As a way of shifting gears a bit, here are a few things I’ve enjoyed thus far this summer that might pique the interest of some of our readers:
- The gods Aren’t Angry DVD (July 7) – While it’s not as good as live front-row seats, it is an excellent presentation regarding the history of sacrifice, God’s use of it through the ages, and application for today – concrete teaching to explain why there is nothing a Christian can do to earn God’s love. (It’s a great companion to Everything is Spiritual, which has set up some excellent conversations for me the past few months, and something to tide you over if you’ve pre-ordered Jesus Wants to Save Christians.)
- Third Day’s new album, Revelation (July 29) – Released today, and I’m loving it. The three-year wait has come to an end with a new (non-holiday) album from Third Day.
- The new Sandra McCracken (Mrs. Derek Webb) new album, Gravity|Love is available on mp3 and is a great listen (though you hard-copy CD lovers will have to wait a couple more weeks).
- Meet the Rabbis (Brad Young) – I took a trip back through this excellent work which explores Jesus’ contemporary rabbis and the streams of though they held to – comparing and contrasting them to Jesus’ teaching. (And just as exciting, his book on Parables is now available in paperback!)
- Blink (Malcolm Gladwell) – An excellent book I’ve recommended for several years – I took my work book club through it a few chapters at a time and got some additional insights into the way folks think and make quick decisions. (I’m also pre-ordering Outliers, his first book in 3 years)
- If you’ve ever had qualms about the American Justice system, false arrest and the death penalty, An Innocent Man is an excellent read – it sent chills down my spine reading the story of Ron Williamson and his years on death row and descent into semi-insanity as an innocent man there.
What has everyone else been watching, reading, listening to this summer?
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 at 8:26 pm and is filed under Original Articles.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
![Image of The Prodigal God (An Unabridged Production)[2-CD Set]; Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Jl6fhDLxL._SL75_.jpg "The Prodigal God (An Unabridged Production)[2-CD Set]; Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith")
31 Comments(+Add)
The Innocent Man and other books and documentaries are one reason I am against the American death penalty. It is flawed and a system that is a respector of persons.
I got an amazon credit yesterday & didn’t know what to do with it.. You’re a day late! I would’ve got the Rob Bell DVD.
Val Kilmers film Felon may be along the lines of the Innocent man,havent seen it yet but i hear their talking Oscar worthy performance by him (if that matters)..The book looking interesting, may have to give it a read cheers!!
Cd wise never let a chance slide to plug them Wovenhands new cd 10 stones is out in Sept ,heres a clip of one of their new songs kicking bird give the bro a listen!!
http://www.wovenhand.info/ten%20stones/woven_hand_ten_stones.html
Rick, I thought about arguing with you, but I don’t want to take away from the point of the post.
I thought about making a joke (using your choice of phrasing against you), but I didn’t want people to confuse me with you.
So, to get back to what Chris L asked:
UnChristian is a great book, very much needed. A big surprise (actually we watched it in the Spring) was Lars and the Real Girl (movie).
I think we can actually grow and learn from anything we watch/read/listen to if we pay attention and are listening to God’s work in our lives (I believe I’ve evidenced this with the movie Rambo a few weeks ago.)
Oh and The Wire that series was just amazing i watched all 5 in a row lol …Balimore is a scary city wowee
ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!
NICE non sequitur!!!!!
I only rent old DVD for $ .99.
RAbanes
The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton. Wow is it weighty.
The Sacred Marriage. Thanks Joe M.
A Brief History of Everything. Ken Wilber Rob Bell was right. Good book.
Freakonomics (again) Love this book. Love it.
The World is Flat (again) Friedman is a genius.
I’m listening to Third Day right now on the Tonight Show. Cool.
I do not believe in Fun. I am a Serious Christian.
Kidding!!!
Is it possible to grow spiritually by listening to the Beach Boys?
On a different note for a minute . . .
Christian P., I always get you mixed up with Chris P., and it will never cease to confuse me. It makes me laugh sometimes!
