Well, thanks to Zondervan, I wasable to once again pre-screen a book due out this month. This book is Lee Strobel's latest, a work co-authored by Mark Mittelberg. It comes out in May, 2009. The Unexpected Adventure is primarily about how to naturally, organically, and intentionally share your faith with others.
It is an evangelistic book, and a very entertaining one at that. Instead of simply giving strategies or analogies to use, Strobel and Mittelburg have a nuanced view of what it means to talk to others about Jesus. I am not much of an evangelist myself, so I found many of the chapters to be very challenging. Each chapter is brief (four or five pages), and is a principle hidden within an anecdote. The vast majority of the book is personal stories from the two authors, who take turns writing chapters, which are expounded on to demonstrate the principle within. It is a very engaging way to promote an idea, through personal testimony. As Tod Hunter said, "people observe their way into the Kingdom."
It is intended to be a six week long book, reading one chapter a day. After about week two, the book becomes repetitive. While I appreciate this approachable view of evangelism, The book simply became dull after a while, because there are three emphases that repeatedly come out: 1) evangelism should be natural, but needs to be practiced to become so. 2) evangelism must come from a base of relationship. 3) You will play one part in the long journey from disbelief to belief, so don't get worked up when someone doesn't commit to Christ then and there.
There are different ways of expressing these points, but they are the keys to the book, and are well-illustrated.
Does the book serve a purpose? Yes. Is the book "inspiring"? More less. Is the book the next hot thing? Maybe within traditional evangelical circles and megachurches, but it's no Shack (tic). If you are specifically looking for a story-based approach to sharing your faith and how to practically do so, it might be worth a look. 4 out of 5 stars simply because it is easily approachable and not dull (for the first half of the book).
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Friday, May 1, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Question and Answer (review)
This past week, I started and finished The Church in Emerging Culture (Sweet ed., 2001), which is a collection of 5 essays from various experts in their streams of faith. There is a Methodist, Reformed, Orthodox, Evangelical, and Emergent perspective on how the church should interact with culture. This book is definitely no Christ and Culture. Though it is interesting to read the perspectives of seven years ago and compare them with the church today. It seeks to answer whether we should change our methods and/or message for our culture, and to what degree.
The book is 60% lame, 30% okay, and 10% amazing. Ultimately, it is the perspective I have never heard that makes the 10% great, the orthodox. Frederica Methewes-Green writes this essay in question-answer format, and here are some excerpts (Questions bold, answers not):
"Why does life seem like great weariness, vanity, and striving after wind? Because although he knows us, we do not know him very well. We are lonely and empty because we do not know him very well. We are vacant inside, deafened by the continual wind of our emptiness, and only his presence can fill us. Yet we fail to know him well. Sometimes this is because we don't want to know him and sometimes because we don't know how.
Why do people continually want to revise the prevailing view of Jesus?To relieve the pain of this dilemma by changing Jesus into something we can understand.
What is Jesus' alternative plan? To change us into something that can understand him.
Do we misunderstand him because our message or methods are outdated? Perhaps in part. But the main reason is that he is scary. Another factor is that he is deep." . . .
"What has the culture to do with this? Christ has compassion on those who are harassed and helpless because they do not know their shepherd. The culture is the ever-changing weather conditions that these sheep must endure, which they try to respond to as best they can, though they are confused and wounded. Protection and rescue of individual sheep is our primary goal. It is less worthwhile to try to change the weather. We may occasionally have isolated success, but it appears that every weather pattern will have both good and bad elements, and weather itself is bound to be a perennial phenomenon.
How can we convert the culture? Culture cannot be converted. Only individuals can be converted. God knows how to reach each individual; every conversion is an inside job. We cooperate by listening attentively for God's directions and speaking the right words at the right moment, doing a kind deed, bearing Christ's light and being his fragrance on the lifes of people we know."
"Is the goal to develop spotless doctrine? No. the goal is to know Christ."
