A Meal with Jesus

I have just finished reading 'A Meal with Jesus' by Tim Chester. If you like cooking for others and you love Jesus, then this is a good book to read.

This meant that I really enjoyed reading it. A few years ago, when I was choosing what I wanted to do next in life, my mum said to me, "I know exactly what you want in the future." Thinking that this was impossible and she'd get it completely wrong I asked to tell me what it is. She said, "you want a house where you'll have people over all the time and you'll share it with other people." As always, mums know best and she got it completely right. She knew how much hospitality meant to me.

Tim Chester discusses how a dinner table can be a way to show God's love, plan for salvation and hope. It shows an interesting picture of Jesus as a man who came eating and drinking. He points to various meals in the Bible: those that Jesus shared with others and the Messianic banquet that we are to expect after we die. By sharing our table with others, we are enacting these meals. Moreover, the way Jesus tells us to remember what he did for us is not through the recitation of liturgy or the singing of a certain song; it's through the sharing of food and drink. This act of communion is a way that followers of Jesus can join with one another to express and remember their love of Jesus and their salvation.

I loved some of the stories and anecdotes. I'm always encouraged and moved by what other Christians have experienced and how they have seen God at work.

The book, however, can get a tiny bit repetitive. Chester works through many different and subtle ways of viewing the table as an expression of God's mission and plan, but the nuances can sometimes get lost and it often feels like you've read that bit before. However, it does bring home how important the simple act of eating with someone else can be.

That's probably why, when Paul lists the attributes of a church leader, it's not a Theology degree or extensive experience in business management he looks for but a person of good character that shows hospitality to others (for the full list, see here). Inviting someone to your table is inviting someone to see a snapshot of God's kingdom.

A Meal with Jesus from Tim Chester on Vimeo.

Resource Wednesday

 Despite the fact that most my readers are probably female, this one is for the guys! It's from The Resurgence website that was a Resource Wednesday a couple of months back. But, before you accuse me of playing old records, it's an  ebook that is available for download from there.

Porn-Again Christian is exactly what it says it is: "a frank discussion on pornography and masturbation". Mark Driscoll, who isn't known for holding back punches, really tells it as it is. This is really refreshing in a church society that try and avoid the subject and where my generation's only enduring memory of sex education is putting condoms on plastic phalluses.

He covers some of the untouchable areas of the Bible (pardon the pun), including Song of Songs and the famous Ezekiel 23:20 passage. What is also brilliant is the way it encourages and celebrates sex. It is a fantastic thing, as Song of Songs shows: but within the context of marriage. Christian sexual education can cause a sense of guilt and sexual repression that causes more harm than good.

My only problem with the book was chapter 8, which used an interview from serial killer, rapist and necrophile, Ted Bundy. This was an obvious scare tactic; if you watch porn you'll go on to kill woman. There are few problems with this argument. Ted Bundy showed abnormal and sadistic behaviour from a young age (as young as three, and some believed he killed his first victim at 14). The pornography was probably more symptomatic that causal. Also, Bundy was a prolific liar. Most of the content of that interview was probably untrue.

Apart from the prattle of a psychopath, this book is good. And it's free. So go read it!

The Heavenly Man

I was leant The Heavenly Man by a fellow Mosaic member. This was ages ago and I hadn't got round to reading it but while I had a few hours free I decided that I would. It tells the story of Brother Yun who faced persecution from the Chinese authorities.

I liked it, although it wasn't the most well written piece of literature. It sometimes seemed too focused on the minutiae of what happened and lacked emotional colour. However, the horrific nature of the Yun's torture at the hands of prison guards and the police was harrowing. I cannot believe that I would be as faithful to God's will in the face of torture as these men were. Despite the threats of arrest and possible execution Yun continued to proclaim God's word.

The miracles that they witnessed were also amazing. The book really shows what amazing things God can do. God enabled healing, unbelievable escapes from prison, gave people gifts of knowledge that saved them from arrest, and protected them from the authorities. Their faith was inspiring, relying on God to provide for everything.

I loved Yun's passion for the word of God. He prayed and fasted relentlessly until he was given a Bible. He memorised whole chapters and books and was able to pull out verses to give him strength in any situation. I would love to begin learning verses for different occasions and store them in my heart as he did. It showed how life-giving the word of God actually is.

The thing, perhaps, that impacted me the most was Yun's criticisms of the Western church.

"In the West many Christians have an abundance of material possessions, yet they live in a backslidden state. They have silver and gold, but they don't rise up  and walk in Jesus' name. In China we have no possessions to hold us down, so there's nothing preventing us from moving out for the Lord."

He also notes that the Western Church's worst enemy is itself. He notes how "in China, Christians are persecuted with beatings and imprisonment. In the West, Christians are persecuted by the words of other Christians." It's scary, but sadly true.

