Zondervan Blog

CNN Reports on the Virtual Church

In the last week CNN has given some attention to the "Virtual Church." In an article about the "Virtual Church," and an interview with Craig Groeschel, the pastor of LifeChurch.tv, CNN brings to light some of issues surrounding one of the newer, and more controversial trends in Christianity. Interviewing a member of LifeChurch.tv, Hjalti á Lava, says:

"It allows me to connect with others and have conversations about the message. Technology allows us today to have fellowship across borders and cultures."

Recently Christianity Today had a blog post discussing this issue by Bob Hyatt, who is pastor of the Evergreen Community in Portland, Oregon, and a regular contributor to Out of Ur, (Part 1 | Part 2).

"The problem, in my mind, with virtual community and internet campuses isn’t that it’s not church... it’s that it is just church enough to be dangerous. Because it has all the easiest and most instantly gratifying parts of community without the harder parts, it ends up misshaping us."

  Learn More | Read Excerpt

Douglas Estes, author of SimChurch is also mentioned in the CNN article. For people that are passionate about the church and evangelism, and feel both excitement and concern over the new virtual world the internet is creating, SimChurch explores much of this debate and covers some of the vital issues that postmillennial followers of Jesus must grapple with.

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About the Author
Douglas Estes is Adjunct Professor of New Testament at Western Seminary-San José and Lead Pastor at Berryessa Valley Church, San José, California. He received his PhD in Theology from the University of Nottingham, UK.

Mary DeMuth Shares Personal Story of Abuse, Healing & Hope

Thin Places: A Memoir
Coming February 2010

Thin Places is about hope and healing more than it is about the traumatic events of DeMuth’s childhood. According to DeMuth, thin places are “snatches of time, moments really, when we sense God intersecting our world in tangible, unmistakable ways.” When she encountered the true love of Jesus at a Young Life camp in high school, DeMuth’s life trajectory changed. God reassembled the pieces of her emotionally fragile self, which initiated true healing and peace.

“Folks may wonder why I’ve spent all this time looking back,” says DeMuth, “dredging up what God sees of my story, what my eyes see. Jesus says truth sets people free. This is my way of doing that—of telling the stark truth on the page so others can be set free.”

DeMuth’s desire is to see readers set free from their family secrets. In light of that, she’s provided a place for readers to anonymously share their family secrets. Since the blog launched in February 2009, over 150 survivors have emailed their family secrets for DeMuth to anonymously post. For more information, visit the blog at: http://blog.myfamilysecrets.org.

Read More | Read Excerpt | Book Details

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About Mary DeMuth
Author and speaker Mary DeMuth helps people turn their trials to triumph. Her books include Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God, Building the Christian Family You Never Had, Watching the Tree Limbs, Wishing on Dandelions, Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture and the first two books in the Defiance Texas Trilogy: Daisy Chain and A Slow Burn. Mary lives with her husband Patrick and their three children in Texas. Find out more at www.marydemuth.com.

Build a Kindergarten in Vietnam

Jonathan Acuff, author of the upcoming book Stuff Christians Like is raising funds to build a kindergarten in Vietnam. Jon writes:

About a year ago, while flipping through a book, my 6 year old daughter saw a photo of a starving child. When I told her he didn’t have enough food to eat, she got quiet and then said, “That’s not real though. That’s pretend right?” That simple question really challenged me about the things in this world I’m OK with being “real.” Like poverty and starving kids and children with no hope. Today, in what I’m hoping is a good stewardship of the Stuff Christians Like platform, I’m asking readers to help me raise $30,000 through Samaritan’s Purse to build a kindergarten for more than 200 kids in Vietnam.

For more information you can read Jon's entire post on StuffChristianLike.com here.

Get more details on this project from an interview with Jon Acuff here.

New Book by Cathleen Falsani Explores the the Films of the Coen Brothers, Including 'A Serious Man'

The new movie by Joel and Ethan Coen, A Serious Man, opening today, is “easily the most overtly religious and autobiographical” of all their films, says author Cathleen Falsani. She examines the moral order of the Coeniverse in her new book, The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers.

Falsani, who saw A Serious Man at the Toronto International Film Festival, says the Job-like tale “poses questions that are as brutal as they are universal. The answers the Coens provide are unsatisfactory but truthful. There is no quid pro quo with God.”

