Category: Uncategorized

Awakening The Evangelical Mind (Book Review)

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AwakeningAwakening the Evangelical Mind is a much needed look into the neo-evangelical lights of last century and their lasting influence today. I was well aware of the conservative resurgence in my own denomination and the split among Presbyterians among liberal and conservative lines, but I was largely ignorant of the cross-denominational movement among evangelicals to raise an academic standard. (A movement that included such notebles as Billy Graham, Harold Ockenga, Carl F. H. Henry, Gleason Archer, etc.)

This book maintains a great balance between the traditional historical division of the man and the times. Author Owen Strachan writes in both a historical and biographical style. He summarizes the life of Harold Ockenga in places and transcribes a brief history of the times among evangelicals in other places. He also spends a bit of time with Carl F. H. Henry.I was impressed to know that at one point several bright scholars and Christian statesmen were interested in developing a Christian research university. (One laments that this evangelical work never came to fruition).

This is a much needed volume and helps bring context to the current movements in evangelicalism. As Strachan notes many of today’s prolific theological writers and pastors have been influenced either directly or indirectly by Ockenga and the neo-evangelicals of Harvard.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Entitlement Cure (A REVIEW)

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_225_350_Book.1753.coverThe Entitlement Cure: Finding Success in Doing Hard Things the Right Way is on the market at the right time. Our world is filled with people who feel entitled. They want something for nothing, or they have an attitude that craves the attention and dare I say worship of others. John Townsend has written a compelling book that ultimately puts forth the gospel as the solution to entitlement.  The book is well written, straightforward and filled with keen biblical insight and application.

Dr. Townsend does a fantastic job of approaching entitlement from all angles ensuring that this book contains the tools to help anyone who is dealing with an entitled person in their lives or even if they are wanting to confront their own entitlement. Indeed, Dr. Townsend does such a great job of addressing entitlement that he’s found that even those who often bemoan the “entitlement culture” have their own sense of “pocket entitlement.”

This book is well worth a read. It may well be the best book that Dr. Townsend has written to date. I encourage you to pick up a copy. I like to get all my books from amazon.com. They have it on sale right now for Under $15 in hardback!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher as part of their Reviewer program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

 

Philippians 2:25-30 (Devotional Thought)

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I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. (Philippians 2:25-30 ESV)

Who are your heroes? What did they do to become your hero?

We look to all different kinds of people as heroes. We honor men and women for all kinds of different achievements. We give athletes awards like “most valuable player” and “rookie of the year” we give singers music awards, we give awards to actors and actresses, and we bury men and women who have served faithfully in our military with military honors.

While these awards and recognition are nice, Paul lifts us a different sort of hero to us. To the church at Philippi he held recommended a guy by the name of Epaphroditus. This guy traveled to Paul on behalf of the church at Philippi and he almost died. He got sick, but even when he was really sick, even to the point of death, he was concerned about everyone else. He was still thinking of Paul’s needs and church at Philippi. I don’t know about you, but when I’m sick, I’m not on my A game. I’m usually cranky or sleepy. My fuse can be shorter than normal… but Ephaphroditus was actually concerned that people back home will be worried about him.

So now that Epaphroditus is better, Paul is sending him back home and he reminds the church to honor this guy. We don’t really give out awards in Christian circles. As far as I know there aren’t any missionary honors at missionary funerals, your pastor isn’t secretly hoping for the “pastor of the year” award, and that dear sweet lady at church that is faithful to give above her tithe to missions each month isn’t doing it so she can get a “Widow’s Mite” award… but when we know of people in our midst who put the needs of others above their own, we should be thankful for their example, and we need to honor them.

How do you honor someone who puts the need of others above their own? I think it begins with joy in their presence. You rejoice to be with them. Count it a blessing when you come across someone who is proficient at true humility, you will learn a lot from them. I think you also thank them, especially if they have imparted some gift or words of wisdom along the way. Epaphroditus carried a gift from this church to the Apostle Paul. Obviously he was serving God, but at the same time he was serving those who had partnered together in the gospel at Philippi.

Who do you need to honor today?

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James 5:7-11 (Devotional Thought)

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Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. (James 5:7-11 ESV)

I hate waiting but sometimes I’ll go stand in line to wait just to get into some fancy place to eat. Then I’ll order something off the menu and sit around and wait for my food to be delivered. Most of the time the end product is worth the wait. But what if I didn’t understand that good food takes time to prepare and so I bad mouthed the chef the whole time we waited? They would be back in the kitchen slaving away to present an awesome meal and I would be out front thinking that they had it in for me and they hated me for making me wait.

