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This is a book i am been needing to review for awhile now. I finished reading it a month ago for so… so here ya go!
The Sacred Meal by Nora Gallagher
On the back of this book are quotes by a couple well respected people; Brian McLaren, Lauren Winner. McLaren’s words I agree with, Nora Gallagher opens up The Table to wide audience in her book The Sacred Meal.
She is a great writer and as you read this book you will sense this and feel as if your sitting along site her, having a conversation about a often misunderstood but incredibly important aspect of the Christian life. She communicated the truth and mystery of the Eucharist in a very accessible and creative way. Which makes this book well worth the read.
Lauren Winner makes the statement, “I know of no contemporary writer whose insights about the Eucharist match hers.” I know Winner is smart and well read which is why this statement blows me away. That is a huge claim and one I would not even come close to making. As good of a book as this is I have read many that are better when it comes to Eucharistic theology.
Gallagher opens up the conversation of the Eucharist to all, which is great, but sometime she goes a little to far and leans a little too much into her trade as a novelist. I don’t need to agree with everything she says but I thing she stretches her metaphors a bit far at times and fails to simply tell us how to live a Eucharistic life, even though i think this is her aim.
This book is worth the read but go in open minded, ready to agree and disagree, but most importantly be ready to engage in a horribly important topic for today’s church, The Eucharist.
=====================
If you want to buy this book get it here!
(buying it here sends eMinistries a little cash, So buy it!)
I got this book for free from Thomas Nelson to review on this blog.
THANKS!
Tags: Book Review, books
I haven’t been reading my Relevant Magazine lately so I put the last few issues in the bathroom. Now I will read Relevant during those holy moments instead my wife’s Elle or Marrie Claire / whatever girly crap is on the shelf. A good move I know!
Today I picked up the November | December issue, the one with Jon Foreman on the cover and decided to read a little article that sparked my attention, So is Drinking Ok? By Jayson Boyett. Some of you know where I’ve landed on this issue and the issues it’s stirred for me so let’s talk.
Jason writes an article that is pretty well written and gives a fair assessment of both side of the issue. Of course in an article that is probably 1000 – 1500 words long one can’t really get into the nuances of the issue and really state a good case for either side but he does do a good job of making a couple points and leaving room for the discussion to continue. Personally I wish there were more answers give rather than questions raised but with such a touchy topic among many conservative Christians i can understand why Boyett opted not to make any definitive statements on either side of the issue.
(found the digital issue of Boyett’s article, check it out!)
For me…
Read the rest of this entry »
So i went to see Rob Bell the other night. His current tour is called Drops Like Stars. It’s an attempt to look at suffering differently, to change the question a bit.
It was good, not mind blowing or anything but really good. I could unload on you all my thoughts but instead you should just go get the book. Word on the street is that the book and the tour are the same things. I plan on reading the book.
So, here you will just get some of my thoughts that i wrote (on my iPhone) while Rob was talking.
(this is an image i took while Rob was talking about Jonny Cash at the Viper Room in LA)
// my notes //
—————
//Insulators / The box
- When the box is crushed, something random is done or happens, that’s when we realize there is no box / or our box is destroyed.
- How can we smash the box?
// Telling people “i’m fine” and suffering behind the curtain.
- How to live honestly?
>> The Art of Honesty
// “There is no way to God except through trouble.”
(This was a quote from somebody but i don’t remember who. I’m sure it’s in the book.)
// The heart of the gospel is the cross.
- The heavenly incarnational “i know how you feel”
// Art and Feat :: a book
(i made a note cause i’m interested in reading this book he spoke of)
// “This to will shape me”
(this is something Rob said that noted)
—–
Well those were my notes. Obviously he said a lot more than that but those are the few thing he said that i wrote down. He did say one other thing that has stuck in my head. It was pretaining to his words on the “art of elimination” which is the section in his talk where he has us hold a bar of soap and talked about the time he invited sculptors over to his house to sculpt bars of soap.
The point was that some things will need to be taken away, eliminated, in order for you to see the potential in your “bar of soap” / your life.
Extremely sold point and illustrated with absolute creativity. I LOVE IT! i will probably steal the idea in the future!
So that’s my Rob Bell / Drops Likes Stars love for today.
