7 fascinating books [for your summer reading list]

Summer is a great time to catch up on your reading. And I love to read! With a few other things in my life slowing down temporarily I’m starting to work on my summer reading list.

I know that the books in this list will make me laugh, cry, think, create, and challenge me in many ways that I know I need to be challenged right now. It’s a list of books that I’m really excited about, so I thought I’d share it with you.

So take a look, let me know what you think, and share what stuff is making your reading list this summer. I’d love to hear what you plan to get into and why! And you’ll have an opportunity to get a free copy of one of these books (details at the end of this post).

Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle: Living Fully, Loving Dangerously

Author: Kent Annan

Synopsis: This book, released before the earthquake in Haiti, is about Kent’s journey to living and working with some of the poorest people in the world.

Why it’s on my list: Kent seems to be an amazing storyteller, and has an incredible story to tell. Some of the things that he’s come to realize about the message of the Bible, and his resulting experiences will inspire and challenge anyone who dares to open these pages.

Want more?: book review: following jesus through the eye of the needle
And even more?: following jesus into haiti [an interview with @kentannan]

Love Mercy: A Mother & Daughter’s Journey from the American Dream to the Kingdom of God

Author: Lisa Samson & Ty Samson

Synopsis: A mother and daughter share the story of a trip to Africa that transformed their lives forever. Fighting an AIDS epidemic in a place overwhelmed by heart-wrenching poverty forced them to change and grow in ways that they never expected.

Why it’s on my list: Everyone I know who has touched this book has walked away in tears, and with a strong desire to sell everything and move to Africa. It’s apparent that the stories and experiences shared in this book are life-changing… not just for the people who wrote it, but also for those who read it.

Against All Gods: What’s Right and Wrong About the New Atheism

Author: Phillip E. Johnson & John Mark Reynolds

Synopsis: Written by a couple of brilliant, scholarly minds this book draws the Christian (and atheist) into a real conversation where we put everything on the table. It’s not as much of an attack on the principles of the New Atheism as it is an invitation to address some real, cultural issues.

Why it’s on my list: I enjoy a book like this that deals with real issues that face the church today, and the New Atheist movement is one that has launched a full-scale attack on the church. I believe that we (Christians) should always be ready to have intelligent conversation about these types of issues.

Want more?: book review: against all gods

Exponential: How You and Your Friends Can Start a Missional Church Movement

Author: Dave Ferguson & Jon Ferguson

Synopsis: The key (as the authors of this book would propose) to the church winning the battle is that we (Christians everywhere) become more missional. This book provides a blueprint for starting a movement in the church that results in exponential growth.

Why it’s on my list: Being heavily involved in ministry in my church, I like to stay current with trends and thought happening with other church leaders. This idea of a missional church is one that’s gaining momentum, and this seems to be one of the landmark books on the subject.

Barbies at Communion: and other poems

Author: Marcus Goodyear

Synopsis: It’s hard to describe this one any differently than how it’s described on amazon.com… A collection of poems about Barbie dolls, theology, quantum physics, etc.

Why it’s on my list: I keep promising myself that I’ll get more in touch with my artistic side. So I’m picking this one up from my friend (and boss from HighCallingBlogs.com) Marcus Goodyear, because I really dig the poetry that I’ve seen from him so far.

God in the Yard: Spiritual practice for the rest of us

Author: L.L. Barkat

Synopsis: This 12-week course tells a unique story, but it will also invite you to personal growth. You’ll find various options for discovery and participation: free writing, writing response, physical and mental play, and blogging (or alternatives).

Why it’s on my list: This one comes from my other friend (and boss from HighCallingBlogs.com) L.L.Barkat. And no, I’m not trying to suck up to either of them, but I sincerely appreciate their work! I’m grabbing this one because it looks to be a promising handbook for building a deeper connection with our God.

The Christian Atheist: Believing in God but Living as if He Doesn’t Exist

Author: Craig Groeschel

Synopsis: In his latest book, Craig deals with this issue of the cafeteria-line Christian. The Gospel of Jesus isn’t a pick-and-choose theology, but one that asks us to fully believe in Him and Who He Is.

