Big Tent Christianity eBook @bigtentx

A few months ago, I participated in the Big Tent Christianity synchroblog. After that, the organizers compiled all of the participants' posts (including mine) into an eBook. I realized I never shared that on this blog, but if you liked to see it (for free), download it! :)

A Pastor Prays for His People @TyndaleHouse @AdamSab

This post is part of my series on prayer books. I received a complimentary review copy of this book without a requirement or expectation of a positive review.

This small, gift-like book, A Pastor Prays for His People, by Wendell C. Hawley begins with an introduction explaining the creation of the book. Most of the prayers in the book were crafted by Hawley to be read during services at his church throughout the year, for special liturgical occasions or particular (happy or tragic) events in the life of the church. He noted that people so often approach prayer as something that must be spontaneous. There is something good to spontaneity. However, as he noted, there is also something powerful about taking the time to contemplate the words of the prayer and connect them to words in Scripture and other ancient prayers.

I think this is where prayer books can be particularly powerful and helpful: They encourage an additional level of depth, thoughtfulness, and contemplation in prayer. When using already-made words as prayers, they can be used devotionally, which is quite helpful when we are lost for words.

Hawley's text is broken into months, although the prayers associated with the months appear to be generally arbitrary. However, he includes an index so the reader can search for topics. The prayers he wrote live up to his goal of being deep, meaningful, and yet easily understood. They can be useful for individual prayer, but I think they would be particularly helpful in more of a group setting (that was their original purpose anyway). This book tends to have a more traditional feel, which reflects the context from which it came.

Prayer Book Week @ivpress @ivpbooks @adriannawright

The new Church liturgical year has begun: It is Advent, the time of waiting and anticipation. The liturgical year lends itself nicely to seasons and rhythms of worship and devotion. One of the ways to engage spiritually throughout the year is, of course, prayer. Prayer books have long been a traditional way of aiding people's prayer lives. Over the next few days, I will review some rather diverse prayer books (I have received a complimentary review copy of most without a requirement or expectation of a positive review). I have had a couple for quite a while, so I apologize to the authors for delaying on the review.


Update: Here is a summary and index of all the prayer book reviews, with links.

Celtic Devotions

I previously reviewed Celtic Devotions by Calvin Miller. Below is an excerpt from the prior review.

The book is meant to be a 30 day devotional to lead the reader in morning and evening prayers. Physically, it's an easy book to carry, which makes it effective for its intended use. It's small in all dimensions, but has a hard cover, which is nice to protect as it is carried or moved.

Each chapter for the 30 days includes a devotional reading to set the day up and then a morning and evening reading and prayer. The book uses Psalm 119 as its core, which Miller explains is because this Psalm is central to Celtic spirituality. I like the use of this kind of core because it ties all the chapters, devotions, and prayers together.

The chapters and prayers are short, making it easy to use the book for a quick morning and evening devotion. The incarnational element reinforces what I love about Celtic spirituality.

If you like Celtic Christianity or want to get into a rhythm of daily prayer, this is a nice book to use. It's nothing that will be shockingly new, but that's the beauty of it. So often I try to use my time and reading to learn and engage new things, when in fact, I probably need to slow down. This book encourages just that.

Evangelizing Ourselves @CTmagazine

Christianity Today recently posted a great article by Mark Galli, entitled Evangelizing Ourselves. I think it's so important for us to remember that no one does not need to be evangelized. Just like I have mentioned several times on this blog, people seem to often focus on converting people ("evangelizing" them), then seem to forget that people continue to need to be evangelized after conversion.

There is so much in the Gospel that takes a lifetime to learn. And then there are the parts we forget and need to remember.

Remembering that Christians need to be evangelized just as much as non-Christians can help validate those of us who don't feel particularly called to help convert non-Christians. There is a great need and calling to help build up those who already have a relationship with Christ.

Publicly Criticizing Public Pastors: Helpful or Not?

Recently, I have heard people at what seems like every turn profusely praising a particularly public pastor (like my alliteration there? :) ). Their praise is often presented in ways that indicate they assume everyone else would agree that this man is holy.

However, I disagree. And many people I know disagree. Yet they are in different circles than those singing his praises. I've had an urge to send a Tweet or a blog post or something voicing my passionate disagreement with this individual. But I'm not sure that's wise.

Frankly, most of the time, public criticisms of others (by name) just turn out badly. People misinterpret the criticism, and there's rarely an opportunity to clarify what we mean.

And honestly, how often does such criticism change someone's mind? I've talked a lot recently about how we need to be less worried about changing people's minds and more focused on celebrating Christ.

Here's some of my thoughts as to why it could be good to voice disagreement:

1. I don't like others assuming what I do and don't believe. It's good to clarify one's own perspective and remind people not to assume. At the same time, this again doesn't always really do a whole lot of good.

2. It could be an opportunity to remind everyone that not everyone agrees, even when it comes to "biblical" ideas. People can honestly and biblically disagree.

3. It could provide validation to others who are surrounded by supporters of that individual (or concept) who disagree, but feel like they're alone.

