blog - Alan Rudnick

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FREE Book Giveaways – 6 Ways to Win!

I’m giving three great books this week! You can win and all you have to do is respond below using the giveaway form below. Here are the books I’m giving away (be sure to go to the bottom of the post to enter to win!):

The Work of the Associate Pastor
Alan R. Rudnick

A new vocational volume in the best-selling “Work of the Church” series!

Having spent more than ten years in pastoral staff ministry, Alan R. Rudnick brings a wealth of research and experience to the often undervalued ministry of the associate pastor. Inviting readers to understand associate ministry as more than training ground for a senior pastorate, Rudnick explores the diverse roles and responsibilities that fall under the associate umbrella. From life-stage ministries with children and youth, singles and seniors, to specialized ministry areas such as music, education, pastoral care, and counseling, this volume acknowledges the challenges and opportunities offered to associate pastors in their distinctive ministries. The book’s appendix offers practical resources for churches:

How to plan for an associate
Sample job descriptions
Compensation guidelines

Associate ministers also will find a personal assessment, helpful in discerning when to stay and when to leave their associate position. Overall, this is an ideal resource for graduating seminarians seeking associate opportunities, as well as church leaders looking to establish an associate position.

An American Gospel: On Family, History, and the Kingdom of God
Erik Reece

At the age of thirty-three, Erik Reece’s father, a Baptist minister, took his own life, leaving Erik in the care of his grandmother and his grandfather-also a fundamentalist Baptist preacher, and a pillar of his rural Virginia community. While Erik grew up with a conflicted relationship with Christianity, he unexpectedly found comfort in the Jefferson Bible. Inspired by the text, he undertook what would become a spiritual and literary quest to identify an “American gospel” coursing through the work of both great and forgotten American geniuses, from William Byrd to Walt Whitman to William James to Lynn Margulis. The result of Reece’s journey is a deeply intimate, stirring book about personal, political, and historical demons-and the geniuses we must call upon to combat them. Publisher description

Weird: Because normal isn’t working
Craig Groeschel – author of Christian Atheist

Normal people are stressed, overwhelmed, and exhausted. Many of their relationships are, at best, strained and, in most cases, just surviving. Even though we live in one of the most prosperous places on earth, normal is still living paycheck to paycheck and never getting ahead. In our oversexed world, lust, premarital sex, guilt, and shame are far more common than purity, virginity, and a healthy married sex life. And when it comes to God, the majority believe in him, but the teachings of scripture rarely make it into their everyday lives.

Simply put, normal isn’t working.

Groeschel’s WEIRD views will help you break free from the norm to lead a radically abnormal (and endlessly more fulfilling) life. Publisher description

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Christmas trees, for Christians only

My friends over at the Unvirtuous Abbey (read my interview with them) posting this very interesting picture:

I’m thinking that this cannot be real. It has to be a joke. It has to be photoshopped. I posted this on Facebook and it immediately drew laughs and a few disapproving comments.One commenter said he would not be able to buy one since he doesn’t carry his baptism certificate on him.

The crazy part is that there are Christians out there who think a Christmas tree is quintessentially Christian. Christmas trees, or more specially, the bringing in evergreen or an evergreen tree, comes from pre-Christian pagan practices. Germanic tribes would often observe the transition into winter using a Yule log or so type of tree.

So, is this a hoax or a real picture? Anyone have any info?

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Pregnancy from rape is not God’s intent

By now you have heard of Richard Mourdock, the Indiana Republican Senate candidate who said in a debate:

“I just struggled with it myself for a long time but I came to realize: Life is that gift from God that I think even if life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”

The backlash from these comments have been swift and harsh. Mourdock was quick to distance himself from his comments. He stated that his comments were used to politically advantage his opponent. The problem with this whole story is not necessarily about abortion, but about rape. Did Mourdock mean that rape is intended to happen or that life is intended to happen?

At a dinner for GOP leaders Mourdock said: Continue Reading…

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Election Day Communion

Now that the Presidential debates are over, millions of people will be heading to the polls. One of the key voting blocks will have an opportunity to make their vote a spiritual act.

