On the preaching of sermons

"Sermons should not be preached in churches.

"It harms Christianity in a high degree and alters its very nature, that it is brought into an artistic remoteness from reality, instead of being heard in the midst of real life. . .

"For all this talk about quiet, about quiet places and quiet hours, as the right element for Christianity is absurd. So then, sermons should not be preached in churches but in the midst of life, of the reality of daily life, weekday life."

Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

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Shane Claiborne in Dallas

We've talked a bit about the thought and work of Shane Claiborne here in the past.

Claiborne's cage-rattling book, Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical, has set off lots of discussion in the Evangelical world of Christianity.

I love what Alden Enns, publisher of Geez magazine and former managing editor of Adbusters, says about the book:

"Shane Claiborne is a living experiment--evangelical zeal mixed with grassroots activism; passion for Jesus mixed with prison time for feeding the poor. This is a rant for love, aimed at cowards seeking courage."

Now Claiborne goes Mainline.

If you live in Dallas and if you'd like to hear him in person, then plan on being at the University Park United Methodist Church (4024 Caruth at Preston Road) on Monday, April 9 at 7:00 p.m.!

Not surprisingly, Shane's presentation for the evening sports a provocative title: "Jesus Wrecked My Life."

Should be quite the evening. . . maybe I'll see you there.

[Check out Claiborne's blog at: http://www.thesimpleway.org/shane/.]