Remember the movie that starred Charlton Heston called “The Ten Commandments”.  For the year it was made in, the special effects were top of the line.  I remember two scenes from that movie.  The first one being the mass exodus of the Israelites through the Red Sea.  I watch it now and I cannot believe how cheesy the effects are – but back then it was considered the best.  They left Egypt because they were slaves.  All they did was make bricks.  And I also remember Moses holding the Ten Commandments on the mountain.  Awesome!

Well, the reason for the whole movie (and the bible story) is this:  Israel were brick making slaves, and now they are not.  The Ten Commandments were a guide for how this new community were going to live.

Now, when Moses finished getting the 10 Commandments from God, God had a couple more things to say to Moses and Israel.  God told them “Don’t build any altars with cut stone”.  What does that have to do with anything?

Well, let me tell you!  Israel is going to worship God.  Worship takes place somewhere – in their day it was at altars.  If they start making fancy altars they will be doing what they did in Egypt as slaves, making bricks.  In other words God says “You were slaves in Egypt, you will not be slaves again – even religious slaves”.  God sets a standard here – he wants a relationship, not a religion.

Hundreds of years later a guy named Paul (who was an Israelite) wrote a letter to a group of people who had the same struggles as ancient Israel did – that religion verses relationship struggle.  Do you know what he wrote?  Paul said “There is nothing that can separate you from the LOVE of God”.  Love is a relationship word.  God is looking for a relationship – not a religion.

This Sunday we are going to look more closely at this command by God and how Israel always seemed to want to be back in slavery.  Check in later for the audio!

A classic for your viewing pleasure!

There are two things I need to admit when reviewing this book. 

First, I had written Brian McLaren off.  If you have read any of his books you would quickly realize that he was being extremely repetitive.  I understand that the general public may not read all of his books, but it  just seemed that since the “New Kind of Christian” series to “The Secret Message of Jesus” to “Everything Must Change” Brian went on and on about the same themes.  Those themes being:  the Kingdom of God, Jesus in his historical setting and how the current systems (economic, spiritual….) are not working.  I am greatly indebted to his insight but honestly, I was getting a little bored.  BUT, when I realized that this book was part of a series edited by Phyllis Tickle and that Scot McKnight was doing one of the themes, I decided to pick it up and give it a try.  In short, I bought the book not because of McLaren, but because of all of the added features that came along with it.

Second, like all books, there is nothing new said.  This book is a “Readers Digest” version of other great books about the “comeback” of sacred practices.  (Just a side note:  I am co-reading Jacques Ellul’s “The Subversion of Christianity” at the same time.  The premise of his book is that the only things that should be considered ‘sacred’ are God and redeemed humanity.)    Back to my point.  In the introduction McLaren mentions a few authors that influenced this book.  I highly recommend just reading those books.  Those books include Eugene Peterson’s “Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places”, Dallas Willard’s “The Divine Conspiracy” and Richard Foster’s “Celebration of Discipline”.  If you do not have the energy to read those books, McLaren is the way to go.

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 Have you ever botched something up so bad all you could think about was how you were going to fix it?  It happens to me frequently. 

As we continue our journey through Exodus, we come to the part of the story that directly follows the Ten Commandments.  It is an odd little story where Israel says to Moses “You talk to God, we’re too scared”.  This was the beginning of a long line of things Israel botched up.  What do I mean by that?

Since Israel decided to use Moses as a mediator between God and themselves, that was how things would be done from then on.  In other words, God would speak only through priests or prophets from that time forward.  They really messed things up.

But that is not the end of the story.  Listen in on Monday to hear how the author of Hebrews reconciled a history of mess.

This song searches the soul.  It is also really good.  Enjoy.

As I was browsing the theology and christian section at Chapters, I came across this charming book called “The Unlikely Disciple”.  The author, Kevin Roose, was A.J. Jacobs (“A Year of Living Biblically) intern who went to Jerry Falwells church to do reserach for his book.  There, they both met students of Jerry Falwell’s university called Liberty.  Roose was intrigued by the stories.  So with some interviews and his parents permission, Roose quit Brown University and spent a semester at Liberty.  His intentions were to write a book about life, religion and relationships at Liberty and to tell an “undercover” story of Jerry Falwell.  What really happens is surprising.

What I liked about the book:

Roose struggles with the idea of hiding his true intentions of being there.  When he came up with the idea of being a “undercover journalist”, he did not realize that he would fall in love, create friendships and actually connect with the staff.   There is a real humaness struggle going on.

Roose also is surprised how normal most of the students are.  They struggle with faith, sexuality and living in a world that is hurting just like everyone else.  As his story unfolds, you can see him getting more and more comfortable with the people around him and his surroundings.

What I did not like about the book:

What I don’t like about the book is the same as what I like about it.  Roose is an undercover writer trying to get a story.  So there is this sense of dishonesty and fakeness to it.  He get’s deeply involved in peoples lives superficiously and it makes the reader a bit uncomfortable.

He also digs up dirt on some of the main characters of the book that is not relevant to his story.  He cloaks this in a shroud of context, but really it can be taken as defamation of character. 

All in all, I really have enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone interested in an “outsiders” look into the world of religious education and community.  This book can create some amazing dialogue with those who are uncomfortable talking religion and it also gives hope for the future of faith.

Pick it up and read it in your summer holidays!