I've Been Thinking About This…

Finished these books last year (the links include my Amazon Associate number, so if you want to buy the book click through the link. You don’t pay any more, and I get a teeny tiny bit ): Church Marketing 101: Preparing Your Church for Greater Growth by Richard Reising

Readability: 7

Insight: 8

Practicality: 8

A great book about using excellence and common sense in helping people to find value in your church. ‘Marketing’ doesn’t have to be all about our perceptions of sleaze-ball Madison Avenue hard-sell. This is about connecting and communicating. A great book – lots to learn in here.

“The battle for growth is first fought in the hearts of churchgoers who want to better the lives of those around them”

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Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan

Readability: 8

Insight: 5

Practicality: 7

Much of what Chan is writing here is obvious. I don’t mean that slightingly. Sometimes we need to have the obvious thrust upon us because we’ve ignored it for too long. Sometimes it’s time to recognize that, just because a whole bunch of people say something, it doesn’t make them right.

“To put it bluntly, when you get your own universe, you can make your own standards. When we disagree, let’s not assume it’s His reasoning that needs correction.”

His chapter on lukewarm people is particularly damning, but the encouragement throughout the rest of the book is powerful – what does “God is Love” really mean? What do people who are obsessed with God do and think? If you’re really in love with God, life gets different.

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C.S. Lewis In A Time Of War by Justin Phillips

Readability: 8

Insight: x

Practicality: x

This was a gift from good friends last Christmas – an excellent account of the way Lewis’ radio broadcasts became Mere Christianity. More on the book in my review here

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The Elephant in the Boardroom: Speaking the Unspoken about Pastoral Transitions (J-B Leadership Network Series) by Carolyn Weese & J. Russell Crabtree

Readability: 6

Insight: 6

Practicality: 7

I bought this because I sensed that the minister of the church I was attending was planning on leaving – as indeed he did, 6 months later. It gave me some good insight for what was about to happen, and in general, I thought that – for the narrow scope of life it was tackling – it did a pretty good job. I wasn’t overly impressed with the organization of the material, and I seriously question using the CMM approach for a church! However, other than small specific points of disagreement there are some excellent points being made from both common sense and experience. One significant shortfall however: There are a number of innocuous reasons for a minister to leave – such as retirement, ill-health or term limit – but there are also far more painful reasons, such as crises brought about by divisiveness between ministers or between clergy and laity. I felt that one quick chapter on low-performing churches was inadequate to cover this painful area. But there aren’t many books on this topic, and as a starter it did cover some much-needed ground.

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The Emerging Church: Vintage Christianity for New Generations by Dan Kimball

Readability: 7

Insight: 7

Practicality: 8

All about the post-modern church – although Kimball defines the ‘modern’ church as being ‘seeker-sensitive’ and the ‘post-modern’ church as being ‘post-seeker-sensitive’. My impression is that seeker-sensitive services were on the cusp between modern and post-modern – a brief movement that was tried by a number of forward-thinking congregations and found wanting. The book has the same friendly layout as Emerging Worship, and a great deal of helpful and relevant material based on Kimball’s experience in developing a post-modern church. Good stuff.

“…Scripture indicates it’s the parents’ responsibility to teach their children the things of God (Deut. 11:19). The church should supplement rather than replace the parents’ role.”

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Emerging Worship: Creating Worship Gatherings for New Generations by Dan Kimball

Readability: 9

Insight: 9

Practicality: 8

This was the first book I read on post-millennial worship, and it was very much the eye-opener. I was excited about how many times throughout the Bible the call to worship is made (190 times), either by God, priest, prophet, king or apostle. My copy is full of highlighting and checkmarks (and a few scratch-outs as well). Definitely an exciting book.

