Last week at Christianity21, GENERATE Magazine debuted. With the tag line, “an artifact of the emergence conversation,” it fit perfectly at the gathering. When I actually got around to reading it last weekend, I was truly surprised at how good it is.

GENER8for_TonyJ.jpgThere have been several efforts to begin a paper journal that capture the exploits of emergence, and none has quite succeeded. GENERATE does.

First off, there’s a fine defense from the editors to the question of, “Why a paper journal in this day and age?” Then there’s the commitment to sustainable printing practices — a stronger commitment than I’ve ever seen elsewhere.

Then, of course, there’s the content. An interview (by Troy Bronsink) with the founders of Paste Magazine, beautiful and challenging poetry, arresting photography, Soup’s amazing sketches, and no-bullshit music reviews from DJ Word (which, alone, are worth the subscription price). Then there’s Julie Clawson and Thomas T. Turner II calling out Soon-Chan Rah for his caricature of emergence and even asking if he employs reverse racism in The New Evangelicalism — I don’t suspect you’ll find that in Christianity Today.

Speaking of subscriptions, it’s only $20 — or for $34 you can get one for yourself and give a gift subscription, which would make a fantastic Christmas present to someone you love.

So, join me, and subscribe to GENERATE. You won’t be disappointed.

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