Thursday, January 24, 2008

thought provocation


Some of you may have heard of Gregory Boyd because he's a megachurch pastor, some for his open theism beliefs, and others for his books.

I'm not entirely on the Boyd-bandwagon, but his theology of the Kingdom of God and how we are to be a part of it in this current age always challenges me. I'm sure I've recommended his book, Myth of a Christian Nation, to many of you. Essentially it looks at how earthly governments are never "Christian" because they necessitate what he calls "power-over" systems while the Kingdom of God advocates "power-under" methods, i.e. serving. He does an excellent job staying out of the polarizing left/right politics and wrestles with what our role as Christians under government and how we must not rely on it or even assume it can accomplish anything of God's Kingdom.

Anyway, I'd encourage you to read the book on your own. It's not that long. In the meantime, I found this blog entry he recently wrote is very thought-provoking. He's essentially taking some of the themes of Myth to a new level by evaluating whether they perpetuate advocacy of anarchy in it's actual philosophy (not a the popular pictures of anarchy we tend to think of). He doesn't full expound on his views, but it gives the basics. He's hit on it a few more times in recent posts.

You may not agree (as I often don't), but at least it gets you mind moving.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Favorite Albums of 2007


I believe we had a discussion around "best" albums of the year last year. Maybe sharing our favorite albums of '07 will be less contentious and we'll be comfortable sharing our picks even if we haven't listened to all of Pitchfork's favorites. Here's mine:
  1. Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
  2. Radiohead - In Rainbows
  3. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
  4. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
  5. White Stripes - Icky Thump