James says that part of being a Christian is waiting for God to deliver on his promises. We know that God will deliver, but sometimes it seems like we are waiting a long time. James reminds us that God’s timing is always perfect and has a purpose. When we have patience we are demonstrating that we trust God to deliver us and that he is still as merciful and compassionate as he has ever been.

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James 1:12-15 (Devotional)

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Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (James 1:12-15 ESV)

I was blessed to know my great-grandfather growing up. I remember on one occasion fishing in a clear water stream in Montana. My great-grandfather was hoping to catch a big trout for dinner. The problem was that even when he put his hook and bait seemingly in front of a large fish, they would not bite. Finally he got fed up and packed his pole to leave. I had the crust left over from my PB and J sandwich and I threw it into the stream. Suddenly fish darted from everywhere and started fighting each other for a bite of my crust. Apparently trout love discarded bread crust from a little boy’s lunch a lot better than the bait my grandfather used…I learned from my grandfather that the secret to fishing is to use bait that appeals to a fish’s appetite. You do not catch fish using just any kind of bait. You have to use bait they like. The fish’s appetite is ultimately what makes them bite into a hook.

Sometimes in the midst of a trial we are tempted to think that God does not have our best interest at heart. We can think that God is “tempting” us to sin. Like God is the one baiting the hook for us. But that is not true. The writer of the book of James reminds us that God does not tempt us, but that temptation comes internally from our own brokenness and desire to sin. Just like a fish biting into a hook we become a victim to our own desires. We can actually trust God in the midst of our temptations. The bible says in Hebrews 4:15 that Jesus was tempted just like we are, but that He was without sin. That means that we can run to Jesus when we are tempted and He knows exactly how to help us and how to encourage us to overcome our temptation because He has overcome.

Jesus among other brands.

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So my birthday is around the corner and my 5-year-old is really excited. She loves birthdays (even if she isn’t the one getting the presents).  So for weeks now she has been trying to figure out how we are going to celebrate. (I was planning on letting it pass silently since at my age we’ve pretty much stopped having pony rides and roller skating parties).

She knows that a good birthday party has a theme and so she was trying to figure out a theme that would fit me best.  She’s had some great themed parties.  Clifford the Big Red Dog, Strawberry Shortcake, etc.  So as she racked her little brain for a theme that would fit me she came up with two.

“Daddy do you want a Jesus Birthday or a Phineas and Ferb Birthday?”

To be honest, It has never crossed my mind to have a “Jesus” themed birthday.  She knows that I’m a big fan.  She even went as far as to justify her decision when I expressed a little hesitancy… “We’ll you are a pastor (which she understands as someone who teaches people about Jesus) and so I thought you would want a ‘Jesus’ birthday, but then again we both watch Phineas and Ferb together so I thought you might like them.”

On the one hand I was blessed that my daughter would affirm that I have a true love or Jesus.  After all we memorize scripture together, read the Bible together, pray together, etc.  She has plenty of evidence outside of Church that I love Jesus and want her to know Him the way I do.

On the other hand, while working with students, I know where the culture is headed.  I know the streams of thought that surround my daughter day-in and day-out at school, dance, the television, and other places. As a cultural we are on a path that I can only describe as pluralism meets consumerism.

Brands are replacing the “gods” of ancient culture as a badge of identity (some of the brands contain the name of ancient gods).  We look to one brand for what to wear, another for what to eat, another for our entertainment, and still another becomes our “home” team.  Products are marketed in a way to play upon your feelings and the way you want to present yourself. (Ford truck commercials generally don’t show a women behind the wheel talking about pastel interiors) We identify our individuality by the brands that we buy.  “He’s an Auburn fan” quickly and quietly becomes an identifying mark right next to “he goes to 1st Church.”

To be sure even our churches are not lost when it comes to branding.  We all have logo’s, themes, tag lines etc. to get you to self-identify with a local congregation.  Perhaps if your a big enough fan you will carry our logo on the bumper of your car or right next to the “salt life” sticker on your back window.

Don’t dismiss the thought because you don’t see it at first, but really think for a moment. If I were going to attempt to make your Identity in Jesus blend in with the rest of the culture, rather than stand out… I’d give you a 1000 different ways to identify yourself as an individual to where your identity with Jesus was insignificant. Being a Jesus follower would fit somehow in the same bucket as you favorite football team and soda preference.

Maybe our culture worships more idols than we think. What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I wrote this post about four years ago and forgot to share it. I thought it still fit the times and published it for you today.

