Brian McLaren is spending 24 hours in Brisbane between Thursday October 8 and Friday October 9. The visit is in conjunction with Black Stump Festival near Sydney (Friday October 3 to Monday October 6), and a speaking tour organised by World Vision (Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane).
Brian’s public function in Brisbane is a ticketed event held at Chermside Uniting Church, called “Where Faith meets the World”. He’ll be talking about Jesus and his message for a world in global crisis. Brian challenges our individualist interpretation of Christian gospel and suggests that we need to pay attention to the societal systems we live in: prosperity, equity and security systems.
Brian has been speaking about the material he included in his 2007 book, “Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope”, written as a sequel to The Secret Message of Jesus. He asks two essential questions: What are the world’s top crises, and what do the life and message of Jesus say to those global crises? Brian’s research into global crisis led to the development of metaphor: a machine with four moving parts, corresponding to the four critical crises that create so much human suffering. Brian’s study of the gospels focused on how Jesus’ original hearers would have heard and understood his message of the kingdom of God.
Brian says that Jesus’ message is more than a ticket to heaven or a formula for personal prosperity. It is an invitation to personal and global transformation. It is a radical challenge to the underlying stories that drive our suicidal systems-social, economic, and political. The gospel of Jesus invites us to imagine what would happen if people of faith moved beyond political polarization and a few hot-button issues to the deeper questions nobody is asking. What would happen if the world’s leading nations spent less on weapons and more on peace-making, poverty-alleviation, and creation-care. What would happen if a renewed understanding of Jesus and his message sparked a profound spiritual awakening in a global movement of faith, hope, and love. What would happen if we believed that God’s will really could be done on earth and not just in heaven.
Listen to a podcast of Tony Jones interviewing Brian McLaren, hosted at Emergent Village. Buy the book at Amazon.
For more information on the Australian speaking tour and to register, visit www.worldvision.com.au/act/attendevents/.
Brian’s Update on Everything Must Change
Brian reports that Thomas Nelson is bringing out a softcover version of Everything Must Change, along with a DVD study guide. He’s also collaborated with other authors in “The Justice Project”, a book with contributions from 30 different authors.
Click on the image below to play the video in YouTube (HD)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFXcZLWBORo