Jack Frost
“Do you live your life by the law of love,
Or do you live your life by the love of the law”
Jack Frost quoted from a sermon
Archive for the 'Book Reviews' Category
Second Hand Jesus
When I read a book I have a habit of keeping the receipt to use as a bookmark. This is because 1) I am cheap and 2) If the book stinks or just does not meet the expectations I have for it I can easily access the receipt and return the book. I am happy to say that I just threw the receipt for this book away, and I am going to buy this book for many, many friends.
I have known Glen Packiam for a few years. He is my former worship pastor at New Life. In that time I have come to have great respect for his singing. However, towards the end of my time there he was given some opportunities to preach, and I ate it up. His mind is just as comfortable writing music or working through theological concepts and ideas. My proximity to the man does not guarantee that I will give him a good review. Anyone who knows me knows I do not mix words. I will tell it like it is because I have to much respect for a person to blow smoke at them.
This book is a great book that reminds Christians to go deeper. Get through the muck and the muddle and the “Christianese” and the “Sacred Cows” and getting to what God really said and doing what he ultimately wants. He wants you to passionately pursue relationship with him and listen to His words and not rely on the church and other “more Godly” then yourself to do the hard work.
This book is part spiritual biography, part theology, part testimony. It brings the life God wants for us into painfully sharp focus by Glen using his honest and candid look at his own life and where he was vs. where he is headed. If we all do the work to get gut level honest with ourselves, there is a Glenn Packiam in us all at some level.
Glenn uses the Ark of the Covenant and some of the facts surrounding it to guide us through 4 rumors that Christians have for the most part bit into hook line and sinker. I am not going to give them away here, but the questions can and should lead you to much introspection, wrestling, and then growth through the process.
I highly recommend this book for those who have been Christians for awhile and are tired of being on autopilot, and I definitely recommend it if you are a new believer. It will open your eyes and challenge you to go to God first in your relationship and to not fall into spiritual apathy and let the Church do your spiritual heavy lifting. There is only one person on earth who can interceed truly and completely for you, and that is you.
Cicero
“The budget should be balanced. Public debt should be reduced. The arrogance of officialdom should be tempered. And assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest our empire go bankrupt.”
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An Observation About Love
I have recently become reaquainted with the writings of Robert Fulghum. If you have never read the books It was on Fire when I lay down on it and All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten then you are missing out on some great wisdom, observation, and humor from a well formed mind. I grew up with my parents reading to my sister and I from time to time from these books. I came across a copy of one of the books at a library sale the other day and well…I now have my own copy.
On his website he has a great observation on love and I find it funny, and revealing. If any of you live in the Seattle area and find a older man peeping in your windows or behaving a little unusually then it is probably him. When you see him just smile and wave, say a kind hello and watch his website or his next book because he is a keen observer of life. You just might be his next subject. He is a contemplative for sure.
I have been thinking a lot about wisdom and how we as Christians look at wisdom and where and how it comes from. I am going to share more about it soon. I believe God brings people and circumstances to us at the right time. I believe Robert Fulghum is one such voice of wisdom.
Culture in Heaven?
I have started reading through the book Culture Making Recovering our Creative Calling by Andy Crouch. I have truly found this book striking a clear chord in my mind and soul. I wanted to share a thought with you that really got me thinking, and is really challenging me right now. When Christ returns and he sets up his heavenly city, you know the one with streets paved with gold, that has a mansion with our name on it waiting for us…God is going to redeem the best of the culture and use it in that heavenly city. What are you and I doing to contribute to the culture today that will be lasting into eternity? What are you and I doing with the light of eternity in our hearts and minds right now? Will we contribute anything of lasting value in the culture of eternity in the City of God?
God is going to use the great things of culture, of all culture, to glorify Himself in the new kingdom. It is impossible to bring people together and not have culture of some sort, even in heaven. While the motives and the usage of the things of culture will be different, it will all exist in the light of eternity.
The challenge of this book to me has been to realize that Christians can not make culture all by themselves. When we do things like write Christian novels, go to Christian movies, eat at Christian restaurants and do it all in the name of creating Christian culture we only succeed in alienating the culture, and it will pass us right by if we are not careful. Christ spoke through the culture of his day. If we do not endeavor to do the same we will loose our chance to win generations into the kingdom of God. Many of the cultural goods of today will be existent in heaven. Music for example. So much music does the soul good. Improvisational Jazz, country, R & B, etcetera. All work to create culture and communicate culture. Imagine Christ coming for His people coming down on the clouds to the music of Blind Melon instead of Amy Grant.
