J.R. Briggs
Attempting to behold the miracle long enough without falling asleep
-
Archive for March, 2009
Telling an alternative story
I have this quote on my desk…
“Neither revolution nor reformation can ultimately change a society, rather you must tell a new powerful tale, one so persuasive that it sweeps away the old myths and becomes the preferred story, one so inclusive that it gathers all the bits of our past and our present into a coherent whole, one that even shines some light into our future so that we can take the next step…If you want to change a society, then you have to tell an alternative story.”
-Ivan Illich, Austrian philosopher
A website that will wreck you
Think your situation is bad in the midst of a sour economy? Maybe this will give us a little bit of perspective…
Check out this site and type in your annual salary.
I tried this and the statistics have just about wrecked me.
Book Review: From Eterinity to Here
A few weeks ago I was sent an advanced copy of Frank Viola’s book From Eternity to Here: Rediscovering the Angeless Purpose of God, published by the good people at David C. Cook.
It’s a solid book.
If you know anything about Frank Viola you know two things: (a) he’s passionate about the Church and (b) he’s got some strong opinions about the Church. This book was no different.
He has a pretty impressive list of endorsers (Ed Stetzer, Len Sweet, Alan Hirsch, Dan Kimball, Brian McLaren and Shane Claiborne) saying some pretty impressive stuff about the book. This is Viola’s most positive and hope-filled book yet. Although its a bit wordy (who came blame a guy who is passionate about the topic?) it is engaging.
Viola writes telling the story of God and Man in three acts and then wraps it up in chapter 27: “What does it look like today?” by describing it in three concepts that were particularly helpful for me: Communion, Community Life and Commission.
For anyone looking to grasp the overarching story of God and Man and how the larger Story fits together, this book is for you.
Online Giving
Many have asked us, “Do you have online giving available for Renew?”
Good news: we have been working on a secure online giving opportunity for quite some time and now it is available.
Check out the “Donate Now” button at the bottom right of the homepage if you would like to make a donation to Renew.
What we’re learning about spiritual formation
Recently, we loaded up this post on the Renew website titled “What we’re learning about spiritual formation.”
[Question] I’d love for blog readers to answer: What is the greatest barrier to your own personal spiritual formation? laziness? lack of time? a low priority? you don’t know where to start? others?
Would love to hear your thoughts.
Random links
A few random links for you to enjoy this morning…
Haven’t heard the new U2 album yet? Listen to it here.
Missiological study Dr. Ed Stetzer gives some fascinating statistics on the current state of church planting.
Rob Bell interviews Shane Hipps on the use of technology in the Church.
Rainn Wilson (aka Dwight Schrute on The Office) grew up in the Baha’i faith. He’s created a thought-provoking website called SoulPancake to allow creativity and spirituality to mix. Check out the video on the homepage for the gist of it.
Striking video of grace put to music and images. This video moved me deeply.
John C. Reilly stars in this four minute short film called “Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody?” I have watched it four times and each time strikes me quite differently.
Have you used RedBox yet? If you haven’t, you really should. (I think its going to take Blockbuster down). Plus, you can sign up for free movie promo codes that come out every Monday.
Seth Godin: The two elements of a great presenter.
Todd Hiestand writes poetically on Generosity and Fear.
The coolest 28 second youtube clip I’ve ever seen. Before watching you must understand: do not try this at home.
An article on How Twitter was born.
USAToday: Most religious groups in USA have lost ground
This morning’s USAToday published a groundbreaking article on religion in America. The study is incredibly comprehensive (check out the charts, graphs, videos and interviews).
These are interesting religious times in America. As I officiated a funeral yesterday, communicating hope and comfort to a roomful of people unacquainted with God, I was reminded of the peculiar era we find ourselves in as a country. If there ever was a time where we needed churches thinking differently, courageously and contextually it is now.
What are your thoughts?
Are you concerned?
It is old news?
How should we respond appropriately?
Questions I’m currently processing…
For those of you who know me well you know that I have a hard time sleeping. It’s because I have a really hard time turning my brain off. My mind is always going (it doesn’t mean I am intelligent, it just means its always on) and having my brain on 24 hours a day is both a blessing and a curse.