“To be blunt, many modern … worship services are more anthropocentric than Christocentric. Jesus’ name is mentioned here and there, yet he [sic] is almost a side issue to the real focus…”

More on the book in my review here

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Essential Church?: Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts by Thom S. Rainer and Sam S. Rainer III

Readability: 7

Insight: 5

Practicality: 5

I was able to download a free version of this book as a PDF, and while in general it’s an interesting book, it seems to be very confused about statistics. It pulls a great many of them, and displays them as authoritative, but I was often unclear as to how the statistic proved the point being made. It seemed as if the conclusion was arrived at by common sense, then the statistics were retro-fitted to confirm it- a very dangerous use of statistics. The book also suffered from some terribly ‘hokey’ interview descriptions:

“How do you feel it’s your fault?” She stared at the wall several moments. We could tell she was choosing her words carefully. (p. 71)

And

“I was raised in a Christian home,” he said softly. … John swallowed hard for a second and then gave us his story about becoming a church dropout. (p. 2)

Definitely not on a par with Rainer’s previous offering, Simple Church.

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The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach the West…Again by George C. Hunter III

Readability: 7

Insight: 7

Practicality: 7

The book states that the Roman way of evangelism was to offer a rigid protocol – this is how you must ‘do’ Christianity – and get people to adopt it, often by carrot and stick. The Celtic way of evangelism was for the missionaries to adapt their own lifestyles so that they could reach people from the local culture; then those people could understand (a more fluid) religion and faith. Hunter then goes on to posit that newer churches in America are successful when they break from the traditional European denominational views and speak to local people in local terms. The denominational (Roman) approach focuses on the institution; the Celtic approach focuses on the movement – a sort of ‘religion vs faith’ debate. Examples of this ‘Celtic’ approach today are the Alpha courses offered by so many churches, and the cell-driven church movement.

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Simple Church: Returning to God’s Process for Making Disciples by Thom S. Rainer & Eric Geiger

Readability: 7

Insight: 8

Practicality: 8

An excellent book with excellent insight on simplifying church so that it can do what it’s supposed to do. I’ve written more extensively on the book here, so I’ll leave you to it. In contrast to Rainer’s later book, Essential Church, statistics are used much more clearly, and possibly because of that, more effectively.

Here’s a story I used to tell the confirmation class:

Imagine that you are in high school and best friends with someone who is a superb athlete. It could be any sport – we’ll say football. This friend has speed, power, stamina and brains. It’s obvious to everybody that he’s not just good – he’s exceptional. His plan is to get a football scholarship through a big-league college and then turn pro; and while for other people you’d just think it was a dream, for him everybody is convinced that it can be accomplished. He’s just that good! He’s also friendly, confident, approachable and popular.

He’s so good that the whole school turns out to watch him play. In fact, he’s so good that the whole community comes out. He’s so good that the college scouts have visited. Then one day in his senior year, he is hurt – deliberately and brutally. He’s hurt in such a fashion that he will never play ball again. He won’t get a football scholarship. He won’t turn pro. He can barely walk.

This premeditated attack was made by a person he recognized, and he took his attacker to court. As his best friend, you are with him in court. The evidence is presented, and it is irrefutable. Witnesses saw the attack, and they give testimony. There’s no question in anyone’s mind that this person will be put away for a long time. Further, he’s enormously wealthy, and will be able to pay for the mounting medical costs. The jury gives their verdict – guilty on all charges.

The time comes for the judge to pronounce sentence. He says something along these lines: “It’s very clear that this attack was deliberate and premeditated. It’s also clear that the attacker is very young and foolish, and that this is his first offense – this must be taken into account. He has shown remorse in court for his actions – this too must be taken into account. I have therefore decided that his punishment shall be limited to a written warning and probation. He will not be put away, and will not be liable for payment of any fines or fees.”

Everyone sits there stunned! It’s inconceivable! Slowly the courtroom empties. Your friend hobbles painfully out on his crutches. The room is empty except for the defendant and the judge gathering up his papers. On your way out through the door, you overhear the defendant say to the judge, “Whew! Sure dodged a bullet there, Dad!”

What do you think of this judge? Do you have any shred of respect for someone who should have recused himself before the trial began? Any respect for someone who perverts justice to that degree? We expect someone who has the authority of a judge to uphold the law – no question, no deviation from the absolute rightness of the matter.

