Destroying Our Private Cities, Building Our Spiritual Life

Author: Chip M Anderson
Located in: Bridgeport, CT
Submitted: March 30, 2006

    Tell us a little about yourself.  Currently I live in Connecticut, raising a family of four along with my wife, Lisa. I have a BA in Theology from Crown College (MN) and a MATS in NT from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (MA). I was ordained as a pastor in 1987 by the Christian and Missionary Alliance and was a professor at Prairie Bible College and Graduate School (Three Hills, Alberta) for five years, as well as an adjunct-instructor at Nyack College (NY). I have written for Servant Magazine, MetroVoice, and The Christian Librarian; his articles also appearing in His Dominion, The Evangelical Journal, and Trinity Journal. My day-job is being the Director of Planning at NEON, Inc., a Community Action Agency in Norwalk, CT. I also served as the Chairperson for Southwestern Connecticut’s Welfare-to-Work Task Force. I am passionate about moving our faith into the public square.

    What was your motivation behind this project?  Two things compeled me to create my lay- commentary on Philippians: 1) Writing something my mother could read without dumbing-down the content; and 2) motivating Christians to take their church relationship seriously. I wanted my mom to be able to read a thoughtfully presented, exegetical study of God’s word. My mom, an average lay-Christian can hear Paul’s argument and God’s Word through Philippians in a readable, homiletical style. I also was bothered by our contemporary and much privatized spirituality that seemed divorced from church. It is not so much loving the church that matters, it is loving a church that counts (and there’s the rub). I felt that Paul’s Letter to the Philippians provided a good place to hear that our spirituality is destroyed by our flirtation with American culture and build up by our commitment to a local church.

    What do you hope folks will gain from this project?  I wrote Destroying Our Private Cites for two reasons: One, typically lay-commentaries neglect showing the reading how the author "gets the interpretation"; and two, most exegetical commentaries my mother can't dig through. I have written a lay-commentary on Philippians that my mother can read, and one without dumbing- down the exegetical content. Along with plenty of illustrations, you will find worthwhile exposition for personal study, sermon preparation, or material for Bible classes.

    Who are your influences, sources of inspiration or favorite authors / artists?  Over the years, many people have influenced me to “think the thoughts of God.” Chief among them are Ravi Zacharias, founder of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries—his voice and influence will certainly be heard amid my words; also, Don Alexander, my teacher and mentor at Crown College, St. Bonifacius, MN—his pushing me to struggle with the text can be sensed as well. Also, I would include Dr. Greg Beale, now at Wheaton, who reinforced and demonstrated the important disciple of exegesis to me while I attended Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Other books and authors who influenced me can be found on my website, www.wordsntone.com, under the Top Ten icon.

    Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know:  Just some points I think make this book good to read and use: Destroying Our Private Cities is a lay-level commentary on Philippians, offering lay-readers, as well as, pastors plenty of expositional depth and insight on how the church’s flirtation with individualism has affected the life of the church. Also the book is: · A readable, lay-level, exposition of Philippians without dumbing-down the exegetical content · Great for personal edification & study · A good text for a Church Bible Study or Sunday School · Perfect for pastoral study & sermon preparation · Full of illustrations

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