Archive for the ‘Blog’ category
by Christian on July 01, 2009
Bryan Gill is a great writer and a good friend. We studied together at Beeson Divinity School. Here is the interview he conducted earlier this week. You can also find it at Bryan’s blog.
Named after the main character in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian George lives out his own perpetual pilgrimage with his Crocs and his Mac. Having not reached age thirty, Christian is as well traveled as a seasoned flight attendant. He usually treks to historic sites where monks, reformers, and martyrs trod. His Crocs have been filled with the same dirt that dusted the thonged sandals of Church icons such as the Apostle Paul, St. Augustine, John Calvin, Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, and Dietrict Bonhoeffer—to name a few.
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by Christian on June 08, 2009
Since I can’t afford my own Brookstone vibrating massage chair, I often go to the mall to use theirs. It’s a shameless way to spend a Saturday, but the payoff is huge. One day as waves of glory saturated my shoulders, a young girl approached the chair. She waited for her turn and gave me some serious eye attitude. I pretended not to see her as mechanical fingers kneaded my grateful gluts.
“Ahem!” she muttered.
Normally I would be a gentleman and surrender such a seat, but suddenly the chair switched gears and started working my calves. I was like, “Thank you, Jesus!” It was a heavenly moment and I wasn’t about to come down to earth. Two minutes later, the whiny girl was dragged away by her mom, but not without leaving me with a preadolescent glare of death.
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by Christian on May 31, 2009
“There’s nothing worse than catatonic Christians standing still in a world of falling people.”
I pull this quote from Godology because it’s something I’ve been thinking about lately.
I think Christianity has three major components. There’s the upward component–a personal relationship with God. In many ways, postmodernity has primed our generation for this aspect of Christianity in that it places so much emphasis on experience and relationships. Protestantism, particularly the evangelical tradition that was birthed in the John Wesley and George Whitefield revivals in the eighteenth century, has emphasized knowing God up close and personally. This is the heart of faith–the emotionality of Christianity. Sometimes it can turn into a kind of fanaticism, but it doesn’t have to. When we really understand Jesus’ reconciliatory mission, it does foster emotion. That God would die so we can live. It’s impossible to really understand this without feeling it’s truth. The Christian faith cannot be sequestered as only an academic exercise. It must breath; it must live. Evangelicalism values this aspect of Christianity. They value what the puritans used to call “vital religion.” Soul religion. Life faith, so to speak.
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by Christian on May 19, 2009
Here is a recent interview from Ed Stetzer’s blog.
Godology is the idea of theology up close and personal. I wrote Godology because I sense within my generation a real hunger for authentic Christianity. This is a book for those who want to dig deeper in their faith–to trade rakes for shovels. In each chapter I explore an attribute of God, a spiritual discipline that helps us know him better, and a practical way to express that truth in the world. It’s my hope that this upward, inward, and outward approach will foster intimacy with Christ and community with others.
How is this book different from other books about God and spiritual disciplines?
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by Christian on May 15, 2009
I received a Facebook message the other day and thought it might be interesting to share it with you: “I have a thought provoking question in search of your opinion. You said in Godology that people are beginning to search for the “grainy” life. I agree with this statement. In this vein, education gurus tell us that people learn best with hands-on experiential learning (e.g. Montessori, Foxfire, etc). Granted, in church, we sing and read scripture, but do you have any thoughts on how to make congregational worship more hands-on and experiential?”
–Jeremy
In response to your question, Jeremy, let me back up a bit and explain what I mean about the “grainy life.” Technology, in many ways, has both positively and negatively benefit our society. It has given us news ways to stay in connection to one another. It has brought us deeper into a global community and allows for the kind of ecumenism that I think the church can benefit from. But it also has its negative repercussions. One thing I am finding (at least, in myself) is that because we are always a computer click away from updating our Facebook status, or calling a friend, or Skyping, or whatever, there is an incarnational loss inherent to technological advance. There is a lack of flesh, so to speak. I was presenting a paper last weekend in Stirling on virtual reality and pilgrimage and someone asked me in the Q and A afterward about this idea of incarnation. She was responding to a comment I made about Jesus coming to earth as a person, not a pixel. And I told her that while virtual reality can connect us from one another, it can also disconnect us in ways that we don’t even realize. It tricks us into thinking that online community is equivalent or even better than face-to-face community. Flesh community. And I am finding people are hungry again for this fleshly kind of community–a grainy, nitty gritty kind of community
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by Christian on February 27, 2009
Here is a radio interview I did early this week on Moody Bible Radio. I have never met the host, Greg Wheatley, but I’ve talked to many students here in St. Andrews who have either had him in a class at the Moody Bible Institute or know him from church. Though this interview was only ten minutes long, he seemed to probe at the heart of Godology–knowing God up close and personally.
