The New Normal

I have learned a lot the last six months. One of the things that has become more apparent is that a diagnosis of breast cancer not only initiates a woman into a world of medical procedures and a extended web of caregivers, it also initiates women into a sorority of patients and survivors that is more broad and intriguing than most folks would imagine.

Lately, Jennifer has been in a conversation with a woman in our small town who was just diagnosed with breast cancer. Her case of cancer looks more frightening and malignant than anything we faced. Jennifer and Sara, however, also share a lot in common. They are both mothers of toddlers. They are both professionals who are going to have to struggle to balance family and professional lives with treatment.

As Jennifer's husband, and a somewhat observant fellow, I have noticed that as Jen dialogues with Sara, she is working through a lot of the early days of her diagnosis all over again. Jen is remembering how she felt, and she is pondering how she made it through it all to where she is now. If  you follow her blog, you can see how she is doing that through her words of gratitude for the blessings she has received.

As I observe Sara and Jen, I also begin to notice certain stages that people go through on their breast cancer journey. Early on, many folks respond by "taking the fight" to cancer. This is healthy. Defeating breast cancer is quite a battle, and bolstering one's energy and seeking the support of others in the battle against cancer is powerful in one's ability to endure the painful and often humbling realities of chemotherapy.

One thing, that one often misses at this stage of dealing with the breast cancer journey is this: things will never be the same. In the early stage, there is this latent, unspoken hope that one will have a temporary battle to overcome this illness, and then you will get your "normal" life back. The truth is, nothing will ever be the same again. Your relationship with your spouse will be profoundly changed for the rest of your life. Your children's lives' trajectory will also be altered, especially if you are parents of children who are not adults. Your career and your habits will be minimally or greatly altered.

When I was adapting to my family's changing face during the breast cancer, I found myself somehow hoping to survive for a few weeks or months, thinking we would get through everything and then get back on track from where they were. At some point, I came to the conclusion that there was no going back to the way things were ever, and that I needed to face a new normal. In fact, we have had to face several new normals since then. And in case you missed it by now: the old normal is dead, and a new normal is then resurrected from its ashes.

The mystery of this ruthless disease is that, in the middle of its terror and death-seeking horror, it brings new life at the same time. I would never want to go through what we have gone through in the last 6 months ever again, but at the same time, I would have never wanted to miss the journey with Jennifer and the girls.

I would never want things to be back to normal. I would want Jennifer to be healthier again. I would want her to be stronger again. But she is not the same person I married, or even the same person I knew last year at this time. I was in love with the old Jen, and I have fallen in love with the new one too. Our lives together, although at times more stressful and tenuous, has taught us at the same time to treasure moments more fully and helped each of us grow into more of the people the Spirit is making us to be.

What I am saying, if you have not guessed it, is this. The cancer journey, while forcing all of us to face Jen's mortality, has also been, in a small way, a rebirth of sorts. We don't know where all of this new life is taking us. We do know that we will not be the same, and that God, in his unspeakable, mysterious grace, is making the darkness just a seedbed for new light. And what will become, while in His loving hands, in also a result of our choices to fight, to love, to adapt, to adjust, and to grow.

Book Review of Extraordinary, Ordinary People by Condoleezza Rice

Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family
by Condoleezza Rice
ISBN 978-0-307-58787-9
Crown Archetype
Reviewed by Clint Walker

I have read a few autobiographies of well-known leaders. Many of them are good for the first little bit, but then before long they get into discussions of their political career and advocate for their future political goals. In many ways, this book is similar in that regard. It traces the life of Condoleeza Rice from birth all the way through the Bush campaign for the presidency.

What is unique about this book is both its humility, and the way Rice tells her story as a story of family love and family triumph. Telling her story through the lens of a black family in the throws of the civil rights movement, and in the context of a family propelled forward through initiative, education, and a few lucky breaks, she gives her reader a glimpse into how she was formed as a person, and why she grew up to be the person she became.

A fun read, and inspirational in that it reminds us what opportunities are available to those of us here in America.

Book Review of Matthew: A Fortress Biblical Preaching Commentary by O. Wesley Allen Jr.

 

Matthew

Fortress Biblical Preaching Commentaries

O. Wesley Allen Jr.

ISBN 978-0-8008-9871-3

Fortress Press

Reviewed by Clint Walker

 

I have several Bible commentaries on Matthew. I like reading what they have to say. Each one has a unique perspective, and something to add to conversation. Having said that, this particular commentary is unique in what it offers and how it communicates. As such, I highly recommend it to mainline preachers who have a discipline of preaching from the Revised Common Lectionary.

 

On my shelf, I have some lectionary preaching guides as well as commentaries and studies that deal directly with the text. This commentary blends the best of both worlds. While dealing with and confronting each text directly, it does especially well at naming, exploring and speaking to its use in the RCL. It identifies where the passage is located in the Christian year, and how the themes of that passage directly relate to its placement in the lectionary. Unlike other preaching helps, Allen's scholarship and exegesis of the text goes much deeper than a standard "preaching guide". I believe that if a teacher of a Sunday School class were wanting to teach an in-depth Bible study in concert with the RCL text selections.

 

Allen also uses charts liberally, both in the main part of the text, as well as some of the helps that the author developed for understanding gospel's place in the Christian year and the preaching task.

 

Another thing I liked about the way Allen arranged the book is that he arranged his understanding of the book not so much around theological themes, or themes of content, but rather by setting. Being as I am deeply interested in a theology of place, this way of organizing the gospel intrigues me, and it will be something I study further.

 

Until then, I will add this to one of the resources I return to frequently for sermon and study preparation. 

 

Book Review of Warfare in the Old Testament by Boyd Seevers

Warfare in the Old Testament: The Organization, Weapons, and Tactics of Ancient Near Eastern Armies
by Boyd Seevers
ISBN 978-0-88254-3655-0
Kregel Academic
Reviewed by Clint Walker

My freshman year of college, I was enrolled in an honors program at the suburban Chicago college I attended. What the program meant was that I took one honors class per semester. Each honors class required an extra project over and above the general requirements for the class.

