The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible

The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible features the New King James Version translation and study helps developed and adapted by Max Lucado. The key study helps are “Life Lessons” which elaborate on passages of scripture providing a context to the section, the main point of the section, a associated text taken from other Lucado writings, an application and finally related scripture. Additionally there are other sections that illuminate the text including “Christ in the Bible: which links passages to the person of Jesus and “New Life in Christ” which focuses on discipleship and growing within Christ. There are also “30 Studies for New Believers” which provides looks at questions new followers may have and provides space for providing reactions to these studies and indexes to help guide personal devotions along with others.

I was already an owner of The Inspirational Study Bible which was an earlier version of this Bible. Supporting materials have been reviewed and edited for this new package but the bulk of the text including the helpful “Life Lessons” are largely the same material. I have found the “Life Lessons” as highly useful in both personal study and sermon preparation. The Bible also draws on Lucado “Life Lessons” study series especially in introductory material. However in reviewing the Romans study it was clear despite similar formats they are complementary not overly duplicative. Overall, I have found this Bible in other forms very useful and think it was beneficial to repackage and reissue this book.

Chazown: Define Your Vision, Pursue Your Passion, Live Your Life on Purpose.

Throughout Chazown author Craig Groeschel makes one simple thing clear. We are all going somewhere but few are going there on purpose. Our relationships, finances, work, health and more are all moving towards a positive or negative direction; but few people are directing that path to match their purpose. Groeschel introduces his reader to the Hebrew word Chazown, which means dream, revelation or vision. Groeschel argues that everyone has a Chazown which is the God designed purpose for one’s life. He then helps his readers find their Chazown by reviewing their core values, spiritual gifts and past experiences. Groeschel then aids his readers to define their Chazown into a purpose statement. And finally he reviews five key areas of live the need attention in order to reach one’s Chazown; one’s relationship with God, others, finances, health and work. Finally, he empowers his readers to take all that they have learned to take the steps needed to realize their Chazown.

First thought….ShamWow. Second thought….great another book about purpose that’s what we were all looking for! Well, I was wrong. Groeschel doesn’t just tell us and challenge us to live on purpose. No, instead he provides the resources needed to develop and clarify one’s purpose. He asked his readers to keep a Chazown journal to draw out the answers to the key questions he has. I found that I could use the blank space in my book to write responses and look back at them as I went through the book. But Groeschel doesn’t just leave his readers isolated in a book with tasks to perform that are time consuming and perhaps complicated but instead supports the book with www.chazown.com which provides online tools that support the exercises used throughout the book. Groeschel is a great author who speaks truth, painful truth that makes me wish I could just close the book at time. Overall, I think this is an excellent book not just another purpose book that is meaningful as a standalone read or a small group tool.

Review Copy Provided by WaterBrook Multnomah

The Next Christians: The Good News About the End of the Christian Era

In 2007 Gabe Lyons collaborated with David Kinnamen in unChristian a book that showed us the reality of societies views about those who label themselves Christian. Since I had a friend gift me a copy, I have quoted and referred friends and others to this important text and their advice for overcoming the poor impression that society has of Christians. In The Next Christians not only tells us how to overcome negative Christian stereotypes, but he tells us who will destroy them. Lyons leaves his reader excited for the next movement of God through the next Christians, the restorers. These next Christians struggle against the reality of the world seeking to restore creation to what it ought to be not what it is. The restorers place high value on truth, justice, and beauty. Lyons describes in detail the key characteristics of restorers including their high value on calling, community, countercultural behavior, active engagement with culture and a firm foundation in Jesus Christ. If Christianity has lost its relevance by removing itself from the center of culture, the restorers are our best hope to return saved people to the culture conversation.

The Next Christians is a phenomenal book. Lyons has an ability in his writing to connect all of the dots to things we have all seen in our churches and society in large. As he writes about examples of restorers he knows you begin to think of those in your own life. Those examples that come to mind only further show the truth of Lyons’ writing. Additionally, the book is easy to read due to the engaging material. Honestly, as I got to better understand some of those I interact with, I got excited. I was also challenged with questions about myself as a potential restorer, where I am fighting against the restorers, and how can my own background help sharpen restorers. Lyons’ words lead me to celebrate much of what I do, and also grieve my own non-restorative tendencies. What more can we ask of a book other than lead ourselves down a path of self reflection? The Next Christians also helps reinforce books like Not Like Me. The Next Christians provides a general behavioral overview of restorers, while Eric Bryant in Not Like Me describes the relational toolbox of restorers, though he never makes that claim. The Next Christians is an important book that we as the church need to be discussing and acting on so we can move the Jesus conversation back to the center of the cultural dialogue.

