Differences about drama

I have now been a senior/solo pastor for nearly five years. I was a youth/associate pastor for 12 years. People make all sorts of assumptions about what the differences may or may not be in regard to the associate and senior pastor role. Some of those assumptions are true, but not universally true. Other assumptions are quite simply false. And there are some differences that most people just do not think about. 

One of the differences that I have noticed as a pastor is that there is a huge difference between how a youth pastor (or any associate in program ministries) approaches drama, and how the presence of "drama" shapes one's ministry.

As a youth pastor, I did not seek drama, but drama is part of the job. As a matter of fact, the immediacy and the passion that is required of effective ministry in program ministry often a sign of health and energy in the program. A young adult ministry with no drama is most likely a ministry without young adults present.

Many teens and young adults are facing situations for the first time. The freshness of their experience to them, and the propensity for each experience to be personally and spiritually forming heightens the sense of drama in working with that person. Young people are wired for passion, and that passion pours out in what they do. Parents are anxious about their children and young adult children as well, and this anxiety also creates drama and intensity in program ministries with children, youth and young adult. There is often a sense in which people believe that young people are experiencing teachable moments in their lives that must be seized or forgotten forever. 

This week I am a senior pastor doing evaluations. I find that one of the unspoken questions that internally informs my evaluative process is this: How much drama does this person bring me? If I hear about relatively few problems and deal with relatively little drama with this person, they are almost guaranteed a strong performance review. If there is a sense of drama that surrounds this person, there is a little more nuance required when doing their performance review. It is unfair, but it is often the way things function for a senior pastor. We know troubleshooting is part of the job, but we tire of dealing with petty issues that take us away from the work we really want to be doing. 

The problem with this is, of course, that some positions by the nature of their ministry, or the volume of their interactions with people, and high drama people, necessarily have more drama built-in as a part of the job. If one does not understand this, that one can interpret all the drama as negative, when it really may be a sign that something is happening in the context of that staff person's ministry, and that "something" could be negative, but it could also be very positive or at least proactive. 

Thus, even though senior pastors tend to lean toward seeking "no drama', sometimes drama is a consequence of the Spirit being at work in that person. Again, something else I am considering and thinking about.

What do you think?

Lessons from silence

Each day I read political posts on Facebook. Many state strong opinions. I have read several blog posts and     Facebook status updates that say things that are factually errant, and I have read them from all over the political spectrum. It has often been my temptation to respond to strongly stated opinions with my own (which of course I believe completely without error). So far I have chosen, for the most part, to keep my mouth shut.

I have generally kept my mouth shut online and in person because I believe that as a pastor, I do not what to be beholden to any political party. Nor do I want to alienate or divide people in my congregation by making my political positions or voting habits an issue.

All in all, this silence has been a challenge. I have a tendency to want to challenge lazy thinking. I have a desire to want to correct people that are wrong. And, I have a tendency to think that if I state my thoughts and opinions well that I can actually change someone's opinion and perspective--even though it is probably not the case.

This silence has taught me several things. First, it has taught me that my corrections of other people's thinking on Facebook are at best a waste of time, and as worse harmful to my relationships with others. Second, it has taught me how useless contending for one's political and social opinions on Facebook and in other online forums really is. Finally, it has taught me that often times the energy I expend toward disagreement and agreement on some issues is fundamentally misplaced.

Having said all that, there are times when I feel frustrated that I feel constrained in what I can say, and others do not. In other words, there are times I feel a little jealous of others Facebook bullhorn in the face of my Facebook silence. By my decisions to speak or to be silent are my choice. And for now, I chose silence.

Book Review of Spirituality According to Paul: Imitating the Apostle of Christ by Rodney Reeves

Spirituality According to Paul: Imitating the Apostle of Christ
By Rodney Reeves
ISBN 978-0830839469
Intervarsity Press
Reviewed by Clint Walker

Who was Paul really? Many books have been written on this subject of who Paul is, what his viewpoints were, and what he was trying to accomplish with his life and ministry. With Spirituality According to Paul, Rodney Reeves studies Paul from a different perspective. Reeves asks what Paul's spiritual life was like, and how he believed people were spiritually formed in Christlikeness.

All of what Reeves has to say hinges on two concepts, both of which are very biblical. The first concept is that Christian spirituality and Pauline spirituality are grounded in the paschal rhythm of dying, being buried, and being raised with Christ. The second concept is related to it, and is actually stated first in this text, and that is that Paul presents his life and ministry as a model of this rhythm to those that need further instruction, going to the point of calling people to follow him as he follows Christ.

The entire book follows the outline of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ as a model for understanding Paul and his leadership and spiritual life. In the process, some very important and common matters are discussed such as human sexuality, work, and worship. Reeves also covers some more esoteric concepts such as mystery, spiritual warfare, and the life. In addition to this, Reeves covers some attitudes of disciples, such as self-denial and obedience to God.

I thought throughout Spirituality According to Paul, Reeves did a great job of understanding Paul's spirituality in light of a series of narratives. He showed how Paul adopted Jesus' narrative as his own and let the Jesus story inform Paul's story. He also showed how Paul's influence in turn encouraged other people to adopt the Jesus narrative, and define their lives by being "in" Christ. Reeves appropriately shares his own story at times, and describes how the concepts communicated in the book find touchpoints in his narrative.

I read a lot of books relating to spiritual formation. This book is a keeper. It is grace-filled, brilliant, and utterly biblical. It will allow those who follow the trends of spiritual formation to return to the basics of Christian spirituality, and it will encourage people to understand that the message of Paul is not separate from the gospels but instead united with it.

Book Review of Four Views on The Spectrum of Evangelicalism

Four Viewson the Spectrum of Evangelicalism

ed. By Andrew David Naselli, Collin Hansen and Stanley Gundry

ISBN 978-0-310-29316-3

Published by Zondervan

Reviewed by Clint Walker

Many people use the term evangelical these days. Outside of the church, the word evangelical is used to refer to anyone who is a politically active conservative Christian. Inside the church it can be equally as confusing. For instance, the largest Lutheran church group in the United States is called the “Evangelical” Lutheran Church in America, and yet mainstream Lutheran doctrines of salvation and Biblical authority run counter to the contemporary understanding of what the “evangelical movement” defines as essential doctrine and faith experience for evangelical Christians.  Historically, churches who believed in the Reformation doctrine of justification by grace through faith were considered “evangelical” churches. Today, as many folks attempt to work across denominational boundaries with like-minded persons with evangelical experience and theology, there is an attempt to come to an understanding of who fits into the fold of the interdenominational evangelical movement.

As the title suggests, the reader is confronted with four viewpoints. The perspectives they espouse are as follows: Fundamentalism (Kevin Bauder), Confessional evangelicalism (R. Albert Mohler Jr.), Generic evangelicalism (John G. Stackhouse Jr.), and Postconservative evangelicalism (Roger E. Olson). As is true with all of the counterpoint books, each author gets to write their own chapter, and then respond to their debate partners essays as well.

The choices the editors made in who would be the primary contributors to this text is interesting. Perhaps not everyone noticed, but three of the four contributors in this text are affiliated with Baptist institutions. Roger Olson is at a Baptist seminary in Texas affiliated with more moderate Baptist groups. Mohler is the president of the flagship Southern Baptist Seminary (which has tension with the groups Olson is affiliated with). Bauder is affiliated with an independent Baptist institution in Minneapolis.  In many ways, the arguments over who is truly evangelical could also be arguments over who the “real” Baptists are. Furthermore, Mohler and Olson have been lightening rods for controversy in the past. Thus, in my opinion the dialogue is not as jovial and open as it sometimes is with other counterpoint books.

