By personal habit, and soon by way of formal study (again), I read a good deal of academic theology. It isn’t always easy going down – sometimes quite far from it, as most working theologians are not sparkling writers. By contrast, I don’t read much popular Christian literature. It isn’t my thing, and I justify this opinion by noting that a huge proportion is bound to be saccharine, moralistic, anti-intellectual, or just plain bad art (though somewhere in this Venn diagram of horror there must be a kitschy sweet spot). There do exist, however, Christian writers who have addressed head…
Top 10 Things I Wanted to Blog about in 2013 but Was Too Lazy
I happily come across more pieces of culture than I know what to do with each year (or month, or week, or day) that speak to the Christian Message. This is a good problem to have–it means a blog like Mbird or a preacher like me will never run out of new material. Not using it can feel burdensome though, because I want to talk about it all—and sometimes I just procrastinate and never get around to it. I lumped some highlights together here in truncated form, keeping this list limited to the top ten (maybe 11) things I wanted to…
A New Bo Giertz Must Have Resource: Then Fell the Lord’s Fire
In his post “The Whole Debt is Paid,” Tullian Tchividjian–our opening speaker at MBird 2013!–recounts a phenomenon that has changed the way he views ministry. He writes:
I have a long way to go (bad habits die slowly, for sure). But a Copernican revolution of sorts has taken place in my own heart regarding the need to preach the law then the gospel without going back to the law as a means of keeping God’s favor. May God raise up a generation of preachers who storm the gates of worldliness with “It is finished.””
In this account, he is not only describing an experience that…
He Saved Others; He Cannot Save Himself – Bo Giertz on Mark 15:31
One of the most powerful devotions on this Good Friday verse I’ve ever come across, taken from the Swedish bishop’s invaluable To Live with Christ:
Once again, the mockers expressed one of the most profound truths about Jesus. He saved others. Without thinking about it, they affirmed then and for all posterity that it really was true: Jesus “went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil” (Acts 10:38). Now, because of this, they mocked Him. That’s human egoism, which assumes that a person should use his resources, first…
Rusty Hearts
“But sir, if you do not give your heart to Jesus, you cannot be saved.”- The young pastor
“You are right, my boy. And it is just as true that, if you think you are saved because you give Jesus your heart, you will not be saved. You see, my boy,” he continued reassuringly, as he continued to look at the young pastor’s face, in which uncertainty and resentment were shown in a struggle for the upper hand, “it is one thing to choose Jesus as one’s Lord and Savior, to give him one’s heart and commit oneself to…
Excerpt from Bo Giertz’s "Hammer of God"
I’ve finally gotten around to reading The Hammer of God, which comes highly recommended by many of my favorite Mbird theologians, and was especially stuck by the marvelous opening section entitled “The Call” (which I have quoted below). But before I do, I want to share two brief, and I would say quite funny, quotes from the book’s preface.
“As the Twentieth Century was coming to an end, Kyrkans Tidning, the official weekly newspaper of the Church of Sweden asked its readers, ‘Who made the greatest impact on the church in Sweden during the 1900s?’ Bo Giertz got more…
Slightly Expanded And Significantly More Organized Conference Book Table List
Here’s the full list plus a couple of relevant additions, linked to sites where they can be purchased. Although everything comes highly recommended, this is by no means meant to be a definitive list (stay tuned…). For the sake of newcomers we have divided the non-fiction into three itunes-inspired categories: Basics, Next Steps and Deep Cuts. In other words, the books are organized according to accessibility rather than importance.
NON-FICTION
Basics
1. Alcoholics Anonymous. The Big Book.
3. Manning, Brennan. The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News For the Bedraggled, Beat-up and Burnt Out
3. Martyn, Dorothy. Beyond Deserving: Children, Parents And Responsibility Revisited.
4. Norris, Sean….
James Nestingen on Faith vs. Piety
Mockingbird friend Matt McCormick recently transcribed an incredible excerpt of a sermon by James Nestingen. Amazing stuff:
You can always hear the difference between Faith and Piety in the verbs. Piety says, “I did this. I’ll do that.” Faith says, “He does this. He’ll do that.” Piety says, “You know – I’ve committed my life to Christ.” Faith says, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” That’s the difference.
There’s the great scene in the old Swedish novel Hammer of God where a young pastor come to the old pastor and says, “You know, I’ve committed my life…
The Hammer of God – Bo Giertz
I’ve just finished re-reading The Hammer of God by Bo Giertz, who was the Swedish Lutheran Bishop of Gothenburg. It is a novel about three curates who come to grips with God’s grace through tremendous failure, and needless to say, I highly recommend it.
The second story may be my favorite, about a young curate named Fridfeldt who, after being converted by a pietistic revival, is sent to a small country church to serve under a very old, Reformational rector. From the beginning of the story, we see that Fridfeldt is into “holy living”; he is the type of guy who…
