As a book review blogger for Thomas Nelson, I received Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend’s book, What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do earlier this week. I was surprised at how small the book was when I first got it. But this isn’t a review on how the book looks, so let me get into my review.

Summary
If I could describe this book in a few sentences, I would say that it is a short book on “right to the point” principles on how to to biblical handle trials and hardships in your life. The advice in this book probably isn’t anything that you haven’t heard before, but the difference is that it is clearly being said, and Cloud and Townsend support their advice with solid biblical references.

My Thoughts
What I enjoyed most about this book also was one of my annoyances – it was really short. I read it within a couple of hours. The brevity of the book leaves the reader with really impactful principles, but I wonder how well such a short book would connect with someone who is sincerely looking for answers. In my experience in pastoral counseling, sometimes the quick answer isn’t the helpful answer.

The truth is that everything that Cloud & Townsend offers is simply what the book says it is about – principles. Principles in their definition implies clarity and simplicity, so a long drawn out book concerning principles would be an oxymoron in itself. Here are a couple of things that I found insightful:

• …personal valuse are not created in a vacuum; they are formed in the contect of community
• Sometimes we have to take responsibility for situations that are not our fault…Determining who is at fault in your situation isn’t nearly as important as determining who will do something about it…What matters most is taking ownership through God’s strength and wisdom to d o something about it.
• …expect pain as a regular part of life…the more we bluster, the harder it is to learn the first lesson of trouble: It must be accepted as a normal part of life.
• View your problems as the next steps of growth for you.
• The steps: Set goals, record progress, gather resources, acquire information, identify tasks, evaluate progress, explore preferences, remain flexible, pray continually, pace yourself.

Of all the things that this book covers, the main point that spoke to me was the importance of being vulnerable with you trials and problems in the context of close relationships. In my life, I know that I can be isolated. If I was to be at fault in handling life’s problems, it would be in this way. As a pastor, you sometimes feel the need to be guarded. You feel like there is an unwritten rule that pastors are not allowed to have pain, feel depressed, or go through trials – much less share it with others. But that’s not biblical. It’s not healthy. It’s not right.

So would I recommend this book? Sure. In fact, I think I’d like to stock a few in my library just to give out.

Genesis 41:15-16

I’m sure as Joseph was approached by Pharaoh, he could have said, “Yes…I have been known to successfully interpret dreams.  In fact, I’ve been doing the whole ‘dream thing’ since I was a kid.”

But he didn’t.

That’s what makes him a better man than me.

Often times I find myself taking credit for things that I can do.  Take music.  I have been playing music since I was 5.  I went to a high school of performing arts. I graduated with a degree in music. I have a resume of professional music experience.

“I” “I” “I” “I” “I” “I”…

I sound like such a conceited fool. According to “normal” standards, I am led to believe that all the accomplishments in my life are my right to boast in.  But the truth is this:

James 4:6
“ God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

Whether or not I can take credit for things accomplished in life, the greater truth is this – I screw up all the time and constantly fall short.

I need grace.

So whether I deserve it or not, giving the Lord credit for all things is sometimes always better than taking the credit myself.

Am I lying to myself?

Am I taking feelings of thankfulness for God’s blessings in my life as feelings of thankfulness towards God?

During my devotions today, I found myself pausing over Luke 17:11-19.  It’s a story I’m familiar with. I’ve read it plenty of times, and have even taught through the passage.  But today I was gripped to answer a question:

Where have I mistakenly attributed thankfulness towards the good in my life instead of towards the Lord?

This is for the community of people from MGEFC that meets at Dunn Bros on Sunday nights.

We are in our third week of asking “The Hard Questions.”  If you can’t seem to find the post where the questions were asked, here they are again:

• I have a friend who has been really influenced by information concerning biblical interpretation and the differences between them has been bothering her. Here’s the question:
• How important is it to have a “certain” translation?
• Even more so, what about the translations done by missionaries to unreached people groups? If those translations are not as accurate as the many English versions we have, are those people hearing the “real” gospel too?
• As someone who has lost a few loved ones in the last 2 years, I wonder how does one grieve while still being excited about the fact that their loved one is in the presence of God?
• How does God feel about divorce really?!
• When dealing with the GLBT community how does one truly show the Love of Christ without hiding your faith but not coming across as judgmental?
• Are all sins really equal or do some of gods commandments or “rules” carry more weight than others?
• This may be too abstract but here goes: Any recommendations on how to “live in the world but not be of the world”? I seem to pendulum between feeling very faithful and far from earthly things then slide to being comfortable with earthly things and feeling far from God.

