iHOPE

Pastor's Book Club: The Shack

  It has been awhile since I have had so many people asking me about a book. The Shack is one of those books that has been generating lots of 'buzz'.  Some people love it. Others hate it. For some, it helps deepen their understanding of God. Others think it is blasphemous.

  Sounds like a perfect choice for our last Pastor's Book Club selection!

  The story is an allegorical encounter between a man who has been crushed by tragedy and 'God'. It all takes place in a shack in northern Oregon and it is a story that will stay with you. Its very popular right now, so you should be able to pick up a copy in most bookstores. You can also pick it up next week at church for $9.

  At least one small group is reading it as well as several individuals. Pick up your own copy, read it and let's get together on Sunday, August 24 @ 7:00 to discuss it.

Elvis Has Left the Building- But He's Coming Back!

  The response for our next Pastor's Book Club selection, Velvet Elvis  has been terrific. In fact, we sold out of them on Sunday.

  Not to worry, more copies have been ordered and should be here by Sunday- actually, Friday for those who just can't wait.

  The format of Pastor's Book Club is simple:

• I select a book that we can all read together.
• People read it at their own speed on their schedule.
• We get together for an evening to discuss the book.

  The date for discussing Velvet Elvis is Sunday, July 20 @ 7:00 pm.

House of Stone- More on the Way

  The response for our first Pastor's Book Club choice The House of Stone, has been tremendous. In fact, we are sold out! Not to worry, more are on their way and will arrive sometime mid-week.

  We will discuss this book on Sunday evening, September 29 @ 7:00 pm (location to be announced later). Besides being a powerful story and a terrific introduction to what it meant to grow up in Rhodesia and live in Zimbabwe, The Stone House will be a great book to discuss. We will have two of our Zimbabwe delegation here that night and they can discuss first hand their own experiences. It will be a rich night.

Pastor's Book Club: Velvet Elvis

  Every once in awhile a book will sneak up on you. The book we are reading together right now as a Staff is one of those books. The title, Velvet Elvis doesn't exactly draw me to it or make me want to read it.  If the author wasn't Rob Bell, whose videos and articles have been very good, we wouldn't have chanced it. We did- and we all have been delighted with it. Mind you, it is not easy picking a book we all will like (it hardly ever happens), but this has become one of those rare books.
  We liked it so much that I decided to make it one of the choices for this summer's Pastor's Book Club. Copies are available on the bookshelf in the Welcome Area. Pick up a copy and see what you think. The Book Club blog will be ready soon and we can start to discuss it there as well as in person on Sunday, July 20.

The Pastor's Book Club Selection: House of Stone

  Summer is a great time for reading, so each year I suggest a few books for folks to read and then set a date for us to gather and talk about them. I call it The Pastor's Book Club (catchy, huh?).  While I try to pick books on a variety of topics to appeal to different tastes, the main criteria for a book selection is: I enjoyed reading it and want to discuss it with others!

  The first book I have selected is House of Stone by Christina Lamb. Its the true story of two people living in Zimbabwe- a white male farmer and a black female housekeeper. The story of their lives tells the story of Zimbabwe in a way that the headlines never could. If you have wanted to understand what is happening in Zimbabwe but get overwhelmed by all the names, dates and events, this book is a great pl ace to start. Its the story of real people caught up in events that are trying to live faithfully in the midst of events that are beyond their control.

    One reason for choosing this book is because we will have Wilbert Sayimani, a pastor from Zimbabwe with us. Wilbert is a friend and we spent some time together when I was in Zimbabwe a few years ago. He has been to New Hope before and I am delighted that we will get to spend some time with him.  We will begin with a discussion about the book, but I expect that we will expand our conversations to whatever topics might arise.

  The author, Christina Lamb has been banned from Zimbabwe because of past writings and entered the country at great risk to her own safety. The stories she tells are compelling and in the end, you feel like you know the people she highlights. House of Stone makes for great reading- and I learned a lot while reading it.  Some copies will be available at church for $18 (it retails for $24.95) and we will discuss it on Sunday evening, June 29. The exact place and time will be posted later.

  I'll announce the other two books later this week.

Faith & Science

  More and more headlines today have to do with the war between faith and science. To have one, we are led to believe, is to be hostile to the other.  Comments by some scientists and televangelists reinforce this notion that this is an 'either/or' kind of battle and that the other side (whichever it is) is to be treated with skepticism and hostility.

  As with most 'either/or'  scenarios. this is a case of a forced, false dichotomy. We don't need to choose faith over science or vice versa. There are plenty of respected scientists that have a deep and profound faith in God and there are plenty of theologians and ministers that have a great respect and appreciation for science. Since most of what gets published as 'news' today is by definition sensational, these viewpoints are rarely acknowledged which leaves most with the impression that there is a great war going on. 'Wars' and debates always make better headlines than discussions.

