Powerful Preachers

Over the next four weeks I'm working on the final stages of a short film for the Lipscomb Preaching Conference. I'll write more about this project later. For now, I'm curious to know from people of different "perspectives"--who has been the single most influential preacher in your life? It could be a local minister from the church you grew up in . . . or a preacher you listen to or read from long distance.

Help me out. Who rocks your spiritual world?

P.S. You can vote for Jesus but that's not what I'm after here.

Christian Scholars Conference at Lipscomb University

One of my alma maters, Lipscomb University, is hosting the Christian Scholars' Conference in Nashville Thursday through Saturday. The conference's focus is "the power of narrative." Thus, the speaker line-up (Locke, Robinson, Taylor, and Collins) reads like Cabrera, Pujols, Fielder, and Jeter for baseball fans. 

The largest newspaper in Tennessee did a fantastic piece on the conference recently. Click here to read the entire piece. Here's a snippet.

Those who equate religion with guilt and repression will welcome recent surveys that chart declines in traditional faith.

But religion's decline, if it happens, means other grand narratives must pick up the slack. What will emerge to infuse life and civilization with meaning if the old spirituality recedes?

Society flirts now with the removal of a whole set of ancient coordinates — belief in the soul, the power of blessing, the wisdom of the past, the mystery of an invisible God who oversees history, and a moral code that respects inwardness, practices courtesy and condemns cruelty.

If those fade, then what? The world scrambles to find replacements — conspiracy theories, anti-semitism, the dream of winning the lottery or becoming a high-maintenance celeb. Science becomes the new faith.

Writer Marilynne Robinson says that won't work.

If you think this focus sounds interesting, you need to make plans to attend another Lipscomb Conference led by David Fleer in October. I'm proud that my alma mater is taking the task seriously to incorporate the story of God into the emerging cultural landscape. 

Film, CTS

The short film I made for the Lipscomb Preaching Conference went well. I will write more about it later. It's incredible what can happen when you mix images, words, music, and powerful rhetoric together. It's like cooking a gourmet meal. Add the right ingredients with a delicate touch and . . . voila!

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I was able to spend precious time with the York Family today. They have been a blessing, source of wisdom, and spiritual friends since 2002. I count my life richer for having shared so many memories and conversations.

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In the morning, I begin a course with Walter Brueggemann on Pentateuch (think: first five books of the Bible).

Here are the main reasons I wanted to do my doctoral work at Columbia Seminary.

1. Charles Campbell: One of the more influential thinkers in recent times (for his field) . . . he's now at Duke.

2. Barbara Brown Taylor: my favorite writer and preacher on the planet. Period. I'm supposed to take a writing course with her in the summer of 2009

3. Walter Brueggemann (word is this might be his last course): Seriously. The Bill Russell of Old Testament theology.

4. Diversity of students: we will have pastors and ministers from all over the world, from virtually every branch of the Christian faith.

5. Challenge: Besides Princeton (which just did away with their D.Min.) CTS is one of the more integrative programs I'm aware of. They are passionate about practical theology and deep reflection.

Lipscomb and Nashvegas

Thursday night, I had the honor (and scary proposition) of speaking at the opening graduate chapel for the students in the (ol' alma mater) Hazelip School of Theology. It's an exciting time around Lipscomb, there are so many things a changin'. The faculty is as good as any other faculty in Churches of Christ. I would highly suggest anyone considering going back to do graduate work in theology or ministry . . . do your homework and see what Mark Black, Terry Briley, John York, Philip Camp, John Mark Hicks, Lee Camp, George Goldman, David Fleer, Earl Lavender and company are dreaming for the future of theological training.

Lee gave a charge to all of the students near the end of our time of worship. It was brilliant. I'm going to try and get my hands on it soon.

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This morning, I hung out with Doug Sanders. I thought I had a heart for the city. Doug took me from housing projects to shelters to a meeting regarding the incredible work being done by ROCKETOWN (Michael W. Smith's brainchild). I met several men and women who've given their life to working with people who lack a voice in mainstream culture. I could not believe how many of the workers, directors, and homeless people knew Doug by first name . . . the second he got out of his car, "Doug . . . what's up brother?"

Doug is going to help me with the leadership track (Th/Fri) for the upcoming ZOE Conference Nashville. If you haven't signed up for ZOE Nashville . . . the clock's ticking.

Mere Discipleship Part Deux

A few years ago, Lee Camp wrote a provocative (and slightly controversial!) book, Mere Discipleship: Radical Christianity in a Rebellious World.

In short, this book is an introduction to a "a different way" of doing/practicing Christianity: the committed practice of non-violence and reckless love. Brazos Press has done a second printing which will be out in a few weeks. This book has had a major impact in evangelical circles, as well as broader Christian groups.

Not long ago, for example, I got an email from a pastor in Southern California from an Episcopal church who was trying to teach Mere Discipleship to his church in a class on mission.

I am honored to have written The Study Guide for Mere Discipleship with Lee last year. Not only was Lee one of the most influential professors during my tenure at Lipscomb (Hazelip School of Theology), I also consider him a good friend, a source of wisdom and wise counsel.