So far we’ve discussed the questions regarding divorce, the “equality of sins”, and how to build bridges with those of the GLBT community.

If you have any more questions, feel free to leave them in comment below.  These can be anonymous or not.  I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow night!

Enough said!

(via losingcontext.com)

Have you ever been so ticked off at something, but felt like you didn’t have a platform to express it? I admit that I do.

This book by Neil Cole initially came across to me as this type of book.

I will admit that the journey that God has brought him through as a church planter is more than I will be able to adequately touch on in this short review. So please don’t think I don’t like this book.

In fact, this is probably one of the first books I have read that I completely agree with and disagree with at the same time. With that said here are my thoughts about Neil Cole’s book about effective church planting for a new generation.

As I alluded to, this beginning of this book came across as a Neil Cole who was ticked at what he saw as the “Church” in most of the western world and has not been able to have a platform until now to talk about it. In fact, he kind of admits to this in his book – not that he was ticked – but that he has been waiting to be successful enough to be able to put into some type of communicative form that he has been wanting to say.

Cue John Mayer’s “Say What You Need To Say.”

With that, he says some things that I understand, but maybe would say differently. For instance, in the beginning of the book he makes some strong statements about the church, but later quotes himself talking to a young church planter as saying, “Don’t bash the bride” referring to the Church as the bride of Christ.

While Neil’s writing is witty at times and has plenty of wonderful stories to tell, but he kind of gets caught up with overusing the Lord of the Rings movies as a way to illustrate his points…in my personal opinion. There are also some stories that he tells as a way to speak of the positive impact “Organic Churches” that honestly leave me wondering.

For instance, he writes of one church that met at a coffee shop that had some an influence that non-believers were either saved who came or they never came back. The result was that business at that coffee shop went down and eventually the business shut down. I get that salvations are positive, but I wonder what type of view the person who owned the coffee shop now has on believers. For those who are followers of UnChristian or Ed Setzers Lost and Found, you would probably see this not as a truly positive story.

So what are the good things?

Glad you asked! In my opinion, the best part of the book is found in the last few chapters. He speaks of how it’s not just good enough to have leadership to plant churches, but to have the right leadership. I really liked his comments about the negatives of “leadership that is too strong” or churches that are what he calls “leadership-dependent.” He also touches on the negatives of the “Event-Driven” church.

Another great thing he comments on is how having many leaders is not just good enough, but that you must have leaders who also share same values. When starting a church, having many leaders who don’t share the same values will often lead to failure because of differing intentions and desires.

If there was a “nugget” of insight that I really was inspired by, it was found in the last pages of his book where he writes:

“If you want to do anything of significance in God’s Kingdom, follow these suggestions: listen to the Lord’s voice and follow that lead. Create an environment that allows failure and restores people easily. Do not invest in potential, but in provenness. You can learn from our mistakes, but I think it also wise to learn from your own. So do not e afraid to take chances and make mistakes.” -pg.204

SUMMARY

In the end, I do recommend this book for people trying to understand what it means to reach people in this next generation. While I do find it funny that a book about starting organic churches finds within it slick acronyms and strategies, it doesn’t mean that what is contained in it is totally irrelevant. I would chose Missional Renaissance over this book, but in no way would I not include it in good literature to build an informed perspective for reaching a new generation.

p.s. This review is found on 53in52.wordpress.com – a website dedicated to regular reviewing of various books. Selfless plug over

To think this was almost 3 years ago!  Kid’s grow up so quickly!

To help me attain some of the goals I made in my last post, I’ve partnered with Justin Carlson (@jc8) in a book review blog.  You can visit it here.

http://53in52.wordpress.com/

I understand why people make New Year’s Resolutions.  I just don’t do it.  New Year’s Resolutions have been responsible for making me look like a hypocrite year after year.

no…I make me look like a hypocrite every year.

Regardless of my reasons, I was inspired by my friends Nick and Rachel to make some goals for 2010.  I like the sound of that.  Goals are meant to be attained.  Resolutions just seem like self-promises that somehow end up being a burden than an encouragement.  I know this isn’t the case for everyone, but then again, this isn’t “everyone’s blog.”  This is mine!

So here are some goals that I’m setting for myself.

• Read 2 books a month
• Review 1 book a month on my blog
• Start a new Bible Reading Plan
• Meet with a mentor at least once a month
• More than losing weight…get healthy.
• Go Ice Fishing and Hunting for the first time

These are just a few goals.  Actually, looking at them they look more like To-Do list items.

So what are your resolutions goals anti-goals to- do list items for 2010?

Do as a Minnesotan!

Who knows…he may be the first NHL Hockey Player of Filipino descent!