A Change of Heart by Thomas C. Oden- A History of God by Karen Armstrong
- Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
- Beating the College Debt Trap by Alex Chediak
- Bonhoeffer as Youth Worker by Andrew Root
- Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas
- Boundaries for Leaders by Dr. Henry Cloud
- Bringing Elizabeth Home by Ed and Lois Smart
- Church History by Justo L. Gonzalez
- Fields of the Fatherless by Tom Davis
- Food: A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan
- God Behaving Badly: Is the God of the Old Testament Angry, Sexist and Racist? by David T. Lamb
- God’s Call to the Single Adult by Michael Cavanaugh
- Go Set a Watch by Harper Lee
- Help! I’m a Frustrated Youth Worker by Steven Case
- Humilitas by John Dickson
- Iceman: My Fighting Life by Chuck Liddell
- Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands by Paul David Tripp
- Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
- Message in a Body by Joseph Anfuso
- Mission Smart by David L. Frazier
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
- Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism by Tim Keller
- Raptureless: An Optimistic Guide to the End of the World by Jonathan Welton
- Samson and the Pirate Monks: Calling Men to Authentic Manhood by Nate Larkin
- Secrets of the Secret Place by Bob Sorge
- Simply Good News by N.T. Wright
- Skin In the Game by Rick Lawrence
- Swimming Through Clouds by Rajdeep Paulus
- The Art of Revelation by Jonathan Welton
- The Bible in 90 Days
- The Book of Lost Tales 1 by J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Cross-Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney
- The Divine Hours by Phyllis Tickle
- The Deeper Christian Life by Andrew Murray
- The Millennium Myth by N.T. Wright
- The Poetry of Robert Frost edited by Connery Lathem
- The Wilderness World of John Muir edited by Edwin Way Teale
- Western Christians in Global Missions by Paul Borthwick
- Why Nobody Wants To Be Around Christians Anymore by Thom and Joani Schultz
- You and Me Forever: Marriage in Light of Eternity by Francis and Lisa Chan
Beating the College Debt Trap
It’s interesting how different things catch your eye based on the season of life you are in. A couple of years ago I wouldn’t have even noticed it, but with a daughter just about 8 months away from heading off to college, when I saw the title, not only did I pull it off the shelf and read the back cover, I bought it and read it in its entirety. And boy, am I glad I did! More on this in a moment. First, some personal background.
I have been learning a lot about going off to college over the past year as we have taken Claudia on some college visits, met with admissions counselors, etc. Over 20 years ago, my college decision was simple. My dad worked at a college that trained people for ministry. That was exactly what I wanted to do with my life, so I only applied to one school; the one Dad worked at. Because it was a small, private college, they did not offer financial aid or scholarships – everything had to be paid as you were going along. Therefore, I never had to deal with applying for loans. The best thing was, because Dad worked for the college, I was able to attend at a significant discount, and I was able to do a work-study program to pay off my balance semester by semester.
When I went on to graduate school I had to venture into the waters of student loans, but through a series of fortunate circumstances I was able to sell my home precisely when I was to start repaying my loans, and I made enough from the sale to pay off my loan in full. So, I never dealt with the reality of making monthly payments over several years. This was a great blessing, but they offered me no real experience from which to be able to counsel my daughter. Thank goodness I stumbled upon that book in Barnes and Noble the other day.
The book is Beating the College Debt Trap: Getting a Degree Without Going Broke by Alex Chediak. Although I am very proud of Claudia, and excited about her heading off to college, to be honest, there are many things that I have been thinking, wondering, and worrying about as the reality approaches. Not least of which, how we are going to pay for her education. In the book, Chediack addresses several myths about college and addresses each one with a picture of reality and alternate ways of achieving the desired outcome of a degree without getting into the precarious, but all-too-common, position of having tens, even hundreds, of thousands of dollars in debt (and perhaps no real job prospects) to show for it.
