for traveling emergers

"What a Site: 36 Web Addresses You Should Know"

A great Washington Post article on great travel websites (free registration required). Enjoy.

Project Vote Smart

A wonderful, complete, objective (really) resource for information on elected officials and candidates

Michaela Siobhan (my 8 year old) wanted to send a letter to her government representatives to ask them how laws are made. I'm just a little ashamed to say that I didn't know who our representative was in the House and so surfed a bit to find a site where I could find this out based on our address.

I found Project Vote Smart which is a fantastic resource not only for what I needed but also for anyone trying to decide for whom to vote in state and federal elections.

For what I was looking, I simply put in my Zip+4 (every Zip+4 designates around 6-15 households - if you don't know your +4 designation just go to this site where you can put in your address and it will give you your +4 number.) and I was told our Senators and House Representatives, in addition to our State representatives with links to pages that provide their respective biographies, their primary website url, their committees, education, affiliations, and - perhaps most signficantly - their interest group ratings and their voting records! In addition, they also list the candidates for any upcoming elections for any of these offices.

I was wondering what the group's political affiliation was and it's apparently bi-partisan. From their about us page:

The gap between the ideal of democracy as intended by our country's founders and the reality of how today's political process works has never been wider. The typically irresponsible use of modern mass communication by candidates and political campaign practitioners has resulted in an unprecedented degree of misinformation, disinformation, distortion, confusion and emotional but empty imagery at all levels. The absence of any kind of consistently trustworthy system of accountability or unbiased institution to provide just the facts makes responsible voter decisions difficult, frustrating and time-consuming.

...

Recognizing this void in American civic culture and the need to create a new organization, 40 national leaders, including former Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, formed Project Vote Smart (PVS) in 1992. Dedicated to upholding the ideal of democracy and serving the American people with unbiased and accurate information, PVS constructed a user-friendly voter's self-defense system accessible through a website and a toll-free hotline (1-888-VOTE-SMART) over a 10-year period. Described by the New York Times as "one of the most comprehensive campaign information sites on the web" and by the Philadelphia Inquirer as "spectacular" for gathering in one place the information any intelligent voter needs, PVS is becoming recognized as the answer for objective and trustworthy information. A primary goal for PVS in the years ahead is to increase awareness of its services and use by American citizens.

...

Project Vote Smart covers these candidates and elected officials in five basic categories:

* Background and contact information
* Issue positions, provided by candidates through our National Political Awareness Test (NPAT)
* Voting record
* Campaign finances
* Interest group ratings from over 100 groups across the ideological spectrum

The PVS website also includes:

* Public statements made by President, U.S. Senators, U.S. Representatives and Governors
* Voter registration forms for each state
* Contact information for state and local election offices
* Polling place and absentee ballot information
* Ballot measure descriptions for each state, where applicable
* Links to federal and state government agencies, political parties and issue organizations
* Information about PVS membership and internship opportunities

On their objectivity, the site says,

PVS was inaugurated in 1992 by national leaders as diverse as former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, former U.S. Senators Barry Goldwater and George McGovern, and former U.S. Representatives Newt Gingrich and Geraldine Ferraro. All Founding Board members must join with an ideological opposite to provide balance and ensure strict impartiality in PVS programs and materials.

...

Every candidate - Democrat, Republican, third party or independent is treated with equal deference, and only relevant and unbiased facts are presented. PVS does not lobby for, support or oppose any candidate, position or issue. All PVS staff and interns are required to sign a pledge affirming their commitment to absolute impartiality.

I'm blown away. What a resource!

Enjoy!

david hopkins rants

are we listening?

Missions and the Emerging Church

A friend of mine asked me about this topic and I did a little digging and came up with some resources that might be helpful in beginning to wrap the brain around the nexus of emerging church and missions.

Through knowing Rogier Bos (Rogier was the first editor of Next-Wave), I've come to appreciate Christian Associates International.

Matthew Glock has an interesting article on emergingchurch.info that he subtitles "An incomplete manifesto for cross-cultural missions in the emerging post-modern culture"

A number of emerging church types also are reading Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch's The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century Church. It's also helpful to review some of the blogs referencing this title through allconsuming. In October there's some Shaping of Things to Come gatherings in England. And Len Hjalmarson recently reviewed this book for the folks @ allelon (free registration required).

I also found an interesting discussion thread on this topic on opensourcetheology.