My personal favorite: "Humility, in fact, is the single most important exercise. How does humility change us? When we see ourselves as teh chief of sinners, we no longer take offense at wrongs done to us. We forgive others as we ourselves are fogiven. We love even our enemies. We no longer judge"
The book is 60% lame, 30% okay, and 10% amazing. Ultimately, it is the perspective I have never heard that makes the 10% great, the orthodox. Frederica Methewes-Green writes this essay in question-answer format, and here are some excerpts (Questions bold, answers not):
"Why does life seem like great weariness, vanity, and striving after wind? Because although he knows us, we do not know him very well. We are lonely and empty because we do not know him very well. We are vacant inside, deafened by the continual wind of our emptiness, and only his presence can fill us. Yet we fail to know him well. Sometimes this is because we don't want to know him and sometimes because we don't know how.
Why do people continually want to revise the prevailing view of Jesus?To relieve the pain of this dilemma by changing Jesus into something we can understand.
What is Jesus' alternative plan? To change us into something that can understand him.
Do we misunderstand him because our message or methods are outdated? Perhaps in part. But the main reason is that he is scary. Another factor is that he is deep." . . .
"What has the culture to do with this? Christ has compassion on those who are harassed and helpless because they do not know their shepherd. The culture is the ever-changing weather conditions that these sheep must endure, which they try to respond to as best they can, though they are confused and wounded. Protection and rescue of individual sheep is our primary goal. It is less worthwhile to try to change the weather. We may occasionally have isolated success, but it appears that every weather pattern will have both good and bad elements, and weather itself is bound to be a perennial phenomenon.
How can we convert the culture? Culture cannot be converted. Only individuals can be converted. God knows how to reach each individual; every conversion is an inside job. We cooperate by listening attentively for God's directions and speaking the right words at the right moment, doing a kind deed, bearing Christ's light and being his fragrance on the lifes of people we know."
"Is the goal to develop spotless doctrine? No. the goal is to know Christ."
My personal favorite: "Humility, in fact, is the single most important exercise. How does humility change us? When we see ourselves as teh chief of sinners, we no longer take offense at wrongs done to us. We forgive others as we ourselves are fogiven. We love even our enemies. We no longer judge"
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Downtime (review)
This has been a long time coming, but is here at last. YS (through Zondervan) sent me a new book by one of my favorite authors of youth ministry stuff, Mark Yaconelli, son of Mike Yaconelli who used to be the CEO of youthspecialties.
A little caveat, if you do not work with youth (which you really ought to), you might find this post boring.
This book is a description of how to help teens pray. Young Yac wrote an excellent book on contemplative youth ministry, which in my opinion is a must read for youth pastors. His whole bent is not entertaining, but rather helping teens find God in the quiet places. In other words, being still so we can know that He is God. While the first book described youth ministry philosophy, this book is really an intro to prayer. I found it helpful in my own prayer life, as well as full of ideas regarding how to lead teens in prayer.
Note: teens are always seen as peers on a journey to God in this book rather than underlings.
The first part of the book is a philosophy of prayer, and the main portion is a description of many different ways to actually do it. Basicaly, the premise of the book is that prayer should be the foundation of youth ministry, not just regulated to brief popcorn prayers for the last five minutes of the class. Prayer is formative (it changes who we are), rather than our informative (only effecting part of our lives)teachings.
The proof that this is an effective work is in the result. I know a book is worth buying if I actually use it in the ministries I lead. I have used this book in nearly every youth meeting I have led since reading it. Definitely worth the investment. I cannot recommend this book enough to fellow youth workers.
A little caveat, if you do not work with youth (which you really ought to), you might find this post boring.
This book is a description of how to help teens pray. Young Yac wrote an excellent book on contemplative youth ministry, which in my opinion is a must read for youth pastors. His whole bent is not entertaining, but rather helping teens find God in the quiet places. In other words, being still so we can know that He is God. While the first book described youth ministry philosophy, this book is really an intro to prayer. I found it helpful in my own prayer life, as well as full of ideas regarding how to lead teens in prayer.
Note: teens are always seen as peers on a journey to God in this book rather than underlings.
