Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Reading Material

For you and for me.

Reading for me: I realized last night, sitting in Worship class listening to a lecture on "Choosing Music for Worship", that my wonderful school will continue to ignore anything remotely related to the postmodern movement. I need to catch up on my reading, so blogosphere-Andy, Parents, Adam's, Howie and everyone else-I request some titles with which to start getting caught up on postmordern worship, postmodern theology, postmodern ecclesiology, etc. And, in the interest of my days in the Socialist Republic of Fayette, if anyone HAS these title and wouldn't mind sending them my way, that would be great....I am a poor man with no idea where my checks will come from after Jan 1st. Anyway, I look forward to your suggestions and getting caught up so hopefully i can join in on some of these wonderful conversations.

Reading for you: There's a couple things I'd like to comment on this morning. I haven't been to blog world since Kramer went Krazy. First, let me say that Richards was inarguably wrong. However, was the tape(or phone, actually) just not rolling during the actual heckling. I echo Adam Leathers point of imagining being in YOUR office, or perhaps behind the pulpit, and two drunk morons stroll in and start harrassing you. The issue is not the racial slurs. Family Guy could've said the same words and everybody would've thought it was hilarious. The point is..."50 years ago they would've had you upside down with a f***ing fork up you ass". That's what Kramer said and that's why he owes the world an apology. He should not be blacklisted, pun intended, his career should not be ended over this. He lost his temper, we all do. After offering an explanation other than "I don't know what came over me" and giving a sincere apology, he should go back to busting through doors and busting our sides. I'm just glad we've got something to get TomKat and K-Fed off our minds for awhile, until the next celebrity scandel comes along of course. Oh, by the way, we're still in an unwinable war. American soldiers and Iraqi teenager freedom fighters die everyday in a war we should've never started. And where the hell is Osama Bin Laden? Oh, and that whole congressional child abuse thing, where'd that thing go? OH OH Oh and how 'bout the millions of people dying of Aids in africa, who's going to "liberate" them? Kramer made Newsweek people. Aren't there more important things? (ps. I'm so glad Brittney has found a suitable replacement for K-Fed to help her seem not as trashy....Paris Hilton...my point being, why do I care and why do I even know about this!!)


I guess that's all I got for right now. Take it easy, sleazies. Look forward to your suggested readings.

Peace, B

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think one of the most relevent theoretical books that I have read as of late is the Whose Afraid of Postmodernism? By James K. A. Smith. You can link to it from by site.

I also recommend A Peculiar People by Rodney Clapp...I think that you wouldn't necessarily need the introductory stuff that McLaren has out the (namely A New Kind of Christian) but I don't think I would ever not recommend him. Ummm...Anything Dallas Willard is good. I've read Divine Conspiracy and Renovation of the Heart. I think that Mustoe has read a third one so you can talk to him about that. I would say that Willard speaks about spiritual formation in a postmodern context. Doug Padgett's Spiritual Formation Reimagined(That might not be the title I know they changed it) is a good narrative of how a post-modern community might look.

I'll give it some more thought and check the old book shelf...hey if they won't address, you should head down here...it's all over the place...of course you have to sign your life away with the Ethos statement(just kidding).

Later Bro

Andy B. said...

I can't help you, bro. The reason no one writes, speaks, or teaches very well about post-modernity is that we are still trying to figure it out. Now, fifty years from now there will be a great book written about this time period that I'm sure I'll be able to recommend to you. (Let's see, 35 + 50 = 85... so, yep, I should still be ticking.) Great stuff of history only emerges in the generations that follow. True for music, art, theology, literature, politics, you name it. We are always looking back saying, "Hey, that WAS a good idea!" For now, just live in the moment!
Sorry for the ramble,
Andy B.

Anonymous said...

If you want sort of pop stuff, read the Emerging Church by Dan Kimball. I've read a couple Brian McLaren and Dallas Willard books. There's been some haters on McLaren but really he's not radical at all, read The Secret Message of Jesus...which should really be called "What i'm pretty sure Jesus was saying". That was a good one. The Great Omission by Dallas Willard is also really good, although again, it doesn't live up to some exotic post-modern contraband...it all makes good sense! I'm reading a book by Leonard Sweet right now, who's been called postmodern. "Of the question into the mystery" is probably the most "out there" book i've got about vaguely postmodern ideas, and it's not even that wierd.

If looking at what the church is doing and asking "Why?" makes you postmodern, I guess I am. We can then look at what we ourselves do and ask "why", and that's even harder! But Andy's right, and McLaren talks about this- we're not sure what we're moving INTO, just that what we're moving OUT OF isn't really working for folks anymore. Man, a record breaking comment!