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Books that will save your life

I've been on an "organization" kick lately. I've decided that I depend on my brain too much to do things for me. And with all the different places I go and things I do, I decided it was time to start streamlining and getting into some good habits.

My first step in this process deals with these three little black books. I plan on carrying these with me everywhere (step 2 comes later) from now on.



From top to bottom...

Moleskine notebook -- I've noticed that I tend to forget a lot of things, especially what church was about the week prior etc... So I started carrying one of these to take notes from week to week. I think I might start expanding into writing random thoughts / profound things I come across in my daily life. This is an important habit that I resisted for a long time... I didn't want to be a journaler. But, I think as long as its on my terms, I'm OK with it... its my journal, so what I want to write is what I write. I don't have to live up to the standards of other more poetic journalers that I envy, even if just a tiny bit. I really like the size of this journal, the elastic strap on the outside and the nice bookmark to help keep your place.

Life saving power: Allows you not to lose important thoughts, as long as you are not too proud to write them down. Makes you look really cool because its German (a la Sham-Wow) or something, and you act like you know how to pronounce "Moleskine".

Weekly / Monthly Planner (hyperlink not the actual planner in the picture) -- This is the newest addition to the "black book" series, and I finally broke down to get one. Last night, I got offered a part-time job at my church doing facilities work. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. I needed organization of my time. Between day-job deadlines, school assignments, night-job scheduling, and social life I knew I was going to miss something if I didn't have a written reference keeping me sane. Being a good steward of my time will help me be more efficient and productive... especially during the school year. I chose this particular planner (it took a while to find one I liked) because it is actually a faux leather encasement around a spiral-bound planner insert. On most planners, the spiral binding was exposed, which I didn't like (kept getting caught on things). Also, size (length/width, as well as thickness) played a big factor in choosing this particular planner.

Life Saving Power: Allows you to not miss anything important, as long as you are not as forgetful about writing things you have to do in the planner as you are forgetful about where you need to be.

ESV Thinline Bible (Bonded Leather) -- This one should come as no surprise to anyone who is at least an acquaintance with me. I really like the ESV. I chose this particular bible to replace my previous ESV because that one didn't really fit well in my school bag along with my other books. Also, the leather was really soft, so when I did put it in there, I had to be extra careful that I didn't curl the corners of the cover. I ended up giving that bible to a friend who needed a personal-sized bible but was too money conscious to splurge for one. Plus, my current bible has a better feel and size to it. I call it the "marry and bury bible" since I could use it for weddings and funerals if needed... just plain black.

Life Saving Power: In this book are eternal truths that can ultimately TRULY save your life. This book contains the "power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." The fact its an ESV is just an added bonus. If you can only get one of the 3 books mentioned, get this one. Heck, if you can't get this one based on some financial or logistical issue, let me know and I'll get you one. EVERYONE should have one of these.

So these are the 3 books that will save your life. Ok, so maybe only one TRULY has the power to save your life, but all 3 can be very beneficial and helpful. As long as you are disciplined enough to use them all correctly (especially #3).

Worship

Sing to the King Who is coming to reign
Glory to Jesus, the Lamb that was slain
Life and salvation His empire shall bring
And joy to the nations when Jesus is King

Come, let us sing a song
A song declaring that we belong to Jesus
He is all we need
Lift up a heart of praise
Sing now with voices raised to Jesus
Sing to the King

For His returning we watch and we pray
We will be ready the dawn of that day
We'll join in singing with all the redeemed
'Cause Satan is vanquished and my Jesus is King

Christ, be the center of our lives
Be the place we fix our eyes
Be the center of our lives

Some perspective from Star Wars

I've been keeping up on the development of a certain Star Wars game that I'm really excited about that will be coming out in the next year or two. Every Friday, the company developing the game releases something new that gives the gaming community some more information to make them drool. One week it might be the announcement of a new planet to explore, and next week maybe an article from a developer for a "behind the scenes" look at game development. I'm a frequent reader, but hardly post myself, since I don't really ever have anything useful to add.

However, I've noticed a trend that I'm sure applies to a lot of different areas, including my own life (more on that in a bit). Regardless of what the update is for the week, it seems anyone can find a reason to complain or ask for more. There is no sense of satisfaction. It seems that a lot of this gaming community feel entitled to "special" information that is always exactly what they were looking for... tailored specifically to them.

What often goes unnoticed though, is the fact that ANY update that gets made is totally at the discretion of the company. They don't HAVE to provide updates on a weekly basis... or at all. But they CHOOSE to provide updates to the community to allow them to be excited about the game, and to know that they, as a company, appreciate the community. They want the community to tell their friends about the game, to get them excited about it and to ultimately, look forward for the day when the game comes out and everyone can enjoy it.

These thoughts got me to thinking about my own life and my relationship to God. When things happen in my life that I'm not too particularly fond of, am I quick to tell God how things should have went, or am I thankful that there is a God who loves me who is with me throughout the rough time? Do I get excited about that God who sent his own Son to take my place, to pay for my debt so that I might someday enjoy life with God? Am I moved to the point that I tell, even implore others to follow the path I have taken and start living the Christian life? Am I actually looking forward to the day when Christ returns and this world is restored to the creation God had intended before sin and we spend eternity in His presence?

Or am I only excited or complaining about a computer game I may play for 6 months?

