“There is plenty if we share.”

Scripture: Acts 2:42-47

I dropped the mic and had one word left over. I was put on the spot, and would love to hear your thoughts and feedback about what you would have done. I think it should encapsulate the gospel, and I probably would have said something different if I had been given more time.

By the way, I won the preach-off contest! My victory dance could use some guidance. I decided to go with the Carlton dance from Fresh Prince.

If you could only say seven words, what sermon would you preach? You can also share a pic.

Me, after winning the preach-off and $100:

Better yet, call in your seven-word sermon to 678-590-BREW, and we’ll play it on an upcoming podcast episode.

What is the state of the Emergent Church? And what does David Hosselhoff have to do it with it?

How does an ecclesiologist relate to all that is going on in American Christianity?

These questions and more are addressed in this episode…like how Texas Baptists are similar to baconators. These folks are my ilk. You may have heard of Cooperative Baptists, which sounds like an oxymoron. I call the Texas variety Cantankerous Baptists. Church in the Present Tense…Ken Wilber & Integral Christianity…Pete Rollins‘ Apophatic stylings…Nadia Bolz-Weber…Mark Scandrette…relationship of theology & practice…Communion…

Please call in to let us know what you think is the biggest theological issue of our day.

1-678-590-BREW

Don’t forget to check out the Official Homebrewed Christianity Book of Summer…Devil’s Ink. Here is the author’s interview on Homebrewed 104!

Here’s a good read from my and Tripp’s former professor, Dr. Bill Leonard.

Tomorrow I’m posting audio from my sermon entitled, “The Day After the Rapture.” Until then, are there going to be zombies, or what? This apocolypse is pretty lame.

This was my meditation for our church email this week. For Youth Sunday, I’m preaching on the Good Samaritan.

There’s a woman named Grace who lives on my street in the Tenderloin District, San Francisco. When I say she lives on my street, I mean that literally — she’s homeless. I pass her almost every day on my walk to work in the Financial District. Sometimes we exchange hellos. Sometimes I ask her how she’s doing. I call her “Neighbor.” Sometimes she lets me pray for her…right there on Ellis Street. Sometimes I let her pray for me and my church.

The parable of the Good Samaritan has taught me to expand my definition of neighbor — to slow down and chat with folks around me. And sometimes to go above and beyond expectations when someone is in need.

More often than not though, I’m too focused on my destination to pause and say hello. I fall short of the example of the Good Samaritan. We all do. But Grace is there anyway.

Short version of this post: J. Wilson undertook a 46-day beer-only fast for Jesus, followed by a bacon smoothie on Easter Sunday. Holy Doppelbock, Batman!

Over a year ago, on the podcast, I mentioned that I was brewing a delicious doppelbock — and that it was traditionally brewed and consumed by Paulaner monks at Cloister Neudeck ob der Au in Munich during Lent. Here’s a nice legend from Germanbeerinstitute.com:

The longest and most taxing of these periods of culinary abstinence was, of course, Lent, the 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. Because the monks believed that liquids not only cleansed the body but also the soul, they would make plenty of liquid instead of solid bread from their grain, and then drink it in copious quantities…the more, the holier. Because the monks were society’s role models in those religious times…as did the monks so did the common folk. The secular verson of the sacred strong bier was called a Bockbier.

The first Lenten strong beer was brewed by Paulaner monks at Cloister Neudeck ob der Au in Munich. The Paulaners had arrived in Munich from Italy in 1627. They began brewing beer for their own comsumption shortly thereafter—exactly when is not clear. Depending on which documents one can trust, the year was 1630, 1651 or 1670. The Paulaners felt, however, that such a strong brew with such delightful qualities might be just a bit too much of an indulgence for Lent. So they decided to ask the Holy Father in Rome for a special dispensation so that they could continued to brew it with a clear conscience. The Paulaners dispatched a cask of Lenten beer to Rome for the pope to try and to pass judgment. During its transport across the Alps and along the burning sun of Italy, unfortunately—or fortunately—the cask tossed and turned, and heated for several weeks—a classic condition for causing beer to turn sour and undrinkable. So when the Holy Father tasted the much-praised stuff from Munich, he found it (appropriately) disgusting. His decision: Because the brew was so vile, it was probably beneficial for the souls of the Munich monks to make and drink as much of it as they could. Therefore, he willingly gave the brewing of this new, allegedly rotten, beer style his blessing. Little did he know…!