Why it’s on my list: Everyone I know who has looked at this book is raving over it. This seems to be one of the hottest books of the season, and for good reason. Craig is the real-deal, and his message is spot-on. I expect this book to challenge me and call me out for where I may not be fully living as Christ asks me too.

So that’s it! This is what I’ll be trying to work through this summer! Not too bad, huh?

I also want to give a shout out to a few books that were mentioned on the Facebook page when I asked what everyone is reading…

• Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers – A cool retelling of the story of the prophet Hosea.
• The Naked Gospel by Andrew Farley – Have you seen our group blogging project on this book?
• Father Fiction by Donald Miller – Gotta love Don’s storytelling skills.

What do you think of this list? What are you reading this summer? Leave a comment below, and you’ll be automatically entered for a random drawing to win a FREE copy of The Christian Atheist!

[churchdrop.com] open the floodgates: a guide for texting in church

Note: This is an excerpt of a featured post (written by yours truly!) at churchdrop.com (8BIT Network).

The sanctuary filled with a nervous laughter. I think some of it was out of pure disbelief at what I’d just told them. Others figured that I was totally serious but were trying to figure out what this would mean for them.

I was preaching at my church’s youth group and decided to try something a little different than what they were used to. Before I got into my actual message I put my number up on the whiteboard at the front of the sanctuary and told them to text me any questions that they had at any time through my message.

It’s important to me to be able to address all of the learning styles when I share, and that means that I need to let people converse in some way. But that’s difficult to do in the traditional preaching model. Besides, who has the guts to stand up in front of everyone else and say something like:

Umm, excuse me, but I really don’t understand…

Read the entire article at the churchdrop.com website.

[scouting the divine] closing thoughts

Thank you for the beautiful weeks of blogging and joining in on the journey of Scouting the Divine: My Search for God in Wine, Wool, and Wild Honey.
 
When I think back about my time, one of the most meaningful spiritual lessons about God as shepherd actually came from watching some geese in an old red barn while spending time with a shepherdess in Oregon. Thee geese were constantly walking around.
 
“What are they looking for?” I asked Lynne, the shepherdess.
 
“They’re looking for their eggs,” she said.

“Where are they?” I asked.
 
“I threw them in the creek,” she said.
 
My eyes bugged in disbelief. I couldn’t help blurting out—“Why?” Her actions seemed cold and cruel—a far cry from the woman I had come to know who tenderly loved on her sheep.
 
“Because they were infertile,” she said. “They never would have hatched. I need to get these geese back to their regular life. For three months they’ve been sitting on infertile eggs. The only way to get them to the life they’re supposed to be living is to take away their dead eggs.”
 
Though it sounded harsh at first, asking Lynne why, revealed her shepherd-like heart. Her answer helped me understand her action as one of compassion and wisdom not mean hearted vindictiveness. I couldn’t help but wonder how often I have sat on dreams that were never going to come to fruition.
 
As I thought back to the numerous times where God has faithfully yet painfully reminded me, “It’s time to get back to the life I have given you.” I recognize that this lesson isn’t one that I can learn just once and move on. Like many of the nuggets of wisdom and insight that I found on my journey of scouting the divine, I will need to process, apply, refine, process and reapply the truth of what living my life under the guidance of the Good Shepherd really means. But every step of the way, God is faithful. He is true. And He is worthy to be trusted.

 

Margaret Feinberg

 

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[scouting the divine] part four: the vine

by Sean Wrench

Jesus, Wine, Parties, Miracles …the excitement and irony of it all are simply amazing.

I can’t put into words the anticipation I felt as I waited for ‘Scouting the Divine’ to appear in the mail.  Something in my spirit told me that this book was really going to be incredible.

I remember the day it arrived so clearly.  My first thought when I saw it was, “Wow, cool looking book.”  Yet something began to stir in my spirit.  A rush of emotions came over me, and I sensed in my spirit a whisper.  A whisper that said I was about to understand my Savior, my Jesus in a deeper way than I ever have before.

This book is the first one I’ve read by Margaret Feinberg.  I can assure you it will be the first of many.  One thing that stood out to me while reading the book was her honesty.  It’s refreshing to read someone who doesn’t want you to think they are a self proclaimed Christian Superhero. Margaret writes with a raw honesty.  She openly admits her struggles and issues she faces spiritually.

