Review: Who Gets to Narrate the World?: Contending for the Christian Story in an Age of Rivals

Who Gets to Narrate the World?: Contending for the Christian Story in an Age of Rivals by Robert E. Webber
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Overall a decent book. I'm reading it along with Ravi Zacharias' "Why Jesus?" and it seems to be a good, smaller, companion read. While at times it was a little tough to follow and mentally process, I do appreciate the overall movement of the book, as it's an effort to call the church to remember and restore her place and position from WITHIN God's narrative, rather than standing on the outside, looking in. Webber argues that to do the latter forces one to succumb to the culture's terms in 'defending' God via reason rather than via His truth. It's certainly a thought-provoking read and worth checking out if you have nothing better to read right now and are interested in how today's church is engaging with today's world. I'll keep it on my shelf for reference, but I'm not sure it's one that I'll put in my "definitely re-read" pile.

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Living the NEW life... with all of our "Heart, Soul, Mind, & Strength"

This is a blog post that I started way back in the middle of April and have only recently gotten to finish it. Hopefully it'll be an encouragement to you, as you read about God's work in my life and in my spiritual growth.

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Recently I've made some changes to my life. For starters, I'm more purposeful about exercising moderation and self-control when it comes to eating. From there I've started to exercise… well... me! I've been getting up earlier to make time in my day to take care of what God's given to me. I'm not just talking about my physical body. There's a temptation to begin there (which isn't necessarily a bad thing) and then to STAY there (which I would argue isn't a good thing). A verse I've always been fascinated by is the shema from Deuteronomy 6, which Jesus pulled from (and amended) with another scripture from the Old Testament from Leviticus 19. New Testament scholar Scot McKnight calls this the 'Jesus Creed' (I like that). Within this passage, Jesus affirms the words spoken in Deuteronomy 6 to the nation of Israel for how we are to live our lives,

"Hear, O [people of YHWH]: YHWH our God, YWHW is one. You shall love YHWH with all your heart and with all soul and with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6.4)

I REALLY like Mark's rendition [Mark 12.30] of it because it adds [clarifies may be a more appropriate word/understanding] 'and with all your mind'. From studying and meditating on scripture using 'The Jesus Creed' as a lens over the past decade, my understanding of how to care, live, and worship has grown and matured. This is why I said simply STAYING with the physical exercise application of caring for your body is probably not a good idea. I would like to share what I have learned over the years with you... and hope that what I have learned serves as an encouragement for you! NEVER do I want to come across in a way that's demeaning or condemning. My prayer is that others may experienced the joy, freedom, and growth that I feel in their own life! This is my humble contribution to the conversation, to which so many have already contributed.

Loving with all of your... HEART (καρδία)

The word for heart [καρδία] caries a nuanced usage within the New Testament. Its meanings can range from:

• Physical heart (the actual muscle)
• Its parallel in Hebrew is לֵב is ; 
• One's emotions 
• Example: Romans 9.2 
• A blending with what we typically think of today when we talk about decisions, attitudes, and will. 
• Example: Matthew 11.29; Luke 21.14

If you were to explore the corresponding Hebrew word [לֵב], you'd also find these meanings to ring true throughout the Old Testament.

Allowing these types of usages to roll around in our minds for a little bit, we'll walk away with a better idea of how to apply this important teaching, highlighted by Jesus.

To love God with all of our 'heart', we take all of our will (desires), attitudes (thoughts), decisions (plans), and emotions (feelings), and subject them to the Lordship of Jesus. (I would like to add as well, the command is for ALL... not just SOME.) This is not easy. This is hard. This is unnatural. This is

(dare I say) un-American (with all of today's encouragements to pursue OUR OWN life, OUR OWN liberty, and OUR OWN happiness). This truth was hard for me to learn... and even harder for me to consistently apply at times:

To love God will all of our 'heart', we might have to sacrifice [i.e. kill... not just postpone to a later, opportune time] things we feel like we deserve, have an inherent right to have, and are given.

Loving with all of your... SOUL (ψυχή)

In my undergraduate studies, I was part of a group project where we planned an entire service around this word. (In fact, that project is still with me EVERY week because my wife (then fiancé) got ahold of it and ordered a custom guitar strap with this logo printed down the side. I loved and still love to lead others in praising our savior with that guitar strap with me.) This is a very fun word to study, especially because our western culture has been so formed and influenced by the thoughts and teachings of Plato, that we tend to think about 'soul' SEPARATE from the physical body. Yet in Hebrew thought, they were not separate [i.e. the soul being the true 'you' and just inhabiting a body shell], but both were parts of a whole. In other words, both your physical and non-physical 'portions' made up the person of you.

