Author Archive
RLC Editor
Beyond the Culture Wars: A Faith of Our Own
Friday, May 11th, 2012
The first President I remember is Bill Clinton. To be more specific: Bill Clinton’s second term. I’ve heard spectacles of the House Republican takeover in 1994 and stories of the Clinton v. Gingrich era but my first concrete memories of a President exist from 1996-2000.
Driving to the airport a few months back Tony Campolo told me the story of Clinton’s near healthcare triumph. In 1997 & 1998, Clinton and Gingrich met frequently in an effort to reform the healthcare system. The goal was simple: a bi-partisan crafted piece of legislation agreeable by both parties. The legislation was in its final stages of review when a story bigger than bi-partisan healthcare reform broke, the Monica Lewinsky scandal. The two sides never met again.
God’s Word to Evangelicals…Through Brian McLaren
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
A stone’s throw from Starbucks – Joe, homeless and a dead ringer for blues singer Robert Johnson, tells Wheaton College freshman Wendy Gullivan that He is God and has a message for the Evangelicals…a message He wants her to deliver.
He’s depressed, he tells her, to the point of shutting down earthly operations – all thanks to the Evangelicals, especially the American ones.
Thinking the man crazy, Wendy walks away and drifts back to life as usual. But in the months that follow, Wendy can’t get her brief encounter with Joe out of her mind. When her black-and-white, well-apportioned faith begins disintegrating, God decides to pay Wendy another visit . . . but this time it will change everything in the most unexpected way.
God’s Word to Democrats – An Interview with Brian McLaren
Wednesday, March 21st, 2012
No one enjoys being told bluntly, “you’re wrong.” It’s a statement that, even when surrounded by certainty, must be conveyed and expressed with grace, tranquility and, sometimes, a little humor. And in a season of heightened political tension over Presidential debates, polls, fundraising and name-calling, we need a little humor to navigate our way. That’s where Brian McLaren’s latest work, The Word of the Lord to Democrats, comes into play.
This little e-book conveys the story of Ruth Schwartz as she fights to convey God’s word to Democrats. In a twisting turn of events you follow Ruth as she finds her voice and proclaims a message to a deeply familiar set of characters from the White House to news radio and even the FBI. It is a book that has its roots deeply imbedded in today’s political landscape and prophesizes a message that all need to hear.
October’s BEST Reading
Thursday, November 3rd, 2011
Due to frequent request, each month Red Letter Christians will provide you with the latest list of most popular and talked about books on our site. This list is derived from reader feedback and is provided as a service to other readers who are looking for the next great read!
If your recent favorite isn’t on the list add it in the comments section below!
One commenter will win a signed copy of Tony Campolo’s latest book, Stories that Feed Your Soul!
Without further ado:
Hunger Fast: The Call for Justice
Tuesday, April 12th, 2011
“When I walked outside people, thinking I was a doctor, began handing me their dead children. Within minutes I watched 25 children die.”
These were the opening words of Ambassador Tony Hall from within the confines of a small, crowded, yet attentive, room at Eastern University. The setting painted a portrait of the urgent, yet exhausted nature, of his call.
Naked Spirituality: An Interview with Brian McLaren
Tuesday, March 15th, 2011
RLC Editor (R): Brian, this book is written for what type of reader – a church-going person of faith, one who has fallen away from organized religion or someone who is skeptical of all matters of faith?
BRIAN (B): In different ways, for all three, and here’s why. First, many people who are involved with the church have felt the bottom drop out: their calendar is full of church activities, but their actual sense of conscious connection with God has evaporated. Second, many people who have dropped out of organized religion are still deeply interested in authentic spiritual practices. And third, many skeptics, if they are going to move beyond skepticism, are only going to do so based on personal spiritual experience. My challenge in writing this book is to seek language that creates common ground for all three groups, and I suppose time will tell the degree to which I’ve succeeded.
R: You write that you want to help readers distinguish the wine of spirituality from the wineskin of the religion it is experienced in. Why are these two things different? Can you share a personal example?
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