the preface

primal by mark batterson

2009-12-22T07:38:00.002-06:00

i have been a fan of mark batterson's since i read in a pit with a lion on a snowy day. that remains one of my favorite all time books. i have followed batterson's ministry, listening to podcast's reading his blog and following him on twitter. i even had the great opportunity to interview on the phone once regarding in a pit with a lion on a snowy day.

primal is his newest book and it touches a topic that every believer needs to hear. the problem is that it is an idea that each christian knows and has just become white noise. batterson is calling us to uncomplicate our faith and strip it away to it's core, it's essence. the soul of christianity, batterson says, is the great commandment - love God with all you heart and love others as you love yourself.

batterson is saying nothing new with this, but it is something that we all need a refresher on. christians are labeled as uncaring, unloving, and uncompassionate. these are the exact opposite of what we are called to be.

a sad instance of this in my life is that one night i had sat down to read primal and my wife said something to me i didn't particularly like, so i responded with a biting comment. i opened up the book and read these words, "but just as you are responsible for your actions, no matter how right or wrong they are, you are responsible for your reactions. and compassion is always the right reaction."

guh

throughout the book batterson offers insightful stories and thoughts. primal is a book that is needed now and one that any believer would do well to read.

How to Choose a Translation for All It's Worth

2007-11-13T08:05:00.000-06:00

It seems like there is a new version of the Bible every year. When I was growing up, there were about a half a dozen, but the only major players I knew about were the NIV, KJV, and NASB. Now it seems you could throw together 3-4 different letters and you would come up with an acronym for a Bible version.
I have gone through stages, myself. I was solidly NIV growing up. I went to a school which was KJV only, and I rebelled hard against that. I have heavily favored one or the other translation or version over the years, but it seems that I always land on the NIV, which is my translation of choice now. I appreciate The Message, the ESV, and have always had a fondness for the NASB.
In this book, How to Choose a Translation for All Its Worth, Gordon Fee teams with Mark Strauss and looks at all the ins and outs of various Bible translations. This is the third book in Dr. Fee's "How to...for All Its Worth" Series (Also, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth and How to Read the Bible Book by Book). This book does not only shed light on how to choose a translation for yourself, but also a little into the purpose for using multiple translations and understanding why there are so many different translations.
The authors also delve into different issues that translators face in the translation process - issues of gender and culture - as well as how to word idioms, and metaphors and poetry. The final chapter is quite helpful as the authors classify and review contemporary versions.
This is a book also which can be helpful to read either straight through or bit by bit as you encounter of face new questions in regards to Bible translations. Whether you are trying to find your first Bible or you have a copy of each translation and wish to understand the background of them, this book will be very approachable for you.

Will I Read That Again?

2007-10-01T08:33:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite websites is The Simple Dollar. It is primarily a site with sound financial advice, but it also offers a whole host of different ideas on living simply. This is a concept which I have really taken interest in. One suggestion I took from a Simple Dollar post was to go into a room and find items that you have not used in the last 6 months and sell or donate them. Other than digital music and Chicago Cubs memorabilia, the only thing I collect is books. Many times my wife has asked me before I buy a book, "but don't you have a bunch that you haven't read on your shelf?" I used to answer that it was true, but I would get to them all.
I decided that I would scale down my book collection, radically. I sold all books that I could find at the local library, or which are public domain online. Next, I went through and pulled the books which I had read, or partially read, that I would not read again. Finally I went through and honestly asked of books I hadn't yet read, if I would.
Well, I wanted to whittle down to one book shelf and I was able to do so. I took about fifteen boxes over to half-price books and I have saved the rest for the next time i go to Grand Rapids. The Baker Book House buys used books and they are better suited for the ones I have kept.
Anywho, what did I keep and why? I kept all my NIV Application Commentaries for the OT (I have the NT on CD-ROM), many of the books on marriage I have (including all books by Les and Leslie Parrott), as well as many of the parenting books I have picked up over the past few months.
I would be remiss if I rid myself of C.S. Lewis, so I kept every book of his I own, as well Lilith and Phantasies, two books of George MacDonald which greatly inspired Lewis.
I will list some of the books I kept which I have yet to read in a future post, but I wanted to talk about a couple I kept - ones I have read multiple times and will read again multiple times.

Leap Over a Wall, by Eugene Peterson. I have talked about this book before on this site, here, and again, I really enjoy this book. I think that anyone would do well to read this, whether you are a pastor, new believer, or somewhere in between.
The Jesus Way, by Eugene Peterson. I have actually kept all three of the books from what is promised to be a five volume set. Look for my review of this book on this site, here.
Searching for God Knows What, by Donald Miller. I drank this book up when I first read it. Most people talk about Blue Like Jazz, but I found this book to be Mr. Miller's best.
Money, Possessions and Eternity, by Randy Alcorn. This book changed my thinking in the realm of finances. I dare you to read this book and not re-evaluate how you look at money and possessions. Check out my review of this book here.
The Signature of Jesus, by Brennan Manning. I first read this book in high school. A great read and one that needs more than a blurb regarding it. In the future, I will write up a full review.
Knowing God, by J.I. Packer. A classic that many have read, and those who have not, should.

The Sacred Romance

2007-09-19T07:05:00.000-05:00

I had written off John Eldredge. Someone whose opinion regarding authors and books I really respected did not think too highly of Mr Eldredge's writings, so that was good enough for me. ( I have since found that many of the authors this respected person did not think much of have become favorite authors of mine, and ones who have helped me a great deal in my journey with Jesus).
Like me, many people have either read Mr Eldredge or have their minds made up about him. I have recently given him a fair approach and have come to really find his writing helpful. In The Sacred Romance, Mr Eldredge, along with his now deceased friend Brent Curtis, look at the Christian life not as a series of principles to live by, but a story to be engaged in. The authors believe that we try to boil Christianity down to 10 steps to discipleship, 7 ways to better prayer, 3 facts to know to get into heaven.
Not that the authors are attempting to throw out doctrine, but that too often, we get caught up in that while forgetting the story we are in. Claiming that books and movies tell no new stories, only retell the story of God and humanity, they illustrate the story of God with movies such as Titanic and Last of the Mohican's.
I have always struggled in trying to get my faith out of my head and into my heart. I grew up in a pastor's home and have had biblical teaching since the womb, practically. Facts about Christianity have never been in short supply for me, but true excitement and joy about my faith were seemingly hard to come by. This was also a struggle as I sought to do more than teach my teens (as a youth pastor) but engage them with God. I wish I was aware of Mr Eldredge then. But I am very glad that although I want my son to know Scripture and hold correct doctrine, I can also pass along a heart-knowledge of God.
I highly recommend this book as well as the other resources available by Mr Eldredge. For more, visit his website, Ransomed Heart

Identity Theft

2007-09-18T09:32:00.000-05:00

Mike Breaux is one of the teaching pastors at WillowCreek. In his new book, Identity Theft, Mr Breaux addresses the issue of who we are. Too often, when we are asked to tell who we are we depend on our jobs, our family, our accomplishments and other such things about us. Those things may be true about us, but they do not get at the heart of who we are.
Mr Breaux looks to four areas ( our relationships, our success, our appearance, and our past) in which we look for identity and shows how God can transform our dependence on those areas and reclaim our identity in him. Mr Breaux believes from both personal experience and from Scripture that each of us is looking for one thing - unfailing love - and we look to the four areas (above) for that unfailing love. However, the only source of unfailing love is Jesus and it is only in getting past our relationships, success, past and appearance that we can find that rest in God.
While there are very good thoughts and important ideas within this little book, it does seem like a sermon put into a book. Mr Breaux has a relaxed writing style and uses a variety of both Scripture and personal story to back up and illustrate his point. I see this as a good book to peruse in a bookstore, or borrow from a friend, but not one to purcahse.

every man's battle video

2007-09-17T07:05:00.001-05:00

The Every Man's Battle Video study is designed to be an integral part for men when it comes to living a life of sexual integrity. The book, workbook and DVD (all included in the curriculum kit) make a complete resource to help men win the war on sexual temptation - individually and corporately.

This kit is a fantastic resource for every men's ministry to have and use. The authors (Steve Arterburn & Fred Stoeker) quote a stat that 10% of men have no temptation with lust and 10% are sexually deviant. That leaves 80% of all men who vary in their struggle with sexual purity. I do not find myself in either category of 10%, but squarely in the high end of the 80%. I found this material to be incredibly helpful in theory and in practice. I began working through this curriculum a few weeks ago when it first came available and I can honestly say that not a day has gone by where I did not rely on one or more of the principles from this kit to keep my eyes, mind and heart clean and pure.

The premise is that this is a fight that every man faces and that every man can win. It is not something that goes away as you get older, or married. It is a sin that, left unaccounted for, will grow and fester. Mr Arterburn and Mr Stoeker present their material in an easy to understand way and filled with Scripture. They define sexual purity as not receiving sexual gratification from any other source than your wife. That is abnormal to our cultural mindset. Pornography, masturbation, sexual fantasies, extra-marital affairs and sex before marriage are accepted and even considered normal.

God calls us to be holy, to be pure. And if God calls us to this, than it is something that, through his power, we can accomplish. I firmly believe that this material in the Every Man's Battle will help significantly. Check it out for yourself. Below is a trailer from the video series. If you struggle with purity or are involved in a men's ministry, this material will be of great use to you.

The Way I See It #230

2007-09-14T09:14:00.000-05:00

This morning I stopped at my favorite place - Starbucks. As I was sipping my vente Anniversary blend, I noticed the submitted "way I see it" blurb on the side of the cup. This one came from Joel Stein who is a columnist for the LA Times:

Heaven is totally overrated. It seems boring. Clouds, listening to people play the harp. It should be somewhere you can't wait to go, like a luxury hotel. Maybe blue skies and soft music were enough to keep people in line in the 17th century, but Heaven has to step it up a bit. They're basically getting by because they only have to be better than Hell.

There are a couple of issues I have in reading this blurb. First, Mr Stein implies that heaven has need of new marketing. That the heaven PR machine has rested on it's laurels for a couple of centuries., and needs to merely step it up a bit. Also, Mr Stein seems to be placated quite easily. A luxury hotel? Like CS Lewis says, "We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." If heaven were only about someplace nice to go, than it would not be heaven. Last, about heaven "getting by", it seems Mr Stein believes that Peter and Judas as in competition with one another trying to sell the more tickets for their respective eternal residences and that hell has just received some bad consumer recommendations.

In reading both John Eldrege and Randy Alcorn, I agree that Christians are, in part, to blame for the misconception that in heaven we will be sitting on a cloud with a harp singing forever. We will not, as Mr Eldrege says, be going to the eternal church service in the sky. Mr Alcorn believes that Christians are to blame for the misconceptions of heaven because we have failed to explore the extraordinary images of heaven presented in Scripture.

While I obviously do not know exactly what heaven will be like, I think we get a good picture from Jesus. Jesus came to make all things new (not change things, but restore then to their created order - an order in which we worked, had relationships and were surrounded by beauty, both created and God). Jesus also came to give us life as it was meant to be, so we could live to the full. There is not one person I know that would consider a full life sitting on a cloud, playing a harp, endlessly singing. Heaven is somewhere I can't wait to go - because of a number of reasons, but mainly,

because Jesus will be there
because evil and suffering will be no more
because I will receive a new body
because Jesus will be there

I encourage you to do a couple of things. First, log onto www.starbucks.com/wayiseeit and write a comment about Mr Stein's contribution. Second, if you wish to read more about heaven, in addition to Scripture, check out a good biblical overview in Randy Alcorn's book, Heaven. Mr Alcorn's website, Eternal Perspectives, is also a good informative site. Another place to go is the writings of John Eldrege, and his Ransomed Heart podcast.

LIQUID - Live at Five and Mirror Image

2007-09-13T07:47:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago I reviewed the Old Testament episodes of Liquid, a new small group DVD curriculum from Thomas Nelson, done by the pastors at Mariner's Church.
I have recently viewed the two New Testament offerings from Liquid - tackling the book of James (Live at Five) and some of Jesus' parables (Mirror Image). From turning off the very first episode to giving the series a second chance, I now have come to really enjoy the series. Basically the format is each DVD contains 5 episodes which cover different portions of the book or subject covered (James and the Parables in this instance) and share the principles through five different but interlocking stories intertwined with teaching from the pastors at Mariner's.
These NT based sessions are quite good and I found them both entertaining, engaging and thought-provoking. This series is an excellent resource for small groups ministry. They are like a hybrid of Nooma and H2O. They are short and stand alone like each of the Nooma studies (however, they do offer much more in the way of study questions and a leader's guide), but they intertwine teaching and story in an engaging fashion, much like H2O.
Here is a trailer they have made for the series:

Prayer DVD

2007-09-12T07:47:00.001-05:00

Last winter, I reviewed Philip Yancey's latest book, Prayer. This past month, Zondervan has released a 6 session small group curriculum based on the book and taught by Philip Yancey. While the book delves deeper into more issues regarding prayer, the small group curriculum is a great primer which will get groups talking about a portion of their lives which most everyone wishes was stronger.

The curriculum covers six topics from the book -
The View from Above - the fact that God has everyone in mind and ultimately his glory in mind, whereas we are mainly concerned about our our needs and wants.
Why Pray? - this session touches on the subtitle of the book and DVD - does it make any difference? Yancey talks about the fact that God knows what we are going to pray about, so why should we go through the motions?
Keeping Company with God - this session speaks to Paul assertion to "pray without ceasing". How is that possible? What does it look like in practice? Yancey speaks of keeping a running inner dialogue with God.
How to Pray - while there is no formula to prayer, there are things that each of us can do to make prayer a daily, regular practice. Each of us need to find our own way to pray, not someone else's.
Prayer Problems - the book tackles this issue both more deeply and more broadly, but the DVD
covers the biggest problem for most people - unanswered prayer. Yancey looks to our expectations as well as potential road blocks we have put up ourselves.
Does Prayer Change Anything? - Something that C.S. Lewis said has always stuck with me - I pray not so much to change God, but to change myself. Yancey picks up on that and talks about how prayer changes us.

This is an excellent group study and one that will enhance people's communication and communion with God. I believe that prayer is something that many people struggle with and that once people get in a group setting and share struggles and issues they have, they will see that they are not alone. The study will also bring to light helps to those issues.

Decide for Yourself

2007-09-11T10:36:00.000-05:00

Today, an oldie but a goodie. I picked up Decide for Yourself about ten years ago, and I can not tell you how helpful I have found it. What this book does is go through many of the major doctrines of our faith and explains some of the varying opinions people hold and/or have held over the years. Then, the author lists out the Scripture references associated with each of the various positions asking questions intended to provoke discussion and insight into that topic, so each person can "decide for themselves" what they believe the Bible to be teaching about these doctrines.
I have used this book in personal study as well as in group study situations, for groups of teens and groups of adults. This book has been a valuable resource for me.
Some of the doctrinal subjects Decide for Yourself covers are the atonement, what is God like, the inspiration of Scripture, the person and work of the Spirit, and what happens after death.
What the book does is open each of the 24 chapters with the background of what the belief is and means, states what the problem is or has been, lists the procedure for "deciding for yourself" by asking questions and listing Scripture to dig into, then encourages readers to write down their own conclusion tot he matter and then offers some follow up questions to the study.
For instance, chapter 8 looks into the will and providence of God. The author lists the differing opinions from Deists, Pantheists (and some liberals), religious existentialists and neo-orthodox theologians, and finally orthodox Christians. Then the problem is stated - How should we think of God's relation to the world of nature and human history? Which views merit your assent. Next questions are qsked and paired with Scripture to draw out insight. Does God overrule evil to accomplish good? (Ge, 45.5; Ps. 76.10; Rom. 8.28; etc.). How does God's providential agency relate to the evil acts of men? (1 Cor. 4.7; Phil. 4.13; Jas. 1.17, etc.). Readers are then encouraged to memorize Ephesians 1.11 and write out their own conclusion. Last, readers look at the significance and answer some questions, including "Why do you think this teaching so often seems offensive rather than comforting?"
Overall, whether you work for a church, lead a ministry in the church or just have questions about faith, ths is an extremely helpful book.

The Myth of Happiness

2007-09-10T08:24:00.001-05:00

The pursuit of happiness in America has become a national pastime . . . a dead-end obsession for satisfaction and fulfillment. In a world so consumed with want, how can we fill our lives with true joy?

In The Myth of Happiness, software engineer turned author Rich Wagner helps dissipate our misunderstandings while revealing the true nature of biblical joy. Besides answering what joy is and isn't, he honestly confronts tough questions like “how can we experience it daily?” and “can we experience joy while battling fear and uncertainty?”

When I think about joy, I’m reminded of a Sunday school chorus like “I’ve Got the Joy, Joy, Joy down in my Heart,” the classic hymn “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” or the ever popular “Jesus first; Others second; and Yourself last.” We talk of joy like we know what it's about, but our lives spotlight discontentment, envy and unhappiness. Sadly, we just don’t get it! Wagner helps the Christ-follower to understand the unquenchable joy Christ promises.

He describes joy as "the nature of God pumped through our bloodstream" and states that "The problem with happiness becomes one of attitude and priority not of avoidance."

With where I’m at in my faith-walk, chapter 8 “Driven by Purpose” was revealing and convicting especially the section “The Unpurposed Life.” I don’t want to settle for the cheap substitute of happiness when biblical joy transforms and sustains.

This book will be one of the chosen few I’ll be giving as Christmas gifts this year. Its message of discovering a joy you never thought possible is clearly presented and needs to be heard.

Keep writing Mr. Wagner!

6 Great Reviews

2007-08-30T08:05:00.000-05:00

In an effort to be more productive and efficient, I have many website and blog feeds in Google Reader. One of the feeds I subscribe to is Discerning Reader. "Discerning Reader is a site dedicated to promoting good books--books that bring honor to God. At the same time, we hope to help Christians avoid being unduly influenced by books and teachers that are not honoring to God."
I came across this site by a tip from Matt Mitchell, pastor of the Lanse Evangelical Free Church and fellow blog-writer at Hot Orthodoxy. Matt also posts book reviews on Discerning Reader, and has let me post his review of Uprooting Anger on this site.
Recently, 6 newer books were reviewed, and I was impressed with the quality of these reviews. The books cover a wide variety of audiences and are sure to be quite popular titles to their respective audiences. to see the review of each book, simply click on the title. You can also go directly to the Discerning Reader website by following this link.
3:16, by Max Lucado
Get Out of that Pit, by Beth Moore
Simple Church, by Thom Rainer
Quiet Strength, by Tony Dungy
Foundations of Grace, by Steven Lawson
A Taste of Heaven, by R.C. Sproul

Lessons for Faith Communities

2007-08-29T07:59:00.000-05:00

Since I update the website for NextStep Resources, all the new books that arrive pass by my desk, so they can be entered on the website. Early last week four books came across - The Covenant, by James Garlow, When Life Doesn't Turn Out the Way You Expect, by Lawrence Wilson and Jerry Brecheisen, Answers for Chicken Little, by Dan Boone, and Why Me?, by Lawrence Wilson. Many times, I'll hold books back that lokk interesting and that I wish to look further into before they go out into the store. These did not fit that bill. I barely took note of them as I put them up on the web. Then, later last week, four DVD studies came in, by the same titles. Always on the lookout for new DVD Bible study curriculum and resources, these did catch my interest.
I was disappointed, however, once I viewed them. The studies themselves are little more than book discussions, with about a half dozen talks on each DVD by the author about the topic. The author is talking in front on a green screen background and gives anecdotes and a general overview of portions of his book. They last around 5-8 minutes long and provide no real discussion questions or added insight.
As I mentioned, none of the books interested me personally, so I would not really wish to do a book study or discussion on those books. Even if these had been done with books of interest, however, even then, I think it would be a stretch to use these in a study group setting. I remember a few years ago being in a small group which did the 40 days of purpose. Each week we met, I was one of two people who had read any portion of the book. Even this past year, I led a small group through Andy Stanley's little book, Fields of Gold - a book on stewardship, but a very good one, and a very short one - and only my wife and I had ever done any of the readings. The people were interested in the topic, and we had decent discussions, but I could not get them to read for the life of me.
I guess all that to say, offering a book discussion study on books of meager interest (the topics are somewhat interesting, but I would rather read people I know and trust on these subjects), is not something I get too excited about.
Check them out for yourself and prove me wrong, though. The DVD studies are titled the same as the books:
Answers for Chicken Little (a study on Revelation)
Why Me? (a look at suffering and a Good God)
The Covenant (how God's love changes our lives)
When Life Doesn't Yurn Out the Way You Expect (moving past disappoint ment)

Following Jesus in a Culture of Fear

2007-08-28T07:05:00.000-05:00

Without any doubt, it is a “no-brainer” to state that we live in a world overwhelmed with fear. The Age of Anxiety is a term coined to describe the twentieth century. Sadly, the church has been swallowed up by a culture of fear often dictated by the media and politicians. Christ-followers can’t reach out to strangers or even their neighbors, because they just don’t know who they can trust anymore.

