Some good books and good coffee (UPDATED)

It's snowing up in the Smokies today. The view from my window is nothing but snow covered trees and mountains. Beautiful! What's even better is that I'm warm inside our cabin drinking fresh ground coffee. In case you were wondering about the view here you go.

One of my favorite places down here is a discount Christian bookstore. They have some great deals. I scored a few good ones the other day. Here's what I got (I hope to return and find a few more good deals).

I had to hit another bookstore down here and spent a little more money. Actually, I felt a bit like I was stealing these books because I got them for so cheap. Two of them are commentaries, one about studying the bible, and one on discipleship. You would be amazed at how cheap books are at these stores. It's awesome!

Bible Reading Habits

These go with some questions I asked a couple of weeks ago.

1. How do you go about reading your Bible? Do you read whole books? Small chunks? One verse? What do you do when you read?

2. Do you read in the morning? Afternoon? Evening?

3. Do you read every day? Every other day? A couple times a week? How often are you reading your Bible?

Any thoughts?

Love & War

What a beautiful Thursday morning. Snow all over. I love it. John and Stasi Eldredge have co-written a new book about marriage. Love and War: Finding The Marriage You’ve Dreamed Of is the book. I haven’t been blown away or had any “Aha! That’s what I’m doing wrong!” moments while reading it (maybe I need to read it again), but my wife sure has liked it. Nevertheless there is a lot of good points and material covered. Like what?

Main points from first half of the book:

- You and your spouse live in a love story that is set in the middle of a very real war.
- Marriage is from God, it is a picture of His love to the world and to help us.
- Your marriage is a perfect storm because we live in a fallen world and we all are affected by sin. Yet, God uses marriage to transform us.
- The greatest gift you can give your spouse is to have a real relationship with God.
- If you have to choose between companionship and eros, go with companionship. It is the bedrock of marriage.
- You have an enemy, and it is not your spouse. The sooner you realize this, the better.
- God has rigged this world for adventure. You have a mission, your spouse has a mission, and your marriage has a mission.

These are just some of the highlights from the first part of the book. All pretty good stuff as you can see. Guys, this might be a good Valentine’s Day gift for your wife. Ladies, this might be a good Valentine’s Day gift for your husband. It's at bookstores and online now. I hope you all have a happy Valentine’s Day!

See ya next Thursday.

Angels (Book Review)

I was originally supposed to post this yesterday, but forgot.

There’s a great book out by David Jeremiah entitled Angels (Who They Are and How They Help…What the Bible Reveals). This is an easy read and I recommend it to any one out there curious about angels and their role. If you happen to have a friend who is asking questions about angles this would be a good book to give them. Be sure of this, there’s a lot of garbage out there right now that incorrectly portrays angels (good and bad), this book will help set people straight. Anyone who has watched the new movie Legion should read this book as quickly as possible.

I like the way the book is broken up and there is even a scripture index in the back if a certain passage comes to mind that can quickly take you to the author’s thoughts/commentary on that particular passage. Here are the chapters of the book in case you are wondering what’s in it:


1. What in the world are angels doing?
2. In the presence of angels – part 1
3. In the presence of angels – part 2
4. The angels and God
5. What angels are
6. When angels appear
7. The angels and us: How much alike?
8. Angels you’ve heard about (and more)
9. The greatest angel
10. Showing us how to worship
11. Showing us how to work
12. Coming to carry me home
13. Hell’s angels
14. The angels and Jesus

Dr. Jeremiah is very conservative in his approach to Genesis 6 and rejects the possibility that angels could have had sex with humans and have created a hybrid-superhero race of people (see Gen 6:4). He does not want to touch this and quickly skimps over it brushing the “sons of God” off as just mortal men. I was kind of bummed and expecting a little more here because 2 Peter and Jude allude to angels doing something really bad before the flood.

Not enough to make me not use this. I will keep this in my library as a handy resource on angels in case I’m ever asked about them. Pick yourself up a copy and you’ll be equipped to answer any questions thrown at you too!

A couple of questions

After a week of sickness I'm back. That was not fun. Keeping things short and sweet today. Just a couple of questions to throw at you.

- What kind of Bible do you use?

- Why?

Conan and the Tonight Show

Things have really heated up on the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. The NBC bashing on last night’s show was just as funny as it was the day Conan stood up to NBC and said he wouldn’t move to 12am. What is it about all of this that we tend to like? Why have most people sided with Conan? Why are we cheering him on? I think it’s the fact that an underdog is standing up for himself against a money-hungry god named NBC. We love cheering for the underdog and seeing him or her stand up for themselves. There is an instant recognition that something is unjust and unfair here. We want something done about it. Conan is doing something about it and this makes us cheer and laugh.