In our Honors Western Civilization class, we were required to write an 90 page annotated bibliography. My interests did not mesh well with the rest of the class. They chose to study the history of warfare throughout history. I, on the other hand, chose to develop my theme around the topics of love, sex, and marriage in Western Civilization.

I am sure that the three or four people that I shared that class with then might be surprised that I chose to review a book on the history of warfare. However, this book on warfare discusses the Biblical accounts of armed conflict in the Old Testament. So, I am interested in what it says less to understand how battles were fought, and more to come to a deeper understanding of holy writ.

Even for the most casual reader, this book is fascinating. Designed as a textbook, the book profiles different nation-states that are prominent in the Hebrew Scriptures. Beginning with Israel, and then followed by Israel's military rivals, each chapter is full of figures, diagrams, and artistic renderings of soldiers, weapons, maps, and much more.

Not all of the information in the text has direct theological import, but much of it would aid in understanding and explaining what is going on in Scripture. For instance, a lot of the material might be helpful in writing sermons, especially if one is led to approach the preaching task in a more narrative/inductive style.

I am going to love having this book on my shelf and look forward to returning to it again and again. For instance, when preaching on the Exodus, I may return to the section on formations of Egyptian armies. Or when trying to understand the exile and why things happened the way that they did, I will probably return to sections on Assyria and especially Babylon.

Recommended for teachers, students and friends who love biblical history.

 

 

 

Book Review of the One Year Uncomon Life Daily Challenge

The One Year Uncommon Life Daily Challenge
by Tony Dungy and Nathan Whitaker
ISBN 978-1-4143-8248-9
Tyndale Momentum
Reviewed by Clint Walker

I have been using the One Year Uncommon Daily Challenge as my devotional to guide my thoughts and my attitude in the morning, and it has been a great help. Dungy and Whitaker guide their readers with simple reminders of how to live a simple life of faith with uncommon grace.

As one might expect, there are several reflections based upon both Dungy's years in the NFL, as well as other sports stories (this morning I read a reflection on Hoosiers and an anecdote from the Colorado Rockies scouting department for example). However, there are also several reflections guided by experiences as a business leader, a husband and father, and much more.

Each day of the week has a theme, and that theme is returned to each subsequent week. So, for instance, my Sunday devotions always focus on "mission".

I have the imitation leather copy, which I purchased for much less than the Amazon price at Sam's Club. I like this type of binding for my devotional. Engages my sense of touch in a pleasant way, which prepares me in some strange, and perhaps materialistic way to slow down and take everything in. Silly I know.

Anyway, I would recommend this especially for guys who want encouragement on a daily basis for living their faith in their ordinary lives, in order to make their ordinary lives uncommonly good and grace-filled.

Book Review of Incarnational Humanism by Jens Zimmerman

Incarnational Humanism: A Philosophy of Culture for the Church in the World
by Jens Zimmerman
978-0-8308-3903-2
IVP Academic
Reviewed by Clint Walker

In the series Strategic Initiatives in Evangelical Theology, Intervarsity Press has brought together some sharp minds to think through some theological issues that are of vital importance for the church and the world. One of the most thoughtful and challenging books in this series is Incarnational Humanism by Jens Zimmerman.

In this book, Zimmerman writes a theological anthropology of sorts, driven by a passion to see the church both be faithful to its beliefs and mission, and well as be culturally relevant. In order to do this, Zimmerman reminds his readers of the power and relevance of Christian humanism. When he speaks of humanism, he speaks of a humanism born in Christian investment in the culture of the ancient and medieval worlds. The kind of humanism that gave seed to the Renaissance through its commitment to writing, art and the like.

Through the metaphor of the Eucharist, Zimmerman encourages Christians to invest in the humanities, and to engage the world in this way in order to redeem it. Through raising up leaders and innovators in culture making, Christians can once again find a voice in the culture that propels the church and culture forward, and redeems culture and people for Christ in the process.

This book is well-researched and heavily footnoted. As an work of IVP Academic, it won't be a book that is necessarily for the average reader. But for those eager to engage in interdisciplinary and philosophical discussion of Christian witness in culture, this will be a wonderful text to read.

PEOPLE OF INFLUENCE: A SERMON ON MATTHEW 5:13-16

A People of Influence

In my previous church, I had an older congregation. But in almost four years, I was blessed to only have to preside over the memorial services of four persons. I have not got an official number, but in the first two years and a month that I have served here, I am closing in on 20 services. Or, roughly, a service every six weeks or so. Each person I have led a service for, both here and elsewhere, had a story. And each person I have done a service for, whether they liked it or not, had an influence on the world around them. Whether it was the playful fun stories that people had to share about Ray Huntley, or the long resume of accomplishments that was shared about Eddie Clay, each person that lives on earth has influence on the world around them.

I have done funerals so large that we had to move out of the church to the school gym just to accommodate all of the guests. I have been a part of services where we were lucky if we hit 20 folks that came and remembered their friend or loved one. Nevertheless, each had an influence.

I rarely come home from such a service without being moved, challenged, and renewed in my inner being. This is especially true when the person is a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Some of the services that really get me thinking the most are those that are done for common folks with relatively little notoriety. Folks that have lived long, full lives of quiet commitment to their Lord, their church, and their community. I am moved, you could say, by the power of an authentic, ordinary Christian life that quietly impacts those around them with little fanfare. Men like Walter Mehlhaff, who despite his heroic accomplishments in WWII, spent most of his life working hard, being a good father, loving his wife, serving his church, and being a simple, authentic witness for Jesus to those who were around him. Or Sarah Gordon, with her Bible that smelled like hand lotion, and stories of grandchildren that observed a very real, humble faith that she lived among them. Over and over again, these folks who lived lives of extraordinary ordinariness for the kingdom of God. Who influenced in very simple, and very common ways. An ordinary Christian life, you see, isn’t all that ordinary. And when you see it, it truly is beautiful.

