Wayne Cox » Reading

The Saving Life of Christ

Wayne Cox — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 00:56:03 +0000

There is something which makes Christianity more than a religion, more than an ethic, and more than the idle dream of the sentimental idealist. It is this something which makes it relevant to each one of us right now as a contemporary experience. It is the fact that Christ Himself is the very life content of the Christian faith. It is He who makes it ‘tick.’ ‘Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it’ (1 Thess 5:24). The One who calls you is the One who does that to which He calls you. ‘For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure’ (Phil 2:13). He is himself the very dynamic of all his demands.

Christ did not die simply that you might be saved from a bad conscience, or even to remove the stain of past failure, but to ‘clear the decks’ for divine action.

So begins the rather obscure, dated book called The Saving Life of Christ, by Major Ian Thomas. I’ve come back to this book several times over the past 20 years, especially in trying to grasp the gospel of grace.

The Narrative That Re-Plots Our Identity

Wayne Cox — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:30:52 +0000

The Good News is not just a series of facts to which we yield our assent but a dramatic narrative that replots our identity. Think of it in terms of a theatrical play. Each week we come to church with our own scripts. If yours is anything like mine, it’s “the show about nothing.” Yet God descends to give us a new script: a rich plot in which our original character dies and is raised with the lead character. Instead of trying to find a supporting role for God in our play, God writes us into his script as a part of a growing cast for his new world. The script does not offer a blueprint for a new creation, if we will only follow certain steps for realizing it. Instead, through this gospel the Spirit sweeps us into the drama, into the new creation that has already been inaugurated.

From Michael Horton, The Gospel-Driven Life: Being Good News People in a Bad News World

The Power of Narrative

Brian McLaren’s New Book and the Use of the Word ‘Heretic’

Wayne Cox — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:57:01 +0000

Brian McLaren has written a new book, A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith. I’ve followed some of the blog chatter in response, and while there are some supportive and gracious reviews, too many have taken on a vitriolic tone. Healthy, vigorous discussion of ideas has given way to name-calling and divisive labeling.

Is Brian McLaren a heretic?

That we even have to ask this question seems extreme to me. I’m with Jamie Arpin-Ricci, who’s written here about how shameful it is that the conversation has devolved to this point. Effusive blogger, Bill Kinnon writes that McLaren’s views are heretical, though graciously, he’s not ready to scream, “Heretic!” from the ramparts. Trevin Wax leaves no doubt on his answer, claiming there is “no community within historic Christianity” that has held McLaren’s views. He goes on to frame the issue in this sensational way: “McLaren’s proposal makes people decide whether they view Christianity the way he does, or whether they stand with Nicea, Chalcedon, and the Reformation. You are either with him or against him.”

I’m not interested in defending or denying Brian McLaren’s continuity with the Christian faith; however, I do think it would be helpful to highlight his own words, addressing the heart of this “heretic” issue. He responded to one of Kinnon’s questions:

… who do I say Jesus is? In answering that question, I would go exactly to the passages you did: Peter’s confession of Jesus at Caesarea Philippi (I wrote about this at some length in EMC), Paul’s beautiful hymns in Colossians and Philippians … So yes, I enthusiastically affirm the Apostles and Nicene Creeds. Yes, I’m a wholehearted Trinitarian.

This confession, along with the fruit of a life in pastoral ministry should afford McLaren a better response. Certainly it should quell the name-calling and personal attacks. Basic civility and Christ-like charity woven through the ongoing conversation might lead us all to a deeper engagement with the issues and questions he raises.

The Boundaries of God’s Grace: Toward a Larger Vision of Truth

Wayne Cox — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:43:43 +0000

In preparing to speak this Sunday on Luke 4:22-30, I’m struck by the ways Jesus (then and now) challenges our boundaries and blows open the scope of his grace.

The Quaker author and activist, Parker Palmer, writes in The Company of Strangers: Christians & the Renewal of America’s Public Life:

“At the heart of any authentic religious experience is the recognition that God’s nature is too huge, God’s movement too deep, ever to be comprehended by a single conception or point of view … God’s truth is singular and eternal, but the forms in which we give it expression are as finite and fragile as clay pots, and we must always be ready to break them open on behalf of a larger vision of truth.”