1. Soul
2. Your very life essence

To love God with all of our 'soul', we might have to put in the effort to alter our thinking about what God desires and to what extent of our lives we might have thought He only cared about!

Loving with all of your... MIND (διάνοια)

This one has always been a big one for me. I've recently been introduced to a personality tool called the 'enneagram', and I discovered I'm a type 1. If you know what that means, then I'm going to guess this revelation doesn't come as a surprise. If you have no earthly idea what I'm talking about, here's one quick summary of what a type 1 person might be like:

(The following was borrowed from Beth McCord and her website: https://www.yourenneagramcoach.com.)

Type Ones are people who are conscientious, sensible, ethical, responsible, idealistic, serious, self-disciplined, orderly, and feel personally obligated to improve themselves and their world.

What drives a Type One to think, feel, and behave in particular ways?

Core Fear:
Being wrong, bad, evil, inappropriate, unredeemable, or corruptible.

Core Desire:
Having integrity, being good, balanced, accurate, virtuous, and right.

Core Weakness:
Resentment—repressing anger that leads to continual frustration and dissatisfaction with themselves, others, and the world for not being perfect.

Core Longing (message they long to hear):
“You are good.”

I've always been one who LOVES to learn and grow in understanding! I tell people quite often, "If it were affordable, I would NEVER leave school!" So to love God with all of my MIND, I would say, is probably the one that comes the most naturally for me (… if I can even say that!). Yet I've recently wanted to do more and be more purposeful/effective in my 'loving'. So I've made a more conscious effort/commitment to spend less time with entertainment and vegetating, and more time reading and learning. I'm hopeful that I'll continue to sharpened not JUST by reading books, but by also engaging Scripture on a bigger scale more frequently. Looking at other places where the word for mind is used, we can see a 'bigger' picture at work than just 'mental knowledge'.

To love God with all of our 'mind', we might have sacrifice times of entertainment that won't lead to growth/refinement, and replace it with methods of engagement in sharpening our minds!

Loving with all of your... STRENGTH (ἰσχύς)

This fun little word [it's only found 10 places in our New Testaments] can mean anything along the lines of: strength, might, power, force, and ability. In light of all this, here's some things I've committed to doing differently to increase my strength/ability/ and might at better loving God AND loving others!

• I've been consistently getting up earlier that I have in the past 7 years.
• I've engaged in a 90-day chronological reading plan through scripture (with the hope of continuing and reading the entire Bible 4 times every year) [Since beginning this, I have indeed finished. Because of traveling so much, I missed the goal of 90 days by 15, and completed reading the Bible chronologically on day 105. I'm also probably going to switch to an aim of reading through the Bible twice a year to allow more time for in-depth studies of various passages.]
• I've been more conscious about what I eat and how much of it I consume at a time. [My wife and I are currently over halfway through a detox from the 'Daniel Plan' book. I won't lie, it has been rough at times. On the flip side, I'm feeling fuller faster, less hungry overall, and I've lost 10 lbs thus far. Progress.]
• I've put things in place to encourage the practice of more of the spiritual disciplines with which God has graced us
• I've committed to live a life of love toward and for other people, fueled by the improved/fit self I'm conditioning. [In other words, I'm going to the gym more consistently to promote better living.]

To love God with all of our 'strength', we might have to begin ridding ourselves of some routines and pick up new ones, thus sharpening our 'ability', not 'squandering' our strength but allowing us to use ALL of it that we have at our disposal.

Looking back from today to where I was pre-April, I can see a MAJOR difference. It's exciting! It motivates me to continue! It actually causes me to crave more! Do I still need to grow? ABSOLUTELY! In fact one of the areas of growth that I've seen in myself, is the ability to see where I still need to grow! As an enneagram type 1, that would normally drive me crazy! Yet by God's grace and the guidance of His Holy Spirit in my life, I now look at these places as challenges that I crave to face head-on, right in-step with Him.

I hope and pray that this post serves as an encouragement for someone. I know it's hard to change something that is all that you've known, but if I could nudge you with one last piece of advice/encouragement to do so, it would be this:

It's SO worth it. It's hard. You'll feel left out when others are talking about shows you've missed because you've cut them out in order to love God with all of you, but it's worth it. There will be days where you'll face discouragement, but it's worth it. There will be things that will happen in your life that will try to derail you, believe me, I know! Yet it's still worth it. Looking back at this part of my journey that I took a leap of faith, trusting the Holy Spirit to guide me, and began, I can't believe some of the things that I have experienced. I can't believe the things that I've learned. I can't believe the boldness/courage that I feel growing inside. I can't believe how much more I KNOW God and His love for me. So, will you take a leap of faith? Will you make more room in your life in order to experience the FULL life Jesus came to bring? If you do, I PROMISE, it's SO worth it!

