Still Looking for a Miracle. . .

Kerry and Chris Shook share the grace that is ours through miracles God gives in life in "Find Your Miracle." They take a look at many of the miracles that Christ performs during His earthly ministry and share from their hearts how those miracles can inform us regarding our experience of Christ. They begin by declaring that miracles still occur today. They are not a thing of the past, but are part of our very lives, each and every day. After stating this premise, they look at five aspects of miracles or the Map of a Miracle: First, God always starts with the miracle you need most; Second, the miracle you need most leads you to what you really need -- a deeper relationship with God; Third, God works miracles in His time and in His way; Fourth, God's miracles in your life will always bring glory to Himself and point people to Christ and; Fifth, only God can provide a miracle, but you have to put yourself in a position to receive the miracle. After exploring these five points on the road map of the miraculous, the Shooks help us all consider how God can act in our lives, in the midst of the pain, obstacles, fear and death of life.
Unfortunately, the book falls short. There is no consideration for when the miracle does not come. Many people have a miracle they need most, but never receive that miracle. Then, instead of encountering God they lose God. Yes, we can imagine that the miracle will occur in God's time, but sometimes that time never arrives. If we are honest with the way that God works in our world, this question needs to be addressed as well. The Shooks fail to address this. Many would remain in their doubt about God and His activity in the world if they read this text. Some people never find the miracle they need to escape the pain, obstacles, fear, and death of this life.
I received this book from Multnomah Publishers for the blogging for books program.

A Delightful Classic

Being familiar with "The Ugly Duckling" by Hans Christian Anderson, I was excited to familiarize myself with another one of his fables. "The Fir Tree" did not disappoint. This tale, which follows the life of a tree as it yearns to find meaning in the world, offers a great lesson to readers. We need to find joy and satisfaction in the moment we find ourselves. Do not wish away the present and seek something greater in the future. This is a beautiful story with an ending that enlightens and yet leaves one pondering about how to approach life.
The art work by Sanna Annukka successfully illustrates the story. The simple angles and variety of colors helps to draw the reader deeper into the story. As one gazes at the artwork, a person can relive the story in a unique and fresh way.
I received this book as part of the blogging for books program through Crown Publishing Group.

Intimacy and Grace

In her epilogue to "Love, Henri: Letters on the Spiritual Life" Sue Mosteller states, "Henri's letters reveal the ever-evolving, ever-deepening, ever-struggling heart of my strong yet vulnerable friend." This statement, which also appears on the back of the book, certainly encapsulates this collection. Through the careful hand of Henri Nouwen as presented in these letters the reader is exposed to a man of passion, a man of integrity, a man of deep feeling, a man of love, and man of God.
Each letter has the potential to touch the heart of someone seeking after God. Henri's advice given to friends struggling with divorce, spiritual malaise, job transition, and any number of issues always comes from a gentle spirit that guides people toward Christ's cross. The heart felt emphasis on prayer throughout the letters guides readers to discover what it means to commune with God. Henri both offers his heartfelt prayer and encourages his friends to pray. This is a constant theme throughout the letters.
In addition, Henri touches on many spiritual issues such as life and death, restoration and redemption, forgiveness and grace, reconciliation and rekindled friendship, care for the poor and compassion for the outcast.
This collection of letters gets into the heart of Henri Nouwen. As with many letter collections, it often gives an intimate window into a precious soul. That is the richness of the collection even though it sometimes seems a little too raw.
Unfortunately, while most often the editorial comments added between letters are insightful, every so often they break into the meditation that the letters encourage. The biographical information is insightful, but sometimes causes disruption.
Nonetheless, those who appreciate Nouwen and those who need fresh insight into living from a passionate and loving man should dig deep into these letters. Many will return to read them again and again.
I received this book as part of the blogging for books program connected with Convergent Publishing.

