There is a sea of so-called "Christian" blogs in cyberspace.  Over the last several years, a few have distinguished themselves as more consistently different than most.  Over the next several days, we will post some of the more thoughtful and provocative from the fringe in the first two weeks of 2012. 

I've never been to Canada, so all I know is that it's cold there.  Whenever I travel somewhere cold, my life-long assimilation to coastal humidity kicks in and I lose the ability to think clearly.  Some detractors might say that's what's happening at Geez magazine (a Canadian-based publication), which challenges all notions of what it means to publish a faith-based magazine.  Take for example, Geez' "Ask the Atheist" blog, which is featured among other provocative blogs from the faithful. Reading this week's post made me wonder whether the more traditional "debate the atheist" format has any real value to anyone.  It also reminded me of the time one of my religion professors announced to our class that Issac Asimov died, only to have one particularly obnoxious ministry student laugh out loud at the thought that Asimov might possibly be getting the eternal punishment he supposedly deserved (at least in the mind of this particular student).  Is it any wonder that Jesus was so hard on religious folks?  The folks at Geez seem to be looking for an alternative to the extreme "all or nothing at all" debate in a way that is consistent with their commitment to make "holy mischief."  I've only read the bloggers at Geez, so if you want to read the magazine, you will have to order a copy.  Check out his week's "Atheist" challenge to the faithful: Scrambling for high ground on both sides of the deathbed.

Closer to the home front (at least the Baptist one), check out Ethics Daily, which publishes posts challenging Christians to move beyond the religion of intellectual assent to a life of faith and practice (or faith in action).  In the age of the pop-Christian gospel of abundant health and wealth, Jim Hill reminds his fellow sojourners, "The Christian life is not primarily a list of things to believe. It is about a relationship with God through Christ that forever changes us." Check it out: Why God Expects You to Care for the Least of These. 

-JBM

Welcome to The After Effect.  This is our first post.  Thank you to Pastor Chris for preaching a sermon with the catchy theme that inspired the title of this blog.  Enjoy and see you all in Sunday School!

We left our discussion in Sunday School this week with a few observations about the "fringe" nature of Mark's Baptism story.  John was a preacher on the "fringe" of society, as it doesn't appear there are any biblical scholars arguing that his appearance and dietary habits were an everyday occurrence in first century Palestine.  Because Jesus was baptized by John, it highlights the fact that Jesus was, at least by association, on the margins--dare we say, on the fringe of the "official" religious practice of his day.  Mark's Baptism story is especially peculiar among the gospels, since it begins with John and Jesus, skipping (for whatever reason) any birth or childhood stories (it's possible the writer of Mark did not even know these stories, assuming Mark was the earliest gospel on the scene, at least in what would eventually become the "officially" endorsed collection of gospels now contained in the New Testament).  Christians have been quite good over the years at pointing out everything that was supposedly wrong with the "official" religion of certain first century Jewish leaders, in large part due to the fact Jesus confronts certain religious leaders of his day in the gospels.  Yet, we have not been quite as successful when our own critics call for us to look to the "fringe Jesus" as we consider the witness and role of the church in our own day.  This month, as we are looking at the question of Christian identity, The After Effect will be considering a few efforts to take a look at Christian faith and practice "from the fringe."  I wonder if we will find any weirdos like John the Baptist along the way?  We shall see.

-JBM