Dangerous Church - A Book Review

When offered a chance to read John Bishop's book Dangerous Church, I almost balked. I've read and been disturbed by Platt's Radical and Radical Together. I say disturbed because I'm not sure Platt has the right answers. To be fair, he often says he's not really sure he does either. But these other titles got me thinking and disturbed me. So with a book covered in Caution tape and the title Dangerous Church I felt we might head down that road once more.

Instead, Bishop has not shaken anything in me. The big idea is simply that we must do everything in our power to reach our world with the gospel. OK. How? By risking everything and always remembering God so we can reach people everywhere! And that was my take away. Bishop gives a great "rah rah" speech in nearly 200 pages of the importance of reaching people with the gospel. But his book is almost the polar opposite of Platt in that he focuses more on reaching the people near your church or in your city by making you church larger and going multi-site so you can preserve your church's DNA.

In fact, one whole chapter lauds the idea of multi-site churches. It might have been the point I just turned off completely. I am now and have always been against the multi-site ideology. In my own opinion it calls for worship of a pastor or church or church's DNA over a true worship of Jesus. Again, my opinion is that if an area of your community is unreached plant a church, install biblical, sound leaders and allow God to build what he wills. Requiring your new church plant to keep your name and play the video of your message denies that anyone else can reach these people other than you and robs the Spirit of it's work in the changing of hearts.

Ultimately, Bishop's book is a decent read but I wouldn't have called it Dangerous. Instead he's calling for a focus or refocus on the most important job a church has...reaching people with the gospel.

Chazown - A book review

I love Craig Groeschel. Several of his books have found ways into my hands and I've always lapped them up. When I was offered a chance to read his first Chazown and review it I was ecstatic. I now know that the first book may not be as great as the latter installments.
Let me preface these comments by saying this. Much of what Craig shares in this book are ideas that I had gleaned out of the other books I have read. I believe Chazown is a lynch pin for much of his thought process and because of that I notice these ideas seep into his other works and his sermons. (which I've listened to regularly for some time) If you are new to Groeschel this is a great place to start. He clearly maps out finding your vision for your personal ministry and putting that vision into action. He witty and engaging.

If you are familiar with Lifechurch.tv's creator, though, you've probably heard much if not all of this before. His stories and ideas are often regular pieces in other works or from the pulpit. They are not bad...they are in fact great in many ways...but you will probably be bored as you read this book.

This is a great read for new ministers and people searching for a way to vocalize a life vision or mission providing you have not been following the author for a while.

Washed and Waiting - A Book Review

This month I was offered a chance to read Washed and Waiting, a new book by Wesley Hill. Mr. Hill is a celibate, homosexual Christian and his book deals with homosexuality from a biblical viewpoint as well as giving insight into the mindset of a homosexual longing to fit into the church.

I found this book to be invaluable for several reasons. Hill gives theological discussion to the issue of homosexuality and does not pull any punches. He deals with the difficulty to live by a biblical standard but at once explains why it is necessary to do so. He also deals with the lonely and fearful position that homosexuals desiring the community of the church. Interspersed within the theological discussion are 3 profiles of well known homosexual Christians that give faces to the issue being discussed.

Overall this book is an excellent treatment of an issue that has become a battleground for the church over the past few years. I would highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to gain a better perspective.

Soulprint - A Book Review

There never has been and never will be anyone like you. But that isn’t a testament to you. It’s a testament to the God who created you. The problem? Few people discover the God-given identity that makes them unlike anyone else.

As I've become more and more involved with the Christian book scene I ran across an opportunity to read a book by author and pastor Mark Batterson. I'm not going to lie. Before the opportunity to read "Soulprint" came along I'd never heard of Mark Batterson. However, as is often the case once I became aware of him I got very excited about this book. I checked the mail for it each day. It finally arrived and I put away everything else I was reading and dove in. As I completed the book I came away disappointed.

Batterson's primise and ideas are all valid, wonderful things that everyone needs to be aware of. However, he never seems to dig in and provide the ideas on how to discover your Soulprint. What he has done is define what a Soulprint is and why we need to understand it's existence in our life. By using 5 different well known moments in the life of David Batterson has given me a vocabulary to express the idea of God-given uniqueness to my students... which is worth reading the book. However, I was hoping for something that worked on another level to help me discover more about myself and this book didn't provide that.

I would recommend this book for anyone searching for purpose or anyone who is new in Christ. But, if you know and believe the basic premise that you are an individual masterpiece created by God for his special purpose then you might be able to skip this one.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

To Transform a City - Book Review

In 2007 the number of people who live in urban cities was larger than the the number of people in rural areas for the first time. This is an irreversible trend. Church and ministry leaders must now determine the best way to minister to cities. At least, this is the contention for Eric Swanson and Sam Williams in the book "To Transform a City". Swanson and Williams deal with transforming a city into a better place to live as a means to share the gospel using work they've done in the Boulder, CO area.