Now pretend for a moment Conan is an evangelical Christian. Would it be appropriate to make fun of and rip NBC in the way he has been? Why or why not? What would be a correct Christian response to such a situation? How would you want him to respond if he were a Christian? What do you think?

A Couple of Bible Studies I've Written

I’ve been working on a MA degree in discipleship the past three and half years. I’m very close to being done. The degree has focused on how leaders of a church can help assist their church grow in their walk with the Lord through various activities and teaching. We’ve spent a lot of time on curriculum design and how to gear curriculum to making disciples. Some of the fruit from this labor I now humbly lay before you.

Over the past couple of years I have written a couple of Bible studies (I turned these in as projects for a class) that pull from some of the various things I’ve been learning in class on how to teach in a way to make disciples. I wanted to put my best foot forward when I was turning these projects in so I had them bound in book format.

The first one I wrote was on the book of James. It’s called Walking James. Both are available for purchase at LuLu (just click on a link). It was an incredible learning experience for me to have to write a study on a particular book of the Bible. I really enjoyed doing it.

After James I moved to Luke’s Gospel, and to keep the series going, I named it Walking Luke. They can be used by individuals but I designed them to be used in small groups. The James study is 15 weeks and Luke is 9 weeks. I had a former teen (Dion D) design the covers of these. He did an awesome job. I also had a brother-in-law help with the interior layout. So, if you are really bored and have a lot of time on your hands here is something for you.

New Year's Goals

Well, here we are into the New Year. Can you believe it? I have some goals for myself this coming year. Thought I would share a few with you.

- I’m working on becoming a morning person. Notice the time stamp on this blog? I usually stay up late and sleep in, but I’m working on changing that for 2010. The past couple of weeks I’ve been getting up at 6:30am. It has been nice to get up before everyone else (including the kids) and have some quiet time.

- Read the Bible through in a year using the NRSV translation. I’m off to a really good start on this and have a bit of a reading pattern down. I’m not following any year plan or anything, just reading five to six chapters a night. I’ve been using the NRSV lately and have come to like it.

- Continue exercising and eating right. Not that I was doing a good job at this before, but I did start working out last summer and have been able to continue that (November and December were bad months. Too much food and candy!). I’m actually going to be starting a 90 day challenge with our youth pastor this next week that will help me with the eating right. We want to see how good of shape we can get in by April.

There are a few of my goals for 2010. How about you, have any you care to share?

2 Questions

Keeping it very simple today. Just a couple of questions I'm curious about.

1. What was your favorite moment this past Christmas?

2. How do you take in the New Year? Do you go to a party? Sleep through it? What?

Primal by Mark Batterson (Book Review)

I’ve been working my way through Mark Batterson’s new book Primal this past week. Thank you Multnomah for the complimentary copy! The book is a very easy read and I think someone with ADD would really like it because Mark jumps around a lot telling different stories.

In this book Mark focuses on getting back to the basics of Christianity. Getting back to what is primal. What is primal? What is left of Western Christianity after you strip it of all the fancy bells and whistles? It’s about loving God and loving others. Mark then examines the great commandment of Jesus in Mark 12:28-31. Mark will seek to answer the questions: What does it mean to love God with our heart? What does it mean to love God with our soul? What does it mean to love God with our mind? What does it mean to love God with our strength?

It’s a quick easy read and it doesn’t get too complicated. However, I wished there was more depth to it. I don’t think Mark fleshed out enough what it means to really love God with all your heart and soul (the other chapters weren’t bad). There just wasn’t enough to really help a person understand what the heart is and what the soul is. Those chapters left me wanting more and a bit confused about the heart and soul of a person.

Again, if you like a lot of stories or need some good illustrations for your sermon pick this book up. If you really want a solid explanation of what it means to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength buy, read and study Dallas Willard’s book Renovation of The Heart.

The Good and Beautiful God (Chapter 2)

Chapter 2 – God is Good

In this next chapter Smith writes to convince us of God’s goodness. Smith lost a 2 year old and the experience has shaped his theology of God and suffering. He shares a little about getting through that difficult time of grief. The most haunting thing is a story where a pastor friend of his blames his daughter’s death on some kind of sin he or his wife must have done. This brings a lot of confusion and soul searching to his life. Thankfully he emerges with a pretty solid view of God’s goodness and that God is purely good and has our best interests in mind.

