Leading Major Change by Jeff Iorg

I am currently serving as a Transitional Pastor, which basically means that some sort of change is happening. The previous pastor has retired, and it’s my task to get the local church to the next stage of its life cycle. Something is going to change, and that involves the process of deciding in which direction things will be moving. Obviously when I had the opportunity to review this book I jumped at the chance.

Jeff Iorg has written several books on leadership, and this latest, Leading Major Change in Your Ministry, B&H Books, 2018) details the experience of leading a major SBC Seminary through a major change: selling property, buying property, constructing the campus, and moving to a different part of the state. 

This is not a typical real estate deal, and Iorg talks about all the other things that needed to be considered: the faculty, staff, and students, along with their families, who would be impacted. Available housing for traditional students, plus those coming in for seminars or visits. And how about housing for the faculty and staff? What about parking, capability to expand, and the need to change from 20^th century learning styles to 21^st century technological advances?

                 Iorg points out a myriad of things that impact the process, but what impressed me the most was the several times that it was so obvious that God was showing up and showing off. Things didn’t always happen overnight, but when they finally did happen, there was no way to ignore the fact that God's hand was involved.

                So often it’s easy to get discouraged when things don’t seem to be happening quickly enough, so the frequent reminders that change is a process, a journey, with bumps in the road along the way, will be helpful for anyone considering or already involved in leading change.

                I received a copy of this book as part of the B&H bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review.

4/5

good news for a change: how to talk to anyone about Jesus

I’ve heard it said that the 2 things people fear most are public speaking and dying—in that order. I wonder where sharing your faith or talking to people about Jesus might fall on that continuum.  It may not be number 1, but probably has a good chance of knocking dying down to number 3. Lately I’ve come to believe that a major fault of the Christian church is that not enough people have confidence to talk about their religious beliefs. We’ve all heard the excuses: it’s personal, I don’t want to offend anyone, people will think I’m weird (in my case they probably already do!), there are evangelists out there that do that sort of thing, and, as a pastor, my (least) favorite: you’re the professional, that’s what we pay you to do.

But along with that sense that we’re somehow not living up to the standard that has been set for us, is also the conviction, that we’re called to so much more than an hour on Sunday morning. Think Great Commission. We might not all go to the ends of the earth, but we should at least be able to go to the end of the block. Mikalatos references Acts 17:26-27, a couple of times.  We haven’t done a great job of going, so God is bringing people to us.

 Believers are expected to share the good news. But where do I begin? I have conversations with church people about the need to engage in spiritual conversations—especially with people who aren’t in church on Sunday, but there is often resistance.   So, I am constantly on the look-out for resources to help me learn to initiate those discussions, but also to help enable and encourage others to do the same.

And then I see an announcement for a book by Matt Mikalatos.  In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve read several of Matt’s other books, and am amazed at how he seems to so easily cross genre lines and excel at all of them.  His latest book, Good News for a Change: How to Talk to Anyone about Jesus (NavPress, 2018) is full of experiences, examples, and common-sense approaches, that even timid people can use to start a discussion.  And I especially like the fact that he often includes a few things that might work, but usually aren’t the best way to start.

At the end of each chapter he includes reflection questions. I found them helpful because they asked me to think about how I would respond to some of the techniques and or comments, and then put myself in the shoes of a non-believer with whom I was trying to discuss the most exciting person who has ever lived.

Mikalatos uses pop-culture, other religions, and scripture as openers to these very important conversations, and there is always the reminder, that if we truly want to engage someone, we might need to learn their language. Not Chinese or Spanish, but perhaps something like My Little Pony.   In other words, not everyone will hear your message the way, and it’s going to be up to us to be flexible.

One example from a young lady that the author talked with, is similar to one that I’ve used before: most people if they read a book, see a movie, or find a restaurant that they like, will tell all their friends. Jesus is the most incredible thing that could ever happen to us, and we tend to keep quiet about Him.  No wonder people like Matt’s friend Chelsea want to know why Christians think Jesus is boring.

I’m excited to read and re-read this book, more excited to share it with some members of the congregation where I serve, and still more excited to be able ‘to talk to anyone about Jesus.’

