Thursday, June 18

Jun09 issue of Next-Wave is online...

Check out this article in this month's issue:
Cover Story

By John La Grou

Self described, "unapologetic techno-ecclesio geek," John La Grou, gives a review of Shane Hipps' popular book, Flickering Pixels.

Enjoy,
Charlie Wear

Labels: Next-Wave

Link

posted by Charlie Wear | 7:13 AM | |

Friday, May 22

The May09 issue of Next-Wave is online...

Dear Friends and Readers of Next-Wave:
Don't miss the cover story of this month's issue of Next-Wave, Where are the Women? by Peggy Brown. Take the time to read and interact.
Charlie Wear,
Publisher

Link

posted by Charlie Wear | 5:26 AM | |

Tuesday, April 14

Love 'The Shack'? Hate it? Either Way, Read This!

As some of you know, I am a back-cover endorser on the runaway-bestseller The Shack. I said

Finally! A guy-meets-God novel that has literary integrity and spiritual daring. The Shack cuts through the clichés of both religion and bad writing to reveal something compelling and beautiful about life’s integral dance with the Divine. This story reads like a prayer–like the best kind of prayer, filled with sweat and wonder and transparency and surprise. When I read it, I felt like I was fellowshipping with God. If you read one work of fiction this year, let this be it.

I stand whole-heartedly behind my endorsement. And yet even I have been surprised by the wide range of impassioned responses the book has received, ranging from people receiving it as a literally-true story straight from the mouth of God on the one hand, or a witch’s brew of New Age heresy on the other. The Internet is filled with armchair speculation on the literary and spiritual merits of The Shack - much of it rather un-inspiring.

So imagine my delight when I found out that Authentic Media was publishing Finding God in The Shack, an interrogative-yet-playful tome by theologian and author Randal Rauser. Rauser takes readers on a fascinating journey through the pages of the story that has ignited the church’s interest in theodicy ("the problem of evil") and the Trinity, a doctrine that has long been locked away in seminary classrooms. "As a theologian, it is wonderful-if a bit humbling-to witness the Trinity now emerging as a topic of lively conversations at the local coffee shop, and all because of a novel," Rauser says. "But while those conversations have not typically lacked for enthusiasm and conviction, many of them would benefit from some deeper background as to the theological issues at stake."

As Rauser explores the intricacies of the plot, he addresses many of the book’s complex and controversial issues. In the process, he takes a stab at why God the Father is revealed as an African-American woman, defends the book’s theology of the Trinity against charges of heresy, and considers its provocative denial of a Trinitarian hierarchy (with a nod toward the eastern Cappadocian Mothers & Fathers). At its heart The Shack is a response to evil, and Rauser offers an honest and illuminating discussion of the book’s explanation for why God allows evil, how the atoning work of Christ offers new hope to a suffering world, and ultimately how this hope extends to all of creation.

If you’ve been inspired, challenged, or even threatened by Young’s novel, you owe it to yourself to read Finding God in The Shack. You’ll find that it’s like inviting an insightful, even-handed conversation partner across your table. As Rauser puts it:

"It is true that The Shack asks some hard questions and occasionally takes positions with which we might well disagree. But surely the answer is not found in shielding people from the conversation, but rather in leading them through it,” Rauser states. “After all, it is through wrestling with new ideas that one learns to deal with the nuance and complexity that characterize an intellectually mature faith. The Shack will not answer all our questions, nor does it aspire to. But we can be thankful that it has started a great conversation."

Labels: Authentic Media, Finding God in The Shack, Randal Rauser, The Shack

Link

posted by Mike Morrell | 10:09 AM | |

Monday, March 30

New Ooze Podcast: Unleashing Creativity by Teel Montague

This month Brittian Bullock & I had the privilege of interviewing artist, musician, designer and inventor Teel Montague for the Oozecast! It's an insightful conversation on creativity, womanhood, midlife, love, loss and God. Oozeletter subscribers already received notification (get a free subscription now if you don't already get it) - but you can check out the intro right here.

Alternately, download the podcast directly here.

http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/51/s_1eaa37269f094d199e224bb5b190d95b.jpg

Labels: Atlanta music, Brittian Bullock, creativity, EyeGhost, Music, music podcast, Oozeletter, podcast, Shameless Jane, Teel Montague, The Ooze

Link

posted by Mike Morrell | 7:20 AM | |

Monday, March 16

Mar09 issue of Next-Wave is online

Check out Bob Hyatt's Cover Story, Video Venues: the Death of Preaching. Lots of good stuff in this issue including an article from Julie Clawson on Emerging Parenting.

---Charlie Wear, Publisher, Next-Wave

Link

posted by Charlie Wear | 4:06 PM | |

Tuesday, January 27

Coen Brothers Survey - Zondervan Prize!

