Tag Archives: books and blogs

Rethinking Mission Work

Leave a reply

On Fridays, I sometimes recommend other blogs that I think have some especially worthwhile reading. I want to steer you over to Mark Woodward’s blog today. He has done an insightful series called “Rethinking Mission Work.” It’s an analysis of how we in the churches of Christ have selected and funded missionaries and mission efforts. I don’t agree with everything he says, but I do find the discussion to be very timely. You can find the series here:

Besides reading the blog on Mark’s site, you can join in on a post-by-post analysis of this series which Jay Guin is leading over on his site. You’ll find more discussion on Jay’s blog:

Happy reading, folks!

For those keeping score at home, I lifted the image straight from Mark Woodward’s blog.

Short-term mission resources

2 Replies

I have a lot of hesitancy when it comes to short-term missions. Seems like everyone is doing them these days. Some churches have basically replaced long-term missions with short-term ones, which is a mistake, in my opinion. Many short-term efforts end up being little more than group vacations for those that go. While education isn’t always the answer, it can’t hurt, either.

That’s why I was pleased to find a number of resources from David LIvermore. He’s written several books on Cultural Intelligence that are generally helpful. He also has a book called Serving With Eyes Wide Open which is specifically about short-term missions.

While buying the book would be an excellent idea for everyone involved in short-term missions, there are resources on Livermore’s site that can be read for free. At the bottom of the page about this book, there are a number of articles. I especially recommend:
Leave Your Baggage at Home
Ten Things I Hate About STM
Head Over Heels for Short-Term Missions

We’ll get back to our pacifism discussion next week. Happy reading!

Book Review: A Common Bond

Leave a reply

Paula Harrington was gracious enough to send me an electronic copy of her new book A Common Bond for me to read and review. I meant to review this on Friday, when I often do book reviews, but couldn’t come up with the file on Friday! Paula generously sent me another copy and now I’m ready to write!

Paula received submissions from a number of men who have preached in the churches of Christ. Several of them are well known; most have preached for decades. In the book, they discuss things like sermon preparation, job interviews, time management, etc. The book is full of humor, but includes many serious insights and practical suggestions.

Reading the book reminds me of the times I’ve gotten to swap stories with other preachers (and other Christians who aren’t preachers). It’s the sort of thing that goes on at workshops and lectureships around the country.

The material found in this book will be especially useful to those looking at going into the ministry and those who haven’t been in ministry long. It will also be useful to church leaders who oversee the work of ministers as it gives great “behind the scenes” looks into a minister’s life. And I think the book can be enjoyed by all.

The greatest thing that shines through in this book is the love these men have for what they do. That in and of itself is a treasure for our brotherhood. Some men grow tired of ministry, others grow cynical about its role in the church. Reading this book can help restore your faith in these men who serve others in this way.

Paula did a previous book on preachers’ wives; if you can find a copy of it, the two would make a great companion set. I have high hopes that she will continue these compilations, doing similar works on elders, missionaries, Bible class teachers, etc.

I wasn’t asked to write a positive review, just an honest one. I’ve done my best to do that.

To Change The World by James Davison Hunter

6 Replies

Others have written about James Davison Hunter’s To Change The World, enough so that I almost feel like the late-comer to the party. Let me encourage you, for example, to read through Jay Guin’s analysis of the book.

Still, I feel that Hunter’s subject matter aligns so closely with matters near and dear to my heart (and oft written about in this blog), that I’d like to take some time to look at this book. Today I’ll do a bit of a review, or at least an overview. Later I’ll examine some of the ideas in a closer way.

The full title of the book is To Change The World: The Irony, Tragedy and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World. The title is intended as a bit of irony, mainly because Hunter will argue that Christians can’t change the world without being changed by the world in the process. He contends that the world is changed not only through ideas (worldview) but also through elites, networks, technology, and new institutions. World-changing implies power, power that typically is defined in terms of conquest and domination. When power is seen primarily in terms of political domination, it becomes the opposite of what Christians are called to be.

Hunter analyzes three types of Christian politics: the Christian right, the Christian left and the neo-Anabaptists. He calls these views toward culture, respectively, “defensive against,” “relevance to,” and “purity from.” He sees these groups as utilizing ineffective means for engaging culture.

Hunter argues that the principal issues to be addressed are difference and dissolution: how do we relate to a world that is not our world and how do we deal with the “deconstruction of the most basic assumptions about reality.” (p. 205) The solution that Hunter proposes is “faithful presence.” Using Jeremiah 29:4-7 as his textual base, Hunter says that Christians should maintain their distinctiveness but do it in a way that serves the common good. He observes,

“In short, commitment to the new city commons is a commitment of the community of faith to the highest ideals and practices of human flourishing in a pluralistic world.” (p. 279)

In the end, Hunter says that Christians shouldn’t worry about changing the world, because the world, and history, cannot be controlled and managed. He states,

“To be sure, Christianity is not, first and foremost, about establishing righteousness or creating good values or securing justice or making peace in the world. … But for Christians, these are all secondary to the primary good of God himself and the primary task of worshipping him and honoring him in all they do.” (pp.285-286)

Hunter says that Christians won’t create a perfect world, but will help to make the world a little bit better.

Chapter abstracts of the book can be found on Hunter’s website.

B&B Friday: Preacher’s Pen

4 Replies

It’s Friday again, a good time to recommend a book or a blog. Let’s make it a blog again. Well, let’s make it a multi-featured website again.

Chris Gallagher has assembled a collection of resources for Christians at his Preacher’s Pen website. Sure, there’s a blog on the site, but that’s merely the tip of the iceberg. The site also contains e-books, sermon outlines, slide presentations to accompany sermons, and a special series called “Stop Doing Church.”

The site name might make you think these resources are only for preachers, but that’s not the case. Anyone can benefit from the writings and studies Gallagher has made available. I’d encourage you to take some time and look around the site.