Week #4: Revolution by George Barna

I selected this book on the recommendation of a friend... with less exciting results than my previous week's entry, I'm afraid. This is not a reflection on my friend or his taste in books.

Pollster George Barna has become somewhat famous for giving us the facts... just the facts. He has helped millions become more aware of cultural trends and also given pastors the ability to sound much more intelligent than we really are - quoting statistics does wonders that way.

Disappointingly absent from this submission are the same cold hard facts that Barna is so known for producing. His recent offering is rife with conjecture and devoid of a single footnote.

The essence of the book makes it plain that the Church has totally missed the mark and as such will implode upon herself. While Barna makes some accurate (and at times, stinging) criticisms, the book rings of opinion and preference.

The saddest fact of all (pun intended) is that if the Church does not listen to some of these types of warnings... there is a 100% chance that we will begin to feel the weight of Barna's speculative musings.

Week #3: Dinner With A Perfect Stranger by David Gregory

Over the Christmas break I re-connected with a friend from college who I had lost track of. We were having coffee one morning and his wife called sobbing and said she had just read an unbelievably impacting book. I didn't know his wife, so I assumed that was just her personality... the emotional type. Two days later he called me and said that he had read the book too and that I really needed to get a copy.

I did.

Initially the book seemed a little contrived and alot just weird. I knew what the author was trying to get at. It just seemed a strange way to get there... Boy was I early in my judgment!

Half way through I was hooked. And if by now you're wishing that I would just tell you what this one's about... that's what I'm trying to do. I'm hoping that you'll be interested enough to read it for yourself. It's a quick read. You can probably finish it in a day or two. It's actually tough to put down.

This book helped me remember the simplicity of the message of Jesus.

Week #2: Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

I like books that challenge norms. That says alot about me I know. Facts are facts. This book definitely challenges the conventions of Christianity. Donald Miller tells us his personal story of faith and his journey with God from childhood to the present.

His honesty is refreshing and... well... honest. He says things that most of us have only ever thought but were afraid to say. I did feel a time or two that he was letting us in on things for their shock value. But what kind of an author would he be without a little drama?

Read the book! You won't agree with everything he says. But it will definitely give you fresh eyes to see those who are objecting to the gospel and a new perspective of how we can reach them.

Negatively I think Miller commits the cardinal sin of calling for everyone to love each other and then shooting at people who are more conservative than he is. True love extends both ways and uses truth as the basis for comment... not personal preference. There are many people - on both sides of the discussion - who have misunderstood Christian liberty. This book reminded me to extend grace both ways while applying truth in love.

Week #1: Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

I wanted to start the year by reminding myself what it's all about to be a follower of Jesus. While Lewis is definitely not for the faint of heart, he's not wordy either... the teacher in him never allows for a wasted word. The truth he expressed in 1952 stands as a poignant reminder of the nature of truth - it is unchangeable.

Lewis' understanding of the gospel (and Christianity itself) is a stark contrast to the pluralistic mindset of our society. His infamous postulation about the very nature of Jesus sums up the entire book very well...

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

What I'm Reading: A Closer Look

I made one of those New Year's things... some call them resolutions. My resolve was to make a strong effort to read one book each week. One month in and I've made it so far.

I was thinking it might help me to be faithful if I let others know what I was attempting... that whole accountability concept.

One more thought to keep me going is that I am planning to write a brief synopsis of each book after I've read it.

I'll go back to the beginning of the year and catch the ones I have not yet reviewed and then I'll try to be faithful to write each week about that particular week's book.

Finding Ourselves On the Wrong End of the Spear

Hollywood is beginning to understand that even though they may have some significant differences in morality, Christian culture is part of an equation that equals big bucks at the box office. I find it more than slightly amusing that Christians seem to be the only ones that haven't figured out the other side of that equation. The other side is Hollywood.

Their job is to sell movies. Period. The overwhelming majority of them are not Christ followers and as such, they cannot be expected to make genuinely "Christian" movies any more than General Motors can be expected to engineer "Christian" automobiles. It's not what they do. Never have. Probably never will.

And though there are times when we get excited about the possibility that they might get it right this time, deep down I think we always dread the reality that we are mostly certain of... that in fact, Hollywood is Hollywood and filmmakers are salesman and not pulpiteers. And if we think it all the way through... do we really want them to be pulpiteers? That's our job to allow the Scriptures... to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (to quote from Hebrews 4:12).

