Ben Chang’s latest book is an astute and wisely prophetic look at the evolving social movements competing with traditional Christian positions today. When I began reading the book, I was expecting an overview of the conflicts themselves, alongside proposals for how to mitigate the damages done by them, according to some enlightened scheme. What I found was a book that is roughly equal parts backstory and treatment plan. The backstory is a modern history of four loosely interrelated social movements: feminism, racial justice, gay pride and trans(sexual) rights.
Articles referring to the modern Western culture
Journeys of Faith is a free online resource produced by the “Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender” - a U.S. based organisation. Having looked at most of the course, I feel it is easier to explain what it is, before I suggest when you might use it.
I love the format of this book. Although it is short, Jen Oshman has packed it with nuggets of biblical wisdom. Each chapter has brief real-life stories to bring the topics to life. Jen then roots the principles of what she is saying in biblical passages. The end of each chapter lists a set of “Action steps”, based on the teaching from the chapter. And the book ends with a 7-session discussion guide for small groups, each session being based on one of the chapters as well as a relevant Bible passage.
10 years of fruitless evangelism
In this book, subtitled "Conversations between an Evangelical Theologian & His Gay Son", pastor Brad Harper and his son Drew converse in short letters to each other about their differences of opinion regarding same-sex attraction. Whilst Brad holds to a traditional Christian sexual ethic, Drew has left his biblical faith and embraced an LGBTQ lifestyle.