Jesus says that you, if you are his disciple, will be a person of influence. Yes. I said You.

He says this, “YOU ARE the salt of the earth”

And Jesus says this, “YOU ARE the light of world.”

Not….you have the potential to be. Not….if you try really hard you can be.

JUST YOU ARE…..

 

Jesus’ first step, which we talked about last week, is to tell us that we are blessed when we apprentice ourselves to him. His second step is to tell us who we are in him.

To understand what he is saying it is helpful to understand a little bit more about salt and light.

Salt is a preservative. It is, as long as it is not overused, a fertilizer. It is known, in some climates, to melt ice. It also adds flavor to food. It does so often by drawing out the flavor present in the food it is placed upon.

Rarely does one grain of salt get noticed, but when in a small group of grains it can taste great.

Light grows things. It brings heat and sight. It helps us be safe. We cannot see any color, or anything without light. Light helps guide us and lead us in dark places, and helps us to understand, see and perceive. It is a symbol for enlightenment, knowledge and spiritual awakening.

Light is also much more powerful when there is more than one light gathered.

Salt and light are really kind of ordinary things. It is not like you don’t see salt everywhere you go. At Dale’s on the counter. In your kitchen. Perhaps even in your garage as well. And the same with light. The sun comes up every day.

Salt and light have their impact by bringing out things other than themselves. It is with light that we are able to see colors, mountain vistas, a golf ball flying through the air, the smile on a loved one’s face.

Salt makes fried potatoes taste like they were sent from heaven. It draws out the flavor in a good steak. It makes sure Tillamook beef sticks and jerky are tasty and edible when they make their way from the ranches around the Oregon coast out to our local convienence store.

Both salt and light have their value because they empower us to see other things, to experience other things. People don’t usually just start pouring out salt in a bowl and eating it like cheerios. That is not healthy. Neither is staring at the sun.

Both salt and light are valuable because of their influence on other things.

When Jesus says “YOU ARE SALT” and “YOU ARE LIGHT”, he is saying that we are going to have an impact. People are going to see the gospel and have their first taste of the gospel through their experiences with us.

Furthermore, you need to know, and this is very important, that the YOU in the YOU ARE passages are plural. Like Y’all are salt, Y’all are light. They are talking about us as individual believers yes, but believers who are part of a family of believers.

 

You are salt and light through the way you live out your faith in your everyday life. Not through some great mission effort, as important as that is…but rather through the simple, profound ways you live your faith everyday. Salt and light, both ordinary, things we take for granted, but also things we cannot live without. You are that.

As similar as salt and light are, in that they are both ingredients of the world that bring life and enhance many other things in life, salt and light are different in some ways.

Jesus says we are salt of the earth. The earth most likely should be interpreted “the land”. For the early Israelite Christians, that would be right where they lived. When Jesus talks about being salt of the earth he is talking about having an influence right where we are at. That we, United Churches, are going to have an abiding influence as believers right in the communities, the families, the workplaces, the schools, and the places of play that we are involved it. We are going to, much like the saints that have went before us in death that we discussed earlier, have a profound impact in our ordinary faithfulness, our ordinary integrity, our ordinary work ethic, our ordinary compassion, right where we are at doing what we do as believers. We should share our faith in word as well, but you will look like a follower of Jesus to people. Jesus said YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE WORLD.

Jesus says we are the light of the world. The mission here, from the Old Testament context, is the mission that goes out from Israel into all the world. Light starts in one place, but it can be seen from a distance away, and provide guidance and direction for those who are in the distance. Its influence goes out from the source to fill an entire room, an entire skyline, and more. We are not only going to have an influence on those we are in intimate contact with, we will have influence on folks around the region, the state, the world. Our church will have light going to Haiti and the Philippines. It will have light go out as we raise children who we have taught the love and grace of Christ and who then go to new places and give witness through their word and deed to the love and the goodness of God.

As the kingdom of God gets built through a food bank on the other side of town, a child who comes to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, a teenager who finds a safe and loving place to be for a few hours, then our light shines out.

YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.

You may have your doubts about this. You may not believe that you are the light of the world. You may not believe that you are the salt of the world. But Jesus does. He has entrusted you with HIS gospel. You are his one and only plan to build his kingdom, to share his word. You are his disciples.

YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH. YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.

I know you probably have all sorts of questions about why Jesus would place this label on you, this moniker, this definition.

And I have to tell you, the fact of the matter is, we become what we are told we are. I have a friend who was told that he was a mistake by his mother over and over again. He was bi-racial, and called all sorts of racial epithets by his white mother. He heard the names over and over again. He believed what he was told. And by the time he was in his mid twenties, he took his own life.

In my life, two of my high school coaches passed away recently. One of them, named Steve Wolfe, came along side me and supported me. He believed in me. He showed me that belief with his time and his words. He identified how I was improving in wrestling. He told me I would become a good wrestler. And I did become a good wrestler. But he also spoke into my life an ability to overcome hardship and difficulty And that is something that I didn’t just take with me as a kid wrestling, that is something I took with me the rest of my life.

This is the kind of thing Jesus is doing when he says YOU ARE SALT, and YOU ARE LIGHT. He is speaking that truth into our lives. By naming us with those characteristics, he is also speaking that character into existence among his followers. This is the power of a blessing. Especially his blessing.

James Bryan Smith tells a story of a young boy who both demonstrates what it is to be salt and light as a person, and what it is to be salt and light as a community of believers. It is a story from the local church he attended.

