:: in.a.mirror.dimly :: A theology and culture blog with the Bible in one tab and a news feed in the other.

It’s my hope that my book Coffeehouse Theology will help Christians apply theology to their everyday lives, and to that end I have written two study guides that will help readers actively engage in contextual theology. In the Contemporary Issues Discussion Guide I bring up a variety of topics relevant for Christians, and that’s what I’d like to share today, with my next post covering the Bible Study Guide.

When an acquaintance read through the Contemporary Issues Discussion Guide, he shared that he felt it was so badly needed in the church today. Christians need to talk about these issues. At the time he said this, he was thumbing through the chapter on homosexuality.

Throughout the study guide I bring together scripture, global and historic Christians, and a series of thought-provoking quotes on issues we face today that include social justice, race, gender, the environment, war, torture, and evil. Some of these are matters on the political stage, while others are pressing matters for Christians in particular. I could have included other topics, but I felt these were a good start.

Part of my criteria for this guide were issues you typically can’t bring up in church without things getting a bit messy. These are topics that are tempting to avoid, issues we could potentially place outside our spheres of influence. Perhaps some of our views are outdated or not fully engaged with all of the angles and possibilities. For example, have Christians been too quick to condone war or torture? I think we need to talk about that–a lot.

I’m not going to kid myself that this study guide will sway Christian opinion or solve these topics once and for all. However, just as Coffeehouse Theology serves as a point of entry into contextual theology, bringing together a vast array of sources and ideas together, I hope this study guide will help us start more conversations about these important topics.

I was paying a visit to Adrian Warnock’s excellent blog today and read a post called “Theology is for Women Too.” Adrian is a complementarian in his views on women in ministry which, in part, means that women are not allowed to teach men. Therefore, I raised an eyebrow at Adrian’s post on the new book by blogger Wendy Alsup called Practical Theology for Women. In his post, he shares the following,

“I just recently discovered Wendy Alsup’s blog. I was so impressed with the blog, I decided to issue her an instant Warnie award, the second so far this week. I must be feeling generous as I haven’t issued many Warnie’s lately! From now on her headlines can be found in my sidebar, along with many other top Christian blogs.”

For those not in the know, a Warnie is his award for blogs. Kind of like a Dundie for those of you who watch The Office.

So here’s my question… Did Adrian just violate his own rule that women should not teach men by reading a female theology blog?

I’m not trying to be critical or to be a smart guy. I’m just asking an honest question. If you believe women should not teach men the Bible, why make exceptions for a blog?

In my humble little opinion, I think this goes to prove that egalitarianism is the way to go.

The introduction to Coffeehouse Theology is now online at The Ooze.

I’ve become involved in supporting a group known as Shevet Achim, a Christian organization dedicated to bringing reconciliation to the Middle East and sharing the love and peace of the Gospel through their work of bringing Arab children to Israeli hospitals for life-saving surgery. It is a powerful testimony for the Gospel and a wonderful way to bring reconciliation to the Middle East.

With funding drying up, times are tight. There are many children in need of support for their surgeries, be they one-time or on-going gifts. Even if you aren’t in a place to help out financially, please take a moment to read the following note from the director and join us in praying for their ministry. Read the rest of this entry »

I can’t remember the day this happened exactly, but while in seminary I learned that my Christian faith came from “somewhere.” I didn’t just read the Bible and become an Evangelical Christian in a conservative Baptist church. I had entered a tradition, a tradition that had a history, that held certain beliefs in response to certain theological debates and events. I was adopting a theology that has been forming over a long stretch of time.

This was jarring for me. I’d always thought that my beliefs came straight from the Bible, but over time I began to see that matters were a bit more complex than that. I read the Bible the way I did because of my context and my place in church history, even if I was one of many sincere Christians trying to simply interpret and apply the Bible. This doesn’t mean that my tradition was unbiblical or invalid, only that all traditions come from somewhere and are responding to something from the past.

In an interview at The Ooze, Jeannine Brown comments, “You think a person is just saying, Hey that’s the Bible, but it’s a particular tradition saying, We just believe what the Bible says. They are unconsciously being shaped by a tradition that has full sway over how they think and act. We all have traditions that inform how and what we believe.”

