Book Review of The Next Christians by Gabe Lyons

I just finished The Next Christians by Gabe Lyons and absolutely loved it!

The church whined and moaned when President Obama declared America to "no longer be a Christian nation," so the catchy tag line on the jacket cover caught my eye: The Good News about the end of Christian America.  And Good News there is!

The Good News is that the church in America is being forced to return to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that's the core of the book.  Forced to take a serious look at what is our primary calling and not get caught up in secondary issues.  Time is too short for secondary issues.

The final chapter was the best chapter to read.  Lyons writes, "No longer embarrassed to claim the label (Christian), these Christians (Next Christians) have finally recovered what many who have gone before them always understood about the faith: namely, that the Christian view of the world informs everything, that the Gospel runs deep, and that the way of Jesus demands we give our lives in service to others. Jesus's atonement was not only meant to be a simple ticket to heaven - it carried consequence for how Christians live their lives on earth today."


The Good News is that Christians are viewing the Gospel of Jesus Christ as all encompassing, another words it effects all of life.  It requires the Christian to move outside the "safe zone" and move into a world that is skeptical and even hostile to the church.  The Good News is that this is what the early church faced and because of her commitment to the "whole" Gospel the world was changed.

Lyons writes, "The bottom line is that the Christian has a calling and a responsibility to think, work, and live in terms of how the world ought to be in contrast to reacting to how it really is."  The "power of ought" that flows from the heart of Jesus and invigorates the heart of Christians drives us to take the Gospel to the Market, to the arena, to the schools, to the slums, to the women and children sold as sex slaves, to caring for our world. It challenges us not just to hoard the Gospel but to embody the Gospel and give it away to those who need it the most, simply because they are greatly loved and valued by God.  Jesus described his mission in Luke 4:18-19 and it is incarnational and touches all areas of society.

I highly recommend The Next Christians if you want to have your present view of Christianity and the role of the church challenged and your worldview turned upside down.

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

Experiencing Grace in Lent

Experiencing Grace in the Desert

Lent is a season of soul-searching and repentance. It is a season for reflection and taking stock. For many, it is a time to give up something like TV or candy or smoking or certain kinds of food. It is also a time to serve others.  Service is a way to look beyond our selves and give to others. The following is a brief reflection leading up to what may be a better view of Lent for some.

Lent owes much of its spirit to the forty days Jesus spent in the desert preparing for his ministry. We say he was "tempted" there, but a more accurate translation may be "tested." The Jewish view of the desert was an abode of demons, especially that part of the desert where winds would howl around tall, rough stone. It must have been terrifying at night: dark, looming shapes, unearthly wailing of wind, and nothing else. In this place, Jesus was offered the opportunity to be the wrong kind of messiah. He rejected each possibility.

When Jesus entered the desert, he left behind all the expectations of others, all the hopes, all the illusions. It was just Jesus and the Father, and the Holy Spirit. But in solitude, demons come. No role is more dangerous than the reformer. There were at least three wrong ways to be the Messiah, and Jesus rejected them all. The defeat of Satan during this testing hinted at the final defeat of evil through the Cross and Resurrection.

We are people of illusions. We think we understand God, we think we know ourselves and those around us. We plan our lives and are shocked when these plans fall through. We impose our wills on God or even say we know His plans. Jesus did not have such illusions, but we have illusions about Jesus. In the desert, Jesus had no illusions of his own to face and destroy: he was tested for our sake, so we would know who he was not. He did not come to bribe us with earthly bread, or astonish us with feats of invulnerability. He did not seek world domination or command an army. He simply did the will of the Father.

The desert experience is about deprivation. Most of the world experiences it involuntarily. For many people, however, deprivation is a great evil, and to be avoided at all costs. In deprivation, we discover that we are not all-powerful. We are slaves to our bellies, to the opinions of others, to pleasure. We cannot bear pain, so we take a pill. We cannot bear growing old, so we dye our hair. Like Darth Vader in Star Wars, we replace our humanity with technology until there is little of ourselves left. Doing without can strip away some of the illusions and give us a glimpse of truth.

During Lent, we have the opportunity to hear voices that are usually lost in the din of pleasure and meaningless talk. We can enter into a private desert even in the midst of the world and face our own demons. We can tear down false idols only to be heartbroken at finding others behind them. If we are brave, we can run through this desert trying to find the real God amid the gods.