Today, I came across a blog from J. Wilson — a homebrewer, blogger, and Christian, who decided to undertake the same “liquid bread” fast this year for Lent. Awesome. To work his way back into solid foods, he drank a bacon smoothie on Easter Sunday. Awesome. I don’t even know if he’s heard about Homebrewed Christianity, but he might have catapulted himself onto the leaderboard for Deacon of the Year. Check out the article on CNN’s Belief blog.

I really enjoyed the interview. Order a copy to read about Craig’s inspiring year of plenty. It even has advice in the back about how to raise chickens and other practical things they learned along the way.

We thought this episode would be especially fitting this year as Earth Day and Holy Week converge.

You can read more of Craig’s take on that intersection on CNN’s Belief blog.

I love that I’m a part of a worshiping community where the pastor’s four-year-old runs around the pulpit while she preaches. I was supposed to have a staff meeting after, but told her that we need to postpone it because I was mad at her…her sermon on justice stepped on my toes too much. I was kidding of course. But her daughter — one of the cutest little girls I’ve ever known — playing next to her while she preached, reminded me of this story from PRI’s This American Life a few year’s ago.

Bonus related video:

May King inspire all of us today.

Sorry, no time for commentary on each of these. All of them are well-worth checking out if you missed any. I’m off to ring in the new year on 6th Street in Austin. It was a great year and we look forward to 2011!

Posts:

1. John Caputo’s Fall 2010 Classes….in audio!

2. Philip Clayton invites Daniel Dennett to a debate: Will the New Atheist Accept or Hide (again!)?

3. What is wrong with ‘Progressive Theology?’

4. A megachurch pastor comes out of the closet, scandal free

5. Stuff Liberal Christians Like: #1 Saying, “I’m Not One of Those Christians.”

6. Stuff Liberal Christians Like: #2 Coexist Stickers

7. Disagree to Agree: Philip Clayton and Daniel Dennett

8. I Survived the Christian Right: Ten Lessons I Learned on My Journey Home

9. What Would Google Do? When a theology class reads it

10. Defining the Secular: Charles Taylor (pt. 3)

Podcasts:

1. Anne Rice on Quitting Christianity: Homebrewed Christianity 83

2. NT Wright! Homebrewed Christianity 79

3. Marcus Borg, a “Novel” Jesus Scholar: Homebrewed Christianity 84

4. The Fascinating Life and Music of Kevin Prosch: Homebrewed Christianity 77

5. The Teaching Company Legend Phillip Cary on Homebrewed Christianity!

Recent books include Theology for Liberal Presbyterians and Other Endangered Species, Reforming Protestantism: Christian Commitment in Today’s World, and Hopeful Realism: Recovering the Poetry of Theology. The first volume of his systematic theology, tentatively titled A Theology for Liberal Protestants, will be available sometime next year.

We have a guest host this week for our intro…our newest deacon, St. Nick.

Music this episode is Ben Bowen King’s “Will the Circle be Unbroken” from the album, “The Shepherd’s Story,” available on iTunes.

