By: Jason Kennedy on March 10, 2017
As a pastor with a Pentecostal persuasion, I cannot tell you how many times I get asked the question, does God speak to us today? I have been asked in a variety of different ways. Whether it is being asked the question directly or when people ask me to speak in tongues on command, people…
By: Christal Jenkins Tanks on March 9, 2017
“The big deal is we think the power is in us individually the power is in us collectively. It is in the church.” John M. Perkins [1] It appears that in our current American culture the church is divided. We are either siding with the “conservative right” or the “progressive left”. Depending on how one views…
By: Kristin Hamilton on March 9, 2017
About 50 times each week, I ask myself what the heck was I thinking when I gave up my career to go back to school. I mean, I know I did it out of a sense of calling and purpose, but can one middle-aged woman really make a difference in the world? After reading the…
By: Phil Goldsberry on March 9, 2017
Introduction Tanya Luhrmann’s work, When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God, is one woman’s perspective and premise on, “How can sensible, educated people in an invisible being who has a real effect on their lives?”[1] My first objection is her broad use of the “American Evangelical” Church when her reality her…
By: Aaron Cole on March 9, 2017
When God Talks Back, Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God by T.M. Luhrmann is a compilation of stories, interviews, scientific data and research gathered and assembled from people of all walks of life and backgrounds. The pages are the result and assimilation of Luhrmann who is a an accomplished author and award winning psychological…
By: Aaron Peterson on March 9, 2017
Tanya Luhrmann shows how the Vineyard is attempting to create social imaginaries to break out of Charles Taylor’s immanent frame that was created as the secular solution to the problem of how humanity 500 years ago started the transition from not making sense of the world without talking about God and arrived at our current…
By: Stu Cocanougher on March 9, 2017
Hunter, James Davison. To change the world: the irony, tragedy, and possibility of Christianity today. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. To Change the World was a well-written text authored by an accomplished sociologist James David Hunter from the University of Virginia. The ironically titled book is a critique of modern Christianity’s assumption…
By: Marc Andresen on March 9, 2017
It is as if a secularist, who’s “immanence” world view can’t allow for the possibility of transcendence is trying to figure out how people claim a personal communication with the invisible Being who is transcendent. As such this books stands as a counterpoint to Taylor’s A Secular Age. [1] When God Talks Back: Understanding the…
By: Chip Stapleton on March 9, 2017
In his book, To Change the World: the irony, tragedy & possibility of Christianity in the late modern world James Davison Hunter gives us a quite a bit to chew on and work through. He levels powerful critiques against what he sees as the three dominant streams of Christian engagement with our culture: ‘Defense Against’, ‘Relevance…
By: Claire Appiah on March 9, 2017
Tanya Marie Luhrmann—When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God Introduction In his book, A Secular Age, the philosopher Charles Taylor’s investigation seeks to answer the question, How did we become a society “in which it was virtually impossible not to believe in God, to one in which faith, even for the…
By: Lynda Gittens on March 9, 2017
This week my younger daughter and I were discussing the behavior of coworkers and how it affects you. I told her that I had to pray and ask God to help me in the way that I respond to them. I was the one reacting and stressing. I wanted them to change, and they weren’t.…
By: Jim Sabella on March 9, 2017
Hunter, James Davison. To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Summary: One way to state Hunter’s thesis is in the form of a report card for the American church. The professor has given the American church an A+ on impacting…
By: Geoff Lee on March 9, 2017
To change the world – James Davison Hunter “I would suggest that a theology of faithful presence first calls Christians to attend to the people and places that they experience directly….the call of faithful presence gives priority to what is right in front of us-the community, the neighbourhood, and the city, and the people…
By: Garfield Harvey on March 9, 2017
Reading this book brought a smile to my face because I realize the journey in this doctoral program has afforded me the opportunity to appreciate a well-written book, regardless of the denominational influences (or biases). Luhrmann introduces each reader to the world of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship, a denomination the author believes represents a shift…
By: Jennifer Dean-Hill on March 8, 2017
Although the presenting topic in this book is, “How to Change the World”, as the title indicates, the title is an ineffective way to approach change in the world, as the author suggests. An appropriate sequel could be entitled, “How to Relate to Our World”. This appears to be the primary theme to our demise…
By: Katy Drage Lines on March 8, 2017
This week, it’s my turn to reflect back on professors who have had an influence on my theology and life. James Davison Hunter, in To Change the World, introduces three contemporary theological paradigms for how Christians in North America relate to our world: right-wing fundamentalism and evangelicalism (“defensive against”), left-wing mainline and left-leaning evangelicalism (“relevance…
By: Mary Walker on March 8, 2017
In his book, To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, & Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World, James Davison Hunter explains why Christians have failed to change the world for the better as they sincerely longed to do. Hunter offers a new paradigm that he calls ‘faithful presence’ as an ideal for how…
By: Rose Anding on March 7, 2017
Introduction Tanya Luhrmann presents When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God to illustrate a distinctive description of anthropology in regards to the perceptions and motives held by contemporary Evangelical Christians.[1] According to Bielo, it contributes significantly to the movement by different anthropologists who are attempting to understand the nature of Christianity…
By: Pablo Morales on March 3, 2017
What is the relationship between trials and Christian leadership? What is the purpose of sitting on the bench while everybody else is engaged in the game? In Isolation: A Place of Transformation in the Life of A Leader, Dr. Shelley Trebesch explains how God uses a diversity of difficult circumstances to make the leader a…
By: Jason Kennedy on March 3, 2017
One early morning I was sitting with a pastor friend enjoying a cup of coffee. I was pastoring in a metro area, and he pastored in a small rural town. For some reason, he must have thought that pastoring in a city was the pinnacle of success. I remember him asking me or rather telling…
