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  • Book Review: Deliberate Simplicity by Dave Browning

    “The current reformation is not so much a reformation of faith…but a reformation of practice.” Yet for the church – which often institutionalizes its practices – reforms in methodology can prove every bit as epic as reforms in theology. – pg.20

    Put simply (no pun intended) the basic premise of this book is that in the equation of church development, less can equal more.  Reading this book was both a breath of fresh air, and an affirmation of everything I’ve felt about how the local church could healthily function in a new generation.

    In typical “pastor-esque” fashion, Dave lays out what he believes are six principles for leading a “deliberately simple church.”

    1. Minimality
    2. Intentionality
    3. Reality
    4. Multility
    5. Velocity
    6. Scalability

    In his book, Dave says things that we already believe as followers of Christ, but in the complexity of what we’ve made church to be, we have somehow moved  from them.  For instance, he tells about how after talking to a group of people about the missional vision of his church, a woman stands up and asks, “Isn’t the church for those who are believers?”

    His response was what we already know, but it spoke directly to the sometimes selfish and self-centered view we take on describing what the church is about.  He replied by saying:

    “No, the church is not for us. The church is us, but it’s not for us. We are here for the lost.”

    For the most part, the book was engaging and thought provoking. The only part he lost me and began to sound a lot like Niel Cole in his book Organic Church was when he began to describe various models of dysfunctional churches.  He too jumped on the bandwagon of criticizing “purpose driven churches” and “seeker churches.”  It was the only part of the book where I felt he was coming off as he had the answer and that these other models could not attain the same results.

    To sum it up, I highly recommend this book – not only to pastors and vocational ministers – but for any believer in Christ.  Reader beware…if you like your church in your own “little box,” this isn’t for you.

  • Tex-Mex Snack Mix

    This is Danielle Allen’s famous secret recipe REVEALED!!!

    Ok…it’s not really a secret recipe, but I’m putting this up because some people wanted to get it.  So here it is!

    Ingredients:

    • 1/2 cup canola oil
    • 1 tablespoon chili powder
    • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
    • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
    • 3 cups of multigrain square cereal
    • 2 and 1/4 cups unsalted whole cashews
    • 2 cups oat or multigrain cereal
    • 2 cups multigrain pretzel sticks

    Instructions:

    1. Combine the oil, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper in a small measuring cup.
    2. Combine the cereal squares, cashews, oat cereal, and pretzels in a 3 and 1/2 to 5 quart slow cooker.  Drizzle with the oil mixture, tossing to coat well. Cover and cook on low for 2 to 3 hours, stirring twice during the cooking time.  Be sure to check the mixture after 2 hours, as slow cooker times can vary.
    3. Remove the lid during the last half hour of cooking to allow the mix to dry.

    TIPS:

    • I used Kashi Heart to Heart honey toasted cereal and Cascadian Farm organic multi grain squares.  I tried chex which is cheaper, but I could tell the difference in taste.
    • I burned a whole mix the first time because I didn’t follow #2 and MAKE SURE YOU CHECK MIXTURE AFTER 2 HOURS.  My slow cooker actually finished it probably around the 1.5 hour mark.
    • Because I wanted to double the recipe, I followed all the direction ad cooked it in the oven at 250 degrees for 1 hour, tossing the mixture every 15 minutes.

    Well…that’s that!  Enjoy =)

  • The Stories of My Life: “Wake up Daddy!”

    “Then there was the blur of my mom trying to wake my dad up, then frantically dialing 911, and then the paramedics and then the hospital…”

    Phil circa 4yrs old

    This afternoon I came home from work and my kids came running into greet me as usual. (I hope that never ends, though I know it will.)

    Brennan has been on this kick where he wants me to play up in his room. Of course Emily, his little sister, wants to do whatever he does – so she tags along. So after exchanging hugs and kisses – and me making sure I put my coat in the closet so Leona doesn’t get mad – Brennan asks what he always asks when I get home,

    “Daddy…come in my room and play?”

    Of course I say yes! So Brennan and I run up the stairs (with Emily following behind shouting, “Me Too!”) and start playing in his room.

    Eventually we go into this game I have been playing with Emily where we pretend to sleep.  (I think I invented it as a way to catch some z’s while making Leona think I’m still keeping the kid’s entertained, but don’t tell!)

    Basically how this game works is we both yell, “Nigh Night Time!”  and we smal our heads into the pillows and pretend to snore.  If you haven’t heard a 2 year old pretend to snore you are definately missing out.  But that’s not the end of the game.

    Then one of us yells, “Wake up time” and we all sit up as quickly as we can laughing hysterical as we do it. You have to be there to see it – it’s adorable.

    Well, today I was just a little too comfortable after the 12th “Lie down, then get back up” set, so I stayed down. I’m not sure what happened to Emily, but I Brennan was the only one still playing, and so when He yelled, “Wake up!” I didn’t move.

    It was then that Brennan started pushing me and emphatically saying, ‘Daddy!! Wake up!. Daaaaaddy! Waaaake uuuup!”

