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Bread for the Journey....

 

Theology Books Worth Checking Out:

 

* The Powers That Be: Theology for a New Millennium, Walter Wink

* The God We Never Knew: Beyond Dogmatic Religion to a More Authentic Faith, Marcus Borg

* Open Christianity: Home by Another Road, Jim Burklo

* The Church Before Christianity, Wes Howard-Brook

* Unveiling Empire: Reading Revelations Then & Now, Wes Howard-Brook

* Rescuing the Bible From Fundamentalism, John Shelby Spong

* The Dishonest Church, Jack Good

* Ten Things I Learned Wrong from a Conservative Church, John Killinger

* The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Heart & Mind, Peter Gomes

* Liberals & Other Born-Again Believers, Sally Geis

* Theological Crossfire: An Evangelical/Liberal Dialogue, Clark Pinnock & Del Brown

* Good Goats: Healing Our Image of God, Dennis Linn, et al

* God of The Possible: A Biblical Introduction to the Open View of God, Gregory Boyd, Jr.

* Most Moved Mover: A Theology of God’s Openness, Clark Pinnock

* Grace & Responsibility: A Wesleyan Theology for Today, John Cobb, Jr.

* Affirmations of a Dissenter, C. Joseph Sprague

* United Methodism @ Risk: A Wake-Up Call, Leon Howell

 

Books Specifically Concerning Jesus:

 

* Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity, Bruce Bawer

 

* By John Shelby Spong: Born of a Woman: A Bishop Rethinks the Birth of Jesus; Resurrection: Myth or Reality?: A Bishop's Search for the Origins of Christianity; Liberating the Gospels: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes

 

* By Marcus Borg: Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus & the Heart of Contemporary Faith; Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography- A Startling Account of What We can Know About the Life of Jesus; The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions; Jesus A New Vision; In Parables: The Challenge of the Historical Jesus; Who Killed Jesus?: Exposing the Roots of Anti-Semitism in the Gospel Story of the Death of Jesus; The Essential Jesus: Original Sayings and Earliest Images

 

Discipleship:

 

* The Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer to Christian Ethics, Stanley Hauerwas

* The Politics of Jesus: John Howard Yoder

* Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving From Affluence to Generosity, Ron Sider

* The Soul of Politics: Beyond Liberal and Conservative, Jim Wallis

* The Call to Conversion: Recovering the Gospel for These Times, Wallis

* Becoming Children of God: John’s Gospel and Radical Discipleship, Wes Howard Brook

 

Devotions/Spiritual Aides:

 

* Beyond Guilt: A Christian Response to Suffering, George Johnson

* For They Shall Be Fed: Scripture & Prayers for a Just World, Ron Sider

* Listening to Your Life: Daily Meditations with Frederick Buechner

* In God’s Presence: Theological Reflections on Prayer, Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki (prayer from a Process perspective)

* With Open Hands: Henri Nouwen - a classic

* Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, Richard Foster

* Praying for Friends and Enemies: Intercessory Prayer, Jane Vennard

 

Magazines:

 

The Other Side – A progressive Christian magazine - theotherside.org

Sojourners – A prophetic liberal evangelical monthly. See also www.sojo.net newsletter (Jim Wallis is the senior editor & leader of a Christian communal advocacy/urban ministry community in D.C.)

PRISM – an evangelical social justice magazine (connected to Ron Sider) (see also: the Prism E-pistle of Evangelicals for Social Action www.esa-online.org )

Christian Social Action – applies UM (United Methodist) Social Principles and Resolutions to current public policy issues/social needs

The Christian Century – a mainline Christian magazine www.christiancentury.org

The New Zion's Herald - www.zionsherald.org - Liberal UM magazine

The Door Magazine: A religious satire magazine -thedoormagazine.com

Associations & Organizations:

 

The Interfaith Alliance -

The Center for Progressive Christianity - http://tcpc.org

Pax Christi - a Roman Catholic Peace movement - paxchristiusa.org

FOR: Fellowship Of Reconciliation (an ecumenical & interfaith peace org.) - www.for.usa.org

www.voice4change.org (anti-war articles and "actions")

www.Democracynow.org (alternative news source)