The most conservative understanding of evangelicalism comes from the person who also accepts the label fundamentalism—Kevin Bauder. Confessional evangelicalism tries to operate in a similar fashion as fundamentalism, with clear, prescriptive theological boundaries for those who call themselves evangelicals. Stackhouse offers some guidelines on what it means to be evangelical. Olson says that evangelicalism is a group of Christians with shared experiences and beliefs, but he cannot really define what those beliefs are completely.

It is hard to define someone as “evangelical” or not within the evangelical community, because to judge someone as not evangelical is, to many Christian believers, to say that the person you are speaking of is not a believer, and very possibly hell-bound. In my opinion, none of the contributors make convincing arguments that establish themselves as right and others as wrong as to what an evangelical is. Nevertheless, the dialogue between these four scholars will get many readers to think about what beliefs and practices are central to their faith, and what items of faith are perhaps simply preferences.

Book Review of Daily Feast: Meditations from Feasting on the Word: Year C

Daily Feast: Meditations from Feasting on the Word: Year C
ed. by Kathleen Long Bostrom, Elizabeth F. Caldwell and Jana Reiss
ISBN 978-0-664-23798
Westminster John Knox
Reviewed by Clint Walker

Feasting on the Word began as a commentary series developed by Westminster John Knox Press in partnership with Columbia Theological Seminary. The commentary was so well received that the publisher and the team that developed these resources has now began to develop other related resources. Recently I reviewed the Worship Companion on this blog. Today, I want to share with you a recently released devotional called Daily Feast (Year C). 

The Daily Feast devotional follows the pattern of the Feasting on the Word commentaries closely. It too is based on the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). The beginning of each week has a snippet of each of the lectionary texts. Then, throughout the week, each reading is given a place in the devotional. The Scripture text is listed and the reader is supposed to read that out of the Bible themselves. Then, a quote from the extensive work of the commentary is included about the Scripture passage. A question or two for thought are included. After that, each days devotion ends with a brief prayer.

I have a copy of Year B of this devotional on my Kindle, and I have a hard copy provided by the publisher for Year C. In my experience this devotional is helpful and insightful. It helps me meditate on the readings I will hear or preach on each Sunday, so I have already been pondering each of the texts before I hear them in worship. Because of this, I feel that my devotional life and my worship life are knit together with this commentary. Also, since it is scheduled by the Christian year instead of the calendar year, it is a devotional that will be timeless, and could be returned to very easily every three years.

The hard copy of the book has a pleasing presentation. It is in an imitation leather binding that feels good when held. A bookmark is built in.

I really recommend this devotional to mainline Christians everywhere. The scholarship is ecumenical, and the organization is first rate.

Book Review of Faith and Other Flat Tires by Andrea Palpant Dilley

Faith and Other Flat Tires: Searching for God on the Rough Road of Doubt
By Andrea Palpant Dilley
ISBN 978-0-310-32551-2
Zondervan Publishing
Reviewed by Clint Walker

I picked up Faith and Other Flat Tires hoping to muddle my way through a book that had been sitting on my shelf for a while. The problem was, once I picked up the book I had a hard time putting it down. I ended up reading most of this book over an evening that I had away from work. I am still thinking about the story, and wondering about the "rest of the story" in the life of Andrea Dilley.

Andrea's story is compelling, but to be honest, it is not awfully unique. This book chronicles a quarter-life crisis of faith, and the author's resolution of that crisis. The author's story is one of being raised in the faith, of being confronted with some serious doubts and questions, followed by a drifting from faith and then finally a return to a faith that Ms. Dilley has not just inherited, but made her own. The power of this story, however, is not in its novelty, but in the fact that Andrea's story is similar to many other person's faith story. For those people, Andrea's story will help you understand that you are not alone in your journey.

One of the unique things about this memoir is that Dilley frames the narrative of this part of her life in the narrative of Pilgrim's Progress. In the process, Dilley helps other see in another clear way that the journey toward belief, even for those who are raised in the church, is often a roundabout one.

I also enjoyed the setting of the book. I love Spokane. I have been to Whitworth College. I can picture where Andrea is in the city whenever she talks about it.

The setting provides another unexpected benefit. That benefit is hearing a story from someone who lived in areas close to where I lived. I felt I could see the places she visited. I felt like I could relate to her cadence and her voice as a writer.

All in all a good book. And a fun one to read for someone who struggles with their faith.

Book Review of the King Jesus Gospel by Scot McKnight

The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited
by Scot McKnight
ISBN 978-0-310-41298-6
Zondervan Publishing
Reviewed by Clint Walker

Scot McKnight is becoming one of the United States' most appreciated biblical scholars. He is currently professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL. He is a prolific blogger, a sought after speaker, and an author of books for laity, clergy, and scholars. McKnight is bright and a strong communicator. And he shares his considerable skills with The King Jesus Gospel, which might be his most important book to date.

One has to look no further than the two forwards that the book has to gauge this text's importance. One forward is written by N.T. Wright, the brilliant and prolific Christian writer, academic and author who might be the leading Christian scholar living today. The other forward comes from Dallas Willard, who is one of the founding fathers of the modern Protestant spiritual formation movement.

This book is slow reading, especially if you really want to absorb what McKnight is wanting to say and who he is wanting to say it too, but it is well worth the read.

Specifically, McKnight is trying to teach his readers that when they talk about the gospel and use the term gospel, they are using a term that has been lifted from its biblical and cultural context, and then placed rather awkwardly in our own context. One of the key points of The King Jesus Gospel, for instance, is that the good news of Christ is embedded in the story of Israel, and the Story of Christ, which in turn is also embedded in the story of Israel. When we attempt to lift certain key points or laws from out of the story, we may be communicating a Cliff's notes version of the gospel while completely ignoring the narrative that these notes are supposed to summarize. McKnight calls us back to the full gospel, as it was intended to be communicated. For that we can be grateful.

Book Review of The Mormonizing of America by Steve Mansfield

The Mormonizing of America
By Stephen Mansfield
ISBN 978-1-61795-078-0
Worthy Publishing
Reviewed by Clint Walker

Although this review is a little later than I had hoped, I have just read a stellar book about the Mormon Faith. The book is The Mormonizing of America by Stephen Mansfield. I would strongly recommend this book for just about anyone who is curious about the LDS movement, and who wants a perspective from a person who is clearly outside the movement, but who also has great admiration for the LDS people and accomplishments.And that is really what this book is primarily about. The book may also cover issues of history and doctrine, but truly, the author is trying to write a book about how LDS has come to a "critical mass" and thus become an influence in American culture as a whole. He is, as a religious writer, trying to understand and share the Mormon story, especially as it pertains to how it risen to the level of influence it has now.

In the town I went to high school in, the Mormon Church and the Catholic Church were the largest two churches in town, and the LDS Church was by far the best attended. I grew up with coaches, friends, fellow students, and teammates that were Latter-Day Saints. I still keep in touch with a few of those acquaintences today. Whenever I have discussed religious matters with those friends, I have found that we tend to talk around each other. Often we use terms that mean different things to us, and there are several things that I would try to talk to LDS persons about, and simply run into brick walls.