    Now under normal circumstances this shouldn’t be anything weird, but all of a sudden a memory that I haven’t revisited came eerily back to me. As I watched my almost 4 year old pushing me and almost crying for me to wake up, I was taken back to when I was about his age.

    I’m not sure the day or the time. I think it was around the time I was 4rs old.  All I know was that for as long as I remember I had a memory nightmare that begun with me coming down the stairs of our duplex home in Hagerstown Maryland after just waking up. I think it was morning. I walked into the living room and half awake, I saw my father asleep on the couch. So like any son…I wanted my dad to be awake to get me breakfast.

    So I said, “Daddy?!”

    No response.

    “Daddy?” I pushed him

    No response.

    Now in this nightmare I began to panic. I’m not sure why, but all I remember was that I began to shout and push louder and louder until my mom broke in through the front door and I turned to her and yelled,

    “Mommy!  Daddy won’t wake up!”

    Then there was the blur of my mom trying to wake my dad up, then frantically dialing 911, and then the paramedics and then the hospital…

    It wasn’t until I was in my teens did I find from my parents that this nightmare was a reality.  I hesitate to tell this story, mostly because I was taught that the private pains of family life should stay private.  I don’t know if I really believe that.

    So what happened?

    As I was told, my parents were having marital problems and my mom basically said she was done.  This broke my dad’s heart so bad that when he found out he tried to kill himself by overdosing on pills.

    When I woke up that morning, my dad was ready to die.  As much as I remember from what I was told, my mother had taken my sister and I was with my father, and the only reason why my mother came in through the door that day was to get some more stuff she had left.

    So why am I telling this story?  Because it is a story that has made me who I am.  What I’ll save for later is how – even through the darkest moments of my early childhood – God worked in my parents lives to eventually save and redeem them.

    The reason I tell this story is hopefully to show that God is a God who, in the face of Chaos, is in control and has a perfect plan for each of us.  It doesn’t mean that he’ll take us out of Chaos – there were still a lot more stories to be made of hardships and trials.  But the constant thing was that through it all, Jesus Christ was the silver lining of hope.

    Where’s your hope?

    Ephesians 2:12-13
    Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

  • The Way of the Heart by Henri J.M. Nouwen

    “What I found once I started reading this book was that I didn’t agree with 90% of what it is said.”

    I was first introduced to this book a little while ago by a member of the staff at Maple Grove Evangelical Free church. This person did warm me that the theological and philosophical perspectives of this author were most likely different than the average evangelical, but I was captured by this passage in the book:

    Anger in particular seems close to a professional vice in the contemporary ministry. Pastors are angry at their leaders for not leading and at their followers for not following. They are angry at those who do not come to church for not coming and angry at those who do come for coming without enthusiasm. They are angry at their families, who make them feel guilty, and angry at themselves for not being who they want to be. This is not an open, blatant, roaring anger, but an anger hidden behind the smooth word, the smiling face, and the polite handshake. It is a frozen anger, an anger which settles into a biting resentment and slowly paralyzes a generous heart. If there is anything that makes the ministry look grim and dull, it is this dark, insidious anger in the servants of Christ.

    It was this passage from the book that brought tears to my eyes because I knew that – for me – these words were too close to home. I have seen pastors who embody this description and I myself have been and know will be faced with the temptation to be the “angry pastor.” So I asked to borrow the book to see if I could find more encouraging and edifying insight for my life.

    What I found once I started reading this book was that I didn’t agree with 90% of what it is said.

    While much of the book has very interesting “insights”, it was in my opinion one person’s enamored response to an investigation into the lives of what we refer to as the “Desert Fathers”. And it was this enamored perspective that Henri tries to make applicable for today’s christian minister.

    Because the book is very short (less than 100pgs and the size of a gift book), I will restrain myself from going into it much. Even though it isn’t one I agree with wholeheartedly, I will say that it is a very good read to ponder and think about. So I don’t seem like a “book basher” I will share some of my more positive insights from this book.

    Regarding the “busy life”:

    “…we are busy people just like all other busy people, rewarded with the rewards which are rewarded to busy people

    Regarding setting a time and a place to be with God and Him alone:

    “…a real discipinle never remains vague or general.”

    A quote I am still digesting is:

    “The goal of our life is not people. It is God.”

    So do I recommend it? Sure

    Will I personally buy it? No.

  • Book Review: Revolutionaries by Matt Brown

    Many times when I say the I “know” an author, I am saying that I’ve read his or her stuff.  When I say I know Matt Brown, what I am saying is that I remember when he was a young high-school kid whose passion for music was only eclipsed by his passion for the Lord.

    So when Matt told me about a book he just finished writing, I wasn’t surprised.  I’ve always known that God was going to to great things through him – and he has.  This new book, Revolutionaries, is simply a record of the men and women God used to advance and build His kingdom.

    What I liked about the book is that it is wonderfully organized in sections covering the lives of revolutionary men and women each century from the birth of Christ up to the present.  In reality, this book is kind of a Church History for Dummies because of the amount of information it covers.