Justice, Prayer, and Just Prayer

I have been reading in the Prophet of Micah as of late. In chapter 3 Micah confronts the political and religious hierarchy of Israel. This is the very beginning of a series of sermons Micah gives during the life of Hezekiah (for more on Hezekiah, please consult Kings and Chronicles). In this passage, Micah challenges the leaders of Israel to know justice. Micah wants to know if justice is actually being served. I think this is something we need to ask of ourselves as Christians, "Do we live in a nation where justice is served, do we live in a nation where the greatest good is done for all peoples?" The answer has never been yes.
We have just faced one of the most tumultuous elections in our history as a nation with two candidates who arguably do not know justice. One may have a better understanding of justice in one area and one in another, but neither is truly a person of justice. Donald J. Trump, as we all know, has claimed the title of President of the United States. He needs to become a person who knows justice. I believe he can. As Christians, we are a people who believe in grace and forgiveness. I believe that Donald J. Trump can receive the full benefits of God's grace even amidst the ugliness of past actions. As a church, as the people of God, we need to pray for this. We also need to pray that he would come to know justice, be intimate with justice so that God's love might be felt and known by all peoples. This is my prayer, "Holy and Just God, you have blessed this nation of the United States in the past. You have bestowed upon your people the grace that is ours through Jesus Christ. I pray that our president and other elected people would receive your grace and then be blessed with the knowledge to share that grace with all peoples within our nation and outside of our nation so that justice might be experienced. In Christ's holy name, AMEN."
Let us all immerse our future president, our future leaders, our nation, and ourselves in prayer at this time.

Can we be the Bride of Christ?

When I requested this book, I was not sure about it. The title was a little odd and it seemed the authors were trying hard to be funny and contemporary with the title. As I began reading the book I found a very enlightening text that made me pause and think about the church, God's vision for the church, and how all of us are called to live as the church, reflecting Christ as we struggle to grow out of our sinfulness and into His holiness.
The book spends its time alternating between personal stories about the authors' experiences in church with good solid theology. This mix gives the reader a first hand look at how we as Christians should handle the conflicts we have with our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.
One of the central points that launches the ideas in this book is that the church has become a bastion for individualism. We have become a people that focus on self. When we approach worship, we miss the amazing grace that God gives, inviting us into worship, and instead get so concerned with what we want from worship that worship does not really happen. Instead we worship styles of music or dynamic pastors or the coffee bar outside the sanctuary. This is the base of our problem in the church. Much of the hurt we cause one another comes from the fact that we fail to focus on God and on Jesus Christ in our experience as the church. We are too busy being self and refuse to realize that we are together in the body of Christ.
Following the establishment of the basis for the hurt we bring into one another's lives, the authors spend time exploring various types of hurt. They ultimately blame the hurt we cause one another on the truth of the sin that continues to reign in our lives, even as we are seeking to be followers of Christ.
Kluck and Martin conclude with a call for forgiveness. We as Christians need to reflect our Savior who forgives each one of us and bring forgiveness to one another. In II Corinthians Paul speaks of our being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Then he calls us to become agents of reconciliation. While Kluck and Martin did not reference this text, they could have because it makes the point they conclude with. We need to forgive one another so that we are reconciled one to another. In doing this we can be unified, lose our individual approach to the church, and be Christ in the world, a world that desperately needs the love and forgiveness of Christ.
I received this book as part of the blogging for books program with Multnomah Publishers.

The Hidden Life of David

In "Rooted: The Hidden Places Where God Develops You" Banning Liebscher offers a compelling text that invites the reader to consider how God leads them along the journey of life. Necessary for God's leadership is for a person to be rooted in the ground of God's guidance. This guidance comes through prayerful devotion, through service to our neighbors, and through dwelling in God's community. Through prayer, we encounter God and discover the direction that He desires to take us. Through service, we discover God's heart and follow through on His desires. Through community we find strength for the journey as well as direction toward a common goal -- that of serving our Lord.
Overall, the ideas presented in this text will assist anyone as they consider the calling God has for their lives -- yes God has a calling for all of us. In order to answer the call, we first need to live intimately with our God.
Where this book falls short is its promise to survey the life of King David in order to explore these ideas. The life of David is touched upon through brief reviews of moments in his life as well as through quotations of Psalms that are attributed to David. Unfortunately, the stories from King David's life seem glossed over. They are included as part of a whole amongst a number of other examples from Scripture and from life. If a text promises one thing and delivers another a reader walks away disappointed. That is the case here. A reader might enter the reading of this text expecting deep devotional insights from the life of David and instead receive recaps of already familiar stories without the depth truly necessary to understand why the life of David speaks to our rootedness in God. The life of David does speak to our rootedness in God, but "Rooted: The Hidden Places where God Develops You" does not adequately explore these stories. This takes away from the enjoyment of an otherwise good book that does provide direction for those seeking to follow God.
I received this book as part of the Blogging for Books Program through Multonomah Publishing Group.