Having said all this, my years in Homer, Alaska taught me to have a high level of admiration for LDS people. Often, it was the more committed LDS kids that were high achievers in school and in athletics. And although not all LDS kids were models of moral virtue, many of the other people who abstained from drugs, alcohol, and premarital sex in high school were Mormons. This meant that although I did not share a theology with my LDS peers, we did share a commitment to similar values.

Like I said, there were things about Mormon life and faith that remained elusive to me, especially as I compared them to my own belief system. Most of these questions were "why?" questions. And many of those questions came to much clearer answers as I read. Also, I came to a clearer understanding of what is happening in regard to our current political climate,  both in regard to the presidential election and with media leaders such as Glen Beck.

Let me give you an example. As an evangelical Christian, I believe that the Bible is divinely inspired. I do not believe that other documents, especially political documents are. In the Mormonizing of America, Mansfield claims that most LDS folks believe that the US Constitution is a divinely inspired document, elevating it to the level of holy writ. When I learn this, I come to a greater understanding of the artwork of Jon McNaughton, who places the Living Word and the words of the founding fathers as equal in divine authority in his painting, One Nation Under God




Also, when I see Mitt Romney working hard to align himself with the ultra-conservative prime minister of Israel, it makes more sense to me when I come to understand that Mormon theology sees God's kingdom on earth in the future ruled from Salt Lake and Jerusalem. It also makes me nervous, in the same way I am nervous about Iran's President, when I think about Romney being in a position to accelerate his view of the end times.

Another helpful thing about this whole book for me was understanding the importance and nature of the "priesthood" for adolescent and adult men. I had heard this whole phenomenon talked about by LDS friends, but never really came to understand what the priesthood was all about. Not that I know a lot more now, but I see where the whole concept is important.

This book also had a helpful timeline of Mormon history. I think some of us think we understand a little of LDS history as mainline and/or evangelical Christians, This book will help non-Mormons understand more. Particularly informative is the description of persecution of LDS persons in the United States.

The chapter on the "Engine of Mormonism" and the "Mormon Machine" is extremely insightful. I was especially intrigued by the language of testing in the LDS faith, and it made sense of a lot of attitudes and behaviors among Mormons that I appreciated but did not fully understand before.

There is also a section on "Mormon beliefs in plain language". I found this helpful and informative. Mansfield does a much better job than "The Godmakers" of presenting these beliefs in a forthright and non-judgmental fashion. I do suspect, however, that some LDS persons would object to his summary.

As the book of The Mormonizing of America concludes, Mansfield echoes the heart of many bible believing Christians in relationship to LDS persons. He says, "'There is a case to be made that the Mormon people have often been better than their leaders and better than the doctrines their leaders have given them.' This is certainly true. The faithful will object because they have been taught that obeying their leaders is essential to salvation. We can let them object. What we can know from Mormon history, though, is that it is the Mormon people who have accomplished the greatness of Mormonism."

In other words, many other evangelicals and myself can cast aspersions on people like Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, and think a lot of the doctrines about the afterlife and about not drinking coffee and wearing funny underwear are a little kooky. In spite of this, there is something many of us greatly admire about LDS people and what Mansfield calls the "Mormon Machine".

Book Review of Feasting on the Word Worship Companion: Liturgies for Year C Vol. 1 ed. by Kimberly Bracken Long

Feasting on the Word Worship Companion: Liturgies for Year C, Vol. 1
Edited by Kimberly Bracken Long
ISBN 978-0664238056
Westminster/John Knox Press
Reviewed by Clint Walker





The folks and Westminster/John Knox Press and  Columbia Theological Seminary partnered up to create a mainline, ecumenical commentary series that combined the best of biblical scholarship with an acute sensitivity to the pastoral tasks of teaching, preaching, and counseling people with the Scriptures called Feasting on the Word. Now these partner organizations are coming out with companion pieces to their commentaries. One of the first of these resources is litanies and liturgies to support worship. Feasting on the Word Worship Companion is a great book of readings and prayers to add to one's liturgical library.

The book in the series provides worship resources for Advent-Pentecost of Year C in the lectionary cycle. Each Sunday has an option of some Opening Words or a Call to Worship, resources for the confession of sin and assurance of pardon including a call to confession, a prayer of the day, a prayer for illumination, a prayer for intercession, and invitation to the offering and a prayer of dedication, a charge and a blessings, as well as the unexpected extras of questions for reflection and two household prayers for the week to be used in the morning and evening.

Kimberly Bracken Long and her team has an excellent attention to detail. Along side the readings for each part of the service are the Scriptures that are referenced in the readings. At the top of the page for each Sunday the readings are listed. In the back of the book, supplementary resources are included. These include prayers for baptisms, words for greeting the congregation, and Great Thanksgiving Eucharist texts for each season in the church year.  In addition to these helpful extras, the book comes with a CD-ROM to cut and paste any of the resources used into a bulletin.

I really like this set of resources. There are a lot of liturgical resources available that, in my opinion, are simply overdone. They are written by folks who are poets, but often not highly skilled theologians or ministry practitioners. The result in this case is that many readings are overly flowery, and they sometimes even come across a little silly. Not so with Feasting on the Word Worship Companion. The readings are thoughtful, thought-provoking, and appropriately reverent for worship. They are creative, but in a way that makes you think about God and the text in a deeper way, not in a way that is cute or playful. I appreciate this.

The one drawback of the Worship Companion is the price. Right now, most retailers online are selling it for over $30. Which is a lot of money to spend for one half of a year's worth of liturgical resources. I think though, especially for the high seasons of the church year, in the end this will prove to be a good investment.

Wonder Which Is Worse?

Four gaffes. Two by either candidate, although the last one for Romney is more for my amusement.

Can a Baptist preacher sprinkle babies?

I am a Baptist Christian through and through. I used to be a Southern Baptist Christian, then an Independent Baptist Christian, then a Christian Church/Church of Christ Christian, and for nearly all my adult life I have been an American Baptist Christian. As a matter of fact, this fall is my 20th anniversary in the American Baptist family.

Having said all of that, I am a Christian first, and a Baptist second. I have friends of all different flavors who root for their denominations like they do their favorite football teams, and argue in favor of their particular group like a congressman defends and advocates for their political party. That is not me. I am Baptist because it fits my theological convictions and because I have been called to be a part of the American Baptist family. However, when a denominational official suggested in a moment of compassion and support that I change my standardized denominational resume to reflect more loyalty to my ABC family I could not do it, even though I knew it might cost me a few opportunities. I am too ecumenical for that. And besides that, I was deep down hoping and praying that I might be able to serve somewhere in a more federated congregation. Which is where I am now.

Serving in a congregation of Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians, I am called upon to serve as a part of each of the three denominational traditions. As a part of that commitment, I am obligated to preside over the rites and sacraments of each of the three groups. That means, at times, I baptize infants.

Many of my Baptist friends, as well as those from other faith traditions, have asked me how I could baptize infants. Isn't it a betrayal of some of my core convictions as a Baptist? Aren't I compromising my faith? Still others are less judgmental. They ask their questions differently. How do you process that? How do you consent to baptize infants and still remain Baptist?

So I thought I would write about how a Baptist can also choose to baptize infants in a United Churches setting.

1. My commitment to Christian unity is more important to me that my commitment to Baptist identity.

When we get to heaven, we are not going to have Methodist, Baptist, or Presbyterian t-shirts on. We are going to be children of God participating fully in the Kingdom of God. The witness of Christian unity is more important to me that being right and pushing my agenda in regard to Baptism.