Go read the book!
(here is a good review of the book if your interested)
And just incase your not familiar with Rob Bell (which, how could you not be) he’s the dude who does the little 10 min video called nooma. As i was looking for a Drops Like Stars pic to post uptop i found this nooma. Enjoy!
(it’s old Rob but good!)
Tags: Drops Like Stars, nooms, Rob Bell
I am working on three books right now. The goal is to get them done by the end of the month. I’ll let you know how that goes.
I usually keep my current reading list up to date, you can check it out on “the shelf”. That the page on this blog where i talk about what i’m reading and stuff like that. Check it out.
(the link is up top)
So these are the three books i am working through right now. All three are really good and all three are worthy of some blog time. I will do that soon!
Grace and peace
Erik
Well i am plugged back in after my day of unplugged-ness. It was a good day and honestly, it’s harder for me to fast from my electronic gadgets than it is for me to fast from food. I think that says a lot! I was a pretty good electronic free day. I felt like i got a lot done and i felt like i was able to focus on some spiritual things a bit more. So that was good.
Confession :: It was date night, my wife and i try and do that once a week and we did end up watching a movie. I didn’t as much as touch the remote so i technically didn’t turn on anything electronic but i did enjoy the movie. Maybe cheating, maybe not.
Anyway…
I just started reading this book The Holy Longing, the search for Christian Spirituality. I just started reading it today actually but so far so good! And it really ties into our desires and our “plugged-in” life.
Here are a couple really good quotes.
(probably more to come)
He talks about Mother Teresa as a very erotic women. I thought that was humorous. In context he makes a really good point.
“A saint is someone who can, precisely, channel powerful eros in a creative, life-giving way. Soren Kierkegaard once defined a saint as someone who can will on thing.”
“Most of us are quite like Mother Teresa in that we want to will God and the poor. We do will them. The problem is we will everything else as well. Thus, we want to be a saint, but we also want to feel every sensation experienced by sinners; we want to be innocent and pure, but we also want to be experienced and taste all of life; we want to serve the poor and have a simple lifestyle, but we also want all the comforts of the rich; we want to have the depth afforded by solitude, but we also do not want to miss anything; we want to pray, but we also want to watch television, read, talk to friends, and go out. Small wonder life is often a trying enterprise and we are often tired and pathologically overextended.”
i think that pegs me perfectly and many, many people i know. We want to will one thing but more often we will many things.
So far, so good. i probably keep you updates as i read.
Shalom
erik
A good friend of mine asked me to give him some good book recommendations. But he wanted some books that would stretch his thinking and rattle his cage a bit.
Here is the list i gave him but what books would you add to this list?
That’s what i want to know!
#1a. The Politics of Jesus :: John Howard Yoder
#1b. The Original Revolution :: John Howard Yoder
#2. Torture and Eucharist :: William Cavanaugh
#3. Resident Aliens :: Stanely Hauerwas & Will Willimon
#4. For the Life of the Wolrd :: Alexander Schmemann
#5. Jesus Christ for Todays World :: Jurgen Moltmann
—–
So now i want to hear what books you would add to this list.
What books have stretched you? Earth shattering, philosophy changing kinda book.
DO SHARE!!!
Be Peace
Tags: books
Well the title of this blog is “Revolutionary Thoughts”. We all know the term revolution has become as cliche as anything but underneath the layers of crap and false notions and domesticated definitions there is something that is real, something that is truly definitavely revolution :: but do we know what that is? Have we ever seen it in our life time? Is anyone really living it? Does anyone really even know what it is?
Have i ever really thought or shared a truly REVOLUTIONARY thought on this blog?
Just thinking…
I updated my self today.
(The Self is a page on this blog where i periodically post books and things that i am reading or watching or whatever. The tab for it is above on the right.)
The above thoughts are prompted by a book i just started reading this week. The book is Death of a Revolutionary; Che Guevara’s Last Mission.
When you begin to read about a real deal revolutionary you begin to ask some of these questions or at least i have.
This is the second book I have read about Ernesto “Che” Guevara and I have also read one book by him. Along with watching a few movies that tell parts of his story.
