Category: Books

I just got a new book (A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God) that I am going to use as a devotional guide for the next year. It is based on the Church Liturgical Calendar that begins with the four Sundays of Advent – or the weeks leading up to Christmas – rather than starting on January 1. And since I just got it, that means I am playing catch-up already. But I was struck by these words that I read in the first section.

“Advent” has its roots in the Latin word adventus, or coming. This season proclaims the coming of Christ in the birth of Jesus, in the Word and Spirit, and in the final victory when God’s kingdom shall be complete. Our privilege as Christians is to receive the gracious gifts of God’s presence in Christ. Our task is to prepare for his coming so that we will not miss life’s greatest gift.

Sometimes the hype and clichés of the season distract us. The clever marketing efforts succeed in making us desire tangible things we can hold in our hands and savor as gifts. However, marketing hype and catchy clichés cannot answer the deep questions of the heart, explain the mystery of God’s presence, or help us comprehend the meaning of our existence. Yet all these gifts are promised to us in the Advent Season.

Yes, it is true that God’s astounding and radical intervention in our human history cannot be contained in the tame and timid displays of Christmas lights, catchy slogans, or the exchange of gifts. Advent confronts us once again with God’s unparalleled effort to communicate the message that all humankind is embraced and held close by a God of love. Jesus Christ has come, is present with us, and will come again in final victory when all darkness, pain, and evil will be no more. In Advent we begin again to try and make plain the wonderful truth of the most extraordinary good news the world has ever heard.

When I pair this with the chapter I just finished reading in Radical that reminds me that it is our calling, as the church, to take this good news to all the people of the world, my brain starts spinning. This good news is “the most extraordinary…the world has ever heard,” and yet, we don’t do share it as far and wide as we need to. Maybe we hint at it to some people. Maybe we hope that others will notice that there is something different about us and ask us. But I think that sometimes, we hope they don’t ask because we’re not sure what to say.

David Platt used the words “indescribable urgency” to describe how we should feel about sharing the good news with the world. I don’t know about you, but when I think of urgency and how it feels in my gut when it is urgent for me to get something done – whether it be get a check to the bank to cover something that I know is coming out, or get to one of my kids who is sick or finish a task at work that has a deadline – that is not the feeling I currently get when I think about the world needing to hear about Jesus. So to add the word “indescribable” in front of urgency and I know I don’t feel that. And why don’t I? Is it because we don’t talk about it? Is it because it is easier to ignore it? Is it because we are too busy to worry about anyone else but us?

Is it because we are living for this life and not an eternal life?

Hmmm. That one made me pause. If we were living for an eternal life rather than this one, would we feel stronger about making sure that others get to experience that eternal life, too?

And when I start down that line of thinking, I am reminded of that line in the quote above, “The clever marketing efforts succeed in making us desire tangible things we can hold in our hands and savor as gifts.” And I start thinking about all the stuff that I want. All the stuff on my kids’ Christmas lists. All the stuff that we have. All the time that we have spent wanting and buying and using this stuff. All the time that hasn’t been spent sharing with others the gift of Jesus.

How do I change that? How do I change me to want to change that?

I don’t. I ask the Lord for help. I ask Him for an awareness that I don’t have. I ask Him for that indescribable urgency about the eternal lives of those who don’t yet know Him. And I go from there, with the Lord’s help.

What do you think?

Yesterday I had an argument with my son. Well, it was a joking around argument. He came upstairs in jeans that were getting too short and I told him to stop growing. He said, “it’s not my fault.” We then continued to yell that back and forth at one another for a few minutes. (He turns 8 tomorrow and is a bit excited about hitting that milestone. I, on the other hand, while excited to see the boy he is becoming, am realizing that he’s growing up way too fast!) This morning, it was a shirt that the sleeves were too short. I again told him to stop growing. He again told me it wasn’t his fault and we had a nice little laugh.

As I was sitting in church yesterday, I was thinking about that argument. And the fact that in a sense, he is right. It isn’t his “fault” that he continues to grow up. It’s the way he is made. It is how we have all been created. We grow up. Whether we want to or not. He can’t help it that he keeps outgrowing his clothes. He can’t change the fact that he doesn’t want to play with baby toys anymore, but instead wants to play with legos and Nintendo DS games. It’s a natural process, growing up, both in stature and in mental/cognitive ways.