Following Jesus in a Culture of Fear is a relevant and practical resource for the academic world as well as leaders in the church. It is the latest volume in the Christian Practice of Everyday Life Series which covers a wide range of topics, such as Living the Sabbath, What about Hitler? and Sidewalks in the Kingdom.

The reader will be challenged to forsake their "ethic of safety" for an "ethic of risk" which reveals itself in hospitality (ch. 8), peacemaking (ch. 9), and generosity (ch. 10). This is not your average pre-dinner appetizer topic. It is a meaty portion of biblical insight and truth every Christ-follower needs to read. The book is laid out in three sections: Diagnosis, Antidote and Recovery with discussion questions at the end of each chapter.

Chapter 3, “Why Fearlessness is a Bad Idea” contains the most descriptive, complete and biblical explanation of the fear of the Lord in layman’s terms. I nodded my head in agreement many times (which did cause unexpected neck strain) but also reread sections to grasp a clearer understanding.

God's sovereignty and the doctrine of providence play a central role in moving each of us to risking more of ourselves. In a book full of excellent quotes, Scott-Bader-Saye writes, "Providence, at its heart, has to do with the conviction that our lives and our world constitute a coherent story, a drama, in which God and humankind, together, drive the story toward its proper conclusion."

Although it is not an easy or quick read, I believe Following Jesus in a Culture of Fear is an important read for the life of the Church today.

Faith Under Fire

2007-08-27T07:05:00.000-05:00

From October 2004-June 2005, Lee Strobel hosted a CNN news talk type TV program entitled Faith Under Fire. He, along with Gary Poole and Zondervan have put together four, four-session DVD's with talks and debates from that original television show. I recently reviewed the second in the series, Faith & Facts. In this study, groups will go through the histoic reliability of the Bible, heaven, hell and the science of creation.

A mission statement for these studies might be a question - "Does the Christian faith stand up to tough scrutiny?" The topics are not debated against a straw man or even decided conclusively at the end of each session. There are two sides presented on an issue, done by people very knowledgeable in their field, who generally disagree with one another, but civilly promoting their viewpoint. At the conclusion of the video segment, Lee Strobel offers his viewpoint on the matter, but ultimately, the final decision of what to believe lies in the hands of the participant.

The videos are spaced out in-between various participant discussion times, with open-ended questions for groups to dig into the heart of the matter at hand, provided in the participants guide.

This is not a Bible study, per se, but a topical discussion meant to get participants talking about what they think about these subjects. Groups will interact with Scripture, theologians, non-Christian thinkers and one another. The DVD does most of the work, so leader's need not be worried about having answers to these subjects. They serve are facilitators who welcome all thoughts and guide the discussion.

Below is a video sample from Zondervan for this series.

On Demand Bible Studies

2007-08-24T07:47:00.000-05:00

Bob Russell is the Senior pastor at Southeast Christian Church and has teamed with Standard publishing to produced a DVD Bible study series called On Demand Bible Studies. The first four available go through the book of Genesis and are geared toward new believers. Each 2 disc DVD has six lessons and are about 25 to 30 minutes each of video time. The individual studies themselves are designed to last anywhere from 60 to 75 minutes, with videos and discussion time.
Pastor Russell takes the passages verse-by-verse hoping to make them easily understandable for those who do not know the Bible yet. He sets out as one of his goals to help participants more familiar with handling the Scriptures.
Included in the DVD case is a insert which has discussion questions for each session on it, and the questions also come up on screen at the appropriate time in the session, with a pause for discussion. The questions are meant to spark discussion and delve into participants thoughts and personal interest, rather than focusing on their Bible knowledge (or lack thereof for many young Christians).
The teaching time is basic and not flashy, but quality and biblical. Pastor Russell is sitting in a study-type room talking very conversationally and has his son read the appropriate Scriptures aloud (the words are not on screen, in hopes of getting participants to bring their own copy of the Bible and become familiar with it).
This is a good option for small groups, Sunday School or ABF's. There is little to no prep time necessary and the facilitator need not be a teacher, only comfortable enough to guide comments during the discussion time.
Participant guides are only available from his ministry website here. But if it were me using this study, I would not get them.

The Moms on Call Guide to Basic Baby Care

2007-08-23T07:05:00.000-05:00

When my wife and I brought our little Jack home 3 weeks ago, we did what I expect most new parents do. We looked at one another and questioned the wisdom of the hospital in letting two people with less knowledge take home a little person completely unable to take care of themselves.
Luckily, people with experience have written books and produced materials for the rest of us, who haven't a clue. Well, the self-proclaimed "moms on call" have eight children between them and have written a very helpful book for parents of children 6 months and under, Guide to Basic Baby Care. Also included in the book is a DVD which demonstrates many of the daily and routine baby necessities (such as nail clipping, bathing, and swaddling).
The book is really a handy reference manual to have. It is not a book you would sit down with and read straight through, like some baby care books. It is sectioned off for quite and handy reference when you find yourself in a situation when your child may be projectile vomiting or is scratching his eyes out with his nails that grow like weeds.
Another helpful section in the book is the last section on medical professionals. What to expect at the hospital, a who's who of staff, and insurance. This is a helpful book, and one I would recommend. Also helpful is their website, momsoncall.com.

Other Books on this Subject:
What to Expect the First Year
The New Father
You Baby's First Year Week-by-Week (we found this book the most helpful of all)

LIQUID - Crossing and Fork in the Road

2007-08-22T07:47:00.000-05:00

Mariner's Church has recently partnered with Thomas Nelson and published 4 DVD Bible Study curricula. Each DVD has five episodes which go through a segment of Scripture. Crossing has five episodes on the book of Joshua, and Fork in the Road presents five episodes on the life of David.

The booklet which comes with every DVD has study questions for each episode as well as a leader's guide. The introduction describes Liquid this way:

"For too long, we have looked at God's Word and wondered how it could possibly impact our lives. It's one thing to simply read the Bible. It's something different altogether to understand it. Far too often we read these stories about people in an ancient land, and we're left feeling flat. 'What's this got to do with me?' We know in our hearts that what we're reading is true, right, and good, but we can't see any real way to apply it. That's where LIQUID comes in. LIQUID presents true-to-life stories of characters with real problems. Because what's the point in putting together a study of God's Word that doesn't deal with any of the issues we actually face? Along with each chapter in this book is a film, filled with characters that live in our world - the real world. Yet their problems and struggles mirror the same struggles found in the stories in the Bible."

It seems as if this is a version of nooma, only shorter, with an actual Bible study guide, and more expository. The episodes are about 5-7 minutes long and present dual stories of the teacher (one of 4 or 5 pastors at Mariners) and a related story which corresponds to the Bible passage the Mariners pastor is speaking to.

I was quite disappointed with the first episode I saw, but thought that I should watch more to get a fair idea about it. The Crossing DVD (the story of Joshua) I felt was much less dynamic and intertwined than Fork in the Road (the life of David). I would say that this series is a good resource to have around, and one especially suited for people in their twenties and thirties.

Faith Cafe

2007-08-21T07:05:00.000-05:00

I've noticed in a few books and resources that I have perused that the authors and publishers feel that only women care about personal spiritual growth, parenting, marriage and church. Many of the books on parenting I have read include one chapter for fathers - the one on sex after baby arrives. And the books on marriage try to dumb down concepts and treat men like dense large children. Even a few Bible studies and small group materials geared toward either or both genders could only really be interesting to women.
Do not take me for some kind of macho kind of guy. I like Mark Driscoll and all, but I am not into ultimate fighting, football and beer. But maybe one of the reasons "Why Men Hate Going to Church", is that much of the material produced is way to effeminate.
This is what I found with Standard Publishing's Faith Cafe. It is quite feeling oriented. After participants "welcome God to the 'cafe' of their inner lives, the very first exercise of the first lesson is to write down your inner desires for only God to see. Practices for the week after the meeting are to "email someone who feels alone, look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself that God loves you. Repeat the phrase seven times."
The curriculum has 13 episodes which divide up into topics of ourselves, God and our world. 10 of the 13 episodes have corresponding video segments, which frankly are mediocre at best. They showcase musicians, interviews and a one man skit show.
I would maybe use this for a women's Bible study, but even so, it seems pretty self-help-ish. Don't get me wrong, there is much interaction with Scripture, but the sessions all seem to try to inspire the participants more than help them dig deeper into the Bible to apply it.

Blessed Are the Uncool

2007-08-20T07:47:00.000-05:00

As we live our lives there isn’t a person out there who doesn’t want to be cool. No matter how mature we are, or how far along in our walks with God we might be, we are all pulled toward a desire to be liked and accepted by others.

In Paul Grant’s book, Blessed are the Uncool, he looks into the allure of being cool and how cool-ness can derail our ability to live authentic lives. Grant describes the rebellion that comes with projecting a cool image and the toll that cool-ness takes on our relationships and our spiritual development.

This was an interesting concept and in the second part of Grant’s book, he was especially able to unpack the impact of image on our culture and on our interaction with others. At the same time, however, I found Grant’s description of what being cool really means to be a touch more shallow than I would have expected. As the concept of cool was presented, being disrespectful to authority is where cool-ness seems to reside in Grant’s thinking, whereas a more general concept of inauthenticity or trying to fit in might have served the reader better and made this book more helpful. It has been a long time since I blew off a teacher or I mouthed off to my parents, but there are countless other ways that I try to be cool that compromise relationships and my spiritual growth. Grant’s work was well written and provided and interesting look into how we interact with people, but I felt that he relied perhaps too much on anecdotes to establish what it meant to be cool, and, at times, missed the mark of really getting to the core of the inauthenticity that keeps us from living great lives.

When you think of the influence others have on you, it is remarkable (when we are really honest with ourselves) how influential the opinions of others are in defining us. We all want to be cool… But, more than being cool and gaining acceptance, we want to be ourselves, and it is here that Grant has succeeded in his book and where Christians need to succeed if we are going to live authentic lives.

When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box

2007-08-17T08:05:00.000-05:00

My garage has a shelf full of neglected table games. Games played often in my youth and occasionally pulled out for my family when the children were younger. Maybe someday they’ll be of great monetary value . . . but then probably not. They certainly bring back memories of days trying to outplay my mom and dad . . . and two brothers at “Scrabble,” “Sorry,” and the ordained card game of “Rook.”

With comical and poignant real-life stories, the author brings together the extended
game imagery. John Ortberg has a pastoral heart and his writing style is conversational.
As a reader, I like being “talked with” instead of “talked to.” He gently reminds Christ-followers to stop chasing the temporal victories of this world and pursue what is
permanent in God’s kingdom. The key is our perspective. As he says, “when the game
is over, it all goes back in the box.”

The rules of gaming for the Christ-follower’s journey are interwoven into the chapters where he looks at the object of the game, the setup, how to play, the hazards and lastly, winning. The chapter titles will bring a smile to the readers face while the pull quotes
reinforce the direction of each section. I was reminded of Donald Trump’s catch phrase “You’re Fired!” as I read the chapter “Resign as Master of the Board.”

When the Game is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box is a well-penned instruction manual full of wise counsel on the priorities all believers need to embrace.

Personal and group study tools are included which will help the reader take to heart that which is important enough to remember.

An advanced preview copy was read for this review.

When Two Become Three

2007-08-16T07:05:00.000-05:00

Having just "become three", I picked up this book and was hoping to glean some insights into parenting, but mostly into marriage. This book proposes to encourage readers to "nurture their marriage after baby arrives." This is something that my wife was especially concerned about. We have been married for just over five years, and are the strongest in our marriage we have ever been. We did not want to lose what we had put so much time and effort into building. We also did not wish to be a couple that was defined by their child.
I am a firm believer that the best parents work more on their marriage, than their individual parenting skills. Dr. Crawford writes in a conversational manner about the various marital breakdowns that can occur after a baby comes into the picture. From communication (always a lurking problem - with or without baby) to parenting philosophy, to sex, Dr. Crawford helps couples not only get through the transition of a growing family, but actually helps couple strengthen their marriage through this.
If I were to put the book into one word that describes what needs to be done in your marriage when a baby arrives, it would be intentionality. Both partners need to be intentional about maintaining their covenant to one another and must continue to work on it, not resting on the work that has already been laid.
One criticism I would offer the book is one I would offer to most parenting books. Dads are parents too. Many of the books I have perused have "dad sections" where dads should at least read this portion of the book, if they are not interested in reading the rest of the book. I gotta tell you, it seems our culture complains about, but also perpetuates the mom is the main parent rubbish.
Dads are more than just a support for moms with the kids. Dads are to actively involved and hands on. I think that many dads are, but moms are seen as the primary care-giver for children. I was pleased to come across a blog-ring of stay-at-home dads (especially as I may soon become one myself) and would like to see more written about holistic parenting - in the sense that parents are equals and all involved - children and both spouses - look at it that way.

Paternity Break Reading

2007-08-15T11:05:00.000-05:00

Well, I am back from two of the most interesting and fun weeks of my life. On Wednesday, 1 August, 2007, Jack Vincent Augustine Fann was born. My wife and I could not be happier and I can tell you that I already love being a dad. With a newborn not doing much more than sleeping, eating and pooping, I did find some time to read, but it was mainly baby books. I also did some fun fiction and biography reading, so here is a brief synopsis of what I read over my paternity leave:

A Thousand Splendid Suns
About a year ago, I read The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini and absolutely loved it. I found it to be a great story, in which you came to care for the characters and really were drawn into the narrative. A Thousand Splendid Suns left much to be desired, for my taste. I am ashamed that I was hoping for a vengeful death for one of the most despicable characters I have ever had the displeasure to invite into my mind through a book. Even the protagonists were not all that engaging. One fascinating aspect of the book was learning the sordid history of Afganistan, a country totally beligured by war for decades. I would not recommend this book, but I would highly recommend The Kite Runner.

When Two Become Three
This is a great book for first time parents, and one which I will give a full review of tomorrow.

Pride and Prejudice
I had never read the book, but had seen the Colin Firth BBC movie adaptation (which is really quite accurate). Jane Austen has written a classic book in Pride and Prejudice and is truly a great work of art. It is filled with passion, humor, mystery and fantastic characters (I love Mr Bennet). I read Jane Erye (Charlotte Bronte) a couple years ago and found it very enjoyable, and still like it a bit better that Pride, but Austen's book is definitely a classic, and one that should be on everyone's must read list.

Augustus
I have always been interested in Roman history, so when I saw Augustus, a biography of the first Emperor of Rome. This biography reads like a novel, and in telling the story of young Gaius Octavius, who transitions into Octavian, and finally into Augustus Cesar, the reader is plunged into the world and culture of the time of the birth of the Lord. I am a history buff, and this book does not disappoint. Not only do readers get a thrilling and in-depth look at Augustus, they also get the people behind the legends - such as Julius Cesar, Marc Antony, Horace, and to a lesser extent, Pompeii the Great. This is an extremely well-written work and one which I strongly recommend anyone with an interest in biography or Roman history to delve into.

The Expectant Father

2007-07-31T15:48:00.000-05:00

This morning, my wife and I will be going into the hospital so she can be induced. This will be our first child and I'll tell you that my wife is petrified. Well, for Christmas, my sister-in-law bought me the book, The Expectant Father. I have found it relatively helpful. Each chapter goes through a month of the pregnancy and the last few chapters deal with the labor, delivery and first week or so at home.
The author tells you what most likely is going on with your wife, what is going on with your baby and what feelings you may be having. He then delves into the different aspects a father needs think about, from finances, support for your wife and education.
This is a helpful book for general issues, but I would not recommend it as an end-all. It has no mention of the spiritual side of fatherhood, nor of the fact that you cannot be a good parent if you are not a good husband first.
Anywho, I will be taking a break for a bit, having more diapers in my hands that books, so keep reading and I'll be back in a few weeks.

RZIM Critical Questions Discussion Guides

2007-07-31T12:49:00.000-05:00

"There are so many answers out there and a question to every answer. To ask them is to engage with information. To ask questions about life ultimate questions is to be in the pursuit of God. That's what this series is about: to take you to the heart and mind of God., which is the right destination."
- Ravi Zacharias, Series Editor, RZIM Critical Questions Series

This series is a Bible study series that dives deep into the important questions of life. It will help you shape and/or hone your worldview more in tune with Scripture. Everyday, we see answers to the questions asked in this series:
Who Was Jesus?
Can I Trust the Bible?
What is Truth?
Is God Real?

Television, movies, music and people all relay their answers to these questions. We are able to filter some of what the world tells us, but unless we are spending more time with Truth than with the lie, our values will falter. This series is one way to interact and be engaged with Scriptural teaching on these important worldview questions.
Scot McKnight discusses who Jesus was (and is) by looking at Jesus himself and those closest to him. Darrell Bock believes that we can take a journey back into seemingly foreign, ancient times and see more clearly who we are and who we were created to be, by trusting Scripture. Why is truth objective and relativism unlivable? Paul Copan and Mark Linville explore that in What is Truth? Examine a number of reasons why we can confidently believe that God exists and that he is knowable in William Lane Craig & Charles Taliaferro's, Is God Real?
I think that this series will be one of great help to those in the church struggling with conflicting answers to these questions as well as people who are in contact with friends, family and co-workers with no sense of direction and being blown like chaff in the wind.

Sacred Rhythms

2007-07-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

This book, Sacred Rhythms, came across my desk a couple of months ago. It grabbed my attention immediately. The subtitle offers advice for "Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation." I think like many people, I feel I lack in spiritual discipline - or at the very least, could be more disciplined. However, even with this in mind, it took me a while to finally open the book.
I have to say that I appreciate the practices and thoughts that Ruth Haley Barton pens, yet I could not connect, nor get past the emotion she shared all throughout. I was not put off by her emotion, I just do not share the same level of sensitivity, I guess. This distracted me as I read. I am fully ready to accept the blame myself for this shortcoming. Maybe I am not as in tune with the Spirit as I could or should be, or that my emotions are tapped into the wrong things. Whatever it may be, I was off during the reading.
The book offers good practices and thoughts too. From chapters on Lectio Divinia, solitude, sabbath, and self-examination, the disciplines Ms. Barton explores are well thought-out and she does a good job explaining the premise behind the disciplines as well as some ways to practice each one.

Other books you may wish to reference:

Spiritual Direction, by Henri Nouwen
Spiritual Classics, ed. by Richard Foster and Emilie Griffin
Fasting, Lynne Baab
Pursuing Spiritual Transformation Study Series, John Ortberg
Dissident Discipleship, David Augsburger
Keeping the Sabbath Wholly, Marva Dawn

The Justice Mission (Curriculum Kit)

2007-07-27T13:14:00.000-05:00

"This is the story that Youth Specialties has rendered so powerfully and well in The Justice Mission. Through the youth leaders who use it, this promises to be the broadest and most powerful introduction to the biblical God of Justice that the American church has ever experienced. And it does so by bringing the call of justice to the young people who will form the future of the most powerful nation on earth. The God of history is on the move, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
- Gary Haugen, President of International Justice Mission (from the forward of the leader's guide)

I first heard about International Justice Mission (IJM) at Saddleback Church. I had attended the Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry Conference & my wife and I stayed for a weekend service. Mr. Haugen spoke that weekend and told about the work that he does with IJM. In a nutshell, IJM works through legal channels to stop injustice in the poorest of countries, whether by closing down teenage and prepubescent brothels, helping peasants pay of loans (some as low as $3) which have forced them and their children into years of forced manual labor, or other such injustices.
We picked up his book after the service, The Good News About Injustce, (which I have previously reviewed) and I found it tragic yet hopeful - because even in the darkness of such pain and perversion, God cares and God is not silent. This curriculum helps teens see that there is injustice, where it stems from, and what they can do about it.
This is not a lecture driven or teacher-centered curriculum. It is based on short, thought-provoking videos, brainstorming, ideas, surveys, and questions. There are reproducible worksheets that students can put their thoughts on and reproducible journal pages which help students dig deeper into Scripture and their own thoughts on the topics.

