The blog of Leadership Journal/Christianity Today, a controversial album by one of the greats and a book that is the theory behind the praxis of reaching this place we call the USA…

Blog of the Week:  Out of Ur is the blog by the editors of Leadership Journal.  They do a wonderful job of mixing up the topics and guests bloggers.  Simply put, this is a daily read.

Album of the Week:  TuTu by Miles Davis and Marcus Miller.  A truly remarkable and controversial album.  Miles was always one for pushing the boundaries of jazz and in this album he departs from the understanding that jazz is meant to be played with others–that is, live instruments verses pre-set electronic tracks.  This is the weakness of the album, it sounds…well, electronic.  The beauty is in the fact that outside of Miles Davis on trumpet, Marcus Miller is producing virtally all of the other sounds.  This is one of those albums that you are going to want to get just for the title track named and written for Desmond Tutu and then request every jazz band for the rest of your life to perform it live.  You will never get tired of hearing it Tutu.

Book of the Week:  Missional Church:  A Vison for the Sending of the Church in North America Edited by Darrell L. Guder.  If we came to the understanding that America is now the mission field and that we need to be thinking about our own back yard the way we used to think of far off countries then we would have a whole new way of doing church.  In short, Missional Church is a the theology behind this kind of Church and a must read for anyone who desires to see the transformation of the USA.