This just in from my friends at Zondervan. A great survey about reading, aesthetics, and Coen Brothers films. There's a substantial gift at the end if you opt for the final elective part of the survey. Click below to begin.

posted by Mike Morrell | 10:23 AM | |

'End-Times Remixed' - This Book Will Change Your World (& It's FREE)

What comes to mind when you think of "the end-times" or "the return of Jesus"? For some, this is a boring subject. For others, it literally defines their lives. For many, ideas about eschatology fuel their passion and faith in God; for still many others, those same teachings have caused untold pain.

From the 1970s – 1990s, books about "the end of the world as we know it" became best-sellers that fueled entire cottage industries. But as the first decade of the 21^st century seems to mirror more and more a real-life apocalypse now, it seems like Christians are questioning their inherited assumptions. At the same time, people of goodwill from all faith backgrounds (or none at all) are questioning the public good of "Left Behind" spirituality. Environmental carelessness, turmoil in the Middle East, and a general attitude of war = end-times progress and peace = the antichrist have caused many journalists, theologians, ministers and ordinary believers to weigh the fruit of these popular ideas. They’ve been weighed and found wanting.

Thankfully there are other resources for faith and practice besides pop-culture interpretations of Revelation. Inquirers have been seeking out Scripture and church history with fresh urgency, to see what Jesus and his earliest followers might have been thinking about "the time of the end" and Jesus' return.

My friend Kevin Beck of Presence International has written a book exploring just these questions. No dogma remains unwalked; no sacred cow remains un-tipped in his exploration of a better way to tell this Story. Kevin and the folks at Presence have decided that this book is too important to sell – and I agree. Whether you see eye-to-eye with every jot-and-tittle is irrelevant; This Book Will Change Your World lives up to its promise, and deserves to be set free to as many readers as possible.

For this reason, Kevin has enthusiastically agreed to give away a digital edition of this book to everyone who will share it with their friends. You can share it with as few as 3 friends, or you can share it with your whole email address book, which I’m doing.

Kevin wants to share this book with everyone – not to manufacture consent, or tell you what to believe. Rather, his heart is to re-frame a well-worn paradigm and open a conversation, a vital dialogue on what is (spiritually, geopolitically, ecologically - you name it) one of the most urgent matters of our time. To get your free copy of This Book Will Change Your World, go here and click the ‘free e-book’ option. It’ll take you from there. I’m trying to get the word out about this, and I hope you’ll help me. Feel free to post a link to thisbookwillchangeyourworld.com (or my post here) to your blog, Facebook profile, email list, etc…

And let’s discuss it on The Ooze!

Labels: a new earth, agapetheism, bible, ebook, emergent eschatology, emerging church, end-times, eschatology, free books, Kevin Beck, Kingdom of God, New Covenant, new creation, return of Jesus

Link

posted by Mike Morrell | 6:18 AM | |

Friday, January 16

Tenth Anniversary Next-Wave is online

Hi All,
The tenth anniversary issue of Next-Wave is online. Be sure and check out the mega article by Stephen Shields, A Ten Year Retrospective on the Emerging Church in North America gleaned from interviews with some of the leading voices.
Charlie Wear
Publisher
Next-Wave

Link

posted by Charlie Wear | 2:34 PM | |

Thursday, November 13

Metavista: Bible, Church & Mission in an Age of Imagination

Is anyone else reading Metavista yet? A number of folks are.

http://www.meta-vista.org/images/book-cover-large.jpg

Links roundup:

Offical Metavista blog (quite under-exposed and worth reading)

MetaVista video interview on Allelon: Part One & Part Two & Part Three (I wish these were embeddable)

Bill Colburn's review of Metavista

Andrew Perriman on Metavista

Prodigal Kiwis on Metavista

Yours truly on Metavista

Labels: Allelon, emergent, emerging church, metavista, postmodern

Link

posted by Mike Morrell | 7:39 AM | |

Wednesday, November 5

Deliver Us from Me-Ville Videos

Have you seen the videos to Dave Zimmerman's hilarious and tranformative new book, Deliver Us from Me-Ville?

Check 'em out...

Part 1 - Self Proclaimed Expert

Part 2 - Marrying My Niece

Part 3 - A Delicate Balance

Here's what Mark Scandrette has to say: "With light-hearted wit, self-effacing humility, and utter seriousness, Dave Zimmerman takes on one of the great idols of our cultural-captivity. Deliver Us from Me-Ville is a warm invitation to leave behind our narcissism to more fully embrace The Way of Jesus."

I blog a bit more about Deliver Us from Me-Ville here.

Link

posted by Mike Morrell | 12:14 PM | |

Monday, November 3

Searching for a Better God? Links roundup

This past week or so, Wade Bradhsaw's provocative tome Searching for a Better God from Authentic has been making some waves on the blogosphere, partially from yours truly. Here are three relevant links:

My review on zoecarnate

Searching for a Better God? from Phoenix Rising

Apologizing for God on Sensual Jesus

I think this is an important conversation on our imaging of God.