I just finished up Kevin Vanhoozer’s Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends. Vanhoozer, in my mind, is one of the most important theologians of this generation. His theological work is probing how to contend for the faith once delivered (Jude 3) in a postmodern context. His engagement with postmodern philosophical and theological critics makes him a compelling figure, in my book. And his work is displaying a faithful biblical-theological model fully immersed in postmodern currents. If you have yet to wade into those waters with Vanhoozer I’d suggest you do so soon. But bring your waders because that which is valuable doesn’t often come easily.
The premise of this particular book is that the book of culture needs to be read and interpreted in much the same way one does any book of literature, including the scriptures. The first chapter sets the philosophical-theological framework, the last chapter gives practical suggestions as to reading any of the many cultural texts and trend, and those between the two are tangible examples of cultural exegesis.
I am a big fan of the Counterpoints by Zondervan. I find it interesting and challenging to read viewpoints of people I see eye to eye with as well as people I respect, but do not agree with. Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches: Five Perspectives is a book in the tradition of the counterpoints series. In this book, Dr. Robert Webber gathers five pastors who are all in the thick of emerging church ministry (emerging ministry being ministry to those 35 years old and under, NOT emergent ministry). All of these pastors are church planters, three are evangelicals and two are emergent.
Each of them were directed to write about three topics and how different aspects of theology effect those topics. The three topics? Scripture, the atonement and the Trinity. The different aspects of theology? Biblicist theology, incarnational theology, missional theology, embodied theology, and communal theology.
Each of the authors writes their chapter and then has each of the other four write a response to it. All five of the writers are familiar with one another, if not good friends, and the remarks reflect that friendly attitude, even when the writers vehemently disagree. The reader can tell that this is a discussion many of the writers have had with one another in person and will continue to have in the future.
Each of the writers have presented very good chapters and both the writers I do not agree with and agree with made me stop and search the Scripture myself and confirm for myself what the Bible says. I also agree with John Burke’s initial response to Mark Driscoll’s chapter - “I think Mark just made this book worth buying.” And although I do agree with that - I would strongly encourage you to read the rest of the book. Especially the pastors you might now agree with. I always find it good to read something that makes me think, makes me reflect on what and why I believe, and each person in this book does that.
I realized last week if I am going to hit my goal of 50 books in 2007 I’m going to have to get on it (let’s face it, I probably won’t get to 50). So I put some concerted effort to finishing up Marcus Buckingham’s Go Put Your Strengths To Work.
As I mentioned in a recent post that I have been looking forward to reading this book for some time because these are the kinds of questions I have been asking regarding Strengths - how do you put them to use. Buckingham’s book hits those issue squarely on the head and gives plenty of practical steps to living a Strengths-Based Life.
It is never easy for me to select textbooks for a class that I am teaching. No book ever seems to be perfect for the task at hand. Unless one has written the text oneself the forensic orientation always seems a bit skewed from the manner in which class presentations are planned and organized. Among the less than perfect matches there are usually a plethora of texts that are a pretty good fit. But, how does one select from the field of contenders? I have several qualifiers that I use to narrow the field of possible texts.
FIRST, I want a text that has enduring value for the student. I want the text that is used in class to be something that the student can add to his personal library and use as a resource for decades to come.
SECOND, the text must be interesting. Academics are disposed to a trained incapacity that makes them forget what makes a book a good book. It seems that the more years one spends within one’s academic community the more one is prone to forgetting the importance of rhetorical presentation. Agricola described rhetoric as “the utility of truth.” I believe that a good textbook by definition must organize and present the material so that it interests the reader in its contents and encourages a person to learn, discover, and understand.
Using the above criteria I selected Roy Zuck’s Teaching as Jesus Taught and the single volume Hard Sayings of the Bible as textbooks for my New Testament focused study course on the Words of Jesus of Nazareth.
In The Dangerous Act of Worship: Living God’s Call to Justice, pastor Mark Labberton discusses the implications true worship - not just songs - has on a body of believers. This book is a treatise on what the author defines as that which matters most - worship. Dr. Labberton writes that “worship turns out to be the dangerous act of waking up to God and to the purposes of God in the world, and then living lives that actually show it.” The last bit is the part we so often forget about.
Dr. Labberton feels that we are too self-centered in our worship. Seem like an oxymoron? It is. Worship does not stop in singing to God, in hearing the preaching of his Word, in making our requests known to our Father. It continues in loving our neighbor, in seeking justice for the downtrodden, in renewing our communities. If we are true worshipers, our worship will “expose our cultural and even spiritual complacency toward a world of suffering and injustice.”