Review: The Minimalist Home: A Room-By-Room Guide to a Decluttered, Refocused Life

The Minimalist Home: A Room-By-Room Guide to a Decluttered, Refocused Life by Joshua Becker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a great book! I wasn't super familiar with the whole 'minimalist' thing before reading this book, but I feel like this was a fantastic introduction to it! I loved how Becker talked about the reasoning behind much of what he advocated, yet at the same time emphasized that each person has their own level of minimizing that they wish to achieve. It was a breath of fresh air compared to what I had heard from others who were advocating minimizing, almost to the point of demeaning you if you didn't see 100% alike.

From reading about the stories and the opportunities that Joshua and his family get to experience and participate in now since they have begun their minimalist journey, I found myself encouraged to purge some things from my life as well. It was really cool to read stories from real people who are all at different points of their journey, and to see/hear about their victories, struggles, and hopes. In fact, after reading this book, I started to clean out my office at work and get rid of some things in order to be more open.

This book is set up in an ingenious way, working from one area of the home to another, beginning with the easiest and moving on toward the most difficult. At the end of each chapter, there is a checklist/guide included to help you go about putting into practice what you've just read. I highly recommend this book to everyone! From the little bit that I've done thus far in beginning to purge things, there is something to reversing the course on consumerism and living with 'less' in order to enjoy/experience more!

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Review: The Leading Brain: Powerful Science-Based Strategies for Achieving Peak Performance

The Leading Brain: Powerful Science-Based Strategies for Achieving Peak Performance by Friederike Fabritius
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was an absolutely phenomenal book! I got the recommendation to read it and was able to borrow it from my brother-in-law, and I'm sure glad I listened! First of all, yes, this book has research, reports, and all of that fun stuff in it, however it's presented in a SUPER readable and enjoyable format. I enjoyed this book SO much that I'm definitely going to get myself my own copy and even recommend our staff read it at some point.

It was refreshing to read about the science and research being explored on our brains and what all they do. In fact, there was so many helpful pieces of information in this book that I found myself writing notes on what I was reading so I wouldn't forget and I'd be able to share with others whenever opportunities arise.

I would certainly recommend this book for anyone looking to read a 'leadership' book, but also to anyone just looking to read something that will help you live a healthier life. This book will help you understand why your brain (and body) react they way they do to certain things around, as well as provide practical suggestions on how to the improve and overcome the situations and factors you can control around you.

Do yourself a favor and grab a copy to read! It's certainly informative, entertaining, and it reads fast!

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Review: Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality

Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality by Wesley Hill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was given this book to read by a student of mine, who had to read it as a textbook for a class. It's not a long read and overall is pretty engaging! I appreciate what Wesley brings to the table with this little, but important, book. One of the biggest weaknesses recently in the church as a whole in balancing grace with truth when it comes to people with same-sex attraction, is that we don't do a good job of providing people who are same-sex attracted with the kind of community, compassion, and relationship that EVERY person needs, regardless of their sexual attraction. In other words, we have two sides at hand: 1) the side that everyone who even is mildly sexually attracted to others of same sex deserve judgment and are condemned already; and 2) the side that everyone is welcome to live and do whatever they want because Jesus has freed them from any kind of standard by which they should live. I consider myself a member of the sojourners in the middle of this spectrum. Yet it's in this middle camp, that people who are same-sex attracted feel excluded, ignored, and down right lonely. Wesley writes from the perspective of the same-sex attracted who understand and live their lives in active submission, as a living sacrifice, slaying the desires that surround them on an altar in exchange for something much better, the lordship of Jesus. Though they are sexually attracted to those of the same sex, they do not act on these desires. Wesley describes the loneliness he has felt (and quotes a number of other people in the same boat) due to the fact that though people like him agree with the historical Biblical position regarding homosexuality, the church doesn't know what to do with them and how to include them in as a genuine part of the family. I had hoped to gain a better sense of empathy by reading this book, and because of Wesley's great writing style and humble heart, I believe I have the workings of just that! I truly hope I'll be able to continue on this journey, growing in a way that will help me to see people beyond what 'sin' they wrestle with, to the inner drive/pain that they are so deeply enduring all alone. By God's grace I hope to become more and more like the hands and feet of Jesus that He desires all of us to be! Thank you Wesley for helping and contributing to the greater furtherment of His kingdom!