James 1:2-4 (Devotional Thought)

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Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4 ESV)

A little over a year into our marriage my wife woke me up in the middle of the night, she was in severe pain. We rushed to the hospital as quickly as we could. I dropped her off at the door where a nurse took her and I parked the car and ran inside. When I finally saw her in the hospital room she was screaming out in pain. I wanted desperately to take her pain away, but there wasn’t anything I could do. The doctors were unable to give her anything for the pain. We could only put a damp rag on her head and tell her to push through the pain. I held her hand and she squeezed it tight… too tight. I was scared. I had never seen her like this before and I was afraid… A few minutes later the pain had lessened as she held our beautiful baby girl in her hands. Her tears of mourning had turned into tears of joy. Our night of terror turned into a morning of joy and celebration.

Similar to our very scary night, the author of the book of James commands Christians to have joy when they encounter tough situations or trials. Our joy does not come from the trials of life, but what our trials produce. Trials and tough situations produce a strong and consistent faith in God. As believers we are not promised a life of comfort, but we are promised a Comforter (John 14:16). We should be joyful when we face trials not because we have trials, but because of what those trials produce. The joy is in the product of the trial, not the trial itself.

It would be foolish to rejoice in knowing that you have cancer. Nobody hopes they get cancer. But when we find ourselves facing something like cancer we can still have joy because we trust God that in His plan that cancer will produce something good (Romans 8:28).

Look at Jesus. The bible says, “For the joy set before Him He endured the cross” (Heb. 12:2). His joy was not in the cross itself, the verse goes on to say that He despised its shame, but His joy was in what the cross produced… the salvation of sinners.

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How High Will You Climb By John Maxwell (A Review)

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_225_350_Book.1162.cover Attitude. That’s what How High Will You Climb?: Determine Your Success by Cultivating the Right Attitude is about…attitude. Mostly the focus in on how to have a positive attitude. That’s the real game changer according to Maxwell. The ability to face challenges, short-term defeat and the obstacles in our path with a gutsy determination that everything will be fine. John Maxwell offers two compelling lines of argument through the book. One seems to follow a biblical pattern (at least the scripture verses are fairly quoted). And the other is squarely placed in the self-help camp (He’s done some outside reading).

As with most books I review I put it through the “wait” test. For those unfamiliar, the wait test is simply this. Read the book well, then simply… wait. If what you remember was actually helpful, practical, and perhaps even relevant then it passed the test. What I came away with after reading this book was that a good attitude is better than a bad attitude. I hardly needed a book to tell me that, but this one comes across more like a pep-rally and some folks need that sort of thing.

So here is the deal, if you generally have a good attitude, you don’t need this book. However on the other hand if you are a perpetual grumpy pants you probably could benefit from reading this book (You need the pep-rally). And If you know a grumpy person, you might give them this book as a kind of inside joke, but also as an encouragement to adopt a different perspective on life. John Maxwell is a talented writer. He flirts with a few elements of the sovereignty of God in this book that I wish he would have taken all the way to their conclusions.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher as part of their Reviewer program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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A Brief Theology of Disaster: Our Motives in Providing Disaster Relief

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To be honest, my tendency is to be bit skeptical when I think of churches banding together to help those who are recovering from a disaster. If we are not careful success will be redefined by how many people are fed, lots are cleared, children are ministered to, etc. rather than implementing a strategy to reach a community with the gospel.  Silently the evangelistic reports will pushed to the back of the pile.  We will be giving out bread, but forgetting to mention that it is in Jesus’ name. 

If we are not careful we will forget the true mission of God to rescue and redeem man from sin, not just from the current disaster.

We will forget that incarnation is about a holy God living among a sinful people for the purpose to rescue and redeem them from sin.  While we may mimic the incarnation by having middle class people live in impoverished communities to deliver them from poverty. We are just people reaching other people through the grace and providence of God.

disaster reliefI’m not saying that we should not help the displaced, but that we should be diligent in how we do it, because I also know that not every work done in Jesus name is actually from Jesus (Matthew 7:21-27).  It behooves us to follow Jesus’ model and listen to his words.

It is not enough to simply recall bible stories we were taught and say, “Jesus always met the physical need before the spiritual.”  That’s simply not the case.  Sometimes he forgave sin first (Mark 2:5), sometimes he asked if people believed that he was able to heal first (Matthew 9:27-31), and countless times he was approached by people who already believed he had the power to heal.  The reality is that according to the biblical record, Jesus did not indiscriminately meet physical needs then preach the kingdom, indeed he was preaching the kingdom and in the process he met physical needs (in my opinion as authentication of his message). The gospels are clear that Jesus was concerned with the spiritual above the physical (Luke 12:4-5).  Why else would he knowingly call his followers into physical suffering for the sake of the proclamation of the kingdom (Matthew 10:38-39, Acts 9:16)?

