Merry Christmas

Just a quick note to say Merry Christmas to you all. I hope you have a great time of rest and reflection. I thought I would post a cartoon my sister sent to me that is pretty amusing.

Anyway... have a good break and a wonderful New Year

The Post Evangelical

[I have added and edited this entry because I have had feedback that it may be unclear. I hope the edits add clarity. SG]

This is the latest book I have read. I firstly want to recommend that only people with a questioning mind read it. It will offend and probably anger hard line evangelicals.

Essentially Dave Tomlinson is saying that we have been bought up in a world of science. Science says there is a right answer and a wrong answer. Black and white, if you like. Evangelicals, while they debate science, actually exhibit this black and white, right and wrong approach to Christianity.

Post Evangelicals are like post modernists. Post modernists accept there are answers given by science, but they value these answers along with art, nature, spirituality, etc. They think that what seems apparent, may not actually be true and are not afraid to question it. In fact there may actually be multiple 'correct' ways to the same answer.

So when it comes to Christianity, a Post Evangelical questions the orthodoxy. They question things like the inerrancy of the bible. They question the virgin birth. And many many more things. This is not saying that the orthodox view is wrong. It is saying there is no fear of challenging the orthodox afresh.

Dave argues this can lead to a much stronger and personal faith.

For those people that feel compelled to question everything and figure everything out themselves, this is an affirming book. In many ways it is the academic version of Blue Like Jazz.

But I reiterate... if you are a hardline orthodox evangecial who knows what is "right" already, best you give this a miss. It will save you a lot of stress.

Beware women of the world

So I was searching for Christian stuff on Trademe today. There is someone trying to sell a number plate with JESUS5 for $500,000. But that was not what was really funny.

When you search for "Christian" you get all this Christian Dior stuff. I found this excellent item:

POISON - CHRISTIAN DIOR 100ML FOR WOMEN - RRP $240

Apparently it takes 100ml of Christian Dior to kill a women. It costs $240. And it even says that it is Poison on the outside.

AND PEOPLE BUY THIS STUFF!!!

Or have I missed something...

Blue like Jazz

I have been reading this book by Don Millar called Blue like Jazz. It is a really addictive book. Don essentially shares his experiences with the reader. You become part of his world, his thought processes, his memory etc. In some ways he is like a little kid who does not know what not to say. He just blurts it all out.

And it is neat. It is neat to see someone whom God has touched. And it is neat to see how God touches him.

This is not a book for the theologically correct student. It is a book for someone who walks a real life and is trying to have as best as possible swing at finding out what God wants them to be doing.

It is not quite up there with some of the other books I have read recently like Valet Elvis but pretty good. See how many spelling errors and bad edits you can find. It really is rough and raw.

Photos from TNT road trip 2005 - Part Four