Not Name Dropping

So much of my seminary training involved being warned why some author was wrong and why I should not read or listen to them. So I never read the book. Over the years I have realized that we do not melt or explode by reading widely and allowing ourselves to be challenged by differing points of view. This last week I met and listened to Brian McClaren speak about his book Everything Must Change. I read the New Kind of Christian Trilogy years ago and in all honesty he set me on a journey of renewal and refreshment that have been life changing. I hope you are not the kind of person who asked someone if they should like or dislike someone without hearing them.

Brian McClaren and his body of work in the emerging movement is important, helpful, and serious. He is a man of humility and hope who is willing to reexamine the way church has been functioning and willing to look for better answers to the problems we face in this world in which we are now global in connection and consequence.