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"Reset" by Nick Hall

Overall, Nick Hall shares a powerful message in "Reset: Jesus Changes Everything." The second portion of the book when he challenges readers to explore various areas of their life to see if they need to allow Jesus to reset them, is powerful. He challenges us to reset our faith, our plans, our self-image, our relationships, our purity, our habits, our affections, and our generation. In doing so, Hall interacts with our modern culture and challenges some of our modern lifestyles such as materialism and how we approach sexuality. Of particular interest is his conversation on resetting our affections. He states that our affections are anything that gets in the way of our relationship with Jesus Christ -- in other words, our affections are our idols. As Hall aptly argues, we need to reset many areas of our lives in order to become more competent disciples. Will resetting bring us to salvation, no salvation only comes through Jesus Christ. Resetting will improve our relationship with Jesus Christ and enable us to partner with Him in bring God's kingdom to earth.
That said, it is unfortunate that Hall interweaved this important message with the stories of how he founded his ministry. It is understandable as to why he shared this story in the midst of his text. Unfortunately, it feels very much like a commercial for his ministry, particularly in the first few chapters. It would have fit better if Hall interwove the story into why we need to reset our lives rather than introducing the book with this.
In addition, when he took Biblical stories out of their original context and contemporized them, it felt very forced. The stories of Scripture are great stories! Sometimes an updated version might be useful, but in the context of this book it felt unnecessary.
As a youth pastor, I would certainly encourage youth in my ministry to consider the areas which they need to reset. I would like to take the concepts that Hall lays out in this text and strip away the baggage of the story of the founding of his ministry so that they might focus on the fullness of the grace of God and how Jesus Christ resets our lives.
I received this book as part of Multonohmah Publishers Blogging for Books program.

Greater Pursuits than Material Possessions

Joshua Becker provides a concrete vision for living a countercultural lifestyle in "The More of Less." He challenges readers to consider the life of the minimalist, to turn their back on the call of materialism and live a life free of the trappings that come from over accumulation. Becker's goal in writing this text is to provide people with the freedom to live out their dreams. He challenges people to dream big and then encourages us to give up our pursuit of stuff in order to see our dreams realized.
He uses many personal examples as well as stories of other minimilists to make his point. One of the most inspirational stories is his own. He and his wife have formed a non-profit organization called The Hope Effect, which seeks to provide two parent homes to orphans. The founding of this organization became possible because of the minimalist lifestyle that Becker, along with his family, adopted. Without the resources saved through living as minimilists, Joshua Becker and his wife could never have realized the dream of founding The Hope Effect.
In challenging readers to pursue this lifestyle, Becker provides many steps that allow people to adopt minimalism. He explores many ideas from starting small to looking at the areas that are hardest for people. Some areas will be easier for some readers than others. For instance, I could easily give up some of my clothing. As I read, I mentally went through my closet and realized that while everything still fits, there are many things I have not worn since I graduated college 18 years ago. Clothing is easy. Books on the other hand, when Becker wrote that he took three bookshelves down to one I balked. Books would be a challenge area for me as I have a deep love for them and can see the potential in many of my books for research, growth, and furthering my career. Others, of course, are just for entertainment. An area that I am inspired to look at more closely is paper clutter. Becker makes the point that we do not need paper records as most stuff is available on-line. We just need to go through stuff and get rid of the excess.
I have not made the decision to become a minimalist, but it is a lifestyle I could begin approaching. I challenge people to read this book and consider its message. If you yourself do not choose the lifestsyle of minimalism, perhaps, like me, you could discover areas where you could embrace minimalist principles.
I received this book as a review copy from the blogging for books program through Multnomah Publishing Group.

