The Passion of the Christ
After a twelve year development process, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ will debut nationally on February 25^th – Ash Wednesday.  The timing of the release, as well as the thorough marketing blitz within the evangelical Christian churches of America, may be aimed at rescuing the film from being the kind of potential “career killer” that Gibson has described in interviews.
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Maturing at the Movies
I find it particularly gratifying that two of the most thought-provoking popular films released this holiday season deal with the very grown-up issue of maturity. Both of these films, Peter Pan and Big Fish, allude to important truths about choosing to grow up, the need to take on responsibility, the power of stories to communicate life lessons, and how knowledge of death equips us to live.
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The Post Evangelical
Dave Tomlinson intends to do three things with this book:  Offer a degree of explanation of what's happening with regard to the emergence of the post-evangelical and why it's happening; offer encouragement to those who are thinking and feeling in a post-evangelical way; and offer some alternative possibilities for those who are clearer about where they've come from than where they're headed.

I'm not exactly sure who this book best serves.  Probably those who have just left traditional, evangelical settings but haven't read much in the emerging or postmodern vein.  Personally, it would be okay with me if no one else took the time to recap 'pomo' philosophy or its history.  Surely enough has been written on this.  We can refer people to previous books on the matter.  Comments from various others are interspersed throughout the pages.  Honestly, I connected as much with one of the peanut gallery members as I did the author.  At times this motif is interesting but for the most part I found it distracting.  This attempt at a dialogue is probably best left to "live" settings or to weblogs.

Post-evangelical is an interesting new label.  As Dallas Willard points out in the foreword it is not the same as ex-evangelical.  With that in mind I think I can comfortably accept this designation for myself.  Like other experiences with books of this sort I find myself identifying with postmoderns, moderns, and pre-moderns at different places.  Sweeping observations about any of these groups are needless but it makes the arguments easier or simpler.  I definitely don't concur with everything but he has some good things to say.  Read it with some friends.

This review was written by Bill Bean, founder of Beanbooks.com. Visit Beanbooks.com for great deals on this title and many others.

This month I would like to recommend taking a look at Jesus Radicals. This site really opened my eyes to the rich contributions of Anabaptist (Mennonite) insight to church history, and how their living tradition can help shape the tenor of emerging churches.

Jesus Radicals is not a tame site: They're against warfare in all forms, they encourage activism for a host of causes, and they advocate that Christian communities come to a Christ-centered anarchy. "Christian anarchy" is the main theme of the site, as is stated provocatively in Andy Baker's essay "Anarchy Is The Only Political Option For Christians".

The articles, news, and forums aren't the immature rants of irresponsible people disconnected from the Body of Christ or society.  Jesus Radicals maintains an extensive online library which hosts the works of early church fathers, complete works by Stanley Haurwas, John Howard Yoder, Leo Tolstoy, and more.  Of these, my favorite so far has been French author Jaques Ellul's "Anarchy and Christianity".

Dive in, be stimulated, and enjoy.

Mike Morrell's site, Sites Unseen, is a web directory featuring over 2,000 alternative Christian websites.