Dealing with this realization that we bring our own baggage to scripture, and to theology in general, is a big part of what I tried to accomplish in my book Coffeehouse Theology: Reflecting on God in Everyday Life. It is crucial for readers to understand that talking about the ways context and Christian tradition influence our theology is not the same thing as simply letting our context or traditions tell us what to believe.

We need to be aware of these traditions and interact with them, always looking at the ways they shape us. It is in this awareness that we can study scripture and come to our own conclusions that may or may not fall in line with what’s been passed down to us.

It’s so easy to read the Bible as some kind of other-worldly story, forgetting that it simply narrates the work of ordinary people encountering God. I find it easy to miss out on the more extraordinary pieces that can be easily glossed over in the midst of moving from one supernatural event to another.

In Acts 14 Paul and Barnabas are on their first missionary journey in present-day Turkey. After successfully preaching in Antioch, but encountering a great deal of resistance, they shook the dust off their feet and moved on to Iconium. At Iconium they enjoyed success with many following Jesus and receiving the Holy Spirit, but some in the city began plotting to stone them. When they catch wind of this, they move on to Derbe and Lystra.

Things go pretty well at Derbe and Lystra until the wild card of pagan idolatry emerges, and Paul and Barnabas are treated like gods. When the plotters from Iconium  arrive on the scene, their plot to stone Paul is carried out and he’s left for dead.

Now I’ve always thought it’s amazing how nonchalantly the text says, “But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe” (Acts 14:20). I can’t believe Luke just drops that fact on us and moves on. But I think it’s also extraordinary that Paul and Barnabas retrace their steps, returning through the towns of Antioch and Iconium that they had previously fled.

I wonder if he spooked some people who left him for dead.

It seems Paul almost taunted them to stone him again. I can’t imagine what he was thinking and the Bible isn’t much help on that account. I just can’t get over the boldness God gave them on their return journey!

Another fine piece of gibberish from the creator of Coffeehouse Theology…

Have you ever had one of those awkward moments when you go over your friend’s house for a cup of fair trade organic coffee over an intense discussion of emerging missional contextual incarnational theology and you don’t know where to put your drink?

This happens all of the time, so don’t be shy.

Thankfully, the leading source for entry-level info on the emerging missional contextual incarnational theology scene, Coffeehouse Theology, is fully equipped with the American Beverage and Brew Association’s (ABBA) Platinum rating for drink coasting.

Coffeehouse Theology’s back cover is composed of a fine blend of paper products, ink, and carefully crafted marketing text that create a firm barrier to coffee dribbles streaking down the sides of mugs and cups. While the back cover may sustain slight discoloring, the experts at ABBA agree that Coffeehouse Theology will effectively protect all fine wood surfaces.

Gwen Ness, spokeswoman for ABBA, shares on the ABBA web site, “Coffeehouse Theology does far more than effectively present a practical introduction to contextual theology, it also ensures that all coffee-based beverages will never discolor the average coffee table.”

As if readers didn’t have reasons enough to pick up a copy of Coffeehouse Theology, the recent ABBA Platinum rating makes the latest release from NavPress darn near irresistible.

Author’s Note: Just a reminder to readers that anything listed as “gibberish” really is that. It’s not true. I’m just having a good time poking fun at myself and hope you enjoy it as well. Other posts in the gibberish line include:

Coffeehouse Theology Bookmarks… Now Scented

Coffeehouse Theology is the Cure for Consumerism

Starting on October 1st roughly 50 bloggers will be sharing reviews or at least a few thoughts on my newly released book Coffeehouse Theology: Reflecting on God in Everyday Life. Some will post longer reviews than others, and some will need to wait until some time in November or December, but at some point you will find each of the bloggers below posting on my book.

As a thank you for their support during this tour, I’m sharing links to each of them below in no particular order. Also, if you’re a blogger not listed here and you write fairly regularly on theology and culture, drop a comment below if you’d like to be on the list for the second leg of this blog tour, the dates are still TBA. I have a few more slots open for those who love writing and free books.