I became interested in Che, as he is usually referred to because I haven’t ran across anyone so commonly know as a revolutionary as he. Everyone just assumes that Ernesto Che Guevara was a revolutionary, and it’s true, he was the epitome of Revolution and of a revolutionary. I was, i am intrigued.
When i am done with this book i will share some of my thoughts. This has been the most informative and intersting of the book on him that i have read to-date. I look forward to sharing some thoughts soon.
Peace through revolution
Erik
Tags: Che, Ernesto Che Guevara, revolution
Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit that has always intrigued me. They called him An Geadh-Glas, or ‘the Wild Goose.’ I love the imagery and implications. The name hints at mystery. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger, an air of unpredictability surround Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious, I cannot think of a better description of what it’s like to follow the Spirit through life. I think the Celtic Christians were on to something that institutionalized Christianity has missed out on.
Most of us will have no idea where we are going most of the time. And I know that is unsettling. But circumstantial uncertainty also goes by another name: Adventure.
The Introduction to Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson
That’s where Mark Batterson starts in his new book Wild Goose Chase and from there, he leads his reader through an exciting, inspiring and provocative journey of chasing hard and fast after the Spirit of Jesus, the Wild Goose who is trying to lead all of us into the full and exciting adventure we call life.
Early in Wild Goose Chase I think Batterson really hits a 21st century Christian nerve when he says, “Christians are bored with their faith.” Our Christian (sub)culture has established a very safe and calculated way to be “successful,” but Batterson would say chasing the Wild Goose, the Spirit of God is never predictable and as good as it might be, it’s definitely not safe.
This book is full of great one-liners to put in your pocket and chew on later. Sometimes the one-liners become a bit cliché but overall, there are tons of great nuggets that really leave you thinking and challenge you to take your pursuit of God to the next level.
One of my favorite was is found on page 58, “Spontaneity is an underappreciated dimension of spiritualaity.” “It is our moment-by-moment sensitivity to the Holy Spirit that turns life into an everyday adventure.”
Another thing Batterson does well is to keep his content challenging yet uber accessible for the average reader. He never gets too fluffy, too “spiritual” or too heady for the average guy or gal to get ahold of what he’s saying.
And in the vein of any good rabbi or pastor he asks great questions! Wild Goose Chase is full of inquisitive and challenging question for the reader. This was a part of the book I really enjoyed and it really displays his pastor’s heart.
Batterson’s book is honest, simple and full of great challenges for the Christian who want to pursue God even if it’s going to be like a Wild Goose Chase, who knows, maybe that’s a good thing. Mark Batterson would tell you it is! And he would say the adventure is well worth it!
Check out the website www.chasethegoose.com
and order your copy—it came out today, at Amazon.com.
You can also check out Mark’s blog at Evotional.com
Enjoy the read,
Erik
Tags: Book Review, books
Most of my reading is pretty weighty stuff; theology, bible, or church resource kinda stuff. Stuff that I underline profusely, re-read often, and take forever to get through. Well recently I was having a really crappy day, all the worries of life had seemed to converge and crash simultaneously into my lap and onto my brain. I could not focus on ANY of my normal reading and even the Bible wasn’t a path out of my worries & introspection. So I picked up a book that some friends had given Andrea and I, The Shack. I had been hearing about this book from pastors and friends, most of them saying, “It’s amazing, you have got to read it”. I had heard a few naysayers, people who thought the theology was bad, and the path it leads its readers down was dangerous. I don’t really worry about that, life is full of dangerous paths and that’s why we have Jesus right. To be a light in those dark places, helping us to discern what truly reflects his heart and what doesn’t. Yea, I wasn’t worried about that so I began to read.
I wanted a book to read that I could get lost in. One that would steal my wandering, contemplative, negative mind and take it to a different place, anyplace. As soon I started reading chapter one I realized The Shack was that book.
I am typically a pretty slow reader but I burned through The Shack. As I read it I thoroughly enjoyed the picture it painted of God and the relationship that God not only had with Mac (the main character—besides God) but also the relationship God has with her/him-self.
There are a few primary aspect and topics that the books wove through it’s pages, I will briefly hit on a few of them and will just share a couple of my thoughts. Hopefully I will get some response from you, I would love to hear what you think.
