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Poetry: What Her Heart Remembered

What Her Heart Remembered (Mary, A Witness)

By Michael Card:  From the album The Promise:  A Celebration of Christ's Birth

Out in the stable yard

She sees a glow

Could it be angel light?

How would she know?

Shepherds stand wondering

Afraid to come in

But the baby that's born tonight

Will free them all

To never fear again

As He lies in a cattle trough

She kneels by His side

Sweet baby breathing

Soft infant sighs

Soft sounds of swallowing

As soft fingers part

Marvelous memories

She pondered then and hid them in her heart

Like a good

Mother would

She learned His cries

If He'd awake

With a bellyache

From hunger or fright

But now and then

Sometimes when

The dark would descend

He would weep

A dark so deep

For all her love

She couldn't comprehend

Her warm loving carpenter

His strong gentle hands

His dark and bewildered eyes

Can they understand?

That this Baby she's given him

Is theirs for a time

In truth came to give Himself

The Treasure and the

Ransom of mankind

Snippets: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Patrick Lencioni's book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team illustrates the process of team building in the workplace.  The majority of the book tells the story of a CEO working to turn a dysfunctional executive team into a strong team, and the principles of team leadership are explored through this narrative.  The book's final short chapter reiterates and expands upon the principles explored in the fictional narrative.
     Lencioni explores five key dysfunctions in his book, and indicates ways in which they can be overcome.  In the last chapter, he describes the dysfunctions in the following way:
1.  The first dysfunction is an absence of trust among team members.  Essentially, this stems from their unwillingness to be vulnerable within the group.  Team members who are not genuinely open with one another about their mistakes and weaknesses make it impossible to build a foundation for trust.
2.  This failure to build trust is damaging because it sets the tone for the second dysfunction:  fear of conflict.  Teams that lack trust are incapable of engaging in unfiltered and passionate debate of ideas.  Instead, they resort to veiled discussions and guarded comments.
3.  A lack of healthy conflict is a problem because it ensures the third dysfunction of a team: lack of commitment.  Without having aired their opinions in the course of passionate and open debate, team members rarely, if ever, buy in and commit to decisions, though they may feign agreement during meetings.
4.  Because of this lack of real commitment and buy-in, team members develop an avoidance of accountability, the fourth dysfunction.  Without committing to a clear plan of action, even the most focused and driven people often hesitate to call their peers on actions and behaviors that seem counterproductive to the good of the team.
5.  Failure to hold one another accountable creates an environment where the fifth dysfunction can thrive.  Inattention to results occurs when team members put their individual needs (such as ego, career development, or recognition) or even the needs of their divisions above the collective goals of the team. (epub edition, 205-06).



The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable

December Reading Log

Here is this month's reading list (to date)

• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team:  A Leadership Fable by Patrick M. Lencioni
• Half the Sky:  Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn
• Good News of Great Joy by John Piper

Review: Half the Sky

Half the Sky:  Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn is in many ways a primer on global development through the lens of women's issues.  The book touches on a wide range of issues, including human trafficking, girl's education, and microcredit.  Their central thesis is that freeing women from the injustices they experience in many countries around the world is key to improving the lives of women, but also for achieving positive changes for men and children in developing countries.

     In many places, the book is difficult to read, as the author's recount the heart-wrenching stories of many women in the developing world.  The book also provides hope, as many of these women overcome their hardships to be leaders in changing their communities.  The book is likely to inspire readers in some places, and cause disagreement in others, as the authors hold to neither a conservative or liberal point of view on many issues, and highlight successes achieved by organizations with different ideological purposes.  This viewpoint, however, makes it quite likely that most readers will disagree with at least some of the author's recommended solutions to the women's issues presented in the book.  However, in many ways, their balanced approach challenges the weak areas in both the traditional conservative and liberal approaches to development.  For example, when addressing the progress of women in China, they write,

So was it cultural imperialism for Westerners to criticize foot-binding and female infanticide?  Perhaps.  But it was also the right thing to do.  If we firmly believe in certain values, such as the equality of all human beings regardless of color or gender, then we should not be afraid to stand up for them; it would be feckless to defer to slavery, torture, foot-binding, honor killings, or genital cutting just because we believe in respecting other faiths or cultures.  One lesson of China is that we need not accept that discrimination is an intractable element of any society (epub edition, 430).

This same realistic, balanced viewpoint is seen in a discussion of spending in impoverished families, as the authors address the different patterns of spending when women have access to money.

Perhaps it seems culturally insensitive to scold the poor for indulging in festivals, cigarettes, alcohol, or sweets that make life more fun.  Yet when resources are scarce, priorities are essential.  Many African and Indian men now consider beer indispensable and their daughter's education a luxury...If we're trying to figure out how to get more girls in school, or how to save more women from dying in childbirth, the simplest solution is to reallocate spending.  One way to do that is to put more money into the hands of women. (epub edition, 405).

In places the book is difficult to read, in places it is inspiring.  Kristoff and Wudunn lead their readers to think carefully about different issues facing women, and to consider how they can be a part of the solution.

