my classes while the book was being written. Wow. It was a whole new way of thinking. He focuses on Marshall McLuhen's philosophy (he's the guy who said "the medium is the message") and applies it directly to the church. Shane brings home the point that how we communicate a message is perhaps even more important than the message itself.

This is a must read.

Rob Bell: Sex. God.
Overview: Sitting on the nightstand. Ready to be opened...

God: The Bible
Overview: Hellooo... It's the BIBLE! I'm devouring John chapters 4&5 right now. Good stuff.

Alan Hirsch: The Forgotten Ways

Overview: I'll be reading this one for a LONG time... Alan goes back to the 1st century to examine the "missional DNA" of the church to find that mission is not something the church does - mission is the reason for the church to exist. Deep, good, practical stuff.

Feel free to respond with what you're reading...

God's peace, Rich

Read more at www.lifesongchristiancommuities.org

Home Church - Through a webcam????

Scott and Lori were in Connecticut, Paul, Ginny, Nathan and I all drove to Mike and Margaret's house in Camarillo, and we all met face to face to have Church... Sort of. A fairly new technology called "skype" allowed us to "webcam" with Scott and Lori in real time from 3000 miles away. It is a very different world...

As we work through Brian McLaren's The Church on the Other Side we've been asking a lot of TOUGH questions about what it means to be the church in the "postmodern" world. Last night was no exception...

Last night's chapter was an introduction to what "postmodern" means, and the kind of questions it presents to the Church.

The easiest way of getting into this, I think, is to just say that we are moving into the postmodern world, and it is a new and challenging place, particularly for those over 40 (Those over 40 are "immigrants" in the postmodern world - they have to work to understand and thrive in it). For those of us born in the '70s, we tend to think in a primarily "postmodern" way and see the world through that lens (Those of us under 40 are most likely "natives" - we see the world most naturally through a postmodern lens).

For those born in the '80s, '90s, and '00s, describing the postmodern world is almost impossible - it would be like you or I saying "the sky is blue", or "the grass is green". Those born in the last 20 years naturally see the world and know and understand their world in vastly new and different ways than ANY other previous generation in history. The Church has an awesome opportunity here... Generations of young people are seeing the world in a new way and they are generally more open to spirituality than their "modern" and rationalistic parents.

We'll dive into this later, but for now let's just start thinking about how we know things... Ask yourself these questions. If you have a few minutes, just copy and paste the questions into a new document or an email and type out your answers. Feel free to email them to me if you want to discuss them more deeply.

- How do I know something is true? Is it because of the experience of learning about it? The person or book or (insert other media) that informed me? The trustworthiness of the subject in question?
- Why do I follow Jesus (why am I a Christian)? How do I know that Christianity is true?

These questions are at the heart of what it means to be a Christian in the postmodern world, and those who naturally see the world through a postmodern lens naturally answer these questions very differently than those of us born over 40 years ago (unless we have forced ourselves to learn about postmodernity)...

God's Peace, Rich

Check out Lifesong's website at http://www.lifesongchristiancommunities.org/