Chediak’s insights were extremely helpful in understanding the world of degrees and college finances. His practical wisdom about choosing schools, degree programs, school loans, grants, scholarships, internships, work-study programs and more, pointed out many creative solutions that we intend to explore with Claudia and our conversations with her college. We want to ensure that when she finishes college she will have a degree that reflects her passions and giftings while opening doors to a sustainable and fulfilling career. We also want her to be able to head off into her post-college life without the nasty millstone of unrealistic debt around her neck. This book really increased our chances of making those desires a reality. I highly recommend it to anyone planning to take on the task of getting a college degree. Chediak also has two other books available: Thriving at College: Make Great Friends, Keep Your Faith, and Get Ready for the Real World and Preparing Your Teens for College: Faith, Friends, Finances, and Much More which I am sure are equally as good, and which I am planning to pick up myself.
The Book that Could Cure World Diseases
Jim Gaffigan has done it! He has found the cure for world diseases. OK, not really. But his contribution to the world does bring about healing (just not from food-related diseases). “A cheerful heart is good medicine” (Proverbs 17:22). Food: A Love Story is one of the funniest things ever set down on paper. You will laugh your way through the entire book. Do yourself a favor and go buy it. It will indeed bring healing to your soul.
Bonhoeffer
Last night I finished reading Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I have read Bonhoeffer’s books, but it was really insightful reading about his life from which those books were born. While I in no way would ever compare myself to the things he faced, I couldn’t help but feel an affinity with Bonhoeffer on many levels. His desire to live as a man of principle and according to the Word of God; His determination to think deeply and theologically; his battles with depression and yet seeking to remain positive, optimistic, and hopeful; his experiences in seeking to follow the Lord upstream against the tide of popularity, trusting all results completely to the Lord; and perhaps most surprisingly, his work with youth and children. I never realized that Bonhoeffer was in fact a youth worker. I was pleasantly surprised to see this side of him! I was so blessed to see his relational approach to ministry. He taught Sunday school. He had young people over to his house for discussions for his Thursday Circle. He took time to talk to them about their real-life issues. He took them on retreats and helped them learn how to spend time with God, in the Word, in contemplation, and enjoying nature together. I loved learning this about him, because they are things that I am passionate about in my own youth work. I am a teacher by gifting, and I love sharing God’s Word and helping them learning through discussion. I also love shared experiences which allow us to think deeply about God. Small groups, retreats, trips. Bonhoeffer was my kind of youth worker. Biblical. Practical. Relational.
When I finished reading the book. I hit my book shelf to find my next book to read. Coincidentally, I found that I recently grabbed a book by Andrew Root during my book shopping at the National Youth Worker Convention entitled Bonhoeffer as Youth Worker, which I am about to read. I am excited to see how he develops this idea of Bonhoeffer’s work with students.
Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church or Be Around Christians Anymore …
My friends Thom and Joani Schults have a passion for Jesus and a desire to see His Church become all He intends it to be. Yet, through their decades of ministry, they have witnessed the steady decline of the Church in America and were concerned enough to investigate why so many people were turned off by Christians and why so many local churches were shriveling up and even closing. Through their extensive research, including not just surveys, but actually getting out on the street and talking with real people and hearing real stories, they identified a number of root causes for this sad phenomenon. But rather than allowing the depressing news to bring them down, they were able to hear within people’s stories some patterns which offered a ray of hope for a way forward. In their excellent books Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore and Why Nobody Wants to be Around Christians Anymore they set forth what they call 4 Acts of Love that will make your church irresistible, and your personal faith magnetic. Their Jesus-centered approach to rebuilding the Church and seeing it not only survive but thrive is simple, practical, and something every church leader, and indeed, every Christian should give serious consideration to. Get their books today! Here’s a trailer for their documentary When God Left the Building as well. Definitely a film you should watch (do it as a church staff!).
Youth Ministry in a Post-Christian World
I recently read Brock Morgan’s book Youth Ministry in a Post-Christian World. In the book Brock discusses the major shifts we have experienced in our culture over the past couple of decades and how that has affected the students we work with in youth ministry. Because the world is a different place, by necessity, how we relate to and minister to students must change. Many of the ways we did ministry just a decade ago are no longer effective, and the expectations we had of students and our programs are no longer valid. But rather than sit back and miss the good ole’ days of youth ministry, Brock offers us a fresh perspective and a hopeful way forward.