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

Snippets: The Hobbit

In honour of the upcoming movie release, I read The Hobbit (for the first time) this month.  The selection below speaks of journeying- the unwilling part of travel when being at home seems much easier than the harder path of completing the quest.

Long days after they had climbed out of the valley and left the Last Homely House miles behind, they were still going up and up and up. It was a hard path and a dangerous path, a crooked way and a lonely and a long. Now they could look back over the lands they had left, laid out behind them far below. Far, far away in the West, where things were blue and faint, Bilbo knew there lay his own country of safe and comfortable things, and his little hobbit-hole. (Kindle location 837)

The Hobbit

Links: Interviews and Reviews

This week I've stumbled upon several interesting reviews and interviews:

The Hole in our Holiness

The first, a review of Kevin DeYoung's The Hole in our Holiness.  I haven't yet read the book, but have read several other by this author, and am looking forward to DeYoung's new title.    Christianity Today is publishing a four part series of reviews.  Mark Labberton composed the second of these reviews, saying,

"DeYoung examines various facets of the biblical call to holiness and considers some of the strongest voices for holy living within his own Reformed tradition. He writes with theological conviction and passion, laying out a case for the recovery of faithful character and piety as one of the highest priorities of Christian pastors, leaders, and laity alike. Surely DeYoung is right about how needed holy living is among God's people, because it is both our calling (it's intrinsic to identification with our holy God) and our mission (it's essential as an authentication of our new life in Christ)."

Read the rest of the review here.

The Creedal Imperative

Also in Christianity Today is a review of Carl Trueman's book The Credal Imperative.  Fred Sanders reviews the book, pointing out Trueman's advocacy of creed's as a counter-cultural expression of faith.


"Trueman builds up this biblical case for creeds, layers over it the historical case from both the patristic church and confessional Protestantism, and puts the burden of proof on what he calls the "'No Creed but the Bible!' brigade." Given this biblical and historical trajectory of churches using creeds, "the question is not so much 'Should we use them?' as 'Why would we not use them?'"

Trueman acknowledges that there is a case to be made against creedalism, but he thinks that case is spurious because it is entirely cultural: The spirit of our age ignores history, distrusts institutions, values emotions more than words, and hankers after novelty. For moderns, the loftiest goal is to be authentic, to speak spontaneously from the heart, giving voice to unique insights from our own points of view. For this mindset, the idea of reciting a set of ancient words in public agreement with a group is, if the word be allowed, anathema.

As a result, anti-creedal evangelicalism is, ironically, "not countercultural, but culturally enslaved." Trueman is passionate and eloquent about how creeds enable churches to dig in their heels and stand with the great tradition, pushing against the modern temperament."

Read the rest of the review here.

Why You Should Read Chesterton

Trevin Wax has included several interesting author interviews on his blog in recent weeks.  Most recently, he interviewed Kevin Belmonte.  Belmonte compiled the book  A Year with G. K. Chesterton: 365 Days of Wisdom, Wit, and Wonder (Thomas Nelson, 2012).  I have only read one of Chesterton's books, Orthodoxy, and the post introduced me to several other titles.

In the post, Belmonte shares a number of insights from Chesterton's life, as well as key quotations from his work.  He writes of Chesterton,

"When he most greatly needed to make sense of life, that shard of truth returned to Chesterton. A scene from a much-loved children story rallied to his aid. It gave him courage to believe. He began to see the world, once more, like a great tapestry woven by the Master Story-teller. He followed the thread of thanks he re-discovered to back the light—to faith."

Read the full post here.

Snippets: The Autobiography of G. K. Chesteron

"No man knows how much he is an optimist, even when he calls himself a pessimist, because he has not really measured the depths of his debt to whatever created him and enabled him to call himself anything. At the back of our brains, so to speak, there was a forgotten blaze or burst of astonishment at our own existence. The object of the artistic and spiritual life was to dig for this submerged sunrise of wonder; so that a man sitting in a chair might suddenly understand that he was actually alive, and be happy."

The Autobiography of G. K. Chesterton

Quick Reads: The Evernote Bible

Brandon Collin's short book, The Evernote Bible is a guide for using Evernote to increase productivity. Though I have used Evernote for several years, particularly to sync notes between different devices, Collin's introduced me to many new features and uses for the software.

Evernote is a free software program/service, available to download from evernote.com.  Its primary purpose is creating notebooks to organize personal information.  The Evernote Bible begins by explaining the basic features, such as organizing notebooks and tags.  I was introduced to several other features, including

• e-mailing notes directly into Evernote
• clipping information from the web into Evernote
• encrypting information within a note
• sharing notes and
• automatically importing folders and documents into Evernote.

In addition to introducing the basic and power features of Evernote, Collins provides suggestions for how to use Evernote as a tool for storing various kinds of personal and professional information.  This quick read provided numerous practical suggestions to improve my organizational systems, using software which I already have on my computer.  The hour or so it takes to read this book is time well spent.