But in some ways I think we can either help or stunt our growth. If we don’t eat well as a youngster, we may not grow to our potential. In the same way, if we don’t feed our spiritual selves well as adults and as Christians, we won’t grow to the potential that Christ has for us. We may continue to grow in little ways, but without some effort on our part, we may stunt our spiritual growth. And this growth process happens as we spend time with the Lord and His Word on our own, certainly, but it also happens as we spend time with others who can speak into our growth. This can happen as we meet with a small group of people on a regular basis. Or a mentor/spiritual guide occasionally. For me, one aspect that has been missing is some one on one time with a friend, going through a book and really talking about the implications of that on my/our life/lives. It’s pretty easy for me to read a book and get convicted or encouraged about certain things, but without someone asking, “so what does that mean for you and how are you going to implement that?” it is also easy to just stay at convicted or encouraged and not take any action to make changes that lead to more spiritual growth.

So, beginning this week, I will be meeting with a friend each Wednesday to talk about those kinds of issues. The first book that we are going to tackle is Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, and we’ll see what kind of growth we can encourage in one another. Because I don’t want it to be my fault that I don’t grow into the person the God has created me to be.

How are you feeling about your growth these days?

I have been reading a new book called Nudge: Awakening Each Other to the God Who’s Already There by Leonard Sweet. It is a really good book about paying attention to God’s work in and through our lives and it has had me thinking (and preaching) about a few things. Here’s a smattering of those thoughts. (All quotations are from this book.)

Being able to see and to point out where God is at work is of great importance when it comes to our faith and encouraging the faith of others, but also of great importance, maybe even more so, is simply that in order to partner with God to bring love and redemption to this world, we have to be able to see where He is at work so we can join Him in that work. We have to see Him to be able to follow Him.

So, why don’t we see Him at work?

Probably the first that comes to mind is we simply aren’t looking for Him. We aren’t choosing to be aware of His presence in our lives. We see what we choose to see. I don’t know how many times I will tell Anne or Ty to go get something and they can’t find it. The item is usually in plain sight, but they are so sure that it isn’t there and can’t be found that they don’t find it. In essence they are choosing not to see it. The same thing happens with God. We aren’t convinced that He is at work, so we don’t really look for signs of His presence. We may say we are waiting to hear from God, and the answer may be staring us in the face, but we don’t see it because we aren’t really looking.

Sometimes we don’t see God because even though we are looking, we aren’t looking in the right places. We are looking where we think He will show up based on our expectations, but not where He actually is. God doesn’t appear when and where we expect Him to. When we set our own expectations of God and then don’t see those met, we tend to give up on Him. In contrast, “when we live expectantly, we are living with the hope and the expectation that Christ will come through, but we’ve left the terms open. Living expectantly means always being aware of Christ in us, yet waiting for the how, when, where and why to come…” Some examples of this would be the way we choose to see God in church, but not in a song on country radio. We choose to see God in the Bible, but not in a secular novel. We give God our attention in certain situations, but He is in all situations if we will be open to hearing Him.

Another reason we don’t see Him is if we aren’t receptive to Him so we don’t recognize Him. That could be because we don’t have enough of a relationship with Him to recognize Him.

Sometimes we don’t see God because we are willing to settle for the idea of Him rather than the real thing. Karl Barth tells a story about riding a streetcar in his “home city of Basel, Switzerland. He took a seat next to a tourist, and the two men started chatting with one another. “Are you new to the city?” Barth inquired. “Yes.” said the tourist. “Is there anything you would particularly like to see in the city?” asked Barth. “Yes,” said the tourist, “I would like to meet the famous Swiss theologian Karl Barth. Do you know him?” Barth answered, “As a matter of fact, I do know him. I give him a shave every morning.” The tourist got off the streetcar at the next stop, quite delighted with himself. He went back to his hotel and told everyone, “I met Karl Barth’s barber today.” This is an example of how we “sit next to Christ all the time and yet fail to see that it is really Jesus Himself,” because we are willing to settle for something less.

Sometimes we don’t see Jesus just because He doesn’t make himself easy to see. It may be that we are prevented from seeing Him or it may be that He needs us to WANT to see Him.

There are probably many more reasons why we miss Him, but what we really need to know is how to see Him.