2. While as a Baptist Christian I believe believer's baptism by immersion is the most biblical form of baptism, that does not mean that I believe that other forms of baptism are therefore bad or sinful.

I actually think the intention and meaning behind infant baptism is quite beautiful. I found baptizing the child I baptized extremely moving. Every church needs a rite to initiate children into the family of God.

Sometimes, when I pour water over my child's head when I bathe her, I pray over her, dedicating her to God, and I am reminded of her baptism I am looking forward to. Sometimes I even pretend that I am baptizing her in that moment. All of this stuff happens in my head, and not verbally.

3. I want to honor each person's and their family's faith journey, and not just my own.

As a pastor, it is not my job to be a dictator or a micro-manager in people's lives. My job is to be a guide to people as they seek to walk with Christ as they are led by the Spirit. If a practice does not violate my conscience and the Scriptures, and it helps people grow closer to Christ, I am willing to support them in it.

4. In a church with multiple denominational traditions, the possibility of believer's baptism is always open to person's of any spiritual heritage. Thus, for me, what I am practicing is an infant dedication, not a baptism, even though my brothers and sisters from other traditions may call it baptism. 

Anyway, I am sure I could be more articulate. But I am just putting this out to share my thoughts on the issue.

Delighting in God: Newspaper Article for Hot Springs Star

Delighting in God

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever. (Westminster Shorter Catechism)

“Delight yourself in the Lord” (Psalm 37:4)

Life is not always easy. However, God is always good. I was reminded of that again last night.

I was awakened about an hour after I went to sleep by my beautiful daughter Karis, who was crying for a reason I have still yet to figure out. I kept trying to do the right thing for her that would help her get back to sleep. Nothing seemed to work. Then I asked her if she wanted me to hold her and rock her. She said yes. She stood up, and raised her hands for me to grab her.

I held her in my arms and rocked her. I held her close. I sang songs softly in her ear. After about five minutes I started to get up to put her back in the crib. Her hand came up to my cheek. “No daddy, not yet.” She said to me as she snuggled in tighter.

The same thing happened 3 more times in the next 15 minutes. Then I prayed with her, kissed her, and put her down to sleep. She slept soundly the rest of the night, and late into the next morning.

It is a moment she will soon forget, but I will never forget. I got to hold her, sing songs of comfort to her, and let her know I loved her. I live for those moments. What brought me the most joy was that I was bringing her joy. She loved being rocked, being held, and being sung to. And the fact that she loved it made it all that more enjoyable for me.

I think this is much the way God experiences prayer and worship. He enjoys having us delight in him. He loves it when we cry out to him, and he gets to hold us close, and wipe our tears away.

In fact, it may be some of those moments where we are so lost and confused that we have to turn to him to be our everything that he delights in the most. Oh, I believe that God hates to see us hurt.  But I know he loves to forgive, comfort, restore, and heal. This is clear throughout Scripture.

As we linger in those moments of worship and prayer and experience His presence, we may feel the tug to get back to the real world. But then something in deep in our hearts tells us to stay a little while longer. We say to the world, “No, not yet”. God smiles and pulls us closer. And we are slowly renewed.

On Hospital Visits

I try to do hospital visits with people in my church whenever the occasion arises where I might do so. People go into a care facility for all sorts of reasons. Some are old. Some are younger. Some are gravely ill. Others are having some sort of surgery and will be back on their feet in a matter of days. I enjoy getting to visit with people in the hospital (they are, after all, a captive audience), and I feel honored having the opportunity to pray with them. Yet, there are often times where I feel like the whole practice of pastoral visitation in hospitals is kind of odd.

I come into the hospital room armed with my Bible and/or a prayer book. Everyone else walks in with gadgets and medications. I try to have a conversation in the midst of alarms ringing, medical professionals running in to administer tests, and family members trying to put on their best face for the "man of the cloth". I exchange pleasantries with the person who is ill. I ask about their condition. I try to read their mental or emotional state. If I notice something in that regard, I gently probe with some questions or statements that help me understand more of where that person is at. Eventually I pray with the person. Then, eventually, I make an effort to move out of the room (which usually takes at least 5 miniutes). Often, a family member will walk with me out of the room, and when we get some distance away from the room, I begin to offer them counsel, prayer, and comfort as well.

Often, though, I leave wondering if I really did any good being there. I begin to ask myself if my visiting a hospital is a wise use of my time and the church's money. I mean, is driving 110 miles round trip to Rapid City really necessary when I can maybe extend a visit to a half of an hour at most? Besides, what did I do to help that I could not have done over the phone?

I don't have all the answers to this question. But I have come to two conclusions. First, I think my presence means something because it symbolizes something bigger, namely the presence of God with the people in the middle of this dangerous and difficult time. Sometimes somebody being there is all that matters.

The second reason for the visit is more mystical than the first. Somehow, when I go to visit someone in distress, there is a mysterious presence of the Holy Spirit that is often present in a unique way, ministering to me and through me as I seek to be a witness and a caregiver to others.

Have you ever had pastoral visits while in the hospital? What were your thoughts/concerns about them?

Life in the Ministry Fishbowl

There are a lot of things I like about ministry. I like doing people work. I like teaching and preaching. I enjoy the fact that our hours can be occasionally flexible. I also delight in the opportunity to be a generalist in many ways. I like working with my mind in the way ministry challenges me too.

Yet, there are also things that are difficult about being in ministry. One of those more difficult things is feeling like you are living your life in a fishbowl. In other words, feeling like your life is being watched and evaluated by lots of people all around you.

It is interesting. A few weeks ago in our church's contemporary service, we were having a talk back after the sermon. One of the things that people kept talking about in relationship to the message was the difficulty of dealing with the judgment of others. In particular they were talking about a sense of judgment from those inside the church, and how this kind of judgment ran contrary to Christ's message of acceptance and grace. As they were sharing, I got the sense from some of them that they felt they were informing their pastor on something he may not have knowledge of since he is a pastor. Which is interesting, because it is my feeling that nobody can identify better with the self-righteous judgment of religious persons than a pastor.

It is interesting. There is much in ancient writings about encounters between holy men and women of ill repute, and their ability to relate to one another. I think this is due to the fishbowl effect. Both the religious leader and the prostitute are used to people looking at them and seeing their jobs. They are both used to having what they do for a living conflated with who they are. Both are often valued by what service they can provide, and both often don't have people wanting to come to close to them in a peer relationship.

There is very little about me and my life that when I speak it or publish it on Facebook or a blog, that I do not have to consider how what I think will be perceived by the church I served, as well as the churches I have served before this one. Which in turn makes it more difficult to be the kind of open and transparent person that I like to be.

I have noticed the fishbowl more now that I have my family in it with me.



This makes "life in the fishbowl" all the more complicated. Why? On one hand, I hurt for my family to experience the sense of being "public" people, especially when they did not ask to be. Also, their behavior, both positive and negative, is a reflection on me in the eyes of the church and effects my ministry perceptions and results.

People are generally positive about all this now. They look on me more favorably because they think my kids are cute and my wife is a classy lady. But, I know that this will not always be the case.

There will be a day when Karis' spunkiness will rub a congregation the wrong way, and they won't just look on her as a kid that is a little ornery, they will look at her as a child that does not live up to the standards they hope for with a pastor's kid. Don't believe me? I had a friend whose child played with fire. The church wanted him to get help, and wondered if his fascination with fire was a result of demonic influence.