General Board of Church and Society - www.umc-gbcs.org

United Methodist UMPower Action & Advocacy http://capwiz.com/gbcs/home/

Every Church a Peace Church - www.ecapc.org

Bread for the World - www.bread.org

The Jesus Seminar - www.JesusSeminar.com www.westarinstitute.org www.JesusSeminar.org

 

Helpful Hints for Faithful Living:

 

* Pray Daily * Engage in Daily Devotions (especially the Psalms [& see Devotional aides above]) * Participate in shared Worship & Communion * Put your Faith into Action by: Forgiving yourself and others and engaging in personal and systemic Action & Advocacy * Fellowship * Collaborate * Recreate *

 

Soul Food For Thought:

 

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world, Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Meade

 

One little person, giving all of her time to peace, makes news.

Many people, giving some of their time, can make history. - Peace Pilgrim

 

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor/Jubilee! - Isaiah & Jesus

 

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord! - Paul

 

If you want to be follower of Jesus, you need to look good, on wood. - Daniel Berrigan

 

We must accept finite disappointment,

but we must never lose infinite hope. - Martin Luther King Jr.

Hope is believing in spite of the evidence, and watching the evidence change. - Sojourner's Community

 

It is better to light a single candle, than to curse the darkness. - The Christophers

 

He shall judge between many peoples and shall decide for strong nations far off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. - Micah

 

Be still and know that I am God. - Gode][SIZE=7]

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  • 3 months later...

Here's another progressive Christian resource to check out. It's a brand new interfaith and ecumenical organization called Clergy Leadership Network. They are based in D.C. and seem similar to the Interfaith Alliance.

 

[Clergy Leadership Network

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Excellent resources for those seeking to prepare sermons that lift up the social justice implications of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

From: Sojourners http://www.sojo.net

Subject: Preparing a Sermon? We Can Help.

 

For more than 30 years, Sojourners has provided timely and discerning commentary on scripture. Now we've brought it together in one convenient online resource to help you prepare sermons or other biblical reflections.

 

New from the editors of Sojourners, Preaching the Word offers you the best biblical commentary available - every month - including exclusive access to articles previously unavailable online.

 

>>Check out a free sample.

>>Order today - special discount for magazine subscribers!

 

We've done the research for you, and brought together some of the most insightful commentators of our day, including:

 

Walter Brueggemann

Rosemary Radford Ruether

Walter Wink

And many more!

Preaching the Word is organized according to the Revised Common Lectionary for Sundays, so preachers, worship leaders, pastors, and Bible study groups can easily get to the challenging heart of the scriptures.

 

You won't find a more helpful resource linking the biblical texts with the contemporary faith that does justice. And it's all one click away.

 

>>Check out a free sample. http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=resou...p&week=C_Lent_2

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  • 1 month later...
  • 9 months later...

Here are some other great books I found online that i plan on getting and reading soon.

 

"Ten Wrong Things I Learned From A Conserative Church." Written by a former Southern Baptist who is now Progressive.

 

"The Rapture - The Belief That Leaves the Bible Behind." Written by a Catholic

 

"The Fire That Consumes" A book that supports conditionalism.

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Some updates/corrections:

 

1. The new book by Marcus Borg is not called The Essence of Christianity, but rather, The Heart of Christianity.

 

2. The Clergy Leadership Network has just transformed into The Clergy and Laity Network:

... continuing public role. The reshaping of CLN involves: - a new official name:

Clergy and Laity Network. The logo will remain CLN. A new ...

http://www.clnnlc.org

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I think http://www.theocracywatch.org is an excellent website. Their purpose in their own words:

"TheocracyWatch is a project of the Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy (CRESP) at Cornell University. CRESP is a nonsectarian, action-based educational organization with its roots in religious dialogue, human rights advocacy, and ethical thought.

 

TheocracyWatch raises awareness about the pervasive role of the Religious Right in the U.S. government. It disseminates information through its speakers bureau, powerpoint presentations, CDs -- both audio and powerpoint -- and a DVD. It also conducts interviews with the media."

 

It is not specifically progressive. It could be as well for concerned nonsectarians, those of other faiths (Jewish, Buddhist, Moslem, New Age, etc.), Christian moderates, and even conservatives who oppose moves to make this society (or others) a theocratic society.

