Summer is here! Looking for some good books to dive into this summer? Here are some of my favorite books I’ve read over the first half of this year that I think you’ll love.
This Week's Recommendations
What Convinced James His Brother Was God? Robby Lashua begins, “My brother isn’t God. It’s pretty obvious (we grew up together, after all), and nothing he could do or say could convince me of his divinity. I’m not God, either, and nothing I could do or say would convince him otherwise, too. Yet, somehow, Jesus convinced his brother he was God.”
How Do I Know I’m Really Repentant? Jared Wilson takes on this important question. He begins, “What does a repentant heart look like? Does it just look sad? Timid? Is it simply agreeable? How would we discern the difference in ourselves between a heart turning from sin and one seeking simply to manage or alleviate the consequences of it?”
Still: Chris Thomas contrasts the difference between finding stillness in our surroundings between finding stillness in our hearts. He says, “I mention that because I’ve seen it in my own children. I’ve heard their cries in the night, rushed to their room to comfort them, only to be fought off with flailing arms; their saviour isn’t seen, only the shadows and monsters of the night fill their vision. First with gentle voice, but then with firm command that carries the edge of comfort, I subdue their fight with hands that hold them tight, and a voice that is meant to remind them of my strength.”
Americans Most Likely to Find Identity in Family and Accomplishments: Aaron Earls reports on findings. “When asked the open-ended question, “When you think about who you are, what are the first three things that come to mind?”…More Americans mention being a parent (25%), intelligent (12%), their job (11%), compassionate (11%), husband (10%), kind (10%), trustworthy (10%), wife (8%), friend (8%), hardworking (8%) and honest (8%).”
Sin is “Barbs in Your Eyes, Thorns in Your Sides”: Ryan Hawkins invites us to consider, “First, sin isn’t just wrong, but hurtful. This is basic, but understanding this is profound step in our walk with God. For if we think God wants us to love him and love others and avoid sin (all of which are what “holiness” is all about) just because it’s what we “should” do, our understanding is woefully incomplete and our motivation won’t be there. Rather, whatever is according to God’s ways is also always for our good. Conversely, what isn’t according to God’s ways will lead to our harm.”
Does Systemic Sin Exist?
Our world is talking theology. They probably aren’t aware of it, but theological conversations permeate the air. One such conversation that has persisted over the past several years has been about whether or not America is a racist nation. How would you answer that question: is America a racist nation?
I’m aware that the question itself likely creates a strong emotional reaction in you. But, if we can lean in together to listen to scripture, there is much we can learn from the question. Before we can answer the question, “Is America a racist nation,” we have to ask an underlying question: does systemic sin exist?
Johnny Depp and a Few Degrees Off Course
Who wouldn’t want to be Johnny Depp?
And yet, all it takes is a quick scroll through the news to see that this man’s life inspires more pity than envy. Johnny Depp’s ex-wife, Amber Heard has accused Depp of domestic abuse. Depp has fought back with a lawsuit charging Heard with abuse. Whatever the truth of who initiated the violence, one can’t help but be sad for Heard and Depp. Physical endangerment, drug and alcohol abuse, and violent, vulgar words marked their toxic and tumultuous relationship.
It has also been reported that Depp managed to blow through $650 million of his $800+ million net worth. One can’t help but scratch your head and wonder how spending that kind of money in a decade is even possible. One gets the sense that Depp has become the living version of his big screen caricature: intoxicated and unmoored.
Who would want to be Johnny Depp?
I think of my daughter and her friends in the final months of their senior year. These are days where they are peppered with questions about their future, “What are your plans?” “Where are you going?” “What are you going to do next?”
Setting one’s sights even slightly off course can result in significant error down the path. Air navigation experts refer to the one in sixty rule, which means that for every degree a plane veers off course initially it will miss its target destination by one mile for every sixty miles flown. The results can be fatal.
Sex, Sexuality, and Your Identity in Christ
A week and a half ago, my wife Angel and I had the opportunity to share with our Student Ministries about sex and sexuality.
Here is the outline of our talk:
Why is sex complicated?
What our sexuality has to do with trusting God.
What do we say to “Love is love”?
Why our identity is found in our sainthood, not our sexuality.
How our sexuality is for our joy and our discipleship.
Q&A
This Week's Recommendations
Humility is the Main Ingredient in Prayer, Thanksgiving, and Repentance: This post by Thomas Schreiner is so simple but so profound! I need to read this regularly. He says, “One of the most humble prayers in the world is “Help me, Lord.” We remember the simple prayer of the Canaanite woman when everything seemed to be against her. She cried out to Jesus, “Help me” (Matt. 15:25). Prayer is humble because when we pray, we are saying that God is merciful and mighty, that He is wise and sovereign, and that He knows far better than we do what is best for us.”
7 Encouraging Trends of Global Christianity: Aaron Earls reports good news emerging primarily from the global south. He shares, “Not only is religion growing overall, but Christianity specifically is growing. With a 1.17% growth rate, almost 2.56 billion people will identify as a Christian by the middle of 2022. By 2050, that number is expected to top 3.33 billion.”
6 Concerning Trends in Global Christianity: Aaron Earls shares the other side of the coin. He concludes, “At the turn of the 20th century, fewer than 900 million people were unevangelized. Today, that number is more than 2.2 billion who’ve never been told of Jesus. By 2050, the Gordon-Conwell report estimates the global unevangelized population will top 2.75 billion.”
The False Philosophy of Cancel Culture: Jonathan Hoyes explains why cancel culture reduces human relationships to a power struggle, “Put simply, cancel culture is a culture of bullying. What starts with a difference of ideas ends with a willful public destruction of other human beings. Those who claimed to be the ones bullied have now become the bullies themselves, all because of a shift of power.”
