Occasionally, the newsletter for A Jesus Community will include some interesting link, article, video, etc. that members of our community have asked to share. A request came in recently about whether there might be a place to store these. This blog post is — right now — being inaugurated as that very place…

We’ll keep updating this post as new items are shared for the rest of 2021. It might provide an interesting snapshot of the year!

October

• Jay wanted to pass along this new song from Carolyn Arends, which features none other than Amy Grant herself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX_47Tv6tuc
• Another link from Jay here with an article from Comment Magazine: https://www.cardus.ca/comment/article/death-and-forgiveness/
• Jeff listened to a great episode from the Bible Project folks all about Jesus, generosity, and thanksgiving: https://bibleproject.com/podcast/jesus-ultimate-gift/
• Jeff sent out this little piece by theologian Scot McKnight all about how Deconstructors (from the church) really want to start with Jesus — and how that’s a great idea: https://scotmcknight.substack.com/p/beyond-deconstruction-start-here

September

• Jay and Jeff made a video: The Basis for Christian Fellowship. There is also a post with a bit more context.

August

• On Discord, Jeff recommended a book called “Healing Haunted Histories: A Settler Discipleship of Decolonization” by Elaine Enns and Ched Myers. Really thought-provoking!
• Jay sent out this article by Philip Yancey reflecting on the life of Walter Wangerin Jr., who passed away August 5: https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2021/august-web-only/walter-wangerin-jr-philip-yancey-tribute-storyteller.html

July

By mid-July, we had settled into the latest version of our community’s name, A Jesus Community, which seemed to balance representing our core value with just the right amount of defamiliarization.

• Jay and Jeff both recommended Todd Wiebe’s “Evangelically Departed” newsletter and specifically this one: “Anticipating Change” (Evangelically Departed)
• Joy suggested checking out the About Light exhibit at City Centre Mall, it would be well worth your while: https://aboutlight.net/
• Jay shared a great video about Father Greg Boyle’s work (some may know about Homeboy Industries) in East Los Angeles: https://youtu.be/ipR0kWt1Fkc
• Hilary talked about the usefulness of “morning pages” at church, and Jeff has since discovered that one of his favourite newsletter-writers, Austin Kleon (author of Steal Like an Artist), had a blog post on it: https://austinkleon.com/2020/12/07/morning-pages-and-variations/ (apologies for some brief swearing)

June

• Jay shared a reflection from Vision Ministries Canada’s Indigenous Ministries affinity group on the recent tragic news relating to residential schools in Kamloops, BC and Cowessess, SK
• Jeff read a thought-provoking article about the mystic French philosopher, Simone Weil, that he thought some others might enjoy: “I Came with a Sword”
• Jay sent along a great article from Comment Magazine about Wendell Berry and cultivating hope: “Labours of love: Cultivating grounds for hope and good work”
• Margie sent a post from Todd Wiebe’s newsletter around, which asks what what would happen if we believed Jesus’s sacrifice did more than just create a possibility. You can find it here: “Does Jesus Make a Difference?”
• Jeff shared two podcasts: The Soul of Christianity (Season 02, Episode 01) in which Chad Bird (author of Night Driving: Notes from a Prodigal Soul) talks about his reason for coming to church, which was to hear that good news that God loved him and would rather die than be separated from us; and Christian History Almanac, which is a very short daily podcast that presents obscure and interesting snippets from church history in just 5 mins.

May

From the end of May to the beginning of July, our community briefly changed its name to “Eastside Christian Experiment.” While suitably funky, it was not quite accurate geographically speaking and had some other limitations that only a true dyed-in-the-wool hippie solution could address.

• If you’re looking for some good reading about the Trinity, check out this very educational Twitter thread from the always enjoyable and smart Dr. Ben Myers.

March

This was from back when our little initiative was called “Unnamed Chapel.” The recommendations from this period tended to be fairly wide-ranging.

• If you were wanting to check out the great Skit Guys video Eliot shared, you can check it out here: https://youtu.be/3QCkBL2DfVg
• Lucy wants to recommend Ready Player One for anyone who hasn’t seen it (or has).
• Jeff enjoyed this recent podcast episode on The Rector’s Cupboard: The Sacred/Secular Divide (Interview with Randy Hein).
• Nate Bargatze’s latest special on Netflix (The Greatest Average American) earned positive reviews from Luke.
• For those of you who are looking for a good Korean drama (TV series), Ruth recommends Crash Landing on You: “Great Korean drama. Funny, sad, and romantic. Gives you a nice, probably inaccurate lesson in North vs South Korea relations.”