Recently I finished The Orthodox Heretic by Peter Rollins and loved it. It is a book of spiritual parables that cause you to rethink your faith as a result of their unusual endings. Some of these parables were fantastic and caused me much reflection, like  “Salvation For a Demon (Ch.5),” “Pearl of Great Price (Ch.6),” and “The Last Trial (Ch.15).”

There is tremendous power in telling stories, as Rollins explains:

“Parables subvert this desire to make faith simple and understandable. They do not offer the reader clarity, for they refuse to be captured in the net of a single interpretation and instead demand our eternal return to their words, our wrestling with them, and our puzzling over them.”

“The problem with so much religious communication is that it aims at changing our minds. The result is that we can hear the message of the preacher without necessarily heeding the message; we can listen to the ‘truth’ and agree with it, yet not change in response to it.”

We need more good storytelling in our faith, and Peter Rollins is a great step in that direction.

I recently blew through Jeff Goin‘s eBook, The Writer’s Manifesto. It was a quick and focusing little read. As an established writer, Jeff does a great job at focusing writers on what is most important and how to write to your full abilities. It came at a good time as I continue to work on my first book.

Here are a few quotes that capture the essence of the manifesto:

“Writers don’t write to get published. They write for another reason. This is the first and only lesson every writer must learn.”

“Real writers don’t write for recognition. They don’t do it for fame, accolades, or notoriety. They do it, because they cannot not write.”

“As we care less about our audience’s affections, more people will be affected by our writing.”

I particularly love that second quote. As writers, what are those things that we cannot not write? If we focused on these ideas and let them propel us we’d find that we are saying more of the things that really matter. And as his third quote shows, this will bring more impact to what we write.

I’ve finished Richard Beck‘s book Unclean: Meditations on Purity, Hospitality, and Mortality, after slowly processing my way through it the last few weeks. This book rocked my world. I was so intrigued by the content of it that I am focusing my next sermon on it. This is a heady read, so it may be tough depending on how disciplined you are as a reader, but it gives plenty to chew and reflect on.

Beck looks at a theological and psychological approach to disgust. While this may seem like an odd topic at first, it is incredible to see the spiritual connections this has. Practices such as communion and baptism take on a whole new meaning. Beck spends much time discussing the tension between Jesus and the Pharisees over being unclean. I had forty-four highlights in this book so it is difficult to narrow down what stood out to me the most. Nonetheless, here are a few that will give you a small picture of this conversation.

Continue Reading…

Congrats to Romi and Anthony Celaya, our two winners of Blaine Hogan’s new book “Untitled!” I will be emailing you both soon to figure out the details of getting your book to you. Thanks to everyone who got involved!