// Power & authority / The Kingdom
There was a dialog between God and the main character Mac discussing the nature of authority. What I remember reading (I read the book about a week ago — we’ll see how good I remember) was a conversation about how in the Kingdom, where things are like God intended things to look, authority looks much different than it does here on the earth. I don’t remember the details of the conversation in the book but I do remember thinking, YES! Often Jesus looks into the world and says, “That’s not how we are going to do things” (Mark 10:43). He is giving us new definitions, he is teaching us a new way, The Way.
I like the idea, and I have often thought it, that we can’t, as people who follow Jesus and have citizenship in His kingdom, define authority the same way the people who write the Oxford Dictionary define authority. Authority is to be lived out differently for Christians leaders, authority is to look and be defined differently as husbands and as wives, authority it so be defined and lived out differently as we interaction with people who society and corporate America would say are below or above us. Authority is different for those of us who follow Jesus.
And authority is different for God. There is conversation in the book on the authority of the Godhead; father, son, spirit. The book tries to articulate that there is no “head”, no food chain, and no power structure in the trinity. I think that idea is right on. And I think this because the way God views “authority” is dramatically different than the way we think and define authority. This same concept paints a new picture of what it means to be a husband or a wife as well. God is working toward and defining a whole new reality for us and he lives it out in the fullness of his being, in the trinity. I LIKE IT!
// God as her… and as him
A controversial part of the book is the fact that God the father is depicted as a large African woman, who Mac affectionately calls papa. I love the tension that puts the reader in. Calling a women, who is God, papa. Love it. There is a point in the book that the author explains that God is not male or female but appears to Mac in the way that is best for him. And because Mac had a poor relationship with his father he appears as a women to him. Makes sense to me. I think it’s great because it begins to breakdown some of the preconceived notions of what God looks like and who God is. The book talks about this and I think it’s very true. And this fact often hinders our interaction with God, our prayer life because we see God one-way or the other. This conversation might stretch some but it’s one we should embrace because God is bigger than our stereotypes.
// God as love & forgiveness
A primary critique of this book is that it’s dangerous because it paints God as a soft, loving, buddy buddy God. I can understand how one would see that but I think it’s a incorrect reading of the book. In the same way a parent can be a friend with a child, is infinitely loving to their child, a parent still disciplines and corrects and lets suffering happen when they believe it will result in the right and good lesson. A good parent (I would imagine) is the perfect mix of all these things but in all of them love is always attempting to burst forth from the heart of the parent. I think this is the picture this book paints of God.
Is all the theology right? Are all the ins and outs of God’s character correct? Are all the little lessons woven through the pages of this book right on? I don’t know. But what I do know is that this book is full of grace and full of encouragement to relate to God on a level that I believe he desires us to relate to him on.
We don’t often walk with God in the cool of the day or night but this is the place where God is drawing us. Back to a intimate relationship with him. I believe this book has encouraged me to move that direction, to desire to get back to this place with God. If nothing else that is worth my reading and much more.
Like I said in a previous post, I give The Shack three thumbs up. Yes it’s that good, I had to borrow an extra thumb. (and in the post {follow the link} i talked about some theology of The Shack, you might want to check it out]
Pick it up when you get a chance. It’s worth the read!
Shalom
PS: If you have read The Shack i would love to hear some of your thoughts an insight. Post a comment and share!
Tags: books
Well I have been looking for this book FOREVER!!! I actually order on Amazon a few months ago and then they e-mailed me and told me they couldn’t get it. So… I went on Amazon and look, I could buy it used. Cool, right? WRONG!!! It was going from $50 to $70 dollars or hight — per book! What the freak!
So I looked around and finally found it on Christian Book Distributors for regular price. It took awhile but I finally got it. I’m not sure what’s so special about this book but it is in my possession and on my ever increasing reading list! AND i am looking forward to reading it!
The book: The Parables; Jewish Tradition and Christian Interpretation by Brad H. Young.
I have another book by Brad entitled, Meet the Rabbis; Rabbinic Thought and the Teachings of Jesus. Also on that every increasing reading list.
Anyway, just thought I would share. It’s always exciting when a new book comes in the mail. Especially when that book is going on the black market for like $100 bucks!
Shalom
Tags: books