Initially, the authors make a great point as they open the book that the best way to transform any population is to love them unconditionally. Through loving on your city you can make things better for the least of these and share the gospel with everyone who asks why your doing these works. But this idea gets lost over the next 200 pages.

This book is a tough read. The writing is dry and the concepts are overcomplicated by the authors. Graphics in the book are simple and lack any pop much like the text. The information is useful as a study of how churches should interact as part of a city but I fear only the very dedicated reader will be able to push through and glean the best of the text.

Overall, I would recommend this for leaders of large churches of ministries. Lay leaders or smaller churches will find very little of this information useful and the text is not entertaining enough to recommend for these groups.

Sun Stand Still - A Book Review

What if God really wants to do the impossible in your life? What if the days of praying for the unimaginable and seeing God work in amazing ways aren't just relegated to the Bible? What could God accomplish through you life for His glory?

Steven Furtick's book Sun Stand Still is an call to the average Christian living the average Christian life to stop dreaming about the average and search out the huge things God can do with you willingness and faith. Your audacious faith. Furtick challenges you and I (and himself, for that matter) to live with the kind of faith that Joshua exhibits when he prays for the Sun to stand still in the sky. These "Sun Stand Still prayers" are not our wishes and dreams. (Oh Lord, provide me with a sports car and two new jet-skis. Well, they don't have to be new, just in decent condition...I don't want to be greedy.) But they can be amazing things that demonstrate the power of God and further the kingdom.

Furtick explains the process of finding a Godly vision. (he calls it a Page 23 vision) Then turning that vision over to God and following the leading of the Spirit step by step to see God accomplish great things for His glory.

At first blush I want to say the Furtick's claims are at best naive. He would tend to agree. But claims that being naive isn't always a bad thing. And ultimately he has a vision to pastor a thriving community that makes a change in the world for the glory of God and he's living it. Meanwhile, at the same age...I'm just getting started.

Furtick attempts to give the average Christian a kick in the pants to activate an audacious faith for the Kingdom. Should you feel the need for it I would recommend you give this one a read.

What makes Grace amazing anyway?

I get the opportunity to ride the bus to work a lot lately. Please, don't think I'm complaining. I like the bus for the most part. One of my favorite things about riding the bus is the ability to get lost in a book or download some sermons or even listen to an audiobook.

I just got finished listening to "The Ragamuffin Gospel".

I realize that many who read Brennan Manning's keystone piece are skeptical. Manning simplifies our relationship with God as simply as an unconditional loving father like the father in the Prodigal Son parable. No matter how long or wrong we live, in the end God loves us so much he will accept us. He loves us too much to have any other choice. There is a long theological discussion about the Grace and Love of God that could be taken up where Manning leads his readers. I'm not sure where I end up yet as I ponder his point, but I'm willing to discuss it with anyone who's read this particular piece and wants to talk.

One story that Manning uses hit me square in the chest...

In the middle of the Great Depression, New York City mayor, Fiorello LaGuardia, strived to live with the people. It was not unusual for him to ride with the firefighters, raid with the police, or take field trips with orphans. On a bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself.

Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread.

She told the mayor that her daughter's husband had left, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving. However, the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. "It's a real bad neighborhood, your Honor," the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson."

LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said, "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions. Ten dollars or ten days in jail." But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous hat, saying, "Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. "Mr. Baliff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant."

The following day, New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered woman who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren. Fifty cents of that amount was contributed by the grocery store owner himself, while some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation.

True? No one knows. Even Snopes.com is on the fence and lead toward this particular account being legend. But...

LaGuardia or legend, I see a picture of the grace God has on us. We are all guilty with no defense. And as the Mayor says, the law makes no exceptions. But even as God was forced to pronounce judgement on us for our sin He gave His Son to cover our justly deserved penalty of separation from Him.

But the poor woman in the story isn't just set free with no penalty. She walks away from the bench with nearly $50 in her pocket. In the poorest area of depression era New York... that would have been an amazing gift.

Likewise, you and I are forgiven our sins. We are allowed entry into heaven. We are able to have a relationship with God. But God's generosity doesn't stop there. We are not merely occupants of the Kingdom of Heaven. Romans 8 says,

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.
And by him we cry,“Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

We are given more than we deserve in that Jesus died to pay our debt of sin. But we are blessed to receive heir-ship in the Kingdom. And that makes the Grace we receive from our Heavenly Father amazing.