Consuming Jesus » Braxton Alsop http://consumingjesus.org Beyond Race and Class Issues In a Consumer Church Tue, 17 Apr 2012 23:08:17 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 Consumerism and Drug Addiction http://consumingjesus.org/2011/02/17/consumerism-and-drug-addiction/ http://consumingjesus.org/2011/02/17/consumerism-and-drug-addiction/#comments Fri, 18 Feb 2011 03:00:37 +0000 Braxton Alsop http://consumingjesus.org/?p=170 In this essay, Darcy McGuffin reflects on the connection between consumerism and drug addiction.  In the face of a culture addicted to the illusion of “happily ever after,” the church needs to return to its roots and acknowledge that suffering is a part of life in a fallen world.  She righlty claims that we cannot avoid suffering, but we can follow Christ’s example in the midst of it.

Consumerism and Drug Addiction: Coping with Suffering

]]> http://consumingjesus.org/2011/02/17/consumerism-and-drug-addiction/feed/ 4 True Community: A Holistic Gospel Witness http://consumingjesus.org/2009/09/22/true-community-a-holistic-gospel-witness/ http://consumingjesus.org/2009/09/22/true-community-a-holistic-gospel-witness/#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:20:37 +0000 Braxton Alsop http://consumingjesus.org/2009/09/22/true-community-a-holistic-gospel-witness/ In this essay, Kelsi Johns writes with her usual simple profundity and keen eye to the blood, sweat, and tears of true discipleship.  She reflects on her own experiences to draw out what it means to live the gospel rather than simply preach the gospel from a safe distance.  To love is to risk, and as Kelsi explains, the church is called to show the same “messy, generous, limitless love” that God has shown to us in Christ.  Community development, Kelsi asserts, must begin with developing relationships, with truly loving our neighbors and serving  with and among them, rather than just to them.

True Community

]]> http://consumingjesus.org/2009/09/22/true-community-a-holistic-gospel-witness/feed/ 0 Jacques Derrida and Structural Evil http://consumingjesus.org/2009/09/03/jacques-derrida-and-structural-evil/ http://consumingjesus.org/2009/09/03/jacques-derrida-and-structural-evil/#comments Thu, 03 Sep 2009 06:17:15 +0000 Braxton Alsop http://consumingjesus.org/?p=94 Is the much maligned (and praised) philosopher Jacques Derrida, father of deconstruction, a misunderstood liberator in need of a little liberation himself?  In this essay, Braxton Alsop gives a sympathetic ear to Jacques Derrida as a liberation theologian in his own right, analyzing how well Derrida addresses human suffering caused by structural evil. Braxton then sets forth his own views on God, salvation, and the church, explaining how a Trinitarian perspective better addresses the shared concern for structural evil.

Jacques Derrida and Structural Evil

]]> http://consumingjesus.org/2009/09/03/jacques-derrida-and-structural-evil/feed/ 3