PrimeTimeAmerica.mp3
On a separate note, I had the most interesting conversation with a group of students I’m teaching. We were discussing the Celtic notion of “white martyrdom” and if there is a biblically sound basis for this radical way of living. White martyrdom is the dying daily to self for the purpose of growing closer to God. I’ve also seen it called “green martyrdom” because of the Irish monks who practiced it. At its core, I believe it represents a total abandonment to God. Not just a kind of casual Christianity that is so rampant in today’s evangelicalism. Green martyrdom speaks to Christ’s words in Matthew 6:24, “If anyone should come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
I think it speaks to the seriousness of the gospel–a gospel that pushes us outward–to the fringe of things–to the edge of things. It was a gospel that pushed the Celts to the very edge of a flat world. To places like Skellig Michael and Iona. It is a faith that risks, trusting in the God who removes us from our comfort zones. I think that’s what the Celtic monks embraced–a life of separation from the world and engagement with the world. Unlike the Egyptian monks like Anthony and others who retreated into the desert to escape the growing secularization of Roman Christianity, the Celts harbored missionary posts and often permeated the British Isles with the Gospel of Christ. I’m currently working on this idea of evangelism, how it can fit into a postmodern paradigm, and I think the Celts have something valuable to say to us about it.
Who knows? Perhaps those ancient guys can teach us something significant about our own struggle to live in a counter-cultural and Christo-centric way. What do you think?
by Christian on February 02, 2009
The strangest thing about writing a book about God is that there is so much I should have said about Him that I didn’t. I suppose no one can truly condense the entirety of God into 180 pages. And if we could, perhaps we ourselves would be God. But looking at Godology (when it is too late to make any editorial revisions), I am truly aware that at best Christian writers must simply abandon their work in hopes that someone else will pick up where we left off. There is always one more word, one more sentence, one more page.
Nevertheless, thanks to all of you who have spread the word about this book. Here is a review that was recently posted about the book.
Taken from http://epangelia.blogspot.com.
“Christian George has written Doctrine of God in a language which is fresh, contemporary and very accessible to this generation of younger evangelicals and non-christians alike. It is a mini Doctrine of God primarily centering around the attributes of God. He covers a wide range of attributes from the Unity of God to the Eternality of God.He is an excellent writer.
I sat down and read 5 chapters of his book the other day at Barnes and Noble before I got distracted by a phone call. In his chapter “Chocolate for the Soul”, George deals with the Holiness of God. He says, “I wrote this chapter barefoot. Not because my Chacos were dirty, but because I am dirty. To stand before God’s holiness and try to condense it into twelve pages- well, that’s an impossible and rather dangerous thing to do.”
The thing I like about this book is that Christian George moves the reader from theology to doxology and practical application of the truths being considered. The later portion of each chapter deals with how to appropriate the truth he has just described. The book is not just a doctrine of God it has to do with the spiritual disciplines of the Christian life. It’s fesh, engaging and helpful all at the same time. Thanks Christian.”
by Christian on January 21, 2009
Table of Contents
Introduction: Rakes for Shovels
- Mardi Gras and Icicles: God’s Unity
- Jesus Ninja: God’s Power
- Sunsets and Dinosaurs: God’s Creativity
- Showing Some Skin: God’s Vulnerability
- Chocolate for the Soul: God’s Holiness
- Rhapsody in Red: God’s Love
- Jealous is My Name: God’s Jealousy
- Inbox (1): God’s Wisdom
- Cardboard Crosses: God’s Patience
- Feng Shui Faith: God’s Mystery
- G-Force: God’s Mystery
Epilogue: (NaCL)
Buy at Amazon.com
by Christian on September 29, 2008
Yesterday Rebecca and I made our way down to the coastline of St. Andrews. Having spent the majority of our time in the city, it was refreshing to see the sea–so blue and expansive. Norway is not far into the horizon (and the water temperature certainly reflects it). The ocean always has a way of turning my thoughts outward, and eventually upward. The juxtaposition of the ancient churches to the expansive horizon creates and forward/backward sensation as you walk along the cliff. In one sense, you are pulled back into the past–back to the days of Knox, Luther, and Calvin. Yet, forward and outward–continuing their reformation as we hold all things up to the canon of Scripture. Attached are some photos of the beach and other views we encounter of the course of a day. May they be a source of inspiration to you.