Now, here are the bloggers who will be reviewing Coffeehouse Theology:

Brother Maynard

Adam Walker Cleaveland

Josh Brown

Adam J. Copeland

Makeesha Fisher

Jamie Arpin-Ricci

Nate Hulfish

Grace

Scott Berkheimer

Bill Kinnon

Zach Roberts

Darryl Dash

Christine Sine

Todd Littleton

Todd Hiestand

Jim Bonewald

Marla Saunders

Amy Spiegel

Len Hjalmarson

John Morehead

John O’Hara

Tripp Fuller

Geoff Matheson

Rebecca Matheson

Andrew Tatum

Andrew Jones

Andy Rowell

DJ Chuang

Ryan Bolger

Matthew Paul Turner

Adam Malliet

Adam Klein

Mike Morrell

David Hayward

Jason Clark

Anthony Smith

Laurence Tom

Joel Newton

Benjamin Sternke

Steve Knight

Phil Johnson

Molly Aley

Rose Madrid-Swetman

Steve Orr

Heather A Goodman

Tod Bolsinger

As long as we’re embracing protest signs and not people, we’re off our A-Game.

I realized the other day that I’ve simply been too stressed out about the election this year, placing too much stock in politicians, and fearing too much what Republicans could do to our environment and what they would not do for the poor and middle class.

I’ve come to believe that the environment is one of the main issues we cannot afford to ignore in the coming years because climate change could be devastating for the poor living in coastal regions as sea levels rise, because pollution and drought are threatening our drinking water (which could be the source of future armed conflict), and because the earth is the Lord’s and I want to care for his creation. But I feel that I’ve gone too far in embracing an issue, fearing another group, and treating people like ideas.

If I find myself really angry at Sarah Palin because she exhibits a flagrant disregard for climate change and creation care (save for the occasional line in her speeches), then I’ve essentially made her the personification of the ideas I dislike. That is simply not acceptable for me as a follower of Jesus.

The more I think about our two parties and the shouting that goes on across the divide as each side clutches their slogans and smear placards, the more I want no part of either side. I clearly believe that the unborn should not be killed and that our world is worth preserving, but I also clearly believe that people on both sides of each issue need to be shown the radical love of Christ that overflows with patience, does not judge, always hopes for the best, and always forgives.

The A-Game for Christians is living in the love of Christ by first receiving it from God and then sharing it with everyone–no strings attached. This is costly. This means that our ideas and causes have to take a back seat to a certain extent. We cannot treat people on the basis of issues or ideologies, but on the basis of God’s grace that is extended to everyone.

This doesn’t mean we shut our brains off or fail to speak our minds or eradicate our convictions. It means that we hold these views, while letting the love of Christ determine how we ultimately interact with all people. At the end of the day it’s not this election that matters, but rather the Kingdom of God. I don’t ever want to lose sight of that.

I have never been so delighted to see an apple.

After living without apples for months on end, I happily spent 20 minutes after work this week scooping up apples from the tree at the place I work. For most of August and all of September I’ve enjoyed tomatoes every day from our garden. I’ve hardly ever had to purchase lettuce from the store all summer. We pick 10 pounds of blueberries at a local farm and feast on them all week while also making jelly. Some are frozen for the winter.

It wasn’t all that long ago that I realized you could go so long without an apple or only eat tomatoes during the peak of the season. I never knew a strawberry could be so good if you only waited until the local strawberry season.

However, lately, we’ve been trying to take a seasonal approach to our food as much as possible. Instead of picking up whatever fruit I want, I go all out for strawberries during their season and continue to do the same for tomatoes, blueberries, and apples. I think it may save a few bucks, but it also ensures I’m enjoying each fruit or vegetable at the peak of its season.

While it’s catching on all over the place, the “eat local” movement has been around for a while in small pockets of Vermont. While farmers are struggling to get by, and many dairies are closing, there remains a solid core of farmers who are making a solid go of it. Many are aided by the booming artisan cheese business. Cheddar may make everything taste better, but it doesn’t always bring in the best profits.

Perhaps I could have eaten locally and seasonally in Pennsylvania if I had worked a little harder at it–we had a strawberry field five minutes down the road from us for crying out loud. However, you just can’t miss it in Vermont where there Subarus zipping about with “Eat Local” stickers and sandwich boards for farmers markets in every town.

So for now we’ll enjoy the last of our blueberries and start sampling the various kinds of apples, not to mention apple cider donuts.

In Coffeehouse Theology I take a pretty strong stand in favor of women teaching in the church. For myself, it was meeting a female missionary who was the only teacher to a tribe in Papua New Guinea that convinced me it was no longer tenable for me to be skeptical of a woman teacher. However, I now have another instance that I believe reveals the weakness of any view that restricts women from teaching men in church.

