This Easter join a spiritual adventure with Gabe Lyons and the NEXT CHRISTIANS.

Gabe Lyons begins his new book, Next Christians: The Good News About the End of Christian America (2010), with the startling confession that several years ago that he was "embarrassed to call myself Christian" (3). He and Dave Kinneman described the source of this embarrassment in their groundbreaking book UnChristian: What a New Generation Thinks About Christianity (2007). Next Christians is Lyons attempt to offer a compelling vision for how the church can reform itself as it learns from the next generations of Christians. This book seeks to answer three questions that Lyons has been chewing on in subsequent years: what does mission look like in America in the twenty-first century, how should the message of the Gospel go forward, and what does it mean to be a Christian in a world disenchanted with our movement (4)?

Interestingly, Lyons begins Next Christians with the death of Jerry Falwell. This marked for him the high-water mark of Christian influence, however polarizing, on what some described as a "Christian America." This moment in history may have announced the end of Christian America, but my hunch is that its death was first announced when President Dwight Eisenhower quipped "this country is founded on a deeply held religious faith and I don't care what it is." Lyons then describes the ways that most Christians interact with the culture in contemporary America. The first three groups Lyons describes are separatists who "take seriously Jesus' call to bring their light into the world, even if it means judging (insiders), confronting (culture warriors), and proselytizing (evangelizers) those outside conservative Christian religion" (37). Contrasted to the separatists are cultural Christians who "don't obsess about the afterlife and generally believe that heaven is reserved for everyone except the awful folks" (42). The first group of cultural Christians are blenders who value the faith of their fathers and mothers and yet attempt to blend with the cultural mainstream. Another group, the philanthropists, do the good work of "serving the needs of their community" (42). Both blenders and philanthropists find it hard to state in a compelling way how following Jesus influences their words and deeds. In some ways these chapters are a fresh reworking of H. Richard Neibuhr's classic book Christ and Culture (1956) with its typologies of Christ against, of, and above culture; Christ and culture in paradox; and finally, Christ transforming culture. Where Lyons differs with Neibuhr is the appeal of his book. Lyons is writing to beckon the church to abandon the attitudes described above and move into a practice of restoration already being practiced among the next generation.

Restorers think that "telling others about Jesus is important" and they see their mission as "infusing the world with beauty, grace, justice, and love" (46). In response to the brokenness of this world they envision the world that "ought" to be and work diligently to heal the earth's brokenness until Christ returns. Lyons slows down his fast moving critique of Christian America at this point to describe the mindset of the restorers he finds in the coming generation. They are marked by being provoked but not offended, creators not critics, called not employed, grounded not distracted, in community and not alone, and finally countercultural and not relevant. In each of these chapters Lyons opens with a personal witness of someone who exemplifies one of the above statements, shows how their stance differs from the previous generational types, and then offers several hallmarks that serve as guidelines for reorienting our thinking in each of these arenas. The chapter that really invited me into the world of the restorers was on being "Called, Not Employed." Lyons offers us seven channels of cultural influence (media, education, arts & entertainment, business, government, social sector, and the church) and suggests that we consciously begin to see ourselves living and working as practicing Christians in these places. One of the missing pieces in the spiritual formation of students in my tribe, the United Methodists, is discerning a sense of calling. Far too often we associate the word "call" exclusively to the life of ordained clergy. Lyons offers a helpful corrective that challenges each of us to see our life's work as having kingdom consequences.

Lyons closes Next Christians with a call to "First Things." The first thing we need to pay attention is "recovering the gospel" as the center of every thing we say and do. The second things of "outreach methods, good deeds, social justice, cultural engagement theory, church models, environment stewardship, career paths, and even the negative perceptions of Christianity" are predicated on paying attention to the first thing. To adjust these second things without centering on the good news of Jesus Christ will look more like the proverbial rearranging of deck chairs on the Titanic. When we pay attention Jesus and center our lives on the "power of the ought" to be in God's world then something truly new will break out in our midst. Then we will be living in Lyons paraphrase of Jesus' ministry announcement in Luke's gospel: "enough of what is, I see things in terms of what ought to be, and I'm here to do something about it" (204). Now that is an adventure worth pursuing. Buy the book and join the journey of following Jesus with the Next Christians.

You can download the first chapter of Next Christians at scibd. I received a copy of Next Christians for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Posted via email from allen bingham's posterous

Struggling with God's purpose for your life? Mark Batterson's SOULPRINT will help you find the way.

Mark Batterson states in SOULPRINT that as a former athlete "the older I get, the better I was" (59). And of course I want to laugh at him, but I know myself too well. I may not have been that high school jock, but I have those touchstones in my life where "the better I was" seems superior to "the me I am." Batterson challenges us to face this reality head on and decide that "the better I was" and "the me that I am" are nothing compared to what God wants for me. Through the story of David, Israel's great king and poet, he reminds each of us that "we are God's masterpiece, created anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things God planned for us long ago" (Ephesians 2:10, NLT).

David's journey is marked by moments of decision: do I wear King Saul's armor or trust my experience with stones and a sling, do I trust that my present skills with a sling and harp for future will honor God and bless people in the future, am I marking moments of victory by carrying Goliath's armor (all 125 pounds of it) with me wherever I go, am I becoming the person others or God wants me to be, can I use moments of crazy embarrassing dancing for God's glory or be mired in fear, will I allow God to take my weakness and sinfulness and use it for glorious purposes, and finally, can I trust God will establish in me a legacy with plan and purpose? These questions mark the journey that Mark Batterson takes us on in SOULPRINT ... along the way he sprinkles in marvelous moments of God's grace permeating the lives of Jesus followers across the centuries.