I like this being a Wesleyan. We affirm the goodness of God and the goodness of creation. We start with Genesis 1 and 2 instead of Genesis 3. The Bible doesn’t start with sin; it starts with God the goodness of His creation. He created a perfect world and called it good. Sin is why we have all the imperfections and problems. Sin was never a part of God’s creation or plan.

Smith shares some thoughts Augustine had in regards to why bad things happen to good people and vice versa. Ultimately there is a trust we are going to have to have in God to set the world right and bring the justice we so eagerly desire. He concludes the chapter with the thought that we will know why such bad things have happened when we see Jesus.

Chapter 2 Soul Training Exercise

How do we experience God’s goodness? Two spiritual disciplines are recommended, silence and awareness of God’s creation. It is recommended that we take 5 minutes a day and sit in silence. This is a pretty easy challenge, but still a challenge because of the fast paced mentality of our world. We are always on the move. To practice awareness of creation Smith asks us to take a walk or just look at nature and praise God for its beauty. Again, very simple. These things together help us experience God’s goodness because we sit in silence knowing God is in control. The stillness helps us know God is good. and we become aware of His creation knowing He made a good world.

The Good and Beautiful God

The Good and Beautiful God
James Bryan Smith

Here are some notes I’ve gathered from the first chapter of The Good and Beautiful God by James B. Smith. If this first chapter is any indication of what the rest of the book will be like, this is going to be a fun read!

Chapter 1 – What Are You Seeking?

How do we change? How do we become the type of person Jesus talks about in His Sermon on the Mount? Is that even possible? Smith believes it is and declares that we change through training our soul. Smith was mentored by Dallas Willard and Richard Foster and a lot of their influence is seen (read?) here in this first chapter.

Is change in our lives brought about by willpower? Is that what it takes to change? Smith points out that our will actually has no power, but is controlled via our mind, engaging in the spiritual disciplines, and participating in the church, and the Holy Spirit. I like what he is saying here. Of course change in our lives involves God, but it also involves us working with God. Smith is not promoting salvation by works in any way, he is focusing in on how we Christians can live as Christians and be transformed by God’s grace in this wonderful process of being made holy. In this first chapter he asks us to rethink our lives and the stories that form our lives, to examine what we practice in regards to spiritual disciplines, and observe who we hang around with and what we are learning from them.

Chapter 1 Soul Training Exercise

Each chapter has a soul training exercise that is designed to engage you in the transformation process promoted in this book. The first exercise: sleep. We are encouraged to get a full day of rest. Smith pushes us to try and sleep until we feel we are fully rested and we couldn't possibly rest anymore. That’s it. It starts out that simple. This first chapter ends with a couple of reflection questions about what you experienced while trying to rest your body.

You need to check this book out. This book is designed to be used within a small group and I believe God will use this book and the activities in it to bring about transformation to those willing to give it a try.

Your thoughts?

Top 10 Things I'm Thankful For

Turkey day is almost here. Thought I would release this week’s Thursday Thinking a day early. I’ll be spending tomorrow with family eating and watching football. So, here are some of the things I want to express thanks for.

My Top 10 things I’m thankful for

1. That I live in one of the greatest countries in the world. Come on, despite the changes and crazy stuff happening, you have to admit we live in an awesome country!

2. Jesus Christ, the Father, and the Spirit and all they have done and continue to do on my behalf. The Trinity is sweet!

3. My wife who makes me a better person. So much of who I have become is because of her and I’m very thankful for that (this line should get me some brownie points! Ha!). She’s also in love with Jesus and that’s hot!

4. 2 beautiful daughters. Kids are awesome. It was fun being one, but I think it’s more fun raising one (it’s also tough). Now you get to laugh at all the silly things they do and tell all your family about it and hear, “You used to do that too!”

5. God’s Word because it reveals to us Jesus and teaches us everything we need to know about Him and the kingdom of heaven. You gotta love the Bible!

6. All my family (in-laws and out-laws). They really exemplify Christ-like love in all they do and say. We all get along very well and enjoy hanging out with one another. How many people can say that about all of their family?

7. Great friends. I have so many wonderful friends. Funny thing is I don’t deserve such great friends because I have really failed at friendship (Would I really want to become friends with me?). I love meeting and hanging out with them. I have friends that belong to Christ and some who don’t. I learn from both.

