following jesus into haiti [an interview with @kentannan]

Have you ever read a book that just rocked you to your core? I have. I recently finished a great new book called Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle: Living Fully, Loving Dangerously by Kent Annan (IVP).

Loved it!

After writing my review of the book, I have to say that I was pretty geeked about having the opportunity to actually interview Kent! The book challenged me in many ways, so I wanted to ask him about what motivated him to move to Haiti and how people can apply that same motivation to making a difference even in their own backyards.

What I found was a man who is a humble servant with a big heart to live for God in the best way that he can.

Check out that interview right here…

Note: This video was recorded using VodBurner for Skype.

book review: following jesus through the eye of the needle

What does it mean to follow Jesus? I mean, He was clear about what it meant to follow Him, right? Sure, He promised great reward, but He never said it would be easy. I’ve recently finished reading a great book that’s challenged me like few others. It’s called Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle: Living Fully, Loving Dangerously by Kent Annan (InterVarsity Press).

When Jesus talked about how difficult it is for the rich man to get into heaven, He pointed out that it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle. Umm… regardless of how you interpret that, it’s obvious that it isn’t a simple feat. In this book Kent talks about how easy it is here in the United States to look around and find someone who has more money than us. That means we can point our fingers at someone else and say, “he’s the rich man that Jesus was talking about.” But as soon as we look outside of the gates of our comfy little world we’ve created, one starts to realize that we are that rich man… no matter how much or little we have.

Throughout the book we hear the stories about Kent’s time living in Haiti. These memoirs are (at times) uncomfortably raw and (always) refreshingly honest. He shares hopes that are birthed in a heart to please God. He shares fears that reveal exactly how scary it can sometimes be to trust God completely in a chaotic world where we don’t have nearly as much control as we like to think we have. But more than anything else he challenges the us to get a little uncomfortable no matter where we’re at.

Kent doesn’t just write this stuff, he lives it. These stories were written (at times by candlelight) while living in circumstances that most of us would have difficulty even imagining. He gave up a comfortable life to try to identify with the people that he felt called to minister to. In the process he lived in tin shacks that hold water about as good as a typical kitchen strainer. If privacy existed at all, it was easily violated. And even bathing takes on new meaning when it’s basically done with a ladle and a bucket of rain water. Kent didn’t just write from his heart, he wrote from this hard-earned experience.

I really wanted to read this book because I’m going to Haiti soon. Written and released before the January 12th earthquake, it seems that this book was very timely as many here in our comfy churches look to get a little uncomfortable to help one of the poorest nations in the world recover from a disaster that reportedly claimed over 200,000 lives. This book has enhanced how I pray for the people of Haiti, those who are doing long-term work down there, and others like myself who are helping through short-term trips. But I’m also challenged to find opportunities to follow Jesus through the eye of the needle even right here in my own community. I thought it was a great read, and it’s definitely one that’s made it onto the short list as one of my favorite books of all time!

the truth about prosperity [an interview with karen spears zacharias]

The title of Karen Spears Zacharias‘ latest book is enough to get your attention right away… Will Jesus Buy Me a Double-Wide? (‘Cause I need more room for my plasma TV). Special bibledude.net contributor Kelly Wilson wrote an awesome review on the book, and I had the opportunity to talk to Karen on Skype about it.

What I’ve discovered is a woman who has been transformed by the Gospel of Jesus, and who’s heart beats to see others transformed by the truth.

Her book deals a great deal with the issues of greed and prosperity that have infiltrated the church. I don’t think that either one of us (Karen or I) would say that there is a problem with money itself, but greed and the love of money has certainly affected the power of the True Gospel.

Check out what Karen had to say when I asked her about the book, the prosperity gospel, and being burned by false teaching.

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Note: This video was recorded using VodBurner for Skype.

book review: will jesus buy me a double-wide?

As I go about my days, I inevitably find myself in a parking lot, rounding the aisles one after another, hunting for a parking spot. Many times, all are taken; until, all of a sudden to the left or right there is an open spot! I park with joy, satisfied with how close I am in walking distance to my destination. And I thank God for providing me with a parking spot that is so convenient.

No. I don’t.

However, I’ve heard other Christians describe this very situation citing God’s will in their lives, and while I’ve not read a book yet that addresses holes in this parking lot theology (pun intended), Will Jesus Buy Me A Double-Wide? (’cause I need more room for my plasma TV) by Karen Spears Zacharias comes pretty close.

Granted, the book isn’t about parking lot providence. It is, however, about the relationship that exists between Christians, money and God. Zacharias met people from a variety of different socioeconomic situations as she crossed the United States, discussing with them their core beliefs about both God and money. A few underlying concepts include thought-provoking questions like, what does it mean to be blessed by God? What do God’s blessings look like? Are people homeless because God hasn’t blessed them? What is the role of prosperity in the life of a Christian?

Zacharias has several years of personal experience in a trailer, living through the ups and downs of life. And as she grew out of the trailer and moved into a house not built on cinderblocks, she began wondering about the answers to these difficult, complicated, many-layered questions. She knew she didn’t have any answers, so Zacharias set off to find people who might help her figure them out. The stories featured in the book include a woman who lives in a van, a lawyer, a woman with cancer, a preacher, an entrepreneur, and an evangelist, among others.

A former reporter, Zacharias presents these stories to the reader by peeling back the layers of each person’s life. The reader becomes an equal observer of the lives and beliefs of people featured in her book along with Zacharias, leaving us plenty of opportunity to draw our own conclusions. Not to say that Zacharias keeps from expressing her own opinion, many times with a dash or two of humor or outrage in equal parts. I think my favorite line from the book is, “And I’m pretty sure God would rip the gonads off anybody who pimped out a child in Jesus’ name.” This book is an unflinchingly honest exploration of what it means to be a Christian in a culture consumed by greed.

This book brings along with it the kind of discomfort I feel when I’m in my car, stopped at a red light, the first in a long line of cars waiting for it to turn green at a particular intersection. I may happen to look over at the pedestrian also waiting for the light to change only to realize that the pedestrian isn’t waiting for the light at all – he or she is waiting for help. The person is homeless and hungry and holds a sign. And in an instant, my mind churns with a dozen questions:  How did that person get here? How do I feel about it? Should I give money to this person?

I’m not one to shy away from uncomfortable questions, especially when God is the subject and object. I appreciate Will Jesus Buy Me A Double-Wide? for not only asking difficult questions, but also not pretending to have the answers. Zacharias’ exploration into the relationship between God and money only encourages the reader’s own journey in, out and around our own – greedy – struggles with human nature.

Note: Check out our Skype interview with Karen Spears Zacharias!

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