Thoughts on Bonhoeffer's Thought

In a letter that Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote to his mentor and friend, Max Diestel, he had this to say about the state of the American church in the 1930s, "In New York, they preach about virtually everything; only one thing is not addressed, or is addressed so rarely that I have as yet been able to hear it, namely, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the cross, sin, and forgiveness." Bonhoeffer wrote these words after attending many prominent churches in New York city during his time as a fellow at Union.
This statement from Bonhoeffer gets me pondering regarding the current state of the church. In my career in ministry, I rarely get opportunities to hear sermons preached at other churches than my own. I do feel that many churches speak the name of Christ and declare the forgiveness that is ours through His amazing grace. Perhaps in some regard we have moved forward since Bonhoeffer visited the states during The Great Depression.
He did feel that many American sermons sought to comfort man rather than call man toward grace, repentance, and forgiveness. This may have been a product of the times as many people would have been seeking comfort in the midst of The Great Depression. It seems though that this habit of offering greater comfort than challenge still exists in the churches of the United States. I hear many a preacher offer the material blessings of the Gospel and few challenging us toward greater discipleship. A family that used to attend my church no longer attends because the sermons did not offer them their preferred brand of theology. That preferred brand was captured through the viewing of many TV preachers, declaring that God seeks to provide riches and material success. They left our church because they refused to hear the truth that God does not promise material wealth. He promises blessings so much more meaningful and beneficial -- the blessings of reconciliation with our Creator and restoration of God's very image within us.
This western version of Christianity does not compliment the message of Scripture. Paul often found himself in poverty and suffering through imprisonment because of his willingness to stand up to the Gospel. This does not seem to measure with the material blessing gospel that is so prevalent in some corners of western theology. Jesus challenges us to leave mother and father for the gospel. He then also challenges a rich ruler to give up all so that he might experience the kingdom in His own life. This does not sound like a gospel where we benefit from economic surplus and material blessings. Western Christians might need to consider giving up a lot more so that we can follow Christ and experience the fullness of his forgiveness.
I do not know if this is what Bonhoeffer was getting at, but I know his emphasis was on Christ as the center. If material gain and success is the center, how can Christ be the center?

A Treasure in Biblical FIction

"Miriam" offers a great read as well as lessons in Christian spirituality. The prose of this book is well written and invites the reader to experience the lives of Miriam and the other characters. The book engages the mind, the soul, and the heart. Mesu Andrews creates compelling and believable characters in a background that is mostly historically accurate. Many of the non-Biblical characters are taken from the true history of Egypt in this time frame.
Andrews offers a compelling vision of God (Yahweh) and picks up on an interpretation of His revealed name that few pick up on. She points out that Yahweh does not just refer to "I Am," but also refers to "My nature will become evident through my actions." Andrews uses this point in the telling of her story and in the revelation of God to the various characters.
One negative aspect of the book is that we spend way too much time with other characters and not with Miriam. Certainly, these characters are well written, but in spending so much time on them the story of Miriam gets a little muddled. This is only a negative in the fact that the title of the book is therefore a misnomer. If Andrews had written the book from Miriam's first person perspective then perhaps a focus on these other characters would have been acceptable. The book would have been better title something that encompassed the journeys of Miriam, Eleazer, Taliah, and Hoshea rather than just focusing on one character.
Another negative aspect was the infrequent theological/historical mistakes. One such incident occurs when Eleazer's friend Mosi is killed. Mosi, not being a Hebrew would not have been in covenant with Yahweh. Eleazer then asks Miriam if Mosi will experience the afterlife. Miriam assures him that Mosi likely will based on Mosi's stated beliefs. This is a great story and testimony if the story took place in the Christian era when the afterlife and resurrection was a well revealed reality. At the time of the Exodus, most scholars agree, that there was not a developed theology of the afterlife. This is an unfortunate occurrence in a text that seems typically accurate.
Overall, "Miriam" provides a wonderful read of a rich period in the story of God's interaction with His peoples. It challenges and captures the reader.
I received this book as part of the blogging for books program with Multonomah Publishers.