8. Cooler weather. I enjoy autumn and winter. I’m not a big fan of warm weather, so this is my favorite time of year. There’s even a song that supports my view and sings, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”

9. Christmas lights. They’re pretty and my daughter gets excited whenever she sees them. All the new LED lights can be spotted a mile away and they draw you in like a bug zapper. Awesome lights!

10. Vehicles. It’s so great to be able to drive around to work, home, bookstore, etc. We usually are only thankful for our vehicles after they break down and we get them fixed. Before that happens to me again, I want to say I’m thankful for it while it’s still running. Could you imagine doing all we do today on horseback or in buggies?

When and where do we pray? (part 2)

Nelsman did a superb job in summing up the way we should view and interpret Jesus’ teachings on prayer in Matthew 6 (from the comments last week). Here is his comment in regards to praying in public and if it is ok or not:

Sounds like it on the surface, but Jesus prayed in the presence of the disciples in John 17, gave thanks for food for the 5 thousand in Mark 6:41, prayed for Lazarus in front of others in John 11:41. So this reads more like a warning to not turn a prayer into a performance "to be seen by men". Maybe Jesus is leading us into private prayer so we will not be tempted to go beyond a one on one relationship with the Father

It's some great thoughts on this matter. The key is the heart. What is the heart? It’s that area where choice and will come from. It is our motive for why we do what we do. If you read the first verse of Matthew 6 you can see that Jesus is talking about motive. Matthew 6:1 (NRSV) reads,

Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heave.

I think it’s ridiculous and wrong to interpret Jesus’ teachings on giving, prayer and fasting apart from this first verse. It clearly connects to everything that follows. Jesus clearly teaches that it is all about the heart. He is telling us it is all about our motive.

I’ve heard Christians tell me that it’s ok for Muslims to pray in public but Christians are to go to a private place and pray. I’ve even heard some people say it’s wrong to do public prayer in church. Those two comments are examples of how NOT to interpret Matthew 6. If your reason for wanting to pray in public is ok you can pray whenever and wherever you want. Jesus has given us freedom to do that! Nelsman gave some great examples of Him praying in public.

So, if you ever hear someone state Christians are not supposed to pray in public you have opportunity (maybe even responsibility?) to correct them and bring them back to the heart of the matter. Take them to Matthew 6:1 and make sure they catch and understand the phrase “in order to be seen by them”.

When and where do we pray?

Sorry to miss last week, was in class all day Thursday and Friday. Matthew 6 is a fun passage of scripture to read. I’m curious as to how you interpret Jesus’ words in verses 5 and 6 in regards to prayer? So, here are a few questions to get you thinking.

- Is He saying we should never pray in public?
- What about praying publicly when the church is gathered?
- Does this mean Christians should stop praying for their meals while out to eat?
- Is Jesus saying God only hears our prayers when we pray in secret?

What do you think?

Big fish, small picture

In case you were wondering if I caught any fish last week (it's not my proudest moment!).

Caught few little largemouths. Using pumpkinseed Triple Ripple from Bass Pro Shops. Salt Creek was a really neat place to fish. I would have loved to have had a canoe and a whole day to explore and fish it.

Ministers & Mates Retreat

Down in beautiful Nashville Indiana for our District’s Ministers & Mates Retreat this week. the leaves, the hills, the perfect weather. Wow! Our first session was Tuesday at 5:30 at Salt Creek (just a stone’s throw from where we are staying, pictured above). What was the lesson? How to fish for bass in Salt Creek. Here’s some pics from that adventure.

We are having a great time. The kids are with grandma and grandpa. We started missing them as soon as we left.



In case you are wondering we did go to the sessions. They were good and focused a lot on building up your marriage. It's been fun!

Mary & Martha (part 2)

This story also teaches us about social boundaries in the kingdom of God. We may unintentionally decide who is “in” and who is “out” when it comes to the kingdom of God. We may think a particular person, because of their social status, probably won’t make a good follower of Jesus. Jesus challenges that type of thinking here when He allows Mary to sit at His feet and learn. In Jesus’ world of the first century it was men who would sit at their teacher’s feet and learn like disciples. Women were to keep busy in the kitchen or with raising the children. It was somewhat shocking for a woman to sit at a man’s feet. In the first century men were at the top of society and ranked higher than women. Here, Mary is acting like a man and it upsets Martha because it goes against the grain of society. Society tells Martha that her sister shouldn’t be doing this.

