Thomas asked me before our vacation to Vermont if I was interested in reading and then reviewing two books that needed to be reviewed for Everyday Liturgy, I quickly agreed to the offer because I did not have any books to bring with me on our vacation. I read Red Letters and Fields of the Fatherless in about 14 days, so rest assured they are not overwhelming and also bare in mind that I am not a fast reader.

Tom Davis's Red Letters:Living A Faith That Bleeds states in the beginning of the book that the premise was to allow the reader to be transformed through the awareness of the power and urgency of the red letters in the Bible. Davis articulates that there is a clear and deliberate reason why Bibles highlight Jesus' words red, because God in human form is speaking and it is very important that the those who read it understand and take action. He writes with conviction when he discusses the crippling effects A.I.D.S. has had on Africa and how Christians must intercede in a tangible way. He speaks of the overcrowded and ill equipped orphanages that are tucked away in Russia's heart land, and how children are forced out around the age of 15-17 and are expected to adapt and survive on their own.

You voice the world into being,
You voice the church into obedience,
You voice us now, and then into newness,
You speak and call into existence that which does not exist.
- Walter Bruggemann, from "Reading Psalm 1"

Chuck Colson wrote a very interesting piece on how Iraq is a very difficult place for Christians, yet no one has really stepped up to the plate to do anything about it.

Colson is wise enough to observe that without any direct intervention in the Christian minorities lives "a Christian community that survived invasions by the Persians, Muslims, Mongols and Ottomans, might not survive the American liberation of Iraq. They certainly will not survive our indifference."

Remember we are a kingdom, people!  Apathy or indifference is typical of any nation bent on its own interests before a religious minority, but it is not the characteristic of one body, which is Christ. ... more

This is the fourth entry in the Postmodern Apologetics series David (Through a Glass Darkly) and I are writing.

"You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder.

"You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?" (James 2)

Saved. Acknowledged. Accepted. Invited. Reasoned. Converted.

All these words, and many more like them, are the rationale of apologetics. They are fixed words, past tense verbs, describing a turning point, a switching of sides, a jumping off the ship into (baptismal?) water. We argue with people, we give evidence, we give cases, we give power points and data, all in hope that we can so bombard a person with Excel spreadsheets of Christian data that they relent to the pressure of the obvious and believe in our wonderfully delivered four spiritual laws. This is reasonable.

Reason is a synonym for belief in the modern apologetics context. Videos, TV shows, sermons, books, an Australian pseudo-scientist---these are the tools we use to convince others that God is real.

Well really, why do we need to convince people that God is real with raw data and rhetorical wizardry? Even the demons know God exists, so if someone doesn't believe they are either fooling themselves or have worked against that conviction (see Romans 1).

So why waste all of our time proving, arguing, and convincing people to make a shift to faith, and leave out the deeds? What foolish men demand a verdict in a man's mind, a shifting of a personal philosophy and theology, without calling a person into the very work and wonder of such a belief.

Modern apologetics is a defense of Christianity. It is not a defense of Christ or his Kingdom. ... more