Book Review: Raising Dad by Thom & Art Rainer

Let me just say first off: Great book! I picked this up on Father’s Day 2009 but just finished it this last week (March 2009). Not that it was hard to read, or long, just that I tend to bog down reading 5-6 books at a time.

I’m the father of three sons so this book touched my heart in a special way, but I believe it is a good book for any father – or mother, or son, or daughter! – to read. The last chapter alone is extremely insightful – The Lessons of a Dad: 12 Lessons of Fatherhood.

Both Thom and Art write smoothly and creatively, keeping your attention as they share their stories.

The brutal honesty of Thom is especially attention-grabbing. Art relates a story and then Thom gives his memories of the same story, revealing that sons tend to remember the good more than the not-so-good while dads tend to be opposite.

A phrase from another author echoed through my mind as I read Thom’s take on not being home much during the raising of his three sons - “success at work and failure at home is total failure.” (paraphrase from Patrick Morley). But again, Thom feels he should have been home more but Art remembers him being home plenty, and I think that Art is right. Thom was involved in his sons lives in such a way that they have grown to be godly men and will pass on a legacy to their own sons that will be a tremendous blessing to them. God will certainly be showing love to many generations of Rainers (see Exodus 20:6).

The title of this book is extremely accurate. We tend to think that, as fathers, we are raising our children, but the truth is that they are raising us! Our children can bring out the best and worst in us as fathers. But because of the mercy and grace of God given to us through Christ Jesus, the best can far, far outweigh the worst, as it has in the Rainer family and as I hope it does in my family.

Highly recommended!

Age

I’m turning a year older today. My youngest son turned a year older on Friday. So, naturally (at least to me), I was thinking about age. As I’ve reached my mid-forties, I am pleasantly surprised to find that I feel better now than I have ever felt before, physically and otherwise. I guess it has something to do with eating better, taking better care of my body by exercising, and generally enjoying life – a lot – because of my beautiful (and younger) wife and my three sons.

We were talking about age and heaven in my oldest son’s religion class this past week. The question usually comes up in similar contexts – what age will we be in heaven? Will we age? Will we get older? What will we look like?

All very good questions to which I do not have very good answers.

But hey, this is not a new question. St. Paul was asked this question and he gave it a “kind of” answer in 1 Corinthians 15. I say “kind of” because he says it is “foolish,” and leaves it at that. I think that it is “foolish” in the context of the reason the question was asked – the idea that there was actually no resurrection. Even St. Paul, though, reveals he doesn’t know the answer to the question.

How about St. John? Maybe he has the answer?

“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2).

Nope, St. John doesn’t know either.

So I would say we are free to speculate but that’s about all we can do. I would also say we should not worry about it. In 1 Corinthians 13 St. Paul talks about being “fully known” and I think it means much more than just “I will know St. Paul and will be known by my family, etc.” But I think part of it is that we will recognize each other, so I will know my sons in heaven, they will know me, etc..

But again, it will be so much more and beyond mere recognition.

Yes, birthdays can make you stop and think about age and aging. That’s what I’m thinking about today, a little bit. But I will also be thinking about being with my wife and boys, celebrating life and being happy that we’re together. We worshipped together last night with about 50 other Redeemer family members and are enjoying our Sabbath rest today as the gift of God that it is.

Thank you for your birthday wishes

as well as your continue prayers and support. I give thanks to God for you!

©2009 True Men Ministries

LiveJournal Tags: Christian,birthday,age,aging,getting old,heaven,Jesus

Book Review: Coffeehouse Theology by Ed Cyzewski

I received this book as part of NavPress' free book for review program. But I would have picked it up for myself anyway just because of the title.

Cyzewski presents a paradigm for Christians to "work" and "live" their theology in the post-modern world. I first heard the word "post-modern" from Len Sweet, who wrote a blurb for this book, and you can see Sweet's influence here.

I also should – sheepishly – admit that it took me a lot longer to read this book than I originally thought it would. But I think that’s a testament to the meat of Cyzewski’s writing more than anything else. This isn’t a “fluff” piece by any stretch.

“Coffeehouse Theology” made me think about my faith in the context of the world I live in. For a very long time I lived my Christian faith without giving much thought to other Christians or other people.

“Contextual Theology” as a concept reminded me of something I learned about during my own seminary days, although we didn’t call it that. It’s the concept of “sitz im leben” or “setting in life.” It is an idea that, when taken too far, removes God as the immediate author of Scripture. “Coffeehouse Theology” doesn’t do that. Instead, it takes the idea that the Bible was written in a specific time and place and presents it as an important part of how Christians live their lives in their own “specific time and place.”

After I closed the book when I finished reading, the first thought that came to mind was that I hope all Christians will develop contextual theology. We live in a very diverse world and if we are going to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with other people, we need to know something about other people and we’re going to need lots of help from other Christians.