I worry that my wife will not feel free to be herself in church because what she might say or do will have a direct bearing on our financial well-being and on my ability to have influence with others. She worries about it too. Feeling like she was living in too much of a fishbowl in a town of 1200 in SE Colorado, and that if she shared too much about herself she would find rejection and judgment is part of a long-list of reasons she was happy we moved to Hot Springs, SD.

I don't worry about escaping the fishbowl of ministry. I don't believe that is possible. But I do wonder how much I should live in awareness of its presence. When should I just be transparent about what I do and what I think, and not care what others may think that I have a ministry with? And when is an awareness of the fishbowl and invitation to discretion and reserve in my life (which is hard for a person who is naturally uncouth and unreserved)?

Anyway...something I am thinking about....

On blogging and life

I am a little disappointed in myself. I began this blog as a vehicle for self expression, growth as a writer, and as an opportunity to think through my faith a little better. Lately, it reads like a collection of school assignments full of book reports, sermons, newspaper articles and other miscellany. Not that these are bad things, it is just that I think I really benefit from the platform this blog gives me to speak my mind.

One of the reasons that I have struggled in writing personal things is that my personal life has become a lot more public in recent years. I have linked this blog to Facebook, so it is accessible to all of my friends. I have slowly become more cautious of what I share because I know that someone, somewhere is going to be hurt or offended by something I write, not knowing that this is my space to be heard OUTSIDE of my role as a pastor and a public person.

In addition to my professional paranoia, my personal life has changed drastically since I began blogging. Now I have a wife, a dog, a toddler, and a newborn. I have less time to ponder, to think, to be alone and write. Yet, I think this kind of thing is important.

So, I am going to get back to including more self-expression, random thoughts, and funny stories from my life on this blog. Not to mention picture shares and other stuff.

We will see if the effort lasts more than a day or two...but at least it will last a day or two!

Book Review of Noticing God by Richard Peace

Noticing God
by Richard Peace
ISBN 978-0-8308-3821-9
Intervarsity Press
Reviewed by Clint Walker

When I was a youth pastor, I often went on mission trips with teens. Most often, I went with a group called Youthworks. During the evening worship service, the leaders are trained to lead a time of reflection called God-sightings, designed to lead the congregation in sharing times where they saw God's presence manifest among them. It is really quite meaningful for those teens and the adults with them, who often think they have come to serve others when they have really been on a service-based pilgrimage to encounter the power of God in their lives.

Noticing God by Richard Peace is a more adult, contemplative way of helping people discover the presence of God in their lives than what Youthworks does, but with a similar aim. Peace wants to help people experience the "habitual presence of God" (p. 13) in their every day lives. As he writes, he walks with his readers as a tour guide through the experience of life, pointing to the different ways that God is present with human beings. Some of the ways that he describes God showing up are more mystical mountaintop experiences, and others are more ordinary than that. The book is designed to teach people to encounter the divine both in the ordinary and the extraordinary. It accomplishes its goal.

After Peace describes several time-tested ways that people notice God's presence in the world, he offers considerable effort toward describing the process of discernment. The process of discernment is essential in the work of spiritual formation, and using it well is what separates people who use mystical tools as self-affirmation and therapy, and people who truly encounter God through the discipline of noticing God.

Of all the chapters, I was particularly intrigued by the discussion of encountering God in creation, culture, and the creative process. Personally, I have often sensed God's presence through the art forms of music and cinema. Yet, I have rarely heard persons who speak or write about spiritual formation go into much depth on how this happens or why it happens. Richard Peace does a little bit of this work, and for that I am personally grateful.

The book has a few helpful tools. It has a bibliography for further study. It also has a very well put together study guide for groups or individuals who want to dig into this book in an in-depth manner. This book will be a great primer in spiritual formation for church classes and introductory academic work as well. It is an asset to the literature on spiritual formation, and something that I will keep as a resource for years to come.

Book Review of The Choice by Robert Whitlow

The Choice
by Robert Whitlow
Published by Thomas Nelson
Reviewed by Clint Walker

The year is 1974, and the setting is a small town in rural Georgia. It is fall. Football is starting, and the cheer team has begun to prepare for the season as well. Sandy Lincoln is a senior in high school, and a brilliant student from a good family. As the book begins Sandy is with her mother in the doctor's office. It turns out she is pregnant, and her boyfriend Brad Donnelly is the father.

Since it is 1974, all options have been placed at Sandy's disposal in dealing with the pregnancy. She can stay home. She can go away to her aunt in the big city and finish school at a place designed for pregnant girls. She can give up the child for adoption, or abort her unborn child. Or, Sandy can choose to keep the baby and raise it the best way she knows how.

The story revolves around this choice to keep a child, to abort it, or to put it up for adoption. The narrative keeps gaining momentum because for every one decision that is made, several others come into play. How will the boyfriend's response and his family's wishes play into the decision? What about the difference between the father's ethics and the mother's concerns? How will this all effect the future of this promising young lady?

The story is both moving and fast paced. The author does a splendid job of contrasting the "little girl" still present in Sandy's personality with her very adult situation and decisions. People in the story do not always act the way you would expect, which adds a little bit of drama to the whole story. The whole novel challenges the reader to ask themselves how they would respond given the situation Sandy Lincoln faced, and in the time and place that she faced it.

There were a few things I struggled with in the book. I thought the whole "bad boy" from the city/"good girl" from the small town was overly stereotypical. It reminded me of the movie Footloose. As a pastor, I was disappointed that the author chose to identify a pastor that was pro-choice in the beginning of the book. I never like it when a pastor seems to be a villain.

Having said that, I think this would be a good book for many to read. It might be especially helpful for mothers and teens to read before a situation like this arises, so that a family can have dialogue about pre-marital sex and teen pregnancy is a more natural and less confrontational way.

Book Review of Spiritual Rhythms in Community by Keith Meyer

Spiritual Rhythms in Community
by Keith Meyer
ISBN 978-0-8308-3561-4
Intervarsity Press
Formatio Imprint
Reviewed by Clint Walker

Intervarsity Press is quickly becoming one of my favorite publishers. They publish many well-written thought provoking books. My favorites of the books they publish, however, come from the Formatio Imprint.

The Formatio imprint is a line of books focusing on matters of spiritual formation. They have great, well-known writers, and they cover a number of issues in the discipline.

In the last few months IVP has published two quite interesting books on the nature of spiritual formation in community. The first one I have studied is Spiritual Rhythms in Community by Keith Meyer. It is a phenomenal book that I am going to have to read again in partnership with others.

In this book Meyer leads his students through disciplines of disengagement, followed by disciplines of engagement. The rhythms of disengagement are designed to help the readers take a step back from the hurry and hustle of life to intentionally relate to God in a meaningful and intimate way. The dance of engagement disciplines are designed for us to engage our friends, family, and the world in a more meaningful and gospel-centered manner.

Each chapter begins with a psalm. Each Psalm has a brief reflection from the author, which then leads into his teaching on some challenge or issue in the spiritual life. Then, after the author's teaching, the text leads the readers in a spiritual practice of some sort. After this there are questions for reflection on what the experience of this practice was like. I love the way this is laid out. The Psalm slows me down. The chapter engages my mind. The spiritual exercise engages my heart.

This book is designed for use in small groups. So, if you are planning on using this in a small group and/or leading it, it is essential that you both read the group guide in the back of the book, and the introduction at the beginning of the book. Both will give you helpful hints on how to lead a discussion on the book and to get the most out of the book for you and your group.