Thomas Merton writes about a kind of “dread.” It is the nagging sense that we have missed something important or that we have somehow been untrue to ourselves. It may feel like a crisis of faith, as though we doubted God. In reality, we doubt the false images of God that we ourselves have created. We doubt the bold pronouncements we make about our independence or open-mindedness. This “dread” is heightened by the fact that the God beyond our imaginings is so close to us, although we know Him not. Thoughts cross our minds about this, but we push them away. Perhaps as you read this you are thinking, “I’m not that clueless. I have faith. I know God personally.” Think again.

In this life, we try to make some progress in discarding our “disordered attachments.” At death, we will no longer have a choice. We cannot enter Heaven burdened with a thousand foolish attachments. As our bodies lie rotting, there will be no more illusions about the worth of attractiveness. As others claim our possessions, they will finally have their proper value to us. When we stand in judgment before God, we will have no illusions about our sanctity or goodness. All will be laid bare, and there will be no more hypocrisy, lies, or illusions. It is far better to begin discarding our foolish attachments in this life, and Lent is a good time to begin this work. The best time to start, however, is always now.

(Excerpts from whitestonejournal.com)

A Daily Bible Reading Plan for Lent beginning March 9, 2011

Lord God, by Your Word…

Fill Me with Your Life-Giving Spirit

3/9 Ash Wednesday: Luke 4:1-13
3/10 Thursday: Romans 8:1-17
3/11 Friday: Galatians 5:16-26
3/12 Saturday: Ephesians 4:17-24

Week 1 - 3/13-3/19

Fill Me with a Spirit of Repentance and Forgiveness

Sunday: Psalm 51
Monday: Matthew 6:5-15
Tuesday: Matthew 18:21-35
Wednesday: Luke 15:11-32
Thursday: Ephesians 4:25—5:2
Friday: 1 John 1:5-10
Saturday: Psalm 130

Week 2 - 3/20-3/26

Fill Me with a Spirit of Hope and Trust

Sunday: Genesis 12:1-9
Monday: Genesis 22:1-19
Tuesday: Isaiah 51:1-16
Wednesday: Luke 12:22-34
Thursday: Romans 4:13-25
Friday: Hebrews 6:13-20
Saturday: Psalm 62

Week 3 - 3/27-4/2

Fill Me with a Spirit of Gratitude and Thanksgiving

Sunday: Luke 17:11-19
Monday: 2 Corinthians 9:1-15
Tuesday: Ephesians 5:6-20
Wednesday: Philippians 4:1-9
Thursday: Colossians 3:1-17
Friday: 1 Chronicles 16:7-36
Saturday: Psalm 103

Week 4 - 4/3-4/9

Fill Me with a Spirit of Love and Servanthood

Sunday: Matthew 23:1-12
Monday: Mark 10:35-45
Tuesday: John 15:1-17
Wednesday: Romans 12:9-21
Thursday: Romans 13:8-14
Friday: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Saturday: 1 John 4:7-21

Week 5 - 4/10-4/16

Fill Me with a Spirit of Discipleship and Commitment

Sunday: Luke 5:1-11
Monday: Luke 9:22-27
Tuesday: Matthew 10:16-33
Wednesday: Matthew 10:34-42
Thursday: John 15:18-27
Friday: 2 Timothy 2:1-13
Saturday: 2 Timothy 3:10-17

Week 6 - 4/17-4/23

Fill Me with a Spirit of Obedience and Humility

Sunday: John 13:1-20
Monday: Philippians 2:1-11
Tuesday: Psalm 22
Wednesday: Isaiah 52:13—53:12
Thursday: Luke 22:39-71
Friday: Luke 23:1-56
Saturday: Hebrews 4:14—5:10

Book Review: SoulPrint: Discovering your Divine Destiny.

This is my first Mark Batterson read.  Absolutely loved it!  It is a provacative, creative and exegetically stimulating use of the life of King David.  More than that, Batterson creatively spoke into my life.  Two things stand out to me (that I needed to hear):

First, "There has never been and never will be anyone else like you. But that isn't a testament to you. It's a testament to the God who created you. You are unlike anyone who has ever lived. But that uniqueness isn't a virtue. It's a responsibility."

Far from the typical self-help mumbo jumbo Batterson focuses our attention on to God.  To know who I am is secondary, to know whose I am and for what purposes he has created me...THAT'S PRIMARY!

Second, "The wrong decisions you have made, no matter how devastating they have been to you and to others, don't have to define you. Not if God's grace is still in play, God's grace has a way of turning what seems like final mistakes into single mistakes. And He'll even redeem those mistakes and turn them into defining moments that help you discover new dimensions of His grace."