One of the things that stood out to me in the book was the recognition that there seems to be a sad increase in the number of youth workers being fired these days. While there are certainly very legitimate reasons that some are released, more often than not, it is due to the perceived inability of the youth leader to get large numbers of students to come out to their programs. Morgan makes the astute observation that many of the senior pastors and supervisors in the church today were either youth workers or students themselves in the 80s and 90s when it seemed that all one had to do was offer pizza and some messy, crazy games, and kids from all over the community would come out to youth ministry programs en mass. In that era, success was defined in terms of numbers. What many overseers and decision makers today often fail to recognize is that those days are long over.
At the National Youth Worker’s Convention I attended last week, Dr. Kara Powell noted: “When I was a youth leader in the 80s and 90s, parents would call and ask us to have more activities for their students. Now when parents call, it is to apologize that their students can’t come because of they’re too busy.” In the book, Morgan does not suggest that counting is unimportant or that we should just resign ourselves to running programs no one will come to. Rather, he challenges us to change what we are counting. Success in today’s youth ministry should be measured much less in terms of attendance at our events, and much more in terms of individual care, how often we are getting out of our offices and connecting with students one-on-one or on campus, how we are encouraging and helping students become authentic members of the larger church body, how we are getting students involved in compassion and justice, how we are investing in families … These are things that matter and have lasting impact in students’ lives.
He also calls on youth workers to remember that we are engaged in a spiritual battle, and that as people on the front lines contending for the hearts of a generation, we need to be doing battle on our knees in prayer, and we need to be living in purity. Whenever there have been significant moves of God throughout history, the leaders were people devoted to passionate, faith-filled prayer and right, God-honoring living. Youth leaders must remain faithful to their primary calling of ministering before the Lord. Our ministry to students must overflow from our intimacy with the Father.
I highly recommend this book. I am looking forward to having Brock speak to our entire youth leadership team, and perhaps even our entire church leadership team. I believe he has a word for the church in our generation.
People Raising: A Practical Guide to Raising Funds
There have been many times when I have considered working for a ministry that would require me to raise funds in order to support my family and the ministry. At this point I have not ended up going down those roads, but perhaps one day the Lord will call us on such a journey. The scariest thought when considering such a venture is whether or not one will be able to raise a sufficient amount to care for one’s family and work. Then, the intimidation of asking people to give to such a cause.
A number of years ago I was having lunch with a very dear friend of mine who had been working in a para-church organization for nearly 40 years, always operating the ministry and personally living off of the financial generosity of others. He was and is an incredible man of faith. I once asked him, “Isn’t it difficult to ask people for money?” I will never forget his response. “I am a terrible fund raiser,” he said. “I don’t ask people for money. I am a friend raiser.” He went on to explain that if one simply asks for money, it’s shallow and, in some respects, easy. But it is also ineffective. The key, he said, was to invite people into relationship, and in the context of relationship, as people got to know him, he was able to share his vision and people were able to sense his passion and commitment. Once they witnessed those things, many would jump at the opportunity to invest in the kingdom work he was doing. He was a great friend raiser.
I recently finished reading People Raising: A Practical Guide to Raising Funds by William P. Dillon. As I was reading I was thinking about my friend. Many of the principles in the book were the very things my friend had shared with me. I appreciated the author’s candor as well as his very practical advice based on decades of raising funds for worthy causes. I will say that, although his point was well made, and I don’t really have any alternatives, I personally wrestle with some of the realities of fund raising that seem very sales-y. Although he stresses that it’s about friendship not funds, at times some of his strategies felt less friendship-oriented and more like people were objects for use. He makes it clear that this is not the case, but it can feel that way. When you are building relationships with people with at least a hope that they will give money to you and your cause, perhaps there is just no way around it, but it would be hard for me to do some of the things suggested and not feel like I was using people. I also noted that some of the attention given to large-donors could easily slip into favoritism. Large donors do deserve special thanks, in a way, but those who give $10 a month as a sacrifice are doing no less than those who can easily give $10,000. Again, that author really stresses that this is the Lord’s work, these are the Lord’s people, and these are the Lord’s funds, but it could be a bit tricky.
