felix hominum

review: God's Gravity; Craig Borlase

God's Gravity:  The Upside-Down Life Of Selfless Faith

Craig Borlase has spent some time writing for the youth team of Tearfund, a Christian organization which operates projects around the globe.  In many ways this book is also aimed (or at least could be read by) a younger crowd.  The vocabulary, style and presentation of the content would make this book accessible to a late teen crowd.

Craig wants his readers to recognize that we are, in fact, our brother’s keepers.  He writes about the contemporary idol – the self, and how God’s desire for us is to move beyond seeing ourselves as isolated “planets” and into a Christian faith which moves us to care for others. 

In the first chapter, “The Irresponsibility of Self”, he reports a quote from Jackie Pullinger.  It was back in the mid 90’s, when Christians with airfare money were flocking to a certain place near the Toronto airport to “be where the laughter was”. 

“Rich Christians were jumping on airplanes to visit the place where the laughter was”, she said.  “We thought to ourselves, it will only be a matter of time before they board airplanes to visit the places where the crying is.  We waited.  But you didn’t come.” (7)

The book is divided into two parts:  an analysis of what Borlase sees as the fundamental problem (a self centered universe), and then 3 areas of suggested action.  Throughout the book he gives us short “Glimpses”:  two or three pages on the real-life experiences of people around the globe suffering from poverty, disease, or child-warfare.  But he also gives us glimpses of the message of the Gospel both in its action to alleviate suffering, and in its call to heal and transform individuals through a relationship with Jesus.  The book is a call to both communal and individual conversion. 

The title of the book refers to the force needed to escape gravity;  how is it that we escape the “pull” of God and end up serving ourselves?  In chapter 3 Borlase gives his readers a bit of a tour through the Scriptural stories.  He looks at the self-serving responses to power that we find in stories of the both the Old and New Testaments. From Pharaoh to the various kings of Israel through to Herod, the pattern is the same:  power is used to serve the self, rather than God and others.  Next he focuses on money, using the story of Job as the backdrop. He highlights the point that in the Scriptures, wealth is “never solely portrayed as a gift in isolation.  It is a responsibility, a tool to help carry out even greater work for God” (66).  He puts the boots to the “prosperity Gospel” in not so subtle fashion:  ‘God’s blessing’ plus ‘You’ does not equal ‘big cash prizes’...

In chapters 5 and 6 he looks at our desire for safety and vanity, two more things which as they turn in on ourselves, cut us off from God.  Security in our sense of the word is not a thing always promised in the Gospel, in fact it is sometimes our desire for what we call “safety” which keeps us from following God.  Vanity is a term which is a bit out of style these days as a descriptor – but Borlase rightly points to it as a form of self-centeredness which infects a lot of us.  We desire to be “big”, whereas if the truth be told we need to learn to accept our place and our role in God’s Kingdom, however glorious or inglorious that may seem to us.

In chapters 7 and 8 he returns again to the story of Job and his metaphor.  It is about leaving our “personal planet”, where the pull of our own desires weighs us down, and giving in to the pull of God, which is found in the person of Jesus.  He gives a brief overview of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus.  Some might find this section of the book a bit disjointed, or unconnected from the rest of what he is writing.  But at heart I think he presents a fuller picture of the Gospel:  the person of Jesus is central to transformation, whether that be in moving toward a more just society, or moving an individual to a relationship with God.

In the second part of the book (chapters 9-11) he looks at three specific areas where we might take stock of how we live:  the clothes we wear, our spending patterns, and our impact on the environment.  In each area he gives us a bit of a workshop and suggestions for looking more closely at how the choices we make as individuals are necessarily bound up in the lives and welfare of others. 

Overall, the book presents a simple message of Jesus’ desire to draw both persons and communities into the life of the Kingdom.  Borlase writes in a colloquial style that would make this book accessible to senior high school readers.  He grounds his arguments and examples in the Biblical narrative, and pays more than mere lip service to what we might call the person and work of Jesus.

A good read, and I think he accomplishes what he set out to do.  Every year at Mrs Felix’ school, the grade 12 teachers hand out books as gifts to the graduating class.  It’s a Christian school, in the stream of reformed Protestantism.  This is one book that I’m going to suggest she add to their list.

God's Gravity - interrupted

I'm just about through God's Gravity:  The Upside Down Life of Selfless Faith, but I took a few minutes to check out Tearfund (he does some stuff for them).  I also noticed that Craig has a blog of his own.