The first part of the book is a philosophy of prayer, and the main portion is a description of many different ways to actually do it. Basicaly, the premise of the book is that prayer should be the foundation of youth ministry, not just regulated to brief popcorn prayers for the last five minutes of the class. Prayer is formative (it changes who we are), rather than our informative (only effecting part of our lives)teachings.
The proof that this is an effective work is in the result. I know a book is worth buying if I actually use it in the ministries I lead. I have used this book in nearly every youth meeting I have led since reading it. Definitely worth the investment. I cannot recommend this book enough to fellow youth workers.
Monday, January 12, 2009
How to Volunteer like a Pro (review)
So I got lucky and got a group of youthspecialties books to review recently. They don't normally prescreen youthspecialties stuff. As always, thanks to Zondervan. The first book I read is How to Volunteer Like a Pro: An Amateur's Guide for Working with Teenagers. Here is my brief review:
I got to do an advanced reader copy of this book out of some luck. I have a degree in youth ministry, and was reading it from the perspective of "would I give this book to my volunteers". The short answer is "no."
I would not give this one out to the volunteers I currently have because they already know all this information. However, if I were in the process of recruiting volunteers, especially those who don't think they are good enough to work with students, I would strongly recommend this book.
It is basically a very brief overview of how to love students. The chapters are incredibly short (sometimes in a good way, sometimes not). They cover all the basics, with an emphasis on building relationships and how to do that in practical ways.
I give this four out of five for new recruits. I doubt it would be very useful to anybody else.
p.s. I had to update my podcast site or get it deleted so I put up an old teaching on the trinity I did for youth group if interested.
I got to do an advanced reader copy of this book out of some luck. I have a degree in youth ministry, and was reading it from the perspective of "would I give this book to my volunteers". The short answer is "no."
I would not give this one out to the volunteers I currently have because they already know all this information. However, if I were in the process of recruiting volunteers, especially those who don't think they are good enough to work with students, I would strongly recommend this book.
It is basically a very brief overview of how to love students. The chapters are incredibly short (sometimes in a good way, sometimes not). They cover all the basics, with an emphasis on building relationships and how to do that in practical ways.
I give this four out of five for new recruits. I doubt it would be very useful to anybody else.
p.s. I had to update my podcast site or get it deleted so I put up an old teaching on the trinity I did for youth group if interested.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Soul Revolution (Review)
I just finished my last book for review by Zondervan. Thanks guys. It is John Burke's new book, Soul Revolution. It was released in October. Let me preface my review by explaining that I could not stand his first book, No Perfect People Allowed. I thought he had too many anectdotes and not enough substance. This second book is very similar in many ways and nsignificantly different in others.
The premise of the book is that if a person wants to grow spiritually, one way to do it is to connect with God for 60 seconds every hour. When the top of the hour comes, pause and listen to God. Reorient your life to His voice rather than our circadian rythms. It is an experiment Burke does from time to time in his church and he sharess many anecdotes about how it has been helpful to those who practice it.
Thankfully, it is not completely anecdotal. He does a much better job of curbing his testimonies and adding more of the reason why these practices are important. It is incredibly approachable, no matter how much experience a person has with God. That is, he explains the cliches he uses, and makes it understandable to somebody who hasn't grown up in the church, which is a major strength. At the end of each chapter is a section focused on application. These are incredibly weak because they are identicle every week (talk to you running partners, think about the chapter, pray). They are not specific at all.
That being said, overall I enjoyed the book. He keeps spirituality simple, which is how it was created to be. This is a bare bones manual for growing closer to God, and is useful to a person who is intimidated by words like "Spritiual discipline" or "spirituality". It is basically how to live a Christian life and stay connected to God. It is a manual on abiding in God's presence (similar to Brother Lawrence's practicing the presence of God)
For a book to be worthwhile, it has to have either a new idea, or a new packaging of an old idea. Soul Revolution is a new packaging, but a very unique version of it. For that, it is worth purchasing if you would like to grow closer to God, but just don't know how. Especially if you are intimidated by books written before 1900.
