Jesus Wants to Save Christians

I recently finished reading Rob Bell’s latest book, the provocatively titled, Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile. Co-authored with Don Golden of World Relief, the book traces the history of the nation Israel through four time periods that correspond to the places where they occurred.

Egypt: The place of crying out to God, and experiencing God’s response to that cry, which is salvation.

Sinai: The place of covenant between the nation and God, of new identity and a new way of living.

Jerusalem: The place of distraction, where power corrupts the original vision of what the nation was meant to be, where they lose the thread of their own story.

Babylon: The place of exile, where the nation once again cries out to God and contemplates what comes next.

The authors use this pattern as a launching pad to talk about “the church in exile,” suggesting that we as Jesus followers have lost our own story, that we need to cry out to God for His restoration, and that we are faced with a great opportunity to re-imagine the church, to re-imagine ourselves as the people of God.

In all honesty, I found most of the book to be a bit of a slog. Not that it wasn’t engaging, but more that it seemed not to be going anywhere. But the last chapter and the epilogue blew me away. The rest of the book was simply setting the table for the feast of truthy goodness that was to come.

So I have decided to explore some of the ideas and themes put forth in the final chapter and epilogue, bit by bit, day by day, here on the blog. I do this in part to help solidify my own thinking and response, and in part to put forth these ideas in the hope that they will resonate with others as deeply as they have resonated with me.

The themes are deep and rich: being a living Eucharist to the people around us, seeking to live broken and poured out for the sake of others, discovering a new humanity in our church community, avoiding the dangerous seduction of demographics and marketing, embracing the path of descent as Jesus did, to name a few.

I can’t say how long this examination will last, or that there will be significant insight gained from the experience. None the less, I’m excited for the endeavor.

Book Review: a Generous Orthodoxy

So, I've been curious to read this book since it came out four years ago. In various reviews, I've read a lot of backlash, and had mentally placed this book in the 'books I SHOULD read but am putting off until I've read everything else on my bookshelf first' category.

Well, I finally got around to reading the book and was amazed at how much I enjoyed it! I just couldn't put it down. For a girl from a mostly non-denominational Christian background, I found McLaren's descriptions of various streams of faith to be fascinating.

Critics accuse him of attempting to piece-meal a post-modern version of Christianity "with an eccentric mix of theological elements pieced together from main denominations and even many different religions", or that "he embraces relativism at the cost of clarity in matters of truth and intends to redefine Christianity for this new age, largely in terms of an eccentric mixture of elements he would take from virtually every theological position and variant."

Yet, I didn't come away feeling that McLaren was trying to impose a new, mish-mashed form of Christianity upon the rest of us. Rather, he holds to light the pearls of truth that were the impetus for each of many different Christian traditions (even while acknowledging how many have since lost sight of their honorable beginnings).

To better understand how other traditions are attempting to sincerely live out their faith, and to learn and draw from other's strengths can only help us be more loving and unified as the worldwide body of Christ, regardless of denomination. McLaren addresses the unity of the church this way, in my favorite passage of the book:

"We believe in one... church," the [Nicene] creed says, and that's no easy to swallow statement because we're surrounded by denominations, divisions, arguments, grand polemics, and petty squabbles. That's where the "we believe" part comes in: you can only know the unity of the church by believing it, not by seeing it. When you believe it, you can see through the surface dirt and cracks to the beauty and unity shining beneath. Generous orthodoxy presumes that the divisions, though tragic, are superficial compared to Christianity's deep, though often unappreciated, unity. Perhaps the more we believe in and perceive that unity, the easier it will be to grow beyond the disunity." p. 250

The church, not the building, but the family of God's adopted children, should indeed be radiantly beautiful. Let's spend a little less time taking sides and articulating our differences, and focus more on how amazing and merciful our loving God is to each of us. Sounds pretty generous to me.

There's a Sheep in my Bathtub!

My latest read was a missionary biography called There's a Sheep in my Bathtub: Birth of a Mongolian Church Planting Movement, by Brian Hogan. Once I picked it up, I read this one so fast it didn't even make my 'currently reading' list before I was already done!

"What happens when you drop an American family with three small children into the remote post-Communist chaos of Outer Mongolia?

There's a Sheep in my Bathtub chronicles the adventures of the American Family Hogan as they try to follow God's leading into one of the world's most remote and mysterious enclaves. Disarmingly honest and laugh-out-loud funny, their tale will thrill you and bring tears to your eyes. An intensely personal memoir, this book still manages to pack a powerful dose of missionary insights and Biblical principles for seeing the Church explode into life among people that have never even heard of Jesus. Get comfortable. You will not be able to put it down."

One of my favorite parts of this book was the description of the tension the church-planters experienced when trying to balance weekly in-home small groups with larger Sunday celebration gatherings. When the ministry focus was on the small groups, the Christians grew deeper in their faith and the small groups grew and multiplied rapidly.