“Waking up is the dangerous act of worship. It’s dangerous because worship is meant to produce lives fully attentive to reality as God sees it, and that’s more than most of us want to deal with.” This book is Dr. Labberton’s wake up call to the church. He writes, “nothing is more important than for us to wake up and practice the dangerous act of worship, living God’s call to justice.”
Dr. Labberton then looks at some of the specific dangers of worship - false ones as well as actual ones. The false dangers are ones that we think are dangers within worship (relevance, expectations, etc.). The true dangers of worship are those that are false about God and his word. The biggest danger of all, though, is encountering God. Too often, Christians merely have a “friendly relationship” with God (which is fine - we are called friends of God), but we also need a healthy fear of the Lord, an awe of the holy, a wonder at the person of Jesus. When we truly encounter God, everything we call normal is redefined & we are nearly powerless to do anything but seek his kingdom.
This is not a casual read. It will make you uncomfortable & will challenge your conception of worship. There is a study guide included in this book, if you would like to take a leadership team or staff through, also.
Change is an extremely difficult pill to swallow for many churches. Some churches change too quickly and alienate people, some change too slow and simply die off. Aubrey Malphurs in one his best books, A New Kind of Church, writes on the theology of change. Dr. Malphurs looks at the changing culture (pretty much every religion save Christianity is growing), and how different churches change (and should they?). The meat of the book looks to develop a theology of change for churches. Dr. Malphurs looks to help the church get healthy. But this is not something that can or should be done without help. Churches need to develop the aforementioned theology of change as well as a theology of culture, and understand what a local church actually is. Dr. Malphurs basically says that churches need to adapt (in methodology, not theology) in order to have any kind of impact. “A church’s view of change will have a major impact on its ability to minister.” Dr. Malphurs says that a good theology of change consists of function, form and freedom. Functions are those mandates upon all churches which never change, are timeless and nonnegotiable. Among these would be the five purposes (whether you are a Purpose-Driven church or not). Forms are just the opposite - those things which are negotiable, which can change and are not mandated by Scripture. Among these would be types of evangelism (bus ministry, Sunday school, door-to-door witnessing, etc.), translation of Scripture used in preaching ministry, and such. Freedoms look at the implications and limitations of forms and change itself. Having a theology of culture is also vital. For more on this concept, seek out the book Everyday Theology, edited by Dr. Kevin VanHoozer. It is an excellent work on the necessity of interpreting culture and how to read cultural trends. This book is also equipped with a couple audits and evaluations which will help you decipher what the readiness of your church is for change as well as a ministry values audit. This is a very helpful and practical book.
I finished up Guy Kawasaki’s book The Art of the Start earlier this week. I have really enjoyed reading Guy’s blog over the last 6 months or so and have really grown to appreciate his insight, wit, and wisdom.
Guy was an “evangelist” for Apple in the 80’s and in the 90’s launched Garage Technology Venture, a venture capital company for business start-ups. Even before reading this book I had grown convinced that there is great import from business starting for church starting. But after reading this book I am convinced all the more.
Staffing, whether in a business or church, is no easy task. I have been a staff member in both scenarios and both as tricky in various ways. I have found that churches are generally more tentative in hiring (sometimes for good reasons, sometimes not) and that in both paid and volunteer staff at churches, there is a good deal of turnover. In their new book, How to Treat a Staff Infection, Dr. Craig Williford (president of Denver Seminary) & his wife use a medical metaphor to help churches handle any staff issues which may come up. And as in actual medicine, preventative measures are very important in side-stepping potential problems before they arise. Just as each person has different tolerances for pain, different allergies, and different physical make-ups, each church is equally as diverse. So, instead of giving step-by-step directions on how to handle staff issues, Dr. Williford shares stories from his own experience and offers guidance and general principles to help your unique situation. Dr. Williford makes the point that if you have not had staff issues, you will. Every church will face them (even Jesus among his disciples!). This book offers sound advice for those who would like to either be preventative or need help in an emergency. One of the most helpful chapters was on “bedside manner”. This chapter discusses the ways to appreciate your staff (and have them know they are appreciated). I have been in positions where I know I am appreciated (where I am currently) as well as places where I wasn’t sure. Letting your staff know they are doing a good job and that you feel they are an important part to the ministry and vision God has given you is so helpful to those hearing it. As you know, ministry can sometimes feel like a job & people wear you down. Hearing that you are appreciated is definitely a huge boost to your morale.
