The Last Good Book
What was the last good one you read?
I am a Book Review Blogger for Thomas Nelson. This means I get to read books so I can review them for Thomas Nelson. How did this all start?
First off, I was sent a Max Lucado book in exchange for the review. Then I sent an email asking one of the representatives of Thomas Nelson if I could review a work of fiction coming out later that month, they obliged and sent me a “galley.” I was stoked. I found out Thomas Nelson had a program where I would not have to beg and plead for books. I could just sign up and have them send me books as I requested them.
So far, the books have been average or below.
I have received three books (one I have not yet started) and two of them have just been average. Ok, one was average, the other below average. I finally got my hands on a copy The Shack and so far I feel it is The D’Vinci Code for Christians; mediocre.
This got me thinking about all the books waiting for me to read them. The ones I bought over the winter and spring that I picked out. I hope to throw one or two of those in the mix soon (once the house remodeling stuff is done) so I can be assured of a decent read. If you want to know the truth, I have had a work of fiction (Sinner by Ted Decker) sitting on my nightstand waiting to be read since Christmas.
I hope my next book is a good one.
I hope the next one I am reading for Thomas Nelson is good and refreshing. It is actually an annotated Bible. After that, I am going to pick up some Ravi Z.
I think I will save Decker for a hot summer day.
-Don-
Good Lord, That’s A Lot of Money
If Chris Rock ran a church…
Here is a secret people tend to ignore; running a church costs money. People get upset whenever the offering plate gets passed or a church starts asking for donations. It gets especially bloody when a church is growing and wants to expand their operation and the amount needed reaches six or seven figures.
People expect churches to run off of divine intervention alone. They neglect to see that the 200 bibles given to prisoners or the food and clothes given to fire victims had some costs tied to it. These same people often pass on dropping money in the offering plate as they “tithe with their time” or some other bologna. My favorite are those of the persuasion that paying pastors is a crime and not mentioned in the Bible. They skip reading 1 Timothy 5:17-18 and figure pastors are made of money. Forget the fact many pastors have student loans to pay off from Bible college where they attended so they could be better equipped to lead their ungrateful behinds out of hell while remaining qualified to teach.
But I digress.
Many churches are not innocent in the money game. I know I just unleashed my wrath upon delinquent givers, but some churches try some semi-shady stuff to fund their ministries. We are all familiar with the “guilt offering” sometimes called the “love offering.” If you are not, here is an example:
There are thousands of little kids in Africa without a bed to sleep on. If you will all open up your pocket books and donate just $50 so we can send missionaries Joe and Sally to Africa with beds, we can ensure the Gospel presented through down pillows. If you do not give, insomnia will win out instead of Jesus.
My least favorite “shady practice” is launching a church in a purposefully affluent area and marketing to affluent people. This is common practice. A new church will often develop a launching plan which includes demographics of an area. This is good if you feel called to minister to a particular area where you know little about the culture. What is often included is the financial makeup of an area. This is included so sponsoring churches can feel confident in a church being self-sufficient as quickly as possible.
Knowing the financial makeup of your givers allows you to market better to the “big givers” in your area. This is why the sudden spring up of seeker sensitive “K-Love” contemporary churches in Southwest Ohio. Most of the “big givers” in the area are in their 30’s and 40’s and live at a contemporary pace.
What about the 20-year-old college kid playing World of Warcraft?
Churches often neglect those who do not fit their primary demographic (read: those who cannot support the church financially). Instead, churches will minister to these people, but will only hesitantly minister alongside of these people. I mean, after all, who wants a bunch of kids who work at Best Buy, play Dungeons and Dragons, and still think Hot Topic is cool to come to their church?
There is only room for one guy with multiple piercings or tattoos per 100 people.
It seems churches often have their mascot or token tattooed or multi-colored hair freak in order to show how accepting or diverse they are. Many times, they hide this guy in the back with their youth group so he does not scare the “big givers” away.
Trust me, I know a church needs to take in money to survive and effectively minister to the masses. Sometimes I think we ignore the masses we are to minister too in favor of being comfortable and avoiding a risk. Because of this, we ignore some of our most creative minds and hardest workers.
Just because a kid loves to wear all black trench coats, talk about Linux and Crysis, and thinks the only acceptable music involves synthesizers and baritone vocals does not mean we should ignore them.
