earthsedge

I found out my thesis proposal for my BA was officially approved, so I’ll be trying to get as much done in the few months before we leave for Amsterdam and the FIS begins. ‘Thesis’ isn’t really the right word-it’s not a research paper. It’s more like a ‘creative project’-a collection of personal essays reflecting on my experience in missions over the past eight years. I think I’m really going to enjoy it. The tentative title is Following Christ Across Cultures: Reflections on Faith, Culture, and Mission. I might have to revise that later, but I’m pretty happy with how broad it is. I’m supposed to be putting in 50 hours a week of reading and writing. The writing part is definitely the more challenging side of the project. I feel like I have plenty of ideas of what to write about, but actually putting them into coherent and readable essays is another story. The reading, of course, is the fun part (the guy in the picture above is obviously having the time of his life). I get to revisit some books that have influenced me in the past few years, and read a bunch of books that I’ve been looking forward to reading. Here’s my working bibliography (for the one or two of you out there who are actually interested-feel free to offer suggestions if you think something is missing):

Review

Boyd, Gregory A. The Myth of a Christian Nation: How Political Power is Destroying the Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005.

Boyd, Gregory A. Repenting of Religion: Turning from Judgment to the Love of God. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2004.

Brueggemann, Walter. The Prophetic Imagination. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001.

Chandler, Paul Gordon. Pilgrims of Christ on the Muslim Road: Exploring a New Path Between Two Faiths. Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers Inc., 2007.

Crouch, Andy. Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008.

Hiebert, Paul G. Transforming Worldviews. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008.

Jenkins, Philip. The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Jenkins, Philip. God’s Continent: Christianity, Islam, and Europe’s Religious Crisis. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

Jones, E. Stanley. The Christ of the Indian Road. New York: Grosset and Dunlap Publishers, 1925.

Kruger, C. Baxter. The Great Dance: The Christian Vision Revisited. Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 2005.

Kruger, C. Baxter. Jesus and the Undoing of Adam. Perichoresis, Inc., 2007.

Newbigin, Leslie. The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society. Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1989.

Raschke, Carl. GloboChrist: The Great Commission Takes a Postmodern Turn. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008.

Torrance, James B. Worship, Community, and the Triune God of Grace. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1996.

Torrance, Thomas F. The Mediation of Christ. Helms and Howard, 1992.

Volf, Miroslav. Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996.

Willard, Dallas. The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God. New York: HarperCollins, 1997.

Wright, N.T. Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. HarperOne, 2008.

Projected Reading

Chandler, Paul Gordon. God’s Global Mosaic: What We Can Learn from Christians Around the World

Frost, Michael and Alan Hirsch. The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21 Century Church

Hirsch, Alan and Leonard Sweet. The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church

Hughe, Richard T. Myths America Lives By

Hunter, George G. III. The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach the West…Again

Kingsolver, Barbara. The Poisonwood Bible

Kurlansky, Mark. Nonviolence: The History of a Dangerous Idea

Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Mellis, Jim. Latest book (This is my boss, who is writing a fantastic book on intercultural relationships)

Miller, Darrow L. Discipling Nations: The Power of Truth to Transform Cultures.

Newbigin, Lesslie. Foolishness to the Greeks: The Gospel and Western Culture

Niebuhr, H. Richard. Christ and Culture

Noll, Mark A. The New Shape of World Christianity: How American Experience Reflects Global Faith

Peterson, Eugene H. The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways That Jesus Is the Way

Rah, Soong-Chan. The Next Evangelicalism:​ Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity

Smith, James K.A. Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation (Cultural Liturgies)

Stier, Jim and others. His Kingdom Come: An Integrated Approach to Discipling the Nations and Fulfilling the Great Commission.

Torrance, Thomas F. Incarnation: The Person and Life of Christ

amsterdam, bibliography, books, culture, faith, fis, mission, thesis project

…but on the downside I’m apparently not very original.

I’m thinking about resurrecting “linking the week,” but until then here’s an article on “Christian Hipsters.”

I was surprised to discover that about 75% of what he describes could have been written about me. I am definitely wary of both TBN and evangelicals who get involved in politics. I despise CCM, and I’m not a big fan of mega churches. And the term “soul winning” does makes me cringe, as do sock puppets. I could more or less drop the last  paragraph. But it was the authors he mentioned that really surprised me; with a few exceptions, they’re some of my favorites (e.g. I just finished a book by Marilyn Robinson, and I’m currently reading one by N.T. Wright. This is one of my favorite poems, by Wendell Berry.)

I like what one of the comments said, tongue in cheek: “Should I seek help?”

The funny thing about emerging “cool” demographics is that as soon as you have described them, they lose their appeal. No doubt that in this case that will happen before too long. But until that happens, I would be more likely to embrace being 75% cool if it came with a better name. “Hipster?” That word will forever have a totally different meaning to me. I was trying to pin down some vague memory of this word, and then suddenly it hit me:

There is this cheap textile shop in the Netherlands (I think “Zeemans” but I could be misremembering), and for a few weeks they had this massive ad campaign for these black, lacy panties. At nearly every bus stop in Amsterdam there was a sign with a scantily clad booty and the giant words “THE HIPSTER-NOW ONLY 1.99″ (I may have the price wrong-but you get the picture).

“Christian Hipster”-my mind just doesn’t know what to do with that.

amsterdam, christian hipster, culture, faith, generation y