Merry, just remember, I’m the only true Christian on this site.
And yes, I’m sure there’s something to be found useful in the Beach Boys. However, having not listened to Oldies since I was 12, I can’t help you out.
Who are the Beach Boys? Are they a Christian band?
Among other reasons.
Ugh, I’m so behind in my reading/new music acquiring…
Stacks of books…magazines…
Blah.
And as a fundamentalsit I’m supposed to be gleefully in favor of the death penalty. I’m so not a party man and an enigma.
Who am I??
Just got back from retreat and see there is a lot to catch up with! Thanks, Chris, for a “fun” post to read.
Favorite books this summer have been Who Will Be Saved? by Will Willimon and Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright and The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus by Peter Gomes.
LOVED The Gods Aren’t Angry DVD which I got at the beginning of this month.
Been listening to the David Crowder Band’s new CD, Remedy – very, very good.
Movies: Into the Wild was very good and The Great Debaters was fun.
(yeah, I have to wait for DVD – going to a theater as a father of four just doesn’t seem to pan out anymore).
peace.
Rick, I am so appreciatiative of your enigmatic tendencies
(I mean that seriously). This statement by you, while not true in all cases I am sure, is a bleak reminder of how fundamentalism can be in many ways so very different from the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We now return you to your previously scheduled programming…
Friends,
I just finished my fourth NT Wright book in the last two months. “Evil and the Justice of God.” Someone referenced “Surprised by Hope”–really a good book. Highly recommended.
I’ve been reading Isaiah this summer and getting read to preach it.
Also, I recently discovered–get ready for the collective gasp–Tool. Some of the lyrics are a bit strange and offensive (when they can be understood), but man these guys know how to write music.
Oh, and I’ve been reading Slice of Laodicea…ah, nevermind.
Currently reading “On Being a Christian” by Hans Kung.
Getting ready to start reading “The Subversion of Christianity” by Jacques Ellul (got it with my Amazon rewards from (inadvertent commercial advertisement ahead) Chase Visa. The $20 book only cost me about $1500. Not bad, not bad at all…
jerry
PS–NT Wright also has a four part DVD called Resurrection available for $15 from IVP. I used it during the Sunday AM worship. Great DVD.
Crowder* rules!
Jerry-
The DVD is four parts? I have one DVD titled “Resurrection” and it is divided into four chapters. Is that the same? If so, I agree it is excellent – I used it with my Suprised by Hope class.
Also, where can I get my hands on a copy of “Saving Money Tips from Uncle Jerry?”
peace,
Chad
p.s. I have done my share of head banging to Tool in the past.
P.S.S.
If you liked Evil and The Justice of God you should download and listen to N.T. Wright’s lecture titled, God, the Tsunami and 9/11. You can download it at ITunes for free. Just do a search for N.T. Wright or even “lectures.”
I have been trying to finish Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard but had many distractions lately including the last few days on CRN.Info…
Started reading an Afrikaans book, Die Groot Gedagte (The Big Idea) by Gideon Joubert on the cosmos and creation, God’s big idea, and plan to write a post on that soon.
Ordered The Gods Aren’t Angry DVD and Jesus For President… Can’t wait.
Been listening to some great Afrikaans music – Jan Hogendyk.
We covered this book in our learning community (though I did not read it in full) as well as Scocial Intelligence by Daniel Goleman and Your Brain Goes To Church: Neuroscience And Congregational Life by Bob Sitze and Robert Sylwester. Another book I a m looking for now on the same subject is Practical Intelligence by Karl Albrecht. Having been to the learning community and covering the material in these books gives an iteresting perspective on the happenings of the last few days.
Chad,
Yes, it is the same one. I use ‘parts’ and ‘chapters’ interchangeably.