I was excited to write about the section called ‘The Vine’.  Erwin McManus said, “I can only imagine what the church could look like today if we stopped telling people all that they were doing wrong, and started telling them what they were doing right.”  In many Christian circles, ‘drinking wine’ would be considered highly taboo.  In fact the ‘You’re going to hell if…’ club has been swung around more times that I can possibly imagine.  Yet I find it incredibly ironic that something that has become so taboo is actually the center point for the first miracle Jesus ever performs when he turns water into wine.   Now don’t get me wrong, the Bible condemns drunkenness, but it also says that wine gladdens the heart (Psalm 104:15).

In Matthew 26:29 Jesus said, “Mark my words, I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.   In Revelations 19:9, we are told that when our story comes full circle, when Jesus comes back and restores things to the original order to which God intended them, there will be a huge celebration.  I mean come on… Jesus is going to rescue the entire world, so I hope there would be a pretty big party ! But here’s the twist.  The party is called the ‘the wedding feast of the Lamb.’   So Jesus begins his earthly ministry by turning water into wine at a great wedding feast, and he will commence his victory at another wedding feast, and as he tells his disciples in Matthew, at that great feast, he will drink wine with you and me.  WHOA!  I’m not sure I can even begin to grasp all the spiritual parallels here but that’s pretty deep.  We are going to be at the biggest party ever, and will raise a glass with Jesus himself, along with the likes of Moses, Esther, King David, Abraham, Mary and many more.  Imagine the stories that will unfold at that party.  I picture sitting across from Mary, hearing first hand the story of Jesus’ birth.  Or talking to King David, and hearing his many stories of adventure and hearing about how the man who made an insurmountable amount of mistakes earned the rare title of a man after God’s heart.  And all of this, just like with the first miracle Jesus performed will take place at a great wedding feast with wine.

Perhaps Jesus making the choice to turn water into wine for his first miracle on earth was to send a message.  Or perhaps a number of messages.  I mean who would expect that Jesus who was God in the flesh would choose to turn water into wine for the very first miracle he performed on earth.   Many Christians put God in a box. They draw a set of assumptions of things they believe God can or cannot do.  They make their own list of what he’s for and against.  Yet the Bible says he uses the foolish things to confound the wise.   This miracle was also one of luxury not of necessity.  Perhaps a message by Jesus to show us that he cares about every part of our lives, even the non essential parts.  Could it be that Jesus was serious when he told us that he came so that we would have and enjoy a rich and satisfying life? (John 10:10).  The other part of this miracle that really grabbed me was that Jesus kind of did it on the ‘down low’ if you will.  He told his disciples to fill the empty jugs with water and then after they were done, he instructed them to allow the person in charge of the wedding a taste test.  And to the surprise of the host, it was the best wine he’d ever tasted. Incidentally those jugs held over 100 gallons of wine. Jesus wasn’t messing around.   But as you read the scriptures other than his mother and his disciples no one else knew about the miracle.  Interesting that Jesus chose to remain rather incognito for this first display of his miraculous powers.

As the section continues,  Kristof who is the master vintner or ‘craftsman’ as he prefers, gives Margaret a tour of the vineyard.  As they come upon the first rows of vines they appear dead.  Yet Kristof remarks that in about 4 weeks they will look completely different.  He removes a pocketknife and scrapes one of the vines to reveal a light green bud underneath.    I paused as I came to the end of this paragraph.  On the outside was something that appeared dead, lifeless, of no worth.  Yet under the surface was something full of incredible potential and life.  If only we could see people as Jesus sees us.  We condemn the person who isn’t like us.  We frown upon the person with a rough exterior.   Yet underneath all that mess, our heavenly father sees the true potential of what lies underneath all that.  Potential that only He, the master of the vineyard can uncover.  We were all created in His image.  Not just some of us, all of us.  God has deposited incredible amounts of potential in each of us.

Interestingly enough, Kristof explains that it takes an incredible amount of time, energy and money until the vines really start producing and bearing fruit.  It takes 8 years between the first planting and the first bottle of wine.