The story is about Kevin. Kevin was in his late 20s, and at one point the pastor asked Kevin to come forward and share his testimony. This was a challenge because, well, Kevin could not speak. He was profoundly disabled. He had Down’s Syndrome, as well as a number of other complicating developmental disabilities, including a reconstructed palate. As a result he let out grunts and groans that his mother could interpret, but few others.

The pastor, therefore, had to speak for Kevin, asking him yes and no questions, and occasionally there would also be smiles.

“So Kevin, you just got back from the Special Olympics, was that fun?”

Kevin smiled, nodded furiously, grunted, and held his medal high.

The pastor explained he might have won more medals, but he stopped in every race to help other runners who had fallen or who were lagging behind.

“Isn’t that true Kevin,” the pastor asked.

Kevin nodded again, this time with a little bit more apprehension, shyness, and humility.

Then the pastor said, “Kevin, you are about the happiest person I know, to what do you attribute the joy in your life?”

Kevin pointed up.

“God?” the pastor asked

Kevin nodded several times. Then he raised his hand, as if to ask to say something else.

“Something else,” the pastor asked.

Then Kevin stretched out his arms as if it were Jesus dying on the cross.

“Do you mean Jesus dying for you?”

Kevin not only nodded but with great excitement started jumping up and down . He used sign language that Jesus loves us all, and that he Kevin, loved each person there as well.” He gave the pastor a huge hug. The congregation members were either crying, or dutifully working very hard to restrain themselves from doing so.

This story is just one example of a young man who was salt and light in his world. Despite being profoundly disabled, he was living the gospel in how he ran in the Special Olympics, and how he eagerly shared about the love of Christ.

But he was a part of a congregation that was salt and light. That disciple him to love God and neighbor. That valued his voice in worship. That taught him about love and grace and God’s acceptance.

So here is what we are going to do. In the next week, I want us to open our eyes. To how God is using us personally as salt and light in the world. To how God is using believers in our church to be influencers for the kingdom of God in our lives and in our community. And how God is using the people of God all around us to be salt and light in our town for his glory. Be careful to pay attention. And try and see more what God is doing through people…giving glory to him. And then during prayer time, we are going to share what we have seen and heard.

Go and see the truth of the gospel in the world around us. YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH. You are God’s influencers in the world. You are God’s hands and feet to build his kingdom values and influence here in Hot Springs.

 

Some personal goals in 2014

Yeah, it has been that kind of time in our lives. Instead of considering my goals at the beginning of the new year, I am just now getting to it at the beginning of February. So here are some things that I am thinking about.

1. Couch to 5k to 10k
I know, this is a fat person's cliché. I'll own that. But I am going to run in a race with my sister in late June or early July. Then I am going to push to a 10k by the end of the summer. Training day starts today, if I can get to the point where I don't feel sick anytime I drink anything or move very fast.

2. Apply to a D.Min program or two
Not sure how this is going to work. Don't think I can afford to go. Don't know if my family concerns will allow me to be gone when I need to be gone to do it. But, I am going to put in a few applications by faith and see what happens.

3. Develop a support network for my ministry
One of the things that helped develop me as a minister throughout my career is to develop support people and/or a network of support. In Montana we prayed together as pastors, and I had a couple of pastors that offered me support and encouragement as a church leader other than my senior pastor. In Fowler, I had a group of ministers that helped keep me sane and gave me a lot of support, encouragement and occasionally guidance. I feel very isolated in Hot Springs. Very disconnected from my denomination, from other folks in ministry, and from much of the rest of he world in ministry. I need to change that.

4. Extrovert myself
I lean toward introversion. I need to find ways, for my personal mental health as well as for my ministerial success, to find social outlets in our community. I have thought about bowling, a golf league, or something similar. Need to figure this out...

5. Develop some structures for my daily disciplines
Disciplines of reading and prayer, exercise and study, organization and financial management all need to be revisited and addressed. I need to not just have good intentions, but find ways to develop habits that facilitate discipline.

What are your goals for 2014? What are your thoughts or insights on these?

Book Review of Resilient Ministry by Bob Burns, Tasha D. Chapman,and Donald C. Guthrie

Resilient Ministry: What Pastors Told Us About Surviving and Thriving
by Bob Burns, Tasha D. Chapman  and Donald C. Guthrie
ISBN 978-0-8308-4103-5
IVP Praxis
Reviewed by Clint Walker

Recently I had a conversation with a friend of mine who is a denominational executive. We were discussing people that we both knew, and one of the people that came up was a person who I knew in seminary that was no longer in local church ministry. That led to a conversation about the people I went to seminary with, and a discussion about how many of them have left pastorates and leadership positions in ministry, never to return to ministry service in congregational life. It turned out, at least half of the people I studied for the ministry with are no longer in church leadership.

I share this, not in judgment, but to make the point that the work that Burns, Chapman and Guthrie have done in Resilient Ministry is important work. What these three ministers and scholars have done is engage in a five year study among ministers that helps them understand what contributes to longevity and resiliency in ministry, and what mitigates against it. What they discovered was not earth shattering, but it was deeply insightful.

Resilient Ministry, according the authors, in defined by healthy practices in five key areas. Those areas are spiritual formation, self-care, emotional and cultural intelligence, marriage and family, and leadership and management.

There is a lot of good insight to read, but this book is just as good to read in small chunks. I read little sections at a time. What formational practices sustain pastors? What to pastors who cannot endure in ministry share in common in their formational practices or lack of them? What stressors does ministry put on a marriage, and how is that addressed?

What is even more compelling are the stories and the descriptions that come directly from the study throughout the book. Some of the confessions are so raw that the reader is emotionally moved to examine their own life. Others are practical enough to be put into practice immediately after reading the quote.

I think this book deserves to be read in every seminary, and should be on every pastor's bookshelf. It has that much insight and truth into the professional and personal experience of ministry life.