Yet we expect God to go easy on us because we are His creation. We are so taken with – so indoctrinated with – the idea that ‘God is love’ that we expect all law-breaking, all failings, all sin to be forgiven and glossed over. For everyone.

I guess what that says is that we have lost respect for God. Because although we are told that God will judge us at the end of our days, we’re assuming that He will say, “No problem. I forgive you. I won’t look at all the wrong-doing you’ve committed. You won’t be put away from my presence, and there doesn’t need to be payment of any fines or fees.”

We hear so much in church today that reinforces this view:

• God will forgive everybody for everything.
• Live a fairly nice life and be fairly nice to others.
• What matters is that you mostly do your best.
• Be sincere.
• Just believe in God.

At funerals, what priest is going to say, “Well, sorry about this … Alice never believed in Jesus, so she’s in Hell now.”?

People have acquired such distaste for ‘Hellfire and brimstone’ sermons that the priest or pastor believes the very mention of sin from the pulpit will empty the church – so he doesn’t speak of it. And in the avoidance, he does his congregation a great disservice, for a warning now and then is essential if we are to counteract the view that the world has of a wussie conflict-avoiding God.

The truth is, God does want to forgive us. He understands better than we do why we commit each sin. He doesn’t want to condemn us, and He wants us to live forever in a loving relationship with Him. But He’s not just Love; He is also Holy, and Righteous, and Perfect. And there will be that reckoning at the end of our days.

A judge that would say “I’ll just forget about your crime” is a judge who cannot be worthy of our respect. He merits no glory, no praise, no honor. He is the kind of judge in our story. God cannot cover up our crimes; He has to punish wrongdoing – to fail to do so would be to be untrue to the Righteousness and Justice that is His nature, and He cannot be that. But the punishment that should be exacted is a punishment so complete and eternal that no one could ever be in relationship with Him.

In our place, and in an act of extraordinary Grace, He sends His infinite Son as payment of any fines or fees for our sin, so that we won’t be put away from His presence. And all He requires in return is that we own up to our own sin and acknowledge Him as our Savior. The debt is paid in full; we get a new start. We’re not even expected to be perfect (we are expected to try, though) – and in the new life we have His strength and His guidance.

Mike Kendall’s blog entry today reminded me of a thought I had years ago which I’ll drop off here:

Temptation can only occur when there is opportunity to fall, an exploitable weakness of spirit, and desire to commit. Opportunity, exploitable weakness and desire. Satan isn’t going to waste his time in convincing you to do things you know are impossible, or in fighting areas of strength; nor will he attack you in areas that you don’t care about. If it doesn’t excite you to gamble, you won’t feel the urge to do so. But if you have a hard time resisting shopping, that will be a temptation even when you have no money to spend – think ‘credit card debt’.

That being the case – and it’s a pretty obvious case, I think you’ll agree – the question that has to come up is, “How was Jesus tempted?” Perfect God and perfect man, He could have no wrong desires, so how could He ever know what mankind goes through in temptation?

The answer comes when we look at Matt 4:1-11 or Luke 4:1-13, which begin: “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” There are two things we should note in that little phrase:

• It was the choice of the Holy Spirit to lead Jesus into the wilderness. We think that God’s desire is to protect us against all problems. Wrong.  In fact, He desires to expose us to those very problems. It is only through effort and strain that we develop strength and power. He wants the best for His kingdom.
• It was the choice of the Holy Spirit that Jesus endured temptation. We think that temptation is something bad, an indication of spiritual weakness. Wrong.  In fact, temptation is an essential component to our spiritual growth. Temptation isn’t an indication of weakness – rather, the duration of temptation is an indication of strength. (Be careful with that statement. I don’t mean that a really long time of temptation means that you’re really strong. There are ways we can deliberately extend our own temptation – become our own tempter – as we play with thoughts that we ought to have turned our back on.)

