Category: Zondervan

Stop, Look, and Listen: a book review

A brand new Frederick Buechner book that isn’t just a hodgepodge of previously published materials? Yes please. The Remarkable Ordinary was born from material of Buechner’s, unearthed from a 1987 Norton lecture, and 1990 lecture from Laity Lodge, edited by John Sloan. Here, Buechner reflects on the sacredness of ordinary life, calling us to stop, look and listen to life. While this book was not prepared for publication by Buechner himself, these are very much his words and sensibility.

9780310351900-1488705378The chapters are arranged in three sections. In part one, Buechner invites us to “stop, look and listen for God.” In chapter 1, the title chapter—The Remarkable Ordinary, Buechner invites us to see the sacred within our ordinary life. Travelling through the arts, Buechner stopswith the haiku of Matsuo Basho, listens to time with music and sees through the lens of J.D. Salinger’s Holden Caulfield (Catcher & the Rye) and Franny and Zooey. In chapter 2, Buechner turns to sacred writ, exploring how the Bible calls us to pay attention, to see God and our neighbor through the attentive eyes of  love:

Jesus says the greatest commandment is loving God and loving our neighbors. I don’t know what it means to love God—really, I’m all that good at it—but one of the things it means is, just as in the case of loving anybody else, you stop and watch and wait. Listen for God, stop and watch and wait for him. To love God means to pay attention, be mindful, be open to the possibility that God is with you in ways that, unless you have your eyes open, you may never glimpse. He speaks words that, unless you have ears open, you may never hear. Draw near to him as best you can. (36-37).

And later:

To love your neighbor is to see your neighbor. To see somebody, really see somebody the way Rembrandt saw the old lady, not just the face that comes to you the way dry leaves blow at you down the path like other dry leaves, but in a way that you realize the face is something the likes of which you have never seen before and will never see again. To love somebody we must see the person’s face, and once in a while we do. Usually its because something jolts us into seeing it. (39)

In Part 2, Buechner describes how to listen to God through the stories we tell. In chapter 3, he describes an Episcopalian conference on “story” he didn’t want to speak at, but agreed anyway to come and share his story. His co-speaker was Maya Angelou. While the details of their personal narratives are different, when Angelou got up to speak, she said, “I have the same story to tell as Fredrick Buechner”(53).  Buechner reflects:

And I think what she meant is that at a certain level we do, all of us,  with all our differences, we do have the same story. When it comes to the business of how you become a human being, how do you manage to believe, how do you have faith in a world that gives 14,000 reasons every week not to believe, how do you survive—especially surviving our own childhoods as Maya survived hers and we’ve all survived ours—at that level we all have the same story, and therefore anyone’s story can illuminate our own. (53).

And this gives us the justification for each us to tell our own story and to find ourselves in the stories of others. In chapter four, The Subterranean Grace of God or Why Stories Matter, he reflects further on the meaning in our story:

I think that a part of what to tell one’s own story in the religious sense means is to affirm that there is a plot to one’s life. It’s not just incident following incident without any particular direction or purpose, but things are happening in order to take you somewhere. Just the way a story begins and has a middle and an end. Things are somehow wrapped up at the end, and everything in some fashion can be seen to have led to this inevitable conclusion and to have had its own place, however circumstantial and odd and out-of-the-way some of those things that happened may have been. They had their purpose in the overall shape and texture and reality of one’s story. (59-60)

The “subterranean Grace of God” that shows up in our lives are exemplified as we spy the whiskey priest in Graham Green’s The Power and the Glory, or in Buechner’s own Leo Bebb novels (62, 64-67).

In Part 3, Buechner reflects deeper on his own story, traversing familiar ground to those familiar with his autobiographical works, his father’s suicide and learning to face the pain, vocation and the journey toward wholeness, the presence of peace, and hope.