 

 

--des

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  • 1 month later...

An update:

----------

Resources for Christian Peace & Justice Work:

 

Faith-Based Peace & Justice Organizations:

 

General Board of Church & Society www.umc-gbcs.org

UM-POWER is an email “action alert” service

The United Methodist Church

100 Maryland Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002

 

United Church of Christ www.ucctakeaction.org

 

National Council of Churches www.councilofchurches.org & www.ncccusa.org

 

The Interfaith Alliance www.interfaithalliance.org

Founded in 1994, The Interfaith Alliance (TIA) is a non-partisan, clergy-led grassroots organization dedicated to promoting the positive and healing role of religion in the life of the nation and challenging those who manipulate religion to promote a narrow, divisive agenda. With more than 150,000 members drawn from over 70 faith traditions, 47 local Alliances and a national network of religious leaders, TIA promotes compassion, civility and mutual respect for human dignity in our increasingly diverse society.

 

Faithful America www.faithfulamerica.org

Faith In Action: Free action alerts & inspiration. FaithfulAmerica.org is an online community of people of faith who want to build a more just and compassionate nation. It aspires to be an online wing of a powerful, new progressive faith movement, like the ones that fought for independence, abolition and civil rights.

FaithfulAmerica.org believes in the common good and in community – local, national and global. We reject a go-it-alone culture that reduces our politics and our personal lives to selfishness and fear. We accept the separation of church and state, but not the separation of moral principles from politics.

 

Church Folks for a Better America www.cfba.info

A project of the Peace Action Education Fund, educational arm of the Coalition for Peace Action, 40 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, NJ 08542

 

The Clergy & Laity Network www.clnnlc.org

 

Fellowship for Reconciliation (FOR) www.forusa.org

The Fellowship of Reconciliation seeks to replace violence, war, racism, and economic injustice with nonviolence, peace, and justice. We are an interfaith organization committed to active nonviolence as a transforming way of life and as a means of radical change. We educate, train, build coalitions, and engage in nonviolent and compassionate actions locally, nationally, and globally.

 

American Friends Service Committee www.afsc.org

(the political activist arm of the Quaker Church) 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102

 

Every Church a Peace Church

www.ecapc.org

 

Bread for the World www.bread.org

 

Churches for Middle East Peace www.cmep.org

110 Maryland Ave NE, #311, Washington, DC 20002

(special focus upon Israeli-Palestinian conflict)

 

Pax Christi www.pcusa.org & www.paxchristiusa.org

(an unofficial peace & justice wing of the Roman Catholic Church) LWH Online weekly e-newsletter, editor, Johnny Zokovitch – email: johnnypcusa@yahoo.com

 

The Catholic Worker Movement www.catholicworker.org

(another unofficial peace & justice wing of the RCC, founded by the late Dorothy Day)

 

Interfaith Worker Justice capwiz.com/nicwj

1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., 4th Fl., Chicago, IL 60660

 

Secular Peace, Political & Anti-war Advocacy:

 

www.peacefultomorrows.org www.listenforpeace.org/ www.unitedforpeace.org

www.womeninblack.net/ www.peacemaker.org www.veteransforcommonsense.org

www.prioritypeace.org www.commondreams.org www.moveon.org

www.truemajority.org www.workingforchange.com www.costofwar.com

www.Globalhealing.net 2020vision@democracyinaction.org www.unionvoice.org

 

Faith-Based Peace & Justice-Oriented Media:

 

Sojourners Magazine www.sojo.net

(a “progressive” evangelical Christian journal & intentional Christian community led by Rev. Jim Wallis in D.C.)

Sojomail - weekly email newsletter SojoMail@sojo.net

 

Evangelicals for Social Action (ESA) (connected to Ron Sider and Tony Campolo)

PRISM ePistle - epistle@esa-online.org - a bi-weekly e-newsletter

PRISM publications encourage Christians to live out the whole of the gospel with the whole of their lives. If you find the PRISM ePistle helpful, forward it to your friends. Our desire is that the ePistle be a forum for challenging discussion and exploration of all issues pertaining to whole-life discipleship.