How often do we become frustrated with our lives as Christians. I wish I could be better at this, or I wish I could stop doing this.  Yet example after example throughout scripture remind us that God is all about the process.  And as his word promises us, “He who began a good work, will finish it to completion.” (Phil 1:6).  As you can see with the vines an incredible amount of time and care go into producing fruitful vines.   And the same goes for us, God is willing to put in the time and care into our lives as long as we are willing for him to do so.  But one way we do differ greatly from these vines is that they have no choice in this process.  God gives us free will.  We can accept his offer or we can reject him.

Wine is introduced when Jesus begins his ministry and it will be a part of the celebration upon his return.  As Margaret point out, “fruitfulness is a sign of God’s restoration and redemption as well as his promise and blessing.”

When Jesus spoke of wineskins, he informed them that you cannot put new wine into old wineskins.  Most of us clearly understand the implication here, but I think it’s vital that we truly grasp the vastness of the statement Jesus made.  The religious people of that day were comfortable in their beliefs and practices as Margaret points out.   God is always doing ‘a new thing’ in our lives if we let him.  He doesn’t want us to remain stagnant and complacent.  He has great things in store for us. But we must remain flexible and embrace change.   Just as the pruning of the vines causes growth, change allows us to grow and fully move into the life God has created for us.   But change is uncomfortable, it can even be painful.  Yet as with the vines, it will produce a life beyond our wildest dreams.  If we allow our lives to become like the old wineskins we will never experience all God has in store for us.

So as we near the end of the section on the Vine we come to ‘The True Vine’.   Margaret comments that she had been waiting to unpack John 15 with Kristof and just as she, I was excited to reach this part of the book.

Jesus said, “I am the true vine, my father is the vinedresser.”   Kristof pointed out that he found it confusing that Jesus referred to his father as the vinedresser. The vinedresser, Kristof pointed out often has multiple roles, he often plays a role as the owner, manager and vintner.   As I read this a quick though popped into my head, could Jesus’ reference to his father the vinedresser who has multiple roles be a type and shadow of the trinity? Father, Son and Holy Spirit ?  An interesting thought….

Jesus goes on to say “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

Kristof explained that it’s the little cuts that are the most important.  You can’t just come in with a pair of shears and clip like crazy.  Over the course of pruning you make a series of very precise, strategic cuts that will produce the healthiest, most robust vines.  WOW, I thought,  that’s incredible.  That is exactly what God does with our lives.  And as Margaret points out it shows how intimately God is involved in our lives.

Kristof pointed out that the vinedresser looks at each vine carefully.  Each one is unique. Each one must be handled differently and receives different care.

Jesus summoned us in John 15 to ‘Abide in Him’.  Kristof pointed out that the vine is the source of life.  If you cut off a branch it will wither and die.  By abiding in the vine, the fruit grows on the branch.   Interestingly Kristof pointed out that the branch is what is used to plant a new vine.  Perhaps as we abide in Jesus he turns us into a branch that can now not only produce fruit, but bring life into other branches because we have chosen to abide in Him.

At the last supper Jesus took the wine and as in typical fashion of our Savior, instead of being served, he served the wine to his followers.  Jesus began his ministry by turning water into wine.  Before he gave his life for us on the cross, he shared a meal and wine with his disciples.  And on that day when we are face to face with our Savior in all his glory. The day when we will no longer see or feel suffering or pain, the day when not so much as one single tear shall ever escape from our bodies.  On that day we will celebrate with our Savior, our Jesus. And we will raise a glass of wine at a great wedding feast.  But this celebration is different than most, because this celebration is just the beginning of the story…

A new story.

His story.

One that was written long before time began.  And one that will continue endlessly.  At last we will reach our destiny.  To spend eternity with our Creator.

I find it amazing that the greatest book ever written really doesn’t have an ending.  It really ends ‘to be continued’.  Merry Christmas everyone!

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About the contributor:

My name is Sean Wrench. I run a ministry in NY called LifePlace. Recently we have started a national youth homeless project called the Forsaken Generation Project. God deeply burdened our hearts to do this when we discovered over 1.6 million children sleep on the streets in our country on any given night. You can read more about what we do at www.lifeplace.us or you can follow us on twitter: @forsakengen

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