Meyer's writing is enjoyable to read. It provokes thinking and reflection without being overly heady or wordy. The author is open and honest about his own experiences. He is a good story teller. Even if you are not able to use this book in a group as intended, it is a great resource for the spiritual journey. Some spiritual formation books can make the reader feel small and unaccomplished in the journey with Christ. Meyer helps his readers feel empowered as disciples to do the growth they need to do as apprentices of Jesus.

I highly recommend this book.

Book Review of Journeys of Faith by Robert L. Plummer

Journeys of Faith: Evangelicalism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Anglicanism

ed. By Robert L. Plummer

ISBN 978-0310-33120-9

Zondervan

Reviewed by Clint Walker

A generation or two ago people were grounded. They lived in the same town as their parents. They may have even worked in the same place much of the rest of their family did. Today, people are more mobile, and thus less loyal to the institutions that may have defined their lives 50 or 100 years ago. One place where we notice this change is in the church. People are not as defined by their denominational heritage, nor are they as committed to specific religious labels. Journeysof Faith chronicles the journeys of four people away from the expression of their Christian faith they begin their spiritual journey in, and their journey to a different church community within the Christian family.

Three of the converts left evangelicalism for more “liturgical” traditions. The fourth person left their Catholic upbringing to become and evangelical. Each of these people shares their personal perspective on what led them to move to another branch of Christianity. Then, each person has another Christian thinker that responds to their decision from the tradition that they left behind, offering another perspective on both traditions. The dialogue is rich, and allows the reader to think through their own faith through listening to another’s journey.

What is truly unique and intriguing about Journeys of Faith is its balance of head and heart. On one hand, each person shares their own personal journeys from one faith tradition to another, and they share the nature of their personal need, desires, and hopes from a Christian community, and the emotional journey of leaving “home” for a new church “family”. On the other hand, both the people who share their journey, as well as those who listen to them are top notch thinkers. So, one comes to understand the apologetic for each expression of the Christian faith, and the reasoning that each one has on why they are best or right.

Another distinguishing mark of this book is the grace that each person treats the other with, even if they are coming from differing perspectives. People make their points and share their opinions, but there is very little in the way of personal attacks or demeaning language.

Personally, I was challenged by the language, especially in the opening, that contrasted evangelical faith and liturgical practice. As someone who belongs to a mainline church, I believe it is possible to honor much of a traditional liturgy, and yet still have some sense of an evangelical theology. In other words, I think of liturgy as a style of worship, and evangelical as a theological system, and fail to see why they have to be mutually exclusive. I know evangelical Catholics and liturgical Baptists. I felt that, at times, this book neglected this possibility.

This is an excellent book to help people understand how some folks come to their faith, and how other folks find a way to leave their group of Christian believers. I would recommend readers come with an open heart to this book, an awareness of their own spiritual journey, and a willingness to examine how they have come to the Christian convictions they have adopted. If anyone does so, they will be blessed richly, as I was.

Book Review of Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes A Day by Garry R. Morgan

Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day
By Garry R. Morgan
ISBN 978-0-7642-1003-7
Bethany House
Reviewed by Clint Walker

Just yesterday, I was leading a Bible Study on the book of James. Somewhere, from out of the blue, a discussion among the folks at the Brookside Apartments had erupted regarding what Muslims believe in relationship to Christian teaching. The questions of the students gathered around that table was more than I could address in one meeting, so we are taking a break from our study and discussing what Islam believes in relationship to what the Bible teaches next week.

As we become more and more diverse in America, and as our world gets smaller through inexpensive travel and technological advances, people run into folks that embrace other religious beliefs more and more. It is good news then, that someone like Garry Morgan has written a book to teach believers about what believers in other faiths truly believe. Understanding World Religions will be a great book for everyday people wanting to learn briefly how their worldview relates to people who are adherents of different religions.

Each chapter of this book is generally between 3-5 pages. For the major world religions, Morgan takes multiple days to discuss. But if one reads this book for 40 days, they will be much smarter and better informed than when they started.

I am going to use this next week with my Bible study, and I am going to recommend they consider purchasing the book for themselves. It is smart, short, well-written, and easy to understand. Cannot beat that.

Book Review of The Beginning and The End by Michael W. Pahl

The Beginning and the End: Rereading Genesis's Stories and Revelation's Visions
Michael W. Pahl
ISBN 978-1-60899-927-9
Cascade Books: An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers
Reviewed by Clint Walker

Perhaps no two books of the Bible cause a greater amount of controversy than the book of Genesis, and the book of Revelation. In the book of Genesis, people spend an inordinate amount of time discussing matters relating to how literally one should read the creation stories, and the first three chapters of the book. Regarding the book of Revelation, there are a number of ways of interpreting the text, many of which have to do with a detailed timeline of the end times. People argue about whether they are pre-tribulation, post-tribulation, pre-millenial, amillenial, and they also argue about much more.

Michael Pahl, in his book The Beginning and the End: Rereading Genesis's Stories and Revelations's vision challenges its readers to begin to look at each of these texts through a broader lens. Pahl challenges us to look at what the Bible is saying in Genesis about who we are, who God is, what life and death mean, and what our basic needs are in relationship to God, the world, and one another. In Revelation, we are challenged to understand what the goal and direction of humanity is, and what the God's ends are in relationship to humankind. In pointing to The Beginning and the End, this book encourages believers in Jesus to see their lives and Scripture as one great, powerful, life-giving and life-transforming narrative that is pregnant with meaning from start to finish.

I enjoyed this book very much. It was academic, but it was neither inaccessible or stuffy. Pahl has a grace-filled way of communicating what he wants to say, and this tone guides this book from cover to cover. The introduction makes clear what is going on in the entire book when it says, "If you have ever wondered if there might be more to Genesis than fuel for anti-evolutionism, then this book might be for you. Or if you have ever thought, 'Revelation has to be more than simply a roadmap for the future of the Middle East, then perhaps you will find this book just what you are looking for (p. ix). I had wondered and thought these things often, so this little text was a perfect brief theological journey for me.

The Beginning and the End is a  book, with the right group, would be a good six week study. It might also be a good guide for a sermon series for many pastors, such as myself.

The Big Question About Mainline, Liturgical Worship

One of the challenges of moving to Hot Springs has been working with liturgy. I have been in formal churches, and in fact, in many ways, First Baptist Church of Colorado Springs was much more formal than United Churches of Hot Springs. First Baptist Fowler was almost anti-liturgy, and I felt non-verbal push back in worship when I would even attempt to introduce a responsive reading. But I have not served in a church that includes so much liturgy as United Churches.

There is much I enjoy about liturgical worship. The planning, the structure, the beauty of something akin to a fourfold structure of worship is lovely. I like having three Scripture readings in each service. Although I think we have too many of them, but I think we do the readings well. As a worship planner, I find that a worship service that is more liturgical in many ways is open to more freedom and creativity in worship, within limits.

Lately, though, I have been wondering about one facet of worship. Why, when the church includes so much of the rest of the liturgical structure, does it forgo the confession of sin and assurance of pardon? As I have visited around, I have found this is not uncommon. A lot of mainline churches otherwise engage in formal, liturgical worship, but they forgo the confession of sin and assurance of pardon. I can think of three reasons why this might be. They are:

1. People are tired of all the formality, and this element of worship puts them over the top

2. This portion of worship identifies them to closely with Catholics and the Catholic-Lite worship of Episcopalians and Lutherans.