4. It could provide an opportunity to expose people on the fence of ideas to alternative perspectives. So often, ideas (especially religious ones) are presented as THE one and only viewpoint. I think it's really important to inform people of other faithful interpretations.

5. In my opinion, this person's ideas are more damaging than helpful, and frankly unbiblical, in my opinion. It's frustrating to see so many people mindlessly following him. Could voicing disagreement maybe make a couple of people take a second look?

While these may be my motivations (and assuming they're generally good motivations), I'm not sure it would be wise to publicly criticize an individual, even if they have a very public persona. In addition to the points raised above, doing so can damage relationships, making supporters of that person feel personally criticized or attacked.

So what do you think? Is it ever wise to criticize a pastor (or anyone frankly) publicly? I've done so in my book reviews, but try to refrain from it in other contexts (I'm not always successful :) ). Those contexts seem different...

Outliving Your Life @MaxLucado @christianaudio @caReviewers

I haven't read one of Max Lucado's books in a long time, but I get his weekly email devotionals. So when I had the opportunity to review his latest book through a complimentary copy of the audiobook from christianaudio, I jumped at the chance.

Outlive Your Life's subtitle is You Were Made to Make a Difference. Honestly, I didn't catch the connection of the title and subtitle with the content of the book until the very end, but then it all made sense. The basic premise is that our contributions to the world and the Kingdom of God can last long beyond our earthly lives based on caring for others.

The premise and message of the book is excellent. I wouldn't say it's anything remarkably profound. It's very consistent with much of the discussions on missional and social justice work. However, Lucado has a great style that makes ideas down-to-earth and understandable and reasonable to anyone. I loved how he began each chapter with a biblical story or a contemporary story related to breaking down barriers and caring for others. The rest of the chapter interprets these tales, again making them seem like something we all could participate in in some fashion. In fact, his website has links to several practical ways to engage in caring for others. One idea with which I was unfamiliar and really like is microfinance. It's a relatively accessible way to make a significant difference in others' lives (his story about this is powerful).

I also appreciate the prayers with which Lucado ended each of his chapters. It was a nice way of remembering that this work is not done for the building of oneself or for secular ideas of social justice, but as a dedication to Christ.

This celebration of Christ through social justice makes the book uniquely evangelical in a good way. Actually, this was more of the impact for me personally than the message of the book. Again, the ideas are things with which I agree and have heard many times. However, hearing the presentation of the concepts from a conservative evangelical like Lucado is very refreshing.

As readers of my blog know, I have struggled with some of the styles and emphases of evangelicalism in creating an "us-them" sort of ethos. Lucado roundly shuts down that idea. In contrast, he emphasizes that Christ broke down boundaries and worked to include people rather than exclude people. Evangelicalism needs more people like Lucado who hold strong convictions without condemnation.

With regard to the actual audiobook, it was well-produced and well-read. The narrator, Dan Butler, did a nice job showing passion and appropriate reflection. However, like I have said many times, I wished Lucado would have read it himself. Having heard him speak live before, it was odd hearing a very different type of voice reading his words. Also, I listened to most of it with my wife during our trip to and from Fresno to visit her family for Thanksgiving. Butler's voice was a bit too soothing, so we had to turn the audiobook off a couple of times to stay awake (not because of the content! :) ). But it was still a great listen and very encouraging and refreshing, giving me more faith in evangelicalism again!

The Benefit of Doubt @penns1176

A couple of weeks ago, Peter Enns gave a lecture at Azusa Pacific University (my doctoral alma mater), entitled, The Benefit of Doubt: Coming to Terms with Faith in a Postmodern Era. I heard about the lecture and really wanted to go, but was unable to attend because of work. Thankfully, he posted the text of his lecture on his blog.


I highly recommend that you read it (it's long, but great). It really explains a lot of the core of the purpose of this blog and a lot of my personal passion and calling to ministry. As such, there's so much I could say in response to various parts of his work, but I would like to quote on part in particular:

We’ve heard this many times: “Let go and let God.” It’s true—but “letting go” might be more than we bargained for. We must be taught, for we will not willingly go there ourselves. When we are not letting go, when we try to stay in control of something, cling to something as Mother Teresa says, that’s when God turns off the light and makes it dark—not because he is against us, but because he is for us.

Being out of control is another way of saying “dying to yourself.” When we are out of control, that is when God can speak to us—without all of the layers of stuff we have piled up inside of us. God puts us out of our control so that we can learn to trust—like Mother Teresa said—not “believe” or “have faith” but something deeper and harder: trust.

You can only trust when you have let go completely, when you don’t try to control. When we learn to trust God out of our emptiness, when God is out of our control—when God…becomes God more deeply in us—when we surrender and trust…well… we become liberated from our attachments, from our fears, and we learn to live with freedom and joy. That is the Christian journey.

This is just beautiful. It's a nice way of reframing the benefit of doubt as helping us really trust God rather than just believing in God. This has been my experience and that of so many other people. Yet I know I need to trust God even more. Oftentimes, I rely on my believe and faith more than I rely on God. I'd rather have God than my doctrine.