What makes Buechner such a good writer, is how honestly he is able to cross-examine his own spiritual experience, without resorting to trite platitudes and Christian cliché. His call to us to attend to the remarkable ordinary, rests on the conviction that God and his subterranean grace haunt our lives—the mundane, the significant, the quotidian and the grotesque—and we will see and hear a Presence it if only we can stop, wait and listen. Art and literature, and telling one’s story help us to pause and take notice. “So, art is saying Stop. It helps us to stop by putting a frame around something and makes us see it in a way we would never have seen it under the normal circumstances of living, as so much of us do, on sort of automatic pilot, going through the world without really seeing much of anything” (23). This is what Buecher’s novels and memoirs accomplish. They frame reality, so if for a moment, we can see.

Having read a good number of them, I wouldn’t say this is my favorite of Buechner’s books. But it very good and had all the elements and insight I’ve come to appreciate from the nonagenarian Presbyterian. It is a short book and well worth your time. I give it four stars. – ★★★★

Notice of material connection:  I received a copy of this book from HandleBar Media in exchange for my honest review.

After the Wreckage: a ☆☆☆☆☆ book review

I loved Jonathan Martin’s previous book Prototype. It was about becoming like Jesus (the prototype of the new humanity) by discovering your true self. One chapter that was particularly meaningful to me was the one on wilderness. Martin described the experience of waiting and longing I was feeling at the time, and invited me to see my wilderness as a pregnant place, to attend to it, and discover what Christ may be birthing in me.  This helped me reframe my life and circumstance.

225_350_book-1966-coverIt is now three-years-later. Martin, like me, went through a bit of a vocational crisis. He was the pastor of  Renovatus, a thriving church in Charlotte North Carolina, he was happily married, and had a supportive network of friends.  Then came the shipwreck. Martin was a broken man:

I had failed in my marriage. I had failed my church. I had failed my friends. I sailed my own ship into the rocks and both the relationships that mattered most to me and my calling to the church I loved were the casualties. (Kindle location 337 of 3001).

How to Survive a Shipwreck: Help Is on the Way and Love Is Already Here is Martin’s encouragement to fellow castaways. He opens up his journey through the wreckage. He tells of the practices, relationships and the strong loving God that carried him through: Martin writes:

It is possible to fail, and not have our faith fail us. It is possible to lose our lives, and not lose our souls. The master teacher taught us himself that it is only in losing our lives—in their ego pretensions and posturing, in their careful image constructions and neediness—that this richer, deeper, below-the-surface life can be found. This is the life hidden with Christ in God, where almost anything can happen at the top of things without disrupting the grace that lies in the bottom of the sea in you. (Chapter 1, Location 404).

Martin gives only sparse details of the nature of his crisis, but this book isn’t about that. It is about the aftermath. Martin’s shipwreck brought him significant, lived insight about the life of faith and the spiritual journey. He shares about learning to relinquish control, the importance of eating, sleeping and breathing through a crisis, the art of dying, and learning to risk again. He tells of the community and relational connections he made as he found himself in a more vulnerable place.

I enjoy this book as much as Prototype. It comes from an honest place and shows the ways that Martin has grown in the last couple of years. Critiquing his earlier book, Martin writes, “those were things I knew so much more with my head than with my heart, uplifting information that was still turning into revelation inside of me.” He observes the lack of understanding about death in his earlier volume:

I had written a book on Christian spirituality, of which death and resurrection are its central motifs and defining characteristics—and had moved straight from wounds to resurrection. There was nothing in that book about death, because I did not yet know what it would mean to die.  (chapter seven, location 2194).

I love seeing the growth in Martin. And he does walk through shipwreck and crisis and come out the other end. Currently he is a teaching pastor at Sanctuary Church in Tulsa.

I have had this book for months and have been meaning to review it for some time. My own shipwreck was too raw for me when I first got this for me to appreciate Martin’s theme. This is an encouraging, vulnerable read but the truth underlying it is that God is still there, his love is still strong and there is no crisis, failure, or catastrophe that God can’t use to form us. I give this five stars. ★★★★★

Vegangelism Expolosion: a book review

Vegangelical: How Caring For Animals Can Shape Your Faith is a rare book. Evangelicals may be  known for their social concerns, but care for animals doesn’t usual make a blip on our radar. But this book is rare for another reason. Sarah Withrow King has written a book that is warm, accessible and challenging and theologically robust. She is an animal rights activist who has worked for PETA and is now the deputy director of the Sider Center of Eastern University and the codirector of Creature Kind. She has a masters of theological studies from Palmer Theological Seminary. In Vegangelical she weds social concern with astute theological analysis.