Review Copy Provided by WaterBrook Multnomah

Bad Public Relations

Recently I ran against a bad case of PR. I was sitting in church practicing silence and solitude. Instead of mediating over the verses presented to me for my consideration, I found myself stuck on the transfiguration.

In short summary, during the transfiguration, 3 disciples (Peter, John and James) witnessed Jesus in his glory and in conversation with Moses and Elijah:

28About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30Two men, Moses and Elijah, 31appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. 32Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." (He did not know what he was saying.)

34While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35A voice came from the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him." 36When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves, and told no one at that time what they had seen (Luke 9:28-36, NIV).

Here is what struck me. John, we all know about John. He wrote a gospel and epistles and Revelation. Jesus proclaims him beloved. We know a lot about John and his life after the resurrection compared to the majority of the other twelve disciples. John has gotten some great public relations and rightfully we respect him and hold him up as an example to this day.

And then there is Peter, the Rock. He wrote Epistles and his post resurrection actions are documented in Acts and by tradition. We respect Peter, study Peter both his failings and triumphs. And Peter has gotten some great PR.

But then there is James! What about James. He is not the same James who had an epistle added to canon. Acts does not carefully chart James’ movements to help shepherd the early church. Though we can likely assume he was one of the decision makers when Acts refers to the disciples. But beyond being a Son of Thunder with his brother the Beloved, it’s not like we study James’ life intently as an example of holy transformed living or gave him a great nickname.

But why not. Jesus showed James his glory. Jesus not only allowed James into his inner circle of 12 but even added him to the inner inner circle of just three men that got to see this event. So we have to assume that Jesus knew what was in James’ heart and what great work was ahead of him. Jesus chose to reward James by sharing with him this moment. And I have to assume that James did not leave this event changed. I have to assume that after the resurrection, like John and Peter he looked back on this moment and gained strength. And I have to assume that James did great and wonderful things. But again, we don’t elevate him to the position of respect that we do Peter and John.

Now in-depth research, i.e, Wikipedia, shows that James by tradition had a great influence in spreading the church to Spain and was martyred for his efforts. But tradition and history leads me to simply assumption. And my assumption is…James did important things we should all greatly respect. But we fail to place him on the pedestal of John and Peter.

So, what do we learn from this. How about this…..praise doesn’t matter. James did not need accolades to do his important work. James did not need studies completed on his character in order for his efforts to matter. His work glorified Jesus and transformed himself and others. His work was eternal, more eternal than any praise that could be given by men. James mattered to Jesus no matter what raises, plaques, ribbons, gift cards, statues, brand new corvettes or other awards men failed to give him. In the end, seeing Jesus in his glory was more important praise than James could have ever received from men. Jesus’ smile is the best reward any of us can have.

Why I Hate Podcasts

Over the last six plus years I have been lucky to have a job that allows me to listen to a lot of podcasts on a daily basis while I complete my job duties. Over that time I have found some great advantages and disadvantages to having the time and access to teachings electronically. Today I want to provide my take on the disadvantages of podcasts.

Burnout

There is so much to chose from that eventually it can become too much. And when you become overwhelmed with the sure volume of teachings available online the easiest way to keep from drowning is to turn it off. It is so much easier to move to sports or other less serious topics available on the internet. With the variety of content available online one can simply ignore teachings and not use podcasts as a tool for growth but something that can simply be ignored.

Local Church Discounts

I love the men that I have called my pastors. They have mentored me, they have poured themselves into my life unconditionally. But they have not always been the most studied or charismatic speakers on a weekly basis as the best teachers one can find online on a weekly basis. Let’s face it, the local pastor is simply more likely to have an off week than a teacher God has blessed with gifts that make them as polished as any inspirational speaker who does not need to live by a van down by the river. Our local guy likely lacks the staff and resources that would make him an every week hit. By exposing yourself to fantastic teaching, one can begin to take their local church pastor less seriously or begin to ask why he/she isn’t as good as (insert favorite name here) that I listen to for free online. Basically, if you expose yourself to enough excellent teachings you can begin to take your local teacher less seriously. And this is a major fault on the listener’s behalf. As good as a speaker may be online, that person is not participating in your life on a daily basis and does not love you on the personal level that one’s local pastor does.

