Published by jason April 6th, 2007
in General.
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.
Continue reading ‘The Art of the Start’
Published by cubfann April 5th, 2007
in Church Ministry.
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.
Published by cubfann April 2nd, 2007
in Parenting.
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.
Published by cubfann March 26th, 2007
in Jesus and Theology.
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.
Published by jason March 16th, 2007
in General.
I finished The Drama of Scripture by Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen. The book is an absolute gem and if you haven’t read it yet you need to purchase a copy immediately!
The basic point of the book is to provide an introductory look at the grand overarching narratival flow of the Bible. The assumption is that God, in the Scriptures, presents reality as a grand narrative. The book does a fine job of accomplishing this purpose. Written with a college student in mind the book doesn’t miss its mark.
Continue reading ‘The Drama of Scripture’
Published by jason March 16th, 2007
in General.
I just finished Pete Rollins book How (Not) To Speak Of God which will surely prove to be an important work for those engaged in the Emering/Emergent Church Conversation. Tony Jones has state he won’t speak to anyone about the issues if they haven’t read this book (paraphrase) and McLaren says he is a “raving fan of [this] book” (which I assume he means in this vein).
The book is formed in two sections. The first section focuses upon the theological/philosophical issues surrounding the emerging churches contribution to God talk and the second section takes it cue from actual gatherings of a community called Ikon. The book is extremely valuable, frustrating, confusing, and helpful at the same time (which I think was his goal). I really appreciated the second half with it’s picturing of what these concepts look like in real life. But I also recognize that I need to re-read the book to gain a better grasp of what he is trying to communicate.
Pete Rollins is a young thinker and will surely provide much philosophical and theological insight for those in the emergent conversation. This is actually one of the reasons I think Jones and McLaren appreciate the book so, he is putting a voice to the movement (just my opinion).
If you’re interested or engaged in the conversation this is surely a must read. It’s short but, in my opinion, not an easy read, maybe due to the inherent paradoxical way of writing and thinking.
Books in 2007.
Published by Cory Miller March 16th, 2007
in General.
During my prep for Sunday I re-read several chapters from JP Moreland’s Scaling the Secular City: A Defense of Christianity. I first came into contact with this book my sophomore year of college. While it is some 20 years old at this point, I still think it is the best single volume evidentiary apologetic out there.
I need also to point out my own bias. JP Moreland is someone who has influenced my thinking greatly. To make a very long story short, after my undergrad I was set to enter Talbot’s Philosophy Program having to withdraw just weeks prior due to financial aid constraints. I only mention that because it indicates my own biases.
Continue reading ‘Scaling the Secular City by J.P. Moreland’
Published by Cory Miller March 16th, 2007
in General.
One of the books I re-read in the last few weeks is Lee Strobel’s The Case for a Creator. For those unfamiliar, this book follows Strobel’s best selling technique of interviews with experts on various issues related to the topic (ala The Case for Christ & The Case for Faith).
Strobel interviews many of the usual suspects in this book. You can tell he has developed a group of “go-to guys” for these interviews. In my estimation this is both good and bad. For me personally I appreciate guys like J.P. Moreland and William Lane Craig but they are definitely coming from a specific theological and philosophical viewpoint. Though there are some notable absences of the likes of Bill Dembski.
Continue reading ‘The Case for A Creator by Lee Stroebel’
Published by cubfann March 16th, 2007
in Jesus and Theology.
A couple of weeks ago, I was impressed by Mark Driscoll’s Confessions of a Reformission Rev.
& his obvious love for Jesus. I have been looking for good books on Jesus (to supplement the gospels) and have found a very good one in Surprised by Jesus
. This book surveys Jesus’ life and teaching from a perspective of what is really in the gospels, not just our sentiment of Jesus.
Tim Stafford writes for Christianity Today and also has a great book on raising a family called Never Mind the Joneses
. In this book he delves into the person and teaching of Jesus and discovers not only unusual but “surprising” things about Jesus which we have either glanced over or dismiss in our readings as a church.
Mr. Stafford writes, “the ‘everybody knows’ version of Jesus too easily carries an individualistic, consumer-oriented appeal. In the extreme, we preach a a gospel that is all about me - my personal growth, my spiritual experiences with Jesus as my best friend.” I must admit, this has sadly been my own experience.
Mr. Stafford brings in Jesus’ Jewishness and meanings which his listeners would have gathered from his teaching as well as implications of Jewishness for Jesus. For instance, why did Jesus get baptized? He had no sin to symbolically wash away. Even John says that he should be the one being baptized by Jesus. Mr. Stafford looks at why Jesus would have done this as well as the importance for him to do so.
Another chapter looks at the warnings which Jesus gives (the “woe to you”’s). Something I had never noticed before, which Mr. Stafford points out, is that Jesus saves his warnings for groups of people already in “the family of believers”, not the lost. But in those warnings, he doesn’t use names, or point specific people out, he lumps them together. Mr. Stafford sees this as an example set, and one to be done with caution (since none of us have the vision of Jesus).
This was a very eye-opening book about Jesus & I very much enjoyed reading it.
Published by jason March 8th, 2007
in General.
For the love of Pete what took me so long to finally finish this book? It’s a light book, simple enough concepts, but has taken me a lifetime to finish. In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day is the second book by Mark Batterson, pastor of National Community Church in Washington DC. While I absolutely despise the title (was there no editor on this project?), the book was okay.
So I’m probably not the Bible scholar you are and so I had absolutely no idea from the title alone what passage this came from. But since you are far more advanced than I at Bible trivia I probably don’t need to tell you it comes from 2 Samuel 23.20-21. Once I discovered where the title came from I grew worried it was going to be another Jabez, no offense Mr. Wilkinson. Fortunately for me it wasn’t.
The book is basically about seizing divine opportunities and doing big things for God. The hope is that we’d see that in our greatest fear, worry, or difficulty might be God’s great dream for our lives (something like that). There were a lot of good stories in the book, quite motivating at times. And there were many pithy one-liners that helped to encapsulate the point.
Was this the most important book I’ve ever read? Nah. But it was a lot better than being stuck in a pit with a lion on a snowy day. 
If you’re unfamiliar with Batterson you should check out what’s happening in DC. They are doing some creative and innovative things in ministry and this book really forms the backdrop for the adventurous risks they’re taking.