Someone recently asked me, knowing how polemical the book has been, "Do you agree with what Lee is proposing in this book?"

Here's my (not so) simple answer.

I don't agree with everything in the book. Most of it, yes, I think he's right (why I think he's right and what I don't agree with are for another day and perhaps another venue). However, I know this for sure. His challenge to American Christianity is one of the most important voices in contemporary dialog. He's a prophet of sorts, and I have a clearer picture of The Jesus Way because of his writing, teaching and, most importantly, the way in which he lives his life.

Shane Claiborne has this to say about Mere Discipleship.

"What a book. This is one of those books that you wear out carrying around, marking up, and loaning out. Camp's words are timeless, and timely. And the crazy thing is this: the church is actually ready to hear them. In post-Religious Right America, there is an entire generation that is not willing to settle for the dream of America over the dream of God. There is a hunger for a Christianity that is not just something we believe but something we live and embody, a church filled not just with believers and worshippers but with disciples. Lee Camp points us towards a Christianity that is worth believing in."--Shane Claiborne, author of The Irresistible Revolution, coauthor of Jesus for President


Read the book. It will mess you up.

The Preacher King

This fall, my alma mater, is hosting one of the more exciting conferences in the U.S. I'm working on a film right now for this conference. Make plans to attend. David Fleer is using his gift, once again, to bring men and women of all different stripes to study and challenge each other. This event is for ministers, pastors, and scholars alike.

I wrote this review in preparation for the conference. It's a bit long. If you are a reader (and nerd), enjoy.



Review of Richard Lischer’s The Preacher King
ISBN 978-0-511132-3

Richard Lischer, scholar and professor at Duke Divinity, supplies both the student of history and local pastor a wonderful gift with his work, The Preacher King: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Word that Moved America. Combining history, theology, New Testament scholarship, politics, and narrative criticism as very few can—Lischer paints a detailed yet complete picture of the life and legacy of one of America’s great religious leaders.

I suggest Richard Lischer’s Preacher King in preparation for the 2008 Lipscomb Preaching Conference for two reasons. First, Lischer has the rare ability to capture the tension and ethos of 1960’s America. The Civil Right Era has become a source of nostalgia for some. Lischer refuses to buy into this hype-machine by closely immersing himself back into the world of those who marched in Selma, Montgomery, and Memphis. “Despite the enforced intimacy of the races, a rigid caste system, buttressed by dozens of local statutes, forbade blacks and whites to acknowledge the life they in fact held in common. A local statute went so far as to bar whites and blacks from playing cards, dice, checkers, or dominoes together. Restrooms and drinking fountains were clearly marked. By law, a white person and a Negro could not share a taxi. The segregation of restaurants and public transportation was carried out with a routine cruelty that left the black citizens of Montgomery, like those of most southern cities, humiliated and burning with resentment.” You will find an absence of over-sentimentalized anecdotes and conversations: Lischer understands all too well how the stakes were during this tumultuous period in American history.

Second, Lischer paints a nuanced portrait of Dr. King as the Civil Right’s Moses-figure. Lischer pays close attention to Dr. King’s ethos, rhetorical skill, knowledge of the teachings of Jesus, historical context, intellectual heroes, as well as his intense personal connection to the African-American church. Unlike some depictions, Lischer avoids the pitfalls of depicting King a secular humanitarian or as a mere social insurrectionist with an axe to grind. Rather, Lischer clearly demonstrates the manner in which Dr. King sees his own life as a holy improvisation, living out the dangerous love of Jesus in marches, prisons, restaurant sit-ins, and church bombings. With racism (Pharaoh) pressing in, Jim Crow government laws forming insurmountable walls on all sides (Red Sea), King (Moses) led his people to the other side. Dr. King prepared the people for what God was going to do next (Canaan) though he himself, like Moses, would not experience the land “flowing with milk and honey.” Lischer presents Dr. King for what he was: a young black Baptist preacher-prophet who named, exposed, and in his death, unmasked the systemic powers of darkness. This book will prepare you to re-imagine the God who liberates (all) his people from oppression and domination.

Bisons, Oil

Here's how we do it in Lipscomb Land (no retreat, no surrender). This is from the AP. Should I be proud to be an alumnus?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Lipscomb came within a point of setting the Division I women's record for biggest winning margin with a 123-22 rout of Fisk on Tuesday night.

With the 101-point victory, the Lady Bisons were a point short of the mark set by Grambling against Jarvis Christian on Feb. 12, 1986.

Valerie Bronson scored 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the Lady Bisons (1-2), who shot 57 percent from the field. Cree Nix added 14.

Tia Williams had eight points to lead Fisk (0-2), which was 9-for-54 from the field.

Lipscomb out rebounded Fisk 67-19 and led 61-10 at the half.

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Can someone, with more industry savvy than me, explain why gas is rising and will rise to $4 a gallon this summer? I'm going to start riding my bike--even if it is twenty degrees this winter.