Surprised By Hope by N.T. Wright

I recently (and finally!) finished N.T. Wright's Surprised By Hope. The book's subtitle is Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. With this book, Wright is now my favorite theologian.

Those familiar with McLaren's writings on the kingdom of God/heaven will be familiar with the first section of Wright's book. Both writers are "on the same page" with their interpretations of the kingdom of God and the reality of heaven being present and overlapping with creation, not something off in the distance within our space/time continuum. But Wright takes it further....

Wright then ties that with the resurrection of Christ that points to the future of creation, when heaven and earth become one as God intended his creation to be redeemed. I had not thought too much about the bodily resurrection when Jesus returns, so what Wright says about the resurrection of Christ being a "the future brought into the present" really blew me away. Wright has little patience for "left behind" theology and deftly takes it apart using solid Biblical interpretation.

Finally, Wright concludes with how the church should respond knowing the future hope revealed in the gospel of Christ. Our kingdom work today will be redeemed and come to fruition in the redemption of all creation when Christ returns. What we practice today prepares us for the reality of God's promised future.

Wright also tackles the "where do we go when we die" question, and the media attention given to his book seems to focus on that, but the book is about so much more and puts forth an important vision and mission for today's church. I don't want to try to state Wright's complete position on life after death here because I don't want to misstate it. I will say that he talks about a "life after life after death" (the resurrection of the dead) as being much more important than where our spirit may happen to dwell right after we die. Wright says that the Bible doesn't talk too much about the latter, and says a whole lot more about the former. Wright admits that he just can't fathom how a redeemed creation where God dwells with his people can exist with a "concentration camp" in the middle where people are being tortured for their sins. You really must read the book if you're interested in more about this and don't take what I've just written as a complete summation.

Reading N.T. Wright is not easy. He's challenging to read, even for this book which is supposed to be more accessible than his other books. But this is worth it, along with Simply Christian which came out a few years ago. If you like reading McLaren, I think you will like reading this, but Wright goes much deeper into Scripture than McLaren.

Thanks Giving

I give thanks...
for the gift of each day,
for my wife, children, family, and friends,
for books,
laughter,
challenges,
community,
health,
connection to God,
and breakfast cereal (Ok, I'm writing at breakfast time!)
and so much more.

I'm also very grateful that we can continue to do our part
in joining God to bless the lives of the broken.(Which we all take turns being!)
Amen....and Yes.

It's His Business...And Ours

He's about changing lives.....again and again.

I know he set me free from drugs a long time ago, and he keeps forgiving me and setting me free.

The other night I met with a few churches, and there were some testimonies shared.
One woman lived across the street from the little church. She finally went into the building and ended up staying because she was shown hospitality. She is now seeking to follow Christ and hasn't drank for 9 months. This is his business...and ours.

Another testimony was from a man who had found Christ in the church about four years ago. He went down to Mississippi for a work trip this last summer. He testified that he didn't much like the folks whose home they were fixing up. He says that right there in the woods Jesus told him that he needed to learn now as a disciple to stop being so judgmental.

The last testimony was how the church was helping to feed hungry neighbors.

Jesus, change our lives. Set us free. Set us on fire. Change lives and communities through us.

It's your business...and ours.

Grant Park.
November 4th.
Thousands upon thousands.
America, A VERY DIVERSE NATION, speaks clearly and loudly and elects as our President
Barak Hussein Obama.
I wonder if the church of Jesus will be able to hear, include, speak to, and love them
as did he.

VOTING!

What a privilege to vote in America......and I'm leading the way!
God's kingdom and way come to our land and our world...whoever wins.

P.S. I went to Chicago's Grant Park with son David and 250,000 others. Felt like a revolution of hope.