Reading Biography as Spiritual Discipline

Our next discussion--February 2, 2010--will stem from our reading of Alan Jacobs's The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis. In light of the fact that this is the first biography we've read for SQUARE, I thought I would link to an article from Christianity Today titled "Let Us Tell You a Story: Recovering the Lost Spiritual Discipline of Reading Biographies."

Evangelicalism and Politics

On my run this morning, I listed to a podcast from Speaking of Faith, the radio series produced by American Public Media. The podcast, titled "Evangelical Politics: Three Generations," featured excerpts from a panel at the 2008 National Pastors Convention--a panel featuring Chuck Colson, Greg Boyd, and Shane Claiborne.

The podcast is available through iTunes, or you can go to the Speaking of Faith website to find three different versions:

• the podcast version (53.09)


• the full audio version (1:32.05)


• the full video version (1:32.08)

The discussion is a fascinating one, as it illustrates how three godly, thoughtful Christians can understand Biblical teaching on the relationship between politics and the Kingdom of God in strikingly different ways. Ultimately, as Krista Tippett, the moderator, points out, the relationship between the evangelical church and contemporary politics isn't an either/or proposition. Thoughtful Christians can disagree (sometimes strenuously) on this issue, and just as the body of Christ needs the foot, the hand, the ear, and the eye, the body of Christ probably needs all three of the perspectives presented on this panel.

One question not really addressed (at least in the shorter podcast version) is how the church embodies these different perspectives without balkanizing itself into a new denominationalism based upon the relationship between church and politics (e.g., local churches adopting blanket identities as "Colsonistic," "Boydian," or "Claibornean" churches). How does the local church welcome, enable, and embody all of these perspectives without adopting one and squelching or demonizing the others?

Underlying Assumptions About Ministry

The following link will take you to a post on the Front Porch Republic blog. The blog tends to be more culture-focused than theology-focused, but the two often overlap.

This particular post is titled "If Cooking Slowly and Growing Organically are In, Why Is Rural Ministry Out?" Whether one is connected with a rural church or not, the post generates some provocative questions about the underlying assumptions shaping our attitudes and approaches to the life of the church more generally.

Breen and Gibbs on Post-Christendom

Here's another clip I originally discovered via the Out of Ur blog. The video features Lance Ford interviewing Mike Breen and Eddie Gibbs on the life of the church in post-Christendom. The clip below will give you a taste of the interview. A longer segment is available at www.shapevine.com. In that longer segment, Gibbs makes a statement that merits reflection:

"Get out of your self-serving programs and give more of your time and energy to being the church in dispersion, and to resource the church to be that. Because in a post-Christendom context, I believe that 80 percent of our ministry should be taking place off the church campus."

Here's the shorter clip:

The Medium is the Message

I first encountered Marshall McLuhan's assertion that "the medium is the message" during my first year of graduate school, in a class on postmodern literature that had a large impact on my subsequent reading habits. In the clip below, posted on the Out of Ur blog, Shane Hipps talks about his new book, Flickering Pixels, by referring to McLuhan.

Location for Discussion of _Culture Making_

The March meeting of SQUARE, in which we'll be discussing Andy Crouch's Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling, will be held in room 213 of the Cleveland Center on the campus of the University of Sioux Falls. (We'll be meeting on March 4th at 7:00 pm.)

My apologies for taking so long to nail down a location. I was hoping to identify a space out in the community--a coffee shop, for instance. However, the only potential place that came to my mind was the meeting room at Caribou, which could potentially be a little cramped.

Of course, if folks have recommendations for more community-based meeting spaces, they should feel free to send them my way. The ideal location: coffee, space that accommodates 6 - 26, with a whiteboard for the facilitator, if possible. (Not asking for much, am I?)

Imago Fidei

The most recent CTDirect email from Christianity Today includes an announcement of a new photo blog sponsored by CT. Each day, the blog, titled "Imago Fidei" (Latin for "image of faith"), will feature a new "photograph, painting, design, or sculpture that shows Christian life or expresses our faith."

On a related note, Christianity Today's design director, Gary Gnidovic, lists his favorite photography sites in an article on the CT web site. Click here for Gnidovic's list.

Culture Making on Sale at CBD

For those still looking to pick up a copy of Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling, I received an email notice today stating that Christian Book Distributors has it on sale for $14.99. Here's a link to CBD.

And this link that goes straight to the book.

Culture and Ethics

Given that the SQUARE readers' forum will be discussing Andy Crouch's Culture Making on March 4th, a recent post on Patrick Deneen's blog seems both interesting and relevant.

Deneen is an associate professor of government at Georgetown University. The post--linked to below--springboards from a discussion of plagiarism in the academy to a broader consideration of the gulf between "culture" and "ethics" in our contemporary society.

Here's the link: "Culture, Not Morality?"

Richard Foster on Spiritual Formation

Many of us are likely familiar with Richard Foster's seminal work titled Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, published about 30 years ago. The most recent edition of Christianity Today's electronic newsletter highlights four online pieces by and about Richard Foster and the practice of spiritual formation. They're worth a look.

Spiritual Formation Agenda: Three Priorities for the Next 30 Years (Richard Foster)

A Life Formed in the Spirit (Interview with Foster, by Mark Galli)

What Is Spiritual Direction? (Richard Foster)

What Is a Spiritual Director? (Richard Foster)