I would recommend this book to any and all who are in the position of needing to raise support for their ministries. There are many great tips and pieces of practical advice from a man who has spent a majority of his life building relationships with people and inviting them to invest in the work of ministry with their finances.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Disturbing Compassion
“Jesus’ compassion is characterized by a downward pull. That is what disturbs us. We cannot even think of ourselves in terms other than those of an upward pull, an upward mobility in which we strive for better lives, higher salaries, and more prestigious positions. Thus, we are deeply disturbed by a God who embodies a downward movement. Instead of striving for a higher position, more power, and more influence, Jesus moves, as Karl Barth says, from ‘the heights to the depth, from victory to defeat, from riches to poverty, from triumph to suffering, from life to death.’ Jesus’ whole life and mission involve accepting powerlessness and revealing in this powerlessness the limitlessness of God’s love. Here we see what compassion means. It is not a bending toward the underprivileged from a privileged position; it is not reaching out from on high to those who are less fortunate below; it is not a gesture of sympathy or pity for those who fail to make it in the upward pull. On the contrary, compassion means going directly to those people and places where suffering is most acute and building a home there. God’s compassion is total, absolute, unconditional without reservation. It is the compassion of the one who keeps going to the most forgotten corners of the world, and who cannot rest as long as there are still human beings with tears in their eyes. It is the compassion of a God who does not merely act as a servant, but who expresses the divinity of God through servanthood” (pp. 24-25).
“… Nobody finds anything wrong or strange with attempting to help people who are visibly lacking the basic necessities of life, and it appears quite reasonable to try to alleviate suffering when this is possible. But to leave a successful position and enter freely, consciously, and intentionally into a position of servanthood seems unhealthy. It is a violation of the most basic human instincts. To try to lift others up to our own privileged position is honorable and perhaps even an expression of generosity, but to attempt to put ourselves in a position of disrepute and to become dependent and vulnerable seems to be a form of masochism that defies the best of our aspirations.
“Something of this attitude appears in the expression ‘helping the less fortunate,’ which frequently can be heard from the mouths of those who ask or offer aid. This expression has an elitist ring to it because it assumes that we have made it and have gotten it together while they simply have not been able to keep up with us and need to be helped. It is the attitude which says: ‘Fate is on our side and not on theirs. But since we are Christians we have to lift them up and give them a share of our good fortune. The undeniable fact is that the world is divided between the “fortunate,” and the “unfortunate” ones. So let us not feel guilty about it, but reach out as good people to those who happen to be on the other side of the fence.’ In this way of thinking compassion remains part of competition, and is a far cry from radical servanthood” (pp. 28-29). (emphasis mine)
Compassion by Henri Nouwen, Donald P. Mcneill and Douglas A. Morrison
Prone to Love – Book Review
My college roommate Jason Clark has done it again. Through humorous storytelling he draws us into spiritual insight and understanding in his new book Prone to Love. Jason is passionate about understanding God’s original design and helping people live within their intended relationship with God. In the book he explores the nature God and His character as loving Father, and seeks to help us understand our identity in light of the revelation of who God is. When we truly grasp the nature of our heavenly Father we will not live as children trying to sneak out of the house in pursuit of other things we think will fulfill us, but will rather be drawn more and more into the depths of His love and a deep desire to live to bring Him pleasure. We will find ourselves prone to love Him with our all.
I highly recommend you pick this book up and give it a read. It has the potential to transform your view of God, yourself, and how you live your life.
I received this book for my honest opinion and review.
Check out my thoughts on Jason’s first book Surrendered and Untamed here.
Another Gem from N.T. Wright: After You Believe
He never ceases to amaze and challenge me to the core! N.T. Wright has done it again in his book After You Believe. It’s a tremendous book on Christian character that casts a vision for habits of the heart that manifest in God-honoring actions. By living lives of worship and mission, we can literally implement the new creation that was begun in the resurrection of Jesus, anticipating in the here and now , the ultimate goal of history: the whole earth filled with the glory of God.. “The full reality is yet to be revealed, but we can genuinely partake in that final reality in advance. We can draw down some of God’s future into our own present moment” by how we live (pp. 65-66). Fantastic!
REVKEVJR.COM 