You may also be interested in these:

The 24/7 Experience
Revolution
Irresistible Revolution

The Gospel According to the Simpsons

2007-07-25T07:05:00.000-05:00

Growing up, I was not allowed to watch The Simpsons. This made all the funnier the fact that my dad loves the trailer for the upcoming movie when Homer puts muddy pig prints all over the house singing, "Spider-Pig, Spider-Pig, does whatever a Spider-Pig does" to the tune of Spider-Man.
A few years ago, I read Mark Pinsky's The Gospel According to the Simpsons. I really enjoyed the book (having caught up on most of the episodes I could not watch growing up in college) and found the insights to be very well though-out and thought provoking. I even used the book when candidating for an associate pastor position in California (which I eventually was called to). I was asked to lead a college group study and we looked at the perceptions that Christians have (especially highlighted in the Simpsons) and Biblical imagery used in the show.
The book has since been expanded and a separate Leader's Guide is available for small group study. It is not only a funny book, but one which points out the moral and theological dilemmas of many people today.
Each of the chapters shows a different aspect of the Christian life - relationship with God, prayer, Scripture, heaven, hell and the devil. Mr. Pinsky also explores the Simpsons view of other religions, such as Hinduism and Judaism. The best chapter, in my estimation, is the one on Ned Fladers - The Evangelical Next Door. In this chapter, Mr. Pinsky explores the character and day-to-day qualities of evangelicalism, embodied in the Simpsons by Ned Flanders, Homer's next door neighbor. I believe, as does Mr. Pinsky, that the writers do a good job of portraying evangelicals through Ned. He has a different purpose, and tries to always put a positive spin on things. He sees all aspects of life as having a divine purpose and generally attempts to love others, even when they are intending harm for him.
This book is a great resource to have, especially with the movie coming out. It is witty, well-written and thought provoking. Here is an article from the Houston Chronicle speaking about the TV show, the movie and this book, in part. Link

Other books all these same lines:

The Gospel According to Disney
The Gospel According to The Beatles
One Step Closer
Walk On
Wizards, Wardrobes and Wookies

Now What?

2007-07-24T07:05:00.000-05:00

With the due date of our first child later this week, I picked up, Now What? The Chapman Guide to Marriage after Children. It is a little book that you can easily finish in one sitting. Gary Chapman has made a career out of his theory of the five love languages, and has now added the concept of four "seasons" of marriage. I have read and found both books helpful - The Four Seasons of Marriage & The Five Love Languages - and this book was so small and so appropriate that I looked forward to hearing what Now What? had to say.
Dr. Chapman spends five chapters talking about the things which can cause strain in a marriage - discipline, finances, and schedules, as well as talking about the importance of simply making marriage a priority and what the key to maintaining or re-establishing intimacy is.
This is not a book on parenting - it is a book on marriage as parents. One of the things I read again and again is books by Christian authors as well as non-Christian authors is that the best parents are the ones who have a strong, healthy marriage - and continue to work on it. This is something that my wife and I have taken seriously, and even though we have a number of parenting books in our "to read" queue, the marriage books are the ones we want to give the most time and attention to - and not just now, but throughout the course of our marriage.
As far as Now What? goes, I would recommend reading the aforementioned Four Seasons of Marriage and The Five Love Languages. If you can find Now What? at the library, definitely check it out, but much of the material you can find in those books.

Other books relating to this topic:

When Two Become Three
Creating an Intimate Marriage
Becoming a Dad

The Culturally Savvy Christian

2007-07-23T07:05:00.000-05:00

I saw this book and was immediately intrigued. I had never heard of Dick Staub before (the jacket cover tells me he has a national radio show that has been on for 15 years), but even so, I picked it up. Am I glad I did. I found this book to be a great read and a very challenging one at that.
At first it seems like an updated version of Niebuhr's Christ and Culture, but I found it to be that and so much more. Mr. Staub interacts with a lot of scripture and to a lesser extent much popular culture. A definition he uses to divide the book into three sections (talking about faith, culture, and the two in relation to one another) is:

The culturally savvy Christian is serious about faith, savvy about faith and culture, and skilled in relating the two.

He opens by talking about being savvy about faith and culture. He (rightly) talks about how many people can quote lines from their favorite movies, TV shows, and/or songs than verses from the Bible. I have found this to be true in my circles and, sadly, in my own life. I must say that I found the opening chapter rather depressing - in the sense that we all let such a magnitude of mindless "amusement" (which Mr. Staub says could be defined as 'to be absent in mind'). He then looks at the soullessness of popular culture (celebrity-driven, money-centered, spread by marketing and sustained by technology), but does not at all suggest turning our backs on culture, but rather, engaging it with the soulfulness of Christ.
He then turns to talking about getting serious about our faith. He bashes what he calls "Christianity-Lite". Too often we are not shedding light into darkness, but living duplicitous lives at church and away from church. Mr. Staub says that we need to have God's deep presence, His transforming presence, as well as His loving presence, and explores each one.
Lastly, Mr. Staub offers action on how to maintain a serious faith and actively engage culture - to transform culture, create soulful culture. We do this by countering culture like aliens, ambassadors, and artists. Mr. Staub is very interested in the hope that serious Christians can not only transform culture but also create culture. He is not interested in our Christian sub-culture, but in leading culture with our art, values and creativity.
I would agree with N.T. Wright who writes a sentence of recommendation for the book - "This is an urgent book for our times - and for our health."

Other books of interest touching on this subject:

Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts & Interpret Trends, ed. by Kevin VanHoozer
Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue, by William Dyrness
A Matrix of Meanings: Finding God in Pop Culture, by Craig Detweiler and Barry Taylor
Reel Spirituality: Theology and Film in Dialogue, by Robert Johnston
Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture, by William Romanowski

i love you more

2007-07-20T07:59:00.000-05:00

My wife and I just finished going through the i love you more book and DVD curriculum by Les and Leslie Parrott. The book is a revised edition of When Bad Things Happen to Good Marriages. The premise of the book and curriculum is that problems will come into your marriage, and instead of them coming between you and your spouse, they can actually help you to grow closer to one another.
Using real life examples of other couples, (sometimes) helpful exercises in the workbook which are meant to let you access the state of your marriage, and an easy to read teaching style, the Parrotts show that love is not all you need - but that effort needs to be put in, and that spouses can tackle problems head on and come out better after them.
My favorite chapter was the one on building spiritual intimacy. In both the DVD and the book, the Parrotts discuss that you can do all the other things right, but without finding a way to be develop your relationship to God together, you will never be as close as you could be. They briefly look at Gary Thomas' book, Sacred Pathways (which I have heard nothing but good about and really need to read), and help couples find their individual "spiritual language". They also acknowledge that most couples do not share that language (at least the primary one), and my wife and I found that to be true, but also that our secondary language was the same. The Parrotts encouraged participants to find a way where you could connect with God together.
My wife and I would read a chapter, complete the appropriate exercises and then watch the corresponding teaching segment on the DVD. The teaching segment was unlike many others in that it was set up like you were observing a small group going through the material. The Parrotts had five other couples filmed with them and they went through their teaching and interacted with the other couples. There was also time where the DVD paused for viewers to discuss amongst themselves the topics.
Both my wife and I found this material helpful and hopefully will be able to incorporate it into everyday life.

Questions to All Your Answers

2007-07-18T07:05:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, many evangelicals have embraced a Christianized “folk religion” characterized by glib sayings and a bumper sticker theology they’ve never deeply examined. They‘ve done so by simply and blindly accepting what they’ve heard time and time again. Olson, gently but with passionate conviction, states, "We do God no favors by being gullible, credulous, irrational, or uncritical. God gave us minds and expects us to use them."

He examines ten prevalent Christian beliefs and offers Christ-followers the challenge of knowing not only what they believe but why they believe it! In an engaging manner, he addresses commonly held beliefs such as: "It's a Mystery, Just Accept it: So What Do You Say to an Atheist?" "The Bible has all the Answers: So What about Cloning?" and "All Sins are Equal: So is Reusing a Stamp as Bad as Murder?” Olson spotlights these popular Christian cliches and dissects them with the intent of discovering together with the reader whether or not they contain truth. He points out that most have both.

One of the hardest-hitting chapters for me was "God is in Control; So Why is the World Such a Mess?” It definitely caused me to rethink my mindset.
Olson says, “We should be careful about making blanket statements about what God does and does not do.” I’ll need to reread this chapter and to continue reflecting on the author’s words.

I found Questions to All Your Answers at times disconcerting but also delightfully refreshing. It’s conversational, not academic in tone, which makes it inviting for the reader to participate. The discussion questions at the end of each chapter are important to encourage the reflective thinking process continuing in the reader’s faith-walk. There is no doubt I needed to read and process through Olson’s insights.

I highly recommend this book to all who name the name of Christ!

Justice in the Burbs

2007-07-17T07:05:00.000-05:00

Relevant Magazine did an interview with the authors of the forthcoming book, Justice in the Burbs. Here is a link to the Relevant website for the interview. For the time I heard about this book being published, I have been more than a little bit interested in reading it.

Also, here is a video of the authors talking about their book.

The Grand Weaver

2007-07-16T08:03:00.000-05:00

I like Ravi Zacharias. I used to regularly listen to his radio show via iTunes. The only other book of his, besides The Grand Weaver I have read, was Recapture the Wonder. I felt the same way about both that book and this book: Dr. Zacharias has excellent things to say, but uses too many words to say them. I think that both books were about 100 pages too long.
That being said, the basic content is very good. In The Grand Weaver, Dr. Zacharias looks at how God uses all the various "threads" of our life (destiny, DNA, calling, worship, among others) to weave a pattern in our life that brings him glory. I have often heard my dad say "you cannot get to where I am from where I began". He says that because only God could weave all his experiences into a pattern which has manifested itself. You may be able to say this yourself. This is the point which Dr. Zacharias makes uses many stories, Scripture and quotes of many writers and speakers.
The most poignant chapter for me was one of the latter ones - "Your Worship Matters". He discusses what worship truly is, what the Trinity and community have to do with worship and, the different aspects of how we worship. It is the longest chapter, but, for me, the most insightful.
Another helpful portion of The Grand Weaver is the appendix in the back of the book. Here, Dr. Zacharias looks at 25 key questions for disciples of Jesus to ponder, and the short answers which he has come up himself. These are a sort of condensed version of the book he co-edited with Norm Geisler, Who Made God?
Overall, The Grand Weaver is a very good message with a feww too many illustrations.

Metamorpha

2007-07-13T07:05:00.000-05:00

Although the title Metamorpha implies change, Kyle Strobel's first offering is not another typical book about fearing change . . . nor is it dogmatically formulaic in its approach to dealing with the constant state of flux we live with daily.

Within these pages, he warns that, "When we begin to think we have the Bible, or God, or life figured out, 'The Word stops living and becomes a book of proof-texts. This becomes dangerous because when it comes down to it, 'people take precedence over programs and models.' We can't pretend to have all of the answers or have the perfect programs. We need to question things, even when it shakes the core of our faith. There's no reason to be afraid."

Although emergent in thought, the author doesn¹t recklessly deconstruct the tenets of our faith and its history to ground zero; instead he invites the reader to view the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and community through a different lens. "Informers," as he calls them, are used by Christ to shape us into his image.

The line between emerging and evangelical ideologies is straddled, but not to the point of conflicting distraction. Side-by-side comparisons of how "solidified" and "developmental" churches respectably respond to change is also included.

As the part-time drama director in my church, I help select sketches (along with the pastoral staff) that will help facilitate transformational moments for the body of Christ. It is Strobel¹s belief that developing a biblical worldview (vision of life) is key to transforming our ways of how each one of us relates to the world and adapts to change. Metamorpha is not a destination but a journey. Authentic spiritual formation can be a reality in our lives.

The book doesn't overflow with brand new concepts but it was well worth the read. Anyone with the desire to match up their belief systems with their actions should pick up and read a copy of Metamorpha.

The International Christian Retail Show

2007-07-12T08:17:00.000-05:00

I just returned from the ICRS, the big event that the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA) puts on. This year it was in Atlanta. Most all major (and many minor) publishers were present, promoting their books, as well as ALOT of Christian gift manufacturers. I was able to hear Ravi Zacharias speak (I just finished his book and will have a review of that next week), as well as Tony Dungy (although I forgot to proudly wear my Chicago Bears hat) and Patricia Shirer (Tony Evans' daughter) who was excellent.
Much of the fun for me was getting free books, meeting the authors and talking with people from the different publishing houses. I was able to meet Len Sweet (The Gospel According to Starbucks), Chip Ingrim (Good to Great in God's Eyes), Randy Alcorn (Money, Possessions, and Eternity), and many others. Here are some photos from the show:

I can't wait to become a better me! Hopefully, the better me comes with a smile as good as Joel's.

Chip Ingram signing his upcoming book, Good to Great in God's Eyes

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything - promoting their upcoming movie
Doug Pagitt & Tony Jones signing the book they newly edited - An Emergent Manifesto of Hope

Matthew Paul Turner just before he tells me he hates me.

Manty the Praying Mantis - the mascot for My First Message

and my personal favorite, Jars of Clay signing posters for their upcoming book and Christmas CD

Happy Birthday - John Calvin

2007-07-10T07:34:00.000-05:00

John Calvin was born on this day in 1509. I took a class at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School on Calvin's theology and was able to interact with many different works by and about him. Some of these were,
Calvin: A Sixteenth Century Portrait, by William J. Bouwsma
A Defense of the Secret Providence of God, by John Calvin (Out of Print)
The Institutes of the Christian Religion, by Calvin
The Grace of God and the Will of Man, ed. by Clark Pinnock
The Providence of God, Paul Helm
Calvin on Scripture and Divine Sovereignty, John Murray
Calvin, Francois Wendel. (Out of Print)

I would recommend any of them (the Wendel biography is a bit dry, though - but also out of print).
Also good websites are,
Wikipedia
Christian Classics Ethereal Library
Calvinism Resources Database
The Hekman Library (Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Mi)

Marley & Me

2007-07-09T08:02:00.000-05:00

About 3 1/2 years ago, my wife and I brought home our first pet together. This was her first pert ever, and one of many I had grown up with. I have always loved having pets. Growing up, we had more cats than dogs, and I considered myself a cat person. Then we brought home Zeus. I have never had a pet like him. He is an all black dachshund that is 18 pounds (and 17 pounds of stubborn).
No other pet I have ever had has meant remotely what Zeus has to me. I am now firmly in the dog person camp - and will never have another cat (a large reason is because my wife is allergic & thinks they are plain evil). Anyway, I had heard nothing but good about Marley & Me, and picked it up at the library on a whim last week. I loved this book. If you have a dog, this is a fun book which will remind you of your dog, remind you why you love your dog and make you glad you do not own Marley!
John Grogan basically tells his life story in this memoir of him and his dog. He talks about growing up with a "perfect" dog and then being newly married and wanting to have a dog. He writes about his family life and the reader is really engaged in his story. You read of love, loss, happiness, and depression. Through it all, Marley is there and a source of comfort, dismay and love.
Much of this book reminds me of Zeus, and much of my relationship with Zeus reminds me of my relationship with God.
Zeus is always happy to see me. Whether I have been gone a week or two, or 1/2 an hour, Zeus makes a huge deal about seeing me. This is the way it is with Jesus also. And in the same way that I don't want to be away from Zeus too often, I am always the worse off by lacking communion with Jesus - but he always accepts me back and rejoices over me (see Zeph. 3.17,19). There is a joy I have in being with and watching my "little man", as I sometimes call him. Jesus, I am sure, feels the same way - if not more so - about us.
My wife hates when I take Zeus for walks without his leash. Zeus loves it. I have noticed that when he is leashed, he is almost always pulling against me, in one direction or another. However, if I walk with him off the leash, he stops and sniffs a bit here and there, runs up ahead and off the the side, but more often than not stays close and pn the same path I am on. I have often felt the same way in my life with Jesus. If I feel trapped and stuck, I usually get more stubborn and try to force my will, but if I feel the grace and love of God, I feel free to roam, but always stay close and on the path I believe he is on. Just like Zeus, though, sometimes I get taken away by my freedom and get lost - but Jesus always finds me, as I always find Zeus, and pulls me back to the path I need to be on.
Obviously the analogies break down and are less than perfect, but there are many lessons I have learned from Zeus and I know I will continue to. If you wish to learn about love, get a dog (I recommend dachshunds!), if you have one and want hear stories that will make you laugh out loud, smile, cry and shake your head, read Marley & Me.

1 Corinthians

2007-07-06T07:05:00.000-05:00

After listening to Mark Driscoll's series on Ruth, I wanted to go through a book of the Bible reading in a commentary and listening to his sermons on the same passage. Mr. Driscoll has a series on 1 Corinthians which took 9 months actual times to go through. The trick was to find a good commentary that was engaging and solid. I wanted to try something different than my favorite series - the NIV Application Commentary - so I grabbed my New Testament Commentary Survey by Carson and looked up what he said. Dr. Carson writes,
"The best commentary on the Greek text of 1 Corinthians is Anthony Thiselton (NIGTC; 2000, / $80.00). The work is very impressive. Over 1,400 pages long, it could easily have been a ponderous volume of massive learning and impenetrable prose. But Thiselton has outdone himself. Every section I scanned was well written, accessible (for readers of this sort of series!), and penetrating."
I am not a reader of this sort of series. I have tried to take Greek twice (as well as German and Spanish) and am not easy learner of languages. However, Anthony Thiselton has published "A Shorter Exegetical & Pastoral Commentary" on 1 Corinthians through Eerdmans. This was much more my speed, with less linguistic emphasis, and more practical outgrowth. However, well done it is, I still found it difficult to muddle through, so I put it aside for Craig Blomberg's 1 Corinthians commentary in the NIV Application series.
This was not a good choice. I found this to be a very week volume in the series and found it to be dry and lacking engagement. Dr. Blomberg is a very good scholar of the Gospels, but I found his treatment of Paul's letter very uninspiring. However, Dr. Carson reports it to be "the best of the middle-level commentaries."
I had never read any of the works in The Bible Speaks Today series, but was always intrigued by it. Even though Dr. Carson mentions David Prior's The Message of 1 Corinthians only in passing, I picked it up and worked through it. I found Dr. Prior's perspective to be very interesting, having pastored in both South Africa and Oxford. His writing was engaging and informative, as well as giving me different takes on the passages than what I was listening to with Mark Driscoll. I found it to be a very fresh exposition.

The Moral Vision of the New Testament

2007-07-05T07:05:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite classes from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School was New Testament Ethics. The class was about a half a dozen people, including Dr. Bruce Fields - our professor, and with that size, it was very conducive for good discussions. Another aspect of the class that lent itself to good discussions was one of our textbooks - The Moral Vision of the New Testament, by Richard Hays.
This book is an introduction to ethics in the New Testament. Dr. Hays offers three lenses with which to view moral and ethical behavior from the New Testament:

Community - the community [the church], in its corporate life, is called to embody an alternative order that stands as a sign of God's redemptive purposes in the world.
Cross - to be Jesus' disciple is to obey his call to bear the cross, thus to be like him. Our actions are therefore to be judged not by their calcuable efficacy in producing desirable results but by their correspondence to Jesus' example.
New Creation - the church is to embody the power of resurrection in the midst of a not-yet-redeemed world.

These three images focus and guide our reading of the New Testament texts with respect to ethical issues, according to Dr. Hays. He spends a good deal of time expounding on these images and their benefits.
The last section of the book is what I found to be most challenging, most interesting and that which I have wrestled with for the past 7-8 years. This last section he speaks about particular issues and reflects on them in light of the three images of community, cross, and new creation. Some of the ethical issues he writes about are: violence, divorce and remarriage, abortion, homosexuality, and ethnic conflict.
While all have been very eye-opening and helpful, the section on violence in defense of justice is the one which I have struggled with ever since I took this class. Dr. Hays is a pacifist, and while in seminary, I definitely was not, he really got me thinking. I believe that not I would fall into the same camp as he does. I would recommend this book on the basis of that chapter alone. But the entire book will provoke your thought.