Will post the review later today.

review: Through the Bible, Through the Year (John Stott)

Through the Bible, Through the Year:  Daily Reflections from Genesis to Revelations (John Stott)
Baker:  2005

Stott follows many others in writing a devotional book which offers readings and thoughts for each day of the year.  He departs from others in the organization of the themes.  The book is divided into 3 sections, taking the reader through the Old Testament, the Gospels, and then the remainder of the New Testament.  Stott explicitly makes use of the calendar of the church year.  Many “devotional books” begin with January 1st, possibly in an attempt to either capture the Christmas shopping market, or cash in on New Year’s resolutions.  Stott’s book begins with the first week of September, which serves as a nod to the beginning of the Church year in the Orthodox tradition, as well giving the reader ample time to consider the direction of the Old Testament toward the birth of Jesus.  There is also a “Trinitarian” approach to reading the Scriptures.  Each section seems to highlight, if you will, one person of the Trinity, while all are mentioned throughout.

The system is fairly straightforward: we begin in the first week of September, and follow along by days (not dates).  Each week has a particular theme.  He gives the reader a verse for the day, with a brief meditation.  At the end of each meditation are suggestions for further readings from the Scriptures to set the verse and meditation in its greater context.  His thoughts range from reflections on the text, to historical background, to issues of personal faith.

The first section covers the months from September to December.  He first gives an overview of the Old Testament, covering the topics of Creation (13), Fall (29), through to the Patriarchs (45), the Exodus (53) and onward through the Monarchy (77), the Wisdom literature (85ff), the Prophets (101ff) and ends this section with the Nativity.  This first section of the book gives the reader an overview of the major themes of the OT, and of the life of Israel as a nation.  Clearly the interpretive theme is directing the reader toward the climax of the appearance of the Messiah.

The second section covers the months from Christmas through Easter (January-April), and topically it ends with the resurrection.  Here the focus is on the life of Christ, giving the reader an overview of the four Gospels.  Topics move from the various responses to the Nativity (151), Jesus’ entry into public ministry (167,175), a selection of parables (183ff), extended treatment of the Sermon on the Mount (191) and the Lord’s Prayer (199).  Stott then focuses on the events of the last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry – the Upper Room (231), extended treatment of the Crucifixion (239-263), and he ends with the Resurrection appearances and reflections on the meaning of that event.  The dominant themes in the section are clearly those related to the Cross and Resurrection.

In the third section of the book, Stott moves from Pentecost to the vision of the New Jerusalem.  He covers material from Acts, various Epistles, and ends with Revelation.  In this section Stott guides his readers through the birth and growth of the nascent church, with emphasis on missionary activity (3210, Paul’s journeys (329, 337), the “major letters” (Romans, Corinthians) and one whole month of the devotional cycle reflecting on the meaning of the Book of Revelations – a bit of an antidote for a case of too much “Left Behind”. This  section points the reader toward the consummation of the Christian journey as a full vision of God’s glory, with His redeemed people.

The book is well above average in its genre.  There is material for the mind and the heart, and encouragement to put faith into action.  Those who know John Stott’s writings will find familiar emphases on the Cross, the Resurrection, and Spirit-driven evangelism.  Stott is squarely within a particular tradition: Evangelical Anglicans have looked to him as a sort of elder statesman for some time now.  This book is a welcome resource in the world of evangelical devotionals. 

I can see myself spending time with Mrs. Felix in these pages.

related post:  have your kids ever caught you at it?

review: Religiously Transmitted Diseases

As I mentioned earlier, one must be on the lookout against signs of Religiously Transmitted Diseases.

These include such things as 

• Borg disease - when you need to look and act like everyone else (p. 8)
• Individualitus - just me and Jesus and who cares about my neighbour or the church (p. 45)
• Last Days Flu - looking for the end times so much that you "read the New York Times and the Jerusalem Post the way a psychic reads tea leaves" (p. 100)
• Spiritual Elephantiasis -  "If it's really of God, it has to be big - it has to be spectacular" (p. 106)

Ed Gungor reflects upon the twenty or so years he has spent in pastoral ministry, and his lifelong desire/struggle to follow God, in order to highlight two dozen Religiously Transmitted Diseases.  Ed's own spiritual journey began in a "liturgical church" and moved through various landscapes to where he is now:  Senior Pastor at Peoples Church in Tulsa.

Much of his ministry experience comes from Evangelical circles, although the spiritual ailments he details in the book can be found in any number of churches.  Some of us are more prone to this illness, perhaps some of us more prone to that one.  Ed has a very easy to read style.  There are numerous anecdotes and bits of whimsical humour throughout the book:  "I'm not exactly an old guy, but I can see 'old' pretty clearly from here."

