Get Ready, Get Set, Go!

My Aquarian mind has been very busy lately as I plan for several new ventures. I will soon be offering a new Course of Study from the Living the Questions Series and a Book Discussion. Both will take place at Central Christian Church. Offering opportunities for folks to think deeply about their faith is among my favorite roles in ministry! I love to help people make sense of their faith in a post-modern world! 

FIRST, The study I am offering is from Living The Questions entitled First Light Jesus and the Kingdom of God. I have led/taught many courses by John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg and I am looking forward to this look at Jesus.

First Light is a 12-session DVD and web-based study of the historical Jesus and the Kingdom of God with two of the world's leading Jesus scholars on location throughout Galilee and Jerusalem. The Participant Reader (64 pages) was written by John Dominic Crossan: "It is all I have to say about Jesus after half a century of study--in succinct summary."

Here's a sample:

"Jesus was a Jew within Judaism within the Roman Empire. That is not just the possibly interesting background but the necessarily constitutive context of his life. We deliberately use the term matrix to avoid any idea that you could pass background and go straight to foreground or even pass context and go straight to text. By matrix we mean everything you must know to understand Jesus in his own time and place before it is possible to understand him in ours."

I am also preparing to lead a week-day (Monday? or Thursday?) Noon book discussion on Jim Wallis' 2010 Book Rediscovering Values.  I am hoping Rev. Wallis will agree to chat with us once or twice via the internet. This is a must read and a vital discussion at a critical time in our economic and social history. Wallis invites us to discover what went wrong and how the economic crisis may change all of us.

"Jim Wallis argues persuasively that the financial crisis is also a moral crisis. A vivid storyteller and prophetic voice, he shows how the worship of markets has led us astray -- and how repairing the economy requires a moral awakening and a new commitment to the common good. This wise and hopeful book points us toward a new economy and a more spiritually satisfying public life."
—Michael J. Sandel, professor of government at Harvard University and New York Times bestselling author of Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?  (Another great book that I am listening to by the way!)

And, if that is not enough I am planning to lead a weekly forum at Millikin University on Tuesday Nights at 9PM beginning Feb 23rd perhaps using the LTQ series for younger adults.

I am excited about the coming weeks as they bring opportunities for discovery, renewal and growth!