Redemption

 I’m enjoying this book on counseling: Redemption by Mike Wilkerson (Wheaton: Crossway, 2011). In it, Wilkerson explains how the gospel kills our idols and heals our wounds.  I appreciate this book because it shows first of all that people really deal with some terrible suffering and secondly it shows that the redemption Jesus accomplished has everything to do with our wounds, sins, and tears.  This is where theory and practice meet: the truths of the gospel have everything to do with the Christian in the valley in the shadow of death.

“..What if your anguish stems from the slavery of addiction?  Here too it may get worse before it gets better.  But that doesn’t mean God is absent; it means he is at war against the gods that have enslaved you.  It means the bonds of slavery have been tied so tightly that they’ve cut into your skin and can’t be removed without some bleeding.  Your slave masters are not only outside you, in the temptations of the world; they are also within you, wherever you have allowed those temptations to bond with your sinful desires.”

“You must still cry out to God in faith for deliverance.  Yet, as you are brutally honest about your anguish, you must equally be honest about your sin.  You must know that you are in the midst of a war.  Expect death and pain in the process because you have to put sin to death by the Spirit (Rom. 8:13).  But also expect new life, for those who die with Christ also rise with him (Rom. 6:8).  What this means is that your redemption is as certain as his resurrection.”

I recommend this book for any serious Christian who deals with deep scars or who knows other scarred Christians who need gospel centered encouragement.  Pastors, elders, and other Christian leaders who counsel people will want to read this for sure.  There are reflection questions, Scripture references, and “for further study” resources at the end of each chapter.  Redemption is just under 200 pages, and most Christians should be able to work through the book one chapter at a time.  This may be a good book for a small group discussion setting.  I doubt anyone will regret reading this; in fact, I’m certain many will read it again and again.

shane lems

Operation Gravedigger: Bringing Down the Church

This is one outstanding book: Os Guinness’ The Last Christian on Earth (formerly published as The Gravedigger File).  The book is something like Screwtape Letters plus David Wells plus Christless Christianity plus William Willimon.  With his usually sharp and penetrating style, Guinness uses a series of fictional email memos to show how the Western church has been weakened, watered down, and neutered in the last 200-300 years.  Here are a few quotes from one anti-Christian agent to another happily describing some effects of Operation Gravedigger, which they hope will eventually mean the demise of the church in the Western world.

“[The anti-Christian strategy of Operation Gravedigger] may be stated like this: the Christian faith contributed to the rise of the modern world, but the Christian faith has been undermined by the modern world it helped to create.  The Christian faith thus becomes its own gravedigger” (p. 21).

“The church contributed to the creation of the modern world.  Soon she was committed to that world without reservation.  Before long she was hopelessly contaminated – in the world and up to her neck” (p. 32).

“The Christianization of Rome led to the Romanization of the Christian faith and away from the way of Jesus” (p. 34).

“With many Christians little or no different from their ‘pagan neighbors,’ much of American Christendom is more modern and more American than it is any longer decisively Christian” (p. 55).

I’ll no doubt come back to this book in the future.  For now, I do think it is a must read for those of you who, like me, lament the worldliness of the American church.  If a church talks, looks, sings, thinks, and acts like the world, is it still a church?

Please, get this book!

shane lems

Contentment and Bioethics

 One thing I appreciate about David VanDrunen’s book on bioethics is the section on virtue in the Christian life.  Here’s one part worth underscoring.

“The virtue of contentment is crucial for bioethics in large part because bioethical questions usually emerge as a result of dissatisfaction with our current state of affairs.  Bioethics concerns things that we desire but lack (such as children or health) and concerns the difficult moral questions that arise from possible solutions. 

Given our discussion, the Christian’s first responsibility in such circumstances is to learn contentment in whatever condition she experiences (such as infertility or illness), accepting that God may not will to relieve her from it.  Then, from this perspective of contentment, the Christian should consider morally permissible ways to remedy her condition.  I would argue, moreover, that true contentment may significantly alter our perspective on the dilemmas we face and it may even persuade us, at times, that remaining in our undesired condition is the most ethically satisfying decision” (p. 90).

This book is highly recommended: Bioethics and the Christian Life (Wheaton: Crossway 2009).

shane lems

Six Anti-Church Evangelical Trends

 As I mentioned a few weeks back, this is a great book: Set Apart by R. Kent Hughes (and it’s less than $10!).  I liked his section where he gave six anti-church trends among American evangelicals (found in chapter 10).  Here they are.

1) Hitchhiker Christians:  These peole say, “You go to the meetings and serve on the boards and committees, you grapple with the issues and do the work of the church and pay the bills – and I’ll come along for the ride.  But if things do not suit me, I’ll criticize and complain and probably bail out.  My thumb is always out for a better ride.”

2) Consumer Christians:  These are “ecclesiastical shoppers [that] attend one church for the preaching, send their children to a second church for its youth program, and go to a third church’s small group.  Their motto is to ask, ‘What’s in it for me?’”  The consumer mentality “encouraged those who have been influenced by it to think naturally in terms of receiving rather than contributing.”