240_360_book-1935-coverPart one of King’s books explores the theological foundations for veganism and animal care. Rather than start with the dismal reality of how animals are treated in our culture (and trust me she gets there) she begins with an exploration of what it means to be made in the image of the Triune God (chapter 1), the biblical concept of dominion and stewardship (chapter two), and the biblical injunction to love the other (chapter three). In part two, King explores our relationship with animals in the home and wild, our use of them in research and for food and clothing.

King builds her case for animal care in our being made in the image of the Triune God. This means she explores what kind of God the Trinity is and the implications of what it means for human persons to be like this God. This involves an examination of history of sacrifice in worship of this God, as well as trajectory of the Cross. “How can God—whose nature is to be in relationship and who desires that the work of his hands be restored—insist that humans kill animals as a condition to their approach, when the act of killing is the ultimate severance of relationship between victim and killer, between killer and the killer’s self (for surely everytime we take a life we turn further inward)?” (47). She argues that the sacrificial system in the Old Testament was a visceral reminder of the broken relationship between God and Creation caused by human sinfulness. However, “Jesus’ sacrifice restored the break and bridged the deep divide that sin created, so we no longer need to feel the blood on our hands, we no longer need to break a neck, we no longer need to be the cause of fear and suffering in our approach to God” (48).

King’s look at the concept of dominion and stewardship includes what it meant for God’s people to ‘fill the land and subdue it’ in the Old Testament. While the language of dominion and subduing implies domination and control to modern ears, King advises that we view human dominion in light of both what it means to be created in God’s image and God’s intent for creation (61). When we do this, we are drawn to protect, cultivate the earth in order to ensure the flourishing of all life. King concludes her theological case for animal care bu insisting that we think of it in terms of care for the other. Quoting Volf, “God’s reception of hostile humanity into divine communion is a model of how human beings should relate to the other” (72), King argues that the implications of this challenge extend to our care for the animal Kingdom as well.

The second half of this book explores the ways humans use (and abuse) our animal neighbors. This includes cruelty to pets, a billion-dollar-breeding industry which results in the commodification and objectification of animal lives, circuses, animals, hunting, animal vivisection and experimentation, and the inhumane treatment and environmental impact of using animals for our food and clothing. King shares her own story of moving towards veganism and animal activism and how she has learned to navigate these issues as a person of faith.

For the past several Lenten seasons I have done a meatless (or near meatless) Lent. I have done so while also exploring some of the issues that surround our industrial agricultural complex, the treatment of animals and consumerism. As a result our family has reduced our intake of meat, though there are ebbs and flows in our practice. I like a good burger and meat is the centerpiece of family feasts. As I read through Veganelical I am convinced that people like King who take a courageous, counter-cultural stance against the comodifaction and abuse of animals occupy the moral high ground. I know some of the issues but don’t live up to my ideals. I feel the prophetic challenge  to live more consistently by King’s book. I am not totally where she is at,  but I think she is right to raise the issue and root her concerns biblically and theologically. I am a sympathetic reader even if I read parts of this book while eating a fast food taco.  I give this four-and-a-half stars.

Note: I received this book from Book-Look Bloggers and Zondervan in exchange for my honest review.

Jesus Subverting Empire: a ★★★★★ book review

Craig Greenfield grew up with a ‘nice’ Jesus. The Jesus he learned about as a kid, had blond locks and the perfect beard. He was always kind, always polite. As he grew older, ‘nice Jesus’ morphed into respectable-good-citizen-Jesus: the Jesus that would save your soul -without challenging the status quo.