The Good: very approachable. Very pracitcal. very simple. True to Scripture. Fits its purpose of introducing spiritual formation to young Christians.
The Bad: horrible application (it felt forced). Too many anecdotes at points. Gets repetitive about halfway through.
The verdict: Worth purchasing if you are new to spiritual formation. If you are familiar with Dallas Willards's The SPirit of the Disciplines, or Fosters work, or Ortbergs work, or any other introduction to spiritual formation, or if you like Christianese, not the book for you. I will recommend this to new Christians, and that's about it.
The premise of the book is that if a person wants to grow spiritually, one way to do it is to connect with God for 60 seconds every hour. When the top of the hour comes, pause and listen to God. Reorient your life to His voice rather than our circadian rythms. It is an experiment Burke does from time to time in his church and he sharess many anecdotes about how it has been helpful to those who practice it.
Thankfully, it is not completely anecdotal. He does a much better job of curbing his testimonies and adding more of the reason why these practices are important. It is incredibly approachable, no matter how much experience a person has with God. That is, he explains the cliches he uses, and makes it understandable to somebody who hasn't grown up in the church, which is a major strength. At the end of each chapter is a section focused on application. These are incredibly weak because they are identicle every week (talk to you running partners, think about the chapter, pray). They are not specific at all.
That being said, overall I enjoyed the book. He keeps spirituality simple, which is how it was created to be. This is a bare bones manual for growing closer to God, and is useful to a person who is intimidated by words like "Spritiual discipline" or "spirituality". It is basically how to live a Christian life and stay connected to God. It is a manual on abiding in God's presence (similar to Brother Lawrence's practicing the presence of God)
For a book to be worthwhile, it has to have either a new idea, or a new packaging of an old idea. Soul Revolution is a new packaging, but a very unique version of it. For that, it is worth purchasing if you would like to grow closer to God, but just don't know how. Especially if you are intimidated by books written before 1900.
The Good: very approachable. Very pracitcal. very simple. True to Scripture. Fits its purpose of introducing spiritual formation to young Christians.
The Bad: horrible application (it felt forced). Too many anecdotes at points. Gets repetitive about halfway through.
The verdict: Worth purchasing if you are new to spiritual formation. If you are familiar with Dallas Willards's The SPirit of the Disciplines, or Fosters work, or Ortbergs work, or any other introduction to spiritual formation, or if you like Christianese, not the book for you. I will recommend this to new Christians, and that's about it.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
A Faith Culture Devotional (review)
My next book Zondervan gave me the opportunity to pre-screen is A Faith and Culture Devotional. BY Kelly Kullberg and Lael Arrington. It came out Dec. 1.
It is a compilation of very brief devotional readings focused on the following topics: Theology, History, Philosophy, Science, Literature, Arts and Contemporary Culture. One article on each topic for 15 weeks worth of reading. This makes the book quite large for a devotional (considering many are 30-60 days as opposed to over 100). I appreciated the length and organization of the devotional as much as any aspect. This was very well done.
The articles are composed almost exclusively by experts in any given field. There is the occaional pastor/grad student article, but they are few and far between. The reader can be assured that they are reading scholarly accurate presentations. Another plus.
How were the devotionals? Short. Very short, two pages max. Another plus. Out of roughly 100 devotionals, I would say about 10 were phenomenal, life changing perspectives. 20 were quite good. 50 were mediochre. and the last 20 were basically terrible. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these devotions were simply not unique. I came to the book expecting it to be like nothing I've ever read. In fact, it was basically a right-wing conservative evangelical diatribe on how the heavens declare the glory of God, and the arts demonstrate humankind's falleness.
Who is it for? College students and those who have never heard about how faith and culture interact, or who have never read some of the ancient voices in the church. It is very good for a basic overview of faith and culture. It is not good for a fresh, unique, perspective.
The good: Short devotionals, some excellent ones, very cool demonstrations of how great God is, a variety of authors (though kullberg seems to show up an awful lot). Excellent introduction. Awesome questions for reflection at the end of each chapter (best part of the book imo). Good structure.