 The Evernote Bible - The Guide to Everything Evernote, Including: Tips, Uses, and Evernote Essentials

Her.meneutics: Holy Homemaking: A Response from Rachel Held Evans

A few weeks ago I reviewed the book A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans.  The book has been widely debated, and as I noted in my review, though I didn't agree with everything in the book (particularly the hermeneutical approach), Evans nonetheless says many valuable things about living biblically in the modern world.

The following blog post by Evans in Christianity Today addresses one fault often found with her book, as some reviewers take issue with the fact that she may seem to undervalue the role of homemaking.  She writes,


Another rumor you may have heard is that the book disparages homemaking. Several readers inferred this from Jen Pollock Michel's recent Her.meneutics article, "What You Don't Know about Complementarian Women," but nothing could be further from the truth.

In A Year of Biblical Womanhood, I devote an entire chapter to homemaking. As I refocused on my own homemaking skills (or lack thereof!), I confess at one point that "it was out of ignorance and insecurity that I ever looked down my nose at women who make homemaking their full-time occupation.” Keeping the home, I say, “requires creativity, problem solving, innovation, and resourcefulness.”

The chapter concludes with the following reflection. As you’ll see, it’s in full agreement with Michel’s view that keeping a home is sacred and dignifying work: 

When Brother Lawrence sought sanctuary from the tumults of 17th-century France, he entered a Carmelite monastery in Paris, where his lack of education relegated him to kitchen duty. Charged with tending to the abbey’s most mundane chores, Brother Lawrence nevertheless earned a reputation among his fellow monks for exuding a contagious sense of joy and peace as he went about his work—so much so that after his death, they compiled the few maxims and letters and interviews he left behind into a work that would become a classic Christian text: The Practice of the Presence of God. 
“The time of business,” explained Brother Lawrence, “does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.” 

For Brother Lawrence, God’s presence permeated everything—from the pots and pans in the kitchen sink to the water and soap that washed them. Every act of faithfulness in these small tasks communicated his love for God and desire to live in perpetual worship. “It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God,” he said. 

After reading Brother Lawrence, I tried to go about my housework with a little more mindfulness—listening to each rhythmic swishing of the broom, feeling the warm water rush down my arm and off my fingers as I scrubbed potatoes, savoring the scent of clean laundry fresh out of the dryer, delighting in the sight of all the colorful herbs and vegetables and cheeses on my countertop. And sure enough, I found myself connecting to that same presence that I encountered during contemplative prayer, the presence that reminded me that the roots of my spirit extended deep into the ground. I got less done when I worked with mindfulness, but, somehow, I felt more in control. 

I get the sense that many in the contemporary biblical womanhood movement feel that the tasks associated with homemaking have been so marginalized in our culture that it’s up to them to restore the sacredness of keeping the home. This is a noble goal indeed, and one around which all people of faith can rally. But in our efforts to celebrate and affirm God’s presence in the home, we should be wary of elevating the vocation of homemaking above all others by insinuating that for women, God’s presence is somehow restricted to that sphere. 

If God is the God of all pots and pans, then He is also the God of all shovels and computers and paints and assembly lines and executive offices and classrooms. Peace and joy belong not to the woman who finds the right vocation, but to the woman who finds God in any vocation, who looks for the divine around every corner. 


Read the rest of the post here:

Her.meneutics: Holy Homemaking: A Response from Rachel Held Evans

For my review of the book, click here

Snippets: Heaven Without Her

Kitty Foth-Regner's book Heaven Without Her is an interesting mix of personal memoir and apologetics book.  At the heart of the book is Foth-Regner's spiritual journey from agnosticism to Christianity, set against the backdrop of her mother's immanent death.  She moves from rejecting the Christian tradition of her parents, to setting out on a spiritual quest for truth.  Interwoven throughout the story is the intellectual path that she travels; she often describes the impact of various books on her quest for truth.  In one such discussion, she quotes from the writings of A.S.A Jones

"Describing the Bible as a spiritual stereogram, Jones wrote, 'You need two aspects of the intellect to see the reality of God in its pages; you need to utilize both the logical and spiritual (or poetic) component of your thinking to see Him.  If you use only one in the absence of the other, you will lose the effect.  It's like covering one eye' 
Jones pointed out that depth is key to seeing the truth in the Bible just as it is in stereograms.  'I think the reason a lot of people aren't seeing its truth today', she said, 'is that we have become a nation of shallow thinkers'.' (epub edition, 258)

Heaven Without Her: A Desperate Daughter's Search for the Heart of Her Mother's Faith

