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I really can’t recommend enough the Voice project. The material that continues to come out is amazing and from what I hear of what is to come out soon will just add to the great resources already available.
This continuing of excellent material continues with Brian McLaren’s The Voice of Luke: Not Even Sandals. McLaren explores a narrative retelling of the Gospel story according to Luke. This book really gives the feel, emotion, meaning, and the “experiential” way of communicating the story of Jesus.
This project is more then a translation or a paraphrase but more a retelling and the structure and feel is more of a screenplay, which makes for interesting and sometimes more engaging way of reading. The devotional thoughts or basically McLaren’s commentary throughout the whole book really is a highlight of the reading and helps with the retelling of the story. McLaren is get with bringing the reader in and really engaging the reader. McLaren ties in the themes going on and even consistently brings you back to the idea of “not even sandals” and develops that as the book goes on (I’ll leave it to you to read the book to learn more about what McLaren is talking about).
Again, I can’t speak enough about the effectiveness of this resource and its ability for retelling the story and engaging a new kind of reader to Scripture. This is a great resource for youth ministry, personal reading, devotional reading, bible studies, and even used in periods of worship.
“. . . doing missions means doing the work of the kingdom wherever you are sent. And the best place to think about where you have been sent is to see where you are. God is a being of great economy. He works before you even realize it and before you sign on, and he’s placed you where you are today for a reason. If you find yourself in the suburbs, welcome to your mission field.”
And with this phrase one dives into Will & Lisa Samson’s book “Justice in the Burbs”. This is a book that deal with more then just justice but brings to the table ideals for holistic living in a suburban context. This is Will & Lisa’s story. They talk a lot about there lives and also have other people chime in with their experiences as well (people such as Brian McLaren, Leonard Sweet, Doug Pagitt, Tony Jones, Luci Shaw, and others). In the later chapters, the book gives some great practical ideas for holistic, missional living in the suburban lifestyle, however the book spends a good deal of time talking about urban or rural areas and the need for the ‘burbs to begin to better focus on the needs in these areas. I agree with this to a degree, however I feel there are needs that need to be met in the burbs as well and many of the same situations can also be taken seen outside of the rural or urban areas. I have done some hands on work both in urban settings and in suburban settings and can say that both have needs that need to be met by people who have a passion for serving others and the world around them. I feel Will & Lisa would agree with me on this and their book is here to be a voice for moving people to action and I would stand with them in that.
At the end of the book, Will & Lisa offer this:
“To hold onto this hope, however, we need a new view of the kind of future that is possible if we act out the call of God on our lives. This is what one theologian referred to as an ‘eschatology of hope,’ or a view of the future that involves the world of tomorrow living more justly because of your actions today.
And this is where we would like to end. Imagine what the world of your great-grandchildren could look like if you begin to live justly today. There is an old Arab proverb that states, ‘Old men plant trees.’ This is precisely the kind of hope we would wish for you – a hope rooted in the belief that another world is possible.”
This is a good read and one that can be read in a very diverse group and would have effect on many different types of people. The book deals with more of the idea for the need to be involved and active in the works of justice. As the sub-title of the book says, we need to be “the hands of Jesus wherever we live”.
Signs of Emergence by Kester Brewin is another book put out by the “emersion” resources with Baker Books. Personally, I feel this is the best work yet.
The front cover is eye catching and gets you interested by the sub-title of “A Vision for Church that is organiz/networked/decentralized/bottom-up/communal/flexible/always evolving”. So if your into that sort of stuff you are pretty interested. However, he begins this books unlike others like this by starting with a chapter called “Advent”. In this chapter he begins like this: “…But before the church can change, before I can change, before anything changes, comes waiting. A pause. A rest.” These are some of the wisest words I have heard out of a emergent voice recently. We talk about change in the church so much and in a fast pace society it is refreshing to hear the advice to stop…to meditate…to see really where God wants His church to go. Brewin uses other writings, poems, and liturgies throughout the book but none as appropriate as the words of waiting (which you will have to get the book to read the liturgy). He also talks about Christianity being evolutionary and not just revolutionary, which to me is a wonderful way to discuss following Christ and gives a good balance to the revolution idea (which I think is a great way to describe what Jesus was doing, however it does not end at the revolution but continues to be a life changing process that continues to evolve).
From there Brewin goes into a great description of the emerging conversation and the idea of church in this time and culture. In part 2 of his book he looks to a narrative approach and gives a great narrative of who God is and what his mission in the world is. At the end, Brewin shows God comes into the dirt and mess of the world with the emergence of Jesus and gives a beautiful link of the first part of the book to the narrative talked about in the 2nd. This book reminds me a lot of Pete Rollins’ book “How (Not) to Speak of God” (which makes sense since Pete and Kester are friends…good enough that Kester can post something on Pete’s blog about how great “Signs of Emergence” is).
I highly recommend this book whether you are into the emerging conversation and discussing church and how it looks in this day and culture but also for the casual reader as well. His first chapter on Advent is worth the regular price of the book. The linking of the whole book together is worth reading the book to the end and the information inbetween it is insight and study that you will want to have for your spiritual walk. But again, the first chapter called “Advent” is one dramatic change for a book on the church and a direction that needs to be made…to wait and earnestly seek the voice of God.