 

New Zion’s Herald Magazine www.zionsherald.org

 

Alternative Secular Media & Watchdog groups:

 

Democracy Now! www.democracynow.org

(an alternative, non-mainstream, media source)

Democracy Now! airs on over 300 radio and tv stations, including Pacifica and community radio stations, NPR stations, public access tv stations, PBS stations, and on Free Speech TV (DishTV Ch. 9415) and LinkTV (DishTV Ch. 9410, DirecTV Ch. 375),...

 

www.pbs.org/now/ www.indymedia.org www.globalbeat.org www.prwatch.org www.antiwar.com www.fair.org www.truthout.org www.commondreams.org

 

Peace & Justice related Books:

 

The Holy Bible

Vincent Harding, Hope and History: Why We Must Share the Story of the Movement

Martin Luther King: The Inconvenient Hero

Stanley Hauerwas, The Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer to Christian Ethics;

Resident Aliens;

Richard Horsley, Jesus and Empire;

Jesus and the Spiral of Violence;

Religion and Empire

Wes Howard-Brook, Becoming Children of God: John's Gospel and Radical Discipleship

Unveiling Empire: Reading Revelation Then & Now

Theodore Jennings, Good News to the Poor: John Wesley's Evangelical Economics

George Johnson, Beyond Guilt: A Christian Response to Suffering

Martin Luther King Jr., Any book by this author

Mary Alice Mulligan & Rufus Burrow, Daring To Speak in God's Name: Ethical Prophecy in Ministry

Oscar Romero, The Violence of Love

Ron Sider, For They Shall Be Fed: Scripture & Prayers for a Just World

Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving From Affluence to Generosity

The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience: Why Are Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World?

Jane Vennard, Praying for Friends and Enemies: Intercessory Prayer

Jim Wallis, The Call to Conversion: Recovering the Gospel for These Times

The Soul of Politics: Beyond Religious Right & Secular Left

God's Politics: Why the Religious Right is Wrong & Why the Left Doesn't Get It

Juan Williams, The Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years

Walter Wink, The Powers That Be: Theology for the New Millennium

John Howard Yoder, The Politics of Jesus

 

Peace & Justice related Movies:

 

Romero – starring Raul Julia

The City of Joy -starring Patrick Swayze

Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story

Hotel Rwanda – Don Cheadle

The Mission – Robert DeNiro/Jeremy Irons

To End All Wars – Kiefer Sutherland

Gandhi – Ben Kingsley

Erin Brokovich – Julia Roberts

The Thin Blue Line – doc. re: death penalty

Chattahoochee – Gary Oldman/Dennis Hopper

The Fog of War – doc. featuring Robert McNamara

Bonhoeffer – Ulrich Tukur

Born on the 4th of July - Tom Cruise

Amistad –Morgan Freeman/Matt.McCon.

Dances With Wolves – Kevin Costner

Dead Man Walking – Susan Sarandon/Sean Penn

Schindler’s List – Liam Neeson

The Killing Fields – Sam Waterston

Eyes on the Prize – PBS doc. re: civil rights mvmt.

The Corporation – documentary

Amandala – doc. re: ending aparthied in S. Africa

The War – Kevin Costner

The Control Room – doc.re:media coverage of Iraq war

Silver City– Chris Cooper

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And let's never forget that the Bible is the primary source of our progressive/liberal Christian activism:

 

When we read our Bibles, we see a visible theme of God’s constant siding with the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed - including the blind!

 

Throughout the life of Israel, God’s Word displays a clear concern for the welfare of the poor, for “the least of these.”

 

In Leviticus we see that God established the “year of Jubilee,” a policy that held that every fifty years, every generation, the people were to forgive all debts and redistribute the nations’ wealth and provide for the relief of the poor and oppressed.

 

The Law of Moses is a law of mercy toward the poor to ensure their protection.

 

The Prophets proclaimed God’s judgment against Israel whenever they’d forsake God’s righteousness in favor of worshiping foreign gods, wealth for its own sake, and worldly power. They issued warnings when the nation forgot God’s law and oppressed the poor.

 

We also see in our Gospels that God came to earth, incarnate, as one of us, in the person of Jesus - as a vulnerable babe born to a working class couple from a backwater town. Jesus grew up to live for and with the poor and oppressed people of His day. His ministries led Him to intimate fellowship with the most despised and marginalized people in His society.