I’ll look for that I tunes stuff from Wright. I’m not entirely sold on his Christus Victor stuff just yet, and I’d like to know if he has any room for other atonement ideas, but his handling of Scripture is marvelous.
thanks for the updates.
jerry
Jerry-
As for atonement ideas, sure. He is not one to say that any one view has it tied up nice and neat. He gives more weight to the Christus Victor view (as I do and so did the first 1000 years of Christian thought) but he does see the elements of the other ideas forming a sort of mosaic, or helping us get a fuller picture, while not getting it all exactly right.
peace,
Chad
To get back on the main topic, a few good books I’ve read this summer:
Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner – I was pretty late on this bandwagon, but it was pretty enjoyable and interesting.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. It really is as good as everyone says.
Finding Our Way Again by Brian McClaren. A short, rather un-controversial book for McLaren. Good, but nothing entirely new.
The Living Word of God: Rethinking the Theology of the Bible by Ben Witherington III. A really excellent, easy-to-read book about hermeneutics and how not to talk stupidly about the Bible.
There’s more but those are a few highlights.
Chad,
That’s the very problem I have been having with the different atonement theories. When I read Scripture, I see perspective. I see one thing: Jesus died and was raised. Yet, I see this death and resurrection applied and expounded in different ways.
Frankly, I’m just not certain that any one particular theory covers all the basis. Perhaps this is why we happen to have four different Gospels and many different letters. That is, there is one view, but from different perspectives. There is a lot about the Christus Victor theory that I love. Where it stops for me is when that Christus Victory theory is used to support little more than a liberal social and political agenda.
However, to limit the idea to mere penal or victor is troubling.
jerry
I would say Wright holds to a Christus Victor theory, too, but I think he would say that it has to do more because of his view of the New Testament as the continuation/culmination of the Old Testament narrative of Israel.
Phil,
I think that is a good way of saying it.
jerry
Jerry-
May I ask what you mean by saying:
Do you mean to say that this is the necessary stopping point for Chistus Victor (or as far as it takes you) or are you saying you dislike those who tend to allow it to only go that far?
thanks,
Chad
Phil,
Kite Runner is one of my top ten all time books. It is simple phenomenal. Good call.
Chad,
When I read Wright, I find myself nodding my head in agreement often as he expounds on Scripture and opens my eyes to seeing things in a more complete context.
That said, there are times when he starts to apply his exegesis. He frequently runs down America or at least the “Western” church by which I think he means American Christians. He talked about, for example, the ‘penal’ system and how to deal with criminals. He was happy say we are doing things wrong by just dumping people in prison, but he didn’t really offer any concrete solutions for what we are to do with hardened criminals.
I sense in him a socially liberal agenda at times. He runs down democracy, as in American democracy, but doesn’t offer any other viable solutions. Third world debt is another trumpet he sounds. OK, that’s great that he wants to do that, but how will that be done?
To your question, there are very few people I dislike. But the truth is, I am a social and fiscal conservative. I am not in favor of taxing people more to pay for social programs. I am in favor taxing me less and trusting me with my own money. Giving it to the government does nothing to actually solve the problems we face in our world.
Christus Victor is a great idea, but what I am saying is that it must be MORE than the mere catalyst for social liberalism. If it does nothing to change the way I view people because I myself have been radically changed and my course altered (for example from God’s point of view where we are seated with Christ, Eph 2), then it doesn’t work well at all. I think it sort of falls short in that regard.
jerry
Jerry-
While discussing the finer points of atonement theology is right up my alley as “summer fun” I want to be sensitive to the thread and the topic at hand. You raise some thought provoking points and I want to think some of them through. I might begin a thread at my blog for anyone who would like to hammer some of this out. Would anyone be interested?
peace.
Chad -
Thanks for bringing us back OT – I will have an atonement post up early this evening.
Now, on-topic, I also forgot to mention one other book I’ve recently finished which I’m still trying to process (in terms of action): Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology.
Chad & Chris,
Sorry I derailed the thread–unintentional to be sure. Anyhow, I would welcome both threads–here and at Chad’s blog.
Point me to them as I am at my sister in law’s house and will need something to do.
late,
jerry
Jerry-
You didnt derail it – I think I am at fault.
Now why would you need something to do while at your sister-in-laws? Sounds like plenty of summer fun for you already.