An award-winning author and columnist, Falsani is a long-time Coen fan who named her blog, and now this book, after the mantra of the iconic slacker-hero of The Big Lebowski. The "Dudey Satva" of Dudeism (the tongue-in-cheek—but 60,000-strong—"religion" based on the theology and ethics of The Big Lebowski), Falsani offers an insightful guide to the moral order of the Coeniverse. Read More

Author David Dark Speaking in Grand Rapids September 21

David Dark, author of the newly released title The Sacredness of Questioning Everything, will be speaking in Grand Rapids, Michigan on September 21 at the Calvin College Meeter Center (3:30 p.m.), 1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, and the Ladies Literary Club (7:00 p.m.), 61 Sheldon Blvd SE.

At Calvin, Dark’s talk with be “On Not Lying: Faithfulness in the Age of ‘Hurry Up and Matter!’” In it he explores the possibility of communicating honestly and authentically in a world of sound bites, conversation stoppers, and false, first impressions. Drawing from literature, film, and popular music, Dark asks how people of faith might resist the temptation of instantaneous, commercial appeal and bear a more faithful, truthful, though perhaps less successful-feeling witness.

At The Ladies Literary club, Dark’s talk with be “Don't Believe Everything That You Breathe.” In it he commends the sacred practice of redemptive skepticism within a culture enthralled by "the con," those myriad forms of confidence-selling, and calls to worship that cry "INSERT SOUL HERE" at every turn.

Exploring the ways fake urgency often trumps real urgency and promises of pseudo-intimacy often crowd out the possibility of real relationships, Dark considers the ways religious traditions and popular culture offer resources for questioning the status quo and reorienting ourselves.

Both events are free.

Rick Warren to Release New Major Book This Fall

Zondervan has signed an exclusive agreement with Dr. Rick Warren, pastor, leader and author of the bestselling book, The Purpose Driven® Life, to publish his next major book release. Seven years after the success of his signature title that became the No. 1 all-time bestselling hardcover non-fiction book in publishing history, Warren has gone back to the writing studio to create The Hope You Need.

“My motivation as an author has always been the message, not the market and I have been waiting for the right time, until I had something to say that would speak to the personal and societal problems we all face, ” Warren said. “With unemployment in some parts of the country running as high as 15 percent, many individuals – including my own congregation – are feeling the pinch of this recession, and are in need of hope.” Read More

Author Anne Graham Lotz Featured on Time.com and CBS Early Show

Anne Graham Lotz, bestselling author and daughter of evangelist Billy Graham, was recently featured in Time.com and on the CBS Early Show. From Time.com:

“In her new book, The Magnificent Obsession, Graham Lotz writes about feeling alienated at times from "religious people" and pursuing her own religious calling despite the disapproval of her famous parents.” Read More

In her interview on the CBS Early Show, Anne discussed her mentor, Abraham, and how she strives to model her relationship with God after Abraham’s. Watch Video

Learn more about The Magnificent Obsession.

Be a Fan, Spread the Word, Get Cool Stuff

Want to have some fun talking about something you like AND get cool stuff at the same time? Now's your chance. Become an Angel Fall fan and you can help spread the word and get rewarded for your efforts.

Don’t know about Angel Fall? It’s a new fantasy novel by Hollywood writer and executive producer Coleman Luck (www.colemanluck.com). To read the first five chapters on Scribd.com, click here.

Be in Anne Jackson's New Book & Get the First 1200 Words Free

It’s official.

My second book, Permission to Speak Freely (follow on Twitter), will be released with Zondervan next fall. It’s inspired a bit creatively by the Post Secret movement and the content is completely driven by the post Things You Can’t Say in Church, which is now up to over 400 comments!

We will be using people’s confessions both on the website and in the book, which will be four colors. Similar to Post Secret, we’ll actually be scanning in your confessions and using them throughout the book. It will kinda have the same artistic vibe as Jesus for President.

The thing that’s making me a little nervous? The manuscript is due in just a couple of months, so even before the website is launched, I’m needing to get some confessions in now!

How can your confession wind up in the book and/or on the website when it launches? Go to my blog to find out how.

Kary Oberbrunner to Team Up with Gabe Lyons for Church Seminar

Zondervan author Kary Oberbrunner (The Fine Line) will be teaming up with bestselling author Gabe Lyons (UnChristian) this July in order to teach a three day seminar called The Changing Face of the Church.

The seminar will be part of the Equip 09 conference in Columbus, Ohio. Other Zondervan authors speaking at Equip 09 includes Gary McIntosh (Evaluating the Church Growth Movement) and Neil Anderson (Christ-Centered Therapy).

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