Are You Hearing Me

There are things that I don’t want to talk about. There are things I don’t want to think about. When those subjects come up on a teaching, well it’s pretty easy to find another teaching. The reason they hurt is because I NEED TO GROW IN THIS AREA. Since I need to grow it hurts, hey growth is not always fun and happy. I am a completionist, so eventually I return to that message that I don’t want to hear. But the timing may not be a growth moment by the time I return, listening at a time when my focus on the teaching is fairly superficial. However in the local sanctuary, if I was to turn off the message by walking out of dosing off, let’s face it my pastor and everyone else in my community is going to know. In effect, in my community I’m a captive audience, the same cannot be said for a podcast when I control the volume and play buttons.

Selective Listening

When you are listening and multitasking, you don’t always hear everything. And so the speaker’s message can easily get lost. And then you the listener miss the point. The additional hearing problem is when taking in so a bunch of teaching, which is really easy to do it’s pretty easy to forget or ignore the speaker’s main point or call to action. Simply put, I have heard so many talks that it is impossible for me to be impacted on a personal nature by all of them or even most of them. The best I can hope for is that I am being marinated in great teachings that hopefully sharpens my mind, frees my soul and strengthens my relationship with my creator.

These disadvantages should not stop one from interacting with content online. Instead the listener needs to be aware of the blind spots and traps one can fall into by primarily relying on podcasts for teaching instead of engaging in a religious community.

Not Like Me: A Field Guide for Influencing a Diverse World by Eric Michael Bryant

Eric Michael Bryant in Not Like Me connects authentic relationships with impacting others for Jesus. Bryant provides a call to engage those that don’t look like us, share our culture or even believe the same as us. In fact he goes so far as to call us to love those people that the Christian mainstream hates. He notes that typically we push away people that don’t think or behave as we do removing our ability to influence them. Bryant instead points out the need to engage these not like me people in true friendships. He urges us to love people without judgment or conditions, realizing that though one may not have a relationship with Jesus, that God still loves that person unconditionally. This is the example that we must follow. Bryant shows that only be entering true relationships with people not like us can we have a lasting impact on their lives and help to show them the power of Jesus.

I have to be honest; I have wanted to read this book from when it was first issued as Peppermint-Filled Piñatas. I’m very happy to say I was not disappointed. Bryant writes what we know in our own hearts, without a relationship with people we cannot expect to successfully impact them. But not only must we have a relationship, we must have a relationship built on love, respect and honesty not one based on a hidden agenda. By being honest we learn more about others and ourselves. Bryant reminds us that Jesus immersed himself amongst those that the religious establishment considered outsiders. And he angered that establishment as he moved salvation past a religious system of dos and do nots to a relationship with a living God. Not Like Me reminds us the simplest and best way for us to introduce someone to a friend, is to be a friend first.

I think this is an important work. Bryant urges us to move past our fears and preconceptions of others, others that we look down at, don’t understand and honestly fear for their cultural and moral choices and to look at people. Basically, he challenges us to look at people as people, not as sinners. By following Bryant’s charge and advice on friendship building we can find that key to demolishing the negative opinions that general public has of Christ followers especially charges of hate filled and judgmental. Not Like Me reminds us that like Jesus to save people we must first love people.

The Grace of God by Andy Stanley

Andy Stanley in The Grace of God walks readers through the Old and New Testament to gather attributes of God’s grace. Stanley shows how God’s grace was established at creation and is a thread that runs throughout the entire Bible. God’s grace is a gift, freely given and not earned. God’s grace is unfair, given to those who did not earn it. Most importantly, Stanley shows that God’s grace is for you and me and in doing so shines light on God’s deepest desire to be in relationship with everyone, despite our failures and mistakes. Stanley shows us that grace is better and more unexpected than we could ever hope for.

The strength of The Grace of God is the easy to read narrative style. The structure of the book lies on top of the stories that Stanley retells. Stanley restates them in a way that both those acquainted with the stories and those not can enjoy and easily connect to his points about grace. The chronological sequence of the chapters is confusing when the chapter ending in Christ’s burial is followed by his encounter with then woman at the well. Overall The Grace of God is an encouraging book that reminds us that we can do nothing to earn grace and helps us to better understand the awesomeness of God’s grace. It’s a good book, but one I am afraid I overhyped my expectations for.

Review Copy Provided by Thomas Nelson