The temptation of Christ didn’t happen when he was at a “spiritual high”. Step one was to go to the wilderness. Step two was to fast for nearly six weeks. And at a time when He was physically weaker than He had ever been – desperately hungry – along comes Satan.

Look at the temptations Luke lists (Matthew flips the last two):

1. Turn the stones to bread.
2. Worship me and you can have the whole world to worship you.
3. Throw yourself down to prove to the world that the angels will catch you.

Would any of these tempt you seriously? Can you turn stones to bread? Is it possible that the whole world could worship you? If you jump off a building will you be caught before you hit the ground? None of these challenges are possible (for you), so you’ve never been tempted along those lines. Again, temptation can only occur when there is opportunity to fall, an exploitable weakness of spirit, and desire to commit. But for Jesus these challenges were all possibilities: (1) He turned water into wine – He could have turned the stones into bread. (2) His mission was to “draw all men unto me.” (John 12:32) That mission would be successful if Satan didn’t try to stop it at every turn both during Jesus’ lifetime and ever since. And Jesus wouldn’t have to die on the cross to accomplish that mission. (3) Of all the people in the world, He knew with complete certainty what His mission from God was. And since the mission was not yet complete, He knew He wouldn’t die until “It is finished” (John 19:30). So if He jumped off, the angels would have to save Him (is the apparent logic) – and the world would see the miracle.

For Jesus as God, these were all possibilities and all (or at least we can see that the first two) were desires. That was the function of the wilderness temptation – to tempt in ways specific to His Godly nature. He was tempted at other times in ways peculiar to His humanity – in the garden, for instance: ‘Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” ’ (Matt 26:39 NIV)

So take heart! Even God Incarnate was tempted in ways that were specific to Him. But He stayed the course because He was stronger than the temptation. We can be too, when we draw on His strength (1 Cor 10:13)

I’m thinking of all the times Israel went to war and won against incredible odds over the course of the Old Testament. Here’s a list off the top of my head – I’m sure there are more – feel free to add others in the comments and I’ll retrofit them:

• Abram takes 318 men to battle against the united kings of Shinar, Ellasar, Elam and Goiim (who had already defeated Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Zoar) – Gen 14:14
• Gideon leads 300 men (of the original 32,000) against the Midianites and Amalekites and the ‘children of the East’ without number – Judges 7:7
• Jonathan and his armor-bearer climb a cliff and kill the garrison (which turned out to be 20 Philistines) – 1 Sam 14:13
• Ahab of Samaria in Israel (the northern kingdom) can raise just 232 commanders and 7,000 troops against Syria and 32 other kingdoms and routes them – 1 Kings 20:15
• Ahab in Israel again against the same enemy – the Israelites kill 100,000, and city walls fall on 27,000 more – 1 Kings 20:29
• Asa raises 580,000 men of Judah & Benjamin against 1,000,000 from Ethiopia. The Ethiopians run away – 2 Chron 14:8
• Hezekiah besieged in Jerusalem and can raise only a prayer; the Assyrians lose 185,000 men – 2 Kings 19:35

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I’ve been thinking about something for a while now – that in the Old Testament only Messiah (or a Messiah-type) can be all three of these things – Prophet, Priest and Prince (should be King, I know, but I’ll call it Prince for alliteration’s sake). Try to be all three yourself and you’re in deep trouble. Whether it’s one of God’s ‘rules’ I don’t know, but it seems to be consistent.

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I’ve been reading Justin Phillips’ excellent book, C. S. Lewis in a Time of War whenever I go out to eat. (It’s exactly right for that purpose – deep enough and not too deep. I don’t like biographies as a general rule, but I like to read about WWII in the UK so the one balances the other. The WWII thing is probably something about the David-and-Goliath courage: the secretary walking over piles of rubble to get to work and then saying, “I’m terribly sorry I’m 2 hours late, but my street was blitzed last night.” But I digress…)

As Lewis gets into his series of BBC broadcasts in the Spring of 1944 titled Beyond Personality he notes that,

“God has no history – He is too real to have one.”

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