Book Review of the Butterfly Effect by Andy Andrews

 

The Butterfly Effect
By Andy Andrews
ISBN 978-1-60810-028-6
Simple Truths/Thomas Nelson
Reviewed by Clint Walker

Wow! What an amazing book.

This book briefly describes what is known as the butterfly effect. Briefly stated, the idea is that a butterfly can flap its wings in a jungle somewhere, and that small act can set off a series of reactions that can lead to a hurricane being formed in another part of the world. At first this theory was mocked, but now, in a more scientific and general sense, the idea has been proven and is considered a scientific law.

Andrews uses this law of science and delves into human history in order to point to an important truth--everything matters. The decisions we make have far reaching impacts. He recounts the stand of General Chamberlain at Gettysburg, and shows how one small skirmish on one small in in one battle in one war changed the whole course of human history. He does the same with the story of Norman Bourlag, whom, through a series of relationships, he traces back to George Washington Carver, and his adopted parents.

Andrews then encourages all of us to remember that we can make a difference. And that our seemingly small acts of faithfulness can have a great impact.

The Weight of Mercy: A Novice Pastor on the City Streets
 by Deb Richardson-Moore
ISBN 978-0-85721-229-0
Lion Hudson
Reviewed by Clint Walker

Occasionally I am sent a book that I lose track of for a while, and then I find it and discover I am supposed to review it. At that point it keeps getting put further and further down the review cue. Unfortunately, that is what happened to The Weight of Mercy. Having had a chance recently to look it over, I wish I had been able to share it with you sooner.

This book is about a woman who was a journalist who was called to ministry. She eventually accepts a call in an inner city ministry. While there she has many ups and downs. She thrives and grows as a minister, and has several unique adventures and stories to share along the way. Pastor Richardson-Moore's story is compelling because she is a Baptist, an inner city minister, and a minister in the Deep South, which makes the combination of other factors all the more interesting.

Richardson-Moore writes like the former journalist she is. She tells a story well. She gets her facts straight and her story clear. She reports. Their is not much preachy talk or embellishments in this story, it is simply one person sharing their unique journey.

Book Review of The Question of Canon by Michael Kruger

The Question of Canon: Challenging the Status Quo in the New Testament Debate
by Michael J. Kruger
ISBN 978-0-8308-4031
IVP Academic
Reviewed by Clint Walker

Every couple months or so, I watch a television show, read an article, or read a blog post that seems to promote a certain theory about the development of the New Testament. The language Kruger would use for these theories is that they have a viewpoint that promotes a view of the canon that is "external" to the Church and to the Scripture itself. The most common of these theories would say that we have now are our because Constantine and the Roman government forced the church to set a list of New Testament Scriptures in stone, and to avoid those other writings that might be revolutionary, counter to the mainstream of the faith, which also included documents such as the gnostic gospels.

Several conspiracy theories have adopted this Constantinian, external view of the development of the Canon. Some of the more popular writers that claim that the development of a clear understanding of the New Testament didn't happen until Constantine forced it on the church. People like Elaine Pagels and Bart Ehrman have been foisting these conspiracy theories about the New Testament canon upon the church for decades. Lately, with the re-discovery of the gospel of Judas and emphasis on other similar, later, unorthodox writings, it has become more popular to emphasize and foster these concerns.

In The Question of Canon Kruger follows up some of his other work to emphasize a more traditional view as, in fact, more historically grounded and intellectually tenable. He does so by addressing five areas of concern. Honestly confronting the biblical deconstructionists, he makes a compelling case for the core of the New Testament coming together in the late second century instead of the fourth.

For pastors and students of Scripture, this is an important apologetics piece to have on your shelf, both to study and to share with others.

Chemo Eve

It is the day before the big day. Tomorrow Jennifer will be starting her second round of chemotherapy. And so, it is an evening of preparation.

For the last several months, I have been doing most of the bathing for the girls. When I am out for work or something, Jen would fill in. But, for the most part, it has been my job for a while now. This week Jennifer is bathing the kids, trying to spend a lot of time playing games with them, and teaching them about drawing letters as well as other things. She is anxiously trying to get things done at work. She is planning out her health care in her head for the next several months, if not years. The floor is constantly being picked up. The tables are being cleared off. I try to keep up with her but I cannot. It is Chemo Eve, and her energy and anxiety are both in overdrive.


We have had several Chemo Eve nights in our home but tonight is different. Jennifer is beginning the Taxol phase of her therapy. That means chemicals once a week. The side-effects are supposed to be much less. However, when it comes to her health and her chemotherapy, Jennifer is a strong believer in Mr. Murphy and his laws. So, she fears she will again succumb to becoming a "chemo-zombie", that she will be unable to care for her family as she wishes. So tonight, and earlier this week, she is striving to do everything she can now that she might not be able to do later.

The bedroom floors are being cleaned. The clothes are being folded. Blog posts are being made in abundance. All preparations on the Eve of the Chemo.

And tomorrow we begin the new phase of the journey. A chemical treatment that is designed to be more like a series of body blows to cancer, as opposed to the haymaker roundhouse punches of the A-C Treatment. Jennifer is ready. But she is keeping busy making sure she is ready. It is the way of anxiety and chemical therapy for cancer. It is Chemo Eve.

Overcoming Devotional Attention Deficit: Making A Choice on a Devotional

This year one of my goals is to establish a more "regular" devotional routine. It is not that I don't spend time studying my Bible or prayer, it is just that in the last couple of years I really have not had a plan and stuck to it in this regard. I do one thing one day, and another thing the next. And there is a reason why this happens. I have quite a few devotionals. I like having and using them. Why not use as many of them as possible?

The problem is that I don't get any real consistent teaching, learning and formation by hopping from one devotional to the next. There are times when I want to use special devotional structures. For instance, I like using special studies for Advent and the Lenten season.

Last night I performed an inventory on my devotional resources. I have at least 15 options on my Kindle. That that does not include my YOUVERSION app.

