NOT pictured here (it wasn’t in the room when I placed the books on my chair) is Sider’s The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience. While there were places where I was a little put off (not much , mind you, but just a little) by some “typical sounding” “Bible authority” and certain conservative opinions, what endears me to Sider is that he is absolutely consistent in his comprehension of Biblical Christianity and what the Scripture seems to be saying about the Church. The Church, in Sider’s eyes (and I agree) has become a commodity; a “product”, and thusly, devoid of demand, accountability, or sense of authority in the lives of its members.

Sider also explores several ways in which the Church has become almost indistinguishable in its lifestyle in contrast to the culture (the only “contrast” being “religious trappings and symbols and language”. Sider is also aghast at how little the Church members are giving; he points out that if the Church in America simply tithed at 10%, there would be enough money just from the American Church to pay for health care and education for every person on earth! That is rather staggering. I remember reading Sider’s Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger in the late 70’s (or was it the early 80’s?). Made an impact. I’m not real sure I’ll recover real soon from the sense of lacking that I feel concerning my own giving over the past few years. Econmomics have at times been hard, and I worry about savings and college for kids, and the economy and where it’s headed, but then I think “yeah, but what should I be doing at this moment in time?”.

The Church of the Saviour’s “MInistry of Money” , and a lot of what they do as a Church to maintain an integrity of Church memebership has been on my radar often over the past 30 years since I first began to read about their journey through Elizabeth O’Connor’s books, and made 2 or 3 visits to their communities over the past 20 years. Giving everything one can, basically everything above and beyond “what one needs to live on” is quite an expectation, but those words are often heard when the communities of that Church talk about money issues.

Keillor’s HomeGrown Democrat is a CD set, with the complete book read by Keillor. Listened to it on the way back from Cincinnati on March 29. The Gospel According to America I have written on a couple of times – here , here and here —, and may return to it in future posts (I really liked it)

God’s Politics I finished while in Atlanta March 10-13.

Well, gotta head out to eat. More later. Hope to watch Hotel Riwanda later tonight.