Election Day Communion, a movement started by several pastors, is encouraging congregations and Christians to head to the communion table after heading to the polls. Evangelicals, a targeted demographic by Republicans, are often noted for their conservative stance on political issues. Now, all Christians will have the opportunity to unite around The Table instead of being divisive. Insuring that Election Day Communion does not get partisan, the movement does not endorse a candidate or party.

The movement’s website describes how Election Day Communion started:

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Going to #smAlbany

Today I’m attending smAlbany, which is Albany small business, social media, tech, and (fill in the blank trendy industry). This year the gathering is sponsored by Google. I hope to pick up on some trends for social media, tips, and info for promoting churches on social media. Look for updates on twitter: .

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Two blogs, two different reactions on Dan Savage

It’s amazing how audience dictates the comment section of a blog and how each handle discourse. I posted my Dan Savage blog post on this blog and on my Times Union blog. Interestingly, I posted my blog post on Facebook. On Facebook, the conversation was civil, exchanged differing views, offer opposing ideas, and generally mild. On this blog, there were no comments about the post.

On my Times Union blog, it was a different story with over 55 comments. Most of the posts were critical of the fact that I spoke out against Dan Savage. Most of the commenters thinking revolved around the fact that Savage represented a community who has been unfairly oppressed by religious conservatives. Thus, my critique of Savage’s comments about the Bible being ‘bullshit’ and how he misunderstood slavery in the Bible were not apropos. Despite the fact that I deplored gay-bashing and Bible beating any group, it seems that many commenters believed Savage’s comments were just and called for. Many of the blog comments were attacks against Christianity in general, how religion is narrow-minded, and even some personally attacked me.

Rabbi Brad Hirschfield (author, radio and TV talk show host), led a Q&A for the Washington Post, commented on Dan Savage. The Rabbi wrote “You Don’t Have To Be Wrong For Me To Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism” and offers some important insight when he commented on a reader’s question/statement on the Dan Savage story:

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The voice of the empty tomb

Today, many of us will connect with family and friends joining in the Easter celebration. Many traditions exist abound. Growing up in Maryland, our church always had an Easter egg hunt, as many churches do. Kids running around trying to gather as many eggs as possible. Parents watching as they wear their new Easter outfits.

Easter in the northeast can be hit or miss for Easter egg hunt. I learned that first hand last year. My wife organized an Easter egg hunt for the church and guess what happened? It snowed! Snow on Easter!?! We almost canceled the event but we did not want to disappoint the kids waiting and wanting that classic Easter celebration. So, we had it inside, not exactly a spring type activity, but a reality in the Northeast.

You may have heard of an Easter egg hunt that was canceled recent. Because of weather? Low turn out? No. This year, the Associate Press reported that an annual egg hunt in Macon, GA – traditionally one of the largest Easter events in central Georgia – had to be canceled because of aggressive parents. Reports from Georgia tell of parents injuring kids and other adults. Children were trampled on. Parents were too aggressive to make sure their kid wasn’t holding an empty egg.

Nobody wants to get an empty egg for Easter. After all, an empty egg is just about as good as being given an empty gift box at Christmas: just a big disappointment.

What’s so great about something empty? Continue Reading…

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My White House meeting & live feed

Today, I invite you to join me at my meeting at the White House with the Obama administration. I’ll be meeting with advisers from the Executive Office of the President along with about 60 other Baptists around the country. You can follow the meeting below from Twitter or check out my Twitter page directly. On Twitter, we’ll use the hashtag #BaptistsatWH and you can interact there. Also, you can interact with the discussion on AlanRudnick.org by posting messages that will appear below using this link.

What’s the meeting about?

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Super Bowl: New robes for clergy?

The Super Bowl, okay, let’s be real… Madonna Halftime Show 2012 was also a fashion show to roll out the line of Cee Lo Green and Madonna’s robes for clergy:

Bling!

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Make way for AlanRudnick.org

It is with mixed feelings that I announce that I’m giving up On The Bema in order to segue to AlanRudnick.org. I started On The Bema in 2009 to blog on issues regarding Christianity and culture. The blog racked up over 74,000 hits in its nearly 3 year life span. On The Bema accomplished as much as it can. It enabled me to share ideas that were featured on Christian Century, WordPress.com, and other blogging websites. Some of the most shared and clicked blog posts are:

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