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Book Review: The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative, by Christopher J. H. Wright

June 3, 2014 durough 1 Comment

After a lecture given in 1998, Christopher J. H. Wright was approached by Anthony Billington and questioned “about the validity of using a missiological framework as a hermeneutical approach to reading the Bible. Is it possible, is it legitimate, is it helpful for Christians to read the whole Bible from the angle of mission? And what happens if they do?” (531). Thorough and dense, though still not exhaustive in its 535 pages, The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative is the result of Wright’s journey in attempting to answer those questions. Just as it changed Wright in the process, I believe the journey will aid its readers in understanding what it means to be part of the mission of God, that which Scripture exclaims in its entirety.

Divided into four parts (The Bible and Mission, The God of Mission, The People of Mission, and The Arena of Mission), The Mission of God progressively brings the reader into the biblical narrative and a better understanding of what it means to be a fellow pilgrim in God’s creation as intended by our Creator, recalibrating our posture from one of self-focus to God-focused participants in the continued narrative of God’s mission. I strongly recommend reading through the book in its entirety—it’ll take a while—in order to fully appreciate the journey as intended, but there is a detailed outline at the beginning and lengthy index at the end for those wishing to jump to particular sections for personal study and/or research.

As a proponent of reading the Bible in its narrative context and encouraging others to find and live out their place within this continued narrative, I appreciate Wright’s work and the result of his efforts in wrestling with this hermeneutical quest. It is a “must read” in my opinion, especially for those teaching, promoting, or looking for a particular method, form, and mode of “doing missions,” as it is often described. A proper reorienting of one’s perspective on what it is to be on God’s mission will better (rightly!) enable one to address the pragmatics of living out that mission in one’s own (or “target”) context.

Book Reviews, Theology

Book Review: How to Start a Riot by Jonathan Storment

May 28, 2014 durough Leave a comment

It’s refreshing to have a book on Acts come out of our shared Christian heritage that does not focus solely on narrow proof-texts for a particular kind of patternism. In his first book, How to Start a Riot, Jonathan Storment pulls together cultural, political, and Hebrew scriptural contexts back into the reading of Acts and shows us what it was really like to be an “Acts church,” if that’s something we strive to be. The conclusions to which one must come are riotous. Embarking on this journey will prove to be both convicting and inspiring. I imagine there are two paths one may take towards starting a riot after reading this book: 1) a sociopolitical upheaval the world doesn’t know how to deal with outside of a relationship with Christ, or 2) clinging to the comfortable and often scripture-twisting pattern of tradition that believes we’ve already figured it all out, and it “all” points to our own tradition, that then riots against such books for stepping on our toes and showing us that there is more to living for Christ than upholding (right or wrong) traditions. Let’s pray for the former. I echo Storment here:

“I hope this book has helped you to see that Acts is so much more than a law book for church organization and worship rituals. It’s a gripping account about men and women of faith who have taken risk after risk for the sake of something bigger than themselves” (194).

I’m not a fan of all the corny preacher jokes and ill-fitting analogies and metaphors that are often used to try and tie something to the culture of a given audience. I do believe we need to be culturally relevant and explain things in a way they are understood, but some go quite a bit overboard. Unfortunately, this is how I feel about the writing style found in How to Start a Riot, which is an edited collection of Storment’s sermons on Acts. I think it should have been edited further, but if you watch the book trailer (and I imagine listen to him preach) the writing voice will make sense if you hear what you’re reading with Storment’s lively and energetic actual voice. None of this should, however, detract from what I’ve said about the book’s content. I’d still recommend it, even if some of the silliness need be pushed through.

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from ACU Press/Leafwood Publishers as part of their ACU Press Bookclub Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Reviews, Theology

Book Review: Life Work: Confessions of an Everyday Disciple by Randy Harris

May 12, 2014 durough Leave a comment

Randy Harris’s latest, Life Work, just made it to my “Must Read” shelf on Goodreads, I’ve preordered copies for my church, and already purchased another copy in Kindle format to make sure I have it in my travels. For me, this was quite a timely read. I had just been to one of the largest bookstores in the world a few weeks ago looking for something on ethics from a Christian worldview, a daunting task when things are loosely categorized and you only have an hour or so to browse, and came out empty handed. I’ve been taking my brothers and sisters on a journey through political theology—how we as citizens of the Kingdom of God engage with those within and those outside—and have reached a point that begins to deal with our immediate context. Life Work fits right in (if only I could get enough advanced copies without waiting until summer!), saving me the time it would have taken to pull together (likely not as well) similar information and more.