Also, emergesque readers, I'd be most grateful if you commented here on other resources that you believe would be helpful to review in this discussion.

currently reading

I've added a "currently reading" section to emergesque at the bottom of my right column using code courtesy of the kind folks @ allconsuming.

the post-emerging church

Andrew Jones contributes to the growing post-emerging church meme (not to be confused with any necessarily actually current post-emerging church!)

Asymptotic Certainty

A friend of mine and I were emailing about the relationship of religious epistemology and geography and it reminded me of this old post. If you do go there, be sure to check out the linked to email exchange I had with Brian McLaren on this topic; I found it helpful.

A Primer on the Emerging Church

Fred Peatross lets us know that now that Rodger Sellers has closed his summer travelogue on 12 Emerging Churches, his reflections serve as something of an on-the-ground primer.

some great barth quotes

our friend, the late jon gold, turned me on to barth. keith from among the ruins provides some great barthian quotes.

the post-emerging church?


Emerging Church and Church 

Jason Clark blogged about FutureGen 2005 and the post-emerging church, which prompted a bit of discussion on his site.

Jason had commented on this before; Darren Rouse actually predicted the post-emerging church on 30 January 2004 and just last month, Graham Old said it would arise in 2 years.

What is the relationship between "church," "emerging church," and "post-emerging church?"

Perhaps it's most helpful to think of the emerging church movement (Emergent likes to call it a "conversation;" Bill Bean prefers "phenomenon") in the same spirit Richard Foster of Renovare displays when he discusses The Six Traditions of the Church in his wonderful Streams of Living Water. (These traditions are also listed and described on Renovare). I think this approach brings humility, a character trait we could well use in this discussion.

I suggest that those of us in the emerging church conversation err badly if we come to the point of thinking that we're the ones with the best bead on things. At the same time, I further suggest that on some matters it very well may be that we are riding at the top of the some of the Spirit's waves.

Just as it's easy for a member of Christ's church to believe that the expression of her own God-gift is the most important activity for the church today, I suggest a local church, a denomination, a parachurch organization, or a movement can make the same error.

I, for example, have a passion to see the church operate well as an organization, balancing both executional excellence with holistic spiritual relationships. All the time I'm thinking about mentoring, coaching, leadership, effective meetings, how to run projects well, etc. But I don't delude myself into thinking that organizational excellence is the issue today that's nearest to God's heartbeat. I am but a cog in a larger Kingdom-machine.

Similarly, consider Jason Clark's recent post of "summary of outcomes" stemming from an emergent leadership gathering that occurred near the end of August. Jason lists:

1 - gender diversity,
2 - racial and ethnic diversity,
3 - denominational diversity,
4 - church tradition diversity,
5 - internationalization, and
6 - justice

among some other internal concerns.

Are these important issues to consider? Yes. But where is the gospel? Where is spiritual formation? Why didn't they merit a mention? I suggest it's because the leaders of emergent don't see emergent church and church as a tautology. Their organization addresses very specific concerns that their leadership believes are worth addressing.

Similarly, I suggest that the emerging church - by the very definition of "emerging" - is not an enduring phenomenon. It is addressing very specific concerns in a very specific season of the church's history.

Ironically, it is a modern impulse for us to rest calmly within the parameters of emerging church concerns and circles: we've figured it out; we can rest; we blog and convention and read and hang out and surf with the coolest folks in the church today and we have the most turbocool thoughtleaders. Now we should, of course, celebrate and joy in our friends and leaders, but we must watch out carefully for complacency and inclusiveness.

I recently visited a church that was following the Willow Creek Seeker Model. When I made an appreciative comment about the church being more traditional, one of the elders of the church looked at me quizically. "Traditional?" He didn't realize that the Willowesque non-denominational church is The New Traditional and that many are moving beyond its comforting confines into more uncharted territory. And uncharted territory has a tendency to become charted.

Now I don't mean to imply that the emerging church phenomenon has necessarily reached its fullest maturity in all quarters, but I do suggest that the post-emerging church is an inevitability. The church will become or is becoming post-emerging (and, of course, different parts of the church will do this at different times or not at all). And we should celebrate that transition with the same enthusiasm as when we sense our own spirits entering a new season where we find ourselves emerging farther up and deeper in.

transpropositionality is a non-negotiable

John Stuart Mills said if you base a religion on a set of beliefs in a very short time the followers will look just like the rest of the culture. Mills was a prophet.

Len Sweet

see Fred Peatross for the full quote.

