In my previous post, I forgot to mention one of the biggest and most daunting projects taking up my time these days – starting an alternative arts venue in Downtown Mesa. We're calling it "Found Arts" and it's will be a space devoted to the dreams of artists and non-artists alike. The hope is for it to be a place where new and emerging ideas are created, expressed, wrestled with, and discussed through various forms of creativity. Looking forward to this one – now all we need to $75k and we'll be on our way.
Seriously though, if you have $75k and are interested in sending it our way, we are all ears :).
I am afraid the new year brings a multitude of things to attend to. So I will be taking a break from blogging here for a while. No guess on when I might return – only time will tell. In the meantime, browse some of the other projects that are currently getting the better of my time:
Thanks to all of you who joined us last Friday for the advent gathering. I've put some of the pictures online that my wife, Kelli, took during the night. Check them out.
And if you have some pictures you took during the night, we'd love to see them. We've created a group photo pool where you can upload them.
The "Symbol Communities" Flickr group
….. until next time
There are a number of us here in the Phoenix area who are together exploring the tradition of Advent this holiday season. Most of us, while people of faith, have little experience in the holy seasons. Our goal is to dig deeper into the spiritual side of Christmas while steering clear of the rut of meaningless tradition. In a sense we are on a much-traveled journey, but are committed to forging our own path. If you're interested in participating you'll find some details here. Or email me at znewsome@mac.com.
As I was preparing for the gathering of our community this morning (we're looking at the concept of "symbol" as it relates to our lives, to our faith, and to our world – see the symbols of salt and light in Matthew 5), I found myself revisiting a book I finished recently by Peter Rollins called How (Not) to Speak of God. I loved this book when I finished it a few weeks back and I am discovering that it is one of those books that sticks with you in it's challenges. In other words, the ideas presented are only getting louder as time goes by. In chapter 3, entitled "A/Theology as Icon", Rollins says something that I thought was particularly interesting:
"In a world where people believe they are not hungry (spiritually speaking), we must not offer them food but rather an aroma that helps them desire the food we cannot provide. We (followers of Jesus) are a people whao are born from a response to hints of the divine. Not only this, but we must embrace the idea that we are also called to be hints of the divine."
Just wanted to share these words.
Travis and I started talking about counter-cultural living today and ended up at this deeply troubling (at least to me) question – "As followers of Jesus are we called to be counter-cultural or to engage the culture?" The two ways of life seem contradictory at first, but can they be? I think the answer to the question is "yes" – Yes, we are to live counterculturally as citizens of a kingdom that is counter-cultural to our present world AND yes, we are to flesh out this faith within the culture we find ourselves in.
There is much to say here, but I want to let it brew a bit. In the meantime….I would love to hear your thoughts.
Often I get asked the question, "Zack, what is the emerging church?" in which my answer is often, "You know, I am not sure how to define it." I usually tell the askers of such a question that I am not so sure I am comfortable with the label "emerging" applied to myself.
But…have no fear. Scot McKnight (blog) has recently come up with a definition for those of us who aren't sure they qualify as proper experts on the "emerging church". This is a great read. It's about 30 pages and in it he tackles D.A. Carson's critique of the emerging church, the different streams of the emerging movement, and the distinctions of this movement frommpast church movements.
Mark Traphagen (who blogs at the foolish sage) posted the full text of Scot McKnight's definition which he gave in his first address to the Westminster Theological Seminary Student Association Forum An Eternal Word in an ‘Emerging World’?
(Link via TallSkinnyKiwi)
I just posted some initial thoughts about a book I am reading called, The Complex Christ by Kester Brewin over at The Revolutionary Life. In hopes of creating some conversation and to give some exposure to good books, I am going to try to post a bit more about what I am currently reading. I plan on posting mostly at The Revolutionary Life since most of the books I read are centered around the focus of that space – community/faith/creativity/justice. The books that don't fall neatly into the definition of the revolutionarylife will find space here.
BTW: If you want to discover some reviews of some good books, fellow blogger and friend, John Chandler seems to do a pretty good job of posting book reviews often.
