Against Nothingness

Tim Challies.  The Next Story: Life and Faith after the Digital Explosion . Zondervan, 2011. 208 pgs.  Digital technology is everywhere. We all know it; we see it (or not), experience it, live with it, use it, and are surrounded by it all the time. From cars to cell phones to shopping to reading, 'the digital explosion' is as good a phrase as any to characterize our time. However, there are many important questions to ask in the face of this explosion. Questions like: How has life and faith been changed by these technologies? How does out constant connected-ness affect us? And what does it mean that we are under surveillance most of our lives? These, and more, are the questions Challies addresses in this book as he seeks to help the reader know how to think  about technology as a Christian. Challies first spends three chapters examining how we have arrived at this place of digital explosion. He then lays out three principles to keep in mind while evaluating t...

Todd Cartmell.  Project Dad: The Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide for Becoming a Great Father . Revell, 2011. 221 pgs.  Every father wants to be a great dad. We want to do what is best for our children, and be the kind of father they need so that they can flourish in life. But how do you do that? In this book Todd Cartmell, a father and child psychologist, offers his advice on how to be a great father. The subtitle, 'do-it-yourself' and all that, is designed to appeal to the part of a father that wants to build things and do it themselves. In order to do this, Cartmell urges fathers to pay attention to five areas of interaction with our children: our eyes (how we look at our children), our mouths (how we talk to our children), our hearts (how we connect with our children), our hands (how we act towards our children), and our feet (how we lead our children). He reminds us that a great father is a father who helps his children to develop their God-given gifts and pote...

Wayne Cordeiro .  Irresistible Church, The: 12 Traits of a Church Heaven Applauds . Bethany House Publishers, 2011. 176 pgs.  "Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.  Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".   Wayne Cordeiro is a mega-church pastor in Hawaii. This book contains his advice on 12 traits of a church that heaven applauds. And that is the first thing you need to know about this book; it is not about making your church irresistible to other people, rather it is about making your church irresistible to God (though Cordeiro insists that if you have the latter, you will have the former as well). As you should expect, each chapter (other than the introduction) outlines one of these 12 traits. According to Cordeiro an irresistible church: Hungers for the presence of God, remembers who she is, lives he...

Make sure you read  the first post in this series  for disclaimers and explanations  and links to the full series . We are almost done with these lists; I hope they have been helpful.  This last list contains 5 books that I want to strongly recommend to you but which, for one reason or another, did not fit well into any other category.  1. "To Change the World" by James Hunter. There is no better book on church and culture and how we ought to interact with our world.  2. "Telling the Truth" by Frederick Buechner. A wonderful little book on preaching and the gospel; Buechner helps even the most jaded and tired pastor to see it all with fresh eyes.  3. "The New Testament and The People of God" by N.T. Wright. Yet another difficult text. Not sure which is harder: this one, or Sources of the Self (which I recommended earlier). Either way, very much worth reading as a great help in reading the New Testament well (which is so important for us as pasto...

Make sure you read the first post in this series for disclaimers and explanations and links to the full series. Lets face it, most of us don't read many books which are over 100 years old. But we should. Most of the best books ever written are old. Here is a list of five books over 100 years old which pastors should read. 1. "Orthodoxy" by G.K. Chesterton. Ridiculously good book. Still highly relevant. Chesterton writes a vision of what orthodoxy should be, breathing life into a tired word, and on the way tells you why he has faith. This book will reinvigorate your faith and your mind.  2. "Enchiridion" or "Faith, Hope, and Love" by Augustine of Hippo. I know, everyone will tell you to read "Confessions" by Augustine; and you should. It is quite the book. However, part of why it is so renowned is due to it being the first of its kind, another reason is because of the deep philosophy, and a third reason is because of Augustine's amaz...

"Let the preacher tell the truth. Let him make audible the silence of the news of the world with the sound turned off so that in that silence we can hear the tragic truth of the Gospel, which is that the world where God is absent is a dark and echoing emptiness; and the comic truth of the Gospel, which is that it is into the depths of his absence that God makes himself present in such unlikely ways and to such unlikely people that old Sarah and Abraham and maybe when the time comes even Pilate and Job and Lear and Henry Ward Beecher and you and I laugh till the tears run down our cheeks. And finally let him preach this overwhelming of tragedy by comedy, of darkness by light, of the ordinary by the extraordinary, as the tale that is too good not to be true because to dismiss it as untrue is to dismiss along with it that catch of the breath, that beat and lifting of the heart near to or even accompanied by tears, which I believe is the deepest intuition of truth that we have." ...