What if a church trusted the Holy Spirit a little more, and their wallets a little less?
-Don-
Review: The Noticer
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The Noticer is the latest work by Andy Andrews. In his latest work, he introduces us to a character named Jones (not Mr. Jones, just Jones.) who has a knack for getting people to view life differently and through different perspectives. Because of this ability, Jones is influential in helping many people work through problems that seem impossible from their vantage point.
The book is written in a somewhat like an autobiography. We meet Jones the way our author did, and at no point is there a disclaimer to tell us the work is fiction or non-fiction. Aside from the somewhat angelic or mystical qualities Jones appears to have, one never has to suspend his or her belief too far. I liked this about the book. Never once did I have trouble putting myself in the story or viewing the scenery in my minds eye.
The bad part is, except for one chapter, I could never get into the story. I never felt inspired (as I am sure the author wants us to be) and I found the book cheesy at some points. The books dialogue is like a made for TV movie, and some of the advice Jones gives to others is nothing new. He goes as far as to rip off Gary Chapman´s book The Five Love Languages, although he leaves one language out.
I have to say, I was disappointed in the book. There was very little mention of God, Jesus, the Bible, or anything spiritual except in passing. Probably just enough to get the book on the shelves of Christian book stores. I give it two stars.
-Don-
I Thought We Were Depraved
Christians seem to be the cockiest people I know. And we should not be. 
I am a prideful human being. I tend to get cocky. But you want to know a secret? It’s fake. My good friend Geo and I used to admit to one another we were not as confident in ourselves as we wanted others to believe. In high school, we would often act as though we knew what we were doing or had all the answers even when we did not. I cannot speak for Geo, but I did it mainly because it was expected of me by my teachers and peers.
Part of that insecurity still exists today.
I still feel pressure to have answers. One reason is because I am a pastor. People like to challenge pastors all the time. I cannot tell you how many times I get the same old questions; “If God is so loving, why did He let “X” happen?” or “How can you believe the world was created in seven days?” The main reason is because of a poor interpretation of 2 Timothy 4:2. I often feel like an idiot if I do not have an answer ready.
Are we as smart as we think we are?
What I have noticed is the intellectual among us are the worst. It seems the more degrees or the more books written, the more cocky. I could name for you several professors who acted as if addressing them was equivalent to addressing the Lord Himself. If you read an author they did not agree with, or ascribed to a doctrine they did not see eye to eye with (as I was one of about four reformed Calvinists on campus who believed in the use of Miraculous gifts putting me at odds with them often), they belittled you and would even crack jokes at your expense.
Yes folks, I went to a CHRISTIAN university.
Then comes the blog.
There are really some posts I dread writing. Not the ones that encourage discussion or pick fights, but the ones where I have to put some epic disclaimer like the one below:
“Attention: This is a blog! Please understand I am not communicating my entire thoughts on a particular subject as this is not a book. Blogs are supposed to be short essay’s unlike books which are multiple pages!”
Or worse. Sometimes people quickly read over your post and comment without heeding any of the disclaimers (maybe they are blind to bold text). They try and counter my point or enlighten me with something I have already addressed. If I had to guess, I would assume reading comprehension is at an all time low.
But why? I thought we were depraved.
Let’s say you believe what the Bible says about your total depravity. According to this you are wretched and cannot do anything good on your own. You are not above anyone and should be serving everyone. This would mean we should be correcting each other or discussing points out of love and servitude, not out of our cockiness and intellect. The point is not to “always be right” but to rebuke or correct our brothers and sisters in love. If you claim to be reformed, you have no reason to be arrogant. It is no wonder Christians have such a bad reputation among non-believers.
I am sure many of you have already formulated your comments.
And this post was lost on you.
-Don-
P.S. As I was looking for a picture of this post, I started thinking about leaving Christians altogether. Not Jesus mind you, just Christians. I know many of us are well meaning, but most drive me nuts. We are wishy-washy, arrogant, proud, and in many cases filthy. We sit around and act as if we are in shock and awe at how silly the world is. The only creative response we have is to boycott things and cut ourselves off. I am starting to understand more and more why Jesus hung out with the tax collectors and prostitutes.