Then there are the times that he did not heal or perform signs because people would not believe (Matthew 13:58).  There was also a time that he challenged his hearers to see past the signs to see that they were pointing to the power and provision of God (John 6:26-33).   There certainly was not an apology for the gospel of Jesus part in the midst of doing good works like healing people.  The signs and wonders that we often point to as Jesus meeting physical needs were accompaniment to the proclamation of the kingdom, not the other way around.

The purpose of disaster relief should be modeled off the life and message of Jesus which is to, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).   This requires some discrimination in determining what kind of works we will be a part of and how we will use resources to meet needs while we are proclaiming the gospel.  It is important that we follow Jesus in performing our good works before men and do them in such a way that causes them to give glory to our father in heaven.

The gospel must not only be present, but the very motivation of our efforts in disaster relief.

Don’t Give Up On Andy!

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I’ve had a few experiences with “tough-to-love” students recently in various venues. Whenever a kid like this enters your midst, there is often pressure from leaders and students to “do something.” Mostly they are aggravated by how the “tough-to-love” student is behaving.  I thought I would share how one of my youth pastors growing up “dealt” with one of the “tough-to-love” kids in our youth group.  We’ll call him Andy (I changed his name to protect his identity).

Andy was one of those kids who was difficult to deal with in our student ministry. His parents were both committed Christians and you could tell that he had read a great portion of the Bible. This is normally a great thing, but you have to know Andy. Andy was a skeptic and more often than not when the youth pastor opened up the floor for discussion Andy would inevitably point out a flaw in the youth pastor’s message (like he said “Noah” when he meant “Moses” etc.) or he would rebut what the youth pastor had said with his own take on various passages of scripture. To be clear, Andy was a know-it-all and he knew a great deal, but he didn’t know Jesus. (Later Andy’s youth pastor would say, “I prepared the youth lessons and then I went back again to see what Andy might say so I could be prepared.”)

Andy also used to like to play games and pranks while the youth group was meeting. His youth group met in the church’s old sanctuary. Andy would often get dropped off early for church and slip into the baptistery or side door entrance. He would wait until the worship music had started and he would poke his head out and make funny faces at the group behind the youth pastor’s back. Andy was a clown.

Andy also hung out with the “wrong” crowd at school and would often drink on the weekends and even throughout the week.  Actually, because Andy had some influence and aggressively recruited others to his lifestyle, it’s probably more accurate to say that Andy “was” the wrong crowd. Andy wasn’t just a social drinker, he drank alone on many occasions, Andy was a teenage alcoholic and on a few occasions he showed up to his youth group buzzed. Andy was a drunk.

I guess there are lots of ways to deal with a kid like Andy. You could kick him out. You could tell him not to come back. You talk to him in a condescending way. You could do your best to make him feel uncomfortable so he will leave on his own… Or you could do what David our youth pastor did. Since David was one of my mentors growing up I have a little more insight into how he handled the situation than most.

Every week that David saw Andy at church he would say, “Hey Andy I’m so glad you made it tonight!” (and he meant it). David invited Andy into a special discipleship group that met in his home on a week night throughout the summer and was genuinely pleased when he showed up. David prayed for Andy (I know this because I was there on more than one occasion where I heard him). David talked with Andy’s mom about how to best love and encourage him. David encouraged some of the kids in the youth group to reach out to Andy. Some of these were even the kids that Andy made fun of at school.

The summer that David hosted the bible study at his home we all began to see a change starting to take place in Andy. At the end of the summer just before Andy and his family moved off you could tell that he was different. He stopped drinking (this was in large part because his dad caught him), he started a prayer group at church, and he went to all his friends and told them he had changed.

Even though he moved, Andy kept up with David and the youth group through regular mail (this is back before e-mail, text messaging, facebook, etc.). He graduated high school and went on to college to become a youth pastor. He went through a few more “tough-to-love” stages. He was a hypocrite and a self-righteous Pharisee… but at the age of 24 years old Andy finally met Jesus in a real and life changing way. I know this because… you see, I’m Andy.

I am the man I am today in part because of the attitude of my youth pastor and a friend (that I persecuted mercilessly). They weren’t willing to give up on me or just consider me an nuisance. They loved me and demonstrated Christ’s love for me in their actions and attitudes.

Romans 5:7-8 ESV  For one will scarcely die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die–  (8)  but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

I didn’t know the depth of this verse as a tough-to-love kid until I saw it in my Youth Pastor, David and my friend Brett (who I used to make fun of incessantly). They loved me in Christ when I gave them every reason not to love me.