3 Seconds

2007-07-02T07:05:00.001-05:00

As is evidenced from this blog, I enjoy the writings of Les and Leslie Parrott, so I was interested when I came across 3 Seconds, by half of the Parrotts (Les). This book gives the other side of the story to Malcolm Gladwell's Blink (an excellent book in its own right). Whereas Mr. Gladwell speaks of the power of making decisions without thinking, Dr. Parrott discusses the power of thinking twice.
I have to admit, I am not one much for motivational business books, but I found this little book to be quite inspiring. Dr. Parrott suggests that our initial impulse isn't always the correct one, or the best one. But by giving a decision a second thought, we can make much more of a difference, in our homes, jobs, and communities.
One of the stories Dr. Parrott recounts is of a business trip he made. He arrived at the gate the monitor said was bound for Minneapolis, but the board at that gate read Denver. He approaches the attendant and he says in a annoyed voice that there is nothing that he can do about changing the sign, but yes, this is the gate for Minneapolis. Apparently many of the people waiting had asked the same question and were treated with the same rudeness. The second attendant came and was told what everyone waiting knew and thought about the situation for a moment and took out a pice of notebook paper and wrote "Minneapolis" on it in marker and taped it over the "Denver" sign. The whole waiting area cheered.
This is a story of "can-do" mentality. Whether you should walk the extra mile, fuel your passion, take ownership of your situation, or embrace a challenge, giving a second thought can motivate you to get going. Doing those things is not taking the easy road, but it is the road to greater impact and significance. It is also the way of Jesus. Jesus embraced a challenge, walked the extra mile, did "whatever it takes".
Dr. Parrott uses a wealth of stories and his easy to read writing style to motivate readers to also move from "whatever" to "whatever it takes."

Outreach Resources - Curricula

2007-06-28T07:05:00.001-05:00

As promised from yesterday, here are the best group curricula available in the area of outreach!

Just Walk Across the Room – Zondervan, Willow Creek
In Just Walk Across the Room, the complete church kit, author Bill Hybels brings personal evangelism into the twenty-first century with a natural and empowering approach modeled after Jesus himself. When Christ “walked” clear across the cosmos 2,000 years ago, he had no forced formulas—just an offer of redemption to people like us, many of whom were neck-deep in pain of our own making. This dynamic, four-week experience is designed to equip and inspire your entire church to participate in that same pattern of grace-giving by taking simple walks across rooms—leaving your circles of comfort and extending hands of care, compassion, and inclusiveness to people who might need a touch of God’s love today.

Becoming a Contagious Christian - Zondervan, WillowCreek
This Willow Creek Resources six-session evangelism course for churches and groups of all sizes is designed to equip believers for effective evangelism by showing them how they can share the gospel in a natural and powerful way while being the person God made them to be.

H2O – Standard
H2O is an evocative, DVD-driven, group-oriented journey of faith. Hosted by Kyle Idleman, the 10 episodes of high-definition video are a new way to share your faith. It's an invitation to get together, enjoy a meal, watch a DVD, have a conversation, and end with an invitation to be transformed through the living water of Jesus Christ. This kit contains all the planning tools and resources for the church, ministry, small group, or individual to lead an H2O journey.

Go Fish – Multnomah, North Point
We’ve all heard them. “It was this big.” “You should have seen the one that got away.” People love to tell stories of their fishing adventures. When it comes to faith, however, most people clam up. Why is it we can’t talk about what God has done in our life as naturally as we can spin fishing tales? This six-part DVD explores the motivation behind sharing our faith and how it can become a natural part of our lives. Its companion study guide is complete with a leader’s guide and six lessons, including conversation-starting exercises, discussion questions, and application steps.

Bullhorn – Zondervan, Mars Hill Bible
God loves everyone, so a Christian should, too. In fact, Jesus said that the most important thing in life is to love God with everything we've got and love others the same way. But it's not always easy to love everyine around us, is it? Sometimes we strongly disagree with other people's political views, religious belieifs, behaviors or something else, and it makes it hard to love them when we feel like we're right and they're very wrong. But Jesus doesn't separate loving God and loving others. So maybe that best way for us to show our love for God is actually by loving other people no matter how hard it sometimes is. Maybe it's the only way.

Life on Loan – Standard
Life On Loan is a six-week, church-wide experience that leads children, students, and adults through a study of what it means to live a life that is on loan from God - a life serving others, building relationships, and earning the right to share your faith. Life On Loan provides the curriculum and tools to plan, promote, and implement a program throughout the church. Age appropriate curriculum is provided for early childhood, elementary, teens, and adults, so the entire church studies the plan God has for our lives - lives that have the opportunity to make a real impact in our world.

Going Public with Your Faith – Zondervan, Focus on the Family
The people in your group spend hours every day in the most high-impact mission field in the world: their workplaces. A place where they are regularly in touch with people facing significant life questions. But to have an impact, they need a perspective that’s different from anything they’ve ever heard or read about evangelism. Real evangelism is a process. It’s organic—more like farming than selling. In six thought-provoking and empowering sessions, Going Public with Your Faith walks your group through a proven approach to evangelism that respects the unique relationships they have with their coworkers, clients, or customers.

Sharing Your Life Mission Everyday (Doing Life Together) – Zondervan, Saddleback
The way you’re wired is no accident! God designed your unique mix of gifts, natural abilities, personality, values, and life experiences to play an essential part in his kingdom. These six sessions will help you develop your God-given design at home, at work, at church, and in your community in a way that extends God’s love to others and enriches your own life immeasurably.

The Alpha Course – Alpha
The Alpha Course is a 10 week, 15-session practical introduction to the Christian faith. It provides an opportunity for people of all backgrounds to explore the meaning of life. Included are 15 talks dealing with essential questions of life, such as: Who is Jesus?, How can I be sure of my faith?, How does God guide us?, How can I resist evil?, What does the Holy Spirit do?, and How can I make the most of my life?

Outflow – Group
For most adults, outreach feels...well, uncomfortable. Intrusive. Contrived. That's why--in spite of Jesus' intent that we share our faith--we seldom do so. With Outflow, adult small groups experience transformed, joy-filled lives they then share with others. Outflow encourages honest outreach based on a growing relationship with God...and the sharing of God's love. This Small Group Kit gives small group leaders everything they need to lead a 5-week Outflow study.

10 Keys for Unlocking the Bible – Moody, Arlington Hts EFC
Many people--churched and unchurched desire to learn more about the Bible, and find purpose in their lives through its timeless principles. 10 KEYS FOR UNLOCKING THE BIBLE COURSE, is an ideal tool for small groups, home Bible studies and personal evangelism or discipleship. It is designed for people with limited knowledge of the Bible who want to learn about it in a non-threatening way, and seasoned believers who desire a better understanding of the Bible story from beginning to end.

They Like Jesus but Not the Church (forthcoming) – Zondervan
Many in today’s emerging generation don’t like the church. Some are leaving the church; others never were a part of it. Yet they remain fascinated with Jesus. This small group curriculum will explore six of the most common objections and misunderstandings emerging generations have about the church and how the church can respond in positive ways.

Outreach Resources - Books

2007-06-28T07:05:00.000-05:00

This week is the National Leadership Conference for the EFCA. This morning I am leading a seminar on the best resources available for outreach. I will post those resources on the blog tomorrow. But here are some of the best books available on outreach.

Just Walk Across the Room – Bill Hybels
Believers universally affirm that evangelism is a vital part of what God calls them to do, but very few make a practice of doing it. They feel awkward and ill-equipped, either because they've never been trained, or because their lack of interaction with non- Christians prevents them from using and developing the skills they do have. Bill Hybels addresses these concerns and signals the next era in personal evangelism with Just Walk Across the Room. Drawing on fresh perspectives from the author's own experiences, as well as time-tested and practical illustrations, Just Walk Across the Room encourages and equips readers to routinely initiate spiritual conversations with those who don't know Christ.

Becoming a Contagious Christian – Bill Hybels, Mark Mittelberg
Evangelism doesn't have to be frustrating or intimidating. Effectively communicating our faith in Christ should be the most natural thing in the world. We just need encouragement and direction. In Becoming a Contagious Christian, Hybels and Mittelberg articulate the central principles that have helped the believers at Willow Creek Community Church become a church known around the world for its outstanding outreach to unchurched people. Based on the words of Jesus and flowing from the firsthand experiences of the authors, Becoming a Contagious Christian is a groundbreaking, personalized approach to relational evangelism.

They Like Jesus But Not the Church – Dan Kimball
Many people today, especially among emerging generations, don’t resonate with the church and organized Christianity. Some are leaving the church and others were never part of the church in the first place. Sometimes it’s because of misperceptions about the church. Yet often they are still spiritually open and fascinated with Jesus. This is a ministry resource book exploring six of the most common objects and misunderstandings emerging generations have about the church and Christianity.

Living a Life on Loan – Rick Rusaw, Eric Swanson
As a Christian, your life is no longer about you. It is allowing God to write his story through you and your story. Explore a life where serving others provides an opportunity for your story to intersect theirs - and for lives to be forever changed! Explore a life of finding grace at the intersections.

The Radical Reformission – Mark Driscoll
Reformation is the continual reforming of the mission of the church to enhance God’s command to reach out to others in a way that acknowledges the unique times and locations of daily life. This engaging book blends the integrity of respected theoreticians with the witty and practical insights of a pastor. This basic primer on the interface between gospel and culture highlights the contrast between presentation evangelism and participation evangelism.

The Forgotten Ways – Alan Hirsch
Hirsch identifies six latent potencies in God's people that lie dormant and forgotten until something catalytic prompts the rediscovery of them. These elements are clearly seen in the church during times of phenomenal growth and impact, but he suggests that they are actually always present and can be reactivated to create apostolic movement. He describes them as the centrality and lordship of Jesus, disciple making, the missional-incarnational impulse, organic systems, apostolic environment, and communitas (a type of community formed in situations of significant ordeal and/or mission).

No Perfect People Allowed – John Burke
No Perfect People Allowed shows you how to deconstruct the five main barriers standing between emerging generations and your church by creating the right culture. From inspiring stories of real people once far from God, to practical ideas that can be applied by any local church, this book offers a refreshing vision of the potential and power of the Body of Christ to transform lives today.

Outflow – Steve Sjogren, Dave Ping
If it's all about God, why do we live as if it's all about us? This book--a cross between a manifesto and a how-to manual--inspires readers to embrace outreach as a lifestyle--a natural, everyday thing that's as normal as going to the grocery store.

Share Jesus Without Fear – William Fay
In recent years, the Share Jesus without Fear book and its growing family of ancillary products have sparked a faith-sharing movement that continues to gain momentum. It began with the jaw-dropping story of William Fay, once a money-driven businessman with Mafia ties who ran a house of prostitution until it was raided by police. Facing the threat of jail time, Fay turned to Jesus Christ for redemption and ever since has been turning others to Him as well.

City Impact – Daniel Bernard
God calls His Church to take the Gospel into the world, but what about meeting the day-to-day needs of your local neighborhood? Daniel Bernard uses practical, motivating examples from his ministry, Somebody Cares, Tampa Bay, and from Christians all over to illustrate how unity among churches and partnership with local businesses can transform communities.

The Gutter – Craig Gross
Why did an all-knowing, all-powerful God send the perfection of His kingdom? His only Son? To the earth through the gutter? Why did Jesus spend so much time, reaching out to people in their own secret, dark places? Why do His followers so often turn away from those very same situations? The Gutter chronicles the author's journey to the gutter, telling the stories and sharing the insights he gained while spending time with the people who dwell there.

101 Ways to Reach Your Community – Steve Sjogren
You may not be a gifted evangelist, but you do have the gift of servanthood. You can use that gift to reach out to your community with the love of God. For years Steve Sjogren has successfully used a simple approach called "servant evangelism" that allows any believer—regardless of gifting—to be involved in sharing God's love with others. One of the great things about this approach is that you don't have to do it alone. Sjogren offers 101 simple and effective ways your church or small group can demonstrate the love of God to those in your community. When people see the love of God in action, they want to know more about Him. You can share your faith successfully, and here are plenty of starting points!

Outreach Ministry in the 21^st Century – Group Publishing
This collection of 200 practical ideas turns "outreach" from an intimidating mandate into something that's actually enjoyable. Included: proven ideas for preparing your church to embrace outreach, ways to teach kids, service ideas for youth, long-term and mission ideas, ways to make your church visible in your community, and much more.

Free Books!

2007-06-27T07:05:00.001-05:00

There are few things I enjoy more than free books. If you feel the same check out the following list and pick one or two that you would like to review for this site and I will send them to you for free. The only string is that I would like a review. The book is yours. The list includes the title and subject category in parenthesis. Click the link to read more about the book.

Now and Not Yet (Single Adults)
Running in Circles (Unhealthy Relationships) taken
Just Generosity (the poor)
The Silent Transformation (Natural Church Development)
The Kingdom Quest (Church Planting)
Leadership Essentials (Leadership)
Unleashing the Potential of the Smaller Church (Church Ministry) taken
Christian Beginnings and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Christian History)
Joyful Exiles (Spirituality)
Ancient Christian Devotional (Spirituality)
C. Stacey Woods and the Evangelical Rediscovery of the University (Evangelical History)
Doing God's Business (Career & Marketplace)
The God Who Risks (Theology)
Blessed are the Uncool (Authenticity) taken
When God Lets You Down (Suffering & Loss)
Creative Prayer (Prayer)

I have only one copy of each, so once that copy is gone, that's it. To inquire, email me at chris.fann@efca.org

The High Price of Materialism

2007-06-26T07:05:00.000-05:00

A few years ago, I came across the book, The High Price of Materialism. I paged through it & thought it looked interesting and bought it. I came home with it and put it on my shelf. Every time I saw the book, I said, "I really need to read that". About three years later, I finally did. It was well worth the read.
The High Price of Materialism is a book which offers research as to the problem , as well as suggestions to overcome the permeating materialism in our lives. From the thousands of ads, programs we watch, magazines we read, and various other sources, the message reads, "Happiness can be found at the mall, on the Internet, or in the catalog."
In, The High Price of Materialism, Dr. Tim Kasser offers a scientific explanation of how consumerism affects our everyday happiness and psychological health. Dr. Kasser investigates how people's desires relate to their well-being. He shows that people whose values center on the accumulation of wealth or material possessions face a greater risk of unhappiness, including anxiety, depression, and problems with intimacy.
Dr. Kasser explores the mixed messages we receive everyday that certain things and possessions will bring us happiness, when in fact they serve to only make us more greedy and less happy. He begins by looking at what the research shows on how materialism affects our personal well-being, and our psychological needs. Then he spends the bulk of the books showing how it feeds our insecurities, our fragile self-worth, and our poor relationships. Lastly, Dr. Kasser explains how the chains of materialism wrap themselves around us and several ways to make changes away from consumerism as individuals, families and as a society.
One of the helpful suggestions he makes in regards to making changes individually is to ask yourself why you really want something. He states, "The truth is that money is good only for buying food, shelter, safty, and other necessities; it can never really buy self-esteem, love or freedom....ask yourself whether materialistic values have actually worked for you, or whether they continue to perpetuate your problems instead."
You may be thinking to yourself that you are not materialist, that you, as a Christian, do have different sets of values. And you would be right. However, being a Christian myself, as well as knowing many other Christians, I am bound to say that this value set of consumerism is rampant in the church. I would dare say that most Christians sitting in the pew today, would do well to at least think about why they are purchasing something, and about the items we already own, if not pick up this book (at the library!) and understand what materialism does to our values.

Gracism

2007-06-25T07:05:00.001-05:00

"When one merges the definition of racism, which is negative, with the definition of grace, which is positive, a new term emerges - gracism. I define gracism as the positive extension of favor on other humans based on color, class or culture."

Dr. David Anderson planted Bridgeway Community Church and is passionate about multicultural ministry and racial reconciliation. In Gracism, he takes 1 Corinthians 12.23 - The parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor - and looks at it in regards to his passions. Dr. Anderson dives into 1 Corinthians 12 and identifies specific behaviors that can help readers live like gracists. He picks out seven phrases from the chapter, exploring them and then offers suggestions how how to make them daily practices.

This book lends itself to group discussion as well as personal reflection. At the end of each chapter are "Reflection Questions" which help you go deeper in your understanding of becoming a gracist.

The Seven Sayings of a Gracist:

"Special Honor" - lifting up the humble among us. I will lift you up.
"Special Modesty" - protection the most vulnerable among us from embarrassment. I will cover you.
"No Special Treatment" - refusing to accept special treatment if it is at the detriment of others who need it. I will share with you.
"Greater Honor" - God, as a gracist, has given greater honor to the humble. I will honor you.
"No Division" - when the majority helps the minoroty, and the stronger help the weaker, it keeps us from division within the body. I will stand with you.
"Equal Concern" - having a heart as big for our neighbors as we do for ourselves. I will consider you.
"Rejoices With" - when the humble, or less honorable, are helped, we are to rejoice with them. I will celebrate with you.

The Path of Celtic Prayer

2007-06-22T07:05:00.000-05:00

Prayer is not one of my strengths spiritually. It is something I really want to be disciplined at and to find joy in, but honestly, it never has been. When I was an associate pastor in California, the senior pastor asked me to offer the pastoral prayer each week. I seriously dreaded it. And in my own relationship with God, it has been sporadic and blah to say the least.
When the book, The Path of Celtic Prayer: An Ancient Way to Everyday Joy came across my desk, I was intrigued. Calvin Miller offers a look at six traits of Celtic prayer and how it can infuse our own prayer with joy, richness and better communication with God (which is what it is all about anyway).
Dr. Miller writes this book to,

"address the way the Celtic people related to God to keep their devotion centered on the Savior. But I also want to demonstrate how these ancient lovers of God were able to strip away institutional business and empty religiousity that can separate Christians from Christ."

The six forms of prayer which Dr. Miller expounds on are Trinity praying, praying the Scriptures, Creature praise, Long, wandering prayer, The Lorica (protection), and The Confession.
I found the chapter on Trinity praying a "duh" kind of moment. Too often we think of praying only to the Father or Jesus (very rarely the Holy Spirit as evangelicals), but the Celts offered prayers to all three persons of the Trinity. I say this is a "duh" moment because it should be obvious, but I did not ever think about it before.
My favorite chapter was the one on praying the Scripture. The Celts believed that the mere recitation of Scripture held a kind of power. Dr. Miller suggests making Scripture our own by praying it back to God. This morning I went out by a lake and prayed Psalm 62 to God. I read it aloud, interjected "you" instead of "God" and changed the pronouns to apply to myself specifically. It was a great time of prayer. I highly recommend trying it.

I Sold My Soul on eBay

2007-06-21T07:05:00.000-05:00

I have to admit that when I first learned about the book I Sold My Soul on eBay by Hemant Mehta I was a little skeptical. As a fellow eBay shopper I was at least curious about the concept. “How in the world was someone able to put their soul on eBay?” I wondered. As the old saying goes, never judge a book by its cover (or the title for that matter).

The book is a very easy read and at some points hard to put down. Mr. Mehta spends a good portion of the early part of the book sharing his own experience with religious faith. The author came out of a religious tradition called Jainism; a belief system which I knew little if anything about before reading this book. Mehta describes his transition away from the religion of his childhood as a period of asking questions and receiving answers that were incompatible with reasonable thinking. These experiences led him to embrace atheism.

Even with doubts about religious belief and the supernatural in mind Mr. Mehta went ahead with his eBay experiment. I found his willingness to dialog and to be “bought” on eBay quite unusual but intriguing. As I was reading I found myself wondering whether this person was dissatisfied with his current situation and was truly seeking meaning in his life or whether his strategy was to confirm his rejection of all things supernatural.

My one critique is actually with the book’s subtitle. Perhaps this was the work of Mr. Mehta’s publisher and not that of the author. The subtitle on the cover reads, “Viewing Faith Through an Atheist’s Eyes.” After reading the book I’m not sure that is entirely accurate. What is described in these pages is actually Christian worship or “church” viewed through an atheist’s eyes. I know that genuine Christian faith viewed through the eyes of an unbeliever will probably seem strange and somewhat “foolish” (1 Cor. 1:18). What I want to know as a pastor is what the church experience looks like to someone like Hemant Mehta. Fortunately this is exactly what the author describes in this book.

The question that seemed to come up most often in his reviews of various churches was why these churches were doing what they were doing. I found this to be very helpful. Mr. Mehta is just one visitor offering one perspective but his questions are ones I’ve heard from other people in churches other than the ones he visited (including mine). Some of the “why” questions were in reference to particular church practices. A few of these might even be worth reviewing so to avoid miscommunication to those unfamiliar with the way things are. Other questions had to do with things many of us would label nonnegotiable, such as the exclusivity of the gospel message, human sin, and other doctrinal issues.