It's worth reading but quite long and can be pretty repetitive. There are many moments that will inspire you and strengthen your faith.

Quick Questions

1. Have you memorised and Bible passages or verses off by heart? Which ones?
2. What books do you recommend?

The Barbarian Way

I've really wanted to read this book for a while. I was sent this excerpt and it captured my imagination. As a result I had really high hopes for this books.

It's a highly charged book and promotes a life of reckless abandon. One reviewer commented that "This book is dangerous. Erwin Raphael McManus is dangerous. And if you read this book you, with your domesticated, tamed faith will be in danger. Worst case scenario: you'll become dangerous, perhaps even dead." And that was from someone who liked the book.

A negative review of the book dislikes the use of the word "barbarian": that the word describes the pagan state that Jesus saved us from. The reviewer takes particular umbrage at one anecdote about a naked tug-of-war game, as it encourages carnality. The reason this anecdote was told was to show how dignity should not be a concern, as it wasn't for King David.

I agree that sometimes McManus' anecdotes sometimes seem to miss the mark, but you will still get the point he was trying to make. The idea that the word barbarian was misused was definitely a case of missing the mark. McManus takes the word barbarian, with all it's negative, carnal and selfish connotations, and then subverts it to mean someone who is madly passionate for following God. McManus' barbarians are strong against oppressors, ruthless against injustice, loving and selfless. It reminded me of how Martin Luther King took the word "extremist" and used it to encourage a passionate engagement with love, justice and the gospel.

I really love it's passionate call to a less domesticated faith. One where comfort and safety is not a priority. It isn't even an option. I want to be a believer that acts when God tells me to, to not consider the consequences and know that God's purpose is my priority.

It speaks a lot about the uniqueness of each believer. This is something that I really believe in; God has given each of us an individual character, mandate and plan. Despite this, however, the book only presents a sort of reckless, adrenaline-junkie, accident-prone barbarian and excludes, perhaps, other types of ebullient and effective Jesus-followers. Ones that show wisdom, intelligence and consideration but also share the gospel, pursue equality and mercy are ignored.

It is definitely a book to get your heart pumping and to push people out from the safety of the walls of the church. It is a call to a drastic, radical way of living and reminds us that the gospel is anything but safe.

Resource Wednesday

This could be seen as a sort of book review, but I'm going to put it in Resource Wednesday anyway. It's not one of those linear, read-from-front-to-back books, it's more of a reference book. So that's how I'm justifying it.

Whilst at New Wine I hit the bookshop, and I came away with some new reads and my bank account quite a bit lighter.

 

One of the books I picked up was TouchPoints for Men. It's a book that collates verses by subject, from Goals to Temptation. It's already proved itself helpful, and I used it extensively when writing my next post (which is scheduled for Friday).

It's also a part of a series and there are TouchPoints for women, students, leaders, new believers and more.

Quick Questions

1. What do you use when looking up verses on a particular topic?
2. What resources can you recommend?

AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church

The leaders of the clans get together about once a fortnight to encourage one another, to make sure we're all on the same page and to get advice and training about different problems we might have. The leaders were asked to read AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay.

AND is about how the church needs to strike a better balance between the pastoral, gathered and stable (modalic) elements of the church and the outward looking, missional, scattered (sodalic) elements. Church tradition has focused on the modalic structures and somewhat neglected the sodalic structures.

There are some really nice passages and one section is particularly poignant. Hugh and Matt (with spouses) were meeting regularly together with friends to discuss "life and God", when one member of the group asked "is this my church?" Hugh replied that Church was about deciding to go on mission with God together, and that if they wanted the group to be their Church they'd have to give their life away. The group unanimously decided that they would come die with them and let God send them.

Although it has a good many of these wonderful accounts, it also has a lot of theory elements. This is the area that I found a bit frustrating and tedious, but did pick up some helpful pointers. One of these was related  specifically in how we deal with the younger people of our church:

Our role as stewards over the spiritual life and legacy of our kids is to model a holistic life of apprenticeship under Jesus.

This seems ordinary enough, but actually has quite far reaching implications. Do the teens of the church see that my whole life is dedicated to Jesus, not just the bits when I'm at church? Do I even live a holistic life of apprenticeship under Jesus? How can they watch me, and other members of the Exilio community do this, when, for some, their only contact with us is a Friday evening with just two of the adults?

So this has got me thinking on how we can incorporate the teens into the wider life of Exilio as a whole. It's hard when their parents aren't involved in the different clans, or the activities of the clan doesn't really suit them.

Overall, it's an okay book. Hugh sums it up really in his final thoughts:

Although we don't feel as if we've given you any wildly new thoughts, we trust what we've been seeing and hearing out in the field will encourage you in the unique calling you have to help lead, serve and die in God's church worldwide.

 It didn't fill me with as much excitement as Total Church.

