That’s right, I’m giving away a free copy of Churched by Matthew Paul Turner.  The book revolves around Turner’s experiences growing up in a fundamentalist church.  Here’s how to win a free copy:

Comment below and tell me your funniest fundamentalist church memory.  The best story will win a free copy of the book.  You have until Wednesday of this week to comment.  

Ready, set, go!

And now, as promised… Churched.

I have been a big fan of Matthew Paul Turner since June.  I came across his blog through Jason Boyett’s blog who is a frequent writer for Relevant Magazine. Turner is a gifted satirist who frequently sheds light on the darkness of Evangelical Christianity.  Many who follow Jesus misrepresent him, and Turner has a gift for pointing out the differences.

The book is a memoir of his childhood and adolescence in a fundamentalist Independent Baptist Church.  From Sunday School teachers who illustrate hell via burning barbies, to a Pastor who eloquently taught that going to see Bambi in the theater would support pornography, Turner experienced all that can be expected to be experienced in a fundamentalist congregation.

In my opinion, the beauty of Churched is that Turner was able to look back on some pretty terrible things with light-hearted humor.  Although I’m sure it is still a challenge, it appears as if Turner has forgiven those who wronged him growing up.  As a Youth Minister in a traditional church, the book reminds me not to get caught up in traditions because not all traditions reflect truth.  For that matter, not all traditions reflect Jesus.  I believe Christians who have grown up in similar churches, Ministers, and unchurched folk who are scared to even darken the door of a church should pick up a copy of Churched and better understand what church is all about.  The last chapter offers some redemptive hope that may spark a journey for any of these demographics toward finding the true body of Christ.

School has been quite the female dog this semester.  The busyness of my schedule has prohibited me from writing as much as I would have liked.  I have been fortunate to find two books that were given to me for free if I would simply read them and write a review.  My next posts will be reviews of the books Churched by Matthew Paul Turner and The Faith of Barack Obama by Stephen Mansfield.  I am definitely looking forward to reading and reviewing both books!

s.t.

Cameron Strang, founder and editor of Relevant Magazine recently made a decision to not lead the opening invocation at the Democratic National Convention this year.  Cameron is leading by example in working with Republicans and Democrats to demonstrate how Christians should deal with partisan issues. Donald Miller is scheduled to take his place.

This year I am struggling.  

The struggle lies in the question “who should I vote for?”  As a Youth Minister who lives in the Bible-Belt and goes to a Southern Baptist college, the question seems as if it has an easy answer.  Voting for a Republican ensures that the “Pro-life” stance will be made and that Homosexuals cannot get married.  

However, what about the issue of war?  What about the Kingdom of God being a Kingdom of Peace?  Isn’t the name of the Messiah that we put our hope and trust in the Prince of Peace?  What about social issues?  ”The church takes care of social issues” is the simple answer that we are often given.  But the church isn’t.  The church has whored herself out to a Pharisaical version of christianity that is nothing like Jesus.* 

So, there is a struggle in my heart regarding who to vote for.

I have some liberal Christian friends who I love dearly that say that the answer is simple.  Democrats have moved toward a more conservative agenda in certain areas, and Obama has even come up with ways to lower the abortion rate.  Lower the rate of unborn lives slaughtered each year.  Lower the rate of mothers who sacrifice their children to Convenience in the name of Women’s Rights.

I get Women’s Rights.

I understand that they should have the right to choose what goes on with their own body.  I even buy the argument that they should be able to make an educated decision when their life is at risk as to who to save (although love in that picture seems to point to protection of the life of the baby as the most selfless decision to make). Out of all of the rights that Democrats fight for, none of them protect unborn children. To simply throw away a life because it is inconvenient when there are loving families who would give everything in order to love and nurture a child is just, well it is sick.

I suppose that in the name of defending the defenseless, abortion is the bigger issue.  I still don’t like what I see in the Political Party that defends the Pro-life stance.  The Pro-life stance of the Republican Party needs to widen and expand to areas such as protecting the lives of our soldiers and not sending them to meddle in the business of countries who have been at war for thousands of years.  It needs to widen to offer humanitarian aid to those who need assistance.  It needs to widen to provide assistance to lower and middle class Americans who cannot afford health-care.

The tension in this election year is built on a bipartisan system that leaves us as a nation with the choice of voting for one of two candidates whose positions will lead to the death of innocent people.  This tension should wind tightly around the hearts of all followers of Jesus and provoke us to pray for His Kingdom to come and His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. 

 *This is an issue that I would like to address in a series of essays regarding the Kingdom of God, but for this article I will stick to politics.

This is insane….

*Warning: man does get hurt in kite-flying accident during Tropical Storm Fay, but is expected to be okay.  The video is not graphic.

I’m going to ask the obvious, what was he thinking?

An important civil forum took place last night between Presidential contenders McCain and Obama at Saddleback Church.  McCain did surprisingly well and may have even boosted support from evangelicals. Rick Warren fielded questions regarding social issues and kept the entire event friendly. He first interviewed Obama while McCain was backstage, and then vice versa.

Obama’s interview seemed like two old friends sitting over a cup of coffee at Starbucks.  Obama has a natural charisma about him that has helped him to achieve popularity among twenty-somethings.  Relationship is important to this generation, and Obama seems to understand that.  His strategy to answer questions that most of the “Moral Majority” differs with him on was to offer plans to deal with the issue of lowering abortions through education and resources to prevent unplanned pregnancies.  Obama has many ideas to try to unify the nation, and that is important during times as uncertain as these.

McCain’s answers were more direct and to the point.  One could not watch him without realizing how much experience he has, whether it be in a POW camp or working under the Reagan administration.  McCain related to twenty-somethings by using stories to illustrate his leadership philosophies.  His way of relating to the “Moral Majority” was to take a definitive Pro-life stance. This is sure to influence voters that have a strong stance regarding abortion.

If you saw the civil forum, comment and tell me what you thought!

I want to know, Who Are You? Also, I want to encourage all of my readers to subscribe to the blog.  I noticed that the feedburner link was messed up before, but that should be fixed now.

If not, you should drop what you are doing right now and go buy I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning to start you off on a journey of glorious wonderfulness.  Also, go read this article regarding his new CD and moniker, The Mystic Valley Band. Oh, and watch the video below. 

How do people fall for this?  He’s obviously nothing like Jesus.  Any thoughts?