Most retailers allow customers to review a book on a scale of 1-5. I’ll give this book a 5/5, only because I can’t give it anything higher. A++++++

CSB Women's Study Bible

Study Bibles are interesting creatures. The notes tend to reflect a particular point of view, and that’s what they’re expected to do. They are written with a particular audience in mind and can be very helpful for anyone struggling to understand he Sacred text.  The very thing that makes them useful for personal study is also the thing that can lead the reader down a slippery slope. Many people confuse study notes and essays in a study bible with the text itself. If it’s in the bible, it must be reliable. Especially for new bible readers it’s easy to forget that these essays were written recently, and are not part of the original text, that which the Apostle Paul calls God-breathed and useful for instruction, reproach and correction.

I find the CSB to be an easy to read bible while remaining true to the original intent of the text. It’s been reviewed many times for accuracy of translation, readability and any number of other things.  Recently the publishers have come out with a couple of different Study Bibles, (I recently reviewed the CSB World View Study Bible).

Because so any people don’t understand that the study part is written by men and women, often biblical scholars or pastors, I was glad to see that publishers offered bloggers the opportunity to review this Bible to see if ordinary readers understand the notes in the same way the authors intended. As a male, I wanted to see if I rated this bible as highly as some of the female reviewers did. Probably not

There are a number of features that readers can use in the study. It starts with a section called How to Study the Bible, followed by an essay called The Christian Life.  There are multiple maps, charts and tables, which provide good background information. Each Biblical Book starts with a synopsis of the book, along with author, dates, to who it was written, where it happened, and what it’s about. The editors also suggest ‘how’ to read the book.

Throughout the pages other features include ‘word studies’ which explain how a particular word is used throughout the book and in other places in the bible. One feature that I particularly like is called ‘Hard Question’; these brief inserts help the reader discover what the bible says about the questions with which Christians are confronted on a daily basis. Similar inserts deal with issues of doctrine. Prominent women in scripture are covered by a brief biographical piece which gives the reader insight into what these women were dealing with, what their struggles were, and how they overcame those struggles.

And then there are the essays covering different aspects of what God designed women to be. Over the years society’s views of women have changed, but God's truths are eternal, and He doesn’t change. It’s in these essays that I had the hardest time. I suppose I take more of an egalitarian view than do the editors who seem to take a more complementarianist approach.

I wouldn’t hesitate to offer this bible to any of the women in with whom I work in my roles of pastor or chaplain.

4/5

I was provided a copy of this bible from the publisher in exchange for my review.

Small Foot: the movie

Every once in a while a movie comes out which, from the trailer, looks like it will amuse the whole family.  It's a twist on the classic Big Foot story.  In a far away location, an airplane crashes, and a human being lands in the environs of a community of Yetis.  Of course only one young yeti sees the 'small foot' and most of the community doesn't believe his outrageous story.   What follows is a wild adventure as he sets off to prove that Small Foot does exist.

Warner Bros’ latest animated feature is due out thiis fall.  Lebron James, Channing Tatum, James Corden, Zendaya, Gina Rodriguez and Common all voice characters in this super fun film!

An adventure for all ages, with original music and an all-star cast, “SMALLFOOT” turns the Bigfoot legend upside down when a bright young Yeti finds something he thought didn’t exist—a human. News of this “smallfoot” throws the simple Yeti community into an uproar over what else might be out there in the big world beyond their snowy village, in an all new story about friendship, courage and the joy of discovery.

You can watch the trailer here

Additional Info.:

“Smallfoot” stars Channing Tatum (“The LEGO® Batman Movie,” the “Jump Street” films) as the Yeti, Migo, and James Corden (“Trolls,” “The Emoji Movie”) as the Smallfoot, Percy. Also starring are Zendaya (“Spider-Man: Homecoming”), Common (“Selma”), LeBron James (upcoming “Space Jam 2”), Gina Rodriguez (“Jane the Virgin”), Danny DeVito (“The Lorax”), Yara Shahidi (TV’s “Black-ish”), Ely Henry (TV’s “Justice League Action”), and Jimmy Tatro (“22 Jump Street”).

“Smallfoot” is directed by Karey Kirkpatrick, Annie Award-winning director of “Over the Hedge.” The film is produced by Bonne Radford (“Curious George”), Glenn Ficarra (“Storks,” “The is Us,”) and John Requa (“Storks,” “This is Us”). Serving as executive producers are Nicholas Stoller, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Jared Stern, Sergio Pablos, and Kirkpatrick. The creative team includes editor Peter Ettinger, and composer Heitor Pereira.

The film is set to debut in theaters September 28, 2018.

From Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Animation Group, “Smallfoot” will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SMALLFOOTMovie/