First, we have to want to see Him. We have to choose to open our eyes to His presence. He doesn’t enter where He isn’t invited. Remember, we see what we choose to see, so if we choose to see Jesus, we will. But isn’t easy to see and understand God at work. We have to try.

Then, we have to be awakened to the fact that God is already here—even if we haven’t recognized or seen Him. He is with us always. Our eyes must be trained to look for certain things—in our lives and the lives of others—that signify God at work. We have the ability—we just have to use it. In Nudge,  the author says this, “Suddenly there it is: the world. I’m connected to the far reaches of the planet…All I need is the right apparatus, the right wireless card (or radio or tv or whatever) that can “connect” me with what was always there but was invisible and unavailable until the receiver was activated.” God is, was, and will always be here and active, we just have to activate our receivers. We have to pay attention.

We have to look all around—past and present to see God at work. We have to pay attention retrospectively in addition to being present in the moment. “We can do post game analysis and become more aware and more tuned in to what God is doing and the way God reveals himself in circumstances if we see backward. Most of us first see God after the fact. We live forward; we understand backward.” I am sure we can all remember times when we didn’t see God’s presence until after the fact. The poem Footprints in the Sand, would be an example of that. Sometimes we will see God best as we look back.

Once we do see Him, we will want more. ”One of the worst aspects of drug addiction—crack, meth, heroin—is that once you’ve experienced it, you can’t ever “unknow” it. The same principle applies to Christ’s love and His kingdom” and His presence. Once we have had a taste of Christ at work in our lives, we want more of it.

Christ is alive—He is risen and sent His Spirit to be with us and work in and through us. This isn’t a story that is over and passed, but a continuing one. And this “evidence of God’s immanent presence ought to be capable of breaking in on us each day the way air and light and sound do if only we know of what to look and listen for.”

My challenge for you this week is to start each day asking God to open your eyes so that you can see Him at work and then to walk through your day expecting to see God at work in unexpected places. Don’t put Him in a box, just open yourself up and pay attention to see Him in His time and in His way.

How have you seen God at work in your life recently?

“The Christmas that does not remember the cross is not authentic.” (Today in A Manger)

As I read this line I was reminded again about the enormity of the Gift that has been given to us. The Gift that we anticipate each Advent. The Gift that we celebrate each Christmas. This Gift that has broken the powers of death and hell. This Gift that has redeemed us from the pit. This Gift that brings us joy in the midst of sorrow. This Gift that loved us so much that He laid down His live for ours.

And then I read this and got even more excited about just how indescribable and overwhelming this Gift is that we have been given.

^“So don’t be embarrassed to speak up for our Master or for me, his prisoner. Take your share of suffering for the Message along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it. But we know it now. Since the appearance of our Savior, nothing could be plainer: death defeated, life vindicated in a steady blaze of light, all through the work of Jesus.” –2 Timothy 1:8-10 (The Message)

I am awed (again, always…) at the enormity of this. And  I don’t have words to express my gratitude to God for giving me LIFE this Christmas. And I echo the words of this prayer today:

“Lord…Help me to show a lost world that death has been defeated and life vindicated, all through your work on earth.” (Today in A Manger)

I read. A lot. And if you look next to my bed, you will usually see a book or two that I am currently reading. Not to mention the stack on my desk at work. And I read both fiction and non-fiction. Lately I have been reading some fiction books by Angela Hunt, and last night as I read in my bed before going to sleep, I finished another one of hers called, The Awakening. And I can’t remember the last time I was so moved, to the point of just sobbing, by a book. And it really had nothing to do with the book itself, and everything to do with how the story in the book became a vehicle through which my Father showed me just how much He loves me. And You.

I won’t give away the story, because I hope you will read the book yourself, but I do want to share with you a bit of what I was impacted by as I read.

Our Heavenly Father loves us. He has loved us since before we were born. He has offered us good gifts. He has written an entire book about His love for us (the Bible). He longs to have a relationship with us. And what He wants us to do is accept His love. Accept His gifts. Reach out for Him.

But sometimes, we accept the lies of this world instead. We believe that He is not a good God. We believe that He is distant and doesn’t want anything to do with us. We refuse to believe that He is trying to talk to us. We choose to live isolated from Him because we either don’t want to know Him or we are afraid to get to know Him, afraid to know His true nature.