In the end this book caused me, especially as a pastor, to evaluate why we do some of the things we do in church. I even considered revising some of my own practices, not to cater to the atheist’s or to the visitor’s personal preferences, but so that I might better communicate what it is we do and why we do it. This book may not provide deep insight into an atheist’s view of Christian faith, but it will at least provide many of us with an outsiders view of what is happening in our local congregations on a weekly basis.

Eric Nygren is Pastor at Cornerstone EFC in Williasmburg, IA

36 Parables

2007-06-20T07:05:00.000-05:00

36 Parables are retellings of the parables of Jesus. On each DVD comes 3 different parables presented with up-to-date stories. They are between 3 and 12 minutes long and are quite visually stimulating. And although they do not come with any Bible study in the packaging, there are free studies available for download on their site, 36parables.com.
I contacted one of the creators of these short films to find out if we could carry them and make them available. He was one of two guys who started with a dream to produce films of Jesus' parables and they have been able to produce 9 of them so far.
The thing I appreciate about these films is the perspective they offer. I have heard people retell some of the parables, but only updating certain aspects - The Good Samaritan is a black man helping a klan member. There are a few like that in 36 Parables, but they also offer completely different stories to illustrate the same point.
In the film, a few weeks later, from the Cyan disc, they tell the story of the parable of the rich fool. When I first watched it, I was completely lost. I thought that I was thinking of a different parable of the rich fool. But then I went to the website and downloaded the Bible study for it. This film tells the story of the aftermath of the rich fool (literally "a few weeks later" after her life was accounted for).
I am pretty excited about these films. Below I have embedded one of the funnier ones I found on Google Videos. For more information, visit nsresources.com.

The Love List

2007-06-19T07:05:00.001-05:00

In 1 Corinthians chapter 7, Paul is talking about marriage. Paul says that he wishes everyone could be like him - single and single-minded in serving God's Kingdom, but that it is also good to marry. There are some people who get married because that is what's next after college. There are others who get married to not be alone. I am married because I cannot live without this woman I call wife. I love being married. For me, my life on earth began when I got married.
So I am always looking to improve our marriage covenant. The best resource I have found is that of Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott. I was first introduced to their ministry in our engagement class at our church in Michigan. We went through the book, Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts. Since then my wife and I have gone through a number of their books and studies (we are currently working through the i love you more curriculum).
The other day I came across The Love List. It is a small, unassuming book touting eight things that make a big difference in your marriage. I picked it up and found some fantastic thoughts in it. The eight principles are broken up into pairs of things you can do daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly.
My wife and I celebrated our 5th anniversary this past weekend and decided to do the yearly recommendations from The Love List. These are to look back on the past year and recount to one another the highlights, reliving them a bit. As much fun as that is and was, good marriages do not live in the past. So we took the other suggestion as well and plotted a course for the upcoming year. Where would we like to be (not physical location) on our sixth anniversary? What goals and changes would we like to make? What is our vision for this next year?
I found these and all the other suggestions very helpful and highly recommend the Parrott's to you as a great marriage resource.

Leap Over a Wall

2007-06-18T07:05:00.000-05:00

I first read Leap Over a Wall ten years ago. This was the first book I read straight through. I have re-read it twice since, and has become one of my favorite all-time books. In this book Eugene Peterson reflects on the life of David, uncovering how everyday Christians are spiritual.
Dr. Peterson shares 20 stories from the life of David on how he related to other people in his life - Jonathan, Samuel, Abigail, Mephibosheth, among others - his reactions to places and times in his life - Jerusalem, the Brook Besor, Ziklag - as well as David's lament.
We know more about the life of David than of any other person in Scripture. Dr. Peterson submits that in hearing the David story, we can better know what it means to live this human life, and live it well. He writes,

"Primarily and mostly they [stories of David's life] tell us that it means dealing with God. It means dealing with a lot of other things as well: danger and parents and enemies and friends and lovers and children and wives and pride and humiliation and rejection and siblings and sickness and death and sexuality and justice and fear and peace - to say nothing of diapers and faxes and breakfast and traffic jams and clogged drainpipes and bounced checks. But always, at the forefront and in the background of circumstances, events, and people, it's God. It's always God with whom we have to do."

In hearing the story of the life of David, we can learn how to center our lives around God more. David shows us spirituality for everyday - as John Piper puts it, how to drink orange juice to the glory of God. David is not the ideal way to live. We should not strive to live as he did - we would probably end up in prison if we did - but we should strive to learn how to bring God into our everyday happenings as he did.
I always liked David. I find him to have been a very passionate person. Whatever he did, it seems he did it with all of himself. He never committed only half-way. Too often, I find myself trying to be safe as opposed to passionate. I'll commit to what makes sense, generally. David wasn't like that. He lived like he meant it. And he was a man after God's own heart. Do the two things go together? I am not sure. But they may.

A Contrarian's Guide to Knowing God

2007-06-15T07:05:00.000-05:00

I needed this book. This was the right book at the right time for me. But it could just be that the thought that Larry Osborne offers in A Contrarian's Guide to Knowing God is just a breath of fresh air for those who desire to know God, but struggle.
Have you started a journal only to forget about it or discard it after 2-3 entries?
Have you woken early in the morning to spend time with God only to have fallen asleep?
Have you tried to memorize passages of Scripture but can't get past the first verse?

Please read this book. It will allow you to stop beating yourself up for not living up to a spirituality gauge which people use, not God.

We can please God in ways that are not conventional. We can know God without jumping through certain hoops. Dr. Osborne writes that we all relate to God in different ways. He made us all very different and very unique - so he wants us to relate to him through those ways, not through rules and rituals which have been set up by people. This is not to say that ways which certain people relate to God should be thrown out, just that they are not rules that everyone needs to follow.

I will say that the principles in this book fly in the face of most everything I was taught in Sunday school growing up. I believe that people will either love this book or they will hate it. Dr. Osborne speaks to Christian's (unfortunate) mindset of best practices, how not living up to your potential may be the best, and that God is looking for mediocre Christians.

The idea I really found helpful was that each of us has a unique relationship with God. Dr. Osborne illustrates by using the relationship he and his brother had with their father. Each brother was completely different, and their father related to them in different ways. If their father related to the brothers the same way, one would suffer. Each son was unique, and so their father talked sports and politics with one and music and travel with the other. Neither way was the only way, just the right way for them.

In the same way, if you really get into worship music and I really prefer hiking through nature, neither of us has the only way to connect with God. Both are viable options for either of us to relate with him. We should try one another's approach, but not feel a sub-par Christian if we cannot connect the same way.

I found this book very helpful and really enjoyed Dr. Osborne's interaction with Scripture and his personable writing style.

Morning By Morning

2007-06-14T07:05:00.000-05:00

Over the past year I have gone through Morning by Morning, a daily devotional book excerpted from the writings of Marva Dawn. I was first introduced to her writings by a book of hers which came across my desk, Talking the Walk, which I reviewed last year. I was very taken with this book and searched for other writings of hers. I came across Morning by Morning which takes nine different books of hers and offers excerpts along with Scripture verses and a short prayer.
Each meditation is very thought-provoking and each reading is different for the reading from the day before. The topics are as varied as her writings.
My wife and I celebrated this past Christmas with her family (I love many of the traditions they have), and both of us were stricken on Christmas morning as her little nieces opened their gifts. Christmas was stripped down to stuff and "mine" and disappointment with what was received. With the arrival of our first child in less than two months, our thoughts have often gone to how we can make Christmas about Jesus and giving and family, and much, much less about receiving.
One of the meditations Ms. Dawn has in this book speaks directly to this and is from her book, Sexual Character.
She writes, "What can we do about those holy days and also help them enjoy being different in our celebration of them? ...the crucial point is that we help our children to know what we believe - namely, not only that salvation is an enormously wonderful and totally essential gift but it also the entire reason for the season - and that what we believe influences the way we celebrate..."
She has very many good an diverse thoughts on this subject as well as many more. I would encourage you to seek her out as an author.

John Stott on The Bible & the Christian Life

2007-06-13T07:05:00.000-05:00

John Stott is one of the great thinkers, writers and preachers of our era. Zondervan has packaged a DVD seminar series of Dr. Stott's in which he speaks to the authority, interpretation and use of Scripture. They bill it as groupware, which is their small group type material, but it is different for any of the other small group groupware material of theirs I have come across.
If you are familiar with the DVD studies that Dr. John Piper or Dr. Tom Wright have put out (with Multnomah and IVP respectively), then you will have an idea of what to expect, format-wise. The six sessions on this DVD are six 45-60 minute talks which Dr. Stott presented at All Souls Church. In these, Dr. Stott presents his teaching on
1 The Authority of the Bible
2 The Nature of the Bible: Double Authorship
3 The Interpretation of the Bible
4 The Problem of Culture
5 Developing a Christian Mind
6 Making an Impact on Society

The "study guide" included is an outline of the lectures and three questions offered for discussion and reflection. I do wish that this was a bit more developed. The questions are good and I think lend themselves to enhancing discussion, but I think it could be done even better.
One of the aspects of the DVD studies which Multnomah puts out from North Point Ministries is having the questions for discussion actually appear on the screen. I would like to see the questions for The Bible & the Christian Life appear on the screen at an appropriate time just after Dr. Stott has spoken about what the question refers to. With each session lasting 45-60 minutes, there is so much that can be gleaned, that if you were to take the time as his is speaking about it, I think it would enhance the comprehension, as opposed to asking all the questions at the end of the session. (This can easily be done by the leader of the study by simply pausing the DVD an injecting the questions, but it would be a nice feature if the DVD did this automatically).
The authority of Scripture and what we believe about Scripture is very important and Dr. Stott does a wonderful job in making these concepts intelligible and applicable.

The Paradox of Choice

2007-06-12T07:05:00.001-05:00

A little while ago, I was listening to a message by Rob Bell, from the Mars Hill Bible Church podcast and he mentioned a book that sounded very interesting - The Paradox of Choice. I checked the book out from the library and found it quite fascinating. The overall premise is that Americans are generally less happy, more depressed and more stressed out - in part because we have so much choice.
Barry Schwartz is a Professor of Social Theory and Social Action at Swarthmore College. He argues that Americans are overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices we have to make and, he submits, tends to lend itself to more overall regret, disappointment and depression.
Take shopping for a car as an example. What are the aspects you are looking for - safety, gas mileage, longevity, warranty, overall appearance, just to name a few. Well there are so many different options within each of those aspects that it takes all you have to make a decision. Then, as soon as you make up your mind and purchase the best one, you hear, read or find out that you could have made a better choice with a different car - hence the term, buyer's remorse.
But not all choice is bad, Dr. Schwartz argues, just the excess with which we are confronted everyday. He argues that we would be better off if:

we embraced certain voluntary constraints on our freedom of choice, instead of rebelling against them
we sought what was "good enough" instead of seeking the best
we lowered our expectations about the results of decisions
the decisions we made were nonreversible
we paid less attention to what others around us were doing

One of the concepts I really appreciated from Dr. Schwartz were his thoughts on comparison . When people compare themselves to others, it it 99% of the time someone who has more than they do. Dr. Schwartz offers a comic to illustrate this in which a man is talking to his wife on his cell phone and says, "I was sad because I had no on-board fax until I saw a man who had no mobile phone." I tend to do upward comparison myself. For a while now, I have really wanted an iPod. I have a cell phone (which I got for free) with which I can listen to music and podcasts, but it wasn't enough. I wanted an iPod - and everywhere I went I saw people who had them. But I had something perfectly serviceable. Even if I didn't, is it a necessity, is it a right? No. So I told my wife that I will get an iPod when we have saved enough for our soon to be born child's college education.
This book will help you look at the choices we make and the decisions we come to. I highly recommend it (it should be at your local library).

1 Corinthians 8

2007-06-11T07:05:00.000-05:00

I am going through a personal study of 1 Corinthians. Each morning I read a portion of the book as well as commentary from The Message of First Corinthians by David Prior. I then listen to the podcasted sermons of Mark Driscoll from when he taught through the book in 2006. I recently became aware that Covenant Life Church (Josh Harris) had been going through the book as well, so I just started listening to his exposition.
Both Mr. Harris and Mr. Driscoll began their messages off by saying something to the effect of "now for something that is a burning question in your mind - food offered to idols..." (here is a link to the passage). They both continue by using examples of questions that some Christians have about tattoos, going to movies, drinking alcohol, and the like. Dr. Prior in his commentary briefly mentioned something about the food offered to the idols being "prepared in the wrong way". What also got my mind thinking was Serve God Save the Planet, a book I have recently read and reviewed that speaks to conservation and environmentalism.
Dr. Sleeth (Serve God...) spoke about chicken farms he visited and other food manufacturing places where the animals were all but tortured before they were slaughtered as food for you and me.
I have to say, I have rarely, if ever, given this thought. But, in light of 1 Corinthians 8, maybe it is something that Jesus would have us think about (in light of the grace with which Paul speaks in the passage). We have been given dominion over the earth by God, and that is a stewardship, not a dictatorship. I literally did not want to eat chicken after reading about the farms raising them for our consumption. I have driven up the I-5 in California and seen (and smelled!) the enormous cow pens where cows are shoulder to shoulder and can barely move. What kind of stewardship is that? Can 1 Corinthians 8 speak to this? I believe so.
Maybe it's time that Christians become the weirdos who are environmentalists and concerned about the ethical treatment of animals - those who will be eaten and those who just exist to give God glory.
My dad always used to say when we were growing up that we should taken very good care of our pets, because this is the only heaven they will get. As far as pets being in heaven, that is a topic for another time, but either way, animals are in our stewardship and it is our job and duty as Christians to make sure that they are treated ethically.

10 Questions with...J. Matthew Sleeth

2007-06-08T07:05:00.003-05:00

Recently, I read Serve God, Save the Planet & reviewed it on this site. I found myself very much challenged and convicted by what I read. I contacted the author, Dr. J. Matthew Sleeth and he was kind enough to talk to me and allow me to interview him.

NSR 1. What got your attention as a hospital chief of staff and ER doctor that called you to action in saving the planet?
JMS - I noticed changes in disease. Even with all the medicine people were taking, there were changes and large numbers of people becoming sick from the environment. For example, in Knoxville, 8 of of 10 kids have some form of asthma. You can see a change in the air quality in places. This effects health and wellbeing. I went through the entire Scripture and underlined places where it of creation care. I was stunned at the amount of verses there were. I also noticed a disconnect with the study Bible notes on what they pointed out in the passages and what the text was actually saying.

NSR 2. You speak about living simply. That is not a common thought, even for Christians. Other than your book, what other resources or websites can people look to for examples of downward mobility?
JMS - Ellie Kay has a book out entitled 1/2 Price Living. There are a number of other ones, but I cannot call them to memory at the time. [I would add - Living with Less, The High Price of Materialism, and The Paradox of Choice]. www.servegodsavetheplanet.org also spreads the word, offers resources and gives links to other resources. I have also written for Creation Care Magazine.

NSR 3. If you could get one thing across to the reader in your book, Serve God, Save the Planet, what would it be?
JMS - Live a more conscious life with God. The one thing I would push is to keep a sabbath, take time out with God and focus on God. Remarkably few Christians observe any type of sabbath. It is more than going to church. Stay out of consumer culture for a day and focus on your Creator.

NSR 4. What authors have influenced your spiritual life and/or your environmental mindset?
JMS - C.S. Lewis, A.W. Tozer, and Francis Schaeffer. Those are required reading. Read them before you read my book.

NSR 5. You speak about preventing harm is just as important as repairing harm (if not more so). What is the single greatest thing that people could do to prevent harm to the earth?
JMS - It is hard to know how we can conserve more and live on less until we know what our footprint is. I would recommend everyone to take an accounting of the energy they consume, be it gasoline, electricity or the like. Until we know that number, we will not know how to do less.

NSR 6. How can Serve God, Save the Planet be used within the Church?
JMS - There is a study guide in the back of the book. A number of churches have small groups go through the book together. I have spoke in over one hundred churches and they use that as sort of a launching board to further study. Soon their will be a DVD in which I will introduce each chapter.

NSR 7. I was stunned by some of the conditions you described for the food we eat (the chicken farm especially). What are some of the best ways for people to find out about farm conditions?
JMS - Buy locally at farmer's markets, eat what's in season. The more you shake the hand of the person who grows the food, the better. If you are buying a head of lettuce in January in upstate New York, there are so many additional "costs" to the environment. I would suggest everyone do a little gardening as well. It helps you get involved with the earth and you always grow more than you need, so you can give some away to neighbors and even use it as on outreach. I would also recommend the book, the Omnivore's Dilemma.

NSR 8. As a Christian and a doctor, do you recommend vegetarianism?
JMS - I would recommend 1. Eat local. 2. Eat in season. 3. Eat less meat. As Christians we are free to eat anything. When I eat with someone else, I eat whatever they eat. It is more important to share the meal than to hold to any rigorous standards, I would say.

NSR 9. One of your thoughts in the book is in regards to safety. You say that the worldly hunger for permanence and safety “at any cost” is an illusion. How do Christians find the balance for seeking safety for their family & the “let go and let God” approach?
JMS - Trust Christ. Jesus says that we are to let go of our life and that is when we receive life. We need to take Christ at his word. Now that doesn't mean to go bungee jumping without a cord, but to keep our eyes focused on Christ. We must remember that this life is a journey, not a destination.

NSR 10. I found myself quite convicted in chapter 4 when you write about knowing more models of cars & man-made items than of types of birds and leaves. Is there a specific aspect of nature (astronomy, bird-watching, etc.) which draws you closer to God than another & do you have any recommendations for others on these activities?
JMS - I would recommend something very simple to start - get a bird feeder. This will help you connect with God's creatures. Pick one species (hummingbird, for example) and learn more. You do not have to memorize the Audubon Field Society Bird Guides, just learn about one at a time.

Final Comments:
Creation care is nothing new. It is as old as Genesis. This is something that has been dropped from seminary study, unfortunately. It also isn't pantheism. It is connecting to God through nature, harkening back to the hymns like All Creatures of Our God and King, and This is My Father's World.

Dr. Sleeth's daughter has also written a book on this same subject, just from a young person's (16 years old) perspective, and the perspective of one who has grown up with it as a way of life. It is due out March 2008 from Zondervan.

My First Message

2007-06-07T07:05:00.001-05:00

Designed to encourage parent-child interaction, My First Message is a great devotional Bible for kids. It features phenomonal artwork (drawn by former Disney animators & animators from VeggieTales), is easily understandable (from Eugene Peterson's The Message), and helps little readers think about the stories in the Bible for themselves.
I am not a little jealous that this Bible was not around when I was little. I am so excited for my child to be able to use it though (it will be a while, the age range is for kids 4-8). Of the many features I like about it, some of the great distinctions it has with other kid's Bibles I've seen are:

It does not gloss over the crucifixion - multiple pictures of Jesus on the cross and even carrying his cross. Many others either show only his feet while on the cross while telling the redemption story
Equal pages given to both Old and New Testaments - many others tell more of the Old Testament stories and Jesus' life, but leave the rest of the NT letters alone
It tells the story of Jesus driving out the money-changers from the temple. I think it is good for kids not to see only a "cuddly" Jesus, but a real portrait of his life & ministry.

I am very excited about this book and highly recommend it for parents and children's workers alike.

Creative Prayer

2007-06-06T07:05:00.000-05:00

What if you were to communicate with your spouse the same way you communicate with Jesus? How healthy would your relationship be? Chris Tiegreen asks this question in his new book, Creative Prayer. For me, I had never thought about prayer other than talking to God - maybe if I was feeling especially contemplative, I would spend time in meditation, but mostly, talking at God.
In reading Mr. Tiergreen's book, I was able to see a different perspective, than I had seen before. God has divine creativity and uses that creativity everyday to communicate with us - and very seldom does he ever use audible words.
My wife and I will be celebrating our 5th anniversary this coming weekend & if I were to just say, I love you and I am glad I married you, she would appreciate that, but words, like they say, are cheap. I all I ever did was talk to her, but never did any other expression of love, she might not feel loved .
Mr. Tiergreen uses that same comparison in Creative Prayer. God goes all out, everyday, and we (sometimes) offer words, and those more times than not express our displeasure with him, or the way he does things.
Throughout the book Mr. Tiergreen offers suggestions of creative ways we can show our love and appreciation to our Creator. The last chapter - Full Contact Prayer - is a wonderful idea starter for the reader to engage all his senses and more in our communication with our Father. One thing that struck me as I was reading was the concept of our praise being a pleasant aroma to God (I heard this many times in church growing up, but never really understood it). In thinking through Mr. Tiergreen's book, I think I understood that a bit more. But I think the reason I never understood it was because every time I heard it used it was before singing or preaching. There was never anything that would smell pleasant (literally, the sense of smell). But in thinking about using all senses and creative avenues, we can offer God offerings which look, smell, taste, sound and feel pleasant. Get creative!