When they increased the frequency of Sunday worship services from monthly to weekly, everyone had a great time, many people attended, but participation in the small groups dropped off, meaning discipleship and accountability were compromised. I am very curious if churches in the United States, which focus their energies on one Sunday gathering, have had similar experiences when transitioning to a small group based ministry.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in missions, church-planting, or experiencing life in a very different culture.

For those of you are interested in the story, but have shorter attention spans, you can skim a two page summary of Brian Hogan's fascinating ministry in Mongolia by clicking here.

Amazing Grace

As "Amazing Grace" is easily my favorite hymn, and probably my favorite song of all time as well, I was very interested when this movie came out last year. Despite my excitement, I never got around to seeing the movie in the theatre, and I ended up just waiting for it to come around on our Netflix queue.

Well, the movie eventually showed up in our mailbox, so I've finally gotten to watch it for myself. It's rare that a movie surpasses my expectations, but this one did so easily. I found it beautiful, powerful, and enthralling, and I'm so glad I didn't let it slip by! The story of William Wilberforce's haunted obsession to end the slave trade would be compelling even if it weren't true; the fact that it's based on real events only adds to the sense of inspiration.

I love that this film reminds us that what one chooses to devote themselves to in life truly matters. That young people truly can change the world (Wilberforce was only 21 when he was first elected). That despite years of opposition, once can eventually overcome and find success. And most especially, that with enough blood, sweat, tears, and prayer, good can and will overcome evil.

Though there are more people in slavery today than during Wilberforce's time, much good has already come out of the release of this movie. If you're interested, check out the "The Amazing Change" campaign and this book by modern-day abolitionist Zach Hunter, encouraging people everywhere to 'be the change they want to see in this world'.

All in all, I found this movie to be cinematically worthy and personally inspiring. I've got two thumbs, and they're both up.

"Just so you know, people who have seen this movie have complained about motion sickness..."

So, G-Dub and I went to see the movie Cloverfield last night, and
I. Loved. It.

Here's why:

Firstly, it's so rare nowadays that movies maintain any semblance of mystery- usually a trailer gives away so much, there's no point in going to see the movie because you already know what happens. With Cloverfield, pretty much all I knew going in was that it was a New York City disaster movie... what else would anyone need to know? (Hence my lack of specifics below, should any of you be planning to go out and see it)

Secondly, this movie is different than your typical disaster flick- it's a dizzying thriller which deals less in fakey effects, and more in the real fear of trying to survive in the midst of the unknown. It gives you just enough disaster to keep you on the edge of your seat, but it doesn't indulge itself with too much gore and cross over into campiness. It's a movie that makes you ask, "what would I do?"

Thirdly, I appreciate that the story is told through a unique perspective, which really captures the humanity of the main characters and brings a freshness to the storytelling. Though the erratic motion of handheld video can be dizzying and frustrating at times (for some, to the point of inducing motion sickness... not in our theatre, fortunately), there is a heightened sense of panic and immediacy, as you join the characters in their quest for survival.

Though I doubt this movie will be up for any Oscar nominations, its a perfect movie for anyone looking for a good popcorn flick to see with their buddies. My only recommendation? Don't see it alone.

The Golden Compass

Because I am a Christian, and because I enjoy following pop culture, especially movies, I've found myself unable to escape the recent hype about "The Golden Compass". Of course, the more hype a piece of work draws, the more curious I become. And, as a person that frequently interacts with young people and their parents, I was also interested in being able to speak for myself on this movie. (For those of you that haven't read about the controversy, scroll down to see the quotes at the bottom of this post)
In any case, last week G-Dub and I found ourselves headed to the theater. I evaluated the film on two fronts: cinematic and artistic value, as well as potential areas of concern for Christian families.

As a film buff, I actually really enjoyed the first half of the film. I felt that writer/director Chris Weitz did an amazing job creating a sense of place: a parallel Earth, identifiable yet discernibly different. It carries the weight and feel of a futuristic novel from the 1800's. Oftentimes, this comes off as cheesy, but it definitely works in this movie. The casting was superb, with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig working their delicious magic, and phenomenal newcomer Dakota Blue Richards as young Lyra.



Unfortunately, these elements aren't able to sustain the storyline once Lyra heads north with an unconvincing talking polar bear. Story elements become weaknesses when tediously overused (We're left hanging with the introduction of every new character... good guy? bad guy? Unfortunately, we never find out the answer until long after we've stopped caring). And don't even get me started on that alethiometer. Ultimately, I found the movie to be either too long, too slow, or just too boring. On this basis alone, I recommend you save your $.


As a "Christian viewer", it seems that most of the book's controversial material has been watered down or left out of the movie. At face value, I doubt one would walk out of the theater feeling offended on behalf of God or the church. That being said, there are numerous articles suggesting that this is an intentional strategy: parents see the movie, deem it harmless, then go buy the trilogy of books, much more blatant in anti-Christian propaganda.

The one aspect of the story most likely to be confusing for children is the concept of "daemons". In the movie, a person's soul lives outside of their body in the form of a talking animal companion, called a daemon. To a child, the idea of a talking furry friend would be utterly fantastic! To a Christian however, the word demon suggests evil and rebellion against God, and parents may not want to attempt explaining this dichotomy of concepts to young children.