[Update: I gave the message on January 31 at The Bridge Community; it is linked here.]

With An Eye Toward Lent …

Wayne Cox — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:20:45 +0000

We’re less than a month away from the season of Lent. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, February 17, followers of Jesus have the opportunity to enter into a period of preparation for Easter. Now is the perfect time to consider what you might do as a spiritual exercise to make Lent a meaningful time.

I’m going to be using a new book by Maggi Dawn, Giving it Up: Daily Bible Readings from Ash Wednesday to Easter Day, as a guide for the season.

I first “met” Maggi in the blogosphere. In 2006, I met her in person at a conference on worship, art, liturgy, and preaching at Asbury Theological Seminary. When she came out with her Advent devotional, Beginnings and Endings (and What Happens in Between), I quickly located a copy in the UK and had it shipped here. It was a great companion during the Advent season and I’ve come back to it again and again the past two years.

Because of the way in which she writes – at once educating and inspiring – I’ve been looking forward to this book for some time. I’m sure it will inspire a blog entry or two, so I hope we can discuss it in a few weeks!

Triple Evils, Interrelated

Wayne Cox — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:38:21 +0000

Communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis. It is found in a higher synthesis that combines the truths of both. Now, when I say question the whole society, it means ultimately coming to see that the problem of racism, the problem of exploitation, and the problem of war are all tied together. These are the triple evils that are interrelated.

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Most Intriguing Book Title

Wayne Cox — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:27:13 +0000

The Great Giveaway: Reclaiming the Mission of the Church from Big Business, Parachurch Organizations, Psychotherapy, Consumer Capitalism, and Other Modern Maladies

Now, that is a book title! It’s by David Fitch, and I’m intrigued by the title, almost enough to order it on the spot. I’ll probably seek out some reviews and maybe check an excerpt on Amazon first. I’ve just recently “discovered” David Fitch on his blog, and what he’s talking about resonates with me and my present experience in ministry.

Anyone read the book or have a take on David Fitch’s thinking/writing?

Brian McLaren’s New Book and the Use of the Word ‘Heretic’

My Reading Wishlist

Wayne Cox — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:05:32 +0000

Here are a few books I’ve got on my “to read” list:

Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon: A Guide to the Best Time to Buy This, Do That and Go There

Letters and Papers from Prison

Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional

Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith

Prayers for a Privileged People

Buechner On Glory

Wayne Cox — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:30:46 +0000

“Glory is to God what style is to an artist.” With these words, Frederick Buechner cracks open a fascinating definition of ‘glory’ in Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC. He goes on:

A painting by Vermeer, a sonnet by Donne, a Mozart aria — each is so rich with the style of the one who made it that to the connoisseur it couldn’t have been made by anybody else, and the effect is staggering. The style of artists brings you as close to the sound of their voices and the light in their eyes as it is possible to get this side of actually shaking hands with them.

In the words of the nineteenth Psalm, “The heavens are telling the glory of God.” It is the same thing. To the connoisseur, not just sunsets and starry nights but dust storms, rain forests, garter snakes, the human face, are all unmistakably the work of a single hand. Glory is the outward manifestation of that hand in its handiwork just as holiness is the inward. To behold God’s glory, to sense his style, is the closest you can get to him this side of Paradise, just as King Lear is the closest you can get to Shakespeare.

Glory is what God looks like when for the time being all you have to look at him with is a pair of eyes.

I want to be a “connoisseur” – what about you?!

Consumerism and the Church

Wayne Cox — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:14:29 +0000

I’m planning for a teaching a series in November on consumerism and the Christian faith. The human desire for more, more, more creeps into our faith and then into our expectations of church … (more on that later!)

Since I’ve been wrestling with these issues and trying to think through hard questions about our culture, I was struck by Scot McKnight’s review of the new book, The Divine Commodity: Discovering a Faith Beyond Consumer Christianity.

Dr. McKnight has initiated a great discussion at his blog, Jesus Creed, with the question, “Is saying, ‘We’re here for you,’ a mark of a consumerist church?” As is often the case at his blog, the comments section is rich with good insights and discussion. Check it out and join me in the discussion there!