Last year I listed out the books I read in 2007. It was fun to look back over the year and see what books influenced me and shaped my thinking. You can see the list for 2007 here. This post is made of the books that relate to Theology and Church for 2008. You can see the books of 2008 that relate to leadership here. Believing in the Future (Christian mission and modern culture) - David Bosch This little books packs a serious punch. It’s a great follow up and addition to his mega-book Transforming Mission (which, yes, I am still reading!). This is one of those books I should have underlined the things I didn’t want to remember because pretty much the whole book is one...Read More →
Archive for December, 2008
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December 31, 2008
Books of 2008 – Theology
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December 29, 2008
Links for 2008-12-29
Reclaiming the Mission :: The Weblog of David Fitch End of year missional linkage. Some great blogs on the subject from David Fitch whom I greatly respect. (tags: missional) kinnon.tv: What is Missional? or A Little More Missional Shampoo I need to get me some missional shampoo! that stuff looks great! seriously though, this is a great post from Bill Kinnon on the concept of “Missional” (tags: missional) A Pastoral Week | Dwell Deep Matt Chandler shares his weekly schedule. One of my goals this year is to continue to do a better job of scheduling my week, especially since i am bi-vocational, that makes it even more important. (tags: pastor) Some Christmas Eve Thoughts, Responding to Michael Medved, and Tonight’s Message – EdStetzer.com An...Read More →
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December 27, 2008
Books of 2008 – Leadership
Last year I listed out the books I read in 2007. It was fun to look back over the year and see what books influenced me and shaped my thinking. You can see the list for 2007 here. So, without further waiting, here are the books that I read in 2007 along with my response to each one. This first section is on General Leadership. A follow-up post with books on Theology will be coming soon. A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quickfix – Edwin Freiedman This might be the most helpful book I read this year. As you can tell from the list, I ended up reading a lot of leadership type books. I’ll confess that I am kind of...Read More →
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December 26, 2008
Resident Aliens in Suburbia
I’ve been reading Resident Aliens by Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon over the break. Chapter four is brilliant. This year I have done a lot of thinking about the Church as a counter-cultural community. I think this is always necessary and I’m certain there is a desperate need for those of us in a suburban context to be intentional about re-imagining a life together that is in fact counter-cultural (in the way of Jesus). Of course, we don’t have to re-imagine out of nothing, without any direction. We have the witness of Isreal, Jesus, the disciples, the church and a hope of a New Heavens and New Earth to guide this process (you know, all the stuff found in the Scriptures). I’ve spoken about this...Read More →
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December 19, 2008
The Biblical Narrative & the Significance of Christmas
The more I appreciate the narrative of Scripture (to put it simply: creation, fall, jesus, redemption) the more I have grown to appreciate Christmas. It used to be for me that Jesus’ birth was kinda, well, anti-climatic. His birth is nice and all, but let’s just get the presents and then get on to the cross/resurrection for what really matters. Now, I don’t want to minimize the cross at all. I don’t want to de-emphasize the meaning of the resurrection. But for me, understanding the unified narrative of Scripture has helped the birth of our savior be more meaningful to me. When you enter into the narrative, you begin to realize the desperateness at which Israel (and also the world) was waiting for a Messiah....Read More →
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December 19, 2008
links for 2008-12-19
HOW TO: Setup Gmail for Hosted Domains – PaulStamatiou.com Very helpful for me. Not so sure if you will care! (tags: gmail hosting e-mail)
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December 16, 2008
Use Cash, Spend Less. Boo Credit.
I read this article on CNN.com today. Bascially it was talking about the shopping habits of Americans this Christmas season. “Most Americans have put themselves on a budget this holiday season and are sticking to it,” said Phil Rist, executive vice president of strategic initiatives at research firm BIGresearch, in a statement. “Retailers are finding that consumers who pay with cash or a debit card may be less likely to make impulse purchases, but recognize that these shoppers are also trying to put themselves in a better financial situation to spend in the future.” I don’t get the feeling that the article is pointing out the problems of this approach, but its funny that this is possibly conceived as bad news. At least, I’ve seen...Read More →
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December 15, 2008
Surprised by Scripture
I never cease to be amazed at how scripture surprises me. Over the last two years we’ve preached through Exodus, Acts and now we’re finishing up Ephesians. Each of these books (especially Exodus and Acts) have had some seemingly difficult, boring or irrelevant passages in them. Exodus and Acts had more because they are narratives. Each time I would come to one of these passages I would get frustrated that I had to preach it. But, like I said, the scripture never ceases to amaze me. I have found that out of those passages come some of the most amazing truths, stories and thoughts about faith and mission. Yesterday morning at church I had the “privilege” of having one of these difficult passages again. This...Read More →
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December 14, 2008
links for 2008-12-14
Dream Awakener » A Primer on Today’s Missional Church You want to do some research on the thing called the Missional Church. JR has given you a fantastic gift. This is a massive (perhaps the largest) list of missional resources. Thanks JR! (tags: missional) Seth's Blog: Holiday shopping guide Some good thoughts from Seth Godin on holiday shopping (tags: culture) Simply Missional – The Poison Of Consumerism A good post on an important topic from someone who is thinking critically about it. (tags: suburbia consumerism) Quest Sermons & Talks | Quest Church I've been listening to Eugene Cho for a while now and I've found that his passion for the church and his love for the scriptures is amazingly contagious. If you are looking for...Read More →
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December 12, 2008