Make sure you read  the first post in this series  for disclaimers and explanations and links to the full series. This is a list of books that are not entirely focused on Christianity or religion in their topic matter (if at all) but are nonetheless very important for pastors to understand. Heads up, this will probably strike you as the strangest of all the lists I am posting.  1. "Thinking in Systems: A Primer" by Donella H. Meadows. Systems theory is an incredibly rich, rewarding, and important area of study for a pastor to understand. The fact is that we are mired in systems and there is nothing we can do about it. Not only that, but lacking an understanding of the systems you work in will inevitably lead to frustration, especially when dealing with change. Ever wondered why the more you push, the more 'they' push back? Or why you meet resistance to change despite everyone agreeing that the change is necessary and good? Or why the more things you try to chang...

"There are all kinds of pressures on the preacher, both from within and without, to be all kinds of other things and to speak all kinds of other words. To speak the truth with love is to run the risk always of speaking only the truths that people love to hear you speak, and the preacher's temptation, among others, is to deal with those problems only to which there is, however complex and hard to arrive at, a solution. The pressure on the preacher is to be topical and contemporary, to speak out like the prophets against injustice and unrighteousness, and it is right that he should do so, crucial even, and if he does not goad to righteous action he fails both God and man. But he must remember the ones he is speaking to who beneath all the clothes they wear are the poor, bare, forked animals who labor and are heavy laden under the burden of their own lives let along of the world's tragic life.... The pressure on the preacher, of course, is to speak just the answer. The answ...

Make sure you read  the first post in this series  for disclaimers and explanations and links to the full series. Yes, you read that title correctly. I think there are some important works of fiction that pastors ought to read, and here are my top 5.  1. "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo. The classic tension between law and grace is depicted nowhere so well as in this work. Hugo's insight into the human condition, the compassion he arouses within the reader, and his depiction of the utter destitution of our world without God are all unmatched in literature.  2. "The Brother's Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Anything by Dostoevsky is worth reading, and this book is, perhaps, his best. The exposition of the problem of evil/pain/suffering offered by Ivan within these pages has yet to be matched in my opinion; the new atheists could learn a thing or two here, and all pastors ought to consider the force of the arguments and objections offered in these pag...

Make sure you read the first post in this series for disclaimers and explanations and links to the full series. When Chris first asked me for this list I asked a couple of other guys at the retreat what they would put on it. We started talking about picking the best books in some important categories. That is the origin of this first list, "The Basics."  1. " Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness " by Eugene Peterson. Category: Pastoral Soul Care. Comment: This book is a must read for all pastors. Peterson speaks to the heart of the pastoral experience and offers excellent advice about avoiding common temptations in ministry.  2. " The Mission of God's People: A Biblical Theology of the Church's Mission (Biblical Theology for Life) " by Christopher Wright. Category: Missional Ecclesiology. Comment: It was hard not to put Wright's much larger volume, "The Mission of God," here. Howev...

Nearly a month ago, while I was at  a youth pastors retreat ,  Chris Throness  asked me if I would blog a top 5 book list for pastors. Naturally, I said yes. I think I said yes before he even finished the sentence.  But I am not sure if Chris realized that asking a book addict for a list of recommendations is a bit like asking Solomon to get married. 700 women later.... Well, thank the Lord, I am not that bad. No, my top 5 list only contains 25 books... OK, 27.  How, you ask, does a top 5 list contain 27 books? Well, I have cleverly justified this five-fold expansion by writing up 5 top 5 lists. Yes, that's right, 5 for the price of 1!  Not only that, but since I have five lists, I am going to spread out the posting of them over the rest of this week. So, not only have I cleverly found a way to recommend way more books than you want to hear about, I have also used said misdirection as a way to fill my blog for a week.   For those of you with ...

Frank Viola . Revise Us Again: Living From a Renewed Christian Spirit . David C. Cook, 2011. 176 pgs.  In this book Viola takes a look at revising the script of our life to be in line with the script of Jesus Christ. Through ten chapters Viola examines various issues in the Christian life, how we think about things, how we talk about things, and how our life needs to be revised in light of Jesus and His word. These topics range from our misuse of phrases such as "Let me pray about that" (which really means 'no, but I am too uncomfortable to say it to your face, so I would rather take a spiritual out and hope you forget you asked me') and "God told me..." to our misunderstanding of the gospel and our God.  Unfortunately, caricature reigns in this promising, but ultimately disappointing, book by Frank Viola. He almost brings up some good issues, but then approaches them in such a shallow manner as to negate even the good brought about in raising the topics...

Chris Price and John Morrison. Questions You're Probably Already Asking Yes, a book by John Morrison... or is it Jon Morrison ? Is there a type-o on the cover of your book Jo(h?)n? Jon and Chris have written a brief introductory apologetics book for teens. It takes on nine traditional apologetics areas (Creation, Sexuality, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Suffering, Bible, Hell, Science, and Good), most with more than one question embedded in each section, and then answers them in a style designed with students in mind. Jon and Chris alternate authorship of the chapters, though they maintain a fairly consistent style and writing voice throughout. Each chapter begins by introducing the questions, then explores the answers Jon and Chris are offering, and concludes with a list of additional resources and a small group study guide.  Questions is a fairly good apologetics book for teens. Jon and Chris are very honest about what is, and is not, in this book. They do not claim to have come...