I have at least 48 options for yearly devotionals in print. And then several more that are for forty days, once a week, or the like. To be fair, these also include prayer books, which are, in my opinion, to ritualistic to be described as devotionals. Though, they do guide one's daily prayer life.

There are other seasonal devotionals. And then there are business/leadership meditations from the likes of John Maxwell, Peter Drucker, and Laurie Beth Jones.

In case I forget, having three denominations provides me with three options on the "periodical" kind of devotionals, which include the Upper Room (United Methodist), the Secret Place (American Baptist and Disciples of Christ), and These Days (PCUSA).

So what is a guy to do. They all look neat. Do I want to go trendy and use my devotions from Sarah Young? Do I want to use my devotional time to read Bible verses accompanied with excepts from popular authors? Do I want to get in touch with the church ladies and use the free devotionals I downloaded from Beth Moore? My options are endless.

So then it comes down to, what are my goals?

1. To read through a good portion of the Bible

2. To have a more structured habit of intercessory prayer

3. To be taught by one person through the year and thus renew my mind through a "literary" mentor in the faith.

Thus, the plan will be

1. To use "Uncommon Life" as my regular devotional

2. To use my prayer journal for my regular prayer time

3. To choose a devotional that gets me reading large portions of Scripture, if not all the way through it. This will be either YOUVERSION on my Kindle or PAUSE from NavPress, Write reflections in my bible study journal.

4. To supplement these commitments with other devotionals and prayer books. Plan this out in my devotional planner.

Hope that works. We will see.

In Memory of Coach Wolfe

On Sunday, June 5, 2013, Steve Wolfe passed away. I will miss him.

I met Coach Wolfe when I was a freshman in high school. He was my wrestling and my football coach. Many people will share about his accomplishments in the next couple of days. He was a committed family man, a accomplished athlete, a dedicated coach, a man of faith with a deep commitment to his church and his community. I would like to share what Coach Wolfe meant to me.

When I first met Coach Wolfe, I had just moved to Alaska. I was picked on and pushed around on a daily basis. I was struggling academically, emotionally, and personally. I was in a new place. I did not know where I fit or belonged.

Somehow, I think at the encouragement of Darrell White, I was drafted as the manager of the wrestling team my freshman year. I wanted a varsity letter, and I could get one if I was the manager of the team. So, I did it. And, I continued to get picked on by the upperclassmen I served. Every trip. All the time.

In the midst of all my difficulties, Coach Wolfe saw something in me as a person and an athlete. He encouraged me. Along with Coach White, he coaxed me into wrestling in one tournament my freshman year. Then, after playing football my sophomore year, I decided to wrestle as well.

My first year I was atrocious. I won enough matches to letter, but not by much. I was a first year wrestler wrestling varsity heavyweight. Coach Wolfe worked with me to get better every day anyway.

As I entered my junior year, he came to identify that I was a kinesthetic learner. I stayed after practice every night, and he worked with me and often Ivan on moves. He discovered that he needed to literally put my body into position and move me through the moves he was teaching with his hands. Once I felt what I was supposed to do, I often got it. And then as I practiced it I got better and better.

So he put in hours and hours of working with me. And his help paid off. I ended up going from 9-23 my sophomore year to a 50% win record my junior year. This was deceiving because I was much improved the second half of my junior year, barely missing the state tournament.

It was also at that time that my mother's boyfriend died. Having been with my mom since I was 5, he was really like my step-father. Steve not only invested in my wrestling skill, he invested in me as well. He picked me up to lift weights with him and Ivan in the summers. He stood up for me with other kids and other teachers. He ran with me. He encouraged me. He cared.

By my senior year, his work with me had paid off. I placed 3rd in state. I set the record for pins, wins, and varsity points at the time. I was a captain of both the football and wrestling teams. I was the Homer High School Male Athlete of the Year. As an athlete I went on to be a two-time Academic All-American football player. I would have given up on myself and quit if Steve Wolfe did not trust in me, believe in me, and invest in me.

Coaching was more than a way to stay athletic for Steve. It was his vehicle for reaching out and loving kids, of helping young boys become men, of reaching out to the lonely and downtrodden, the lonely and the lost, and using sports to help form them into the kind of people they could be. It was his mission and his ministry. With me, he found a beaten-up, lonely kid devoid of confidence and saw potential in me that I did not see in myself. He believed in me when nobody else thought I was worth believing in. And, although I still struggle with confidence in certain parts of my life, he taught me that I have the strength within me to overcome, to make a difference, to matter for something. My father did not do that. My teachers, family and friends did not do that. Coach Wolfe did that. And for that I will forever be grateful.

Book Review of The Fire that Consumes (Third Edition) by Edward William Fudge

The Fire that Consumes
by Edward William Fudge
ISBN 978-1-60899-930-9
Cascade Books (Imprint of Wipf and Stock)
Reviewed by Clint Walker

In the last few years, there has been a lot of discussion trying to sort out Biblical truth from medieval myth and historic church dogma when it comes to the afterlife. Books like Rob Bell's Love Wins and Sprinkle and Chan's Erasing Hell have hit the bookshelves, both discussing how the preaching of the kingdom of God and eternity with Jesus has to do with the eternal torment in hell for unrepentant unbelievers.

Long before these men were debating the issue, Edward Fudge was quietly making the case for conditionalism, or annihilationism, depending on what you would like to label it. In either case, Fudge first entered the debate on the nature of hell in 1982 with The Fire that Consumes. Now, more than thirty years later, the book is as relevant as ever, revised and expanded in many places in order to speak to contemporary thought and scholarship on the issue.

Fudge's professional training, primarily, is as an attorney, although he has some theological education as well. As an attorney, he makes his argument for the ultimate death of unbelievers, instead of their eternal conscious punishment. He does so by making a careful exposition of pertinent Scriptures, a detailed study of extra-biblical sources that informed New Testament thinking, as well as a clear discussion of the church fathers, and how the doctrine of hell evolved.

