Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

social justice

5 on Friday: Blogs I read regularly

5 on Friday is a new weekly feature on the blog where I’ll share five things I’m reading, watching, listening to, enjoying, thinking about … you get the idea. Read the first one here.

There’s a lot of stuff to read on and off the Internet. Here are five blogging friends I visit regularly. blog note

  1. Abby Frye, blogging about her life with a chronic  kidney disease, transplant issues and her very real feelings about being sick
  2. Carol Cool, blogging about social justice  issues and how ordinary people can make a difference in their worlds
  3. Courtney Walsh, blogging about books and writing and trusting God with tough stuff
  4. Kristen Hershey, blogging about deals for families, craft ideas, adoption and motherhood
  5. Michelle Roberts, blogging about life “in the fish bowl” as a pastor’s wife.

Who are your regular reads on the Internet?

It's OK to eavesdrop on this conversation: a review of Red-Letter Revolution by Shane Claiborne and Tony Campolo

Before I’d heard of Shane Claiborne or Red-Letter Christianity or even knew who Tony Campolo was, my faith was undergoing a crisis. Four years ago, my husband entered seminary and our Christian world was turned upside down by questions scholars couldn’t answer and didn’t think were all that important, by friends who believed differently than we did, by a culture that puts feet to its faith and exudes peace and simplicity.

red letter revolutionRed-Letter Revolution is a series of conversations between Claiborne, a 30-something who lives in one of the worst neighborhoods of Philadelphia in order to minister, and Campolo, an older educator, author and speaker, on a variety of topics (some of them hot-button) that Christians and the world at large wrestle with.

Topics like Islam, economics, being pro-life, homosexuality, immigration, environmentalism, politics, the Middle East and missions. Claiborne and Campolo challenge the evangelical “talking points” by encouraging Christians to look at what Jesus said and did. The following statement and question guides the discussion:

“The litmus test of whether or not something is Christian is the question, Does it look more and more like Jesus?”

The authors keep an open mind on these tough subjects, but they don’t just speak from study. Their experiences of living out a Gospel of love give life to the discussions. I was moved and inspired by their stories.

To read this book is to be open to challenges to what you believe, and to take it for what it is: eavesdropping on a conversation between two people who are deeply and passionately committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and who want to encourage others to live with depth and passion as well. You might not like everything they have to say, but if you’re willing, you’ll find ways to broaden your beliefs without abandoning your faith.

My faith and beliefs are not what they once were, and frankly, I’m okay with that. Reading Red-Letter Revolution confirmed what’s been slowly happening to my beliefs. I no longer feel like a non-Christian or a lesser Christian. I feel like part of a movement to change the world, one act of love and obedience at a time.

I hope you’ll give this book a chance.

For more on the Red-Letter movement, visit www.redletterchristians.org.

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In exchange for my review, I received a free digital copy of Red-Letter Revolution from Thomas Nelson as part of the Booksneeze program.