The bad: not unique, attempts to show how faith and culture interact, but only gives a conservative perspective. Often times the devotionals are just attacks against liberal perspectives on evolution, philosophy, or theology. Not necessarily christo-centric.
It is a compilation of very brief devotional readings focused on the following topics: Theology, History, Philosophy, Science, Literature, Arts and Contemporary Culture. One article on each topic for 15 weeks worth of reading. This makes the book quite large for a devotional (considering many are 30-60 days as opposed to over 100). I appreciated the length and organization of the devotional as much as any aspect. This was very well done.
The articles are composed almost exclusively by experts in any given field. There is the occaional pastor/grad student article, but they are few and far between. The reader can be assured that they are reading scholarly accurate presentations. Another plus.
How were the devotionals? Short. Very short, two pages max. Another plus. Out of roughly 100 devotionals, I would say about 10 were phenomenal, life changing perspectives. 20 were quite good. 50 were mediochre. and the last 20 were basically terrible. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these devotions were simply not unique. I came to the book expecting it to be like nothing I've ever read. In fact, it was basically a right-wing conservative evangelical diatribe on how the heavens declare the glory of God, and the arts demonstrate humankind's falleness.
Who is it for? College students and those who have never heard about how faith and culture interact, or who have never read some of the ancient voices in the church. It is very good for a basic overview of faith and culture. It is not good for a fresh, unique, perspective.
The good: Short devotionals, some excellent ones, very cool demonstrations of how great God is, a variety of authors (though kullberg seems to show up an awful lot). Excellent introduction. Awesome questions for reflection at the end of each chapter (best part of the book imo). Good structure.
The bad: not unique, attempts to show how faith and culture interact, but only gives a conservative perspective. Often times the devotionals are just attacks against liberal perspectives on evolution, philosophy, or theology. Not necessarily christo-centric.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Assaulted by Joy (review)
After my experience with Blue Parakeet, Zondervan offered to make me a part of their blogosphere. Basically, that means I get their books for free a few weeks before they come out so long as I review them on my blog and Amazon. It's a great deal. The most recent book I finished is called Assaulted by Joy: The Redemption of a Cynic by Stephen Simpson. Publish date: October, 2008 by Zodervan.
The summary
This is one of the most entertaining books I have read as of late, and definitely worth the read. The author does an excellent job communicating his story in an engrossing way. I could hot put the book down, and it kept me up late several nights in a row as a result. Karen couldn't stop reading it either.
Not only is it full of excellent anectdotes, but it is incredibly well written. Full of brilliant imagery (though also containing a rather large number of cliches), this story is one that helps the reader find hope in his or her life. Basically, the guy grew up as a nominal Christian, allowed his intellect to rule his life because he did not want to submit his entire world to Christ out of fear, became cynical as a result of his fear, and was forced out of his fear by having quadruplets.
The premise of the book is that we are all jerks. There is some aspect of our lives that we have difficulty forfeiting. The amazing thing is how often I found myself thinking that the book was about me. At the same life stages I have encountered similar problems, the main difference being our majors (he is psych., I am biblical studies) and the fact that karen is without child. My prayers have lately been, "dear God, don't let this story become too true for me, I can't handle quads. "
The good: Writing style is definitely a plus. instead of being a devotional, it is a confessional. It is full of brutal honesty and very light on how to apply it to one's own life. It is refreshing to see Christian literature about life rather than just a series of steps of how to be purposeful/well wed/disciplined/etc. At the end of each chapter, Simpson gives a very brief spiritual insight, never an instruction. It's just a great story/journey.
The Bad: Addictive ;). There are quite a few cliches, but they are easily overlooked. I do not agree with all of Simpson's theology, but that isn't a significant part of the book.
The grade: Solid A, nearly an A+.
Everyone should pick up a copy of this book. It is very approachable, endearing, and quite frankly interesting. It is simply an excellent story, adeptly told and captivating (and in my case, relevatory).
What did I personally get out of it most? A recognition of how much fear runs my life masquerading as cynicism/having it all together. It helped me diagnose a problem without forcing a solution down my throat.