The Cross

In his commentary on 1-2 Corinthians published by Cambridge University press, Dr. Craig S. Keener comments on 2 Corinthians 2 by stating, "The cross speaks death for those for whom the cross reveals nothing beyond itself." This statement is worth exploring in our current post-Christian culture. Many cannot see the cross as anything beyond an object.
In the first century, the cross was known as a device for the death penalty. The Apostle Paul rightly convinced people that for the Christian it is so much more than an object of punishment, torture, and death. Today, the cross might be nice jewelry or an inconsequential symbol for many. The cross is so much more! The cross is the sign that God is involved in our world. The cross is the symbol of God's love for all humanity. The cross is the path to reconciliation between us and the God who created us. The cross is the gift of grace from the One God who overwhelms us with love.
In this season of Lent, we must consider what the cross means for us. Is it just a standard and a cross beam or is it so much more? The cross should mean an abundance of things. Most importantly, it should point us to the overwhelming love of God. It should then lead us to our knees as we worship God for the grace bestowed. Then, it should inform our very lives. It should inform how we treat others, how we approach our families, how we care for the poor in our midst, how we vote, what we choose to do with our time and money, and so many other things. The cross should not be nothing beyond itself. The cross should mean everything to us!

Great Book that Falls a Little Short of its Promises

"Renovate" by Leonce B. Crump Jr. is a great survey for the inspiration behind a specific ministry in downtown Atlanta that then branches into a call for all Christians to equally accept all people as creations of our loving and creative God. The message of this book is fantastic and the vision that Crump puts forth is inspiring. Crump invites his readers to explore his personal history along with the ways that God has worked through him in establishing Renovation Church.
Unfortunately, "Renovate" does not truly accomplish what it claims to accomplish. The front cover claims to help readers change who we are by loving where we are. The book then goes on to claim assistance in helping us all renovate our world and specifically our place in the world. "Renovate" does help me gain sympathy toward the plight that faces the city of Atlanta. The sketch of Atlanta and its surrounding communities grants knowledge of the need for social and spiritual renewal within that community. This does not translate to the community to which I find myself very easily. Atlanta being a very urban environment with its own history contrasts sharply with the rural area in which I live. There are pointers that can be taken from the book such as understanding that we all have to realize that God sends us to our place of ministry and that there is a need for people to know the history of the place to where they have been sent. "Renovate" also offers a great reminder that we all need to reflect Christ by being incarnational. Yet, the book falls short in helping me translate the concepts it espouses to my place.
People endeavoring to follow Christ in this world should still read this book though. It offers great insight into a wonderful ministry. It also offers a call that the entire church needs to hear over and over again -- the call to equality within the body of Christ and within the world.
I received this book as a part of the Blogging For Books program with Multnohmah Press.

Holistic Pursuit of Holiness

A Review of "Whatever is Lovely: A Coloring Book for Reflection and Worship"

This coloring book offers a chance to slow down in the midst of life. The artwork is beautifully done by a number of different artists, providing for a variety in expression as one colors. The addition of Scriptures, inspirational sayings from a number of wonderful Christian individuals, and lyrics from popular hymns with accompanying hymn stories provides the person engaging with the artwork moments of meditation. Finally, the play list provided through Spotify offers a varied presentation of music that also lifts up the person engaging the artwork. The combining of these elements is wonderful, providing the individual the opportunity to reflect in a myriad of ways upon the grace, love, and peace of God. 
This coloring book uniquely provides a method for devotional reflection. Often devotionals capitalize on the cognitive learner with texts. "Whatever is Lovely" focuses on the active and visual learners without losing the opportunity to engage the mind. This is a holistic approach to spiritual reflection that potentially leads the individual toward holiness.