NT Wright MP3's: The Future of the People of God

Jason Clark announces that these are now available online. Andrew Perriman earlier provided us with some helpful preliminary material including outlines of some of Wright's books in his Christian Origins and the People of God series.

the problem with balance

I'd like to add that even before my son was diagnosed with leukemia, but certainly since then, I've clung to Scripture more closely than ever. In this regard, my model has not been my theological training in a conservative Baptist church or at Biola University, but my understanding of how the Bible is used among the poor and pentecostal in the world. You read the Scripture as if the Holy Spirit himself is talking to you. It is not an abandonment of the idea that we stick to the meaning of the text. But it does fall in line with the idea of "receiving a word" from God, or Jesus himself speaking to you.

Going that route, we open ourselves up to all sorts of charismatic excesses. Well, it's always going to be something. I don't like the word "balance" when I hear it in discussions of Christian faith, because it often sounds like a cop-out to me, a way to end a difficult conversation.

see Rudy Carrasco's entire post.

Olympic Calm

I've been reading Jon Meacham's Franklin and Winston that documents the great friendship between these two World War II leaders. Today I read a fantastic letter from Clementine to her husband Winston Churchill after she received complaints about his manner with subordinates:

It is for you to give the Orders and if they are bungled - except for the King, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Speaker, you can sack anyone and everyone. Therefore with this terrific power you must combine urbanity, kindness and if possible Olympic calm. You used to quote: -- "On ne regne sure les ames que par le calme" [One can only reign over souls with calmness]...."

This enjoined calm in the midst of the Nazi storm reminded me of a similar characteristic of psychological hardiness in Franklin Roosevelt, about which I earlier blogged.

See The Sceptred Isle for the rest of this wonderful letter (scroll down to "Letter From Clementine Churchill To Her Husband Trying To Warn Him About Talk In The Commons")

Mars Hill Audio

MARS HILL AUDIO exists to assist Christians who desire to move from thoughtless consumption of modern culture to a vantage point of thoughtful engagement.

We believe that fulfilling the commands to love God and neighbor requires that we pay careful attention to the neighborhood: that is, every sphere of human life where God is either glorified or despised, where neighbors are either edified or undermined. Therefore, living as disciples of Christ pertains not just to prayer, evangelism, and Bible study, but also our enjoyment of literature and music, our use of tools and machines, our eating and drinking, our views on government and economics, and so on.

We endeavor to encourage the sensibilities and habits of thoughtful cultural engagement through creative audio resources that we produce at our studio

If you are wondering what a faith-based NPR would sound like, look no further than Mars Hill Audio. The Mars Hill Audio Journal is exec produced by Ken Myers, who, "for eight years he was a producer and editor for National Public Radio, working for much of that time as arts and humanities editor for the two news programs, Morning Edition and All Things Considered."

I've intermittently subscribed through the years and have found their offerings invariably intelligent and thought-provoking.

You can also purchase backissues. One of the valuable features of their website is the ability to scan previous journal issues by topic or by guest.

You can also ask for a free sample copy of the Journal here.

len sweet and george barna

called will sampson on friday ab breakfast this past saturday after a cancellation and then remembered that he was with len sweet and george barna. he gives us the lowdown here.

new to the emerging church discussion?

on resonate's online discussion group, jordon cooper lists some online articles to read for those who are just beginning to explore the church emergent. (also good for those who are interested in the nexus of postmodernity and the church, though emergers don't really talk a lot ab postmodernity much anymore).

earlier, i had blogposted ab good books to read for an intro to all matters ec and pomoChristian

the world's largest church communities

tony sheng lists them for us. some of these numbers are mindboggling.

more on anne lamott

She came to Jesus just as she was—a foul-mouthed, bulimic, alcoholic drug addict. One week after having an abortion, she surrendered to him in her very own version of the sinner's prayer, punctuated with the f-word.

i blogged ab annie a few days ago and i think i actually earlier blogged about this Agnieszka Tennant article on her some time ago but i wanted to mention it again.

The Religion of George Bush

Before President Bush addressed a Knights of Columbus convention last month in Dallas, the audience of 2,500 conservative Catholics watched a documentary film about a woman who chose to die rather than end a pregnancy that threatened her life. Then the president gave a speech in which he called Pope John Paul II "a true hero of our time" and used the pope's phrase "culture of life" three times.

When it was over, many in the audience were convinced that the president shared their view that abortion is murder and should be banned. "The 'culture of life' is a very important code word that will resonate with Catholics," said Carl A. Anderson, head of the 1.6 million-member Knights of Columbus, the world's largest Roman Catholic men's society.

But Bush had not actually said that abortion is tantamount to murder.

The Washington Post runs a piece called "Openly Religious, to a Point."