What I did last night...

Book Review: The Blue Parakeet

First off, let me set some ground rules. I highly respect Scot McKnight and what he does to teach and write. I subscribe to his blog and read it regularly. I believe him to be a strong man of God who is honestly seeking Christ in his daily life.

That being said, when I first heard about The Blue Parakeet, I had mixed feelings. I'm not really into the more "popular" Christianity books, and it seemed this one was being marketed that way. I'd heard a lot of people really liked it and it was offering fresh perspective on stale topics. I'd also heard some negative press from some trusted sources, so after someone recommended the book to me, I thought I should see what all the fuss was about.

To start off, what is a "blue parakeet?" Simply, blue parakeets are the passages in the bible or issues that we tend to shy away from or rationalize or apply strict rules to. McKnight lists some such topics on pages 13-17:

• Sabbath
• Foot Washing
  
• Do we conform the Bible to science, science to the Bible, or...?
• Should women be ordained? Can they preach and teach?
• What do we do about abortion?

McKnight's goal in this book is to get the reader to start asking questions about these topics and working them out. He also presents 3 ways to read the bible. 1.) Read and retrieve (literally applying every aspect of the biblical story onto your life), 2.) Read through tradition (follow the pattern of the church throughout history), or 3.) Read with tradition. McKnight's view expounded on in this book is the third method. As he says on page 34: "...we need to go back to the Bible so we can move forward through the church and speak God's Word in our days in our ways."

The first half of this book is devoted to laying out the framework for reading with tradition. The second half is devoted to practicing that technique on a current hot-topic: women in ministry.

The first half started off really quite nicely. He talked a lot about the bible as story, rather than just a rule book, promises, or a puzzle just to figure out. These are stories written by several different authors with different takes on the world that they lived in, yet still all tied into the grand narrative of the bible.

However, when we got out of how to read, and into how to interpret, that's where we began to part ways. On page 57, he details a bit about how it works:

In reference to Lev 25:35-38 --

You probably read this prohibition of interest the way I do: that was then, and this is now. Reading the Bible like this is reading the Bible as Story. It unfolds and propels us to live out the Bible in our day in our way.

In principle, this makes sense and I can agree with what he is saying, however where to draw the line becomes a messy ordeal. What can be considered a "blue parakeet?" I'm sure some would say Jesus Christ himself is a blue parakeet. In which case, do we say that the resurrection story is a that was then, and this is now topic? Honestly, I think a lot of my disagreement with McKnight comes from what he doesn't say versus what he does say. These statements need to be qualified... we need fences to guard against the central truths of Christianity that, if we aren't careful could be swept under a rug due to cultural differences between the biblical age and the present age.

As an example of this, check out page 120, beginning with a paragraph from an email he got from one of his blog readers:

How can we take a Bible that forbids sex outside of marriage, that was written in a time where there was little or no time that passed between sexual maturity and marriage, and apply it to today's situation? I see this as a significant challenge in ministering to the emerging generation, and I don't see it discussed much.

McKnight goes on to say that these are complicated topics, and that we need to be thinking about them more, but offers no defense for abstaining from premarital sex beyond the cultural trend of the biblical era where people married younger, so the sexual temptations single people in their 20s feel now weren't an issue then. So then, what is to stop someone from reading this, researching the passages discussed on premarital sex, decide that was then, and this is now, and engaging in premarital sex, citing that this was for cultural reasons so it doesn't apply to him/her. This is a very slippery slope.

To sum up my thoughts on the first half of the book, I did want to mention something I just thought was in poor taste, although it is his book so he can write what he wants. Chapter 8 is titled: "The Boring Chapter (on Missional Listening)." The subtitle reads: "What Does God Want to Happen to Listeners." In the first paragraph, he talks about his wife who found this chapter to be boring, more theoretical and thus, this is where the name came from. He even says that if the reader gets bored, they should skip to the next chapter. Did he just discount everything he wrote in this chapter? What is the point of the chapter if you don't even need to read it? The sheer fact that the chapter is about what the Bible calls us to do with our lives should be reason enough to read it, and deem it important.

The second half of the book was devoted to the debate of women taking leadership and teaching roles in the church. I don't really have much to say about this because I'm not sure how I feel about it. I do believe in gender roles (God creating men and women for specific purposes), however I don't think the box is closed in that their roles can be used cross-gender.

I will say, I was dissappointed in the scholarship of the book. I know that the type of book it is doesn't lend itself to having exhaustive exegesis behind it, but it was pretty darn light on biblical interpretation and exposition.

In summary, I appreciate the attempt by Scot McKnight to open up a fresh perspective on hot-topics in the church and how to approach them, however I was left wanting. I'd need to sit and talk with him personally to find out if my interpretation of what he was saying is actually what he was trying to get across. The problem is he doesn't offer any "this is what I'm NOT saying..." types of statements to belay such feelings.

I think that we should always be re-evaluating our faith and working to refine and stregthen what we believe, so I would say this book is worth reading for that. However, I would be careful who I tell to read it because of the implications for some who might not understand the context and take this to mean you can take or leave any part of the bible you want.

I've not given up

Don't worry, just because I haven't posted in a few days doesn't mean I'm gone for good... I've been swamped at work lately and haven't had much free time to write. For the next few weeks its going to be pretty light, but I hope to get back in a groove soon.