  About a year ago I  listed a couple books that I have found to be very helpful in the discussion between faith and science. They are The Language of God and God's Universe and I have included them again in the booklist on the left, 'Books Worth Reading'.   If you'd like to go beyond the headlines and the religious rantings that seem to dominate the airways, these books are a great place to start. 

 

"Dangerous Worship": pt. 2

  Mark Labberton's book, The Dangerous Act of Worship has me thinking about worship in new ways. One of the most challenging questions he uses to open  his book is, "Are we putting people to sleep in worship?"

  Usually that question conjures up someone who gets drowsy during a less-than-engaging sermon.  Mark's question goes deeper than that.  Here's how Mark puts it:

The crisis the church currently faces is that our individual and corporate worship do not produce the fruit of justice and righteousness that God seeks...The heart of the battle over worship is this:  our worship practices are separated from our call to justice and worse, foster the self-indulgent tendencies of our culture rather than nurturing the self-sacrificing life of the kingdom of God.  We are asleep. Nothing is more important than for us to wake up and practice the dangerous act of worship, living God's call to justice." (pp.22-23)

  So, is our worship lulling us to sleep by not waking us up to the reality of God's presence and passion for the world?  

"Dangerous Worship"

  One of the most interesting books I've read in 2008 is The Dangerous Act of Worship by Mark Labberton.  Mark is the Pastor at 1st  Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, a beacon for what a church can and should be for decades.  After reading this book, it is easy to see why.

  There has been a lot of conversation and controversy in the church over the last 30 years about whether the worship style should be Contemporary or Traditional. We have had some of the same conversations around New Hope.  It is a good question to wrestle with, but Labberton reminds us the the most important question is not the style of worship but the purpose of worship. 

  Here's a quote:

Somehow the God we name, the music we sing, the prayers we offer, and the Scripture we hear read and preached, has to call us deeper into God's heart and deeper into the world for which Christ died. (p.35)

  I'm convinced worship can be Contemporary, Traditional, Emergent, Blended or any number of different labels- and still be worship.  The real question of our worship is whether or not it helps to shape and form our lives so that we are better able to be God's people the rest of the week.

  More to come in the future, but all thoughts concerning worship are welcome.

 

The Will of God

  Yesterday, I referred to the book, The Will of God by Leslie Weatherhead.  Its a short, but profound little book that has helped me immensely.  With great wisdom and insight, Weatherhead helps discern the Will of God.  He states that there are actually three "wills" of God that we need to take into consideration:

1. The Original Will of God refers to the world as God originally intended it. In that world, there was no evil or suffering.  There was no disease and possibly no death (the last  is up for debate since we are created beings and the essence of being created is that we are limited and finite).
2. The Ultimate Will of God refers to the world as God will bring through the final consummation. In the Ultimate Will of God, there will be no tears, sorrow or death.  This is the world that will come with Jesus' return and is original and true focus of Advent each year.

  Both of those sound wonderful.  Unfornately, we don't live there.  We live in what is called, the Provisional Will of God.  The world we live in is not the one that was planned.  Things do not go according to plan. Disease happens.  Accidents happen. Catastrophes happen.  We don't need to blame God as if God was the architect of all the evil and suffering in the world.  We live in a world that does not proceed by God's original will.  That is why Jesus needed to come in the first place.

  It is in the Provisional Will of God that we have to make hard choices.  Sometimes none of the choices are good ones.  Sometimes we have to make do with the best of bad choices.

  I won't re-hash the sermon or try to summarize the entire book.  If you are interested, I have placed it over in the left column under "Books Worth Reading".  It seems to only be in available in the large print edition (more evidence of the Provisional Will of God- there will be no need for 'large print' editions in heaven.  Then again, there probably won't be a need for a book that tries to explain the Will of God, either!), but you may be able to find it in the library.   

Inspiring Reading: Suggestions

  After I posted some suggestions for books on inspirational people, I received this email reminding me of these books about and by John Wooden:

Thanks for posting the recommended books on your blog. One person I greatly admire is John Wooden, former UCLA coach. He is an amazing individual and even personally responded with a hand-written note to a letter I wrote him several years ago. There are many books about him out there, here are some that I’ve read:

• Wooden
• They Call Me Coach
• My Personal Best
• Coach Wooden One-on-One
• Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court
• Be Quick But Don’t Hurry
• Beyond Success: The 15 Secrets to Effective Leadership and Life
• Quotable Wooden
• Rick Reilly also wrote an excellent column about him a while back:

http://www.christianstoriesonline.com/John_Wooden_story/

Any more suggestions?