The Present Future

After contemplating it for some time, I finally begun the process of going through the paperwork and materials that I have found in both my Tabor and Oakfield offices. I happened to find a book in my Tabor office that seemed very intriguing to me. It is called The Present Future.

I have a lot of books on my reading list, but I decided to read this one because it intrigued me so much. Reggie McNeal asks some tough questions about the state of the church. It was written back in 2003 and I suppose it is a little out of date, but its message still rings loud and clear to me.

He offered a fresh perspective, for me, in the area of evangelism. Churches put on programs and activities, new this and new that and then expect people to come to them. We expect that people, many of whom have never stepped into a church, to just come right in and see what we are about. When no one comes to something, we wonder why people won't show up. We're looking at it wrong!

McNeal writes, "If they aren't going to come to us, then we've got to go to them." Amen! We can't give up if people don't come to our carefully crafted programs. Perhaps we need to take our mission and our ministry out into the community. Let's take the Gospel to people. Let's commit to activities in the community that demonstrate to the community that we are living Christ-like lives.

But talking to people about our faith can be uncomfortable. He understands this. "I think we have some different fears. I think we are afraid of not knowing how to engage people in genuine conversation. I think we fear rejection. I think we don't know what to say. I think we are unsure of what we have to offer to people." That's no reason for us to shy away. It may be difficult, but it is what we are called to do. We will get better with practice :-)!

McNeal writes about Pastor Cho in South Korea. When a member of his congregation is asked why they do kind acts in the community, he tells them to say, "I am a disciple of Jesus. I am serving him by serving you, because that's what he came to do."

That's the way to do it!

Exercise Continues to Be Rewarding

I received a package in the mail today. It came from Amazon.com. It had two items in it:

A Video Game: Mass Effect 2
A Book: Adventures in Missing the Point

Christa has had to hear me all week talk about my excitement to be receiving these items. I am excited to read the book, but with all the reading I have ahead of my for Course of Study, I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to read it. Mass Effect 2, however, will be a wonderful stress reliever for me. It has been a game I have been looking forward to playing for years.

What makes this special is that this book and game were free. I was able to purchase them using gift certificates that I earned through points I accumulated through the Virgin HealthMiles program. It is something that I do as part of the United Methodist Church. The running and walking that I do to keep healthy is also paying off!

God Delusion, Part I

I wrote quite awhile ago that I had purchased the book The God Delusion. Among the atheist community, this book is often cited. I thought it would be useful for me to read the book simply to know how they argue against the existence of God. My years in high school debate taught me that you need to explore opposing viewpoints.

I have made my way through almost on half of the book. Did I think the book would convert me to atheism? No. Did I think the book would be challenging for me? Yes. Is it OK for us to have some doubts in our faith? Yes. This book has certainly been challenging for me to read.

So far, this books comes down to science vs. faith. This is not a surprise. Dawkins, at great length, discusses the ability of science to explain how our world works, specifically as it relates to the ideas of evolution, natural selection and the formation of our universe. Through his detailed explanations, he asserts that there can be no other reasonable explanation for how we got here.

When you talk about faith, it is just that. To Dawkins, the Bible is not a legitimate book for argumentation purposes. Thus, the discussion is over. Dawkins simply asks for scientific proof that there is a God. It's not there. Thus, there is no God. Prayer doesn't really work. Creationism has no evidence.

How do you argue faith? I can see a prayer answered. I can see the beauty of creation. I can appreciate my conversations with God. I can see the Holy Spirit at work. I know these things exist, and I look for strength from the Holy Bible. It brings me great confidence and great strength.

While in college, there was a time when I considered myself an atheist. I was miserable and directionless. Since renewing my relationship with God and living a life of doing my best to love God and love one another, I am happier, less worried and find more meaning and joy in life.

I wish that Dawkins and others could have that in their life as well. Yet, I realize that there will be folks with his views and, as a Christian, I am still called to minister to them. While difficult, I realize it is something that we are called to do.

*** Stay tuned for future reflections on this book. ***

Last night I just finished the book Just Walk Across the Room. Overall, this book by Bill Hybels takes a look at the role an individual can play in spreading the kingdom of Christ. Typically, books like this have a tendency to simply tell you things you already knew. This book was different. What the book talked about was pretty simple, but challenging us to move out of our comfort zone. There are two quotes that I want to share:

"The question is not whether or not you have a contribution to make. Every single one of you has an astoundingly large contribution to make. The real issue is whether or not you're investing yourself in activities that spur your people toward heaven. The issue is whether or not you are leveraging your creative energies, marketing skills, and problem-solving capabilities for the sake of landing more people in heaven. The issue is whether or not you prize people enough to share the good news with them in creative and alluring ways." (p. 188)

Hybels that despite our own reservations or our own assessment of our abilities, we all have ways to talk to others about Christ. We just have to be willing to do everything in our life for God. To break away from a self-centered life and working toward a God-centered life will be difficult, but it paves the way to amazingly effective discipleship.