The summary
This is one of the most entertaining books I have read as of late, and definitely worth the read. The author does an excellent job communicating his story in an engrossing way. I could hot put the book down, and it kept me up late several nights in a row as a result. Karen couldn't stop reading it either.
Not only is it full of excellent anectdotes, but it is incredibly well written. Full of brilliant imagery (though also containing a rather large number of cliches), this story is one that helps the reader find hope in his or her life. Basically, the guy grew up as a nominal Christian, allowed his intellect to rule his life because he did not want to submit his entire world to Christ out of fear, became cynical as a result of his fear, and was forced out of his fear by having quadruplets.
The premise of the book is that we are all jerks. There is some aspect of our lives that we have difficulty forfeiting. The amazing thing is how often I found myself thinking that the book was about me. At the same life stages I have encountered similar problems, the main difference being our majors (he is psych., I am biblical studies) and the fact that karen is without child. My prayers have lately been, "dear God, don't let this story become too true for me, I can't handle quads. "
The good: Writing style is definitely a plus. instead of being a devotional, it is a confessional. It is full of brutal honesty and very light on how to apply it to one's own life. It is refreshing to see Christian literature about life rather than just a series of steps of how to be purposeful/well wed/disciplined/etc. At the end of each chapter, Simpson gives a very brief spiritual insight, never an instruction. It's just a great story/journey.
The Bad: Addictive ;). There are quite a few cliches, but they are easily overlooked. I do not agree with all of Simpson's theology, but that isn't a significant part of the book.
The grade: Solid A, nearly an A+.
Everyone should pick up a copy of this book. It is very approachable, endearing, and quite frankly interesting. It is simply an excellent story, adeptly told and captivating (and in my case, relevatory).
What did I personally get out of it most? A recognition of how much fear runs my life masquerading as cynicism/having it all together. It helped me diagnose a problem without forcing a solution down my throat.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Praying with the Church Review
I recently finished Scot McKnight's Praying with the Church: Following Jesus daily, hourly, today. Published by Paraclete Press. Here is my abbreviated review:
The Point: It is important for Christians to pray both in and with the church. That is , our individual prayers are important and form our lives, but we also should be involved in corporate prayer. One way to be involved in corporate prayer is to pick up a prayer book and begin praying the "offices" These are set times during the day that different traditions stop whatever they are doing and pray together. Traditionally there are 7 offices. By practicing some of them (2 or 3 is manageable for most average people), we create a rythm of prayer that helps us get through our day. Jesus practiced fixed hour prayer as a disciplined Jew, and so ought we (many of the examples Scot uses are in the book of Acts, where a person was praying in the fixed hours and God speaks to them: i.e. pentecost, Peter and Cornelius)
He addresses common misconceptions, chief of which is the idea that by praying set prayers, they become vain repetitions. McKnight remarks, "if our prayers have become vain repetitions, it is because our heart is not engaged, not because of what we say . . . we need both [spontaneous and practiced prayers]" (6).
McKnight continues by explaining the benefits of fixed hour prayer, how to start doing it, what books different traditions use, and how we can benefit from our brothers and sisters, and then a practical guide on getting started. Overall, THIS IS A GREAT MANUAL FOR SOMEONE WANTING TO START THIS TRADITION.
The Good: Excellent, approachable guide on practicing a tradition that keeps our relationship with God central to our lives. He approaches the subject with grace and truth, not condemning us for not practicing fixed hour prayer, but also encouraging us to start. I started reading Phyllis Tickle's Divine Hours (pocket edition) on a somewhat usual basis while reading the manual and loved it. I am looking forward to continuing in this tradition.
His introductions to the various prayer books was very helpful, and had online versions to try out as well.
The Bad: It gets really redundant after about chapter 3. He could have shared the same amount of information in half the space. It is not particularly engaging midway through the book, and it was somewhat of a burden to work my way all the way through.