Randy is a professor of philosophy and ethics at Abilene Christian University, and his writing is representative of one who thinks about and spends a lot of time with students—he mentions them quite often; but his latest work is not written for readers of a certain age or stage in life. Life Work is easily accessible for non-academics but not so fluffy as to be uninteresting by those wanting a bit more, and its application is far reaching. Beginning with four major ethics, Randy encourages and discourages certain ways of thinking from a Christian worldview for judging between right and wrong and offers a bit of his own ethic without trying to force the reader into one or the other. I recommend the reader take time with this first section before moving on, really thinking about one’s own ethic and if or how it may be altered in some way. The second section describes in more detail what a cruciform life—one of taking up one’s cross and following Christ—looks like as a Christian ethic is applied. This is a counterintuitive and subversive ethic that goes against the leaning and pushing of the world. Looking at Scripture from the perspective of first-century Christians, Randy convincingly offers interpretations of a few passages—those often looked at differently—as claiming Jesus Christ is King, not Caesar/Rome, and what that looks like in the way we live. The final third of the book looks at the lives of people past and present who have lived and are living lives that in some way express the way of the cross, noting a few things he would and would not recommend imitating but considers their lives worth looking at nonetheless. Randy concludes his book with a bit more on peacemaking and shalom.

Randy and I hold much in common, but perhaps have just as much not so. I always enjoy and appreciate his perspective even when we don’t agree, and it’s always challenging. In fact, Randy admits he doesn’t even live up to his own words and challenges, something I think we can and should all admit. Life Work was not only a timely read and a fit for some teaching material, but it also challenged me and made me rethink my own ethic and how that affects my cruciform living. It reignited and reaffirmed old and new passions and encouraged me to think more pragmatically than I may have been, something I’ve been working through for some time.

Lastly, which should probably mentioned first in any other review, Life Work: Confessions of an Everyday Disciple is the end of a trilogy, the first two being Soul Work: Confessions of a Part-Time Monk and God Work: Confessions of a Standup Theologian. Since I have not read the first two and find Life Work wonderfully applicable without precursors, I still highly recommend picking up a copy even if the others have yet to be read. I’m sot sure if I’ll be getting to the others anytime soon, but feel free to let me know if readers of this review have read them and would like to offer their thoughts! Now, go pre-order your copy of Life Work right now!

Book Reviews

Book Review: Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art, and Culture by Makoto Fujimura

May 7, 2014 durough 1 Comment

$Refractions$ If you don’t know Makoto Fujimura, you should. Until recently, I didn’t even know of his existence; however, that all changed when a fellow scholar, art enthusiast, and friend, Jeremy McGinniss, invited me to join him and his students to a joint art lecture/presentation of “Qu4rtets” by painters Makoto Fujimura and Bruce Herman. It was a small, intimate setting, rather informal, and quite open to dialogue—not just Q&A. I felt an immediate connection to Fujimura as he spoke of culture and the Kingdom of God at one point and another as he described spending a long time with a painting until you begin to “see” and “under-stand” it—things that may escape casual viewing. Afterward, Fujimura and I had a couple conversations on things like visio divina, spiritual formation, and the connection between jazz and theology. It was then that I picked up Refractions in hopes that I may find it useful for students in The Jacob Institute of Christian Spiritual Formation’s Spiritual Formation Academy, founded by my good friend Jamie Overholser and for which I have been assisting in recent months and am looking to soon create a new course or two. That night I “Googled” Fujimura and discovered much more of his art and organizations of which he is a part or founded to further his passions. I recommend you do the same. Many thanks to Mako for his time, passion for art & culture, and foremost passion for “Jesus Christ, the Author of Creativity” as we journey toward shalom.