Links: From Scroll to Screen

Though many articles have been published in recent years about the transition from paper books to increased e-reading, this one in the New York times is one of the most interesting I've read.  In it, Lev Grossman writes about the major transitions in the technology of reading:  the development of the codex, and the development of e-reading platforms.  The way in which the form of the book influences reading is a major theme in his article:  the codex allows for a certain type of reading- moving from section to section in a single work- that is more difficult with digital documents (not to mention, with a scroll).  He writes,
"But so far the great e-book debate has barely touched on the most important feature that the codex introduced: the nonlinear reading that so impressed St. Augustine. If the fable of the scroll and codex has a moral, this is it. We usually associate digital technology with nonlinearity, the forking paths that Web surfers beat through the Internet’s underbrush as they click from link to link. But e-books and nonlinearity don’t turn out to be very compatible. Trying to jump from place to place in a long document like a novel is painfully awkward on an e-reader, like trying to play the piano with numb fingers. You either creep through the book incrementally, page by page, or leap wildly from point to point and search term to search term. It’s no wonder that the rise of e-reading has revived two words for classical-era reading technologies: scroll and tablet. That’s the kind of reading you do in an e-book."

Read the rest of the article from the New York Times here.

Snippets: Succeeding When You're Supposed to Fail

 Rom Brafman's book, Succeeding When You're Supposed to Fail explores the personality traits and character qualities that help people to succeed, even if they have faced significant adversity.  He refers to these successful individuals as "tunnelers", and among other things, notes that those who live accomplished lives in spite of obstacles share a common set of characteristics.  Among other characteristics, Brafman notes that "tunnelers" are those who take responsibility for their current situation, who search out meaning in life, that maintain a calm approach to difficulty and who use humour well.  While most of the book is focused on an individual's personal characteristics and approach to life, the last section of the book highlights the importance of mentors, who Brafman calls satellites.  He also outlines ways in which mentors can help others succeed.  In this context, he notes,

"What qualities, then, define a satellite?  One of the most important ingredients is unconditional positive regard, a term coined by the psychologist Carl Rogers.  It refers to the giving of support and acceptance with no strings attached -- with no quid pro quo.  A strong satellite is there no matter what, without an overriding agenda to govern the interaction" (170).

"It's easy to overlook how important that unconditional support can be.  We're so used to paying attention to the other details of leadership -- whether setting boundaries, providing feedback, or teaching -- that we sometimes forget to communicate the most basic element:  that we're there to be counted on no matter what" (178).

"They key is to be honest and direct while also being caring and respectful.  That's what makes it so challenging.  When we're in a position of power, most of us either think of ourselves as the 'authority figure' who lays down the law, or the 'nice guy/gal' who's there to be a friend and supporter.  Combining the two -- which is what makes for an ideal mentor -- forces us to consistently shift roles (180)".  

  Succeeding When You're Supposed to Fail: The 6 Enduring Principles of High Achievement

Review: Prayers for Today

 Prayers for Today:  A Yearlong Journey fo Contemplative Prayer by Kurt Bjorklund guides the reader through a series of 260 devotional readings.  The readings are progress through a cycle of ten themes:

* Prayers of Thanksgiving * Prayers of Confession * Prayers of Affirmation
* Prayers of Petition * Prayers of Renewal * Prayers of Praise and Adoration
* Prayers to Have Christ-like Character * Prayers for Wisdom and Guidance
* Prayers of Intercession * Prayers of Surrender
The scope of this cycle provides promptings towards a well-balanced prayer life, without feeling overwhelmed by trying to focus on multiple topics during a single devotional reading.  Unlike some other prayer books, there is a single reading for each day, though the reader might choose to do more than one (such as a morning prayer and evening prayer), cycling through the book on a more frequent cycle.
     Most of the readings follow a similar pattern.  The readings begin with a scripture reading, followed by a written prayer on the theme, generally taken from other prayer books or Christian writers, but sometimes written by Bjorklund himself.  In some readings, there are multiple Bible readings and prayers.  The day's reading concludes with promptings for free prayer on the days' theme.
    Bjorklund is a Lutheran minister, and the book is firmly within the Protestant tradition, though it draws widely from the best of Christian history.  As a result, the reader is able to worship through the best of different traditions, without stumbling over material that would cause difficulties theologically.  Prayers for Today is very accessible to those who are new to using prayer books as a part of their personal worship.
     Prayers for Today is not organized according to the church year, and as a result can be used at any time.  Some readers may want to use it alongside more seasonally focused resources at some times of the year.  Because of the free structure, the reader is able to choose the number of readings they wish to use daily, and the cycles and seasons of the year during which they want to use the book.
     Prayers for Today is highly recommended for anyone wanting to increase the richness of their devotional life.  It helps the reader to broaden their prayer life to include a rich variety of themes, and to weave scripture and written prayer alongside free prayer.

  Prayers for Today: A Yearlong Journey of Contemplative Prayer

Note:  I received a free review copy of this book from Moody Publishers, but was not obligated to write a positive review.

Classic Poetry: Jehovah-Rophi by William Cowper

Jehovah-Rophi. I Am the Lord That Healeth Thee
Exodus 25:26 

Heal us, Emmanuel! here we are,
Waiting to feel Thy touch:
Deep-wounded souls to Thee repair
And, Saviour, we are such.