And yet, He is trying to contact us. The gifts He sends are refused or unrealized because we aren’t listening or are unaware. But He continues to send them our way in anticipation of the day that we will see them and we will accept them. He is waiting for the day when we will come to Him and will hear Him say how much He loves us and how He has been waiting for the day that we will come home to Him.

Here is an excerpt from the book (don’t worry – it doesn’t give away any of the real story – it is a story from within the story):

And Lord John, who had traveled from one end of his territory to the other searching for the child of his heart, dismounted and drew the frightened girl into his arms. For a long while neither spoke, their hearts merging into one contented rhythm.

At last he lifted his head to look upon his daughter’s face. “I have yearned for you,” he said, smoothing her dark hair, “since the day I first learned you would be born. I have searched for you without ceasing. The blood of my dear messenger has been shed on your behalf, but I would have given the last of my treasures to win your heart.”

“Papa,” she whispered, the word musical on her tongue, “I am so glad to have come home.”

And the wind whistled outside the castle walls, while the demons of Aragon howled in protest, the father and his daughter crossed over the drawbridge and went inside the fortress to acquaint each other with the lives they had spent apart. Before the shades of night had fallen, each promised they would never be parted again until they were welcomed at the throne of the eternal Father and God of all those who seek heaven as their forever home.

And it is said that whenever a citizen of that realm wished to know what love looked like, all he need do was look to the lord of the castle, who embodied love through his decrees, his deeds, and even the intents of his heart.

For he had loved his child completely and had willingly sacrificed all he could to bring his daughter home.

I have been blessed to know this kind of love, both from my Heavenly Father, and my earthly one. And if you also have been blessed to know that kind of love, be thankful for that today. But if you have not, know that it is being offered to you. All you have to do is accept it. Fall into the arms of God and let Him love you today.

I love reading because I learn so much. Both things that are written on the page, and things that the Lord shows me through the written words.

I have been reading a series of books by Angela Hunt, Stories from Ancient Egypt, about Joseph (Dreamers), his brothers (Brothers) and his sons (Journey). (They are excellent books, and if you like historical fiction, you would enjoy reading them.)

As I have read these books, the idea that has been rolling around in my head has to do with reverence, respect, fear, and honor.

If you don’t know this story (it is from the Bible, found in Genesis chapters 37-50), the gist of it is this:

• Jacob had many sons, but he loved Joseph more than the others because he was the son of his most loved wife.
• Joseph had dreams that he would one day rule over his father and brothers.
• Joseph’s brothers didn’t like that so much and plotted to kill him. But rather than kill him, the sold him into slavery.
• Joseph ended up in Egypt where he gained power in Potiphar’s house.
• Potiphar’s wife wanted Joseph, but Joseph would not sleep with her so she lied and said he wanted to take her against her will.
• Joseph was thrown in prison.
• In prison, Joseph once again gained power and at one point interpreted two other prisoners dreams.
• After one of the prisoners was released back into Pharaoh’s service, Pharaoh had a couple of dreams that no one could interpret, and the prisoner remembered Joseph.
• Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, and was subsequently put in charge of all of Egypt to plan for the upcoming famine that the Lord was telling about through the dream.
• During the famine, Joseph’s brothers (and eventually father) come to Egypt in search of food and after some time Joseph reveals that he is their brother.
• The family moves to Egypt and settles there.

I know this story and have known it for most of my life. It is nothing new to me. But what is standing out to me in this story is this: each time someone enters the presence of Potiphar, Pharaoh, and Joseph, they immediately fall to the floor on their face. They are entering the presence of very powerful men (and in the Egyptians case, they see Pharaoh as a god), and they show the proper respect, honor, fear, and reverence for their leaders. They get the fact that these people are important and they need to show that they know it.

And then I start thinking about me and my Ruler, my God. Do I show that kind of reverence and respect for Him when I approach His throne? Am I quick to lay face-down on the floor in His presence? At home? Sometimes, but even then I am at times more worried that the carpet isn’t clean enough for me to be laying on than why I am on the floor in the first place. In public worship? Well, maybe I will kneel at my seat during prayer, but what might the people around me think If I were to go up to the altar and lay on my face?