Rebecca and I attended an induction service at St. Salvator’s Chapel (14th century). Their were no pews as we in America have come to know them. Instead, the nave of the cathedral has two choir sections facing one another. We sang “Great is thy faithfulness” among other songs. My second supervisor, Dr. Ian Bradley (who, turns out is the head of religious broadcasting for BBC Scotland) preached a well crafted sermon on the Word becoming Flesh. It was quite moving. He had one line that still sticks with me–”The Word became Flesh, but often we return it again to the Word.” His point, as I understood it, was that we must resist the urge to sugar coat Christ by remembering that indeed the Logos became skin (and is still skin in heaven). Jesus became human for us and remained human with us. This was a profound statement coming from Dr. Bradley, an expert on Celtic illuminated manuscripts where the inky written words were actually and physically inscribed on calf skin.
Concerning the pictures, I took several panorama shots and stitched them together to give you the entirety of the perspective. Some are a bit scatter-angled. Some other pictures include our new bicycle, which Rebecca bravely acquired, the castle ruins where John Knox was imprisoned for a year, the cathedral ruins which used to be the religious capitol of Scotland in the medieval era, some pictures of the coastline, one of the many golf courses (by the way, Rebecca insisted that I take golf lessons, so I begin 10 weeks of golf lessons next week on the old course), and our beach. It’s altogether lovely here.
For you Jane Austen fans, Rebecca and I went to a theological tea the other day and it was exactly out of Sense and Sensibility–the accents, the formality, the little crumpet looking things…perfectly fantastic. 
by Christian on September 23, 2008
The journey from America to Scotland has been a difficult, but rewarding one. On Saturday, I become a fully matriculated Ph.D student at St. Mary’s College at the University of St. Andrews. On one hand, we live in a one bedroom flat (bathroom/kitchen/closet/study/bedroom, etc), about a twenty minute walk from the center of town. On the other hand, we know that God has led us here for a reason, and Rebecca and I believe the next three years are going to be the best in our lives.
After leaving New Orleans for New York, we arrived in Edinburgh for a two day visit. Of particular interest to me there was the John Knox House, where John Knox lived and died.
John Knox was a Scottish Reformer and masterful preacher who aided the acceptance of the Protestant movement in Scotland. Without going into too much detail, he earned a degree at St. Andrews, spent a year in exile at the castle of St. Andrews, was taken prisoner for a year and lived on board a French vessel (that’s where when asked to bow and kiss a wooden statue of the virgin Mary he threw her overboard and yelled, “If she’s really the mother of God, let her swim!”), moved to Geneva where he interacted with John Calvin and preached at an English speaking church there, and is said to have lived and died in Edinburgh (at the John Knox House).
St. Andrews is a medieval town on the eastern coast of Scotland. Norway isn’t too far away (and it is bitter cold all the time). Yet, Rebecca and I were strolling along the beach side (or cliff-North Sea side, to be more particular) two days ago, and were struck by the great theological tradition that seeps down the cobblestone streets.
It is so ancient here.
To think that Knox himself lived and breathed in this town! It is so humbling to see the castle on the shore where Knox was taken prisoner. And I ask myself at what great cost is my own Christianity? The only persecution I’ve thus faced has been some rather indecent remarks from some college party folks concerning the sign that I placed on the outside of my door (“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”).
St. Mary’s college sits just off South Street (one of four main streets in St. Andrews), and opens into a medieval courtyard surrounded with ornately stone-worked buildings, grass greener than I’ve ever seen in America, and a tree that Mary Queen of Scots planted. By the way, there are bunnies everywhere (I told Rebecca that even if things get grim, we can at least eat well–that is, with some archery practice).
St. Mary’s quad is filled with bustling new theology students (mostly Masters level) no doubt turning their affections away from the rigors of moving in (and the many hassles thereof) and onto the deep things of God.
On another note, at my orientation speech from the dean I learned that the past three days have been the first sunny days all summer. He quickly assured us it would indeed come to an end and in 6 weeks time twilight will begin to set in at around 2:00 pm (reaching for the Vitamin D).
Thank you all for your constant support and encouragements. I have come to believe that God has brought us to Scotland for a purpose, and we are purposely his.