What’s the Tallest Thing We Could Possibly Build? Something a lot taller than I would have possibly imagined.
How My Backpack Points Me to God
I recently switched to my fourth bag in six years of pastoral ministry at New Life. I bought a leather briefcase that was too small and came apart at the seams followed by a leather briefcase that was too large and stiff. I gave up on the briefcase experiment and for the past three years I have used my son’s hand-me-down backpack from his middle school years. My wife and kids constantly teased me about my middle school backpack. But you know,
Fast forward to a couple of months ago. I was tagging along on a shopping trip and found a backpack tucked away on a clearance rack. It was love at first sight, and not just because of the 60% off tag. Made of canvas and leather it felt durable and yet malleable in my hands.
I picked up the bag and noticed detail after detail in the craftsmanship. A perfectly sized and padded pocket for my laptop, hidden interior pockets, comfortable straps, a high-quality zipper with a durable pull, magnetic latches, and two side pockets that cried out, “Put your coffee Contigo in me!”
There is something compelling about a well-made item.
Whatever You Do, Don’t Try to Look Cool
When I was in high school, swimming was my best sport. I still remember the first time I saw Gary Hall, Jr. swim. I was a freshman and he was a senior. We were at the hallowed grounds of the Plummer Aquatic Center at Arizona State University in Tempe. Gary Hall, Jr.’s father was an Olympic swimmer and Gary Hall Jr. would one day join that class. In fact, Hall would go on to win ten Olympic medals. I had never seen anything like Hall in a pool before. At 6’6” and probably 225 pounds, Hall looked more like a linebacker than a swimmer. In the water, his body rose above the water higher than anyone else’s, seemingly buoyed at his hips by an invisible force. He swam freestyle with a hitch, almost strutting through the water.
I was mesmerized: Hall wasn’t just the best swimmer in the pool. He was so cool. (I know what you non-swimmers are thinking “Cool in a Speedo? C’mon! My low standards for cool probably just show you how uncool I am.).
I remember returning back to Tucson and trying to emulate Hall’s hitch in my own stroke. You would be correct to assume that it didn’t magically propel me to the top of the water. Frankly, I’m sure I just looked stupid.
Four years later, I would be a decent swimmer in my own right. I would never get anywhere near as good as Hall, but every year I shaved more and more time off and would eventually be able to compete with the very best in Arizona.
This Week's Recommendations
What Was Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh? Dane Ortlund shares, “The presence of God will sustain Paul; the power of God will strengthen him. What we must not miss is that it is not Paul’s strength but God’s. Paul’s contribution is weakness. But this is not a concession; it is precisely what God needs. This is the mystery, the wonder, the glory, of apostolic Christianity: our weakness attracts, not repels, God’s own power. Our lowness and incapacities, which we naturally fear and flee, are precisely where God loves to dwell.”
22 Vital Stats for Ministry in 2022: This is a loaded post. I’ll be thinking about many of these. This is one important data point, “Few American adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (5.6%), according to Gallup, but the numbers are much higher among younger generations (15.9% of Gen Z). Almost every Christian student will have an LGBTQ friend or classmate, so church leaders must speak on issues of sexuality with truth and love.”
Endangered Attention: Scott Hubbard reminds us that, “When we give someone our full attention — our patient, focused, self-forgetful gaze — we look a little like God.”
Shall We Cancel the Theologians? Carl Trueman asks how we should respond to the fact that many Christian heroes have significant sins: Jonathan Edwards owned slaves, Martin Luther hated Jews, and Martin Luther King Jr was a womanizer, for instance. He asks, “The question—and it is a very legitimate question—is whether we should continue to take seriously such men who failed so signally to conform to moral positions that we now regard as self-evident and, indeed, a consistent application of the Christianity into which they both had such signal insights. Should we cancel them?”
We Just Wanted to Be Bad Guys: This kid. Hilarious.
This Week's Recommendations
Fewer Americans Identify as Christians: In less than 15 years, a significant shift has occurred, “In 2007, almost eight in 10 U.S. adults (78%) identified as a Christian, according to a new Pew Research study. Since then, the share of Americans identifying with Christianity has steadily fallen, declining to 63% in 2021.The decline of Christians in the U.S. has been matched by a rise in the religiously unaffiliated. Their number has almost doubled since 2007—from 16% to 29%.
Unlock the Power of Family Habits: Justin Whimel Earley offers practical advice for how to form a healthy spiritual life as a family. He says, “Habits are the little things we do over and over without thinking about them. And the tiny and subconscious nature of habits makes them powerful. Why? Because they create our “normal.” Normal life is what stays with you from January through December. Normal life is what shapes your kids, your body, your schedule, and your heart. The habits of the household are the engine of a family’s spiritual formation.”
Please Be Gentle: Al Gooderham begins, “Gentleness is underrated and undervalued in the world and in the church. We prize power and authority and charisma. We want leaders who sound like TED talk speakers and who can capture our attention and hold it, leaders who are magnetic and whom we want to follow, who will impress our friends and family. Leaders who could do any number of jobs well and be recognized as leaders in their field. We also want to be that. We want all that because we have a Corinthian complex.”
The Value of a Secure Identity: Lee Hutchings explains the blessings of having your identity secured in Christ. He begins with this truth, “Our identity in Christ gives us new focus: Regardless of what is happening around us or even to us, as Christians we know that this present world is not our final home.”
Peacock Spiders, Dance for Your Life: Wow! This is wild.