Matthew Paul turner takes us on a wonderful joyous and poignant trip through the aisles and behind the pulpit of the church that so many of us remember from our childhood. The church that tried so hard to do everything right, and according to its own set of standards probably did a great job. Every ‘T’ was crossed, every ‘I’ was dotted, but somehow they didn’t quite realize the goal of bringing people closer to the God they claimed had pre-eminence.
The rules were all in place to celebrate the Living God, everyone knew the rules, but as so often happens people caught up in the religiosity of the moment and forgot why they were really there. When we worry about all the rules we forget that Jesus told us to not worry, but instead to take a lesson from the birds of the air, and the lilies of the fields.
We try so hard to do it right, and so often it turns out wrong, but God overlooks our ignorance and showers us with grace, grace to keep on trying, grace to finally realize that when God asks us to obey, He’s asking us to follow where he leads, not show up on Sunday morning and evening, and again on Wednesday night, wearing the right clothes, having the right haircut, quoting the right translation of the bible, and staying the appropriate distance from members of the opposite sex.
And as Turner shows us in this book, God even gives us enough grace to laugh at ourselves. Sometimes He even gives us enough grace to uncross a ‘T’ or un-dot an ‘I’.
Regardless of the church you grew up in, or are currently attending, sometimes it’s important to get past the religiosity in order to appreciate the fact that Jesus is sitting next to you, trying to get your attention.
Four stars for Churched - One Kid's Journey Toward God Despite a Holy Mess Waterbrook Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-307-45801-8
Monday, February 21, 2011
When it Helps to Hurt
I’ve been thinking about pain lately, not because I enjoy it, but because I’ve been experiencing it – a lot. It’s nothing I haven’t felt before, and it’s nothing unexpected, in fact a doctor told me a couple of years ago to expect the pain more frequently and at higher levels. And here it is. I don’t like it and it doesn’t do much for me, but in those moments when it’s hard to move, I get to think about things that otherwise get pushed aside. And sometimes if I think hard enough, it’s enough to make me forget the pain, at least until I try to move again.
Sometimes it’s obvious that the pain is for a good reason, and so we suck it up: some of the stuff the dentist does hurts, but it solves a much bigger problem (and if I wasn’t such a wimp about needles, I wouldn’t even have to experience a lot of that preventative pain). My chiropractor works me over pretty good, and the next day I’m sore; but he’s usually taking care of a bigger problem and a greater pain. I really don’t like needles, but even that little stick means something going into my body to either prevent or treat something a whole lot worse than the fleeting sting of a needle.
Exercise, which I faithfully start doing every few weeks for a day or two, leaves me sore the day after, but exercise is good for me. Or so they say.
And sometimes even the worst pain is a good thing because it alerts us to the fact that there is something wrong, something happening to our bodies that shouldn’t be happening, something that requires medical assistance –NOW!
And then I got thinking that maybe spiritual pain has the same benefits as physical pain.
Sometimes the things that seem to be bothering me are fairly minor, more of an inconvenience than anything else, and other times they hurt big-time. But I’ve come to realize that quite often this is God, giving me a shot to prevent some major pain, or kneading me, chiropractic style to work out some of the problems that I’ve brought on myself. In rubbing out a major long lasting problem, He’s causing some temporary curative pain. As the toxins leave the body, there is often pain involved, but I end up much better off than I was before.
Sometimes the pain is not the problem but a symptom that leads me to get help. It’s funny how in Christianese, we call God the Great Physician, but when we’re suffering and He could provide the healing that we need, instead of turning to Him, running to Him, we want to try every quack, charlatan and snake oil salesman on the planet first. God has the answers if I’ll turn to Him and ask for it, and, oh yeah, the hard part, listen to what He says and then do what He says.
So I’ve come to decide that pain is a funny sort of thing…. I don’t like it, but it’s amazing how helpful it can be. And when it comes to spiritual pain, I’m trying to remember that I need to turn to God at the first sign of pain, as the first step, rather than as a last resort.
How about you? How bad does it have to get before you’re willing to turn to God for help?
Sometimes it’s obvious that the pain is for a good reason, and so we suck it up: some of the stuff the dentist does hurts, but it solves a much bigger problem (and if I wasn’t such a wimp about needles, I wouldn’t even have to experience a lot of that preventative pain). My chiropractor works me over pretty good, and the next day I’m sore; but he’s usually taking care of a bigger problem and a greater pain. I really don’t like needles, but even that little stick means something going into my body to either prevent or treat something a whole lot worse than the fleeting sting of a needle.