In 2003, George Barna wrote a book called Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions. That book has been a favorite among children’s ministry workers ever since. In Mr. Barna’s new book, Revolutionary Parenting, he looks at parents who have raised up spiritual champions and what the research showed they did differently than your typical parents. This is not a book of make sure you do this, or don’t do this. It is less technique and more intentions. Mr. Barna believes that his research shows that revolutionary parents are specifically intentional about their parenting. What is a Spiritual Champion? “Individuals who have embraced Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord; accept the Bible as truth and as the guide for life; and seek to live in obedience to its principles and in search of ways to continually deepen their relationship with God. Spiritual champions live in ways that are noticeably different from the norm - even when compared to the average churchgoer.” So Mr. Barna went out interviewing scores of parents who had raised spiritual champions as well as those spiritual champions themselves. What Mr. Barna found out from those interviews and other research he passes along to the reader. I found this book to be quite helpful, as my wife & I are preparing for our first child. We have conversations constantly about different ways of raising him/her. Revolutionary Parenting points to one objective as a parent - that of raising your children for Jesus. As a parent, this is your most important duty, according to Mr. Barna. God has allowed you, as parents, to raise his child & we have an obligation to point them back to him.
Eugene Peterson believes that the end does not justify the means. The Jesus Way is a treatise for pilgrims who follow Jesus. We are on the way, and the “ways and means” of following Jesus matter as much as the end product or destination.
This Spiritual Theology series (including Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places & Eat This Book) contain books which are not meant to be devoured, but instead, chewed slowly and savored. This was not an easy book to read - not only because there were hard things to here (necessary, though), but also because the depth to which Dr. Peterson plunges.
Dr. Peterson looks at several “ways and means” of both biblical and extra-biblical characters and how to properly follow Jesus. Each character chosen shows a different facet of following Jesus, but each one is necessary in its own rite. We start off by walking with Jesus (the Way) and investigating how he dealt with temptation, the metaphors he uses of both the Kingdom and himself as well as other “ways & means”. Dr. Peterson feels that the church has grasped tightly to the Truth & Life metaphor Jesus used, but sometimes fails to understand or rightly hold up Jesus as the Way equally. How we travel is just as important as where we end up.
Dr. Peterson also takes us through the journeys of Abraham, Moses, Elijah, David, Isaiah of Jerusalem & Isaiah of the Exile. Through each of these sojourners, the reader learns to follow Jesus faithfully, communicatively, penitently, and three other ways.
The second part of the book was very helpful for me, personally. Dr. Peterson looks at contrasting movements and historical figures and then compares & contrasts their extremes to the Way of Jesus. Contrasting the extremes of Herod to the Pharisees, Caiaphas to the Essenes & Josephus to the Zealots and then of how the Jesus Way is a fresh, different & new approach to the journey than those ways.
I have always been a fan of Eugene Peterson, ever since I discovered his writing in Leap Over a Wall ten years ago. (I need to review that book - it is one of my all-time favorites). This Spiritual Theology series is well worth the time and energy you will spend reading it.
I just finished up Kevin Vanhoozer’s Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends. Vanhoozer, in my mind, is one of the most important theologians of this generation. His theological work is probing how to contend for the faith once delivered (Jude 3) in a postmodern context. His engagement with postmodern philosophical and theological critics makes him a compelling figure, in my book. And his work is displaying a faithful biblical-theological model fully immersed in postmodern currents. If you have yet to wade into those waters with Vanhoozer I’d suggest you do so soon. But bring your waders because that which is valuable doesn’t often come easily.
I am a big fan of the Counterpoints by Zondervan. I find it interesting and challenging to read viewpoints of people I see eye to eye with as well as people I respect, but do not agree with. 
I realized last week if I am going to hit my goal of 50 books in 2007 I’m going to have to get on it (let’s face it, I probably won’t get to 50). So I put some concerted effort to finishing up Marcus Buckingham’s 
and the single volume 
In 
, pastor Mark Labberton discusses the implications true worship - not just songs - has on a body of believers. This book is a treatise on what the author defines as that which matters most - worship. Dr. Labberton writes that “worship turns out to be the dangerous act of waking up to God and to the purposes of God in the world, and then living lives that actually show it.” The last bit is the part we so often forget about.
I finished up Guy Kawasaki’s book 
