September hacks and gasps its last for this year, and it’s been quite a week in the blogs… but I’ve set aside quite a few that have nothing to do with you-know-who talking about you-know-what. Okay, there are a couple in there… and I’ve saved a good clincher for the end. Also have lots of book mentions in here as well for those who need more reading material. If you only come by here weekly, I think almost every post I’ve done this week has had some significant discussion around it, and it’s not too late to jump in. I certainly feel like I’ve written a lot, but I’m not the only one who’s said noteworthy stuff this week. So then, on with the linkage!

1. This week is a good one to end with a classic from the archives: Michael Lee’s “Why I Am Not Emergent” from November 2005.
2. It’s been a busy week in the blogosphere, what with Mark Driscoll and all. It’s been clear for a while that Mark has distanced himself from Emergent (and perhaps from the emerging church generally), but now even our intrepid voyageur is wondering if he’s really an Emerging™ Christian.
3. In the snail-mail recepticle on my doorstep this week: Conrad Gempf’s Mealtime Habits of the Messiah: 40 Encounters with Jesus and Esther De Waal’s A Life-Giving Way: A Commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict. Delicious.
4. Speaking of books, RLP’s has been remaindered, so now you can buy one directly from the author, who will promise to sign it for you and hide some weird treasure in it someplace. Cool idea… and I want one.
5. Yesterday Scot McKnight was discussing symbols, the Celtic cross in particular — he’s working through Tracy Balzer’s Thin Places: An Evangelical Journey into Celtic Christianity, which I’ve just now added to my wish list.
6. 10 Brilliant Complete Movies Online and Best Online Documentaries. Looks like some good stuff there, you know, for people who want the Internet to be moe like, uh, television.
7. Jesus is not my servant, server, serf, subject, or slave (via Mak)
8. Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History, including the Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran. I can’t tell you how much I wish I could get to the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit… anybody wanna fly me to San Diego?
9. I remember sitting through sermons wishing the preacher knew Seth Godin’s advice on public speaking.
10. Paul Soupiset does a simple labyrinth with 6 elements / 11 stations. Reminds me of The Labyrinth Experiment we did some time ago, though ours was more of a navigable worship experience. Also, I was down to check out the progress but I see they have photos online of The Carol Shields Memorial Labyrinth which is being built not far from our house — walking or cycling distance from our doorstep. It’s getting late in the season now, but it looks like it’ll be a very enjoyable place by springtime.
11. You an now apply for a scholarship for blogging. The times, they are a’changing.
12. Earlier in the week, Scot McKnight was asking whether it’s better for a leader to have their theology straight but be abrasive and mean-spirited or to be generous and kind but sometimes stray from traditional thinking. 90 comments, and you can guess which way I’d lean. Somehow, this post from Makeesha just seems to fit. Who knew? After all this time, it turns out that just knowing the right doctrine doesn’t make you behave any better. Now, what was I just saying about that?
13. Jamie has launched the website for The Dusty Cover, his third-space coffeeshop-bookstore project. I’m spending a good chunk of the day there today, volunteering with setting up shelving and whatnot. Actually, I don’t even know what else.
14. Pam Hogeweide has been traipsing around the place and posting occasional updates, at least until they left their laptop in a taxi and she had to ask Erin to post a message on her blog. Other than the somewhat the unfortunate laptop incident, I’m envious. This is her return trip to HK after 15 years — for me it’s been 20 years since I was there, so the landmarks she’s mentioned are all familiar. I can only imagine how much it’s changed.
15. What if you spent one year following every rule in the Bible? A. J. Jacobs did exactly that. That is, as literally as possible… I enjoyed the part where he actually stones an adulterer. He starts as an agnostic, but says, “The Bible affected every single part of my life, it affected the way I walked, the way I dressed, the way I hugged my wife, the way I ate. The year was the most extreme makeover of my life.” When asked if there were any rules he was still following, he replied, “I’m not Gandhi or Angelina Jolie, but I made some strides.” (HT: Doug Pagitt)
16. There are two kinds of people, those who are dualistic…. The “We’re In, You’re Out” Mentality &#8212 David Fitch. Related — Recap of evangelicalism/emerging panel at up/rooted.north.
17. Pernell gets all the press — and good for him, too. I hope he’ll remember us little people.
18. Last week I was “A Rhyme Torn Bard,” this week I’m ‘Destitute’ Liver Woodcock — it’s my Blues name (HT: Sivin Kit)
19. And oh, I didn’t want to stir this up again, but… the guy who at the beginning of the week called a some people heretics because they read or quoted the likes of Borg, Crossan, Chalke, Wilbur, and Rabbinical sources has at the end of the week announced his new book, which is due out in February: Vintage Jesus, a collaboration with Dr. Gerry Breshears. The chapter titles (which look good) are all questions about Jesus that are clearly framed and organized to lead into solid doctrinal answers on Christology. Quoting now directly from the website, “These questions are answered with insights from people such as Jesus himself, Dog the Bounty Hunter, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Luther King Jr., Hugh Hefner, Jack Bauer, Fidel Castro, Oprah, Kanye West, Gandhi, Homer Simpson, Mike Tyson, Gil Grissom, and Madonna, along with some demons and a porn star.” Uh, yeah. Truth is stranger than fiction? Or is that a stone flying this direction from the porch of that glass house over there? Just to weird you all out, I ordered the book — the first 1,000 people to pre-order will get a 35% discount, an early pdf of the book, and when it ships the book will be signed by the authors. Not a bad marketing strategy, actually. But wait, it gets better. I took a look at the “endorsements” page on the book site. Chuck Colson, J.I. Packer, Wayne Grudem. Yeah, yeah. scroll, scroll…. oh, this is interesting, under the heading “What others are saying about Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church” — “He is uncommonly intelligent. He is uncommonly articulate and humorous.” — Tony Jones, Emergent Village Coordinator. Remember folks, you heard it here first. A strange end to a strange week, I guess!