Store 016

2007-06-05T07:05:00.001-05:00

Where does your anger lead you? Do you use your anger to bring peace to the world, or chaos? This is the subject of the latest Nooma project, Store. Rob Bell discusses Jesus' anger, our anger and the differences between the two most times.
Anger is merely a God-given emotion which we have the choice to use to help the world or increase the brokenness. Mr. Bell says that some people are looking for a fight because they are not in one.
This is one of the most thought-provoking of all the nooma DVD's for me. I have struggled with anger most of my life and have only recently decided to even try to do anything about it. Not only does most of my anger cause me to sin, it counteracts what good I can do with that anger. I would whole-heartedly agree with Mr. Bell that many people (myself included) are looking for a fight because they are not in one.

Good companions to this are Bill Hybels new book, Holy Discontent, which discusses what makes you righteously angry and how to turn that into ministry, and Chazown, by Craig Groeschel, which helps people find their God-given vision for their lives by way of a couple of things, one of which is righteous anger.

You can download a preview of this DVD on either iTunes or the Zondervan website.

Serve God, Save the Planet

2007-06-04T07:05:00.000-05:00

When I told someone that I was reading Serve God, Save the Planet, they responded by asking why I would be reading that "wacked out hippie garbage". It may be wacked out - but only in the sense that Christians are meant to be wacked out. We should not be normal, we are a peculiar people. Too often, we look just like the rest of our neighbors. Serve God, Save the Planet is exactly what the sub-title says - A Christian Call to Action. J. Matthew Sleeth, a former ER doctor & hospital chief-of staff, writes about parenting, eating, home-maintenance, TV, possessions, and many other topics, from a conservationists stand point.
I must say that this is going to be one of my top books of the year. I found this book informational, challenging, and inspiring. A few things that I learned (which I probably should have known)

Do not eat fast food
the lint trap in the dryer is what is taken from your clothes & therefore the dryer wears them out more quickly as well as uses a lot of energy
kids spend more time watching TV than in school a year
I am owned by my possessions

I am an avid fan of the show 24. However, I told my wife about a month ago that this past season was the last one I will watch. I do not want that violence in my mind and spirit. Dr. Sleeth speaks a bit to this invasion of the spirit. He writes, "wasting time and wasting energy are two reasons to curtail TV viewing. The three hundred million TV sets in the United States consume a lot of energy - five times more than is produced by all the geothermal, biomass, solar, and wind sources in the United States. They take energy and materials to manufacture. They are difficult to get rid of and to recycle. They convince us to buy things we don't need, which cost energy to produce, transport, and dispose of. But the real reason tp worry about watching TV has to do with the part of us we can't see or measure: or spirit. Television separates us from our Creator while killing his creation."

This book is a great read and one I would strongly encourage people to read. There is so much we can do to sustain God's creation. This book gives simple (and difficult) suggestions to do this. In the back of the book is a wealth of resources - energy audits, simple suggestions to reduce your energy usage, an earth-care to-do list, and a workbook.

For more information, visit servegodsavetheplanet.org

The Top Five....Books on Atonement

2007-06-01T07:05:00.000-05:00

A week late, but here they are - the top five (plus one releasing this fall) books on the Atonement, according to Dr. Greg Strand, Director of Biblical Theology and Credentialing at the EFCA. Having just read the book, Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches, in which the authors were asked to talk about Scripture, Trinity and the Atonement, I asked Dr. Strand for the best (in print) books on those topics. Today I want to share with you the top books he gave me on the Atonement. In no particular order...

The Glory of the Atonement, Frank James & Charles Hill - ed.
The atonement is the crown jewel of Christian doctrine. And it is the responsibility of each generation of theologians to preserve its heritage, explore its facets and allow its radiance to illumine their day. With The Glory of the Atonement editors Charles E. Hill and Frank A. James III, along with a group of expert contributors, attempt to fulfill this trust at the dawn of a new millennium.

The Glory of the Atonement is divided into three parts--biblical, historical and practical--with each section introduced by an overview essay. In part one evangelical biblical scholars explore the atonement within the contours of Scripture, looking first at the atonement in the Pentateuch, Psalm 51 and Isaiah 53, and then more closely at the major texts of the New Testament.

In part two historical and systematic theologians weigh the atonement in the ancient, medieval and Reformation traditions. The primary perspective of the contributors is the Reformed tradition, which is further represented by essays on John Calvin, Herman Bavinck and Karl Barth. A timely capstone to this historical view is a stimulating consideration of the atonement and postmodernism.

Finally, the implications of the atonement are brought home in part three with a look at the atonement in contemporary preaching and Christian living.

Here is a full-course feast for ministers of the Word, a textbook for students of the Bible and theology, and a valuable resource for any theological library.

The Atonement, Leon Morris
Leon Morris examines the rich variety of New Testament terms used to describe the significance of Christ's death and resurrection.
Why is the cross the crux of Christianity? What are the meaning and significance of the atonement? The Bible uses a host of terms to illuminate the answers to these questions: covenant, sacrifice, the Day of Atonement, Passover, redemption, reconciliation, propitiation, justification. In plain English Leon Morris explains each of these words, thus opening up for students, pastors and teachers the fuller biblical dimension of God's great salvation.

Where Wrath and Mercy Meet, David Peterson
In this collection of papers, delivered at the Oak Hill summer school of theology, four members of the faculty defend a strong articulation of penal substitution in the face of contemporary challenges. David Peterson surveys the atonement in both Old and New Testaments; Gary Williams examines the nature of punishment at the heart of a penal doctrine; Michael Ovey expounds how sin is the 'de-creation' of God's world; and Paul Weston reflects on John's gospel and the lessons it provides on proclaiming the cross today. The collection is then completed with an appendix on justification by faith by Alan Stibbs.

The Cross of Christ, John Stott
The work of a lifetime, from one of the world's most influential thinkers, about the heart of the Christian faith.

"I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. . . . In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?" With compelling honesty John Stott confronts this generation with the centrality of the cross in God's redemption of the world -- a world now haunted by the memories of Auschwitz, the pain of oppression and the specter of nuclear war.

Can we see triumph in tragedy, victory in shame? Why should an object of Roman distaste and Jewish disgust be the emblem of our worship and the axiom of our faith? And what does it mean for us today?

Now from one of the foremost preachers and Christian leaders of our day comes theology at its readable best, a contemporary restatement of the meaning of the cross. At the cross Stott finds the majesty and love of God disclosed, the sin and bondage of the world exposed.

More than a study of the atonement, this book brings Scripture into living dialogue with Christian theology and the twentieth century. What emerges is a pattern for Christian life and worship, hope and mission.

Destined to be a classic study of the center of our faith, Stott's work is the product of a uniquely gifted pastor, scholar and Christian statesman. His penetrating insight, charitable scholarship and pastoral warmth are guaranteed to feed both heart and mind.

Cross Words, Paul Wells
The post-modern society is so focussed on the internal life of the individual that it makes the significance of the cross a difficult concept to grasp. Even Christians are trying to find alternative ways of explaining it - some have abandoned the concept of atonement entirely.

Jesus, though, is far more than a victim. When God receives and approves the condemned Jesus he transcends the world of oppressor and victim to create a new humanity, capable of new kinds of relationships. Atonement speaks of a transition from brokenness, alienation and the death of love to a place of restoration, healing, and wholeness. A place that holds out hope for deepening friendships and mutual confidence - the exact same things the post-modern mind is lacking, and is looking for.

Pierced for Our Transgressions, Steve Jeffery, Mike Ovey and Andrew Sach
The doctrine of penal substitution states that God gave himself in the person of his Son to suffer instead of us the death, punishment and curse due to fallen humanity as the penalty for sin.

Although this is the historic Christian view, it has recently come under attack. Controversy has raged since 2003 when Steve Chalke, founder of the Oasis Trust, likened the doctrine to ‘a form of cosmic child abuse’.

Pierced for our Transgressions offers a fresh affirmation of penal substitution, engaging with exegetical, theological, pastoral and historical perspectives. It is designed to be useful for pastors, theological students, and all thinking Christians.

Book Awards 2007

2007-05-31T13:00:00.000-05:00

Christianity Today has posted their book award winners for this year. Of the ones they listed, here are some which have been reviewed on this site:
Prayer
The Divine Embrace
Reconciliation Blues
Jesus and the Eyewitnesses

WikiSummaries

2007-05-31T07:05:00.000-05:00

Interested in knowing what the premise of some great books is, but not wanting to take the time away from studying and preparing for preaching? I have just come across a website which might interest you. From the family of Wikipedia, is WikiSummaries. On this site are 125 book summaries (51 in English). These summaries are chapter by chapter descriptions of the book. Some of the best sellers of the past year are on here:
The World is Flat
Freakonomics
Blink
The Tipping Point
Good to Great
The Kite Runner

I have read all these except Good to Great. After reading through the summaries, I feel they represent the best of what the book has to offer. This site is a Cliff Notes type website. For busy pastors who need to keep up with theology, commentaries, and other ministry related books, this site has the potential to help keep you informed about some of the other books you wish you had time to read, but cannot find the time, or justify. I would add that all of them are worth the read (that is, all the ones I mentioned above), and would recommend each of them.

Holy Discontent

2007-05-30T07:05:00.001-05:00

What makes you righteously angry? What injustice, practice, teaching, through-process or reality gets under your skin and gnaws at your heart? Bill Hybels calls these our holy discontent. He says that there are certain things which everyone needs to be helping out with, serving, and generally doing, but there is one thing which God has given you in particular which, as my dad says, "chaps your hide".
This is a fire God has placed within you, because he wants you to get on board and help bring about change in that area. For Pastor Hybels, God placed the discontent in him that he could not bring his unbelieving friends to church, because they would not be remotely interested - he barely was. So he draws from the discontent that God gave him and founded WillowCreek Community Church to be a place where people could hear about the gospel in a place they would want to come to.
Pastor Hybels tells story after story of people who have found their holy discontent and have gone on to do tremendous things to change that for the glory of God. He talks of us having "Popeye Moments" - "That's Alls I Can Stands, I Can't Stands No More!", and we can either complain about it or do something about it. Mr. Hybels believes that God has given us these moments so that we will do something about it.
What gets under your skin and itches like the devil? That discontent is holy and can be used of God to help change the world. Holy Discontent is a great book and one that leaders and lay people alike will find practical and challenging.

10 Questions with Margaret Feinberg

2007-05-25T07:05:00.000-05:00

Last September, I had the priviledge of interviewing Margaret Feinberg. Ms. Feinberg has recently released a great new book, The Organic God. I reviewed it Monday of this week, here. She was kind enough to allow me to interview her again regarding her new release. I highly recommend The Organic God.

1. What are you reading now?

I’m read the Bible right now, Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker and way too many copies of USA Today.

2. The Organic God seems to be part autobiography & part theology on God’s attributes. Was this intentional, or did your story seem to flow naturally (organically, if you will) as you wrote about God?
This was definitely intentional. I tend to be very private and my editor kept pushing to put more of my story in the book. Good writing is like getting naked on paper, and this is definitely the most honest, vulnerable book I’ve written.

3. Is there a new attribute of God which you have recently seen since the writing of The Organic God?
Slowly, I am discovering God’s grace. God doesn’t just give us grace—it’s a part of who He is and it flows from within His depths.

4. You have generally written for people in their twenties. This book is definitely suitable for that age group, but also for a wider audience. Is this a new direction for you, or is your primary audience still twentysomethings?
This is a new direction for me. Upcoming Margaret Feinberg books will definitely be for all ages—encouraging people to go deeper in their relationship with God, deeper into the scriptures and deeper with their relationships with each other.

5. Why do you describe God as organic?
Organic, in essence, means natural, pure and essential. In many ways, that describes God, but all too often we find portraits of God laced with additives which try to make Him fit our tastes. But God is God an He not just worth knowing but best knowing as He is—organically.

6. You speak throughout The Organic God about luminescence. Could you explain this concept and how it applies to God?
Luminescence is the light admitted from small marine organisms. They don’t have to try to be light—it’s just a reflection of who they are. In the same way, we as followers of Jesus don’t have to try to be light—we just are when we allow God to come alive inside of it. And if you’ve ever seen luminescence, then you know it’s very, very beautiful.

7. In what ways do your Jewish roots enhance your relationship with God?
I am so grateful for my Jewish roots even though it brought in a degree of religious tension during younger years. I think my background gives me a greater hunger to know and understand Jewish culture and some definite insights into Jewish thought and humor. And if nothing else, it gives me a little chutzpah with God.

8. Who has the most to offer as far as leadership skills – Dwight, Michael, Jim or Andy Bernard?
I vote Jim. Not just because he makes me laugh the hardest, but because he’s the quiet leader of the pack.

9. What one thing reminds you of God’s beauty more than anything else? The redemption of God is captivating to me and I want to see it in every life possible—including my own.

10. What encouragement do you have for people who wish to simplify their faith and discover God organically? Check out The Organic God and then embark on an organic journey of your own. Study the scripture—a portion, a chapter, a book, a person, a theme—not until you know it but until you own it. He is worth the pursuit.

Top Ten Books on Teaching

2007-05-24T09:05:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Scot McKnight posted his top ten books on teaching and education. Here is the link if you are interested. Jesus Creed.

The Way of the Master

2007-05-24T07:05:00.000-05:00

I recently viewed The Way of the Master basic training course. In this course, Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron propose to train participants to "seek and save the lost the way Jesus did." Their approach is an in your face, "where would you go if you die?", street preacher approach.
Growing up, I went to a Christian school which was affiliated with Bob Jones University. I went out on Wednesday nights before Wednesday church through neighborhoods witnessing door-to-door. We would pass out tracks, ask the "where would you go if you die?" questions, and generally annoy people who had just gotten home from work.
So you see that I have some baggage with this approach. I will admit that I think some people are suited for this approach, and that some people do in fact come to know Jesus this way. I am not suited for this approach (I learned that when I reviewed the Becoming a Contagious Christian curricula a few weeks ago here).
My issue with The Way of the Master curriculum is that Cameron and Comfort feel this is the only way (at least that is how it comes across)to evangelize, and that if you try friendship evangelism, you are not really being a friend. I disagree. These guys just come across as arrogant and condescending. (See below, The Atheists Nightmare).

I applaud their passion for people and wants to lead people to Jesus, but cannot recommend this curriculum. You can find out more on their website, The Way of the Master.

Going Public with Your Faith

2007-05-23T07:05:00.000-05:00

The United States is the third largest unreached nation in the world (according to Focus on the Family). Too often, we as Christians are waiting for the lost to wander into our churches. Bill Peel and Walt Larimore say that Christ never called Christians to bring Christ to people, but bring people to Christ.
Where do most people have the most interaction with lost people? The workplace. Going Public with Your Faith is a six-week study in helping ordinary believers bring Jesus to their co-workers. Mr. Peel and Mr. Larimore feel that people are fearful of evangelism because they think they must do the work themselves, that the only way sharing their faith "counts" is if the "target" prays a prayer at the end.
That is not what Jesus calls us to, say Larimore and Peel. That kind of thinking puts the emphasis on us, not on the work the Spirit does. All we are told to do is bring Jesus to people. God does the converting - not us.
One of the great examples Peel and Larimore give is setting people up on a date. If you were to introduce two people to one another, you wouldn't tell them that you think that they will have a lot in common, that they would get along great and that they should get married. They want to spend time with one another, find out more about each other.
In the same way you do not just throw Jesus in people's faces and say, commit your life to him, make him Lord of your life, on first introduction. They need to know why they just must get to know Jesus.
This is a good study, one that specifically deals with workplace evangelism. However, if you want to go through the best evangelism study, I would suggest Just Walk Across the Room. Many of the principles are the same, and it deals with a broader audience.

Hope in the Dark

2007-05-22T07:05:00.000-05:00

This photo journal is a great book with wonderful thoughts, sayings, and engaging photographs of people, places and things in the continent of Africa. Jena Lee, director of Blood:Water Mission and Jeremy Cowart, a very talented photo journalist, travel to Africa and Hope in the Dark is the outgrowth of that trip.
Ms. Lee writes many of her thoughts as well as sayings from the people themselves which they met. One of the most poignant thoughts Ms. Lee shared was this:

*****Decisions I must make on any given day:
- blue shirt or pink cardigan?
- tall soy chai latte or grande caramel macchiato?
- text message or call?
- eat out or frozen dinner?
- reality television or headline news?

*****Decisions SHE must make on any given day (opposite page shows an African woman)
- blue dress or blue dress?
- river water or puddle water?
- walk once for four hours to get water or walk twice for eight hours to get more water?
- sleep with the fisherman who will give food in return or let orphaned grandchildren go to bed hungry?
- persist through the struggle or give up?
- curse God or praise him?

This is a beautiful, touching and inspiring book. Africa is a bleak place, but the people there have much hope. This book will offer you that same hope and inspire you to give hope to people who have none.

The Organic God

2007-05-21T07:05:00.001-05:00

The Organic God is part autobiography, part theology and all enjoyable. Margaret Feinberg walks readers through the various stages of her life in her telling about ten attributes of God. Her desire was to get to the root of God, to strip away any pretense, remove any unhealthy filters and see God for who he truly is, naturally. How does she come to this vision of God? Through the Scriptures.
Ms. Feinberg had felt flat in her spiritual life, disconnected from God. "I was tired of hearing what everyone else said about God. I wanted to know him for myself." She figured the best place to start was the Bible and started going through the entire NT and portions of the OT filling dozens of notebooks with her thoughts. This book is the outgrowth of those notebooks.
This book is quite readable, surprisingly deep for the easy conversational style with which she writes and one that I would recommend to any who wish to get closer to their God.
My favorite chapter was the one on the beauty of God - Breathtakingly Beautiful. Ms. Feinberg says that there is something intrinsic about us that is drawn to beauty. And God is more beautiful than anything else ever. The question she asks is a great one to think about-
What do you love about Jesus?

The Top Five....Books on the Trinity

2007-05-18T07:05:00.000-05:00

Last week I mentioned that I picked Dr. Greg Strand's brain for his top books in three subjects: Scripture, Trinity and Atonement. Last Friday, I gave you his top books on Scripture, today is the list on the best books on the Trinity (and only one is out of print!). Look next Friday for his best books on the Atonement.

God the Holy Trinity, Timothy George
God the Holy Trinity brings together leading scholars from diverse theological perspectives to reflect on various theological and practical aspects of the core Christian doctrine of the Trinity. Throughout, the contributors highlight the trinitarian shape of spiritual formation. The esteemed lineup of contributors includes Alister E. McGrath; Gerald L. Bray; James Earl Massey; Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J.; Frederica Mathewes-Green; J. I. Packer; Timothy George; Ellen T. Charry; and Cornelius Plantinga Jr. This book will appeal to students, church leaders, and interested laity.

The Holy Trinity: Reflections on Christian Faith and Practice, Robert Letham
When it comes to the doctrine of the Trinity, evangelicals have underachieved. In The Holy Trinity Robert Letham helps to redress this shortcoming. He offers a well-researched volume about “the One who is utterly transcendent and incomprehensible.” After examining the doctrine’s biblical foundations, the author traces its historical development through the twentieth century, and engages four critical issues: the Trinity and (1) the incarnation, (2) worship and prayer, (3) creation and missions, and (4) persons

Our Triune God, Peter Toon
Who is the God of the Bible? From both within the church and outside her walls the orthodox doctrine of the Holy Trinity, declared in Scripture and passed down in ecumenical creeds and local confessions of faith, is under attack. The emerging absence of a Trinitarian mind-set so prevalent in the church today has enormous implications for the future of the Christian faith. Concerned to counter contemporary attacks on the doctrine of God, Peter Toon here demonstrates the existence and priority of a Trinitarian pattern in Scripture and defends the essential role of the Trinity in Christian belief, faith, and practice.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles and Relevance, Bruce Ware
Bruce Ware provides an approachable examination of the doctrine of the Trinity. He discusses the relationship and roles of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and the practical implications of the Trinity for our lives.