Each chapter is short, to the point, and seeks to address a particular attitude or way of thinking which Ed believes gets in the way of a grace-filled life.  He addresses problems, but without leaving me feel as if there is no hope for a cure.  There is plenty of love, joy and grace across the pages.

A few of my favorite chapters include his treatment of:

• Spiritual Amnesia:  "when we forget who God is and who we are because of God's involvement in our lives." (150)  Part of this is recapturing God's vision of who we are in Christ, and Ed reminds us of the role of the church in encouraging and guiding  one another:   "We are here for too short a time to cultivate  enough wisdom...on our own."  (153) 
• Affluenza:  the "I want more" disorder (63).  The "cure", he argues, is when we become like God in a generosity of lifestyle:  "Giving touches a nerve in us that nothing else does.  We look a lot like God when we do it, for God so loved the world that He gave..." (70)  The cure for affluenza is found not just in examining our balance sheets, but in a lifestyle which sees all kinds of giving as our imitation of Christ and our calling.
• Elder Brother Disease:  "There's an unspoken understanding, especially among older Christians, that it's OK to be a hellion and an extravagant sinner - as long as you are an outsider, a pagan, one who has never served Christ.  But if you have served Christ and then you act in a way that is unbecoming...you're going down." (186)  He addresses the reality of our continued struggles with sin and temptation, against the background of a religious culture which demands perceivable "progress" along various lines, and with the hope of the Father's grace for the returning prodigal son.
• Ecology Pathology:  I'm going to heaven sometime anyway, so why look after this place?  Sort of like renters who trash the place, knowing they'll be leaving.

This book is a quick and light read (246 pages), with simple observations about the traps, pitfalls and temptations of being part of a religion, rather than  being followers of Jesus in the Church as his body.  I laughed at several of his assessments of parts of our "religious culture".  I think my favorite was his experience in a church where "proper clothing" meant not wearing any styles of the day, with the observation that it usually takes 8 or so years for "a clothing style to become sanctified" enough for some of us.

I particularly appreciated his advice to those in pastoral ministry not to get into the habit of perpetual busyness in the name of God and ministry:

When I first began pastoring twenty-five years ago...I lived and breathed ministry and longed for the spectacular...  My greatest dread was my "day off".  That was a day I was to stay home and do the regular stuff - the non big stuff.  Although Gail looked forward to those days, they were like a scourge to me.  I would rather be praying, preparing, setting strategies to affect the world at large...  though I was with her physically, she sensed that I was somewhere else mentally and emotionally.  I was tons of fun. (107)

Many in pastoral ministry suffer from burnout, depression, marital difficulty, and exhaustion.  Some is inflicted upon us, and some is self-inflicted.  In any case it is worth remembering the other vows we may have taken, and to see ministry to and with our own families as part of, not in competition with, our "other" ministry.  And if the former is not being attended to in a healthy way, then there is something wrong with the picture.

I like this book.  Though the writing is simple and colloquial, the "hitting the nail on the head" diagnoses prompted me to reconsider a few things in my own life and ministry.   This book is a bit like a can-opener: it raises more than a few questions for those of us who are religious, but really need to be followers of Jesus.

review: The Divine Hours (Prayers for Summertime)

A friend recalls the initial chaos when their first child arrived.  Nothing was organized and life was upside down, until in desperation he called upon the wisest person for help.  His mother arrived, surveyed the situation, and gave him a piece of advice.

"What you need right now", she said, "is some kind of routine, so you can enjoy being parents."

Sometimes having a routine of sorts actually frees us to enjoy.  One of the most consistent routines in the tradition of Christianity, and beyond us into our Jewish roots, is the practice of praying at regular intervals over the course of the day.  In her book The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime, Phyllis Tickle has organized a bit of a beginner's manual for regular daily prayer.

After a brief but good introduction to the history of "fixed hour prayer", Tickle gets right into the substance of the practice.  The book is subtitled Prayers for Summertime, and is designed for daily use for the season.  While the history of the divine hours includes 7 "offices", based on the Psalmist's call to praise God seven times a day, The Divine Hours follows the contemporary practice in many places of having 4 daily times of prayer:  the morning office, midday, vespers (early evening) and compline (before sleep).  In each of these patterns of prayer she has followed the tradition of drawing heavily from the Psalms as a way of "shaping" our life of prayer, and has included readings from Scripture, set prayers drawn from a variety of Christian authors and sources, as well as modifications of prayers from the liturgical traditions of the Roman Catholic and Anglican worlds.