Fudge's arguments against a traditional view of hell are quite compelling. I am still considering them myself. Especially since the weight of his arguments come not from tradition or sentiment, as some of the arguments for even some of the best theologians do, but clearly they come directly from Scripture.

Whether or not you agree with Fudge, his arguments are worth listening to. And I am not the only one who says so. With scholars writing forwards for the book like Richard Bauckham and F.F. Bruce, as well as kind words from Max Lucado on his web page, a lot of people, even if they do not agree with Fudge, are sympathetic to his compassionate heart, his argumentation, and his ability to pay attention to the details of what the Scripture is saying.

Book Review of Love to Stay by Adam Hamilton

Love to Stay: Sex, Grace, and Commitment
by Adam Hamilton
ISBN 978-1-4267-5951-2
Abingdon Press
Reviewed by Clint Walker

Adam Hamilton is the lead pastor of Church of the Resurrection in suburban Kansas City. He is a gifted teacher. Much of the resources that I have used from him have to do with studies of the Holy Land, although I have looked at other things he has put together as well.

In this book, Hamilton puts together a book (which has an accompanying video series) on marriage called Love to Stay. It is based both upon some basic Scriptural principles, and a study that Hamilton's church commissioned on love, sex and marriage.

There are several things to love about this book. Hamilton has a writing style that is clear, straight-forward, and thoughtful. The book is a quick read. It is a great "tune-up" book on some basic principles on having a growing, healthy marriage. The reader will find nothing earth changing with Hamilton, but they will find good, solid, biblical teaching with a contemporary tone.

Another thing I appreciate about what Hamilton does is that throughout the book, he shares parts of his own personal story. He does not do so to the point to where he makes the book about him and his experiences, but he shares enough that the reader can know that the guy that wrote the book on marriage is someone they can relate to.

I plan to use this book and curriculum, at some point, as a curriculum piece for a couples ministry. Perhaps even for premarital counseling. It would also be a good basic check-up on marital health for couples ministry.

Book Review of God is Able by Priscilla Shirer

God is Able
by Priscilla Shirer
ISBN 978-1-4336-8191-2
B & H Publishing Group
Reviewed by Clint Walker

Priscilla Shirer is a well-known speaker to women, and women's groups. She is also the daughter of well-known evangelical Tony Evans. Shirer has written several books, of which this is her newest release. Like most of her books, this book speaks to the power and potential that believers have in Christ.

God is Able is challenges believers, and especially women, to believe that God is bigger than their problems and difficulties, and challenges and inspires the women she addresses to place their difficulties in God's hands. Each chapter starts with a "T" (Shirer must like alliteration), and each chapter progresses in helping readers trust God with the desires of their heart, while at the same time letting go of wanting to control things that they cannot.

This is an excellent book for Christians needing a little encouragement and inspiration. And if this book strikes your fancy, there is a lot more out there in terms of video curriculum and books to read, as well as opportunities to hear Priscilla speak.

Her website is goingbeyond.com.

Book Review of Breast Cancer Husband: How to Help Your Wife (And Yourself) Through Diagnosis, Treatment, and Beyond by Marc Silver

Breast Cancer Husband: How to Help Your Wife (And Yourself) Through Diagnosis, Treatment, and Beyond
by Marc Silver
ISBN 1-57994-833-4
Rodale
Reviewed by Clint Walker

I picked up this book as a part of the larger group of literature they were giving to breast cancer patients and their families via our cancer treatment center in Rapid City. (BTW people give out a cray cray amount of literature and books when you have a cancer diagnosis, or are related to someone who has a cancer diagnosis).

I found this book pretty interesting, and wished I had received it before we were as far along as we were in our cancer journey. It is pretty friendly to the male reader, offering brief chapters on clear subjects with clever titles. In these chapters subjects as diverse as sex, hair loss, parenting, and death are discussed.

The way the chapters were laid out, I was able to pick and choose what I wanted to read when. Some of the subjects were more applicable to me than others. The witty writing kept my attention, as well as the liberal use of personal stories from people who have been on the journey of having a wife with breast cancer.

Some things in the book applied more to people in big cities, such as shopping hospitals and treatment centers. Most of it, though, I could relate to.

Book Review of Essential Eschatology by John E. Phelan Jr.

Essential Eschatology: Our Present and Future Hope
by John E. Phelan Jr.
ISBN 978-0-8308-4025-0
IVP Academic
Reviewed by Clint Walker

This book came just in time. I am doing some in depth study on end things and eschatology while I have some time away from the office. Right when I decided that this was my focus of study, IVP sent me this book to review.

Essential Eschatology is a great resource to begin my study with. It is written by a professor at North Park Theological Seminary named John Phelan, who used to be the institution's president. Although it is grouped with IVP Academic, I think it is definitely a college level text on the matter, or perhaps a seminary text with a number of other books to come along and support it. The book is a quick and easy read, and well organized. It makes matters of end times accessible to every day readers.

This book is more descriptive of eschatological issues than prescriptive. This is in part because so much of what we study is eschatology is shrouded in mystery. It is also because I believe Phelan wants to challenge his readers to do a little thinking for themselves. Borrowing heavily from the theologies of N.T. Wright and Jurgen Moltmann, Phelan uses the metaphor of hope to guide all of his book. He comes to the conclusion of being in some way postmillennial by the end of the book.

There were several sections of Essential Eschatology I found helpful. For instance, by centering God's judgment is "setting things right" and bringing about "justice" in the world, he made God's judgment not only easier to explain but also easier to understand and feel good about. Phelan also does a wonderful job of explaining how one's eschatology effects one's faith and how one lives one's life. And I thought the final chapter did a better job of explaining what Phelan's millennial theology was and why.

All in all, an excellent read and a primer on the topic.