I was telling a friend about this a few weeks ago and he asked me a great question: “What are the thoughts and questions you are processing currently?” I’ve been pondering that question a lot lately! But here are a few more at the forefront of my mind in the past couple of weeks.
What are the most effective ways to motivate and inspire people?
When is failing actually a success in the long run?
What impossible task am I facing at the moment?
What are my fears and how can I best face them?
What excites me the most about the future? What makes me anxious?
What area of my life do need I to grow in maturity the most?
What breaks my heart?
What fuels me?
What is it that I long to believe in?
What are my top two or three obstacles to spiritual growth?
What kinds of things am I praying about most often? Why?
What implications does it mean to be made in the imago dei?
What has produced the most impacful spiritual growth in my life?
What does good news look like to ‘these people’?
What about you? What questions have you been processing/wrestling with lately? I’d love to hear.
Makoto Fujimura’s Refractions: A Review
A few publishers send me books at a fairly regular clip for their blogger review program. They send me books. I read them. If I like the book, I blog about them, providing an online publicity opportunity for the publisher and author that I am quite certain instantaneously causes thousands of people to purchase the books within an astoundingly short amount of time, thus pushing their book to the top of the New York Times bestseller list.
Or something like that.
Sometimes the books are fantastic, other times they are less than blog worthy. Recently NavPress sent me the book Refractions: a journey of faith, art and culture by Makoto Fujimura. If you aren’t famiar with Makoto Fujimura you should be. Fujimura is one of the greatest living America artists of our time. I’ve been a fan of his work for quite some time and I had a chance to be exposed to his thoughts and art at the Q conference last year in NYC.He wsa appointed to the National Council for the Arts, a presidential-appointment and the highest position in the arts, in 2003. Check out hi
He lives near Ground Zero and experienced first-hand the shocking 9/11 experience eight years ago. He’s a committed follower of Christ and serves as an elder at a church plant in Greenwich Village called The Village Church.
And, oh man, was this book amazing. It’s by far the best book I’ve read in 2009 thus far. I’m not sure what part of the book was more stunning: the content or the design and presentation.
This brothah can create.
Mako is a thoughtful and articulate artist. But he also thinks very theologically. He is artist-writer-seminarian as one. His art reaches the depths, but so do his thoughts. It feels as though he is sharing experiences and thoughts from his journal for all the world to read. His style is simple and yet profound at the same time, in a Nouwen-esque manner. As I read the book I wondered to myself, Is he an artistic writer or is he a literary artist?
Refractions is a compilation of essays written after 9/11 regarding the intersections of life, art and creativity – each essay its own separate entity and yet they are strung together beautiful like pearls on a necklace. Every few pages there are color prints of Mako’s artwork, highlighting and communicating with great texture what he is writing, a melding of the left-brain and right-brain readers to a perfect place.
Chapter XVI: Why Art? is worth the price of the entire book. For someone like myself who appreciates fine arts a great deal, but would never be accused of creating great art, this chapter was extremely inspiring and helpful for me (and will be for other like-minded readers).
It is a book rich with texture and meaning and profundity. NavPress did a fantastic job with this book. This book is not just for the artist or for those who desire to appreciate art; it’s for every reader who wants to understand the connection between God, the Author of Creativity, and his created order.
I highly, highly recommend this book.
Ways SportsCenter Anchors Could Tell the Story of Jesus
If you’re a SportsCenter fan (like I am) you’ll appreciate this.
This came to me via Marko via Brendan Fitzgibbons. Ways SportsCenter anchors could tell the story of Jesus. Understanding your context is always important in ministry, right?
_________
Nothing but the bottom of the manger!
He’s no Beanie Baby!
A good carpenter doesn’t blame his tools!
That’s levitation, homes.
No one does the voodoo like Jesus do.
He’s running like there’re people chasing Him!
Resistance is futile!
That man has been voted off the island.
The Lord said, “You’ve got to rise up!”
And He’s outta heeere!
With authority!
Recent Comments