T240_360_book-1913-coverhen when he was twenty-two he went to Cambodia where an interaction with a beggar outside a Khmer Rouge genocide museum sent him on a path where he re-thought and re-examined who Jesus really was, why he came and what it means to follow Him. Subversive Jesus tells the story of Greenfield, his Cambodian wife Nay, and their family as they walked the subversive ways of Jesus. Greenfield journey takes him from New Zealand to the slums of Cambodia, to Vancouver’s Down-Town Eastside and to Cambodia again. Greenfield shares the insights he gained from other theologian/practitioners,  notably folks like Charles Ringma, Dave Diewert, and Dave Andrews; yet this book is primarily about what Greenfield and his family learned as they followed their subversive Jesus by challenging empire,  practicing radical hospitality, and loving and advocating for the marginalized.

Greenfield shares about hospitality and community, learning the place his children had in mission, living vulnerably and non-violently in the midst of a violent neighborhood,  and sharing with and including neighbors. Their family would have a community meals where participants cooked together and shared life around a table. Greenfield maintained a hospitable and welcoming stance toward neighbors and friends, yet he also recognized the need for proper boundaries to sustain life and ministry. Dave Andrews phrase, “Bizarre Behavior is okay. Abusive Behavior is not okay,” became a community rule (56). Greenfield observes that in the culture-at-large, the opposite is usually true (the bizarre are shunned and the abusive are praised for their strength).

Sometimes we may be tempted to think that being a Christian means being a good citizen of our country. Greenfield lives a more robust form of discipleship believing Jesus came to challenge empire and the powers of this age. This has led him to take counter-cultural (subversive) stances and the practice of resistance. Greenfield helps us see away to act faithful to God and governing authorities while resisting laws and aspects of culture that are unjust (submitting to the consequences of our resistance to unjust laws, is still submitting to government authority). For him this includes taking lemonade to drug dealers, organizing flash-mob-protests, starting community gardens, and building relationships among the marginalized.

I like this book a lot and loved hearing Greenfield’s story. This is a thoughtful, theologically rich and biblically sound account, but it is also a story of what it means to follow Jesus in broken places and a call or us also to live more courageously as we seek to follow our subversive Jesus.

One episode that was intriguing was the time, Greenfield’s community painted a pentagram as an act of worship to God and love for their neighbor. Yeah, It is terrible for me to give you that little detail without describing what actually happened or the events leading up to it. I guess you will just have to read the book yourself. I give this five stars. ★★★★★

Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my fair and honest review.

What the H-E-Double-HockeyStick! a book review

Ever since Rob Bell’s Love Wins, evangelicals have rushed to the defense of the traditional doctrine of hell. Bell’s book was more suggestion than substance and raised the most ire among those who never read it,  but there have also been a number of intelligent treatments on the fate of unbelievers and the nature of hell. Four Views on Hell, Second Edition showcases four options currently being discussed among evangelicals. Under the editorial eye of Preston Sprinkle (coauthor of Erasing Hell) with contributions from Denny Burk, John G. Stackhouse Jr, Robin Parry and Jerry Walls, this book presents the case for hell as eternal conscious torment, annihilationism, universalism and purgatory.

9780310516460_5This new edition of Four Views on Hell reveal how the contours of the debate have changed since the publication of the first edition in 1992. The original edition had two contributors arguing hell consists as ‘eternal conscious torment,’  one arguing for literal fire (John Walvoord) and metaphorical (William Crocket), one contributor arguing for annilationism (Clark Pinnock) and a Catholic contributor extols the virtues of purgatory (Zachary Hayes). In the current edition, the traditional doctrine on hell is represented by Burk. Burk doesn’t take eternal fire as a literal flame as Walvoord did (28), though he does emphasize the eternal aspects of hell’s duration. John Stackhouse takes up Pinnock’s mantle in arguing the terminal/conditionalist/annihilationist position. Parry provides the biblical, theological case for Christian universalism (a new tothis edition) having previously published  The Evangelical Universalist (under the pseudonym of Gregory McDonald). Jerry Walls gives a protestant case for purgatory for the faithful who die in Christ, arguing that purgatory is not about offering satisfaction for sin (which Christ offered on our behalf) but is about sanctification.