Mere Christianity

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis is a classic piece of Christian writing. It is considered as one of the most influential books in shaping the evangelical church (ranked third by Christianity Today, see here). So I thought I would give it a go. I had that thought about three years ago, and so I started it. Then I gave up. So, about a year later I tried again. And gave up again too. But finally, I finished it.

Do not think for a moment that my repeated failed attempts say something about how good the book is. It's more telling about how I am easily distracted and forget to bookmark where I've got to. I've got to admit, the style is quite heavy and hard to plough through. You can only do it in 30 page stints, otherwise your brains may melt. But it's worth it.

C.S. Lewis explains some key Christian doctrine with clarity and really useful analogies. It discards the common myths about Christianity and explains clearly why and what the actual reality is. It covers quite a few topics, from the Trinity to Sexual Morality. It offers helpful illustrations with some of the mind-bending aspects of Gods (like the Trinity, and the eternal nature of Jesus), and he doesn't just explain the problems away. He observes that they are difficult, and that they should be. He also highlights how his illustrations are flawed and uses these flaws to point to the awesome and indescribable nature of God.

If you can get past the heavy and old-fashioned writing style it's well worth the effort.

[Random aside:

I'm currently writing this in the Trago Lounge (Third Place Communities and all that) as my internet is down at home. We were briefly joined by the Easter Bunny. That was exciting.]

Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture

Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture by Mike Frost is a mission in itself. Short of answering the timeless question of "boxers or briefs?", Mike Frost covers every aspect what it is to live as an exile from both the current Christian culture and general society. It is three hundred and twenty seven pages telling us how we should shop, eat, sing, live.

The book's call to a genuine, all-encompassing Godly lifestyle resonated with me, so I wasn't too put off by the length and sweeping subject matter. Little annoys me more than Sunday Christians: those who go to church sit in the pews, think that their job is done and live hypocritically the rest of the week. Christianity should be an all life deal. This is something that the exiled Church is realising and I find this exciting. I was excited by a lot of what Exiles offered in its beginning chapters. I loved the descriptions of the potential of "a radical, subversive, compassionate community of followers of Jesus."

What did put me off, though, was Frost's willingness to criticise. I should have heeded the warning in the "Note to the Reader" that "this book contains a good deal of pointed critique." It is really important to name and deal with problems within the church. Frost does it well and I agree with he has to say. He could have probably done this, though, without hauling individuals over the coals (such as Matt Redman). Although I agreed with the points he made, they lack a flavour of grace.

It's quite similar to Total Church in its priorities and I would probably suggest starting there, and then moving onto this one. It's shorter for a start.

Total Church

I was given Total Church, by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis, for Christmas by James and finished it in less than I week. I was quite impressed with my efforts. What I wasn't impressed by was my apparent inability to write notes whilst reading a book. You'd have thought as an English Literature graduate I would have learnt that skill, but obviously not. Therefore, I can't remember much of the beginning bit, although I remember I enjoyed it.

Before I go into more detail, though, click here to read an extract.

Warning: jargon follows

I had quite a bizarre reaction to this book, because it wasn't given just to satisfy intellectual curiosity but more to challenge and change the way I live my life. It may have implications on my jobs, where I live and who I choose to share my life with. At first I felt the book seemed to put into words things I had been feeling for a while. Then, the Christmas blues came in and with them came doubt about it all. I felt it was asking me to commit too much.

I really like the main thrust of the book. I loved the idea of being a gospel-centred community and, as a natural response of this, having a mission-centred community. I really love the idea of community. I've always been a community orientated person, and I've always felt it is something that is a natural out-working of our salvation in Christ Jesus. Christianity was never meant to be an individual deal, but our individualistic society has made it just that. From the very first promise to Abraham, God was calling himself a nation, a united people, not many lone-rangers.

Other notes

• I also loved the model of evangelism. It was community based, it wasn't a hit-and-run or a soap-box affair. I felt it had integrity and expressed the love of Jesus in a way that wasn't shallow and hypocritical. 
• The bit on children and youth work was a very different model to what most churches have and it's one that I want to use elements of. I don't want to take it too far, because I'll probably have to quit my job. 
• I liked the idea that theology should always be mission orientated and be useful for something, rather than people writing intellectual things for the sake of being clever.

The main thing about this book is that you feel it's written by people that live it out. Tim Chester and Steve Timmis are both involved in The Crowded House, which is a network of churches.

Now the Christmas blues have gone I'm really looking forward to living it out.

Extract from Storylines

I wrote a review of Storylines a couple of weeks ago. Read an extract here.

Storylines by Andy Croft and Mike Pilavachi

When I went to Soul Survivor I took the opportunity to browse the book stall and Storylines by Andy Croft and Mike Pilavachi was one of the titles I came away with. I really bought it with my youth group in mind as I'm trying to compile a list of books that they could read. So I sort of expected it to be a bit light on the old theology and just a compilation of funny anecdotes.