Our faith is feeble, we confess,
We faintly trust Thy word;
But wilt Thou pity us the less?
 Be that far from Thee, Lord!

Remember him who once applied,
With trembling, for relief;
"Lord, I believe," with tears he cried,
 "Oh, help my unbelief!"

She too, who touch'd Thee in the press,
 And healing virtue stole,
Was answer'd, "Daughter, go in peace,
Thy faith hath made thee whole."

Conceal'd amid the gathering throng,
She would have shunn'd Thy view;
And if her faith was firm and strong,
Had strong misgivings too.

Like her, with hopes and fears we come,
To touch Thee, if we may;
Oh! send us not despairing home,
Send none unheal'd away!

Snippets: Accidental Pharisees

 Larry Osborne's book Accidental Pharisees warns against falling into the errors or Pharisaism in a quest for obedient discipleship.  His book provides a warning against the sin of pride.  He also warns against turning our gifts into rules for others to follow, and inadvertently twisting obedient discipleship into extra-biblical burdens.
A few key points from the book:

When it comes to bruised reeds, smoldering wicks, and the weary saints, Pharisees have no patience. They pile on heavy burdens and lots of guilt. But they don’t lift a finger to make anything easier. They thin the herd at every opportunity. Not so with Jesus. The bruised reed he will not break. The smoldering wick he will not snuff out. To the weary and heavily burdened he offers rest, a light load, and an easy yoke. (Kindle location 349)

Now, obviously I’m not saying that we can live like hell and call ourselves disciples. The Bible is quite clear. If we genuinely know God and love him, we will keep his commandments. But I am saying that our definitions of what it means to be a genuine Christ follower must include room for the weak and the struggling, the frightened and the failing, in order to remain aligned with Jesus rather than with the Pharisees of old. Following Jesus is not a race to see who can be the most radical, sacrificial, knowledgeable, or quickest to burn out. It’s not a contest to see who’s willing to take the hardest road. That’s asceticism, not discipleship (Kindle location 2439)

Accidental Pharisees: Avoiding Pride, Exclusivity, and the Other Dangers of Overzealous Faith

Links: The Legacy of Flannery O’Connor: A Conversation with Jonathan Rogers

Trevin Wax has posted an interview with Jonathan Rogers about the legacy of Flannery O'Conner.  Rogers is the author of  The Terrible Speed of Mercy: A Spiritual Biography of Flannery O’Connor.  The interview addresses the impact that O'Connor's illness had on her writing, the way in which racial issues impact her writing, and the sacramental nature of her works.  Below is a portion of the interview.


Trevin Wax: O’Connor was a devout Catholic who saw the Eucharist as the central and most profound aspect of Christian worship. How did the sacramental vision she inherited from the Catholic Church impact her view of the world, and Southern Protestants in particular?

Jonathan Rogers: O’Connor once wrote,

“The writer should never be ashamed of staring. There is nothing that does not require his attention.”

She was making a theological statement. Everything deserves our attention because the world of human experience is shot through with meaning.

That’s the sacramental vision – the idea that ultimate meaning doesn’t just live off in some Platonic ideal that we strain toward “spiritually,” but that God reveals Himself to us, does His work on us, through the concrete facts of the material world. For that reason, the artist has an obligation to depict the world that she sees, the way that she sees it. It is not her job to clean anything up or tie up loose ends or offer simplified answers to complicated questions. It is her job only to portray what she has seen in the world God has made.

All Christians agree, of course, that God reveals himself through the world around us. In that broad sense, all Christians have a sacramental vision.

But O’Connor, as a Catholic, was much more comfortable with mystery than most Protestants tend to be. She wrote:

“The type of mind that can understand good fiction is not necessarily the educated mind, but it is at all times the kind of mind that is willing to have its sense of mystery deepened by contact with reality, and its sense of reality deepened by contact with mystery.”

We Protestants aren’t looking to inhabit mysteries; we’re looking for explanations, solutions, household hints. Just stroll through a Christian bookstore. Seven Steps to This, Ten Steps to That, Your Best Life Now! It’s all very pragmatic and solution-oriented, thoroughly modern and slickly marketed. The modern/post-modern impulse is an impulse toward demystification, and American Protestantism is right in the middle of it.

O’Connor’s sacramental vision frees the Christian writer from the tyranny of “edification.” We assume that the Christian writer’s job is to edify the reader – which is true enough, I suppose – but we have such a narrow definition of edification.

What passes for edification is, to borrow a term from O’Connor, “Instant Uplift.” It doesn’t invite us into a mystery. It’s “safe for the whole family,” as the billboards for the Christian radio stations say. I don’t know that the Bible is safe for the whole family. It’s hard to imagine Christian bookstores stocking a book so wild and ragged and mysterious as the Bible if it weren’t the Bible.