The Grade: B- Just above average due to the repetition. A good intro.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Currently Reading: Blue Parakeet 4 (fin)
While on my . . . vacation? Sabatical? Study break? Whatever it was, I was able to finally finish Scot McKnight's The Blue Parakeet. Published by Zondervan, just came out, yada yada yada. When I last reviewed, McKnight had discussed how we read the Bible, compared it to how we should read the Bible, and suggests that the Bible is first and foremost, God's story.
The question becomes how do we live out the Bible? The final chapters of his thesis argue that we all discern aspects of the Bible whether we admit it or not. For example, what does the Bible have to say about abortion? about stem cell research? premarital intercourse? . . . nothing. They weren't around back then, and so the Bible cannot directly speak to them (premarital intercourse is impossible when intercourse is the action that makes one married). The issue is, if it is God's story, how can we discern proper actions in a world that is different than it used to be. In other words, how is God speaking in our ways in our days.
The problem: the Bible does not directly speak to all of life, so how do we choose?
The solution: "We discern--through God's Spirit and in the context of our community of faith-- a pattern of how to live in our world." (129)
Ultimately, all biblical interpretation must be done in community of some sort. If not, anyone can have a valid interpretation of Scripture simply because their discerner says so. However, not everyone agrees on how to discern. "Seeking unanimity on all things is unwise; permitting discernment at the local level can sometimes create too much diversity, but it is wiser to have local discernment with some problems than having everyone under lock and key. (130)"
An observation of this very thing: Vineyard 101...for Reno vineyard, it was important to focus on doctrine and right belief because of their context. For Yerington, it will focus less on specific doctrines because we pull from a greater variety of traditions since we live in a small town and are a melting pot of various church traditions, whereas reno is a bigger city with more options, and maybe less background in theology.
Scot makes a great key focal point here, it is much easier to take shortcuts. The shortcuts mentioned in chapter 2. It is way easier to "interpret the Bible literally" and make it into a rule book than to try to understand what parts are contextualized and what parts should be modified for a different culture. It's phariseeism vs. becoming all things to all men. McKnight suggests that "our discernment should never become rules or laws" (132). We need to become chameleons-changing our colors but keeping the same body (or core) (142).
Here is my biggest frustration with this book...there is never a "how to", just a "what we need." Surely it is important to read through tradition, but how? Sure God is speaking in our days in our ways, but how do we know? McKnight cops out by simply suggesting "in community". But then again, this isn't the purpose of the book. The book is more of an expose than a how to manual. He reveals what we do rather than how we should. It would be very long indeed if McKnight worked out all of these issues, and quite frankly i'm glad he doesn't.
What he does do: give a specific example of how to discern, and how various people have discerned. Regarding: women in ministry. McKnight uses this as a case study, and does an excellent job of showing how to discern the role of women in ministry today. I didn't agree with everything he said, but he lays a really convincing case for his position. Unfortunately, he also chooses to omit the other side because "most people know it". He also uses suspect dialog processes, by mentioning a very convicting evidence, and then saying it isn't valid for some reason. This is similar to asking a jury to strike a damning evidence from the record and just pretend like the prosecution didn't bring it up. It is imposible to do fully. It would be better if he was upfront before describing the evidence, to prepare the reader, but I digress.
What his discussion of women in ministry did do for me: give me evidence to feel free to believe what I knew was okay all along. I believe that women can be pastors and teachers mostly because I have been pastored and taught by women. If they can teach in colleges and seminaries, why can they not lead a church?
So what do I think of the entire book? It was excellent. Not Jesus Creed excellent, but a very challenging work for me personally. It is readable enough for a non-scholar, but well thought out in a way that the smartest of us can learn as well. If someone wants to know more about reading the Bible, and needs to rethink how we have always done it, this book is an excellent starting point. If you want an easy, non-challenging, cliche ridden read, turn to another book. This is for people who are willing to be kicked in the face in love.
I would give this book 4.5 of five stars because I disagree with some of his dialog techniques in his case study, and the meat of the book was fairly short in comparison to his case study (which would be a great book on its own if it were more flushed out). It is recommended reading for anyone who reads the Bible consistently, or is interested in what the Bible should mean for living today.