It was funny but it certainly wasn't light. It traced threads such as worship and salvation through both the Old and New Testament. When most people seem to treat the Old and New Testament like the 'before' and 'after' photos on adverts for beauty products it was really nice to read how the two are all part of the same story. It really bought home to me how Jesus' death wasn't a Plan B or an afterthought but how the need for it and hints of it's coming are seen throughout the Old Testament.

I found it really helpful to read and it talks about some complex ideas in a clear and understandable way. It's brilliant for both teenagers and the older Christian.

Quick Questions

1. What books did you read as a teenager?
2. What books are you reading at the moment?
3. Would you like to write a book review for Yarns of a Youth Worker?

The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience

One of the biggest issues for a Christian is the Prosperity Gospel/Legilism spectrum. At one end of this spectrum you have view that 'God will make your life okay, give you riches, solve your problems and you won't have to lift a finger, change your ways or worry about anything'; at the other is the 'you are a sinner, you should be doing this and you're not, so that makes you bad.' Neither end is good, one leads to hypocrisy and the other leads to a burden of guilt.

It's a really difficult balance to get and no matter how hard you try some people will think you're verging on one side or the other.

The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience by Ronald J. Sider is on the legalism side. It's premise is good. It higlights the problem of hypocrisy in the church. In the American Church, divorce rates are higher than secular society, racism is rife, and the people are miserly. We say we have a God of love, generosity and relationships but our lives don't reflect it. No wonder so many people get angry with the way the church's message and life doesn't match.

However, some of his 'solutions' verge on the legalism by making churches 'stricter' and having a period of teaching before become a 'member' of a church (woah, what's with all the inverted commas?). It does paint a beautiful picture of what church as a community should be like but the route seems to focus on rules and regulations.

My dad suggested reading Classic Christianity that has a different take on how to improve the situation, so hopefully I'll be writing about that soon. Sorry that this was a bit of a jargon filled post.

Velvet Elvis

Cover via Amazon

I started this months ago. In February to be precise, and then my bookmark fell out. I'm one of those people that can never be bothered to reread passages in order to find where they got to. So, for five months, Velvet Elvis remained unloved, unread, not fulfilling the potential it was made for. At least it's not as bad as my experience with The Mill on the Floss. I started that three years ago and it still isn't finished.

Rob Bell is the pastor of Mars Hill Church in Grandville, Michigan. It's one of those megachurches that everyone loves to hate. So, perhaps this is the time for a confession. I like Rob Bell. Phew, I said it. I'm glad that's out.

I liked Velvet Elvis and I agreed with a lot of what is said. I think there were some bits towards the beginning I didn't agree with, but that was five months ago so forgive me if I don't elaborate. There are a lot of negative comments flying around about the book that I don't agree with. Some have said Bell is anti-gospel (their words, not mine. I'm trying not to use much jargon in this blog), but pages 138-147 deal with that; and he's anti-conversion (again, not my jargon. I should start up a jargon buster page, but can't be bothered), but he's merely saying we shouldn't just see people and people to be won over and arguments to be won but as people that have needs and should be cared for.

Okay, perhaps his interpretation of the Peter walks on water episode is a bit dubious, but not in a way that will make people fall of the bandwagon (in joke). It does give some justification to the claim that Bell's message can verge on that of individualism and ego-centricism, but his bits on community and generosity counter that.

There we go. I'm now reading The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience by Ronald J. Sider. Hopefully this wont take half a year to finish.

Quick Questions

1. What are you reading?
2. What do you think of megachurches?
3. Do you think it's sad that I refer to a pair of my glasses as my "Rob Bell glasses?"

Christian Books

I think it's a good job that God decided what was going to be in the Bible. I think otherwise a lot of things would have been different. I, for one, know how John 3:16 would have turned out:

For God so loved the world that he gave us lots of books to read, and by reading them we may be saved and have eternal life.

Quite often I'll be told about a book that I must absolutely, unequivocally read. It's as if by reading them we are suddenly going to discover the secret of grace. Or that this book holds the key to redemption. Okay, I think that last link was to a DVD, but same difference. And, I know, I know. Don't judge a book by it's cover.

Don't get me wrong, I think books can be fantastic for learning more about God, or for reminding us of the basics. Christianity is never a passive faith, you have to go out there and learn and discover. But we must remember, it is the Holy Spirit who instructs and reveals. Not IVP. Also, books should never be read instead of the Bible.

Perhaps this is just my way of rationalising why I've never really finished a Christian book. I probably should read more. But God loves me just the same whether I've read John Bunyan, Oswald Chambers and Billy Graham's autobiography as when I haven't.

Questions

1. What was the last Christian book you've read? What did you like/dislike about it?
2. What is your favourite Christian book?
3. Which Christian figures have really inspired/challenged you?