Click below to read the full post.
The Legacy of Flannery O’Connor: A Conversation with Jonathan Rogers

November Reading Log

Here are this month's reading adventures...so far:

• Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand- The fascinating biography of Louis Zamperini, Olympic athlete and WW2 veteran
• Too Busy for Your Own Good by Connie Merritt- A time management book for professional women
• Modest:  Men and Women Clothed in the Gospel by Tim Challies and R.W. Glenn
• Accidental Pharisees:  Avoiding Pride, Exclusivity, and the Other Dangers of Overzealous Faith by Larry Osborne
• Succeeding When You're Supposed to Fail by Rom Brafman
• Heaven Without Her by Kitty Foth-Regner
• The Evernote Bible:  The Guide to Everything Evernote by Brandon Collins
• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Snippets: A Hidden Life of Prayer

David McIntyre's classic work, The Hidden Life of Prayer motivates Christians to develop a deep and meaningful life of prayer.  From the book:

He who has a pure heart will never cease to pray, and he who will be constant in prayer shall know what it is to have a pure heart (Kindle location 51)

The equipment for the inner life of prayer is simple, if not always easily secured. It consists particularly of a quiet place, a quiet hour, and a quiet heart. (Kindle location 184)

Our realization of the presence of God may, however, be accompanied with little or no emotion. Our spirits may lie as if dead under the hand of God. Vision and rapture may alike be withdrawn. But we ought not therefore to grow sluggish in prayer. So far from interupting the exercise at such times, we ought to redouble our energy. And it may be that the prayer which goes up through darkness to God will bring to us a blessing such as we have not received in our most favored hours. (Kindle location 339)

Hidden Life of Prayer, The: The Life-blood of the Christian

Review: A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband "Master"

 Rachel Evan's book A Year of Biblical Womanhood chronicles her year long exploration of the Bible through the eyes of a 21st century woman.  Each month, she chooses an area of focus- ranging from submission, to modesty, to justice, and chooses tasks for herself from passages of scripture concerning women.  Interspersed between these chapters are portraits of women from the Bible, ranging from well-known women such as Ruth, to lesser-known women such as Junia and Tabitha.  She also interviews women from various streams of Judaism about the way they seek to follow the Bible's instructions for women in their various lifestyles.  The book is similar in theme and organization to A.J. Jacob's The Year of Living Biblically.
The Bad:  Not a Hermeneutics Lesson
There are no nuances in Rachel Evan's application of various scripture texts.  Her self-assigned projects for living Biblically are taken from texts ranging from Leviticus to Proverbs to the New Testament epistles, with little regard for the overall intent of the passage or its place in the overall biblical story.  For example, she follows the Levitical purity laws with equal fervor as commands to seek justice.  The overall result of this haphazard interpretive method can be the distortion fo scripture, and as a result her writing at times is irreverent.  At times, her approach seems disrespectful of women who hold to more conservative positions about women's roles.  However, her approach needs to be understood in light of the fact that although she addresses theology at many levels, she in no way seems to intend that the way of life she adapts for her "project" should be used to interpret scripture in normal circumstances.
The Good:  Biblical Freedom
Though some may disagree with Evan's overall egalitarian position, she has many valid insights about the overall biblical perspective on women's lives and roles.  She challenges some interpretations that are viewed as "biblical", but in fact go beyond the clear teaching of the Bible about women.  Throughout the book, she challenges the reading of Proverbs 31 as a prescriptive list of tasks for the "ideal woman",  reading it instead as a poem praising a woman of valour.   She also challenges the idea that marriage and raising children is the only valid calling for a Christian woman, highlighting Paul's teaching about singleness.  She writes, "as a Christian, my highest calling is not motherhood; my highest calling is to follow Christ. And following Christ is something a woman can do whether she is married, or single, rich or poor, sick or healthy, childless or Michelle Duggar." (Kindle location 3282).  In light of her own experience, she explains,
     Growing up in the Church, I must have heard a thousand times that my highest calling as a woman was to bear and bring up children. While men could honor God in varying capacities through work, family, and ministry, a woman’s spiritual aptitude was measured primarily by her ability to procreate. Even as a child I noticed that the church deaconesses hosted dozens of wedding and baby showers each year, but never a housewarming party for a single woman or a celebration dinner for a woman who passed the bar or graduated from medical school. Subtly, the belief that I was incomplete without a husband and children crept into my subconscious. Without procreating, I believed, my contribution to the Church didn’t really count. It hasn’t always been this way. Both Jesus and Paul spoke highly of celibacy and singleness, and for centuries the Church honored the contributions of virgins and widows to the extent that their stories occupied the majority of Christian literature.  (Kindle location 3254)
    Throughout the book, Evans seeks to correct the idea that there is only one correct life model for a Christian woman.  Though she may err in taking some of the Bible's commands lightly, she does well to correct an imbalance that requires a lifestyle for women that is mandated more by cultural norms than by the Bible's teaching.  At the end of the book she concludes,
    So after twelve months of “biblical womanhood,” I’d arrived at the rather unconventional conclusion that that there is no such thing. The Bible does not present us with a single model for womanhood, and the notion that it contains a sort of one-size-fits-all formula for how to be a woman of faith is a myth. Among the women praised in Scripture are warriors, widows, slaves, sister wives, apostles, teachers, concubines, queens, foreigners, prostitutes, prophets, mothers, and martyrs. What makes these women’s stories leap from the page is not the fact that they all conform to some kind of universal ideal, but that, regardless of the culture or context in which they found themselves, they lived their lives with valor. They lived their lives with faith. As much as we may long for the simplicity of a single definition of “biblical womanhood,” there is no one right way to be a woman, no mold into which we must each cram ourselves—not if Deborah, Ruth, Rachel, Tamar, Vashti, Esther, Priscilla, Mary Magdalene, and Tabitha have anything to say about it. (Kindle location 5139)
     Though the book has its imperfect moments- and perhaps more so than some other books- her overall conclusions make the book a thought provoking and worthwhile read.  The book intersperses the lighthearted humour of some moments of Evan's quest with deeper reflection about what it means to live as a Christian woman seeking to live out the Bible's teaching.