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Review: Rise of the Servant Kings: What the Bible Says about Being a Man

Rise of the Servant Kings: What the Bible Says about Being a Man by Ken Harrison
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ken Harrison did a very nice job at writing this book! I found myself eagerly looking forward to the next time I would have some space to sit and read! That being said, I don't think this is the PERFECT book on "biblical manhood"... yet it's still one that I still recommend. There were certainly quite a few places where I question the exegetical process used and the conclusions that were derived, but even with this as the case, I still believe this is one of the better (if not best) books for men to read in regards to becoming who God is calling us to be and living that out daily. I thought the manner in how Harrison set up and executed the flow of his thoughts and arguments were excellently constructed and executed. It was also a major bonus to read personal stories from all throughout his life.

In further terms of content, I think you'd be pretty safe even just skipping the 2nd half of chapter 16 'The Judge'. The chapter starts off well, but the interpretations and applications Revelation 2-3 within the second half of the chapter I believe will actually cause more harm than good. Let me explain. I understand the importance of trying to help men step up and take more assertiveness in their lives and their faith (it's a lesson American Christians in general could probably learn more of in general). However to make some of these claims (which I'm guessing are from the works of J. Vernon McGee since he quotes him a few times in the book) in what Revelation is 'clearly' saying and the applications that follow, is to hand 'a freshly sharpened blade' to a person who has no idea how to use it. Someone's going to hurt themselves. For example, to identify a woman, who may be filling and flourishing in a leadership position of some sort (and in a CHRIST exalting way), as a 'Jezebel' simply because of her gender and NOT because of or in relation to the theology/allegiance to Christ or someone else that she teaches, is a bit immature and misguided.  In Revelation, the woman is called Jezebel because of her false teachings and leading people AWAY from Jesus. Yet it came across in this book that it was a mixture of this AND the fact she was a woman, and there's no solid Scriptural basis here for that conclusion by any means! I can easily see (and in fact have already seen this in my life) where people dismiss what God is doing around them, simply because it's through a 'vessel' of whom they personally don't approve. (By the way, this isn't a new phenomenon by any stretch. It's all over the place. For example, there was Cyrus in Isaiah. God was using Cyrus to accomplish what He wished, much to the shock, surprise, and even horror of Israel. This idea also surfaces in another form in Romans 9 when Paul explains that not all of the 'physical' nation of Israel is part of the true Israel. They had the misunderstanding that they were 'guaranteed' a spot simply because they were part of the nation of Israel (you can see this addressed time and again in the New Testament... see for example Matthew 3.1-12). In other words, they cringed at the fact that God wasn't doing what they thought He should be doing, the way they think He should be doing it. I digress.) It's awfully dangerous to say things in ways like this, and 'arm' men to go out and potentially work AGAINST the Holy Spirit, simply because 'one of them' isn't the one doing it.

I'm not trying to discredit the book. Like I said, overall, I really enjoyed the book and thought it was written very well. Just skip the unnecessary 'conjecture' in chapter 16 and you'll still glean an incredible amount of encouragement and challenge! I, for one, feel like I've grown from reading this book!

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Review: Between Two Trees: Our Transformation from Death to Life

Between Two Trees: Our Transformation from Death to Life by Shane J Wood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a pheromonal read! Shane has an uncanny ability to guide a reader into theological depths that usually have the tendency of swallowing unsuspecting ventures in the vastness that is theology. I've had the opportunity to hear Shane teach a couple of times in person, and I'm an avid listener to a lot of his work that he has available via his website, and one of the biggest qualities that stands out in his teaching (that you'll notice immediately in this book) is a humble heart passionately pursuing Jesus, along with the selfless pursuit of bringing others along on the journey.

In this book, Wood takes us back to place with which we are all oh so familiar with, the garden of Eden, and has us sit a while to take notice of the reality that maybe what happened there was MUCH worse than we ever thought. Not letting us sit for TOO long in this despairing revelation, Wood quickly follows with the encouragement that if this is true, then what God has done is SO MUCH GREATER than we ever thought as well! From this foundational element, Wood guides us along on a journey to rediscover the true depths of the gospel, and what it demands when we engage with it. Beyond simply a 'one and done' interaction, the gospel follows us, infuses us, and calls us to live out the scandalous reality we so willingly and gratefully embrace in terms of being saved by Jesus, within our own lives.

I am personally indebted to the scholarship and discipling work that Wood has produced over the years. He is known (and RIGHTFULLY so) for his amazing work that he's done with the book of Revelation. He shares that when he sat down to begin writing this book, he set out to write a book on how to read the book of Revelation. However as he prayerfully wrote and wrestled with the Scriptures, it morphed into a book on how the book of Revelation (and the rest of Scripture as a whole) reads us! This book is a MUST read about the glorious and powerful reality of transformation, from dead to alive, death to life, and lost sinner to embraced child of God! I highly recommend this book!

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