Thursday, November 15, 2007

con't

The second book I finished last week was more of an accomplishment. A History of the Baptists by Robert Torbet is a fat academic piece. A text for an upcoming class, I'm not sure I would ever pick it up if it wasn't required. That said, I learned a few things.

Did you know?
That the origin of the Baptists was in reform? They protested:
- that the traditional way of doing things was NOT equal in importance to Scripture.
- that the church leader was NOT superior to the believers not in leadership.
- that God's grace CAN'T be bought, and that it's NOT through the priest.
- that good works CAN'T save you.

A few key things there. I'm happy to be a part of a group:
- that sees Scripture as truth and as the bottom line.
- that sees all believers as ministers and important parts of the body of Christ.
- that can accept God's grace freely.
- that does works because we are thankful for our salvation.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

more from books

Just finished two books this week - here's the highlights.

In Search of Authentic Faith by Steve Rabey
This first was a quickie - started and finished this week. Quick because what he had to say was interesting, and he told it with some good stories, so it kept me flipping the pages. Also quick because the pages are botched. It flips from 42 to 91 and then at 138 goes back to 91... I liked that this was an overview, and I got the best of a bunch of other authors and pastors and thinkers.

A couple quotes I liked:

"... emerging leaders think Sally Morgenthaler got it right in her 1995 book Worship Evangelism: Inviting Unbelievers into the presence of God. The book argues that instead of dumbing down worship services for people who aren't Christians, churches should invite unbelievers into their periods of mystical worship, praying that they will experience something of the presence of God while they are there."

From Robert Webber's 1999 book, Ancient Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a postmodern World: "In the twenty-first century, we will see a convergence of trends that draws from the early church with its mystery, transcendence, and the Eucharist; from the Reformation, with its centrality of the Word; from evangelicalism, with its central emphasis on Christ and strong singing, and from the contemporary church, with its emphasis on intimacy and relationships."

I'll tell you about the next book later...