Category: Gospel and Culture

Extreme Makeover at Austin Safeplace

This Saturday October 24th AUSTIN CITY LIFE will be serving Austin-based non-profit SAFE PLACE, an organization that is working to end sexual and domestic violence right here in Central Texas. We will be doing a one day Extreme Makeover of one of their teen therapy rooms.

We are still in need of money to complete this project. If you would like to contribute, you can give online here.

If you would like to come help us on Saturday (moving furniture, painting, etc.) email nate@austincitylife.org.

Follow us in Twitter on Saturday we will be posting pictures!

The Future of Faith

I am enjoying Harvey Cox’s newest book, The Future of Faith, and have agreed to participate in a blog book tour. Cox has made insightful observations about religion for decades. Stephen Prothero has pointed to Cox as “the leading trend spotter in American religion.”

Although Cox makes no claim to evangelical faith, his insights are helpful in clarifying just what Christianity was, is, and will be. You may recognize his name from my recent reference to his distinction between belief and faith. I look forward to reviewing the book officially in a future post. For now, here’s some more info on the book.

Harvey Cox new book tour will stop here, but as you can see below it will be making their rounds over the next month until they wrap things up in Montreal at the American Academy of Religion‘s annual meeting, where he will participate on a panel regarding a ‘Big Idea’ for the future of the Church. These ‘Big Ideas’ will be video tapped and shared, so be on the look out for live footage from the last night of the tour.

Joseph Weethee , Jonathan Bartlett, The Church Geek, Jacob’s Cafe, Reverend Mommy, Steve Knight, Todd Littleton, Christina Accornero, John David Ryan, LeAnn Gunter Johns, Chase Andre, Matt Moorman, Gideon Addington, Ryan Dueck, Rachel Marszalek, Amy Moffitt, Josh Wallace, Jonathan Dodson, Stephen Barkley, Monty Galloway, Colin McEnroe, Tad DeLay, David Mullens, Kimberly Roth, Tripp Hudgins, Tripp Fuller, Greg Horton, Andrew Tatum, Drew Tatusko, Sam Andress, Susan Barnes, Jared Enyart, Jake Bouma, Eliacin Rosario-Cruz, Blake Huggins, Lance Green, Scott Lenger, Dan Rose, Thomas Turner, Les Chatwin, Joseph Carson, Brian Brandsmeier, J. D. Allen, Greg Bolt, Tim Snyder, Matthew L. Kelley, Carl McLendon, Carter McNeese, David R. Gillespie, Arthur Stewart, Tim Thompson, Joe Bumbulis, Bob Cornwall

This Tour is Sponsored by Transforming Theology DOT org!

Counterfeit Gods Excerpts

What is a Counterfeit God?

A counterfeit god is anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living. An idol has such a controlling position in your heart that you can spend most of your passion and energy, your emotional and financial resources, on it without a second  thought.

What is a Deep Idol?

Deep idols seek fulfillment through their public manifestation, surface idols. Deep idols can’t be removed. They can only be replaced, and only Christ can ultimately satisfy. HT: Out of Ur

How do you Get Rid of a Deep Idol?

Jesus must become more beautiful to your imagination, more attractive to your heart, than your idol,” Keller says. “If you uproot the idol and fail to ‘plant’ the love of Christ in its place, the idol will grow back.”