    The format is simple.  Matt gives a brief summary of a “Revolutionary” man or woman’s life, then brings application from that person’s life into how we can become revolutionaries.  I will admit, that I found some of the examples of people described as “Revolutionaries” was bit controversial.  But what I realized at the end of the book, was that Matt wasn’t trying to find the “most perfect” or “best behaved” “most theologically sound” men and women of faith.  He was simply telling the story of how God utilized people to accomplish his will.

    That truth is encouraging because on any given day I may not feel like a Billy Graham or a Martin Luther – but what Matt’s book beautifully displays is that people like Billy Graham and Martin Luther were not anything more than simple people like you and me, who allowed God to use them extravagantly.  And that’s a good enough reason to pick up this book.

  • 4 Hours in under 30 seconds!

    Here’s a time lapse video of me conquering a fear…heights! Just another day in the office!

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHV0hL8TTzc]

    yes…it really took 4 hours…and a bloody knuckle!

  • That’s soooo 2000!

    I know…time lapse videos are so “ten years ago” but it’s fun making them. I haven’t done one in a while, but here’s one of me working on our new sermon series as we continue through the book of Romans.

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0EkhJV-Kog]

    (Why am I wearing a tie? I NEVER wear a tie!)

  • What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do by Cloud and Townsend

    As a book review blogger for Thomas Nelson, I received Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend’s book, What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do earlier this week. I was surprised at how small the book was when I first got it. But this isn’t a review on how the book looks, so let me get into my review.

    Summary
    If I could describe this book in a few sentences, I would say that it is a short book on “right to the point” principles on how to to biblical handle trials and hardships in your life. The advice in this book probably isn’t anything that you haven’t heard before, but the difference is that it is clearly being said, and Cloud and Townsend support their advice with solid biblical references.

    My Thoughts
    What I enjoyed most about this book also was one of my annoyances – it was really short. I read it within a couple of hours. The brevity of the book leaves the reader with really impactful principles, but I wonder how well such a short book would connect with someone who is sincerely looking for answers. In my experience in pastoral counseling, sometimes the quick answer isn’t the helpful answer.

    The truth is that everything that Cloud & Townsend offers is simply what the book says it is about – principles. Principles in their definition implies clarity and simplicity, so a long drawn out book concerning principles would be an oxymoron in itself. Here are a couple of things that I found insightful:

    • …personal valuse are not created in a vacuum; they are formed in the contect of community

    • Sometimes we have to take responsibility for situations that are not our fault…Determining who is at fault in your situation isn’t nearly as important as determining who will do something about it…What matters most is taking ownership through God’s strength and wisdom to d o something about it.

    • …expect pain as a regular part of life…the more we bluster, the harder it is to learn the first lesson of trouble: It must be accepted as a normal part of life.

    • View your problems as the next steps of growth for you.

    • The steps: Set goals, record progress, gather resources, acquire information, identify tasks, evaluate progress, explore preferences, remain flexible, pray continually, pace yourself.

    Of all the things that this book covers, the main point that spoke to me was the importance of being vulnerable with you trials and problems in the context of close relationships. In my life, I know that I can be isolated. If I was to be at fault in handling life’s problems, it would be in this way. As a pastor, you sometimes feel the need to be guarded. You feel like there is an unwritten rule that pastors are not allowed to have pain, feel depressed, or go through trials – much less share it with others. But that’s not biblical. It’s not healthy. It’s not right.

    So would I recommend this book? Sure. In fact, I think I’d like to stock a few in my library just to give out.

  • I could say yes…but that would be lying

    Genesis 41:15-16

    I’m sure as Joseph was approached by Pharaoh, he could have said, “Yes…I have been known to successfully interpret dreams.  In fact, I’ve been doing the whole ‘dream thing’ since I was a kid.”

    But he didn’t.

    That’s what makes him a better man than me.

    Often times I find myself taking credit for things that I can do.  Take music.  I have been playing music since I was 5.  I went to a high school of performing arts. I graduated with a degree in music. I have a resume of professional music experience.

    “I” “I” “I” “I” “I” “I”…

    I sound like such a conceited fool. According to “normal” standards, I am led to believe that all the accomplishments in my life are my right to boast in.  But the truth is this:

    James 4:6
    “ God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

    Whether or not I can take credit for things accomplished in life, the greater truth is this – I screw up all the time and constantly fall short.

    I need grace.

    So whether I deserve it or not, giving the Lord credit for all things is sometimes always better than taking the credit myself.

  • Gratitude in the wrong direction

    Am I lying to myself?

    Am I taking feelings of thankfulness for God’s blessings in my life as feelings of thankfulness towards God?

    During my devotions today, I found myself pausing over Luke 17:11-19.  It’s a story I’m familiar with. I’ve read it plenty of times, and have even taught through the passage.  But today I was gripped to answer a question:

    Where have I mistakenly attributed thankfulness towards the good in my life instead of towards the Lord?