Tag: Brian McLaren
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MEC: The Suicide Machine
McLaren presents his model of society in Everthing Must Change in terms of the following diagram on page 63: At the core of the model is the "societal machine" composed of three interlocking systems. They are: Prosperity System The prosperity system seeks to fulfill our desire for happiness – our desire not just to survive,…
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MEC: The Big Questions
Acknowledging in the book's introduction that the title is hyperbole, McLaren unpacks his purpose in writing the book. He is concerned that we will see this as just another diatribe. He writes: If we’re going to get anywhere, I have to convince you – and fast – of at least four things. First, that I’m…
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MEC: The Macrosociology Dilemma
As I began reading Everything Must Change, I knew that Brian McLaren was a gifted pastor, speaker, and author. But as I read the book's opening chapters, I discovered that McLaren is morphing into somewhat of a sociologist. (Surely, he is not far from the Kingdom of God. 🙂 ) As we will see in…
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MEC: My Personal Context
All of us come from a particular context. A sizeable number of people drawn to the emerging church and Brian McLaren's writings have come from theologically and politically conservative church backgrounds. As I begin this series on Brian McLaren's Everything Must Change, I think sharing some of my context with you is important. Many of…
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Must Everything Change?: Series Introduction
Must everything change? Last year Brian McLaren published a book entitled Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope. McLaren is traveling about the country on an "Everything Must Change" tour. I read his book last fall. I've debated ever since whether or not to respond and, if so, how. I've read…
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Voice of ‘sage’ inspires, unsettles (Brian McLaren)
Atlanta Journal Constitution: Voice of 'sage' inspires, unsettles Brian McLaren was about to speak at a church youth convention when his host asked the audience a provocative question. How many considered themselves liberal Christians? A smattering of hands and a few cheers. Conservative? Louder claps and hoots. Then he asked: "How many of you wish…
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Brian McLaren: A Tribute to Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, Unlikely ‘Missionary’
From God's Politics blog: Brian McLaren: A Tribute to Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, Unlikely 'Missionary' Instead of damning the sinful ugliness of humans who lack saving love, he chose a different strategy, a better one, I think: he simply, consistently, passionately, and naively demonstrated saving love by praising the beauty of God’s creatures – confident…
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“Leader’s Insight: No Cowardly Flip-Flop” Brian McLaren
Leader's Insight: No Cowardly Flip-Flop is an article in Leadership Journal by Brian McLaren on how to be pastoral in answering questions about homosexuality. I suspect there is something in this article that will push buttons from all sides of this issue. *grin* I hesitate in answering "the homosexual question" not because I'm a cowardly…
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A New Kind of Postmodernist
A New Kind of Postmodernist: a book review of A New Kind of Christian: A Tale of Two Friends on a Spiritual Journey by Brian D. McLaren I wrote a bit about Foundationalism in some of my posts last week. This is a book Review by Douglas Groothuis of Denver Seminary. He writes "Contrary to…