This book is a great read, and a challenging read. We must be in the business of reading the culture, creating culture, and utilizing the culture to reach out to the people of our generation. We must find contemporary and innovative ways to communicate Christ in a changing culture. I am exited by this challenge and terrified by it. I am post modern in my beliefs because I truly believe that most of the churches of today have decided to leave the culture behind and do their best to maintain what culture they have. They dare not wade into the gray areas of life and find ways to communicate the redemptive message to the masses today. In post modern streams we believe that culture should not be dismissed, but rather worked with and worked through to communicate the message of Christ.
I’m in a Funk
I am not finding anything that is really getting my attention in the reading realm. I love to read, but it just is not happening. Maybe I need a good infusion of Buechner or Manning… Maybe a good Umberto Eco novel to get my creative juices flowing… I dont know. It stinks.
I have a whole weekend to read, what would you suggest? I am game for anything, post it and we will see. The one who posts the winning answer gets…. well, my undying gratitude for breaking the gridlock that is my brain at the moment.
Plato and the Platypus
walk into a bar… Understanding Philosophy through jokes
This little gem of a book was given to me as a belated birthday present. (Thanks Tammie!!) I have only gotten to about chapter 3 and I love it. This is a definite must read.
I have found that my Theological education was stimulating and rewarding, but that it was a bit flat on some of the philosophy classes I might have taken on a regular campus. This book is a brief introduction to different philosophical beliefs and it uses jokes to bring them out. I love it!!
Pick this book up soon. It is a must read!
Red Letters, Living a Faith that Bleeds
Pop Quiz, which one in this picture is Tom Davis? If you guessed the second one from the left then you are right. I love this picture of Tom because it clearly shows the heart of Tom, he is not afraid to get in the lives of children and hang out with them on the ground, or in the orphanage, or in the school…in fact he loves it there. I think if you ask Tom where he would like to live, hands down it would be in the middle of the most ravaged town in Swaziland among the “least of these”
In his latest book Red Letters, Living a Faith that Bleeds Tom Davis leads us into a world that so many of us could not conceive of, the life of an orphan ravaged by the blight of the 21st century, that blight of course is A.I.D.S. He goes much further then reminding us of our Biblical mandate to take care of the widow and orphan and shows us how we, as God’s church, can reach out in practical and life giving ways and make a difference. It is a full out indictment of the church and how we have treated this in the past, and then it provides us with the motivation to go and do something about our previous apathy.
The last 30 pages of the book are dedicated to providing you with the practical resources to get involved. Some of it may be familiar, and some of it will not. Please take the time to read the list of organizations and worthy causes that he has compiled and prayerfully get involved. You will not be disappointed. One such campaign of note that Tom himself has recently started is called 5 for fifty. 
Soon the world will see it’s 50,000,000 (yes that is million) case of A.I.D.S. The unfortunate fact is that it will probably happen to an orphan, and likely in Africa. Without the mobilization of the church it will only get worse. 5 for fifty is 5 steps you can take to begin to change the plight of the orphan.
1) Give 5 minutes a day to prayer for those with HIV/AIDS.
2) Give 5 hours a week to fast for those with HIV/AIDS.
3) Give 5 dollars a month to the 5 to fifty fund to support worthy causes in the regions hardest hit by HIV/AIDS.
4) Give 5 days a year to travel over seas and to work to alleviate the suffering and burdens of children in extreme poverty and burdened with HIV/AIDS.
5) Give 5 people the opportunity to join you in your journey. Not necessarily traveling to the area if you do not have the monetary resources, but sharing about what you are doing in the first three with others and encouraging them to join you.
Tom has written a book that is close to my heart. I work for Compassion International and we are well aware of what HIV is doing to our children. I am forever grateful for Tom and his willingness to shake the church out of it’s slumber and say “arise, go forth and do great things in the name of Jesus” The church, allied with governments and other N.G.O.’s has the ability to eradicate A.I.D.S, and to share the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ at the same time. Let’s step out and do it. God will be in our midst.
Red Letters, Living a Faith that Bleeds
O.K., so what do you get when you put a highly motivated man with a heart for the orphans and a huge helping of the Holy Spirit together? You get Tom Davis and the new book Red Letters, Living a Faith that Bleeds. I will be participating in a blog tour in the coming weeks on this book, but meanwhile here is a foretaste:
“The only gospel worth living is the one that incarnates love. The only
gospel worth giving our lives for is the one that elevates the needs of others above
our own”
You can read the first chapter here and then go out and buy a copy for yourself and your pastor.