Now, on to the actual (short) review:

Fujimura paints with crushed minerals, which refract light differently than typically used inks, oils, and acrylics and age in such a way that change the way paintings look over time. Refractions is a collection of twenty-three essays spanning the course of several years, reflecting through his writing the same kind of refracting found in his painting. However, much more than painting or writing, Fujimura explains that “Refractions is . . . a whole underlying philosophical framework for creativity and life that I’ve been developing. I now realize I have been unconsciously expanding this theoretical and theological grid as I wrote these essays, not only to describe the creative process, but also to develop a communication style suited for my temperament and to advocate for community vision for the church to honor artists, and even to argue for democratic ideals” (167). Fujimura’s passions and concerns for how faith, art, and culture work together and speak into one another are evident in every essay, but even if it stopped at the first two I’d want this book on my shelf and recommend it to others. This is not a book about Fujimura’s paintings; it’s a book about experience and encouragement written with eloquence and conviction, using his own paintings for context only when necessary.

Living only three blocks from “Ground Zero” of the September 11, 2001 (9/11) terrorist attacks in New York City, several of Fujimura’s essays stem from the artistic and cultural aftermath thereof, but that of which he writes transcends those experiences and offers itself to further context and application, making such essays accessible to those who may not share the same contextual experiences. Of course, this goes for his time in Japan, China, and everything else of which he writes, taking the reader on a journey, and after having reached the shore gently pushing him or her off to continue the journey, all in the larger context of living out our faith in Jesus Christ. For those who share our faith and have any interest in art and culture, read this book. It will encourage and inspire.

Book Reviews, Theology

Book Review: After Lament: Psalms for Learning to Trust Again, by Glenn Pemberton

May 1, 2014 durough Leave a comment

Glenn Pemberton’s eagerly awaited follow up to Hurting With God (ACU Press, 2012), After Lament honestly and sincerely brings the reader back into Pemberton’s struggles with chronic pain, his acceptance of a life therewith, and what life looks like after lamenting, all through the use of the Psalter. Not holding back his feelings concerning the pat answers of many Christians in the context of pain and suffering, some may find their toes getting a bit crushed by Pemberton’s trampling on what “church language” has become, but it all comes from love and his own experience with hearing the same unhelpful words for years. This is why I highly recommend first reading Hurting With God (my review here), for better understating the language of lament, the necessity thereof, and from what perspective After Lament is written.

The first two chapters reorient the reader into a position of appreciation for lament before moving on, a must for those who have not read Hurting With God, but a nice refresher and life-update on Pemberton for those who have. The last eight chapters deal with Pemberton’s use of Psalms as a way of relating to and moving from lament into any of the following: 1) trust and confidence, 2) thanks, 3) praise, 4) joy, 5) instruction, and 6) broken hope, none of which is a guaranteed since varying journeys have varying outcomes. A discussion guide for each chapter is also including at the end of the book for those who wish to go through the book as a group or more personal introspection.

Lamenting is a journey, not a destination. Life After Lament won’t always be that for which we’ve asked, but we must eventually move out of lament. To this, Pemberton states, “It is easy to serve God and shout hallelujah as long as the payoff is there—a good life, the answer I wanted to my prayer. But what if there is no payoff, just pain? Will you serve the Lord for absolutely no reason other than that the Lord is God?” (197, emphasis original). Along with Pemberton, I’m sure, I pray those who read After Lament will find it helpful in answering him (and God!) in the affirmative.

Book Reviews

Book Review: David’s Goliath: Winning the Battle Against All Odds, by David Lyons

February 13, 2013 durough Leave a comment

I started going back to the gym. Thanks, David.

Of course, the purpose of David’s Goliath is not to send the reader running for the gym to get pumped. David, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2006 at the age of 47, belongs to a special breed of driven people who do not accept defeat and will choose serious injury to self rather than appear weak, whatever “weak” means. And he does. Choosing to fight MS through his former bodybuilding practices tears him up, quite literally. But the decision also brings him healing, mentally and spiritually, while providing a body willing to fight his debilitating disease. However, for all the personal gain and recognition through challenges and competitions, David continues to remind his reader, as he reminds himself, that it is God upon whom he relies for strength and direction. In fact, he is challenged to keep at the forefront the purpose of his goal—and writing of his journey—that being, to give God the glory and witness to others. And he does.

We don’t always agree with the processes and directions chosen by every disciple of Christ. In fact, David’s wife, having married him in the midst of and supporting him through the struggles of MS, tells the reader that she, a nurse, thinks David is not making the best decisions for his physical health…but that they are the best decisions for him. David is not looking for approval; he is looking to bring his reader on a journey—a Mt. Everest expedition, if you will—through his struggles by recounting the good and the bad. It is his hope that others will be encouraged and strengthened themselves to cling to God, again or for the first time. And I am.

