Some people must really care about me. That, or they're worried I won't have enough to do on my sabbatical. Just before I left on my sabbatical someone (you know who you are) gave me a bag full of stuff. I timidly peeked into the bag half expecting a jack-in-the-box to pop me in the eye but nothing happened. I was deeply disappointed. But what I did find in the bag were four or five books one of which I promptly gave to my wife. It was titled Marley and Me and had a picture of a dog on the cover. Sheesh! How fitting. Also included in the bag was a double Stuart McLean Cd of Vinyl Cafe fame.
Cd's are my kind of thing. You plug them into the player, sit back, and enjoy. No need to hold the book (closer all the time, I find) or turn the pages or shift body positions or even endure the tedium of actually reading the words. No siree! Sit back and enjoy. That's just what we did on our trip to Minneapolis. Unfortunately we were laughing so hard when we arrived at the border crossing I think the officers were suspicious what our smirks were all about.
But I'm happy to report I have read quite a few books despite getting a stiff neck and sore back as a result. Reading wins 2-1. You'll notice that listening to comic Cd's only gives you a sore stomach from laughing, while reading produces a stiff neck and a sore back, so reading obviously is more virtuous. Based on this premise, some would say faulty premise, I have turned to reading with a passion and as I finish reading a book I stack it on a pile with the others I have read for Caroline to see if she happens by. I'm hoping she's duly impressed. So far the stack measures about a foot high (you figure out how much that is in centimeters).
All kidding aside, I've read some very stimulating stuff in the last month. So interesting that I have to share some it with you.
The first book I took on was by Paul Tillich called Dynamics of Faith. I'll say it right up front I didn't get much out of this book but I had to read it because my son Andrew was reading Tillich and he goaded me into reading Tillich too. Tillich is what is known as an existentialist. Don't you dare make me explain this term. I thought I had gotten over the pain of all this theological jargon when I finished Seminary in '89 but then along comes my son, who I admire very much, and he wants to know what Tillich is all about. I suggested he check Wikipedia to find the answer but, no, he suggested I actually read one of Tillich's books so we could discuss it together. Well, I'm done and he's in Japan so I have to keep this existentialist stuff in my brain till he gets back. It's painful, man!
The next book I read was Irwin McManus's An Unstoppable Force. I thought this would be a great tonic after being pilloried by Tillich. Well, that partly happened. McManus pastors a church called Mosaic in Los Angeles. I have found him very stimulating when I've heard him speak but somehow some of his inspiration doesn't carry over so well to the written form. The subtitle to his book is: daring to become the church GOD had in mind. He had a lot of wonderful and stimulating things to say but his metaphorical style doesn't connect with me too well. But if you are interested in getting a picture of a cutting edge church and approach to ministry this is the book to read.
The third book I tackled was Church: An insider's look at how we do it. A number of us from the Spiritual life & Care Team were exposed to John Strackhouse, the author of this practical book, at last winter's Leadership Conference hosted by SBC. This book has the appearance of being Stackhouse's long-gleaned collection of peeves with the church. That is not to say that he doesn't often hit the mark with his observations. Based on pure volume he's going to succeed some of the time. In the book he fires off on 43 different subjects arranged in 9 categories. I found his mild scolding and otherwise sage advice very useful. In fact, there were several points he made that we could apply to great benefit in our church.
Another book that I read with interest was Leadership and Self-Deception put out by the Arbinger Institute. Someone in the church gave me a copy to read and I'm glad he did. I had heard of this book from Gord Penner at a meeting with local pastors hosted by Rob Reimer president of Steinbach Bible College and was looking forward to reading it. This is not a Christian book per se but much that is contained in it sounds very biblical. It's written in a novel form but don't let that fool you. It packs a powerful punch. The story line is of a new manager hired at a large company who, after he is at his job for a month or so, is called in to a "session" with the boss of the company. The majority of the book is used up to describe this session between the new employee and his boss. The gist of the book, as I see it, is how to deal with relationships in such a way that serves to the benefit of all involved. Human nature being what it is, we tend to mete out scolding, discipline, blame, punishment, whenever we feel slighted or wronged. This seldom works well in bettering the relationship or the actions of the one being put down. And, secondly, doesn't help the person who feels wronged either. The answer to this conundrum presented in this book is what they call "getting out of the box." I would highly recommend this book. By its title this book seems to be intended for leaders or managers but the principles taught in it apply wherever there are relationships; employer/employee, husband/wife, parent/child, neighbour to neighbour, and many others.
The most interesting book I have read recently is The Shack written by William P. Young. This is a novel that speaks more powerfully about the nature of God and how he relates to his people than any theological text ever could. Eugene Peterson says, "This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress did for his." I think he may be right. I won't give away the story line but this is how the book is described on the back cover: "In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant The Shack wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?"" I was deeply moved by the story of deep pain and loss but more so by the answers it provided - they sounded true to how I see God working. Of all the books I've mentioned, this is one you should, dare I say, must read.
The last book I want to talk about is written by Gregory Boyd called The Myth of a Christian Nation. I admit the context for this book is the American Evangelical church but Canadian Christians can read it for equal benefit. If you ever had questions about the degree to which the Christian church should enmesh itself in the political system or have ever questioned the extent to which governments can bring about God's purposes on earth, you need to read this book. Boyd's primary point in this book is to show the stark differences between the kingdom of God that Christians are part of and mandated to establish and the worldly kingdom. He would say that as Christians we should place no hope in worldly governments to establish God's reign on earth. Worldly governments, whether they be democratically elected or not, can do some good and are ordained by God to "bear the sword" (punish evil, etc) but this does not make them Godly. In that sense he would say that the American government is no more Godly than Iran's (An interesting side note is that when he preached the sermon series Cross or the Sword, upon which this book is based, he lost about 20% of his congregation). He's not saying that Christians shouldn't participate in the political process but that they shouldn't call what they elect or what they serve a Godly nation. He would say, no matter the preponderance of Christians in a government this doesn't change what it is: a government that uses power over people to achieve its ends, including many tactics inconsistent with the ethic of Jesus. Boyd would say that Christians are people of the cross: followers of Jesus Christ, people who are called to be like Jesus. Jesus never used his power over people, or did he ever use violence - he died coming under and loving, and serving others. I have not read many books that measure up to this one in describing more powerfully this dualism between the spiritual and the worldly kingdoms. A statement the author makes repeatedly resonates with me: when you raise the sword you lower the cross! It may be of interest to you that he repeatedly makes reference to Anabaptist writers in the text of the book and in his footnotes. In an email exchange I had with the author he told me that Mennonites come the closest to living out how he understands Christ's call on the believer.
So there you have it. The prophet of old said, "To the writing of books there is no end." I'm finding out just how true this is!