…As therefore, the Holy Scriptures in many places not only admit but actually require a different explanation for what seems to be the literal one, it seems to me that they ought to be reserved for the last place in mathematical discussions.  For they, like nature, owe their origin to the Divine Word; the former is inspired by the Holy Spirit, the latter as the fulfillment of the Divine commands; it was necessary, however in Holy Scripture, in order to accomodate itself to the understanding of the majority, to say many things which apparently differ from the precise meaning.  Nature, on the contrary, is inexorable and unchangeable, and cares not whether her hidden causes and modes of working are intelligible to the human understanding or not, and never deviates on that account from her prescribed laws.  It appears to me therefore that no effect of nature, which experience places before our eyes, or is the necessary conclusion derived from evidence, should be rendered doubtful by passages of Scripture which contain thousands of words admitting of various interpretations, for every sentence of Scripture is not bound by such rigid laws as is every effect of nature…. [Source]

Over the past two years, it seems Scripture is being used to determine whether climate science is adequate in Congress. We shared this testimony with you a while back, which has resurfaced because Shimkus had become a favorite for leadership in the House Energy and Commerce Committee. But it’s going to a more moderate Republican. Hopefully, Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) and the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hear the words of Galileo.

Books by Elizabeth Johnson:

Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God
She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse
Dangerous Memories: A Mosaic of Mary in Scripture
The Church Women Want: Catholic Women in Dialogue

Also, friend of the podcast Michael Dowd stops by to tell us about an exciting series of streaming conversations in December and January, The Advent of Evolutionary Christianity. Go to evolutionarychristianity.com for details!

Justice is a Train: Unfortunately, a BART Train

This is Bishop Jim Swilley. It’s long. Watch the whole thing. My distaste of megachurches aside, in the midst of the bullycides, this is a powerful thing. What are your thoughts?

I hope we can get him on the podcast soon.

[News story]

In my sermon this week, I decided to revise the famous “Footprints in the Sand” poem to reflect Matthew 6:24 about serving two masters. Here it goes:

One more set of footprints

Last night I had a dream. I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonged to me, the other to the Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that at many times along the path of my life, especially at the very lowest and saddest times, there was one more set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.  “Lord, you said once I decided to follow you, you would be all I needed. You’d walk with me all the way. But during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life, I saw another set of footprints. I don’t understand why anyone else would come between us.”

The Lord replied, “My son, my precious child, I love you and I wish there were only two sets of footprints. During your times of suffering, when you saw three sets of footprints, it was then that you brought along your friend Mammon.”

Dr. Thatamanil is an assistant professor of theology at Vanderbilt University Divinity School, teaching a wide variety of courses in the areas of comparative theology, theologies of religious pluralism, Hindu-Christian dialogue, Buddhist-Christian dialogue, the theology of Paul Tillich, process theology, and Eastern Orthodox theology and spirituality.

Order a copy of Thatamanil’s The Immanent Divine: God, Creation, and the Human Predicament. An East-West Conversation.

We’re also still looking for a few more religious jokes before we offer up the finalists to the deacons to vote on for the title of 2010 Homebrewed Christianity Joke-off Champion. The prize is 4 world-class theological books, 2 premium cigars from Tripp’s humidor, some of Chad’s famous homebrewed ale, and a stack of stickers for you to spread the goodness of Homebrewed! Give us a call at 678-590-BREW to leave a message with your best religious joke.

Click the play button below for a great episode!

Tripp blogs through Pannenberg’s 3-volume systematic theology.

We got a call this week from Don in Vancouver. Thanks for listening and giving us a shout out.

Also, do not forget you have a little bit of September left to call in with your best theological joke. Call us at 678-590-BREW and leave a message for a chance to win the:

4 theology books. We arere talking Moltmann, Pannenberg, top notch theology.
2 excellent cigars
Official Homebrewed Christianity homebrewed ale
Homebrewed Christianity stickers so you can spread the goodness

Click the Play button below and enjoy!

Borg on the resurrection

Wright on the resurrection

I get Dr. Borg’s thoughts on:

Anne Rice leaving Christianity (check out episode 84)

the NYC mosque

Bart Ehrman (check out episode 50)

Luke Timothy Johnson

NT Wright (check out episode 79)

John Dominic Crossan (check out episodes 8 and 34)

Then we turn to his latest book, Putting Away Childish Things: A Tale of Modern Faith. With this one, he sets out in a new direction as a fiction writer, but is up front that the novel is didactic, a teaching novel. We discuss how different the creative process is for writing fiction versus non-fiction, and how much of himself is in the main character, a religion professor who challenges her students to think critically about what they’ve been taught about Christianity. He also talks about whether he will continue writing novels.

