BÜX: PRAYER: FINDING THE HEART'S TRUE HOME

I just finished up this book tonight. In short, this book is the Celebration of Discipline of prayer. I've read a lot of his work, including the aforementioned Celebration of Discipline and The Freedom of Simplicity, and I just picked up his book Money, Sex, and Power: The Challenge of the Disciplined Life from the thrift store over Thanksgiving break - awesome!

As I've read his work, I've been deeply moved and convicted by the compassionate warmth of his writings, as well as his ability to deal with his subjects comprehensively and compellingly, while maintaining a prophetic edge that makes you uncomfortable, but in a way that draws you closer into life with God. My experience with this book was no different - he dealt with the subject of prayer from a variety of angles, organizing them intuitively and sprinkling them personal anecdotes that both convict and comfort. Looking back on the book's scope in the final chapter, Foster reveals his thesis for the book:

We saw some of the ways God's loving friendship draws us inward into the transformation we need: changing us, molding us, forming us. We were invited upward into the intimacy we need: adoring God, resting in God, listening to God. We heard the call outward into the ministry we need: healing the sick, suffering with the broken, interceding for the world. (p. 255)

If your prayer life feels shallow, meaningless, or devoid of life, as mine often does, I'd recommend this book to you; I hope the joy that Foster reveals in the privilege that we each have to come confidently before God in prayer will put a smile on your face and breathe life into your prayer life. If you've read this book, let me know what you thought in the comments. See you soon.

BÜX: THE YOUNGER EVANGELICALS.

Over the past few years, I've become more educated on what is being called the "emerging" Church. I want to say off the bat that I'm woefully ignorant of what is really going on in "emerging" churches around the world, but from what I have read in a few books and experienced through conversations with good friends and visiting churches that label themselves as emerging (like my buddy Trevor's church, Risen), I have found myself drawn to the honesty, authenticity, and commitment to living and loving in the way of Jesus exhibited in them. A few years ago, I read A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren, and although I really appreciated his honesty, transparency, and his heart for the purity and mission of the church in the world, his bitter criticism made it hard for me to take him seriously. In contrast, I found Robert Webber's The Younger Evangelicals to be a winsome and hopeful picture of how the Holy Spirit is moving across continents and denominations to call the Church to a renewal of heart in our world.

To avoid butchering Webber's analysis of how "The Younger Evangelicals" are making their own unique contribution to Christ's Church, I'll let him speak for himself:

"...the leadership of the younger evangelical will be distinctly different than that of the twentieth-century evangelical. It will be biblically informed by the Missio Dei to rescue the entire created order; it will be theological, rooted in the trinitarian and christological consciousness of the ancient creed; it will be spiritual, reflecting the purposes of God to restore the fullness of his image in us and to bring all creation to its redemption and reconciliation to God; and it will be conscious in its action in and to the world of the new cultural situation in which we live, taking into consideration the new realities of the twenty-first century." (p. 243)

If that was a bunch of gibberish for you, then ignore this post. But if you know a few of those longer words, you'll see that Webber has the ability and the desire to portray clearly how younger evangelicals are different from the predecessors, including Pragmatic and Traditional evangelicals, which he sucessfully does in a way that both encourages and challenges.

If you've got a little time and you want to have a better understanding of some of the hopeful and exciting strands that are emerging in the evangelical church, I found Webber's work to be academic but approachable. He incorporates a lot of interviews with "younger evangelicals," he looks at a few examples of churches which exemplify his findings, and there's even an essay by Rob Bell on preaching inside. His words on the value of the arts in the emerging church has struck a chord in me, being a musician, and having read his overview of the world of the "younger evangelicals," I feel more hopeful and expectant of the amazing work that God is continuing to do in our radically broken world through us, his people. See you soon.

BÜX: BEYOND BUMPER STICKER ETHICS

One of the books that I had a chance to finish off while Monica and I were down in Carmel was Beyond Bumper Sticker Ethics, by Steve Wilkens. I found it in my office, and it seemed like it would be an interesting read. Wilkens is a professor of religion and philosophy at Azusa Pacific University (Peter is taking a class from him right now), and I think that this book is probably what is used as the textbook for his Ethics class. Wilkens defines ethics as "the process of how we work through moral issues." I find this issue to be extremely significant, because it answers the question, "What do we as Christians do?" For those of us committed to living out our faith in Jesus today, the issue of how we decide upon the actions we choose is incredibly significant, and so I was really excited to be challenged and stimulated in my own journey towards developing a better foundation for the way that I make decisions in the Way of Jesus.

I really enjoyed the book - Wilkens writes in a way that is academic and thorough, but very readable. The format of the book centers around a series of what he calls "Bumper Stickers": short little catchphrases that he uses as jumping-off points to examine different ethical systems. He uses the phrase, "When in Rome, Do as the Romans Do" to describe and critique the ethical system of Cultural Relativism, and "All You Need is Love" to describe Virtue Ethics. He gives a summary of each ethical system, describes the positive elements, and then offers some critiques of each.

Wilkens does not conclude this book with a cut-and-dried description of a comprehensive Christian ethical system - I see the wisdom in this, because the truth is that the convictions that govern our actions cannot be neatly wrapped up and applied in every situation. But Wilkens does say that the point is not necessarily to come to a finite end at which all ethical decisions will solve themselves, but to strive with compassion, wisdom, and truth to do that which brings Glory to GOD, whether it's deciding whether or not it's OK to download TV episodes off of YouTube or giving money to a homeless man who might use it to buy a sandwich or buy drugs. Wilkens says it this way: "Truthfulness, goodness and rightness need to characterize not only our conclusions but also the means by which we get to our conclusions." I came away from this book with a better understanding of how to think critically about how I make decisions, but also with a heart to pursue GOD's heart for my hands, my feet, and my money, and to place my trust in the Holy Spirit to guide me and the grace of GOD to cover me as I make decisions as a steward, a friend, a husband, a pastor, a giver, and a Child of GOD.
May you and I be the hands and feet of Jesus with greater wisdom, discernment, compassion, love, and truth tomorrow than we were today. See you soon.

Just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:26)

BÜX: SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP.

This last week at Silver Spur, I finished reading Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders. My pastor gave this to me a few weeks ago, and I really appreciated it's wealth of Godly insight on what it means to be a "leader" in God's church. It wasn't written in a particularly flashy style, but it's emphasis on biblical interpretation for the foundation of his leadership principles was nails, and he covered a wealth of topics in a straightforward manner that I really appreciated. He also drew on a lot of biographical examples (complete with citations), which has whetted my appetite to read the biographies of some of the great men of GOD that he mentioned. Some quotes I appreciated:

"True leaders know that time spent listening is well invested."

"Time cannot be hoarded, only spent well."

"The strength for moral character is preserved by refusing the unimportant."

"To succeed in getting things done through others is the highest type of leadership."

"Indeed, no man, however capable and devoted, is indispensible to the work of leadership."

"To tell a man he is called to be a leader is the best way of ensuring his spiritual ruin... The church needs saints and servants, not 'leaders,' and if we forget the priority of service, the entire idea of leadership training becomes dangerous."

Powerful and Godly words. Other things I'm reading:

Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, Ronald Sider (I found this for 99 cents in the used section of a Christian bookstore)

Beyond Bumper Sticker Ethics, Steve Wilkens (I've really enjoyed this book)

Abide in Christ, Andrew Murray
Boomsday, Christopher Buckley

See you soon.