Book Review of Compassionate Eschatology ed. by Ted Grimsrud and Michael Hardin

Compassionate Eschatology: The Future as Friend
by Ted Grimsrud and Michael Hardin
ISBN 978-1-60899-488-5
Cascade Books (Wipf and Stock)
Reviewed by Clint Walker

Most readings of Christ's second coming for his church are similar how Mark Driscoll describes his return when he says when Jesus returns he will be like "a prize fighter with a tattoo down his leg, a sword in his hand, and a commitment to make someone bleed."

What if, however, you are a pacifist? What if you expect Christ's return to reflect the Fruit of the Spirit instead of the vengeful, angry caricature of the God of the Old Testament? How do you view the return of Jesus then?

These are the questions that a number of scholars tried to answer this in a conference sponsored by Preaching Peace entitled Compassionate Eschatology, which is also the title of this book. The scholarly work of that conference is included in this fine monograph full of different ways to approach this difficult concern for Christian pacifists. Most of the articles in one way or another reflect on the themes of philosopher Rene Girard's writing, who was a brilliant Christian philosopher of the 20th century.

For people who want to broaden their understanding of this difficult issue, I would recommend reading this book. As pacifism becomes a growing movement within post-Christendom Christian thought, more of us will need to struggle with the questions brought about by this issue.

Some of the articles I read in this book I agreed with more than others. This is to be expected. The monograph does not express a monolithic point of view. And, a violent return of Jesus is not a problem for some pacifists, who believe that vengeance is not theirs to take, but also that "vengeance belongs to the Lord." Whatever one's belief about end things, this book will help you grow and expand your understanding. A good read.

The Power of Looking Forward

Last August, we were shocked by the news that came our way: Jennifer had breast cancer. The last four months have been spent running back and forth to doctor's appointments, helping Jennifer recover from surgery, and then helping her deal with chemotherapy. Previous to that, we had two surgeries to deal with. Although the surgeries have provided blessings, they also added stress and chaos to our lives.

One of the things that happens when one faces a crisis in one's life and one's family is that you place your whole effort toward dealing with and conquering the issue that is at hand. When one lives in a crisis, one deals with the moment as it comes, and attempts to either ride the wave of that crisis, or simply to survive it. Thinking about the future seems less important than facing down the moment right in front of you. 

The last week has been no different. Jennifer has struggled with this treatment, and has succumbed to a cold or some sort of viral illness, leaving her congested, wheezing at times, struggling to sleep and to get a deep breathe. Due to an error at the chamber of commerce, I am left to complete a mailing for the ministerial association that I thought we had contracted someone else out to get done. I have to confront a ministry that has lost a little bit of its focus, at least in who it has put in its leadership. The dog had an infected leg, which put us back about 200-300 dollars. 

I see this all of the time in dealing with people in need. They end up overwhelmed, always dealing with the issue that is in front of them, trying to hustle to get out of one crisis, only to find themselves in the next. I don't want my life to be like that. I don't want to live like that.

So I took an unconventional step. I started moving toward my goals in the future. I had to put continuing education on hold over the last year. This next year I am taking a big step, and putting in some applications for a D.Min. program. Can I afford it? Who the heck knows. But I won't find out unless I take the gamble of checking out some programs and applying to them. 

This also means I need to take some steps to push forward in my weight loss. Most of these programs are going to require I fly somewhere. And in order to do so affordably, I am going to have to lose some more weight. Can I lose as much as I want to lose in that time frame? I don't know, but I am not going to sit around and wait for life to happen to me, for another crisis to spin into my life, and then be stuck living my whole life reactively. Instead, I am going to be proactive toward some of my hopes and dreams. I am going to risk doing a half-assed job, I am going to risk failure and public humiliation, and I am going to look forward and walk forward.

Just some things I am thinking about today....

Book Review of Daily Feast: Meditations from Feasting on the Word, Year A by Bostrom, Caldwell, and Riess

Daily Feast: Meditations from Feasting on the Word, Year A
by Kathleen Bostrom, Elizabeth Caldwell, and Jana Riess
ISBN 978-0-664-23796-7
WJK Books
Reviewed by Clint Walker

As many of the readers of this blog know, I review several items that come out of the Feasting on the Word line of resources for Bible teachers, bible students and pastors. At the forefront of this series are the lectionary based commentaries on Scripture that provide a four-fold interpretation of Scripture, guiding the pastor or teacher through understanding what the text meant then, how we can interpret it for today, as well as how we can teach and preach the texts included in the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL).

The Daily Feast devotional takes excerpts from the commentaries on the RCL for a daily devotion. Again designed especially for those who want to go deeper in their understanding of the Scriptural texts in the lectionary, each week begins with an excerpt of the Scriptures for the week. Then, throughout the week, different quotes are drawn from the commentaries regarding each text, with a brief guide to responding to the text and the teaching, as well as a brief prayer. At the end of the week, the Daily Feast adds in quotes from each of the texts, again preparing the reader for worship on Sunday, where the passages will be read, and possibly preached upon.

I have used this resource off and on as a daily devotional since I moved to Hot Springs, and began to pastor a church that was more attuned to the lectionary. It has been helpful in keeping me grounded to the texts for the week, and in establishing a strong rhythm between my Sunday mornings, and my spiritual formation the rest of the week.

I would also recommend reading the introduction to this devotional, which gives several helpful hints on how to fruitfully engage the text. Approaches include...

• Use as an opening devotion for committee or church staff meetings
• Use when appropriate for community endeavors when a devotion and/or prayer is called for 
• Use to prepare the preachers heart to preach the word
• Journal in partnership with these readings
• Personal meditation on Scripture

Whatever your approach, I recommend picking up this devotional. You won't always agree with everyone's perspective. I doubt all the contributors agree with one another! However, reading through this devotional willl help you engage the RCL texts more personally as a pastor or lay person, and ad depth to your preaching, your teaching, and your spiritual journey.