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Ten Years of Cutting Edge

Though I have become increasingly disappointed with the content in recent years, I have found the Association of Vineyard Churches Cutting Edge magazine to be a great resource for church planters. Examples of helpful articles would be the Tim Keller interview in The Big City issue and David Allen's excellent contribution in The Effective Pastor

For this reason I wanted to link the recently published, Ten Years: A Collection.

Here is the product description from Vineyard Resources:

Vineyard’s own “Cutting Edge” church planting magazine has just published it’s 2nd Book! Featuring 136 beautiful large color pages, with 9 outstanding chapters titled: Foundations, Mission, Praise, Preaching, Praxis, Teams, Life, Stability, and World.

Jeff Bailey says in the Forward…

“Over the last few months, I have been reading scores of old issues of Cutting Edge. I have been amazed, to be honest, by the sheer volume of articles and interviews. The thick book you are now holding in your hands represents the barest fraction of the total number of pages in Cutting Edge over the past ten years…In what follows you’ll find a lot of old favorites, including interviews with Rick Warren, Brian McLaren, Tim Keller, John and Carol Wimber, Eugene Peterson, Dallas Willard, Will Willimon, Jim Wallis, Henry Townsend, Rodney Clapp, Steve Nicholson, Rich Nathan, and a host of others. Topics range from mission to preaching to spirituality, and the sorts of models explored include everything from urban mega churches to rural community fellowships. A lot of ground was covered over the last decade…Perhaps what is most important about this retrospective, however, is that it reminds us of the most important thing that Cutting Edge has always been about: God’s mission being carried out by ordinary men and women captured by a vision of what church might be. That is what Cutting Edge was designed to celebrate and support. And in some small way, that is what this retrospective celebrates, as well.”

Those interested in the magazine but not sure about buying the book should check out the last several years of Cutting Edge that can be downloaded as free pdf here.

"Unsafe" People and Explaining the Gospel to Our Children

"...without realizing it, parents like me are sometimes embarrassed by Jesus. Why would Jesus draw people like that to himself? It is hard for parents to remember that children in the crowds saw Jesus with prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners. Parents want to go into Jesus's presence at church in order to keep their kids safe from the world. But Jesus keeps drawing unsafe people from the world to himself. We are confounded. We complain, 'How am I supposed to explain this to my kids?' With that complaint we lose sight of something vital: To explain how Jesus reaches people no matter where they've been or what they've done is to explain to our kids the gospel. It is to explain our own testimony. It is to teach the next generation how Jesus relates to people and the world"

(Eswine, Preaching to a Post-Everything World, 81)

What Preachers Avoid?

"Identify those areas of reality that a preacher does not talk about and you will discover those spheres of reality that people are daily trying to navigate without the light of God's Word"

(Eswine, Preaching to a Post-Everything World, 30)

Advent Week 2

This weekend at Redeemer we celebrate the second week of Advent by looking at the origin of all our longing: Genesis 3.

For those that are looking for ways to cultivate longing during this season, I highly recommend the new collection of Advent reflections edited by Nancy Guthrie, Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus: Experiencing the Peace and Promise of Christmas.

Additionally, if you haven't read Sinclair Ferguson's phenomenal collection of essays, In Christ Alone: Living the Gospel Centered Life, I strongly encourage that you check out his essay Santa Christ.

Finally, just because they've been playing Christmas music in stores since midnight on Halloween doesn't mean that it's good. Obviously I love Sufjan's Christmas albums, but I'm also a huge fan of Duvall's Christmas album, O Holy Night. But as far as real Advent music goes, I don't think it gets any better than Sojourn's Advent songs. Find out how to get it free below...

Have a great weekend!

The Death of Christian Bookstores

I proudly patronize local businesses whenever possible-- especially when it comes to brick and mortar book shops. I love amazon, but there is something special about browsing *real titles on the *real shelves of a *real bookstore where you can talk with *real people. I find books I never knew existed when I do this.

Christian bookstores, on the other hand, are places that I go out of my way not to patronize-- because everyone knows they don't sell books. They sell creepy Jesus junk (which we have in abundance in this 100 year old church building we have inherited).

In response to Justin Taylor's observations regarding John's Christian Bookstore going out of business, Frank Turk posts his thoughts on Christian retail:

Let's face it: the Christian bookstore is dying. Christian retail is, frankly, a sort of quaint and old-fashioned idea. I didn't grow up Christian, but the CBA indie store in my hometown looked like a flea market and nobody could answer questions for me; I have visited worse -- stores in locations arsonists wouldn't bother to burn down. And at one time, it was at least a novelty to have someplace that would put your name on your Bible and had exotic items like "anointing oil" and those plastic fish the really-devout put on their cars.

Turk offers some great insights by comparing Christian Bookstores to Barnes and Noble. It is well worth the read.

Chad Hall: Driscoll: Tony Jones

Chad Hall posts an interesting review of two recent books: Driscoll's, Vintage Jesus and Tony Jones', The New Christians.

Though Hall's analysis has drawn fire from multiple sides, I found the review intriguing and clear. He places the books in dialogue and uses the contrast both to show why he used to consider himself "emerging" and no longer does as well as highlighting the strengths of each book as an opportunity to reshape the current dialogue.

Hall is clear about his own vantage point, but is appropriately critical of both books:

Based on the title, I expected Driscoll to pop the cork on an enduring theology that over time increases in flavor and potency. But the book was more flat Coke than fine wine.

and

The New Christians gave a true and honest depiction of the emergent church movement. That’s not to say it was an attractive picture. I felt Jones presented himself and the movement as condescending, contradictory, and closed.

Personally, I think we should all thank him for saving us $30, but maybe all of us will change our minds when we read Tony Jones' response and Driscoll's response.

Breaking Through Roadblocks

The video below contains some tremendous advice from This American Life's Ira Glass. Essentially, Glass encourages creative professionals to persevere in their creative endeavors even when they know that the quality of their work isn't up to their own standards. The same advice could be applied to any profession or any endeavor we are passionate about. That is, if something is worth being done, it is worth being done poorly. Where the test comes is whether or not we're willing to continue doing it poorly until we find a way to do it well.

For those that have never listened to the Glass's This American Life, get in the archives and start seeing what you've been missing. Season 1 of the Showtime version of the show is phenomenal-- and you can buy it here: This American Life - Season 1. Those interested in Season 2 can check the official Showtime site

On a similar note, the best book I have ever read dealing with breaking through this type of resistance is Steven Pressfield's book, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles. I think Pressfield should be required reading for everyone on the planet. It is one of the best books I've read in the past several years.

Books That I Have Pre-Ordered Since March

three have come, and three more to look forward to!

ESV STUDY BIBLE PRE-ORDER DISCOUNT + A29 RECEIVES 5%

Pre-Order ESV Study Bible at 35% Off and Crossway Donates 5% to Acts 29 Church Planting Network

DETAILS

Technorati Tags: A29, puppy

Monergism End of the Year Sale

For those that don't get Monergism's newsletters, I thought I would link their end of the year sale. I'm sure there are countless items that would be well worth your end of the year book money, but I wanted to especially direct your attention to Scougal's Life of God in the Sould of a Man — on sale for a mere $3.99! This is one of the greatest books I have ever read and one that I try to keep on hand to give away. They also have all ESV Bibles at 45% off — including the Single Column Reference Bible for $43.99.