Jesus’ response to Martha indicates that there is something different between the social boundaries in the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world. Jesus doesn’t mind a woman sitting at His feet learning. He doesn’t mind a woman being His disciple. As a matter of fact, when you read through the Gospel of Luke you see that Jesus extends the invitation to follow Him to anyone willing to count the cost and follow Him. There are no social boundaries in the kingdom of God. Everyone is invited in.

As leaders we need to be looking at people with Jesus’ eyes and always be extending the invitation to enter God’s kingdom. Society may tell us there is a difference socially and in status between a garbage man and a doctor, but we need to remember that Jesus allows both to be His disciples and learn from Him. Will we play the popularity game and only allow people like us to be Christians or will we open the doors as Jesus did for all to come? Will our church be open to bankers and lawyers as well as alcoholics and drug addicts? As one commentator said in regards to Mary and Martha, “this story is about the boundary-breaking call of Jesus.” We cannot let social status keep us from sharing the Gospel and our lives with others. Jesus has commissioned us to make disciples out of all kinds of people regardless of where they rank in society. Being a disciple of Jesus is more important than anything else and the invitation is (or at least should be) open to all.

Mary & Martha (What can we learn?)

Paul writes in Philippians 3:10a, "I want to know Christ."

How do you get to know Jesus?

The story of Jesus at the home of Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42) gives us great advice on this and a great first step to take.

Step 1 – We listen to His Word. We read and hear the scriptures. Even if we don’t feel like it we still do it. Even if it is a passage we have read a million times we humble ourselves and listen. How often are we doing that? What is the ratio of hearing TV to hearing God’s Word in our lives? What is the ratio of hearing our children/spouse/others to hearing God’s Word? How often are we hearing from Him? Do we even sense that it is important?

Are we like Martha who is so concerned with the things needing to be done in this world that we neglect to spend time with the One who made this world? He said to Martha, “There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it.” (NLT) Ouch! That had to sting a little for Mary.

As leaders we need to know and be familiar with God’s Word. We need to be able to answer our people who have questions. We need to be able to answer our people who are misinformed about what God’s Word really says. We need to be able to answer our critics. We need to be able to answer our family. My advice is to shut the TV off, step away from the computer/internet, go to a place of silence, and open your Bible and start reading. Hopefully, we will discover, along with Martha, that it really is important to listen and spend time with God.

Part 2 to Mary and Martha coming next week.

The Wesley Study Bible (Review)

Here is an item worth your time and money.

The *New* Wesley Study Bible. This is an awesome tool to add to your repertoire of good Christian resources. The Wesley Study Bible has been out about a year and is well worth buying and reading. Top Old Testament and New Testament scholars (e.g. Ben Witherinton III) have contributed to the study notes. This Bible also systemizes Wesleyan theology through a series of Core Terms boxes that are scattered throughout the Bible and indexed in the back. So, here are some of my thoughts on this Bible. We will start with the negative and move to the positive.

Cons
- Would have been nice to have some cross-references. There are hardly any (occasionally one is thrown into the study notes).
- Would have been nice to have some kind of concordance in the back to use for looking up words.
- Kind of big and bulky. Could it be offered in a smaller size?
- Book and chapter headings are in the middle of the page so it makes it a little more difficult to find things quickly.
- Promotion for this Bible has been very minimal (at least in my denomination). Is there a fear that it won’t be accepted or that we aren’t sure of it? What's going on? When I was at General Assembly this past summer in Orlando the Nazarene bookstore in the convention center had several copies of the Wesley Study Bible out and they were drawing quite a crowd. When I came back the next day they were gone! These things sold like hotcakes at General Assembly!

Pros
- Content is awesome. The book introductions, study notes, and Wesleyan Core Term boxes are top quality. This Bible helps you understand Wesleyan theology and thinking and how it is exegeted from scripture and applied to life.
- The amount of scholars that contributed to this Bible is amazing! You can find a full list on the site. Here are the actual names.
- NRSV translation is a pretty trustworthy translation. It has been a lot easier to read then I initially thought it would be. At first I wasn’t too impressed with it, but it has grown on me. I have started to like it a bit more the more I dig in and read/study it. It uses “brothers and sisters” when writers use the word “brothers,” or “brethren”. It is not quite as user-friendly as the NLT, but it works.
- The references throughout the Bible to Wesley’s notes and various works are helpful.
- Easy to read font size and style.

It is great to have a study Bible from our heritage. I just saw the other day that Cokesbury will be offering this in a genuine leather special edition which is now available (I think it’s priced at $67). This would make for a great gift for a discipleship and senior adult pastor (hint hint :) ).