My sin does not define me rather, God's grace does.  What an amazingly elementary yet profound thought!  I have grown up in the church and yet never had that explained to me so simply.  I am on a grace journey that leads me deeper into God.  The deeper I go the more amazed I become at who God is and that HE would love me, and love me enough to have a special name and unique purpose for my life.

God has placed within me a unique soulprint that he is developing.  My responsibility is to understand my soulprint and then allow him to use it to full fill his purposes.  Highly recommend this book for all seekers after God who want to be uniquely used to accomplish the purposes of God for their lives in their generation.

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

Rules or Relationship?

 ²⁰ You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, ²¹ “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? ²² Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. ²³ These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires. Colossians 2:20-23 (NLT)

What is holiness?  Is it adherence to a rigid set of rules?  Rules that are designed to tell you what is right and wrong!  Or is it searching out the Scriptures to discover how God wants you to live and then having such close, intimate fellowship with the Holy Spirit that you allow the Spirit of God to guide your thoughts and actions?

I grew up in an era of legalism: don't go to movies, don't play cards, don't smoke or drink.  Why?  Because it broke the rules.  Did those rules make me holy?  Not at all!  They frustrated me and made me resentful.  When I search the Scriptures I don't find injunctions against those activities, but I do find that I am called to fill my mind with the Word of God and my heart with the love of God and be led by the Spirit of God.  Did those rules prevent me from going to movies?  No!  Does the fellowship with the Spirit and the need for that intimacy with God cause me to say no to certain movies or other activities?  Yes!  Does my relationship with Christ make me holy, yes.  He makes me holy!  My relationship with Christ shows me the parameters and the Spirit of God guides me in and around those parameters.  The rules bound me; my fellowship with the Holy Spirit frees me to be all that God intends for me to be.

God knew that the power of relationship would be greater than the power of rules.  The old adage, "rules are made to be broken" proves that point.  But when I am in a relationship with someone that I love then I go out of my way to find ways to please that person.

What do you think?  Is holiness found through adherence to a rigid set of rules or through the fellowship with the Holy Spirit?

Review of CHURCHED by Matthew Paul Turner

      So I read Matthew Paul Turner's book, CHURCHED.  I had to take my time reading the book, not because it was hard to read.  Indeed it was witty and insightful and actually a very easy book to read.  What it wasn't was easy to DIGEST!
     I laughed with and cried with Turner through out the book because I could relate to his heart's cry which I think was best captured when he said, "What I'm hoping to find in a church is a place all about joining God in the resurrection story.  I want to be a part of the solution, not the problem."
     That's what made CHURCHED difficult to digest. It describes a church that is self-absorbed, closed and narrow in its focus.  It made me stop and think about my own church, what kind of church am I a part of?  There certainly are elements of self-absorption and narrow-mindedness, but for the most part we are a church that is learning how to embrace the grace of God and extend that grace to everyone within our sphere of influence.
     That's what Turner is looking for in a church.  A church that is honest and open and genuine in its pursuit of God and in its presentation of the Gospel to the world around.

Vision and Strategy Church Trends for 2011 and Beyond

Vision and Strategy Church Trends for 2011 and Beyond

Going Back!

We are so excited to realize that we'll be going back to Venezuela in a little over a month!  We've not returned to that beautiful country that was our home from 1991 to 2002.  We've been priviledged to have the opportunity to renew acquaintances and encourage the church that we planted in 1995 in the city of Maracay.  We'll be leaving October 12 and returning to Canton on October 22nd.  We have the opportunity not only to revisit some of the beauty of the area but also to preach and teach and sing (Avril) in the church.

I am a bit overwhelmed with the challenge of preaching and teaching in Spanish.  It has been sooooo many years since I've done that.  Pray for the enabling of God's Spirit to be able to effectively communicate the Word of God to the church and to their invited friends.  Pray for Avril as she has opportunity to sing; pray for a freedom in her spirit to not only enable people to worship but also to come to faith in Christ through her songs.

We have a full schedule.  October 15 give a devotional to the young people.  October 16 lead a seminar for the small group leaders.  October 17 to 19th preach to the church and their invited guests in a mini evangelistic campaign.  October 20 lead a seminar for the church leaders.

Very excited!  Also very humbled!  We need the grace of God to overshadow us so that we can accomplish God's purposes for our visit to Maracay.

More postings to follow.  We'll let you know about the Country and the City and the Church.  We'll walk you through our daily journey once we arrive.

Sooo excited!!