Have you ever read a book on Christianity or theology by a woman? I was thinking of the wonderful writings or Ruth Bell Graham and realized that while she may not be permitted to stand up in a church and teach on a Sunday morning, countless Christians have read her teachings and benefited from them.

So why would Christian men, who don’t believe women should teach men, pick up a book by Ruth Bell Graham? Because they inherently know that a woman is every bit as qualified to teach men. Add a pulpit and suddenly things change…

For more on this check out Mike Morrell’s piece.

Today, September 15th, is the official release in stores of my introduction to contextual theology: Coffeehouse Theology: Reflecting on God in Everyday Life. It’s been a long journey from my first ideas while a student a Biblical Theological Seminary in the Fall of 2004 to today, and the moment when boxes and boxes of the book, my book, arrived in our living room last Thursday.

My story is a familiar one for the vast majority of writers, beginning with a long line of rejection e-mails. However, back in May of 2007 NavPress signed me on to write Coffeehouse Theology. When my agent called me to share the good news, I kept it together long enough to hang up the phone.

Once the receiver was back in place I trembled and then just lost it completely. It was a sweet, deeply meaningful moment. When I called my wife to tell her the good news I could barely whisper, “We did it!” in between the tears. We shared the most expensive dinner out we’ve ever had that night to celebrate.

Since then I’ve been through so many ups and downs with this process of writing a book, revising, revising, and revising before jumping into marketing. It’s been a very gradual process where one day you have an ISBN number, then another you have a title, soon there’s a cover design, then you have a page on Amazon.com, and before you know it the book is sent to you in a pdf format. It all progresses so nicely, so normally, so nonchalantly.

And then I came home one day to a package with my books (Coffeehouse Theology and the two study guides). It was a wonderful moment, but it wasn’t quite like that day I found out about the contract. I’ve tried explaining this to friends who scold me. One friend has decided she’ll have to be excited for me. It’s funny. I am very excited about this book and the good I believe it can do for Christians, but it’s also very… normal to have boxes of books with my name on them sitting in our living room.

In fact, what I have found most exciting of late is a fairly positive review in Publisher’s Weekly, a kind of validation that all of my work over the past four years is on target.

So these are ordinary and extraordinary times for me as a writer. In one sense I’ve been working on this for the past four years, so there’s this other part of me that feels like, “Well, it’s about time!” On the other hand, I am completely blown away that I have literally fulfilled my dream: to publish a book.

Time Magazine pretty much sums up why the Republicans will be very hard pressed to get my vote this year, especially after Palin was added to the ticket, in this article: “Are Evangelicals Really Sold on Palin?”

I particularly enjoyed this paragraph:

That goes double for younger Evangelicals. These voters tend to be even more pro-life than their parents, but abortion isn’t always a priority that moves their votes — it wasn’t when McCain was alone on the ticket, and there’s no reason for that to change with the addition of Palin. More important, Palin has problematic stances on many of the issues that do motivate young Evangelicals. Her insistence that global warming is not man-made, for instance, is unlikely to appeal to those Evangelicals who have embraced so-called “creation care” in the past few years. This is particularly relevant to the current race, as young Evangelicals account for much of that demographic’s undecided bloc. No one knows what the size of their impact may be in November because young Evangelicals are consistently underrepresented in polls of white Evangelicals. (Even a TIME poll of likely white Evangelical voters conducted last month used a sample in which just 10% of respondents were between 18 and 35. That age group made up 22% of the total electorate in 2004, and its share of the electorate is expected to increase this year.)

And if you were annoyed as I was about the Republican convention and their unwillingness to answer questions about the incogruities in their speeches and supposedly credentials, On the Media hit back during their September 7th show.

The fur is flying indeed!

I’m not out to bash Sarah Palin. So before I type any further, let’s just talk about the VP for John McCain and the overal Republican strategy. I’m more interested in what the Republican leaders are thinking than anything else, particularly in their thinking about a VP.

I’ll begin with the assumption that John McCain and his associates are not stupid or rash. They wouldn’t simply jump into a VP choice without doing the research. Most of the “scandalous” stuff about the VP pick has been available online. So even if John McCain is computer illiterate, he surely has people who looked up everything for him.

Now, assuming that McCain and Co. are not stupid, are not too rash, and are committed to winning this election, why would they choose such a candidate for VP?