You can see a sample of her structure for daily prayer here;  it is built around the principles of simplicity and ease of use.  The variety of readings and prayers is combined with a fixed order and the regular use of such things as the Lord's Prayer and the Gloria.  In the Vespers office she has included a selection of hymns from a wide variety of Christian hymnody, which may be sung, or read as poetic verse.  Like the rhythm of the seasons, or, to quote Paul Simon, the rhythm of the saints, this way of praying brings one into a rhythm of prayer in which life revolves around prayer, rather than the other way around.  It is a way of grounding ourselves amidst busy-ness and distractions.

In my own pilgrimage, I've been using the daily offices from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer for quite some time, so the practice of "divine hours" is not new to me.  For others, perhaps from less liturgical traditions (or none at all) the idea of regular, set prayers might raise the spectre of horrible ball and chain pharisee-ism.  I think this book is an excellent introduction to the whole practice, and a way of entering into the wisdom of the Church beyond our generation.  It will not be for everyone, but if you find yourself looking for a practice that frees you to enjoy your time of prayer, or if you find yourself called to something other than the prayers of the just  - "we just pray, Lord, that you just be with us, Lord just show us, we just ask"  (with apologies to my friend M.S.) then I would encourage you to give this a try.

Seven times a day do I praise thee
Psalm 119: 164

 

review: The Secret Message of Jesus

I have a great deal of sympathy for what Brian McLaren is trying to do, even if I don't always agree with what he has to say as he is doing it.  This is the second book of his that I've read;  I bought (on a gift card) his A Generous Orthodoxy when it came out.  I have sympathy for his project because he is at least recognizing a need to bring the Gospel to a culture which by and large does not hear it.   

One of the keys to this book is understanding just who McLaren thinks this book will benefit.  He is aiming at a "broad, non scholarly, and in many cases nonreligious audience" (xiii).   With that in mind, I suggest that  McLaren's book itself has a "secret message" - it is aimed at gradually nudging those who might consider themselves outside the Kingdom to move towards a chink in the city wall.

In this sense I think this is the sort of book I could use with a group of university students:  folks who grew up 3 generations from the church and generally think that Christianity is the caricature that McLaren often presents.  It is the kind of book that will bring up questions:  particularly if all you've ever been exposed to is the 4 Spiritual Laws.  I would consider it a refugee camp for those fleeing certain kinds of church experience.  It is a stopping place, and hopefully will propel you further.

The book is about "the kingdom", and specifically what McLaren thinks has been either "unintentionally misunderstood or intentionally distorted" in Jesus teaching about the kingdom of God.  He divides the work into 3 parts. 

First he gives some brief sketches of the historical, and particularly political, background to Jesus message.  He does this against what he sees as a backdrop of individualism in contemporary culture and within the modern evangelical churches.   As he says, "although Jesus message was personal, it was not private". (10)  The stress is laid on Jesus teaching that the kingdom of heaven is "at hand".  This stands in contrast to what Oliver O Donovan calls the Protestant preference for maintaining the distance between heaven and earth. 

McLaren is big on the "hiddenness" of Jesus' teaching about the "public" nature this "at hand" kingdom.  For him, this is part of Jesus' desire that the message of the kingdom

wasn't obvious, wasn't easy to grasp, wasn't like a simple mathematical formula that can quickly be learned and repeated.  [T]he message of Jesus was less like an advertising slogan...and more like a poem whose meaning only comes subtly and quietly to those who read slowly, think long and deeply, and refuse to give up... (34)

I can guess who he's talking about in a few of these references.   Part of what he does in the first section of the book is draw attention to caricatures, or accurate descriptions - take your pick - of modern American Christianity.   The church didn't get the message, but now we are slowly beginning to understand it.

In the second part of the book, entitled "Engagement:  grappling with the meaning of Jesus' message", McLaren takes us on a selective tour of Jesus' ministry and teaching, followed by some brief references to Paul.  Here he focuses on what he sees as the method of Jesus' message:  parable, signs and wonders, story and personal encounter with the disenfranchised.  This personal approach of Jesus is coupled with a nod to the challenge to wider political and economic structures.   The focus again is that the message is personal but not private:  it always has a public dimension.