And the reader may hit the gym afterward.

Book Reviews

Book Review: Breakfast with Bonhoeffer, by Jon Walker

December 23, 2012 durough Leave a comment

Paul wrote, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1, ESV). For a long time I took this to be nothing more than Paul’s arrogance. Why imitate Paul when I can just imitate Christ? It wasn’t until I heard a brother mention how helpful it was for him to have someone in his life to whom he could look up, watch his life, and see what living like Christ looked like—someone, at least in some respects, he could imitate. But if all I have are recorded words of Paul and Jesus, why wouldn’t I just follow the words of Jesus? Well, Paul wrote a lot and expounded upon the words of Christ to help Christ’s disciples better understand them in a practical sense. Somehow, probably lost in translation, we sometimes lose the “better understanding,” in a practical sense, of Paul’s writings because we become too focused on words, archaic phrases, and getting that legalism down pat. So, we read what others have written on those words, or we listen to preachers tell us what they think they mean, and still we cling to thinking we’re “just following the Bible” and no man. But we are. We pick and choose to whom we listen and whose interpretations, however “plain” and “obvious” they may tell us they are, we choose to follow. We all imitate someone somehow. Paul just thought he was the better example over others.

Although Bonhoeffer is no longer around to “see,” he left behind many writings, many quite practical, and a legacy of which others had witnessed and written for many to imitate. For Jon Walker, Bonhoeffer is one to imitate, one whose writings has helped him better understand his life and carry it forward. Walker brings his reader on a not-so-chronological, bi-polar swaying, progressively topical journey peppered with Bonhoefferific gleanings that have helped him along the way and/or have aided in hindsight, all with the perspectival mix of student, teacher, and narrator. This is for the reader who is interested in a lifetime of change, not just a life-changing moment, in being brought closer to leaning on Jesus and following the Spirit. My suggestion is that one initially approach Breakfast with Bonhoeffer as embarking on a journey with Walker, keeping theological and practical judgments at bay until the journey’s end, at which point one may wish to revisit a time, place, or conversation for further mulling. If nothing else, it may interest the reader in picking up a copy of Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship!

Book Reviews, Theology

Book Review: Living Jesus: Doing What Jesus Says in the Sermon on the Mount, by Randy Harris

October 4, 2012 durough Leave a comment

We talk a lot about the “Sermon on the Mount,” but it’s not often we see people living it. This is why books like Living Jesus are important, helping us learn to put into practice some of the most difficult exhortations in the Bible. Randy Harris writes, “I’m not attempting to write a scholarly book on the Sermon on the Mount. I’m trying to provide a field manual for living the life Jesus wants for us” (12). Harris urges his readers to ignore the perspective of “Jesus raising the bar so high that we can only try and fail and so learn a lesson about the grace of God,” stating, “This isn’t ‘Suggestions on the Mount’” (13). We are encouraged to take seriously the words of Christ and live them. “This is not only a life that should be lived. It’s a life that can be lived” (22).

Harris breaks the text down into twelve sections, providing practical commentary on each passage, after which several discussion questions are provided for group study, as well as a few challenging examples for living each section. The book concludes with a description of the covenant Harris has made with a group of college students to take seriously the Sermon on the Mount, to memorize it, and hold one another accountable to living it daily. The “Monk Warriors” of Tau Chi Alpha (“Toughest Christians Alive”) may seem a bit gimmicky—we are talking about college students—but the journey they share is provided as an example of how to “live Jesus,” not the way. Further aid comes by way of suggested reading material and the DVD series by Harris upon which Living Jesus is based (not having seen the series myself, I cannot comment on its effectiveness, though I would recommend the book on its own).

One consideration I offer is realizing an holistic approach to living the Sermon on the Mount after reading Living Jesus and attempting to live particular sections at a time as they are suggested. Harris has provided a welcome alternative to the boring, redundant, and ill-approached sermons on the “Sermon” many of us have heard all our lives, but it is only a stepping stone in actually living the life into which Jesus calls his disciples. It is good to spend separate periods of time learning to live out all the different avenues talked about by Christ, but they also must not be used as substitutes for the final stage of holistic living. Indeed, it is time to “live Jesus.”