I think we have lost some of the awe that we need to feel as we approach our Father God. He is accessible and He wants to commune with us and there is a certain level of comfort we have knowing that He is available to us, and yet He is also Holy and we need to approach Him as such.

Nicole Nordeman sings a song, Tremble, that addresses these thoughts – take a listen.

What do you think?

For an extrovert like me, solitude is an interesting idea, but not one that I practice as much as I should. I love good conversation and having people around me, and even when there aren’t people around, I find myself doing things to be “around” people like spending time on Facebook, instant messaging my sister, texting my friends, listening to music, or becoming part of the story in a novel. And really, as a wife and mom who works full-time, who has time for solitude anyway?

And yet, when I read about the spiritual disciplines, and about Jesus’ time on the earth, it reminds me that solitude is necessary in my life.  And yet it is so hard to get any. I read this in Anne Jackson’s Mad Church Disease this week:

“It is difficult to unplug. Internet is relatively inexpensive, as are mobile phones that receive email. Our TVs and TiVo’s and iPods and satellite radios give us comfort and convenience, but when we rely on them so heavily, they also give us headaches and no time for solitude.”

Ouch. Get off my toes please.

So when and how do I get solitude? I realized just last weekend that one of my places of solitude is running. I have chosen for the past year to not take along my iPod or my phone when I run. Then instead of singing words in my head (or who am I kidding, out loud) or wondering who sent that text that came through I can pray, enjoy the scenery, listen to the birds, watch the clouds, and revel in the fact that God created my body and I am caring for his creation as I am out running.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I get distracted all the time thinking about what I have to do later or how I am going to figure out this or that issue at home or at work, but I can usually acknowledge those things and bring my mind back around. And boy is it nice to have uninterrupted time with God. Time to talk. Time to listen. Time to just be.

As Richard Foster says in Celebration of Discipline, in order to get solitude I am taking advantage of the little solitudes in my day. Whether that be running, laying in bed for a few moments after the alarm goes off, or a few moments after the kids are in bed, I can find moments of solitude in my day when I don’t have the time to carve out more.

I still love to run with other people sometimes (after all, community is very important in our lives as well as solitude, and I have some great running partners), but for now, I’ll continue to cherish my solitude runs and time with the Lord.

How about you? Where do you find solitude in your day?

So I am reading this book for the fourth time. My friend Jaclyn and I are reading it together and talking about what we are learning. As we discussed the first two chapters yesterday, what I kept coming back to is the concept of easy vs. hard.

For example:

• Do we teach our children (both at home and at church) to follow the rules and guidelines of what it means to lead a holy life (easy) or do we teach them how to have a relationship with God and listen for his leading about what it means to be holy (hard)?
• Do we tell the truth even if it means exposing our weakness (hard) or dow we make excuses, rationalizations, or even lay blame somewhere other than ourselves (easy)?
• Do we pray thinking that just maybe God will hear and give us what we want (easy) or do we really fall to our knees in authentic, heart wrenching prayer asking for HIS will to be done (hard)?
• Do we give in to a sin nature (easy) or do we strive to live up to the nature of Christ in us (hard)?
• Do we make choices based on what our family has always done (i.e. the party we vote for) (easy) or do we really take the time to make a decision that fits us and where we believe God would have us stand (hard)?
• Do we let our marriage just go on as is (easy) or do we put in the hard work to help our relationship grow (hard)?
• Do we expect someone else to make the changes necessary in the world (easy) or do we take responsibility for our own actions and make the necessary changes in us (hard)?

One of the most poignant questions in the book for me is, “Do I want social justice for the oppressed or do I just want to be known as a socially active person?” Once again the first half of this question is hard and the second half is easy. I wonder if each of us would really sit down with the question (or fill in the blanks with another issue – Do I really want to be known as someone who loves God and shares my faith, or just as someone who is religious and goes to church?) and consider the answer. Would we be willing to take the hard road instead of the easy one – even if no one else around us is on that road with us?

I find myself dreaming about what our world would be like if we all were taking the hard road. If, instead of always thinking about ourselves and what we need (easy), we would think about others and how we could meet their needs (hard). If instead of buying ourselves a new toy (easy) we were to use that money to make sure that someone who hadn’t eaten in a week or two had a meal (hard).

Think about it. Take a step out on the hard road. I’m going to.