A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband "Master"

Links: Why It Might be Helpful to Read a Really Bad Book

As an avid reader, I've met my share of bad books.  I find myself wondering to give up early on the book, while mentally trying to answer the argument being made.  Occasionally, I've wondered if I should tag my "Reading Logs" with not recommended labels.  Though some books should not be read, Aaron Armstrong lists four advantages to reading (some) bad books:


1. Reading a bad book forces you to think critically.

When you find yourself reading a bad book, you can’t be complacent and let content wash over you (not that you should do that with any book, but hopefully you know what I mean). A bad book (especially the theologically and philosophically challenged ones) can help sharpen your thinking and keep you better attuned the truth.

2. Reading a bad book reminds you it’s okay to stop reading.

There’s nothing that says you have to read to the end with a really bad book and you’re not going to win a medal because you finished one.

3. Reading a bad book reminds you that no one is beyond error.

One of the unique dangers we face as Christians in the west is fandom—we can too easily elevate pastors, teachers and authors and forget they are just as fallible as the rest of us. Bad books help us remember that those of us who have the privilege to occasionally write books shouldn’t be blindly followed.

4. Reading a bad book makes you appreciate good ones all the more.

Immediately after finishing the book described above, I started another book on the same subject that was a breath of fresh air. Reading a bad book helps you appreciate what you assume when you read a lot of good ones. Not everyone writes well. Despite what some might tell you, not everyone can. Well-written, theologically sound, engaging books… these are a gift that we ought not take for granted.

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Snippets: Embracing Obscurity

On the difference between true and false significance:

There’s a difference between feeling significant or desired because you are needed or because someone wants you to do something for them (to fill up their lacking), and being significant and desired by someone simply because He delights in you. You—not what you can do for Him. This is significance without strings: Value that’s not contingent on what you do or accomplish but entirely dependent on what He has done in creating you, redeeming you, calling you, and leading you. (Kindle location 954)

Four principles for living humbly as a servant leader:

In the spotlight only the humble will survive the long-haul. To avoid burnout and maximize your ability to be a servant-leader, here are four phrases to memorize: 
I don’t know everything.
I have limited time and energy.
I’m not morally invincible.
I’m not irreplaceable.  (Kindle locations 2068-2088)


Embracing Obscurity: Becoming Nothing in Light of God's Everything

Links: Hobbits, Hot Chocolate, & The Bookshelf Giveaway

This looks like an interesting reading group:

Hobbits, Hot Chocolate, & The Bookshelf Giveaway


Two weeks from today on Monday, November 5th, our Great Hobbit Read Along Adventure begins!  We’ll cover two or three chapters of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien each week for five weeks, ending the first week of December, just before the release of the movie version by Peter Jackson.  We hope it will be an exciting adventure for individuals, families and youth groups who choose to join us, with insights from a number of Christian authors and cultural commentators to help you get more from your reading.

Don’t have time for a read along right now?  That’s ok, too.  We think you’ll still enjoy the insights from our guests.

Snippets: Things as They Are

Amy Carmichael's book Things as They Are:  Mission Work in Southern India is collection of stories published in 1903.  She often emphasizes that she would prefer to tell the difficult reality of life as she experiences than to gloss over difficulties in favour of glowing reports.

I read a missionary story "founded on fact" the other day, and the things that happened in that story on these lines were most remarkable. They do not happen here. Practical missionary life is an unexciting thing. It is not sparkling all over with incident. It is very prosaic at times. (Kindle location 535).

The book's stories focus on the lives of the women with whom she works, including those who pay a heavy price for converting to Christianity.  She also writes of the young girls she rescues from temple slavery.   She passionately pleads for a change of heart among Christians; urging people to truly pray for and care for the lives and souls of others.

We are told to modify things, not to write too vividly, never to harrow sensitive hearts. Friends, we cannot modify truth, we cannot write half vividly enough; and as for harrowing hearts, oh that we could do it! That we could tear them up, that they might pour out like water! that we could see hands lifted up towards God for the life of these young children! Oh, to care, and oh for power to make others care, not less but far, far more! care till our eyes do fail with tears for the destruction of the daughters of our people! (Kindle location 2730).