It's the kind of book that keeps me thinking at random times throughout the day, "How is God speaking today in our 2000's Western Nevada ways?" And any book that can engage me outside its normal reading is great imho.
The question becomes how do we live out the Bible? The final chapters of his thesis argue that we all discern aspects of the Bible whether we admit it or not. For example, what does the Bible have to say about abortion? about stem cell research? premarital intercourse? . . . nothing. They weren't around back then, and so the Bible cannot directly speak to them (premarital intercourse is impossible when intercourse is the action that makes one married). The issue is, if it is God's story, how can we discern proper actions in a world that is different than it used to be. In other words, how is God speaking in our ways in our days.
The problem: the Bible does not directly speak to all of life, so how do we choose?
The solution: "We discern--through God's Spirit and in the context of our community of faith-- a pattern of how to live in our world." (129)
Ultimately, all biblical interpretation must be done in community of some sort. If not, anyone can have a valid interpretation of Scripture simply because their discerner says so. However, not everyone agrees on how to discern. "Seeking unanimity on all things is unwise; permitting discernment at the local level can sometimes create too much diversity, but it is wiser to have local discernment with some problems than having everyone under lock and key. (130)"
An observation of this very thing: Vineyard 101...for Reno vineyard, it was important to focus on doctrine and right belief because of their context. For Yerington, it will focus less on specific doctrines because we pull from a greater variety of traditions since we live in a small town and are a melting pot of various church traditions, whereas reno is a bigger city with more options, and maybe less background in theology.
Scot makes a great key focal point here, it is much easier to take shortcuts. The shortcuts mentioned in chapter 2. It is way easier to "interpret the Bible literally" and make it into a rule book than to try to understand what parts are contextualized and what parts should be modified for a different culture. It's phariseeism vs. becoming all things to all men. McKnight suggests that "our discernment should never become rules or laws" (132). We need to become chameleons-changing our colors but keeping the same body (or core) (142).
Here is my biggest frustration with this book...there is never a "how to", just a "what we need." Surely it is important to read through tradition, but how? Sure God is speaking in our days in our ways, but how do we know? McKnight cops out by simply suggesting "in community". But then again, this isn't the purpose of the book. The book is more of an expose than a how to manual. He reveals what we do rather than how we should. It would be very long indeed if McKnight worked out all of these issues, and quite frankly i'm glad he doesn't.
What he does do: give a specific example of how to discern, and how various people have discerned. Regarding: women in ministry. McKnight uses this as a case study, and does an excellent job of showing how to discern the role of women in ministry today. I didn't agree with everything he said, but he lays a really convincing case for his position. Unfortunately, he also chooses to omit the other side because "most people know it". He also uses suspect dialog processes, by mentioning a very convicting evidence, and then saying it isn't valid for some reason. This is similar to asking a jury to strike a damning evidence from the record and just pretend like the prosecution didn't bring it up. It is imposible to do fully. It would be better if he was upfront before describing the evidence, to prepare the reader, but I digress.
What his discussion of women in ministry did do for me: give me evidence to feel free to believe what I knew was okay all along. I believe that women can be pastors and teachers mostly because I have been pastored and taught by women. If they can teach in colleges and seminaries, why can they not lead a church?
So what do I think of the entire book? It was excellent. Not Jesus Creed excellent, but a very challenging work for me personally. It is readable enough for a non-scholar, but well thought out in a way that the smartest of us can learn as well. If someone wants to know more about reading the Bible, and needs to rethink how we have always done it, this book is an excellent starting point. If you want an easy, non-challenging, cliche ridden read, turn to another book. This is for people who are willing to be kicked in the face in love.
I would give this book 4.5 of five stars because I disagree with some of his dialog techniques in his case study, and the meat of the book was fairly short in comparison to his case study (which would be a great book on its own if it were more flushed out). It is recommended reading for anyone who reads the Bible consistently, or is interested in what the Bible should mean for living today.
It's the kind of book that keeps me thinking at random times throughout the day, "How is God speaking today in our 2000's Western Nevada ways?" And any book that can engage me outside its normal reading is great imho.
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