The Church Informing the Powers…
Sometimes all you need is a little quote from NT Wright to get your blood flowing… “It is by the Church living as the one believing community, in which barriers of race, class, gender and so forth are irrelevant to membership and to holding of office, that the principalities and powers are informed in no uncertain terms that their time is up, that there is indeed a new way to be human.” NT Wright in What Saint Paul Really Said (161)
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December 11, 2008
The Tragedy of Dong Yoon & His Family
Eugene Cho posted details of a story that has not received too much press even though the story is both crazy and tragic. Many of us heard that a US fighter jet had crashed into a neighborhood earlier this week but not many of us know the tragedy that lies behind that random occurrence. Dong Yun Yoon (Don Yoon in English) lost his wife, his two infant daughters and his mother-in-law in that instant. He was out of the house working. When I read Eugene’s post the other day it was so hard to read because the story was not to far off from mine. I have an amazing wife, two small children, my mother-in-law is at our house a heck of a lot and...Read More →
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December 11, 2008
Design Refresh and New Site Icon
The past month or so I have been working a new design job as a semi-long term contractor for design company. I’ve been working hourly so its easy for me to slip into the temptation to work all the time whenever I have a free hour from church or family. This of course, leaves little time for fun and hobbies. So, I’ve intentionally tried to keep myself from working on paid design work until after 10:00 at night to leave room for hanging out with my wife, reading or working on a hobby. Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while could probably guess that my blog serves as a hobby for me, and this includes the design aspect of it....Read More →
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December 11, 2008
The Slave Tree in Ndola, Zambia
This summer I went to Zambia to work with a two other pastors from the states and our good friend George Palo who is doing some awesome work there with the Zambian Church. George pastors in Ndola which is about 4 hours north of the capital, Lusaka. Just outside Ndola is a tree known as “The Slave Tree.” This stood or hundred years and it was called this because it was a key location on the slave trading route in Africa. About a year or so ago, George and a few other churches felt the sense that this tree symbolized an attitude of servanthood (not the good kind) and inferiority in the people of their city. Since this tree was the symbol for this...Read More →
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December 8, 2008
Talking About Money in the Church (Part 3)
Over the last few weeks I’ve been writing a bit on how I have been talking through 2 Corinthians 8 with our community during our offering time. (You can read the others posts here) The last two time we covered verse 1 and verse 2. This week we get to verse three. Here they are (vs. 1-3) 1 And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability… Verse three made me reflect a bit on how we...Read More →
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December 7, 2008
Metavista: The Bible and Culture
I’m reading a new book called,Metavista: Bible, Church and Mission in an Age of Imagination by Colin Greene & Martin Robinson that I received to review. This isn’t really my official review but I’ve really enjoyed it so far. What I like most is that they don’t pull any punches when talking about how the church has interacted with culture. In the chapter I am reading now (chapter 5), they are talking about how the church has read the Bible during the age of Christendom. They make a rather bold statement with this one: “To put the issue baldly and somewhat simplistically: with all possible exception of the early Reformation period, the fact is that the Bible has enver been central to the life ad witness of...Read More →
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December 6, 2008
Coffeehouse Theology
Give me a living room, with the lights down low, a glowing Christmas tree, a french-press of coffee and a few good books and I’m a happy man. Tonight I was finally able to finish Ed Cyzewski’s book, Coffeehouse Theology. Ed and I started seminary at the same time so I’ve been excited to get into his book for a while now (and that’s really not just because my name is in the acknowledgements!). I think that Ed does a great job of giving a great introduction to theology for the person who doesn’t tend to consider themselves a theologian or doesn’t get a chance to read a bunch of really big thick theological books. The sub-title really says it all, “reflecting on God in everyday...Read More →
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December 4, 2008
Leaders, We Need to Get Out of the Way
One of the great things about a church community is the different gifts and callings that individuals have within it. God has given some people a knack for thinking and academics. God has given some an intuitive and uncanny ability to lovingly listen to needs of others. God has gifted others with an ability to organize people and “get things done.” Others have an uncanny ability to think way outside the box and push boundaries and question the status quo. Still others pray and are deeply spiritual in ways that I only dream. Far too often leaders respond to each of these by trying to balance the amount of emphasis we give to each of these important things. Wait, what did I say? Hear me...Read More →
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December 4, 2008
The Consumerism Mob
I’ve written in the past about things people will do when they are part of mobs that htey would never do while they were alone. Like, say “stomp a defenseless 34-year-old man to death, even for a free TV.” Shane Claiborne captures my heart very well in his recent article on Sojourners. CHeck it out here: Buy Nothing Day as Advent Activism Against the Demon Mammon
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December 3, 2008
Mailing List Subscription Stupidity
This is what you call re-dic-u-lous. These days, there is absolutely no reason that I should have to wait 10 days for your records to be updated. Get with it people. It’s 2008. Not 1996. Don’t even get me started on how I got on the list in the first place. I’ve never used their product. Marketing is a bit more effective when I am actually interested in your product.
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December 2, 2008
It’s Not Thanksgiving
It is no longer Thankgiving so feel free to continue reading my blog. Though, I do suggest that you don’t ignore your family in the process.
