Let there be blog
It took Noah a hundred years to build a wooden ark, so I don’t feel too bad about letting life – schoolwork, work-work, and not-work – take me away from this blog for a few months. But I do want to get back to tending this space regularly after I finish my final exams and officially graduate from college. (Six more weeks!)
Until then, a few noteworthy nuggets:
- Thanks to all who have written, commented, and tweeted about The Unlikely Disciple in the past few months. The book is still moving around in hardcover – garnering the odd news hit from time to time – and has gone into three more printings since the summer. So that’s good! I just got word from Grand Central that the paperback version (and the audiobook!) will be appearing in January 2011 – I’d tell you to mark your 2011 calendar, but I don’t think they’re selling those yet.
- I’ve gotten a few e-mails asking about my Liberty friends, and what they’re up to these days. I can happily report that although 2009 hasn’t been the best year for Liberty’s public image, my friends from LU – or at least the ones I keep in touch with regularly – are doing quite well. I’ll be back in Lynchburg this winter for a couple of my hallmates’ weddings (got to love those ring-by-spring Christians) and I’ll report back with news from campus.
- Speaking of friends, Year of Living Biblically author (and my former boss) A.J. Jacobs has a great new book out. It’s called The Guinea Pig Diaries, and it’s a collection of his funniest, most radical lifestyle experiments – everything from outsourcing his entire life to India to spending a month living like George Washington (complete with tricorner hat). Check it out at A.J.’s site, or read some (less overtly biased) reviews on Amazon.
- The September issue of Christianity Today had a long article about Liberty, its massive growth, and the new directions it’s taking under the leadership of Jerry Falwell Jr. It’s an interesting (if relatively uncritical) look at what’s been going on in Lynchburg since I left LU, and sheds some light on the fascinating, often contradictory forces at work behind the scenes. For example, the article makes a big deal out of the growing ideological diversity on Liberty’s campus – the fact that it’s no longer just an enclave for Baptists and homeschoolers. The writer even quotes a Nepali student, Priti Sitoula, who says (surprisingly, if you ask me) that her Hinduism “has never been a conflict” in her Liberty classes or her social life. But a few paragraphs later, when talking about changes in Liberty’s admissions process, Jerry Falwell Jr. is quoted saying that he wants to be “a little more selective in the type of kids who are compatible with our mission spiritually.” Which makes me wonder: would a new emphasis on spiritual mission mean that non-Christian students like Priti would no longer be welcome at Liberty? Is Chancellor Falwell actually making an attempt to accommodate students of all faiths? Or is Liberty trying to narrow its focus to conservative evangelicals? It seems like an important question, and it’s one I hope somebody will address soon.
- On a lighter note, thanks to the blog reader who forwarded me a link to Liberty Counsel (LU’s legal arm) and their new “Adopt a Liberal” program. (Tagline: “Have you prayed for a liberal today?”)
Also, just as a reminder: if you like your updates from me frequent and short (or just short), feel free to connect on Twitter or Facebook, where I’m (slightly) less negligent.