First I admit that my prior thoughts flavor what I am about to say. That said, I am in virtual agreement with the spirit of concern recently expressed about the movie. Do I wish ETE (Every Tribe Entertainment) would have selected a less controversial person than Chad Allen to play the lead role? Sure. Would I have been in favor of a more overt presentation of the gospel? Absolutely. Will I boycott the movie because they selected a homosexual activist and have diluted the gospel? No.

I have a strong disagreement with homosexuality as an option for followers of Jesus. So as I watched Larry King's discussion last week on, to quote radio host Janet Parshall, "the homosexualizing of America", I understood the opposition of some to having an admitted homosexual play the part of a revered Christian martyr. So many of the comments back and forth on Larry King Live were typical and expected. There was a unique piece of the discussion that especially stood out in my mind as I was listening. I've included it from the transcript:

KING: Reverend Mohler, do you have any gay friends?

MOHLER: Yes, yes I do as a matter of fact. And I don't think it's fair to categorize anything that's been said here today as speaking of homosexuals as sub-human. As a matter of fact, I think we have learned...

KING: But you speak of them as sinners.

MOHLER: ... Well, I want to speak of myself as a sinner, Larry. It's just a matter of which kind of sin and which pattern of temptation.

KING: You don't seem as angry at yourself. Just a comment.

Christians have often said that believers in Jesus should hate the sin, but love the sinner. All too often I'm afraid we come across as hating them both. This is what King was picking up on, using sarcasm to make his point. But he does have a point. Although I don't believe Dr. Mohler was being angry in the technical sense, there does some to be a disparity between the way we view Chad Allen's sin of homosexuality and the way we speak about our own sin.

Romans 1 is the touchstone passage that we love to (and should) quote as basis for our opinions about homosexuality. Yet the first part of Romans 2 is clear - contextually contrasting the specific sin of homosexuality to our own sin - that all of us are equally condemnable. Perhaps it would behoove all of us to re-read the first eleven verses of chapter 2 before entering into any discussions about chapter 1. I think it may cause us to focus differently. Not less on the sin, but more on the sinner.

Romans 2:1-11
Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2 And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. 3 But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: 7 to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; 8 but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.

Though I may not take all of Marc Newman's ideas to the full length that he does in this article - www.movieministry.com/articles.php?articles=featured - I think he expands well on the overall idea I was trying to express. Sorry you'll have to do the old cut and paste to the article's website. I haven't quite mastered this blogging stuff just yet.

Shed A Little Light

Let us turn our thoughts today to Martin Luther King;
And recognize that there are ties between us -
All men and women living on the earth -
Ties of hope and love - sister and brotherhood.
That we are bound together in our desire to see the world become a place in which our children can grow free and strong.
We are bound together by the task that stands before us, and the road that lies ahead - we are bound and we are bound.

Shed a little light, O Lord
So that we can see
She a little light, O Lord

Thanks to James Taylor for trying to put into words what many of us feel in our hearts.

On this day I am not as drawn to the man as I am to what he stood for. In truth we should never be drawn to men. They are men. Human. Mortal. Flawed. There is no denying that the message of Martin Luther King, Jr. is a message still needed today. We have made great strides in many ways... and mere baby steps in others. The colors of our nation are vibrant. Yet small-minded racism lives on.

Racism is fear. Fear that someone else may come along who does things differently that I do. Fear that I won't understand. Fear that I may be asked to include someone that I would rather keep at arm's length. Fear of the unknown.

My brother and his girlfriend live in Atlanta. We went to see them over the Christmas holidays. One thing I wanted to make sure my kids saw when we were there was the Martin Luther King Historic Center. I want them to know about the Civil Rights Movement. I want them to know that it is our responsibility to make sure it never happens again and to keep working for the changes that need to be made for all of us to be seen as one. Sisters and brothers. I want them to know that they can make a difference if they will treat people as they wish to be treated. If they will try to feel the pain of others. Be empathetic. I think they are getting it.

Learning from Dwarfs

My daughter gave me an innocuous little gift in my stocking this year. To the best of my knowledge there was no double meaning intended, but a much deeper meaning is precisely what I received. What was the gift? Two of the seven dwarfs... Happy & Grumpy.

Maybe I just want desperately to believe that she didn't mean anything by the gift. No matter. Almost immediately my mind began to whirl. And 6 days before then end of the year, I made a resolution.

I put these two iconic fellows on the nightstand by my bed. Each morning as I wake up I make a choice... Happy? Or Grumpy? Thank God for little children. Thank God for little dwarfs.