3) Spectator Christians: “Spectator Christianity feeds on the delusion that virtue can come through viewing, much like the football fan who imagines that he ingests strength and daring while watching his favorite pro team.  Spectator sports and spectator Christianity produce the same things – fans who cheer the players on while they themselves are in desperate need of engagement and meaning.”

4) Drive-through Christians: “[These kind of people] get their ‘church fix’ out of the way by attending a weeknight church service or the early service on Sunday morning so that the family can save the bulk of Sunday for the all-important soccer game or recreational trip.  Of course there is an unhappy price extracted over time in the habits and the arteries of a flabby soul – a family that is unfit for the battles of life and has no conception of being Christian soldiers in the great spiritual battle.”

5) Relationless Christians: Despite the Bible’s emphasis on Christians gathering together in love, today some people say “the best church is the one that knows you least and demands the least….  Of course, the apotheosis is the electronic church where Christ’s body can be surveyed by the candid camera and the Word can be heard without responsibility or accountability.”

6) Churchless Worshipers: “The current myth is that a life of worship is possible, even better, apart from the church.  As one person blithely expressed it, ‘For “church” I go to the mall to my favorite coffee place and spend my morning with the Lord.  That is how I worship.’  This is an updated suburban and yuppie version of how to spend Sunday, changed from its rustic forebearer [namely, Emily Dickinson, who said 100 years ago] ‘Some keep the Sabbath going to Church – I keep it staying at Home‘”

I do believe these are accurate (Hughes does describe them with a little more detail – I’ve summarized them).  I have talked to people in my area with similar views of the church.  Hughes does go on to give a nice biblical antidote to these six trends – maybe I’ll list them some other time.  For now, contemplate these six and try to engage them from a biblical perspective so the next time you meet Christians like this you have something loving, biblical, and intelligent to say.

shane lems

Leadership in the Church Plant

 As part of my studies in church planting resources, Crossway was kind enough to send me a review copy of Leaders who Last by Dave Kraft (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010).  While this book is aimed at pastors, elders, and deacons in any church situation, I’m reading it with respect to a church plant situation.  Here is my brief review to that end.

The book is divided into three main parts: 1) Foundations, 2) Formation, and 3) Fruitfulness.  In the foundations section Kraft notes how the gospel and God’s word are at the center of Christian leadership.  In other words, at the outset, Christian leaders have to realize they’re saved by grace alone and they must rely on that same grace to give them strength to lead.  Kraft explains how – based on God’s grace – we should develop a purpose statement for our lives.  This might sound cheesy, but Kraft is basically telling leaders to pray, study Scripture, and seriously consider some of the main things in life that drive them.  For example, Kraft says his purpose is to discover, develop, and deploy leaders passionate for God (p. 47).  This has to do with grace, the Word, and love for others.  A purpose statement is like the crosshairs on a gun scope – they keep the leader on target in life.  Related to purpose in life is passion and priorities: “Proper priorities will protect my purpose and passion” (p. 60).  Finally, in the first section, Kraft talks about pacing - how to avoid burn-out while in a Christian leadership position.

In the second part of this book, the topic of formation is examined.  Here Kraft talks about how God calls a man to lead a church.  He helps the reader evaluate his calling and also leads the reader to contemplate his God-given gifts of leadership qualities.  Character – Christ-like character – is also vital for a Christian leader.  Leadership has to with service, the fruits of the Spirit, following God’s Word, and so forth – this is what Christian character is all about, which is necessary for a leader in God’s church.  The second part ends with Kraft talking about maintaining spiritual and leadership growth when in a leadership position. 

The last part of this book – on fruitfulness – is where Kraft writes about vision, influence, and legacy.  Leaders need a solid vision for their ministry, which is cultivated through prayer, Bible study, and wisdom.  Leaders are those who influence people around them to share in this vision, which in turn leaves a Christian legacy in the years to come.  Of course, in church plants (and hopefully all churches!) the pastor-planter’s vision has to do with making disciples, training them, and leading God’s people in repentance, faith, and grateful obedience.

While I do recommend this book, I was hoping it would be more rooted in biblical principles (i.e. examination of key verses/texts).  If you’re looking for a book that is a sort of Bible study in leadership, this is not that book.  It must be noted that Kraft was writing this from a Christian perspective and based on his many years of leadership and growing leaders in the church – his aim wasn’t to exegete and apply Bible verses on Christian leadership.  Kraft wrote it as sort of a practical Christian guide for developing solid, life-long leaders for the church.  It is helpful to that end.

This book is easy to read and not too long and daunting (c. 150 pages).  It would be a good book for a church planter to get, work through, and possibly use to train others on what it means to be a Christian leader.  This might be a good book for training elders or deacons who have not held any sort of leadership position before.  It won’t be the only book you’ll use to train men, but it should be one to consult in this area.  I’ll sign off with a quote that Kraft wrote in the beginning of chapter one.

“As I lead, I lead out of the reality of being saved by Jesus, and Jesus alone, and empowered by the Holy Spirit for the leadership role and responsibilities to which he calls me.  It is too easy for the work and the ministry to be the center instead of Jesus himself.”

shane lems

sunnyside wa