Greg Wright . Daddy Dates: Four Daughters, One Clueless Dad, and His Quest to Win Their Hearts . Thomas Nelson, 2011, 224 pgs.  Greg Wright is the father of four daughters. Faced with a house full of women he loved, Greg knew he needed to do some work to live out that love in a way his family would appreciate. So he took a retreat, did some thinking, and came up with the idea of spending time one-on-one with the women of his home. That time had to be focused on them, he had to listen, he had to put thought and effort and creativity into it, and he had to make it special. In other words, he would date all five women, not just his wife.  Now, you might read that and say 'duh.' But, for some reason, there is a disconnect for many fathers in exactly this area. We understand, or understood, the necessity of these actions when courting our wives (or faked understanding well enough to get by) but then we get married and forget it all. So, while the advice Wright offers is simple,...

#RCPC2011 Right. Thursday, day 3 of the conference, was far too busy to blog. I got home, had just enough time to eat dinner, and headed off to a meeting. Then, on Friday, I left the conference early because I got the stomach flu and spent the entire rest of the day in bed.  This also means that I don't remember what quotes I was going to put down for those days. Sorry.  Summary Response:  The conference was great. All the details were handled well, the speakers were excellent, the session instructors were well chosen, and it was well worth the time investment.  The two main sessions which spoke to me the most were the ones presented by Paul Williams. He spoke about the apostolic and prophetic ministries, and individuals, in the church. He ended his first talk by conjoining 1 Peter 5:2 (Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers--not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be ; not greedy for money,...

#RCPC2011 (Regent College Pastors Conference 2011) Speaker Quote of the Day: "Evangelical communion can be very christo-monic. Only the second person of the trinity gets mentioned during the Eucharist. The father, well he doesn't really have anything to do with it. And the Spirit, He is busy, off doing His thing with the Pentecostals. But, you can have the other two, we have Jesus and we will be fine with Him, thank you very much!" - Gordon Smith (who, I learned today, is an amazing speaker, brilliantly sarcastic and witty, and a pleasure to listen to) Other Quote of the Day: "My contention is that at the heart of every good theology lies not simply a plausible intellectual vision but more importantly a compelling account of a way of life, and that theology is therefore best done from within the pursuit of this way of life." - Miroslav Volf Event of the Day: Actually, my favorite part of the day was the bus ride in, during which I read "Captive to t...

#rcpc2011 The first day of the pastors conference is over. It was a great day. Speaker Quote of the Day: "There should be an I in team, as long as it is a perichoretic I."  - Ross Hastings Quote of the Day: "To take a person trained in ways and means that are custom-formulated to fit into the world's ways and then place that person in the worshiping,evangelizing, witnessing, reconciling, peace-making, justice-advocating people of God is equivalent to putting an adolescent whose sole qualifications consist of a fascination with speed, the ability to step on the accelerator, and expertise in operating the radio, behind the wheel of a brand-new Porsche." - Eugene Peterson Worship Song of the Day: Will You Come and Follow Me (The Summons) Will you come and follow me If I but call your name? Will you go where you don't know And never be the same? Will you let my love be shown, Will you let my name be known, Will you let my life be grown In you and you in...

Yes, this post is a day late.  I normally put up my reflections on the first of each new month. I was planning on doing that yesterday; I even started the post.  Then we left to take Ethan to the hospital at 7:30pm and we didn't get home until 2:30am. He had been throwing up all day and started to seem dehydrated, so off we went. When we finally got to see a doctor, he told us we would have to do 'rehydration therapy' with Ethan. For a little guy like him, that involved giving him 5ml of diluted apple juice every 5 minutes for over an hour to see how he handled it. Then, we got to take him home and let him sleep. As soon as he woke up, we continued the treatment. Kristina has posted some more details on her blog . He is doing very well, thank you. He is through the worst of it, and though not 100% yet, he is heading that way. Kristina and I are exhausted. Other than that, I have a deeper appreciation for both facebook and smartphones. Because of them I was able to get a l...

Sometimes we need a wake up call. Sometimes we need to put some thought into an idea, movie, message, book, or quote.  I need to do this often. I thoroughly enjoy making others do it as well.  A couple of months ago, during the Sunday School class I was teaching, I asked the students to tell me everything they could about King David. They come up with a huge list. But, it was mostly good stuff. I had planned for this response and had a question ready.  What did David pay King Saul as a bride-price for Michal? (see 1 Samuel 18:25-27 for the answer).  I went on to point out the severely messed up, and mixed up, life of David, and concluded by asking why we, and the scriptures, call David "a man after God's own heart." Interesting discussion ensued! Then today, again during the Sunday School class I was teaching  I borrowed a thought from John Stackhouse  and asked the students if they had ever thought about ridiculous Christianity can sound.  "We...