bobve2

Seeking,

 

I would recommend that you read the following books to help you with your issues.

 

1. Ten Things I Learned Wrong from a Conservative Church by John Killinger

&

2. Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity by Bruse Bawer

 

The first book was written by a former Southern Baptist pastor who is now a pastor of a different Baptist congregation.  Very readable and insighful.

 

The second book is more strident in tone and a bit too brash for my likes, but the author does deliver some knock out punches to fundamentalism.

 

You can read reviews of these books by visiting http://www.amazon.com

 

but I always encourage people to purchase books from their local independent bookstores (or to obtain it from a library).

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Seeking,

 

I would recommend that you read the following books to help you with your issues.

 

1. Ten Things I Learned Wrong from a Conservative Church by John Killinger

&

2. Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity by Bruse Bawer

 

The first book was written by a former Southern Baptist pastor who is now a pastor of a different Baptist congregation.  Very readable and insighful.

 

The second book is more strident in tone and a bit too brash for my likes, but the author does deliver some knock out punches to fundamentalism.

 

You can read reviews of these books by visiting http://www.amazon.com

 

but I always encourage people to purchase books from their local independent bookstores (or to obtain it from a library).

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Books that I have used during my "search for understanding" are 1. Devotional Classics by Richard Foster and James Bryan Smith, 2. "In the Heart of the Temple" by Joan Chittister and 3. "Strength for the Journey" by Peter Gomes

Devotional Classics is 52 essays and sermons by the likes of CS Lewis, Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and many others. Many parts are quite conservative but worth a look.

In Chittisters book there are 16 short essays regarding many spiritual disciplines.

Peter Gomes' book there are 22 sermons about Themes of daily life and 18 sermons about Liturgical Seasons

What brought me to this board? Through a Christian small group I began to explore Progressive Christianity. I ran into TCPC and started reading the message board. I enjoy the diversity, having been brought up as a strict fundamental, legalistic Christian . Therefore the board usually is a breath of fresh air as are the "eight points". My question is: Which of the 8 points of TCPC is the more meaningful to you and why?

LOL! Cynthia. Definitely recommend Generous Orthodoxy.

 

I also whole-heartedly reccomend "The Souls Religion" by Thomas Moore, "A Mystic Heart" by Teasdale, and "God at 2000" by Borg et al.

 

(Should this thread be in the book review section?)

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Thanks for the recommendations! I've gotten "God at 2000" and It's great.

Like Lily, I was raised in a fundamental church. The location was small town Iowa. The opportunity to grow through the eight points of tcpc has been a breath of fresh air for me. Lets keep this question one more round.

Were you born Christian or did you convert from another religion?

  Favorite movie? The Sting.  Music-BS & T, Neil Diamond and Beatles(guess my age) 

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Pushing 50 eh? hehe...yeah, me too. (I adore Neil Diamond)

 

lily

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Pushing 50 is a complement, I remember "the sound of music" and "Dr Chivago" like it was yesterday". Thanks for the complement

I really am challenged by #5 "We know that the way we behave toward one another and toward other people is the fullest expression of what we believe" It seems to me that if we can keep this in mind in our modeling, actions and treatment toward those on the religious right we have an opportunity to continue to grow both spiritually and in numbers. In fact for me, to do that is a lot of what it means in finding that being a follower of Jesus is costly and entails selfless love and conscientious resistance to evil.

I'm a night person because I enjoy reading and learning from this site. Also I am a Financial consultant in Iowa. I like Borg and Peter Gomes as well as Joan Chittester. Favorite movie? The Sting. Music-BS & T, Neil Diamond and Beatles(guess my age) Vocation- I would like to have a business where I helped people not to be poor. First Car? 1963 Corvair Favorite food? Grilled hamburgers with everything on them, Short term goal? to begin a small group to visit about books that discuss global concerns. Where would I go in this world? Northern minnesota to relax, read and meditate. Who would I like to spend an evening with? Phil Jackson(anyone know him?) What Goal Have I attained lately? I'm getting rid of some busyness in my life to allow me to spend more time with the most important people in my life.

My question is: Who is the person that has been the most influential to you in your life?

I'm not sure this will help but I like Joan Chittister's "In the heart of the temple"and "Called to question". She is a best selling author an internationally known lecturer, and executive director of Benetvision: A resource and Research Center for Contemporary Spirituality. She is past president of the Conference of American Benedictine Prioresses and the Leadership Conference of Women Religiou.

No umbrage needed  - I think my intentionally inflamatory paraphrase is actually Karl Marx... but, scripturally my reference is Acts 2:43-47 (New Interpreters Study Bible)

 

"Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles.  All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.  Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.  And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved."

 

Maybe we need more Awe.

 

 

"I agree that our culture is not conducive to what a really Christian community would be, but that does not mean that we can’t work toward what one should be."

 

Of  course... I'm (hopefully) temporarily a bit hopeless about the whole thing... I didn't mean that it wasn't worth doing!!

 

 

"We should take care of others as we take care of ourselves. I take care of my family and myself, and my family in return takes care of me, in almost the same ways. But it can’t stop there; I should work to take care of those who are not able to care for themselves, or who have been driven down and are now unable to care for themselves. I don’t begin to understand how to accomplish this, but that is not the point, yet.

 

Agreed!  At this point it isn't deciding what to do, but finding some common ground, goals, and energy for those who are willing.

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