A new book on the subject of faith and immigration has recently come out entitled A Common Humanity by Lane Van Ham. Lane's father, Lee Van Ham has been an advocate for biblical justice and economics in San Diego for a long time. Lee is working with Friends of Friendship Park to bring Lane to San Diego this Thursday, January 5. Event information is here. See you there?

Yesterday, Rick Shrout's new book Street Crossers showed up in the mail. Chapter Two profiles yours truly. But don't be discouraged to pick it up because of that. It also profiles several people in the missional/organic/emerging church planting world that I highly respect and they have wonderful stories to tell. You should pick it up. I'd love to hear your thoughts and I'm sure Rick would too.

(That's now four books that I'm written about in... maybe I should think about writing my own.)

My school work has lead me to ask a lot of questions about Christian leadership as of lately. I've read a lot of stuff that didn't deserve publishing. Just rubbish some of it. (Yes, I just typed the word "rubbish") Maybe it's because of this that I'm really looking forward to getting this book, Journeys to Significance, in the mail soon. The founder of CMA, Neil Cole's a good writer and an even better man. This book takes a different "spin" than his previous work. I don't particularly like the title, but I have an idea of its content having heard Neil talk about this book long before he wrote it. And that sounded good. If you're reading it, please share your thoughts.

I'm eager to check out Churches, Cultures and Leadership: A Practical Theology of Congregations and Ethnicities by Juan Martinez and Mark Lau Branson. Both of these men are faculty at Fuller Seminary. Martinez is a respected Anabaptist and Latino leader whose perspective I've grown to deeply appreciate especially. Over at The Missional Network site, they say this about the book:

Over the next several months we are looking forward to volumes from Mark Lau Branson and Juan Martinez dealing with missional leadership in the midst of culture change and multiple ethnicities. The book is published by IV Press [...] Watch for interviews and updates on this book on the web site.

The Internet has changed me in more ways than I would like to admit most days. For example, I used to thoroughly enjoy flipping through newspapers, journals and ‘zines. I don’t do that anymore. I get that kind of information off my phone these days. But this change is subtle. It kind of sneaks up on you. To be honest, I had not even thought much about it until I received my copy of the first print issue of Englewood Review of Books. I had finished the quarter at school, the Christmas tree was decorated and so I sat down to take a leisurely look at the Review. And I was again thankful for print as I read the entire issue in one sitting!

I don’t read publications such as the Englewood Review of Books from cover to cover. Instead, I bounce around reading what most interests me first. I can still remember when this was a more regular practice of mine that there was always something left unread. But not so with the Review. I enjoyed each piece! Leave it to editor, Chris Smith to compile thought provoking interviews, book reviews and poetry from an assortment of writers. The print version of the Review is not his first time out the gate. The online version has been a treasure trove of thoughtful, Christian literature and more for quite some time. He’s penned a few good reads himself as well.

The first issue of the Review features up and coming Christian writers such as Ragan Sutterfield and looks at authors such as William Stringfellow, Slavoj Žižek, Christopher J. H. Wright, and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove among others. This is a worthwhile print subscription. And it’s affordable at $19.95 for a one year and $36.95 for two years. I hope you’ll check it out.

The Ten Commandments (or Decalogue) often get a pretty bad rap. A couple years ago, I had a conversation with Matt Reece from Blvd. Abbey that really made me start thinking about them differently. In essence, Matt pointed out that we often fail to see the positive, life giving side of what appear to be negative laws. Not long after that, I saw Chris Hedges book on the Decalogue and picked it up. But never read it.

Recently over at First Pres', Jerry has been preaching through the Ten Commandments. Jerry's a smart guy and I've appreciated his insights. I also decided to read through Chris Hedges, Losing Moses on the Freeway: The 10 Commandments in America at the same time. I think it's safe to say that Jerry and Hedges have significantly different socio-political leanings. But both are intelligent, articulate guys. It's been interesting to get both of their perspectives on the Decalogue. The Hawthon House spent some time discussing the Decalogue a while back and through these three refreshing encounters I've a new found appreciation for these ten commands. While I can't agree with all the connections Hedges makes between contemporary scenarios and the Ten Commandments, I do appreciate where he starts with these ten commands. In his prologue, Hedges writes:

"The commandments call us to reject and defy powerful forces that can rule our lives and to live instead for others, even if this costs us status and prestige and wealth. The commandments show us how to avoid being enslaved, how to save us from ourselves. They lead us to love, the essence of life."

When read in this light, I tend to think about the Jesus' Sermon on the Mount or Paul's fruit of the Spirit (See P. Kenneson's exposition on the fruit in Life on the Vine). Are they all commentary on the same theme? A Spirit-breathed theme in which God attempts to, as Hedges puts it, "lay down rules and guidelines to sustain community... rules that, when honored, hold us together and when dishonored lead to alienation, discord and violence."

With this in mind- and taking Matt's lead, I've been meditating on the positive nature of the Decalogue. In brief, here are some of phrases I've come up to coincide with the ten:

I. Serve God Alone
II. Renounce All Addictions
III. Honor God In All I Say
IV. Practice Rest
V.Cherish Those That Have Gone Ahead of Me
VI. Cherish Life
VII. Practice Devotion
VII. Compensate Others Fairly
IX. Speak Well of your Community
X. Practice Contentment

What do you think? Is this a fair summation? What do you think of when the Ten Commandments come up?

Priceless!

I guess the success of mash-up's such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and the like has encouraged someone to take this into the children's book genre.

Dick and Jane were long overdue for a new spin on the classic anyways.