Oh, and Tripp and I announce a sweet new contest that you’ll really dig. You can leave your comments and theological jokes on the podcast hotline at 678-590-BREW and you might just hear your message on an upcoming episode.

The ultimate Homebrewed Christianity prize pack includes:

4 or 5 theology books. We arere talking Moltmann, Pannenberg, top notch theology.
2 cigars from Tripp’s world class humidor
Official Homebrewed Christianity homebrewed ale
Homebrewed Christianity stickers so you can spread the goodness

Click the play button below and enjoy!

For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being ‘Christian’ or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to ‘belong’ to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.

(via Anne’s Facebook Page, July 28)

It was surprising to hear that she tries to read every comment on her page! The above post alone has over 1500 comments and she posts several times a day. It certainly is an important hub online where people are hashing out what it means to be a follower of Jesus when there’s so much within Christianity to be embarrassed about. This is a great conversation … enjoy.

Recent volumes from Anne Rice:

Preorder:  Of Love and Evil (Songs of the Seraphim)
Angel Time
Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana
Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt

And thanks to Mike Morrell for doing the interview. Normally we bestow the title ‘friend of the podcast’ for contributing an interview. It’s a little more relational than ‘correspondent.’ But I think it’s getting more serious with Mike. We might be getting close to ‘boyfriend of the podcast’ status. Here’s another great interview Mike did with Kevin Prosch.

In the intro, Ryan Parker joins me to talk about what’s going on over at PopTheology.com, and he has a sweet offer for you. The 25th person to DM PopTheology on Twitter with their mailing address gets a free copy of AD: New Orleans After the Deluge. Ryan promises not to send you junk mail and will not keep the addresses.

Saving a Genre
Ryan’s review of the Christian film, To Save a Life, from New Song Community Church in Oceanside, CA

Being (Really) Human
Pop Theology contributor Richard Lindsay’s review of the BBC America series Being Human

Tripp could not be with us this time. He's busy fishing in the heartland. Check out this monster.

John Caputo

Dr. Caputo is a professor at Syracuse University, ‘a hybrid philosopher/theologian intent on producing impure thoughts, thoughts which circulate between philosophy and theology, short-circuits which deny fixed and rigorous boundaries between philosophy and theology.’ The first time he stopped by, the focus was on The Weakness of God. This time, the topic is what he’s working on now, a follow up volume … The Fate of All Flesh: A Theology of the Event II.

Just for fun, Callid asks some of our nerdier listeners to give us a word count before and after he gets fired up, because Dr. Caputo’s responses get progressively more intense throughout.

If you haven’t heard his first visit on Homebrewed, you can find it here.

Works by Caputo:

The Weakness of God
Against Ethics
The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida
What Would Jesus Deconstruct?

Bonus:

You’ll find a nice excursus download … the final 17 mins. of Callid’s interview … on Baudrillard’s versus Caputo’s hyperrealism, among other great tidbits, and more awesome Caputo links, over at TheImageofFish.com.

If you dig the podcast and Caputo, here are all of the mp3 downloads of his lectures.

And here’s a related promotion from Callid:

Caputo asked that I try to promote the Call for Papers for an upcoming conference he is co-hosting around the future of philosophical thought. He is particularly interested in younger voices being present, so lets send him a whole host of interesting things to read!

As always if you have any comments about this episode, or any ideas for future episodes, give us a call at 678-590-BREW. Leave a message and you might hear yourself on the next Homebrewed Christianity.

As Tripp puts it in the interview, Andrew Root makes death sexy again. They talk about the ‘deaths’ that our culture is currently experiencing: of meaning, authority, belonging, and identity. Through coming to terms with these cultural deaths, the Church can find how God is active in the world and better embody the ministry of Christ.  Using Luther’s theology of the cross, he challenges the church to identify with suffering in the world, because God is made known in despair.

Order a copy of ‘The Promise of Despair.’

Also, check out Tony Jones’ and Jake Bouma’s posts on the book.