3. People want worship to be "positive", and they feel frequent acknowledgement of sin through the confession/pardon is to depressing, sin-focused, and cross focused.

If I were to rank these reasons, I would rank reason #1 at about 15 percent of the reason, #2 at 34 percent of the reason, and #3 as 51 percent of the reason.If I am right, this grieves me.

Do you think I am wrong? What reasons do you think the confession/pardon is eliminated? Let me know.

Book Review of Awaken Your Senses by J. Brent Bill and Beth A. Booram

Awaken Your Senses: Exercises for Exploring the Wonder of God
J. Brent Bill and Beth A. Booram
978-0-8308-3560-7
Published by Intervarsity Press
Reviewed by Clint Walker

I received a review copy of this book several months ago. One of the challenges of reviewing books is that there are some books that do not fit easily on a timetable. When you read some books, you want to slow down, absorb, and savor them. Awaken Your Senses is one such book.

In the spirit of The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, Bill and Booram describe several spiritual exercises to help their readers draw closer to God. Each of these spiritual exercises focus on one of the five senses with which we engage the world.

This technique of using one's senses to open doors to encountering God is thoroughly Biblical. The authors go to great measures to establish this as they introduce their text. After all, doesn't the Scripture say, "taste and see", "open your ears", "hear what the Lord says" and more?

Bill and Booram describe their methodology as developing "sensuous faith". In the book there are 30 exercises, as well as 5 "art reflections". With the thirty reflections there are 6 exercises for each of the 5 senses. These exercises begin with a short reflection, followed by a further explanation of what the exercise is attempting to teach, then the technical nature of the exercise is explained so the reader can practice the spiritual exercise, and then finally there is some brief reflection based upon the experience prescribed. There are more exercises at the end of the book. These activities appear that they would take a little larger time investment, and perhaps more of a larger group to practice.

In the world of spiritual formation literature, there is very little that is original. Awaken Your Senses and these exercises are thought provoking, and the text is very original, with a little bit of a "classical" quality at the same time. This resource would be suitable for a week of intensive practice. It would also be a good resource during Lent, if you could work out the timing of the exercises, and extend them throughout the season.

I loved this book. I will use it personally, and at some point I will use it in a class with my congregation as well. Awaken Your Senses is a keeper.

Book Review of I Am a Follower by Leonard Sweet

I Am a Follower: The Way, the Truth, and the Life of Following Jesus
Leonard Sweet
ISBN 978-0-8499-4638-7
Thomas Nelson
Reviewed by Clint Walker

Leonard Sweet is a brilliant man. He has written a number of books. He does well in documenting the trends that pervade the church, especially the evangelical church in America today. What he is especially brilliant at is explaining concepts that are making their way through scholarly circles, and breaking them down in a direct and easy to understand way for the masses. Whether he is discussing friendship, leadership, spiritual formation, or postmodern church, he breaks down what is happening in little echo chambers and gives the information to the masses. Nearly all of Sweet's books take on a metaphor that will guide the reader into having a visual understanding of the text.

In I Am a Follower, Leonard Sweet is attempting to explain the importance for believers, and especially Christian leaders. to lead by being good followers. He connects this concept, rather deftly, to open source leadership in the 21st century.

From the very start of the book, and throughout the text, Sweet employs the metaphor of dance to describe the dynamic of being a good follower, and doing so in part, to be good leader. He uses the term perichorisis, which is a theological term used to describe the nature of relationships within the Trinity. Within the term perichorisis, Sweet explains, is the metaphor of a dance. Sweet goes on to explain that we are called to allow God to lead in the dance of what he is doing in the world.

Sweet also uses the language of John 14, which describes Jesus as "the way, the truth, and the life". In doing so, he redeems the phrase from being a slogan to being a description of how we are to follow Jesus.

As always is the case with Sweet's book, I Am a Follower is filled with thoughtful fascinating quotes, and smart turns of phrase that can bring home his point in a sentence or two.

I love Sweet books. They serve a purpose. My only struggle with them is that I have read enough of them that they seem a little predictable and cheesy, both in their formatting and in the writing. I know Leonard Sweet is going to lean toward being a futurist, but he is going to do it in a very conservative, step by step way. His stuff is thought-provoking and easy to read. But, for me, at times, I am think, "Ok, I have gotten it, let's move on."

All in all, I think it would be a great book for a group of leaders to read and discuss.

Christians are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You Have Been Told

Christians are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You've Been Told
By Bradley R.E. Wright Ph.D.
ISBN 978-0-7642-0742-4
Published by Bethany House
Reviewed by Clint Walker

I loved many of the classes I had as an undergraduate in the Behavioral Sciences Department. I thought my psychology classes were interesting, I loved my sociology of religion course, and my senior seminar was enjoyable. Perhaps the most helpful and interesting class for life, as well as discerning truth, was Behavioral Science Research Methods (BSRM).

One of the most important things I learned in my BSRM class was that statistics are often manipulated and misused. I learned a little of this in my introductory psychology class in Chicago, when a statistician shared that an erroneously large estimate of television watching was originally stated by people he worked with, albeit for an unofficial, non-scientific purpose. Either way, through BSRM and other classes, I learned fairly quickly that many statistics offer poor controls, unwise questions, and otherwise steer their readers in the wrong direction.

In Christians are Hate-Filled Hypocrites by Bradley Wright, Wright identifies several groups of statistics that are used to paint a grimmer picture of the church in the United States than one might anticipate. He takes time, in common language, to explain why many of these statistical studies are at best inaccurate, and at worst misleading. He believes that Christians and the church are too quick to embrace a negative narrative and faulty statistics.

One of the things that I found most fascinating in this study is that the grim picture of the church comes less often from outside the church than inside the evangelical echo chamber. This is partly because evangelical Christians, like everyone else, are overly enmeshed with a 24-hour news cycle and its penchant for drama and crisis. Even more though, there is a lot of money to be made by so called "Christian" businesspersons by scaring believers into accepting a frightening narrative about themselves, and then looking toward the so-called "church experts" for solutions to the problems they present.

I think more people should become familiar with Wright, and take a look at this book he has written.

Book Review for Earthen Vessels by Matthew Lee Anderson

Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter to Our Faith
By Matthew Lee Anderson
ISBN 978-0-7642-0856-0
Published by Bethany House
Reviewed by Clint Walker

Much has been made of the body and embodiment in philosophy, mainline theology, and other disciplines in recent years. Unfortunately, much of evangelicalism has avoided this rather common trend in thought, and instead embraced a dualistic view of the universe that at times comes across as nearly Gnostic.

Matthew Lee Anderson in his book Earthen Vessels attempts to remedy this shortsightedness in much of evangelical Christianity by trying to describe what an embodied evangelical journey of discipleship looks like. In the process, he establishes some general principles for how we live with our bodies in the world for the glory of God. He also tackles a number of controversial issues that many Christians don't spend a lot of time thinking about, but that are very much a part of people's lives, especially folks that are younger evangelicals.

The parts of the books that I gravitated to were more topical in nature. How do we understand homosexuality in light of our responsibility to "embody" the gospel? Can anyone make an argument for or against tattoos without simply trying to interpret one verse in Leviticus (Anderson does do this, in my opinion)? How should Christians understand the practice of yoga, and should they participate? These questions and more are discussed in a wise and intelligent manner by this fine author. There are several times where I strongly disagree with Anderson, but I respect the way he presents his opinion. Namely, he shares his thinking with clarity of thought, humility, and conviction in what he believes.