For one thing, the VP undercuts one of McCain’s strongest avenues of attack on Obama: his lack of experience. McCain’s VP choice has even less experience than Obama–even if Republicans claim their VP has executive experience, their argument is still weakened.

In addition, McCain wants to paint his VP choice as a maverick such as himself. I heard that over and over again in the speeches Republican convention. The trouble is her claims as a reformer and independent have been called into question. So that can’t exactly be the reason for choosing this VP.

Remember, Biden unquestionably shores up a breach in Obama’s campaign: national security. So what could McCain be looking for? The answer lies in Evangelical Christians and other religious conservatives.

When Palin ran for Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, the NY Times notes: “Anti-abortion fliers circulated. Ms. Palin played up her church work and her membership in the National Rifle Association.”

In other words, McCain is willing to give up a strong line of attack against Obama in return for bringing a pro-life Christian on the ticket to rally the Republican base. In fact, that’s exactly what Republicans claim is happening. This may in fact alienate independents, but it seems McCain needs a strong advocate for the segment of the party that voted for Bush and puts abortion above all other issues.

When I look back on 2000 and 2004, the Republicans played the same game with Bush. It worked for me, and he got my vote because I don’t support abortion. However, since then I’ve realized that abortion is one issue among many in the broad spectrum of “pro-life.”. As a Christian who reads the Bible and sees God’s condemnation of nations when they take advantage of the poor, I can’t help but question this plan to reduce Christian Republicans to one issue. The Bush presidency has a poor record in upholding justice and making peace. The number of children killed in our two wars is every bit as troubling as the number of children lost to abortion. Democrats who call for an end to the war are every bit as pro-life as Republicans who want to end abortion.

The frustrating part about the pro-life lobby is it can’t see the forest for the trees by focusing on legislation to end abortion. Many believe that abortion will never be repealed through legislation, and we have to ask the Republicans what exactly they did about abortion in the past 8 years. So even if they would theoretically like to end abortion, do they have the will or ability to do anything about it? Are we really saving lives by voting for Republicans who would repeal abortion in a theoretical world?

So my question is, have Evangelicals succumbed to this one issue? Are the Republicans just waiting for us to say, “Well, say what you will about the VP, all that matters is she’s pro-life.” Then the Republicans can pander to the wealthy, neglect the poor, leave global warming off their platform (which they did by the way), and thus contribute to the degrading of God’s creation and neglecting the very people God cares about. Democrats are not “the answer,” but I think Republicans need a wake up call. Evangelicals should not be bought so easily.

There’s nothing wrong with being pro-life and voting for candidates who want to end abortion, but there are plenty other moral issues that we should consider. Republicans have made the grievous error of reducing moral issues to abortion and sometimes homosexuality. They sprinkle gun rights in there for good measure, and assume they have a winning package to shore up their Evangelical base. As an Evangelical, I know we can do better, I know we can ask for more, and I know if we can show Republicans that our vote cannot be won through one issue, we may in fact make life better for a lot of people, perhaps even saving some lives.

Another fine bit of gibberish from the creator of Coffeehouse Theology…

Even the most engrossing, captivating, action-packed books must be put down from time to time. The creators of Coffeehouse Theology recognize that however rarely a reader may need to put aside such a magnificent tome; one should not be penalized by losing one’s place.

In order to ease these unexpected and unexplained moments of transition, we have developed the official Coffeehouse Theology bookmark. Printed on crisp card stock in the Green Mountains of Vermont, this dazzling reproduction of the Coffeehouse Theology cover shows a blend of soothing shades of purple and earthy napkins. For readers in need of additional copies for their family members, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and check out clerks at the supermarket, ordering information is printed on the opposite side.

And since no reader should be far from the scent of coffee with this volume in hand, we are now offering fair-trade organic coffee scenting options for the bookmark. Simply purchase a cup of fair-trade organic coffee, dip the bookmark in, and let it dry. If the scent isn’t strong enough, repeat the process.

Reading an introduction to contextual theology should be fun and free from distractions. However, should you ever need to put your copy of Coffeehouse Theology down on your coffee table, you’ll need the official Coffeehouse Theology bookmark. To receive a complimentary bookmark, complete with scenting customization options, e-mail Ed at edcyzewski (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address and he’ll ship one to you right away. Our rabbits are standing by.

Author’s note: There really are bookmarks available at no fee. Ask and ye shall receive…