More from Andrew Root:

Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry
Relationships Unfiltered: Help for Youth Workers, Volunteers, and Parents on Creating Authentic Relationships
Children of Divorce, The: The Loss of Family as the Loss of Being (Youth, Family, and Culture)

Also check out Baptimergent: Baptist Stories from the Emergent Frontier

Coming up next time we’ll have a guest interviewer, Callid Keefe-Perry interviewing John Caputo!

If you have any comments about this episode or the podcast in general, or just want to give a shout out, call our new phone number at 678-590-BREW! Leave a message and we might play your call on a future episode.

The formula is fairly simple for youth ministers in this group … take a hit TV show like LOST, make it the theme for X-treme Summer Camp 2010, throw an evangelistic Bible verse like Acts 4:12 after it, and there it is … a T-shirt is printed that’s all the rage. This approach might look cheesy to some, but it’s key for maintaining that crucial relevant-but-not-worldly balance.

Cut off the red part.

For the most part, Liberal Christians are content with letting the other Christians have the corner on the cheesy merchandise market. But a few notable exceptions exist. One is the ‘God is not a Republican…or a Democrat’ sticker … although Liberal Christians often think they’re supposed to circle one or cut part of it off prior to application.

Then, there are the ‘Coexist’ stickers, which are very popular among Liberal Christians and their spiritual-but-not-religious friends. Liberal Christians like these stickers because they like the idea of diversity, and really like counting how many friends they can possess from the other religions represented (possible future posts).

You might find yourself looking to play a good joke on a Liberal Christian. Your desire is not surprising, because they make good targets. They … along with their conservative counterparts … like being offended (possible future post).

You already know how to identify one. All you need to do now is obtain an evangelistic version of the sticker, which puts a God-spin on the popular ‘Coexist’ decal. The evangelistic version says, ‘Convert,’ rather than, ‘Coexist,’ and comes complete with ‘Acts 4:12′ across the top.

1. Approach the Liberal Christian’s car when he’s not around.
2. Carefully apply the sticker over the original.
3. Then, just wait days … or sometimes weeks … for him to notice.

You might even get to be there to see the look of horror when someone asks him about it.

Thanks to Pastor Mack for suggesting this post. Leave any suggestions you have for future SLCL posts in the comments. What’s your favorite Liberal Christian merchandise?

If you like this kind of stuff, grab a copy of the book, Stuff Christians Like, by Jon Acuff.

…And speaking of stickers…Get a free Homebrewed Christianity sticker!

In The Wisdom of Stability, Wilson-Hartgrove illuminates the biblical and monastic understanding of why staying in one place is both a virtue, and good for you. “For the Christian tradition,” he writes, “the heart’s true home is a life rooted in the love of God.” When we cultivate an inner stability of heart, by rooting ourselves in the places where we live, engaging the people we are with, and by the simple rhythms of tending to body and soul, true growth can happen. The Wisdom of Stability is a must-read for pastors, leaders, and anyone seeking an authentic path of Christian transformation.

Check out Jana Riess’ Q&A with Jonathan.

Pick up a copy of The Wisdom of Stability at your local bookstore or here.

Also check out Baptimergent. Thanks Amy for calling in and talking about your chapter!

A Dinner Party

Liberal Christians get nervous when outing themselves as Christians. They choose their words carefully, since often it occurs at a dinner party with their spiritual-but-not-religious friends.

With this crowd, the conversation can accelerate from sushi to spirituality in 5 seconds. That’s fast for a Liberal Christian. If you ask her whether she practices Buddhism or Kabbalism, you’ll catch her off-guard, and she’ll answer, “Christianity.” But then, apologetically, she’ll add, “But…I’m not one of those Christians.”

By “those Christians,” she means that she’s not about to tell you, ‘If you died tonight, and you’ve ever broken one of The Ten, you’ll go to hell for eternity, unless you say some magic words.’

In order to make the situation less awkward and the Liberal Christian feel comfortable, you should say, “Yeah, Jesus was a liberal…”