This book is not for everyone, and I was surprised to see it come out as a paperback "Christian living" book. There is a lot of well-communicated, well-reasoned theology in this text, and it definitely meets a need for this kind of book in the evangelical world.

Hot Buttons Books (Internet and Dating Editions) by Nicole O'Dell

Hot Buttons (Internet and Dating Editions)
by Nicole O'Dell
ISBN 978-0-8254-4240-7 and 978-0-8254-4239-1
Kregel Books
Reviewed by Clint Walker

Being a parent, especially in this day and age, is a scary proposition. There are all sorts of scary and dangerous things out there facing kids. Some of these challenges are new for parents to navigate in this generation, while others are not new, but still challenging to deal with in regard to a new generation of teens. Nicole O'Dell has went to the effort of writing several books dealing with parents' deepest concerns in keeping their teenage children healthy and strong in their faith. Specifically, in this review we will look at the Hot Buttons Dating and Internet Editions.

Each of these books are small. They are about half of the size of a normal book, and they are under 150 pages. Each book in the series has a similar cover, but with a different color for each topic.

The author has a strong reputation in knowing how to communicate with parents on how to deal with their teenagers. She is on both Teen Talk and Parent Talk radio. She writes books for teenage girls. Her reputation, especially in Christian media precedes her.

As the reader delves deeper into these books, it is easy to see that a lot of thought was given to how the book was presented. Many of the chapter pages of the book are in color. Each chapter ends with very specific take home points called check points (because they are notated with check marks). Throughout each issue, there are specific steps in dealing with any crisis. At times O'Dell anticipates conflict with teenage children and gives parents "scripts" to work with.

Both books are very forthright in how they deal with issues. O'Dell confronts pornography, sexual boundaries, missionary dating, and telling your kids how to dress appropriately. She does very well at being forthright, and telling parents to do the same.

My challenge with this book is stylistic. Its strength is that it is straight forward and direct. The books are designed to be like "crisis manuals" for parents who are in the middle of a difficult situation and ask themselves "what should I do?" and then remembers they need to read O'Dell's books.

I tend to prefer books on these kinds of subjects that give more principles and less scripts and step-by-step how to's. So, I probably will not use this book as much as others. But for those who need clear, specific advice in parenting from time to time, the Hot Buttons series is a perfect resource.

Book Review of What's Next? by H. Norman Wright

What's Next?: Navigating Transitions to Make the Rest of Your Life Count
By H. Norman Wright
ISBN 978-0-7642-0963-5
Bethany House Publishers
Reviewed By Clint Walker

Renowned therapist, counselor and author H. Norman Wright has written a new book recently that deserves special note. The book is called What's Next?, and it talks about navigating through midlife and moving toward the later years of one's adulthood.

Midlife is a place in life that many people get "stuck", sometimes depressed, and have difficult times navigating through. Wright acknowledges many of the difficulties of midlife, including dealing with grief and the empty nest, career challenges, dealing with boomerang kids coming back home again, as well as the struggles of having to be single again or remarried. He shares how different marriage is during midlife, and the challenges that creates.

What I appreciate about What's Next? is that it does not get mired down in the difficulties. Nor does it lecture people that they just have to stay strong in their faith during the temptations of mid-life. Instead, avoiding either of these extremes, it calls people to see hope and possibility at the other side of midlife and late adult transition. He acknowledges that there are very real challenges in midlife, but he encourages people to get stronger through these challenges, and eventually see them as fruitful time instead of wasted time.

I am not in midlife yet, and when I am in the middle of the struggle I might not read a book about it. But if I read a book about that stage of life, this would be a good place to start. It is good at helping people feel like they are not alone in the struggles of midlife, while at the same times opening their eyes to new vistas during mid-life transition. Cannot ask for much more than that.

(this book was reviewed in exchange for an honest review)

Book Review for Hope for Parents of Troubled Teens by Connie Rae

Hope for Parents of Troubled Teens: A Practical Guide to Getting Them Back on Track
by Connie Rae
ISBN 978-0-7642-0946-8
Published by Bethany House
Reviewed by Clint Walker

Recently, Bethany House released a book designed to improve relationships between teenagers and their parents. Specifically, Hope for Parents of Troubled Teens works hard to help parents balance their own issues and lives with the lives of their teens, and then in the second half of the book Connie Rae takes on some very specific hot button issues parents face with their teenage children.

Much of this book reads as if it were material designed to supplement a workshop, or it originated as a workshop itself for the author. That is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it makes the book easier to follow. But it does, at times, come across a little formulaic in that sense.

I was impressed with the author's ability to relate with ease to her readers. On one hand, she is fairly open about her struggle as a parent of a teen, and some of the trouble her teenage children got into. On the other hand, I think Rae is wise about how she communicates in each chapter with both intelligent and authority. Several of the chapters talk about the nature of human development, and how that relates to teens and adults and their relationships. She also has some nice chapters that focus on family systems, and how sometimes small difficulties in one's family systems can have an affect on troubled teens.

Hope for Parents of Troubled Teens does an excellent job of parenting teens as a relational process, instead of just a technical process. In doing so, in much of the book Connie Rae documents how parents are challenged to grow and change and deal with their personal issues by the behavior of their adolescent child. Many of the chapters reflect balancing what we have to do or need to do, with what must be do;e as a parent. At times, Rae encourages parents to be more assertive about who they are and what they need with their kids. She is just very smart at addressing this whole issue.

Each chapter ends with very specific action steps for parents to implement in creating a better relationship with their children. Several chapters have step by step guides for understanding as well.

All in all I think this is a good book. I will be looking for the right parent to hand Hope for Troubled Teens at just the right time.

The Paradox of Choice and my challenge with consistency

I have a book on my shelf that I have skimmed but have not completely read. The name of that book is "The Paradox of Choice". The idea of the book is that a few choices gives us a healthy sense of self-determinism and control of our lives, but that in America today, in our age of affluence, we have too many choices, and the number of choices and the amount of options we face make life more difficult for us instead of easier.

In my never ending quest (often met with failure but sometimes met with success) to get a little more disciplined, I have made some steps to become more regular in my "devotional practices". I have requested our worship leader in our contemporary service to keep me more accountable in having a daily devotional time, and I have also begun to explore my resources for personal prayer/study. What I am discovering is that I may have an embarrassment of riches in this regard, and that may be part of why I tend to justify substituting sermon prep and bible study prep in exchange for devotional time. 

I recently brought several of my devotionals up from my downstairs library. They include:


When You Pray and Guide to Prayer for Pastors and Teachers by Reuben Job


The Divine Hours by Phyllis Tickle


Seeking God's Face by Phillip F. Rienders


Experiencing God's Presence by Chris Tiegreen

Operation World by Jason Mandyk


Ancient Christian Devotional ed. by Cindy Crosby


Minister's Prayer Book ed by John Doberstein


Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2012 by the Irish Jesuits


Common Prayer by Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Hargrove-Wilson, and Enuma Okoru




Right now, part of me thinks having too many devotional resources is not healthy. The other part of me thinks having access to a number of different resources in a number of different places helps me to take some time to have devotional discipline. Either way, there is a sense that I do not experience the holistic education that each individual wants to teach.


What do you think? Is this situation a help or a problem? How would it work for you? What works best for you in your devotional life?