Each of these contributors has their strengths. After sharing a brief parable illustrating the seriousness of sin being measured ‘by the value of the one sin against,’ Burke makes the biblical case for hell as eternal conscious torment (19) based on ten foundational passages drawn from both testaments. Stackhouse also makes a strong exegetical  and theological case for annilationism, arguing that eternal punishment and ‘unquenchable fire’ indicate the certainty of implications rather than duration, and eternal life is a gift to those who are in Christ. Parry’s chapter emphasizes how Christ came to restore all things, and how having a sinner suffer eternal torment, or the eradication of a sinner doesn’t appear to embody that end. Parry places his case within a biblical theological frame, emphasing the scope and trajectory of redemption. Walls is the odd man out in that he affirms with Burk the the reality of eternal conscious torment for those who are in hell, and posits purgatory, for those who trust in Christ as their savior (though he does allow for a post-mordem conversion). The respondents each give strong critiques of one-another’s views, citing their various interpretive strategies,  their use of theology, and interpretive strategies.

I generally don’t find these ‘four views’ books to be exciting reading.  Because of the way they are organized, a brief case with critical responses, by the time you get to last couple of chapters, you already have a pretty good idea of what the author will say before you read it. The effect is mitigated somewhat in this volume in that Parry’s and Wall’s chapters are by far the most interesting chapters in this volume. And Sprinkle has a fantastic concluding essay which highlights the relative strengths of each response.

The Christians with whom I hang around with most generally hold to the traditional view of hell, though I find the arguments for annihilationism to be fairly convincing. Sprinkle makes the case in his conclusion that annihilationism is the only view that logically precludes the possibility of Christian universalism, because if hell is eternal, that than there is the possibility of redemption (205). Certainly if Burke is right and Hell is wholly punitive, than the possibility remains unlikely. Parry’s case sets universalism with in Christocentric framework with a hopeful trajectory (Stackhouse calls the case for univeralism ‘ the triumph of hope over exegesis’, p.134). I am interested in exploring Parry’s argument further and will likely read his Evangelical Universalist. Because of the brevity of each chapter, no respondent in this volume makes as comprehensive of a case as they otherwise could have, and each overstates their case in places. I give this four stars.

Note: I received this book from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for my honest review.

Discipleship in the Way of Jesus: a book review

Jesus last words to his disciples (as recorded in Matthew 28:16-20) instructs them ‘to make disciples of all nations…’. Yet many Christians are not actively involved in discipleship relationships where they are being challenged to grow in relationship with Jesus, and challenging others as well. In Rediscovering Discipleship: Making Jesus’ Final Words Our First Work, Robby Gallaty makes a impassioned plea for Christians to get on with the task of discipleship making.

9780310521280_1Gallaty’s book divides into two parts. In part I, Gallaty presents a biblical model of discipleship in the way of Jesus and attempts to answer some of the reasons why discipleship is not practiced more broadly in the church today. Gallaty begins by examining Jesus’ model of relational discipleship (chapter one). He goes on to explore the Word-oriented spirituality of the Hebrews, historical examples of disciplemakers (i.e. Augustine, Luther, Baxter, Edwards and the Puritans, John Wesley and the early Methodists) and how an uninspired comma in the KJV translation Ephesians 4 obscured that the ministry was the purview of the whole people of God.

Part II focuses on discipleship methods. Gallaty urges a slow-cooker method of discipleship instead of fast-food and quick fix methods (chapter eight). He argues for “D” groups of 3-5 people as the most effective way to disciple people(chapter nine). He deals with ‘road blocks’to discipleship and encourages us to move forward with intentionality and growing competence. He instructs us to invest in the faithful and available and teachable, “Look for those who are hungry and eager to learn. Seek out evidence that God is at work in their heart and in their life. Disciple those that know Jesus and want to know what it means to follow them” (174).