Another thought came to mind as I was reading - “why re-invent the wheel?” It would be presumptuous boarding on arrogance to think that we as Christians today are in a unique situation. But what Solomon said is still true today – there isn’t anything new under the sun. We can learn something from what the people of God were dealing with in the past. It helps us understand Scripture and it will help us formulate the words of our message of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I enjoyed this book and recommend it.

Book Review: Walking With God by John Eldredge

I picked this up last Autumn and finally finished it last night. But that isn't because it was a "difficult or "long" read. This is basically a summary of John's journal entries for one year. It is a good exercise to write down what you say to God, because it seems that it is easier for some people to hear God. I tried it, at the suggestion of John early in this book, and it does work for me.

Too often, as a Christian I "know" that God hears my prayers, but I rarely would actually, actively, listen for God to answer my prayers. I know He answers through His Word, through the creation - to a lesser extent - and through other people and situations. But now I'm listening more intently and I've found that God is there, speaking to me.

Writing that last sentence feels kind of weird for a mainline conservative protestant like me, but it is also liberating in some way.

If you like John's books, definitely pick this one up.

The Bible

As a collection of books, the Bible has been around for a long time. There are few texts that can compete with the age of the Bible, and those that can are similar to the Bible in content and style.

Some have dismissed the Bible as merely a mythology, much like, I presume, the Greek mythology and Egyptian mythology that I enjoy reading so much about and have since taking a wonderful class from a wonderful teacher in high school.

Some people have dismissed Christianity because of some of the things they have read in the Bible such as the violence in Judges, the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, and the seemingly cannibalistic practice of the Lord's Supper (Eucharist).

Ok, I can appreciate that. The Bible is violent, especially the Old Testament. And if I had picked up John chapter six without reading anything else in the Bible, I would think that's weird, too.

But that's the key. Like any book, the Bible has to be taken as a whole. Imagine picking up Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and just start reading at page 313. Or Dickens' "The Tale of Two Cities" at page 286. Imagine walking into the movie "Runaway Bride" and watching the hair coloring scene and then leaving because you didn't want to see a movie about a beauty parlor run by vindictive women.

The Bible is an incredibly complex piece of literature. It is unlike anything else ever written in the modern era. It was written by over forty different men and women over a span of 1500 years. It covers topics as diverse as animal sacrifice and the courting of a wife.

The Bible is also incredibly consistent when you understand what it is for, what it's purpose is. All literature has a purpose. The stories of Greek Mythology explain how the world got to the way it is (was) in the eyes of ancient Greeks. Hellers' "Catch-22" is a story revealing the insanity of some bureaucratic thinking.

The Bible also has a purpose. It's purpose is somewhat simple. Maybe too simple to be accepted more widely. The Bible's purpose is to show how much God loves us and to what lengths He goes to bring us that love.

The Bible seems mythic. I agree. It does. The reason is because it is mythic. Christianity is a myth that also happens to be true. These two concepts - myth and truth - are not mutually exclusive.

This is what J.R.R. Tolkien told C.S. Lewis and it struck a chord in Lewis. So much so that C. S. Lewis started looking at the Bible and the Christian faith in a different way. Lewis went on to become one of the great Christian writers of the 20th Century.

But Lewis wasn't convinced solely by what he read in the Bible. Lewis was influenced and convinced by his friends, most notable of which was J.R.R. Tolkien, and what they shared with him that they found in the Bible.

I won't argue about the Bible. It is what it is. It has been taken apart, put back together again, and debated and argued for centuries. It can be argued and defended by people much smarter than me.

What I can do is live my life by what I've read in the pages of the Bible. No, I'm not going to smite the Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. But I will love my neighbor, love my enemies, honor my father and mother, and tell the Good News about Jesus.

In the pages of the Bible are fantastic stories of intrigue, adventure and love. In the pages of the Bible are some of the greatest works of poetry ever written. But more importantly for me, I've found my life in the pages of the Bible. I've found my purpose in these pages. I've found a God who moved heaven and earth to save me and who loves me without condition.

But it wasn't solely in the pages of the Bible. It was significant men and women who shared their own lives with me, lives lived according to what they read in the Bible. People like Hazel Fish, John Zellmer, Pam King, Len Blonski, Jeff Meyer, Steve Kline, Mark Shaltanis, Kurt Taylor, Paul Pett, Nancy Dickerhoff and a slew of others.

Yes, the Bible is an incredible book. It is an old book. But it is amazing and wonderful what the Bible can do in the lives and through the lives of people.

How To Share Jesus Christ

Two songs have been haunting me this past week. U2's "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and REM's "Losing My Religion."