In general, I don't tend to get on board with attacking the corrupting influence of the week. What is most dangerous to the Christian faith, I believe, is not atheists trotting out their beliefs, but Christians not living out theirs. So, before you hit "send" on that next e-mail forward demanding a boycott of this movie, why don't you stop and say a quick prayer for all those who will read the book or see the movie, that they would know the truth and experience of God's love.

What others are saying:

A concerned e-mail forwarder:

"It's one thing to be an atheist, and something else altogether to draw children in with the agenda to kill God in their formative years. Let's make this movie a failure, by letting people know what's behind it."

Blogger Andrew Seely:

"Why put so much time, effort, money into stopping such (in the grand scheme of things) trivial things? It baffles me that if we as christians spent a fraction of the time, energy and resources that we pour into stopping the major immorality of the week, we might actually do something that jesus and god are proud of."

To me it seems that when we take so much time to oppose things such as movies, the underlying tone is that we fear that god isn't strong enough to handle whatever it is that is or isn't attacking god."

One of my students:

"First off all kids should kno its just a moive and second off if ur family believes in god, then ur kids should kno that god really cant b killed. i mean how can u kill sum1 u cant see? exactly. plus if ur kids think that, theres so many ways to help them."

A synopsis of information available at snopes.com:

The movie has been described as "atheism for kids" and is based on the first book of a trilogy entitled "His Dark Materials" that was written by Phillip Pullman. Pullman is a militant atheist and secular humanist who despises C. S. Lewis and the "Chronicles of Narnia". His motivation for writing this trilogy was specifically to counteract Lewis' symbolisms of Christ that are portrayed in the Narnia series.

"Clearly, Pullman's main objective is to bash Christianity and promote atheism. Pullman left little doubt about his intentions when he said in a 2003 interview that "my books are about killing God" and in a 2001 interview that he was "trying to undermine the basis for Christian belief." He has even stated that he wants to "kill God in the minds of children". It has been said of Pullman that he is "the writer the atheists would be praying for, if atheists prayed."

Book Review: Youth Ministry Edition

Seven years ago, when God saw fit to drop pre-teens on our doorstep, Gary and I didn't have a clue about youth ministry. Our first 'youth group' meeting literally consisted of an adult bible lesson with a treasure hunt slapped on the front (you know, to kid it up).

We've come a long way since then, mainly due to the grace of God, but I also give credit to the good training we've been given through books and conferences. The following are two youth ministry "must-haves" that I've recently read. Or re-read. If you're in youth ministry, and you haven't perused these yet, add these to your Christmas list:

hurt: inside the world of today's TEENAGERS, by Chap Clark


For this book, Chap Clark spent a year in a high school observing and interviewing students. What he came back with is an eye-opening look at the reality that today's teenagers are living in. With the explosion of technology, change in culture, expansion of adolescence and breakdown in families, it is a very different world today than when I was in high school fifteen years ago. I recommend this to all youth workers, teachers, and parents that want a deeper understanding of the lives of today's teenagers.

your first two years in youth ministry: a personal and practical guide to starting right, by Doug Fields


I was blessed to get my hands on this one as a volunteer early on. It is a treasure trove of advice from a seasoned youth worker, looking to help others learn from his mistakes. I credit Doug Fields for helping me develop a realistic picture of what healthy youth ministry looks like. I found it invaluable during my volunteer years, and have recently brought it out to read again from my new perspective of full-time youth pastor's wife. It still rules.

Fellow Youth Ministry Peeps: What are your ministry or culture "must-reads"? Drop me a comment!

Review: Cost of Discipleship

There is a stack of recently read books on my dining table that I intend to review for you. I've given up on the hope of reviewing them all at once - I don't have the time to write that much - you don't have the time to read it - so, I'll deal with them one at a time. I present to you my first book review.

The Cost of Discipleship - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I chose this book as a devotional after noticing how often Christian authors quote Bonhoeffer... why not go to the source? I began reading it in September of last year, when we were in Kibera, Kenya, and finished it about a year later. This is a challenging, deep, thought-provoking book... it should go without saying that I loved it.

Bonhoeffer writes topically - Part One deals with "Grace & Discipleship", Two is a series of commentaries on the Sermon on the Mount, Three is "The Messengers" (the apostles), Four is "The Church of Jesus Christ and the Life of Discipleship".

I especially appreciated the first chapter, "Costly Grace". Here I read:

"Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods... it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.

Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it cost God the life of His son... it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us."

These words are indeed challenging, yet inspiring. I can't read this passage without getting chills. This is the relationship I want with Christ. To love Him so much I would go anywhere or pay any cost. To recognize that He paid a dear price in order to save me from my sin; to realize my gratitude every day.

I recommend this book to those who are willing to walk the narrow road. It's not a devotional collection of warm & fuzzy anecdotes, but a challenging call to a life of holiness. The title is apt: true discipleship comes with a cost, a truth for which Bonhoeffer lived and ultimately gave up his life.