In his final chapter he gives a five principles for ‘D-groups.’ The groups should be (MARCS):

  1. Missional (encouraging participants in personal evangelism)
  2. Accountable
  3. Reproducible
  4. Communal
  5. Scriptural.

  I appreciate Gallaty’s relational, intentional and systematic approach to discipleship. I liked that he roots his discipleship model in the methodology  of Jesus (reminiscent of Robert Coleman’s Masterplan of Evangelism). This is good stuff.

Nevertheless I have a couple of critiques. His MARCS typology is  really helpful, but I wish his concept of ‘missional’ meant more than just evangelism though certainly it means this. Mission should include mercy, justice, advocacy and other ways believers have enacted the Kingdom. Also his concept of accountability focuses completely on the sin/holiness domain. Certainly group members should ask hard questions and call one another to task, but in the context of accountability, I think we need to share the positive word of where we see God’s Spirit at work in each other’s life. I have been in too many ‘accountability groups’ that taught me more about being a good legalist than being a gracious saint. At other points in the book, I thought he was too flippant with traditions he disagrees with (i.e . where he disparages the lack of discipleship of lay people in Catholic history).

On the whole, Gallaty’s passion and thoughtfulness on discipleship are inspiring and he give practical advice on implementing a discipleship program. I give this four stars and think that it is a good read for pastors, ministry leaders and mentors.

Note: I received this book from Cross Focused Reviews in exchange for my honest review.

 

 

 

 

Gospel Conversations: a book review

Gospel Conversations is designed to help biblical counselors care like Christ for those we counsel. Navigating the compass points of the counseling coveration, Robert Kellemen explores how counselors bring healing through sustaining, healing, reconciling and guiding. Kellerman is the executive director of the Biblical Counseling Coalition and CEO of RPM ministries. He sees his role as a counselor as bringing people face to face with the truth of God’s word and encounter with Christ. Through this book, he imparts tools that biblical counselors can use to grow in their competencies to comfort the afflicted and challenge the comfortable.

Kellerman suggests twenty-one competencies for biblical counseling, Sustaining relational competencies involve the counselor growing in their ability to connect, empathize, listen, comfort, and share scripture emphatically, Healing competencies include growing in our ability to effect relational mind and soul renewal, encourage, compose a ‘scriptural treatment plan,’  lead counselees in a Theo-dramatic conversation and in stretching scriptural explorations. Reconciling competencies probe issues theologically, expose heart sins, apply truth relationally, calm the conscience through grace, enlighten and empower.  Guiding competencies involve fanning into flame the gift of God in people, helping them author empowering narratives, constructing insight-based action plans,  and having target focused conversations.

Because of the place of the Bible in the healing process, Kellerman’s model is different than the contemporary therapeutic model. Kellerman (and other biblical counselors) urge us toward a thoughtful Christian model for soul care which differs from that of secular psychology (p. 98). There may be some antagonism towards psychology here, but the hope is that the Christian alternative is every bit as rigorous and comprehensive in dealing with what ails the human heart. Kellerman focuses on helping people get to the root of their problems (sin and suffering).

This is a helpful textbook and handbook for growing as a counselor. I have no antagonism towards psychology, per se, but my competency to counsel is different from that as a therapist. What I want people to do is to see themselves as God sees them, pursue a right relationship with Him and allow the Spirit of God to do the work of sanctification in them as they give their heart and mind to Him. Every Christian model of counseling (including a more psychologically oriented one) wants this. While I personally think other forms of counseling are tremendously helpful in the healing process, this model approximates what I do as a pastor when I meet with those in need. I have a Master’s of Divinity (that pastor degree), but the extent of my training in pastoral counseling is this: know when to punt to a more qualified counselor; nevertheless pastors play an important role in the healing process, reminding people of God’s presence, his work of salvation through Jesus and His ongoing ministry of reconciliation. Kellerman writes an engaging text for help students learn biblical counseling better and I think it is a great resource for anyone who engages in the ministry of pastoral counseling. I give this four staIrs.

Note: I received this book from Cross Focused Reviews (and Zondervan) in exchange for my honest review).