Over the past few weeks, I've been having an email conversation with two people that have made me question how to share my faith in Jesus. One is a non-Christian who took offense with what this person thinks is my lack of concern over two-thirds of the population of the planet who do not believe in Jesus Christ. This person sees me as arrogant to believe that I have the true religion and he and two-thirds of the world do not.

The other person professes to be a Christian but is also an active homosexual. This person found condemnation in what I would call mainline Christian churches but found a Christian church that accepts homosexuality as a personal choice and not a sin. Again, this person thinks that I'm arrogant and unloving and "cherry-picking" my Biblical texts to support my theology against homosexuality.

Then I heard an interview on the Hugh Hewitt radio show Thursday with William Lobdell. A friend of Hewitt, he came to faith in Christ through Hewitt's sharing his faith with him. He then became the religion reporter for the LA Times. After covering the clergy-abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church he, in his words, "lost his religion." He is now a professed deist bordering on atheism.

What really started me thinking was Lobdell's comment that after losing his religion, he was "at peace with it."

I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I believe that I am a sinner. I believe that Jesus Christ lived the perfect life, died on a cross to pay the price for my sin and rose from the dead on the third day to give me eternal life. I believe that Jesus did all this for "the world" so that whoever believes in Him (has faith in Him) will be saved and have eternal life.

I also believe that I have a mandate from Jesus Christ to "go into all the world and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28).

But this past week I've been thinking hard about - and struggling with - how to do that.

How do you share your faith in Jesus Christ and "make disciples" with people who are at peace with what they believe and it doesn't include Jesus? They know about Jesus, they have heard about Him. But they also know about Christians and have a very low opinion of most of them as fanatical, hypocritical, and some criminal. How do you reach a person who doesn't want anything to do with Jesus because a Jesus follower lies, cheats, and commits crimes against children?

I've been taught - and have taught - that people who don't know Jesus as their savior "still haven't found what" they are "looking for." But what if that isn't true? What if they have found what they are looking for in something else other than Jesus? My approach to evangelism (sharing Jesus) has been based on the premise that Jesus Christ will be exactly what people have been searching for all their lives and haven't found. That Jesus will be the source of the peace and hope that they've been looking for.

But what if they've found that peace and hope in something or someone else? This is a distinct possibility that I never acknowledged before.

This has to be dealt with in how I share Jesus Christ with the world. That other people are not going to think that I have the Truth they've been searching for but haven't found.

I believe that it is true, that I actually do have the Truth that they have been searching for, but that can't be my opening line!

I think that First Century Christians had some things a little easier. Practically no one had even heard of Jesus Christ when those Christians began sharing their own faith with them.

But today, in Twenty-First Century America, practically everyone has heard of Jesus. Everyone has at least heard the name of Jesus (although it is mostly as a curse word). And they simply don't care to have anything to do with the message of Jesus Christ. Not because of the message of peace and love and forgiveness, but because of the messengers who appear to not live that kind of life.

I've got my work cut out for me. I not only have to work against people's unbelief, but also their impression of Christians such as sick pastors who abuse children, members of churches who say that God hates homosexuals and liberals, and Christians who don't live the Christian life.

Because I believe that God in omniscient and omnipotent, I believe that God anticipated this very challenging era that I find myself living in. As such, I believe He has raised up our generation of disciples of Jesus "for such a time as this." He has given me and my brothers and sisters in Christ (the Church) the Word, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the reasonable intelligence to figure out the best way to share our faith and make disciples of people who still haven't found what they are looking for (even though they think they have) and have lost their religion.

Perspective

I've been thinking about perspective while sitting at home battling the flu.

Yesterday, I came face-to-face with the reality of the California budget crisis. In my office was a person directly effected by the fact that the State of California wasn't sending out promised checks to help sustain state agencies. No matter what you think about the politics of this, it is more than just simple politics.

Also yesterday, totally unrelated to the state budget stuff, I received an email about a recent blog I wrote. It was eye-opening. It made me realize that I tend to be narrow-focused about things, especially when I write. There is a wider reality out there. I tend to live in a narrow, little world. I have my circle of friends who think like I do. I read magazines and books that match my philosophies. I even eat the same foods over and over again, rarely venturing into new things.

Jesus Christ can teach me something about expanding my horizons. He visited a wide variety of people, ate with them, and taught them the Truth. He died for the whole world in all its diverseness.

A friend of mine refers to the different denominations of Christianity as "tribes." I like that. It portrays the idea that while we are all different we do have some commonalities.

But there is also the fact that in the diverseness of Christianity we have many people at different places on the faith walk while being in the same faith.

The Truth is the Truth and it never changes - it is the same yesterday, today and forever. But it touches and shapes us in different ways and at different times because we are all different.

For me, the most important thing is to keep the channels of communication open. Keep talking. Keep listening, which may be even more important.