Book Reviews, Theology

Book Review: Hell: A Final Word: The Surprising Truths I Found in the Bible, by Edward William Fudge

August 14, 2012 durough Leave a comment

Some books are written to be exhaustive on a subject, and others are written to be more accessible, perhaps more of an overview. Edward William Fudge writes Hell: A Final Word: The Surprising Truths I Found in the Bible, his “last book on the subject” (17) of hell, conditional immortality, and annihilationism, as the latter. Those requiring more depth are encouraged to see Fudge’s book The Fire That Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment, now in its third edition. In light of Rob Bell’s controversial reigniting of a Christian universalist perspective in Love Wins, it seems appropriate that Fudge throw one last hat into the mix for the annihilationist perspective. Like others, he encourages his reader to ask, “‘Is this what the Bible teaches?’ How we might feel about hell cannot be the measure of what hell really will be” (32, emphasis original), noting the insistence many have in faithfully clinging to church tradition even when it seems contradictory to Scripture simply because it’s what we “have always believed” (98), and therefore must be right.

Fudge provides his reader with a history of the traditionalist view of hell—never ending torment—originating in deuterocanonical texts and Greek philosophy, and effectively demonstrates in an accessible way his reason for believing, “The ultimate punishment common to all the lost will become a reality: they will cease to be. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible repeatedly warns that the wicked will ‘die,’ ‘perish,’ or be ‘destroyed’” (35, emphasis original). Throughout, he repeats the question as to whether Scripture “[appears] to be more consistent with a fire that torments forever, a fire that purifies, or a fire that consumes” (69), hoping the reader is eventually convinced of the latter. But what makes this book special is the interweaving of his personal journey with this particular doctrine, how and why The Fire That Consumes was researched and written and how he has been treated because of his perspective. It does appear, however, that the true purpose of its penning is to prime the reader for the aforementioned text and plug the recently released movie Hell and Mr. Fudge. Yet, though beginning and ending with a commercial, there is much good and convincing information in this book…and may make you want to read his larger work, too.

Book Reviews, Theology

Book Review: Hurting with God: Learning to Lament with the Psalms, by Glenn Pemberton

July 23, 2012 durough Leave a comment

Pemberton provides an approach to lamenting much needed by today’s congregations, especially among the increasingly shallow forms of “Praise and Worship”-only gatherings. “P&W” formats serve a purpose and may be beneficial, but they do just that—serve a purpose. And so with public and corporate lament, a purpose is served. Incorporating all forms of worship and God-talk are important for all churches, and in their relevant time and place.

Pemberton writes, “If what I have found in university classrooms and churches is a reliable indicator, believers are aching for words to express the realities of their lives, to speak the truth to God instead of putting on a charade of repetitive and empty praise clichés that ignore or deny the relentless storms” (25). Yet these words, words of lament, have been pushed out of our gatherings, and ultimately our vocabulary, by years of insistence on being “joyful” and “happy” Christians who approach times of hardship with phrases like, “God has a plan,” “It’ll all work out,” and, “Blue skies and rainbows . . .” These may be true, but may also likely prove to be utterly unhelpful in times of suffering. Many biblical texts, in both the Old and New Testaments, help us through these times and give us language to talk to God and help us through. Pemberton, does a fantastic job using the book of Psalms, as well as other Scripture, narrative, and personal experience, to point out this language and guide us through its usage, including a rare and needed address of the imprecatory psalms.

Pemberton well addresses those who would rebut and dissuade Christians from the use of lament or anything that hints at anger, dissatisfaction, and even resentment towards God. Along with being told the one side of being humble and reverent toward God, we ought also to be continually reminded these words: “To lament is to humble myself before my sovereign. It is pride that prevents me from telling God and others the truth. Masked by false piety, pride may look like authentic faith: we appear to be successful, we talk about our blessings, we minister to others in crisis, and we even talk about God a lot. But our pride prevents us from telling anyone the truths about ourselves—that I am not okay, that I am confused, that I am angry, that I feel as if God has abandoned me. Arrogance, not humility, keeps us from speaking the truth of our lives. . . . No expectations, no disappointments, no questions for God: a low-risk, minimalist version of Christianity, safe from ever needing to have a difficult conversion with God” (172).

The appendices provided are great resources for group study and discussion, locating helpful psalms, and locating information for further study on topics in the included chapters and their subsections. Hurting with God will surely prove beneficial for the hurting and regaining the language of lament in the church.