intersections

Crack House Church

I am a fan of Karl Marx's critique of religion as "the opium of the people." Because Marx is the most famous atheist and hostile toward religion, religious people rarely give his critique a chance. We need to listen to what Marx has to say. I refer to this quite often in my messages at the Hollywood Adventist Church.

Haven't you noticed that religion mostly pacifies people? It mostly leads them to disengage with the world and to wish for a world that doesn't exist. What I am working toward in my congregation is a religious faith that motivates people to act. But this is not how we have been taught. Those of us who have grown up Christian—especially, but not only, those in the conservative/evangelical side of the church—have learned, more or less, that Jesus died for our sins, freed us from existential guilt, and accepted us into his family. What remains is to wait for the full consumation of that freedom in heaven or a world made new. The most we might be motived to do, if we are extroverted and altruistic enough, is invite others to to follow us on this path.

In this mode, Christianity is primarily about keeping your nose clean and waiting out this cruel world as we wait for something better to be ushered in by God. This is a religion of disengagement, of passivity and of apathy and Marx was right to criticize it.

Here is a longer section that includes the famous "opium" line, from, Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right.

Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusions.

You need to be sober to deal with life as it is. In fact, the principalities and powers thrive when those who properly have a vision of the world as it should be are so inebriated by religion as to be of no good to the world. This religion must die, and soon.

My friend, Peter Rollins, is talking about this in his recent conversation with the good folks at Work of the People. Listen as he describes what he calls Crack House Church.

To what extent is your church a Crack House Church?

What can we do to sober people up so that they can feel and engage with the world as it is and work as God's partners to create the world as it should be?

 

Amahoro!

In a few days I'll be headed to Melbourne, Australia for the Victoria Conference Camp Meeting (which is actually 2+ hours drive north of Melbourne, I'm told). I'm looking forward to making new friends there, as well as reconnecting with old friends. You can follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates about that (provided I have some internet access).

From Melbourne I'm traveling to East and Central Africa. First to Mombasa, Kenya for the Amahoro Conference and then to Bujumbura, Burundi with a few friends. I cannot begin to describe how excited and grateful I am.

(click to enlarge map)

Stay tuned for updates about my trip.

Summer Reading Group: Deep Church

Spectrum and the re-church network will together be hosting a summer reading group. We will be blogging our way through Deep Church by Jim Belcher. In this book, Belcher maps out, in a very accessible way, the critiques made of the traditional church by those in the emergent movement and the criticisms of the emergent movement that has ensued from the traditionalists in response. He attempts to articulate a third alternative between the two approaches to being and doing church. We are hoping that reading this book together will be a good way to come to a better understanding of the emergent movement, but also to thoughtfully discuss the important issues that are raised in it in the context of the Adventist community.

It's Really All About God

My dear friend, Samir Selmanovic, has just published his first book entitled, It's Really All About God (buy on Amazon) and what a way to start. This is not a review...that will be coming soon. But I will tell you that this is a radical, peaceful vision of the force for good that religion can and should be in the world, told through the intimate, personal lenses of someone who hase expereinced so much of the good and bad of religion.

There is a review at the Spectrum website by my friend, Brenton Reading. You can read that here.

The blurb I wrote for inside the front cover says this:

“Samir has written a book that reads like an extended poem; an ode to life. Where others see only the darkness and destructiveness of religion, Samir sees beauty and hope. Where others see only competition and violence, Samir sees synergy and life. And his vision is no simple syncretism; a blending of all religions into one inoffensive ‘smoothie’ of goodness and light. This book is a celebration of postmodern ‘otherness’ of the first order. It will inspire you, frustrate you, maybe even anger you. Samir will not answer all your questions or tell you exactly what to do next. But if you’ve ever felt that nagging deep in your soul that God is lurking just beneath the surface in places you have least expected, you need to read this book!”

I will write a review here after I get a chance to read it again.

Please go buy this book and read it. In the meantime, check out this short video of Samir talking about his book.

Summer Reading Group :: What Would Jesus Deconstruct?

It’s hard to believe…but, summer is here. And with summer comes time spent with great books. So, re-church is announcing a Summer Reading Group. We will be blogging through What Would Jesus Deconstruct?, by John D. Caputo. This is an enjoyable and challenge jaunt into postmodernism, Derridian deconstruction and the gospel. Caputo has a playful, sharp and ironic style that is sure to rub us the wrong way and spark some great conversation.
There are 6 chapters and we will blog one chapter a week for six weeks, starting July 13, so you have time to get the book and start reading. Our bloggers will be:

::Ryan Bell, Senior Pastor of the Hollywood Adventist Church
::Samir Selmanovic, founder of Faith House Manhattan and Pastor of City Lights
::Zane Yi, Ph.D. candidate in Philosophy at Fordham University in New York City.

Please drop a comment at the re-church blog if you plan to read along with us. The blogs will be posted there and we invite your comments, questions, challenges and insights. This will be a much more enjoyable experience if you participate in the comments.

Please invite anyone you know that might be interested in this group and lets have some fun this summer reading together.

Beyond Evandalism DVDs available now

We had some delays in producing the DVDs from Beyond Evandalism with Peter Rollins, but they are now shipping. As proof of that see photos here and below.

Here’s how to order:

This set of 5 DVDs costs $45 + $5 shipping.
Please make checks out to: “Hollywood SDA Church” and mail to:

Hollywood Adventist Church
1711 N Van Ness Ave
Hollywood, CA  90028

The set includes 3 DVDs of Peter Rollins’ main sessions, plus 2 DVDs containing the 4 responses.

Please help us spread the word!

Theological Conversation with Jürgen Moltmann

Jürgen Moltmann is one of the most influential theologians of our time. A generation from now people will look back and refer to him the way many of us today refer to Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and others.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you're like me and are passionate about the intersection of academic theology and the life of the church, you should do whatever it takes to be at this event.

There is only room for 300 participants, so sign up today. I'm registered and I know of several others from the re-church network who will be there as well, so we'll definitely have a re-church meet up while we're there.

All the details are at the website - moltmannconversation.com

Join me at "Transforming Theology"

This Friday night, from 7-9 pm, I'll be at Claremont School of Theology for meeting entitled, "Transforming the Church." Tony Jones, of Emergent Village, will be present. Tony writes a little bit about this event on his blog, here. My friend, Trisha Famisaran is working on this initiative in her role at Claremont's Center for Process Studies.

You can learn more on their website or join the Facebook Group.

I hope you'll consider joining in the conversation. It's going to be challenging and provocative. It's an important conversation for some of us in the Adventist Church and the re-church network.

Check out the video below...

Pete Rollins speaking at the Hollywood Adventist Church

[cross posted at the Spectrum Blog]

Here's a short clip of Pete Rollins speaking at the Hollywood Adventist Church this morning for the Beyond Evandalism conference.

Beyond Evandalism starts tonight

Beyond Evandalism - the re-church gathering featuring Peter Rollins - will begin at the Hollywood Adventist Church in just a few hours. I get very excited every time I look over the list of nearly 80 people who will join us for the next day and a half.

I will be blogging the event over at the Spectrum Blog, so be sure to check in over there for updates.

And those of you who are coming, thank you so much and I'll see you soon.