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Hi, all – I promise I’ll return to some Israel-Palestine highlights very soon; life has been full these past few days, and I want to give these stories the time and attention they deserve – they’re too important.
Today, though, I wanted to tell you about a significant new release by one of my Middle East traveling companions – my good friend Brian McLaren. Just this week, A New Kind of Christianity has hit the shelves and e-readers. I highly recommend this book, whether you’ve read all of his previous books or none at all. In these pages, Brian asks ten questions that he’s received during several years of travel all over the world, from people of faith like you and me who are wondering how to navigate trust in God and living 21st century life with integrity. There’s aren’t pie-in-the-sky, how-many-angels-can-dance-on-the-head-of-a-pin type questions. These are big-picture, war-and-peace kinds of questions that directly contribute to the quality of life on earth. Questions like:
- The Narrative Question: What Is the Overarching Storyline of the Bible?
- The Authority Question: How Should the Bible Be Understood?
- The God Question: Is God Violent?
- The Jesus Question: Who is Jesus and Why is He Important?
- The Gospel Question: What Is the Gospel?
- The Church Question: What Do We Do About the Church?
- The Sex Question: Can We Find a Way to Address Sexuality Without Fighting About It?
- The Future Question: Can We Find a Better Way of View the Future?
- The Pluralism Question: How Should Followers of Jesus Relate to People of Other Religions?
- The What Do We Do Now Question: How Can We Translate Our Quest into Action?
Brian discusses the impetus behind writing this book with Spencer Burke on this Think:FWD episode:
Discussion questions to this video are here; a ten-episode Brian McLaren channel is being launched later this month too. Finally, it looks like TheOOZE.tv is hosting a sweepstakes wherein your fellowship group can engage with Brian on these questions directly – should be a great time! I’ll be following the blog conversation over at ViralBloggers.com.
Lauri bought me Brian’s new book yesterday, so I just started reading. But from reading the first few pages it is very well written and I think will create a lot of interest from many folks that are just stuck in a rut and not knowing which way to turn.