Exercise, which I faithfully start doing every few weeks for a day or two, leaves me sore the day after, but exercise is good for me. Or so they say.
And sometimes even the worst pain is a good thing because it alerts us to the fact that there is something wrong, something happening to our bodies that shouldn’t be happening, something that requires medical assistance –NOW!
And then I got thinking that maybe spiritual pain has the same benefits as physical pain.
Sometimes the things that seem to be bothering me are fairly minor, more of an inconvenience than anything else, and other times they hurt big-time. But I’ve come to realize that quite often this is God, giving me a shot to prevent some major pain, or kneading me, chiropractic style to work out some of the problems that I’ve brought on myself. In rubbing out a major long lasting problem, He’s causing some temporary curative pain. As the toxins leave the body, there is often pain involved, but I end up much better off than I was before.
Sometimes the pain is not the problem but a symptom that leads me to get help. It’s funny how in Christianese, we call God the Great Physician, but when we’re suffering and He could provide the healing that we need, instead of turning to Him, running to Him, we want to try every quack, charlatan and snake oil salesman on the planet first. God has the answers if I’ll turn to Him and ask for it, and, oh yeah, the hard part, listen to what He says and then do what He says.
So I’ve come to decide that pain is a funny sort of thing…. I don’t like it, but it’s amazing how helpful it can be. And when it comes to spiritual pain, I’m trying to remember that I need to turn to God at the first sign of pain, as the first step, rather than as a last resort.
How about you? How bad does it have to get before you’re willing to turn to God for help?
Friday, February 18, 2011
Review: SOAR by Kenny Luck
SOAR by Kenny Luck is a book for and about men. Along the way we read some things that we don’t want to hear; and along the way we read some things that we need to hear. It’s a book about the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and sometimes the Spirit is working long before we realize that He’s there.
Pastor Luck is president of Every Man Ministries, and this book really is about every man. The men who haven’t discovered the Spirit yet, and the prayer that they will come to know Jesus; the men who have recently discovered the Holy Spirit at work, and the prayer that they will grow; the men who are devoted Christ followers and the prayer that they will persevere.
Luck invites us to examine our faithfulness which he describes as the only character strong enough to defeat our moods or feelings in our moments of crisis or testing. It is the one thing required when we meet a command or priority of God and don’t want to do it. Yes, he reminds us, sometimes even God's men don’t want to follow God's will, but faithfulness allows us to answer God's call even when the World says ‘no’.
We are also reminded that we may not see many big opportunities to help others, but the smaller opportunities are found at every corner, if we just open our eyes to them.
This book is easy to read, and does contain some nuggets of information on recognizing the work of the Holy Spirit in every man’s life, but it’s a little to ‘general’ for my taste. It’s a basic christianese book: a quotation from a Christian writer at the beginning of each chapter, plenty of scripture references, throughout and a prayer to close each chapter.
Pastor Luck works with the Men’s ministry at a very seeker friendly church, so the seekers among us would probably find this helpful, (and if I had read the first three books in the series, I might have been better able to engage).
Overall I think it’s too ‘churchy’ to appeal to the general public and not deep enough to appeal to the average member of the small churches scattered across America.
I give it a '3' out of 5 stars
Pastor Luck is president of Every Man Ministries, and this book really is about every man. The men who haven’t discovered the Spirit yet, and the prayer that they will come to know Jesus; the men who have recently discovered the Holy Spirit at work, and the prayer that they will grow; the men who are devoted Christ followers and the prayer that they will persevere.
Luck invites us to examine our faithfulness which he describes as the only character strong enough to defeat our moods or feelings in our moments of crisis or testing. It is the one thing required when we meet a command or priority of God and don’t want to do it. Yes, he reminds us, sometimes even God's men don’t want to follow God's will, but faithfulness allows us to answer God's call even when the World says ‘no’.
We are also reminded that we may not see many big opportunities to help others, but the smaller opportunities are found at every corner, if we just open our eyes to them.
This book is easy to read, and does contain some nuggets of information on recognizing the work of the Holy Spirit in every man’s life, but it’s a little to ‘general’ for my taste. It’s a basic christianese book: a quotation from a Christian writer at the beginning of each chapter, plenty of scripture references, throughout and a prayer to close each chapter.
Pastor Luck works with the Men’s ministry at a very seeker friendly church, so the seekers among us would probably find this helpful, (and if I had read the first three books in the series, I might have been better able to engage).
Overall I think it’s too ‘churchy’ to appeal to the general public and not deep enough to appeal to the average member of the small churches scattered across America.
I give it a '3' out of 5 stars
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