"It really is true: the spread of the gospel--at least in today's reality--boils down to whether you and I will continue to seek creative ways to engage our friends, inviting them to explore the abundance of the Christ-following life and helping them choose eternity with God instead of settling for a terrible fate when this life is all said and done." (p. 200).

That pretty much sums up the book. If you are curious about what the book looks like, you now have a picture of it. :)

90 Minutes in Heaven

I know that this book has been around for a few years. I had heard folks talk about it. I was at the Oakfield Public Library during the Village-Wide Rummage Sale and found a copy of the book for $1.00. How could I go wrong? I added it to my reading list.

The book is an account of Don Piper's being dead for 90 minutes and during that time experiencing heaven. When he comes back to life, he talks about his long recovery process from a devastating accident.

I hate to begin my review by arguing semantics, but 90 Minutes in Heaven was not an appropriate title for this book. His actual account of experiencing heaven was but two chapters of the book. The rest of the book details his slow recovery and all the accompanying misery that goes with it. Later, he does talk about ho0w his experience has affected the lives of others. I was disappointed, because I expected the book to provide more details about his experience in heaven. That was the title.

That being said, his description of his recovery does give an amazing story of determination and the power of prayer. I was also amazed about how a community of believers came to rally around this one individual's recovery. We could all stand to learn from that.

I suppose the biggest struggle I have is with his account of heaven. I can't imagine why the author would lie about his experiences, and I'm sure that was his experience. But, was that heaven or a hallucination? I just don't know. And to think that he speaks at funerals saying he can speak with authority about what heaven is like is slightly disturbing to me.

I would recommend you read the book, if but for its story about the power of prayer and love for hope of recovery.

Too Small to Ignore Reviewed

I finished Too Small to Ignore. It was one of those books that was so good, you had a hard time putting it down. I finished it in a week. As busy as I am and being the slow reader that I am, I thought that was incredible that I finished it so quickly.

Wess Stafford shares his childhood experiences from two perspectives. He shares many wonderful stories from his childhood living in an African village as the son of a missionary. He learned the true meaning of love and the meaning of a simple life. He counters this with some truly gruesome stories of time in a boarding school for missionary children. It's horrible and painful to read. Both of these experiences lay the groundwork for his passion for helping children in poverty.

He ends his book by providing many thoughts about how we can put children at a higher priority in our lives. It was a wake up call to me and I highly recommend that you check this book out. It will change your thinking about who we should be ministering to!

Next on my list is Ninety Minutes in Heaven.

Too Small to Ignore

After attending the teleconference put on by the Willow Creek Church, their pastor talked about spiritual disciplines. Among his recommendations, he said that we should set aside 30 minutes a day for reading. That's a great idea! But, I tended to set that time aside right before I go to bed. Bad idea. I usually fall asleep after about four pages, because I'm just ready to sleep.

With my evening strategy, it took me forever to get through unChristian. I have decided now to take the advice of the pastor and read in the morning for 30 minutes. I am much more awake and I will make more progress through the book. I am currently reading Too Small to Ignore by Wess Stafford.

The books talks about the importance of children in our lives. It also talks about his traumatic upbringing in a missionary school in Africa. There are already some great messages that I look forward to sharing with you when I am done.

Prayer Note: Please pray for the community of Fond du Lac and they struggle with the future of the Mercury Marine corporation. From what I have read, it is likely that the factory will be closing in the next 2-3 years. This will greatly affect the Fond du Lac community, and not for the better. They need our prayers!

unChristian

I just finished reading the book unChristian. I found it to be a fascinating book, and I found it a book that really got me thinking about the role that I play in: (1) helping to make disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world and (2) how do I help the perception of Christians.

This book interviewed non-Christians to get a sense of what their perceptions were of Christianity. They took the major themes and wrote about them. The major perceptions are:

1. Hypocritical - Christians say one thing but live something entirely different.
2. Get Saved! - Christians are insincere and concerned only with converting others.
3. Antihomosexual - Christians show contempt for gays and lesbians.
4. Sheltered - Christians are boding, unintelligent, old-fashioned, and out of touch with reality.
5. Too Political - Christians are primarily motivated by a political agenda and promote right-wing politics.
6. Judgmental - Christians are prideful and quick to find fault in others.

Although painful to admit, many of these perceptions are dead on. And any Christian should read this so they get a sense of where we are right now as a religion. We have lost our way and need to figure out how to change. If we want to reach out to a younger generation, this is a must read.

Rick Warren, when asked where he'd like to see Christianity in 30 years says, "My dream is that thirty years from now, the church will be known more by what it is for than what it is against For some time now now, the hands and feet of the body of Christ have been amputated, and we've been pretty much reduced to a big mouth. We talk far more than we do. It's time to reattach the limbs and let the church be the church in the twenty-first century.".

Amen.