 

So when your conservative friend wears their "WWJD?" bracelet,

make sure they really know what Jesus did!

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Helpful tips for those who don't fit in so well in the Southern States...

 

Being Presbyterian in the Bible Belt:

As a Presbyterian pastor in the Bible Belt, I am ... a Presbyterian church even though I was Methodist (go figure ... and searched for answers about being a Presbyterian ...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...501095?v=glance

 

 

Being Methodist in the Bible Belt: A Theological Survival Guide ... ... Being Methodist in the Bible Belt: A Theological Survival Guide for Youth, Parents, and Other Confused Methodists. Format, Paperback. Subject, Religion / Methodism ...

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/066...0651493-3633416

 

http://www.booksmatter.com/b066422685X.htm

Edited by BrotherRog
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Another new resource:

 

A new DVD and 100-page study guide about militarism and peacemaking includes rap, stories, many activities, and Bible study (called "Thermostat: Peacemaking 101" -- see description below). It's a great resource for responding to the intense military recruiting efforts that most high school youth are now exposed to.

 

Thermostat: Peacemaking 101 (DVD 2005)

Thermostat is a DVD for high-school-age youth about war, peace, and Christian conscience which features a wide variety of resources including: Bible studies, role plays, stories, images, handouts, poetry, background reading, and a leader’s guide. Thermostat is intended for use in a group setting as it relies on discussion and activities to encourage interaction and learning.

The content of the DVD is divided into the categories of: Peacemaking 101, Imagination, Allegiance, Camouflage, Security, Terrorism, and Non-violence. Each of these categories is then sub-divided into study units that include a combination of activities using both the written study materials and the audio-visuals.

There is enough material here for more than 30 different learning sessions, providing a variety of choices in theme and format.

Youth/Adult Participation: Although Thermostat is designed for use with high-school-age youth groups, the concerns that Thermostat addresses are the concerns of the whole church. We encourage you to use Thermostat in some combined settings where youth and adults participate together. The burden of living the peace of Christ in our world does not rest on youth alone. It is important for young people to hear adults struggle with the questions of Jesus’ Way. The role of adults in these settings is not so much to provide answers, but to be transparent about how their faith leads them, and honest about the dilemmas they face.

In many cases, it may be important for youth to interact with the material on their own. However, we encourage you to arrange at least some opportunities for inter-generational work with the various study units. In this way, the whole church will grow and be nurtured in the peace of Christ.

(Available for loan or purchase from Mennonite Central Committee; cost is $25).

 

[The DVD editors also would like to produce a Spanish edition, if sufficient funds can be found.]

 

For still more details, see http://www.mccus.org/thermostat/

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 6 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Another organization:

 

The Network of Spiritual Progressives:

 

www.spiritualprogressives.org.

 

They will be having another conference in February 06 in Washington, DC! It will include folks like: Jim Wallis, John Shelby Spong, Joan Chittister, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Matthew Fox . . . I went to the one in Berkeley last summer and it was awesome -- nourishing and inspiring.

 

~Mary

:)

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  • 1 year later...
Excellent resources for those seeking to prepare sermons that lift up the social justice implications of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

From: Sojourners http://www.sojo.net

Subject: Preparing a Sermon? We Can Help.

 

For more than 30 years, Sojourners has provided timely and discerning commentary on scripture. Now we've brought it together in one convenient online resource to help you prepare sermons or other biblical reflections.

 

New from the editors of Sojourners, Preaching the Word offers you the best biblical commentary available - every month - including exclusive access to articles previously unavailable online.

 

>>Check out a free sample.

>>Order today - special discount for magazine subscribers!

 

We've done the research for you, and brought together some of the most insightful commentators of our day, including:

 

Walter Brueggemann

Rosemary Radford Ruether

Walter Wink

And many more!

Preaching the Word is organized according to the Revised Common Lectionary for Sundays, so preachers, worship leaders, pastors, and Bible study groups can easily get to the challenging heart of the scriptures.

 

You won't find a more helpful resource linking the biblical texts with the contemporary faith that does justice. And it's all one click away.

 

>>Check out a free sample. http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=resou...p;week=C_Lent_2

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