It is in this second part that McLaren lays out one of his key points:  "God isn't positioned outside the universe, reaching in occasionally, but rather God is here, in it with us, present, near." (60)  It is this immanence of God, this collapsing of the traditional distance between heaven and earth, that McLaren sees as the thrust of Jesus' message of the kingdom.  We are under a "gentle, compassionate assault by a kingdom of peace and healing and forgiveness and life.  Could Jesus' secret message become any clearer than that?" (60)

If, horror of horrors, McLaren's book is like a three point sermon, then the last section is about application.  I'm sure he can forgive me for using the term.  His starting point is the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) which he calls Jesus' "kingdom manifesto". (117)   He challenges his readers to look at the Beatitudes as prescriptive - a kingdom way of living.

He introduces his reading to a "revolutionary, counter cultural movement" (134).  In opposition to the present kingdoms of money, sex and power, he invites his readers to consider the practices of generosity to the poor, fasting as a means of resisting mere physical gratification, and prayer as a means of humility.

McLaren also has concern around the language of the kingdom (138 ff.) and although I think his concern is genuine, the alternate metaphors he proposes (God's dream, revolution, dance, etc) tend to take away the essential nature of kingdom - and that is the person of the King.  There is probably much in this last section that will provoke criticism,  He is unabashedly pacifist, although he holds out an olive branch to Christians who may hold other opinions.  He seems to reject the claims of some of his critics in his treatment of the "borders of the kingdom" - his is not an easy going universalism.   His treatment of prophecy in general and the book of  Revelation in particular is sure to challenge a few Tim LaHaye fans.  He takes a roundabout stab at the traditional notion of heaven and the afterlife, mainly through the writings of C.S. Lewis.  McLaren ends the book with suggestions for putting the kingdom into practice, as if to reinforce again that it's not about "getting into heaven when you die", but living the kingdom life here and now, because it is at hand.

The Money Quote:

If you are part of this kingdom, you won't curse and damn the notorious sinners and scoundrels to hell, instead...[you will be] less afraid of their polluting influence on you than you are hopeful about your possible healing and ennobling influence on them" (18)

As he warned not everything has been said in this book.  And I would hope that it is the Holy Spirit (a neglected character in this book) who effects both the courage in me to act, and the healing of the world.

review: The Da Vinci Codebreaker

Well kids, it time to let you know that I actually have been reading a few things besides Curious George (though none quite reach that level of "audience participation").

First up is The Da Vinci Codebreaker, which main author James Garlow describes as a sort of badly needed glossary (11).  The subtitle describes the book as a "fact checker", giving historical background to events, places and persons associated with DVC.  Imagine if the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church had Dan Brown on the editorial board, and you'll get a sense of what kind of stuff is in here.   Co-authors are Timothy Paul Jones and April Williams, although there was also input from a broad range of scholars.  The one that caught my eye was Franco Morando, who is chair of Romance Languages & Lit at Boston College.   Seeing that, I had hope, and that hope did not disappoint.

This is a reference book rather than a "read".  I started where everyone should start who wants to see what kind of take will be presented.   First things first:  check out what the book says about the Roman Catholic Church, and then what it says about the Bible.   I find those are good barometers of the direction of theological pressure.   

Roman Catholic Church, The.  The church that recognizes the Bishop of Rome as the visible source of Christian unity and as the apostle Peter's  successor.  According to Roman Catholic interpreters, Jesus granted a unique measure of authority to Simon Peter (see Matt. 16:13-19)...  The DVC is filled with claims about Catholicism that are completely false or, at the very least, questionable.

The sections relating to Scripture include discussions of the history and formation of the canon, early controversies and councils, early church writers, right up to contemporary issues surrounding the meaning of the Nag Hammadi and Dead Sea Scrolls.  Included are several succinct charts which trace the lineage of a number of documents through the first four centuries of Christianity, as well as charting a variety of christological issues through to Nicea. 

This is church history "lite", but church history nonetheless.  I confess that I do tend to get excited when I see the names Bernard of Clairveaux ("d. 1153;  medieval theologian..."), Origen of Alexandria ("d.c. 250...students of Origen's Alexandrian school played an important role in the fourth century battle against Arianism...") and Julian the Apostate all together.

Who would benefit from this book?  Well, according to a recent article in the Edmonton Journal, about 22% of Albertans could benefit from something like this, since that is the number of my fellow Albertans who believe the DVC is factual.   It's the sort of book that I might give to my brother in law, should he think that Dan Brown's historical references are accurate.  It is informative without being confrontational.  As Garlow says, "this book is not about bashing Dan Brown."  It is rather a short and easy entrance into the world of Christian history, the sort of book you might pick up every now and then just out of curiosity to learn more about the figures and events that have shaped Christianity.   

Up next:

The Secret Message of Jesus;  Brian McLaren.
Discovering the Book of Common Prayer, Vol 1:  Daily Prayer;  Sue Careless.