God in Three Persons, Millard Erickson (Out of Print - links to amazon.com used copies)
This contemporary approach to basic doctrine offers a crucial tool for students who want comprehensive, consistent, logical theology. God in Three Persons will enhance undergraduate theological courses and has applications for graduate systematics and historical theology study. Erickson surveys the background for today's debate, showing that modern controversies simply rephrase old arguments. At its core this book is a close study of Scripture, especially the key teachings of John's Gospel. Erickson also considers whether belief in the Trinity is requisite to salvation, whether it makes any practical difference in the Christian worldview, and whether it is logical and intelligible. The book's contemporary statement of the Trinity doctrine sets forth and applies all biblical evidence to Christianity at large and worship and prayer in particular.

Keeping Company With God - A Prayer Journal

2007-05-17T07:50:00.000-05:00

I love the idea of journaling. I am terrible at it, but I would love to be one who journals. As evidenced by this site, I enjoy writing my thoughts (I suppose this counts somewhat as a journal, but probably not). I have had three phenomenal experiences in my past at journaling. What did those three things have in common? I had something specific to write about & had "someone" providing me questions and thoughts upon which to write.
The first one was the Purpose Driven Life Journal. I went through this journal (and the book again) after my church went through the campaign. This journal provided thoughts, questions and ample room to write your thoughts about that days reading. We had just left a ministry position in California and I was doing odd jobs in Michigan & was fencing (putting up chain-link fence, not sword fighting, which would have been much cooler) and was struggling emotionally and spiritually. This journal helped me record my thoughts and think through my purpose in a deeper way than merely reading the book.

The second experience was the Mere Christianity Journal. This was by far my favorite journal and the most challenging. C.S. Lewis is no slouch. There are some very heady thoughts in that book. This journal selected quotes from the book & asked questions which I struggled with and really needed to wrestle with at the time. This is not a good journal for people who just wish to put there time in, but for those who want to dig deep into Mere Christianity and themselves.

The third was as recent as last summer. I came across the book, Chazown, and while not a journal, Mr. Groeschel highly encourages journaling at the end of each section. I took him up on this and found the process highly engaging. The book is all about finding God's vision for your life & the journaling is an indispensable part of this process.

All this to say that I am very excited that Philip Yancey has recently released a prayer journal, Keeping Company with God, in connection with his book Prayer. I read Prayer earlier this year and found it quite illuminating. I am especially excited to dive into this journal, in hopes that it will only serve to enrich my relationship with Jesus. I have always had difficulty with prayer and Mr. Yancey's book was quite helpful, and I only expect this journal to be along those same lines.

Becoming a Contagious Christian - Kit (Revised)

2007-05-16T07:05:00.001-05:00

The Becoming a Contagious Christian Curriculum Kit has recently been revised. It is an extensive evangelism training course. What's new? Pretty much everything. I have not seen the original curriculum, but in talking with the folks at Zondervan, it is pretty much a new course. The same basics are there, but this revised edition has been completely overhauled from the last. The one thing that has not changed is the actual Becoming a Contagious Christian book (except for cover design - other than that, everything is the same).
The sessions have been pared down from eight to six sessions and have completely new teachings and drama presentations. The old kit came with overhead projector sheets, this revised edition comes with a PowerPoint presentation CD ROM (also on the CD are sermon transcripts, promotional materials for a church-wide campaign, and other campaign goodies). Another item included in the revised kit which was not included in the old is a copy of the Becoming a Contagious Christian trade paper book. Both the Leader's Guide and Participant's Guide are significantly different (and the PG has numerous assessments and such which each person will want to have).
So that is what is different. If you have not used this course before, what is it about?
This is a full blown course on evangelism. Lee Strobel & Mark Mittleberg teach participants on contagious Christianity (Bill Hybels also helped develop the curriculum also, he just doesn't lend himself to the teaching). By using this training course, participants will be able to discover their own style of communicating about Christ, learn how to direct conversations toward matters of faith, and develop more openness in sharing their own story about coming to Jesus.
The aspect that struck me with this resource is the intensive nature of it. Many curriculum kits (evangelism ones included) are very simple so that most anyone could lead it (making it easy for small group leaders who might consider themselves more facilitators). This course is just that - an evangelism course. I would only recommend seasoned leaders leading this course. There are different options for putting on the course - 6, once a week sessions, or two day seminar.
Leading this course will prove to be intensive & complex, but participating will only be intensive. Being a participant will help you answer some questions about your faith and going through it is very straight-forward. The intensive part is that this is not a surface study. This gets right into the basics and the depths of spreading the gospel and sharing your faith.

Pierced by the Word

2007-05-15T07:05:00.001-05:00

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart - Hebrews 4.12.

John Piper uses this verse for the title of his little book, Pierced by the Word, a book of 31 meditations and spends one of the meditations looking at this verse. The other thirty range from being meditations and thoughts on various verses to topical thoughts from God is the Gospel to How to be a Refuge to Your Children to How to Glorify God by drinking OJ.
Each meditation is very short and yet quite poignant. What I like about this little devotional is that Dr. Piper always brings the topic back to God. In every meditation, the main subject is God.
This book helps the reader look deeper into the Scripture and, hopefully, become transformed by it.

Esther - NIVAC

2007-05-14T07:05:00.000-05:00

I had just read the NIV Application Commentary on Ruth & was digging the Old Testament women, so I decided to move on to Esther. I referenced Tremper Longman's Old Testament Commentary Survey to see which commentary he felt was the best. He gave Dr. Jobes' NIV Application Commentary on Esther 5 stars & said, "Without a doubt this is the best commentary to buy on Esther." Well, that recommendation sold me, so I picked it up and read through it. Since it only the first commentary I have read on Esther, I cannot say if it is the best, however, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

As you probably know, Esther is the only book in Scripture which does not explicitly speak of God, and Dr. Jobes does well to speak in how in our contemporary situation, we quite seldom hear God speak & rarely witness a blatant divine miracle. So, Esther is really quite a contemporary book. Esther speaks of believers being used by God in secular positions - something that people are looking for today. How can I be used of God in my workplace, in my neighborhood, in my _______? Esther is quite a contemporary book.

I have mentioned what I enjoy about the NIV Application commentary before (in my review of Dr. John Walton's commentary on Genesis), so I will not go into that again. But what I specifically liked about Dr. Jobes' commentary on Esther is that she paints Esther and Mordecai as human. They are not necessarily role models (Esther wins her position based on her sexual prowess), but they are real people, struggling and God obviously works through them (even though it is far from obvious at the time). Dr. Jobes deals with tough subjects comprised within the book such as holy war, feminist issues, and trusting God when he is not seen.

The Top Five....Books on Scripture

2007-05-11T07:05:00.000-05:00

I recently asked Greg Strand, Director of Biblical Theology and Credentialing at the EFCA, about books he would recommend in certain subjects. Having just read the book, Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches, in which the authors were asked to talk about Scripture, Trinity and the Atonement, I asked Dr. Strand for the best (in print) books on those topics. Today I want to share with you the top books he gave me on Scripture. In no particular order...

1. Standing on the Rock, James Montgomery Boice. Boice presents evidence that not only has God spoken through His Word, but He has a trustworthy and authoritative message. This updated revision of Standing On The Rock includes a new chapter on the Bible's sufficiency in meeting our society's psychological, social, and spiritual needs. This timely book provides the answers you need to be an effective witness and is also an essential guide for seekers and new believers.

2. Scripture and Truth, D.A. Carson & John D. Woodbridge, editors. In this book, various theologians who defend biblical inerrancy look at issues that have been raised by contemporary scholars. They define and analyze what Christians mean when they say Scripture is truth.

3. Hermeneutics, Authority, and Canon, D.A. Carson & John D. Woodbridge, editors. "These thought-minded essays are the channel through which conservative scholars must steer for competent interaction with current critical theories, for helpful direction in focusing the battle over Scripture, and for reflection of conflict areas that Evangelicals must themselves resolve. This work rises above the shallow shadow-boxing over inerrancy and engages central concerns with academic ability and dignity. It puts on the agenda issues that Evangelical leaders must now wrestle: Does the Bible contain different kinds of truth? Is all divine revelation rational? Is the canon really post-apostolic? No reader will agree with all that is said; some will loudly disagree here and there. But all students will be stimulated and serious readers edified at the frontiers of current debate."
Carl F. H. Henry

4. Nothing But the Truth, Brian H. Edwards. "The battle for the Bible continues. Liberal scholarship and sceptics continue to cast doubt upon the authenticity of all Scripture and its inerrancy. Here is a book rich enough in content to stir the minds and hearts of all who love the Bible and at the same time clear enough for all to understand the arguments so powerfully presented for the full and final authority of Scripture. The Christian church needs this updated version of Brian Edwards’ excellent Nothing but the truth. The Bible is its own defence, but books like this one are enough to confirm the faith of God’s people that it is what it says it is, God-breathed from beginning to end. I heartily commend it." — Martin Holdt, Pastor of Constantia Park Baptist Church, Pretoria, South Africa

5. The Revelation of God, Contours of Christian Theology Series, Peter Jensen. Peter Jensen examines the role of the Bible in divine revelation, beginning from biblical categories of the knowledge of God and the gospel. He sets out to define the Gospel in the first part of the book by looking at the work of Christ in a redemptive-historical and soteriological fashion. He concludes by stating that the Gospel, therefore, is revelation because in it God's Kingdom-establishing project is revealed.

Stamp Out Hunger

2007-05-10T08:01:00.000-05:00

35,000,000 Americans are at risk of hunger.

Get involved on May 12th!

www.HelpStampOutHunger.com

On May 12 th , Campbell Soup Company and The United States Postal Service are partnering once again to sponsor Stamp Out Hunger™, the “ nation's largest single-day food drive.” Your participation in this cause is instrumental in its success

How can you help?

Place bags filled with nonperishable food items next to your mailbox.*
Your letter carrier will pick them up and deliver them to local food banks!**

It's that easy to make a big difference. For more information, visit www.HelpStampOutHunger.com .

*Donate items like canned meats and fish, canned soup,juice, pasta, vegetables, cereal and rice. Please do not include items that have expired or those in glass containers.
**If you live in an urban area check with your letter carrier or bring food to your local post office and they'll deliver it to local food banks.

Happy Birthday - Karl Barth

2007-05-10T07:04:00.000-05:00

Karl Barth(pronounced "Bart") was a 20th century Swiss theologian in the Reformed tradition. A vigorous opponent of theological liberalism and modernism, he is known as "the Father of Neo-Orthodoxy".
Early life and education
Karl Barth was born in Basel, Switzerland and spent his early years growing up in Bern where his father taught at the university. Barth began his studies in Bern in 1904 where he was introduced to Kant, whose Critique of Practical Reason he called 'the first book that really moved me as a student'. Barth went on to study at Berlin, a center of Protestant liberalism, later studying at Tübingen and finally in Marburg in 1908. While at Marburg, Wilhelm Herrmann had a great influence on Barth. After Marburg, Barth spent ten years (1911 - 1921) as a pastor. This had a profound impact on his theology as "Barth's liberal assurances were initially undermined by his exposure to the Swiss social democratic movement... The outbreak of the Great War further disillusioned him... most of his former teachers signed a declaration of support for the Kaiser [in support of Hitler]." Barth described his experience:

An entire world of theological exegesis, ethics, dogmatics, and preaching, which up to that point I had accepted as basically credible, was thereby shaken to the foundations, and with it everything which flowed at that time from the pens of the German theologians.

Barth returned to Scripture, especially studying the Romans in 1916 which resulted in his commentary, first published in 1919. His commentary resulted in a new-found prominence in Germany.

As a result, Barth was offered a position as Honorary Professor of Reformed Theology in Göttingen. Teaching at Göttingen from 1921 - 1925, he later held posts at Münster (1925–1930) and Bonn (1930–1935). Other key points involve Barth's first (and later abandoned) volume of the Christian Dogmatics (1927), his study of Anselm (1930), the first volume of the Church Dogmatics (1932), his debate with Emil Brunner over natural theology, the Barmen Declaration of 1934, and his travel to Rome in 1966 to talk with those involved in the Second Vatican Council among many other things. Barth retired at the end of the winter semester of 1961-62, and his health began to decline in 1964. Barth passed away on December 10th, 1968.

Theological perspectives
It has been said that "a 'Barthian theology' is just as impossible as an 'Einsteinian science', but just as there is a pre-Einsteinian science and a post-Einsteinian science, so there is a pre-Barthian and post-Barthian theology, for the contribution of Karl Barth to theology is, like that of Albert Einstein to nature science, so deep-going and fundamental that it marks one of the great eras of advance in the whole history of the subject"
From Theopedia

Also visit these sites for more information on Barth-
Wikipedia
faithnet.org.uk
Here
Time Magazine Cover Story, Apr. 20, 1962

Doing Life Together - Curriculum

2007-05-09T07:05:00.000-05:00

The Doing Life Together curriculum is a small group curriculum based on the Purpose Driven "paradigm". There are six different sessions - one each for the five purposes and one providing a general overview of the purposes and study. Each session has six lessons and tries to help group leaders and members dig deep into one another's lives and into Scripture. The creators of this study are very intentional in the questions they provide. They admit that many times small groups can become big "hang-out" times, filled with loads of fellowship and little digging into Scripture.
One of the features I really find helpful in this curriculum is that small groups have the option of doing the study fairly cost effectively. There are some DVD studies in which you watch a media portion, but then need to refer to a participant guide or study book for questions. This curriculum provides the questions on screen in-between the media. So, if your church is running a tight budget, or not everyone can (or wishes to) buy their own study guide, the questions are right there.
Another great feature is the variety of different teachers throughout the curriculum. John Ortberg, Erwin McManus, Henry Cloud, Joe Stowell, Steve Farrar, and others contribute their unique teaching style. No two studies have the same teacher in one session (so, for example, the study on worship will feature six different teachers, but those teachers may be featured on other studies).
The creators are also very helpful for leaders. There is almost too much help for leaders. Each lesson has "Leadership Lifters" which give the big picture of the lesson, and the one idea the teacher would like to get across. They attempt to make leading a small group as easy as possible, and have as a goal to turn each member into a shepherd.

Holy Conversation

2007-05-08T07:05:00.000-05:00

The idea behind Holy Conversation is that most people learn best in community and in dialogue with others on various subjects. This study tries to balance the need postmoderns have for talking a topic through while still maintaining a faithfulness to the authority of Scripture.
Many people are frightened of sharing their faith because they feel that they need a prepared monologue to recite to others and that they need all the answers to all the questions that anyone may have. This study helps Christians relearn how to talk about our faith. Each of the twelve week studies will consider a different aspect of the gospel and how to talk about it.
Dr. Richard Peace (Fuller Seminary) wrote this 12 week study after having been asked to write a magazine article on Conversion? Conversation. Dr. Peace wanted to explore the art of Christian witness. In looking around pop culture and pop music, he noticed many people talking about spirituality. Who better for them to talk with than Christians? But he saw the problem being that Christians felt they needed to spew out a litany of words so the other cannot get a question or shoot down an "argument."
Holy Conversation guides participants through the art of meaningful conversation on spiritual matters. People are hungry when it comes to spiritual matters, and Christians can learn how to guide conversations to holy matters, to discuss intelligently with others issues of belief and help them see Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Whether Dr. Preace was intentional about it or not, each study is laid out in that manner - Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life. The first segment of each study helps participants share their life. How they live this Jesus life. The next segment delves into the truth of Jesus, what He said, what Scripture says about him. The last segment provides practical application to the journey we find ourselves on.

The Incomparable Christ

2007-05-07T07:05:00.002-05:00

I was looking for the book, The Cross of Christ, by John Stott & came across The Incomparable Christ, also by Dr. Stott. The Cross of Christ was not in stock (so I ordered it) by while I waited for that, I read The Incomparable Christ. Many books have been written on what the New Testament has to say about Jesus, about what church history has to say about Jesus, and what Jesus wants for us today. In this volume, Dr. Stott surveys all three of those areas (he breaks up church history into two segments - general thought about Jesus & how Jesus inspired historical people).
Most surveys are basic overviews, tying the pieces together without going into too much detail and helping solidify the basics to people. That is not what this volume does. Although it is a survey, Dr. Stott digs into the books of the New Testament and gives concise vignettes of many well known and obscure figures in church history (from Martin Luther to Ernst Renan).
The thought of the historical figures were very interesting, but I found the analysis of the individual gospels to be the most helpful to me personally. (This may be old insight to you), but tying together the miracles of Jesus to the sayings of Jesus in the Gospel of John was a new, fresh insight for me (I am the Bread of Life -- feeding of the 5000).
Honestly, I did get a bit bogged done in the section on Paul's letters, but I still found the insight to be compelling. The last section of the book, Dr. Stott really dives into the book of Revelation and expounds on ten visions of John about Jesus and how Jesus challenges us today.

Preaching the Cross

2007-05-04T07:05:00.000-05:00

In 2006, Mark Dever, J. Ligon Duncan, Al Mohler, and C.J. Mahaney held a conference - Together for the Gospel. Each of them is from a different denominational background, but all agree on the essentials of the gospel & leave the minor issue disagreements aside. They are all friends and decided that a conference highlighting the gospel. They also decided to invite a few of their "heroes" - John Piper, John MacArthur, and R.C. Sproul.
Preaching the Cross comprises the main sessions of that conference. Mark Dever introduces the volume - how the book (and conference) came about, how the four of them met, and their background, and a little about their heroes. Then the book has each of their addresses in that conference, re-written, or tailored for publishing.
Each gentleman talks about the Cross in preaching, but all from different angles - justification, the Old Testament, with humility, etc. The Cross is the central event in our faith and these men point to importance in proclaiming it regularly.
The chapter by C.J. Mahaney was terrific. He wrote about the two priorities of a pastor - watching you life and watching your doctrine. It is not enough to just watch one or another , they must be equally focused upon. He writes about the consequences of not following through and the fact that this balance is something that we do not ever have to stop watching. Another important point made about this was the fact that watching these two things cannot be done alone. We need accountability and models.
This is a great volume and one for the encouragement and challenge of every pastor. I also encourage you to visit the T4G blog and think about attending the 2008 conference.

Author Profile: Efrem Smith

2007-05-03T07:05:00.001-05:00

Efrem Smith is a pastor in south Minneapolis who I have lately really come to respect and I regularly listen to the podcast of his church, Sanctuary Covenant. He and the leaders of Sanctuary have been speaking most recently on covenant. Pastor Smith got so into his sermon one week - Covenant and Money - that he broke out into a two part sub-series on money. I love it when churches talk about money when they are not doing a building campaign or such.
Pastor Smith has spoken at many conferences and has written two books. I first came across him when my wife and I were looking at a magazine which promoted a conference he was going to be speaking at. She thought he had a cool name & I looked him up and saw that he was right here in Minneapolis. I listen every week to the church's podcast and highly recommend him, but in speaking and writing. His two books are Raising Up Young Heroes, and The Hip-Hop Church. To get a quick glimpse of Pastor Smith and his teaching, check out this video of him on UrbanMinistry.org

dream

2007-05-02T07:05:00.001-05:00

Dream is the second book by Kenny Luck, the Men's Pastor at Saddleback Church. Risk is his first book and the first book in the God's Man Series. In Risk, Mr. Luck writes about the willingness to trust God with everything. As men, we have a desire to provide security, predictability an to be able to control a certain amount of our lives. Mr. Luck writes that we need to let Jesus have all the control and throw out the concept of having a "safe" life.
Dream continues in the spirit of Risk and leads men to shape their vision away from themselves and on to God. Many times we have grand dreams of what we will do, of empires to create, of legacies to leave. Mr. Luck wants men to keep those dreams, but for the glory of God, and not ourselves. He writes that we need not throw away the vision we have - God gave us that - but to exchange for whose glory we do it, whose legacy we are leaving.
One of the best chapters in this book was "Leaking Jesus". There are some very vivid illustrations of leaking things which Mr. Luck uses (let's just say a diaper is involved), but the idea is that who we are will eventually leak out of us. What he wants for men is that we are so in tune with Jesus that when we are pressed, when the road gets tough, instead of leaking our human weakness, we leak Jesus' strength.
This is a very action oriented book, with many places for practical application as well as a workbook available to enhance your individual study or go through with your men's group.

Jesus and the Eyewitnesses

2007-05-01T08:18:00.000-05:00

My dad very much enjoyed Richard Bauckham's Jesus and the Eyewitnesses. I came across this review by Andreas Köstenberger this morning of that book.