The heart of Soulprint is found in five chapters. The first three are positive steps for discovering moments in your personal past where a God destiny was being birthed. Do not glide quickly past these chapters and pay careful attention to the creation of a life altar to mark these moments for yourself and others around you. As I continue to pay attention to appreciative moments and character strengths in myself and others I especially found Batterson's two chapters on dealing with embarrassment and sinfulness to be gems. I remember moments when I was made the fool and now I realize how those moments also set me free from the fear of failure. Realizing how God can take my biggest moral failures, which often arose out of my greatest personal strengths, and forgive me and set me free for future work is a tremendous healing for me.

Included in SOULPRINT is a good seven session study guide and the opening chapter of PRIMAL, another great book by Mark Batterson. Find the first chapter of SOULPRINT here and a videoclip here. This book is a definite buy!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. 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.”

Posted via email from allen bingham's posterous

Samuel Chand's CRACKING YOUR CHURCH'S CULTURE CODE reminds us of what we already know (and often forget) about organizations

One of my mentors encouraged me to launch my ministry in every church with a study of John's letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor. I baulked at opening ministry with I percieved as a can of worms and then something hit me. These letters were written to the angels of the seven churches! Intuitively I knew that every organization I had worked with had a sense, an ethos, that was often hard to get a handle on and yet crucial to its function (or dysfunction!). My mentor was inviting me to pay attention to that ethos as I envisioned ministry in a new setting.

Samuel Chand's recent book, Cracking Your Church's Culture Code: Seven Keys to Unleashing Vision and Inspiration (Jossey-Bass, 2011), has brought greater clarity to my intuitive hunches about a church's ethos. Chand quickly challenges the reader to understand that culture is king when it comes to leading an organization. Your leadership has less sway than the inspiring or toxic culture that you swim in within your church. The unnoticed and unexamined cultural code will rise up to challenge every change needed by the organization, so pay attention to Chand's discerning exercises for revealing and changing the code for multiplied benefits. He uses the acronym CULTURE (control, undersanding, leadership, trust, unafraid, responsive, and execution) to help the reader think broadly about the cultural ethos of their organization.

The heart of the book centers on the chapters "Vocabulary Defines Culture" and "Change Starts with Me." Our vocabulary shapes the environment which we lead. If we describe everything in negative terms, then we find negative results. I have learned that the opposite is true as well. Chand helped me understand that I have to examine every piece and source of communication for the words that hold an organization from realizing its potential. The culture code is strong and must be addressed on multiple fronts honest communication, deep listening, naming the unknown in "some people say," and offering real affirmations as the church moves forward. The challenging reminder that I can only change myself is braced by a helpful section on how to leave gracefully when your gifts and strengths are not aligned with that of the organization's cultural code. This section of the book is pure gold and I wish I had read it sooner!

Cracking Your Church's Culture Code should be required reading for every pastor. And pastors should pass their copy on to other leaders in their congregations. Every community, business, enterprise, and organization has a "culture code" and not paying attention to the code inevitably leads to ruin.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the above book for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. 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.”

Posted via email from allen bingham's ministry posterous

David Platt's RADICAL ... a call to radical obedience to God and a rejection of the American Dream. You've been warned!

Sometimes you just want to sit in your rocking chair and sometimes God put someone in your path to rock your world. Recently, some young adults talked with me about a study that was rocking their world based on David Platt's book RADICAL: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream. I acquired a copy to check out their excitement and nearly fell out of my Kennedy rocker.

Each of the opening chapters of RADICAL begin with a powerful story out of Platt's experiences among populations under severe persecution. He reflects on the contrast between their hunger for God's word and the typical person sitting and soaking in the pews of American churches. Platt lays it on the line as he described a weekend visit with a church that spent more time celebrating their American patriotism and promising "we will continue to send you a check so that we don't have to go there ourselves" (63). A page later Platt sums up his frustration with this bold claim: "God has created each of us to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, and I propose that anything less than radical devotion to this purpose in unbiblical Christianity" (65). 

This unbiblical Christianity, an oxymoron if there ever was one, is characterized by "assigning the obligations of Christianity to a few while keeping the privileges of Christianity of us all" with a dismissive "I'm not called" from the pews (73, emphasis in original). The privilege of "enjoying God's grace" must be coupled with the obligation to "extend God's glory" and anything less is what Bonhoeffer called cheap grace. The balance of RADICAL reminds us of our grounding as Christians and posits an urgency for fulfilling the great commandment to carry the message of God's love made known in Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.

Platt closes RADICAL with a challenging experiment.  For one year would we commit ourselves to: praying for the entire world, read through the entire Word, sacrifice our money for a specific purpose, spend a week in another context, and commit ourselves to being part of a multiplying community of faith. Platt labels this radical obedience and the claim made on our lives by Jesus demands singular devotion to this mission.

I admit to approaching the book with some skepticism. Over the last two decades I purchased numerous books that promised to change my thinking about the church, grow my spiritual leadership, or show how my theology was out of sync. Most of the time those books made it to the used book store within weeks. By the time my copy of RADICAL makes it to the used book store I hope it will have passed through numerous hands ... buy this book, settle into your rocker, and be prepared to bolt out of it into a RADICAL life devoted to God's soon-coming kingdom.

Posted via email from allen bingham's posterous