You - Nooma 015

2007-05-01T07:05:00.001-05:00

You are the gospel. The good news is that God has not given up on the world. Church is when people can meet Jesus through the people of Jesus. This is the idea in the newest Nooma study, You.
Rob Bell again does a masterful job of weaving historical events and biblical customs together to broaden our understanding of our faith. Mr. Bell discusses how early Christians took Roman propoganda and switched its meaning (There is no name under heaven by whom men are saved than ~~Ceasar~~, Jesus).
Mr. Bell compares and contrasts the message of Jesus to the message of Rome. Rome ruled by brute force, Jesus taught to rule by serving. Jesus wants us to make the world a better place through loving acts, not through sheer might. We are to reclaim, restore this world for good, through the power of Jesus.
People would desire to know more about Jesus through seeing his loving service in action through his followers. They would be so curious about why people served and loved and had such joy that they would ask why they had the hope they did. That is the gospel. That is what we do, who we are. Showing the world Jesus through our love and service.
Yes. I do agree, but I feel that it only brings us half way there. It is not the whole story. We are to reclaim the world, we are to restore the world, but we also do have hope that Jesus will come and bring in a new one. That only He can make things right, perfect, good.
I fully agree that for the most part, the church has been focused on Jesus saving us from our sin and the wrath of God. That is good. We need to be focused on that. However, we have forgotten about the loving acts of service and attempting to redeem the world & such. But it is not one or the other. It must be both. We cannot throw one out and hold tightly to the other. We must hold tightly to both.
iTunes has recently put up previews of all the available nooma studies here. I would recommend checking that out.

Just Generosity

2007-04-30T07:05:00.000-05:00

When many of the Christians I know get to talking about money, and generosity, the main outgrowth of that is tithing. In fact, in prior small groups, and youth group meetings, I have asked questions regarding giving and generosity, and not one person has talked about any other aspect of giving other than tithing. By no means do I want to discount tithing, but from reading the Scriptures, tithing is the starting point for generosity - with God and with others.
In Just Generosity: A New Vision for Overcoming Poverty in America, Ron Sider explores in depth the depth of poverty in America, the Biblical foundations for addressing the problem, lays out a detailed agenda for ending poverty in America and looks at specific areas that must be addressed in wiping out poverty. The issues which must be addressed are wages, family, health care, education, and welfare.
Mr. Sider's vision is for faith-based organizations and people to collaborate with businesses, the media, institutions of higher learning, and the government to defeat poverty in our nation. He calls us to fulfill our civic duty, thinking us all as part of a larger community.
This is a thorough work, one that will impact you regardless of your economic level. We see that God has given a mandate throughout Scripture to care for the poor and we as believers need to take that to heart. This book will be a good starting place to jump start you and your ministry in catching a vision for those trying to overcome poverty.

An Emergent Manifesto of Hope

2007-04-27T07:05:00.002-05:00

Choose your team. Are you evangelical or emergent? You are either one or the other. Many people feel that this is the only choice that lies before them. Are you with MacArthur or McLaren?
The choice is not black and white, though. From the time that I was able to talk, the word my dad wanted me to learn was moderation. I feel because of his influence, I try to see both sides of an issue. That does not mean that I do not hold fast to truth, nor that I agree with both sides, but that I look for the positive and negative in both sides.
There are positives and there are negatives to both the evangelical perspective and the emergent perspective. There are things that I love about both. There are things I strongly dislike about both. I find myself leaning much more to the evangelical side, but again, there are aspects of the emergent side I truly respect and think evangelicals would do well to adopt.
The emergent crowd is very outspoken in regards to living the Kingdom here and now. We are called to renew, restore and revive creation here and now. But I feel that they only take us half way. We are very much called to do that Kingdom work, but the Kingdom is already, but also not-yet. Even with the filling of the Spirit, with the gospel, we cannot restore creation to its perfect state. That only comes when Jesus comes back. I do not see many emergent conversations about that aspect of theology.
In the recent book, An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, 27 friends of emergent write 27 totally different articles, but each one speaks of hope in their respective area. From parenting to evangelism to community living to Karl Barth, each author speaks of an overarching hope.
Tony Jones, the National Coordinator of Emergent Village, writes that many evangelicals have a theology of despair, that we believe that the world is getting worse, not better. He, on the other hand, says the writers of this book "take the contrary view. God's promised future is good, and it awaits us, beckoning us forward. We're caught in the tractor beam of redemption and re-creation, and there's no sense fighting it, so we might as well cooperate."
I agree, God's future is good, however, that full redemption will not come until Jesus does. We are called to redeem culture, creation and such, but only Jesus can do that fully (Already - Not-yet).
I also do not agree with the doom and gloom position that this world and culture are going to hell in a hand basket & cannot be salvaged at all, nor is it worth the attempt. That is going to the other end of the pendulum swing and only waiting for the Kingdom not-yet. There needs to be a balance.
All of this to say that this book has good aspects and bad. There are things which I was appalled with and found helpful - even in the writings of the same person. One instance of this was Carla Barnhill's writing on parenting. I agreed that the church needs to be a place children feel welcome and interested in going. However, the means she illustrated in going about that left quite a lot to be desired. (Please do not brag about your nine year old having not memorized a single Bible verse).
These writings make the reader think and wrestle with their own conclusions. A good read on a variety of topics and will challenge much of the readers thought.

The Beginner's Bible

2007-04-26T07:05:00.000-05:00

Every night I read out loud a story from The Beginner's Bible to my wife's stomach. We want to inundate our child with Scripture, and we're starting early! The Beginner's Bible is for ages 6 and under and puts the Bible in short manageable stories appropriate for that age group. It has over 90 stories from the Bible and fantastic illustrations of those stories.
I must say, though, that I am a bit conflicted with it. I do not know if I am over-reacting or too sensitive to this, but much of the Bible is PG-13, if not R & these stories are more harmless than G rating. Now, I realize that you might not want to tell 3 year old the story of Lot's drunkenness, or of the Levite's concubine, or Elisha & the bear, but no David & Bathsheba, Goliath "looks cuddly like a teddy bear" (my wife's words) on the cover and only showing the feet of Jesus on the cross, seems a bit odd. I want my kid to know how much Jesus loved him/her, by dying for us. I want them to know that Mommy and Daddy only love and are with one another.
In our culture which is over-sexed and focused on self-esteem, I want our kid to have a healthy knowledge of sex and a proper view of self, to say the least. I also want to start as early as possible to instill that in them. Now, mind you, I have never raised a child before. Am I totally off-base?
Overall, this is a good start for kids to hear certain stories of the Bible. I would much rather them reading stories from the Bible than the Wiggles (those guys creep me out). There is a whole line of board books from Zondervan which have stories from the Bible with the same illustrator as The Beginner's Bible. I plan to get all of them.

Outreach Resources of the Year

2007-04-25T10:04:00.000-05:00

For the last four years, Outreach Magazine has rated the best outreach materials in many categories (adult, children's, youth, and others). Link. They rate Just Walk across the Room the best overall. I would definitely concur with that. Earlier, I reviewed a number of these resources.
Just Walk Across the Room
H2O
Heroes Unmasked
The AIDS Crisis
The New Friars
Soul Cravings (reviewed by Lexi Lorentz)
Confessions of a Reformission Rev.

Your Child - DVD

2007-04-25T07:05:00.000-05:00

It is a good thing my wife & I got a dog 3 years ago. He is a little black dachshund named Zeus and somebody (I am not going to say who) spoils him rotten. Discipline was never consistent & he does not listen until the 8th time you tell him "no". (He really is a good dog, he just has a mind of his own).
Anyway, expecting the arrival of our first child, we definitely know some of what not to do, and we know the importance of good discipline and healthy boundaries, but we did not know where to being with them.

The Your Child: Essentials of Discipline video seminar was so helpful. I had originally reviewed it for work, to be familiar with it, but was so impressed with it, that I picked up the home edition and my wife and I went through it. The overall premise of the curriculum is to give parents principles to develop a successful game plan for raising their child - especially in the area of discipline.
Dr. James Dobson leads 12 sessions of about 20 minutes in various aspects of theory and practice of discipline. To spank or not to spank, if so when? How do you keep from blowing up in anger when you kids will not listen? What is the proper balance between love and discipline? When are your kids being defiant & when are they just being kids? Moving through stages of childhood (from birth to adolescence), Dr. Dobson address these and other questions.

I really cannot stress how helpful this has been to my wife & me. We used the home edition, but I would also recommend the main curriculum kit which is ideal for small groups and parenting Sunday school classes, or ABFs. In our small group, we have a couple new first-time parents and in the brief time we spend talking to one another, we pick up helpful hints and also see other perspectives that we may not have come across otherwise. This would be a great tool to use in a group and will spark discussion, stimulate thinking and overall, will be very helpful.

The Prayer of Our Lord

2007-04-24T07:05:00.000-05:00

The Prayer of Our Lord is a short abridgment of Philip Graham Ryken's now out of print book, When You Pray. Dr. Ryken walks through Jesus' teaching on prayer from the Sermon on the Mount phrase by phrase, examining them each individually and in the broader context of the whole prayer.
I found this to be a great little devotional book for a few days and it also illuminated some aspects of prayer for me. The opening chapter, Dr. Ryken introduces "How to Pray", and points out that nowhere in the Lord's Prayer is the usage of "I", or "me". We pray for ourselves, but in the communal sense - as a Kingdom people. We should look closer than just the mere phraseology of the prayer, but look closer at the exact words which Jesus used. There is a reason Jesus used the specific words he did. Dr. Ryken examines the potential reasons behind those usages.
Dr. Ryken also discusses the similarities between the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments. Both are communal, both are centered on the Father's glory and are split up half and half God and communtiy.

I Sold My Soul on eBay

2007-04-23T07:05:00.000-05:00

A little while ago an atheist gentleman made headlines by putting his his "soul" up for auction on eBay, the popular online shopping and auction website. Technically, he did not put his soul up for bidding, but for every $10 bid, he would attend one hour of church service. Jim Henderson, author of the book Evangelism without Additives and the creator of the website Off-the-Map.org, bought the soul of Hemant Mehta for $504. That meant that Mr. Mehta would be committed to attend church once a week for a year.
Mr. Henderson asked Mr. Mehta to visit different churches ranging in size, location, denomination and philosophy in order to help churches learn how unchurched people see them. I Sold My Soul on eBay is the telling of the auction, Mr. Mehta's background and belief's (Jain turned atheist), his visits and critiques of some of the churches he visited (includes a EFCA church, WillowCreek, Mars Hill Bible & others), and finally, his thoughts on what the church is doing right, what it is doing wrong and what it would take to convert him.
I found this book to be interesting, entertaining, and infuriating.

Entertaining:
I enjoy learning about other religions and different cultures. I have never had any exposure to the Jain religion, and had no idea what beliefs they held. I also quite enjoyed the stories Mr. Mehta told of his experience with the auction, the publicity he unexpectedly received and a little more about general atheist philosophy. Mr. Mehta is an good writer and seems like a very intriguing person.

Interesting:
Many of the helpful comments Mr. Mehta observed are ones that you or I could have made. We would want to see passion and enthusiasm from the worshipers. Churches can always do more to serve the community they are part of. Don't get bogged down with tradition and ritual (when to sit, when to stand, when to sing along, when to listen, etc)
Many of the other comments Mr. Mehta made were criticisms which I found funny because they were things he did not like - but as an unbeliever, he should not have! He was critical of pastors using the Scripture too much in their sermons, preferring LakeView Church's(Joel Osteen) "more relevant" style, without "having to reference the Bible as much." He felt too much time was devoted to singing. Of course an atheist would think worship of a deity would be a waste of time.
The two most helpful observations Mr. Mehta had were that in some churches there was a sense of elitism - a country club mentality of I'm in & you're out. The other was more opportunity for dialogue with opposing viewpoints. I don't know that the Sunday service is the right venue for that, but I think it important for people of differing beliefs to have a platform to converse and see the other side.

Infuriating:
As I read, I could not help but think of a food critic. Mr. Mehta came into different churches with his notepad making notations of things he liked and disliked. My thoughts also went the fact that if Mr Henderson were less interested in using Mr. Mehta for his research in making church appeal to the unchurched (which I am not sure should be done anyway), than in saving Mr. Mehta's soul, he would have sent him to one church for a year, and had him build some kind of relationship with the church body and it's leadership, rather than be a church critic.

I did find this book to be helpful in seeing the perspective of lost people (a term which "offended" Mr. Mehta - and should. The gospel is foolish & offensive to the lost), but I also believe that we should not cater our worship to them. Our worship is directed to God, for God and is to be about God. Non-believers, and especially atheists will not like that, regardless - and that is all right. He rightly mentions that we should be less inward focused and more community focused. It is in that reaching out to the community where we can be sharing our faith and leading others to Jesus, instead of letting their seeker church do the work of reaching the lost.

We need to be doing the work & the church needs to be equipping the people to do the work. Christians simply cannot sit back and pray that they're friends, family and neighbors would come to church with them and find Jesus. They need to also present Jesus to them everyday.

Happy Birthday - A.W. Tozer

2007-04-21T07:05:00.000-05:00

When and Where: Aiden Wilson Tozer (April 21, 1897 - May 12, 1963) was an pastor, preacher, author, magazine editor, Bible conference speaker, and spiritual mentor. A.W. Tozer became a pastor when he was 22. He spent most of his career at Southside Alliance Church in Chicago, where he served 31 years.
Style: Tozer was a man of prayer who wholeheartedly strove to make worship a major part of his everyday life. It has been said that he spent more time on his knees than at his desk. In addition to his lifelong love of prayer, he was also very fond of words. His sermons and published pieces are filled with beautifully written sentences that go way beyond mere thoughts haphazardly thrown out for review...they are carefully, creatively constructed reflections of the charm, wit, and authenticity that made him famous. The man was a creative, spiritual genius!
Noteworthy Accomplishments: The epitaph on his tombstone in Akron, OH, sums it up best: "A man of God." His very real, authentic faith was indeed his greatest accomplishment and contribution to the world. Though he didn't have a formal theological education, he was a marvelous pastor and served as editor of Alliance Life, the Christian & Missionary Alliance's denominational newsletter. He also authored more than 40 books, the two most famous being The Knowledge of the Holy and The Pursuit of God.
Timeless Wisdom: Don't settle for a mediocre Christian life when you could have something so much more vibrant and alive. An authentic, active relationship with Christ takes work, but the return on the investment of time and self is more than you could ever imagine.

From the book 20 Things You Should Read.
For more visit his Wikipedia page here and this website.

Soul Cravings

2007-04-20T07:05:00.000-05:00

An Apologetic for the Soul
Most great Christian apologetic works have one thing in common: they use logic and science to compel the reader to consider and put their faith in the claims of Christianity. From Josh McDowell’s Evidence that Demands a Verdict to C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity to G. K Chesterton’s Orthodoxy: all their arguments primarily target the mind and use reason and external verification as their support. In Soul Cravings, Erwin Raphael McManus creates a compelling argument for Christ but unlike McDowell, Lewis and others, McManus targets his arguments at the soul of the reader.

Through stories, musings, observations, song lyrics, poetry and even photography, McManus contends that if one examines his or her own soul’s true and deepest longings, he or she will find themselves looking for God. He challenges the reader to look at three different cravings of the soul: intimacy, destiny and meaning. Each of these sections, which McManus encourages be read in any order, is made up of a series of brief entries intended to show the reader how the truth, purpose and relationship they seek is best and most fully found in the person of Jesus Christ. In the end, McManus issues a challenge to the reader to pursue what his or her soul is really seeking.

McManus’ arguments are honest and spoken from his heart and while they focus primary on the inner evidence of the soul, it is clear that this evidence is not independent from the more traditional apologetic approaches. Although the lack of page numbers and free form format can be somewhat frustrating, the style of Soul Cravings is engaging and thought provoking: not to be read quickly but to be digested and pondered. If you’ve heard all the logical and scientific arguments for Christ or have a friend who has, Soul Cravings is a fresh and refreshing examination of why He deserves another look.

The Big Idea

2007-04-19T07:05:00.000-05:00

The leaders at Community Christian Church in Naperville, Il felt that people in their church were literally getting pummeled with information. Every week, families would be learning different topics and subjects - all of which centered around Scripture, but all usually different. From toddlers learning about Daniel in the lion's den, to elementary students studying the sermon on the mount, to teens being taught about purity, to adults digging into the doctrines of Romans, everyone was getting different information - and that was before the main service even began.
The leaders saw that people could leave with a dozen or more various bites of information and conflicting ideas. So they decided to boil everything down into one Big Idea. What is the one thing that you would like your people to get, understand or do? That is the Big Idea which you should spread across the board in every level of ministry. This way all members of the church and family are on the same page and also can continue the conversation after the service.
This is an across the board concept your church can use with preaching, Sunday school, children's second hour, small groups, and any other ministry your church has. The authors are trying to help your church become "communities of transformation, not information."
You can pick up the book, The Big Idea, at nsresources.com for 20% off and also be sure to check out or subscribe to the podcast the authors do. also called, The Big Idea.

NextStep Forums

2007-04-18T14:56:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to let you all know that we have just started a message board for readers and church workers. Here is the link. Start up conversations with other ministry workers and talk about what books you are reading, what resources you use and general church ministry. I hope this is something that you will find profitable and useful!

This message board is hosted by EFCA Equip which provides training and development for ministry leaders locally and abroad. Available are live seminars, collaborative work spaces, ministry resources, and much more. When you click on the link, if you are not registered with EFCA Equip, you will be asked to and then you can proceed.

Battling Unbelief - DVD

2007-04-18T07:03:00.000-05:00

Battling Unbelief is a 12 session study which takes the participant through John Piper's book Future Grace. Dr. Piper teaches a seminar for people who attend his church, Bethlehem Baptist, taking them through the material. He is up on stage guiding them through a series of fill-in-the-blank type notes by speaking to them & through the use of an overhead projector. There is nothing flashy or fancy about this production, but the material itself is first rate.
The DVD sessions are about 20 minutes long each and lead the participant through the foundations of future grace and the practical outcome of future grace. "Living By Faith in Future Grace Highlights and Magnifies the Glorious All-Sufficiency of God and so Expresses Our Passion for the Supremacy of God in All Things (By Faith in His Grace, We Get the Help, He Gets the Glory)."
The book, Battling Unbelief, excerpts the practical application (8 chapters) from the original book Future Grace, with the though that people move more readily from application to foundation than the other way around.
Also available is the companion study guide which offers notes for the weekly study with the group as well as daily studies for the individual to prepare for the upcoming group lesson. There are options for conducting the study over the course of 12 weeks, six weeks or an intensive weekend seminar.
If you would like to see the notes and outline from the Bethlehem Baptist seminar, The Pursuit of Holiness in Life and Ministry, visit Desiring God.

Fields of Gold

2007-04-17T07:05:00.000-05:00

My church is going through Andy Stanley's Fields of Gold book for the next couple weeks. As a small group leader, I am going to go through the book as well with my group. Fields of Gold is about generous giving and living free from fear as we give back to the Lord.
Mr. Stanley believes that much of the anxiety which comes from Christians about giving is tied less to stingy greed than to basic fear.
We feel that if we are too generous that we will be left destitute or at least unable to support ourselves. We wish to give more, but we are afraid that our needs will somehow not be met. Mr. Stanley writes to "free you from a percentage mentality and to introduce you to a way of life built on the premise that God is a rewarder of those who seek Him and His kingdom first." As Christians, we should not live in a place of fear, because ultimately, God is going to take care of us. When we come to the end of our rope, we have something those outside of a relationship with Jesus do not have - a loving Father ready & able to take care of us.
Mr. Stanley wants Christians to live with open hands on what is the Lord's anyway and to be ready to give at all times. Many Christians are also muddled in a percentage mentality. "What percentage must I give to keep God happy or at bay? 10%, 30%, 50%?" Mr. Stanley looks to that question and seeks to alleviate any hesitation of lack of joy in our giving.
One thing that struck me (which most of you more than likely have already made the connection with, so bear with me) is that Mr. Stanley writes, "the brake lights often come on when I urge people to give their hard-earned money." The word hard-earned hit me & I began thinking about the curse. Our work is hard, as a direct result of the Fall. Therefore, our payment for that work is meant to be hard-earned. If the Fall never happened, than we would still work, but the phrase hard-earned money may never have come into existence. So, because we were rebellious and sinned at the Fall, work became hard work but now we feel the money from that hard work is more deservedly ours because it cost us something. When I thought of it that way, it really struck me as backward thinking.
Fields of Gold is one of many good books on giving & finances, but has the added benefit of being fairly inexpensive. My church bought up a bunch from NextStep & then is passing them out to each couple or single in a small group.