Praying alone is not enough, but oh for more real praying! We are playing at praying, and caring, and coming; playing at doing—if doing costs—playing at everything but play. We are earnest enough about that. God open our eyes and convict us of our insincerity! burn out the superficial in us, make us intensely in earnest!  Kindle location 2815).

Though more than a century old, Things as They Are is remarkably relevant and convicting.

Things as They Are

Classic Poetry: Lost and Found

Lost and Found
I missed him when the sun began to bend;
I found him out when I had lost his rim;
With many tears I went in search of him,
Climbing high mountains which did still ascend,
And gave me echoes when I called my friend;
Through cities vast and charnel-houses grim,
And high cathedrals where the light was dim,
Through books and arts and works without and end,
But found him not – the friend whom I had lost.
And yet I found him – as I found the lark,
A sound in fields I heard but could not mark;
I found him nearest when I missed him most;
I found him in my heart, a life in frost,
A light I knew not till my soul was dark.

George McDonald

Snippets: Beyond the Hole in the Wall: Discover the Power of Self-Organized Learning

At the supermarket, you can’t tell if the cashier knows arithmetic or not. Your groceries are scanned electronically and the prices tallied automatically. Yet the cashier probably still performs his work capably. Arithmetic is an outdated life skill, like swordplay or horse riding. Four hundred years ago, those were vital life skills; today they are relics of a bygone world and primarily enjoyed as sports. (Kindle location 70)

  Beyond the Hole in the Wall: Discover the Power of Self-Organized Learning (Kindle Single) (TED Books)

Snippets- Smile: The Astonishing Powers of a Simple Act

Smile:  The Astonishing Powers of a Simple Act is a short book published by the TED foundation.  Ron Gutman combines experiences from his cross-cultural experiences with scientific research about the benefits of smiling.  He highlights the individual and social benefits of smiling.  The book is easy to read, presenting a variety of research in an entertaining way, interspersed with numerous anecdotes.  Summarizing the main points of the book, Gutman writes:
"We’ve already established that big, genuine smiles make us feel better inside. Smiling this way activates the emotional processing centers of our brains and produces real, tangible pleasure that we can experience and enjoy. Not only do we feel good, we also look good to others around us. We’re perceived to be more friendly, sociable, trustworthy, and even more competent. When others see us smiling, they see us in a better light, and they instinctively and instantaneously mimic our smiles. This smile activates the emotional processing centers of their brains and makes them feel better. It also strengthens our connection to them and improves our social interactions. If common sense didn’t tell us this already, researchers from Yale University and UC Berkeley have confirmed that smiling sends others on their way, feeling better and carrying smiles with them, to start again the same feedback loop with others. Smiling is “viral” indeed!" (Kindle location 770)

The book also includes Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch's teaching on the power of smiling:
A smile costs nothing, but gives much. It enriches those who receive, without making poorer those who give. It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None is so rich or mighty that he can get along without it, and none is so poor but that he can be made rich by it. A smile creates happiness in the home, fosters goodwill in business, and is the countersign of friendship. It brings rest to the weary, cheer to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad, and is nature’s best antidote for trouble, yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen. For it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away. Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give.  (Kindle location 395)

The book is concise and interesting, and as I read, I found myself wanting to smile.

Smile: The Astonishing Powers of a Simple Act (Kindle Single) (TED Books)

Classic Poetry: I Asked the Lord

I Asked The Lord

1. I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith and love and every grace
Might more of His salvation know
And seek more earnestly His face

2. Twas He who taught me thus to pray
And He I trust has answered prayer
But it has been in such a way
As almost drove me to despair

3. I hoped that in some favored hour
At once He'd answer my request
And by His love's constraining power
Subdue my sins and give me rest

4. Instead of this He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart
And let the angry powers of Hell
Assault my soul in every part

5. Yea more with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Cast out my feelings, laid me low

6. Lord why is this, I trembling cried
Wilt Thou pursue thy worm to death?
"Tis in this way" The Lord replied
"I answer prayer for grace and faith"

7. "These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free
And break thy schemes of earthly joy
That thou mayest seek thy all in me,
That thou mayest seek thy all in me."

John Newton

October Reading Log

• When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert
• A Girl and Her Money by Sharon Durling
• Made for Happiness by Jean Vanier
• Smile:  The Astonishing Power of a Single Act by Ron Gutman
• Beyond the Hole in the Wall:  Discover the Power of Self-Organized Learning by Sugata Mitra
• Things as They Are:  Mission Work in Southern India by Amy Wilson-Carmichael
• Embracing Obscurity  by Anonymous
• Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere  by Will Richardson
• A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans

Snippets: A Girl and Her Money

What is financial success anyway?  Financial success...is this:  being content with what you have.  That being true, financial success is not a constant for all.  It has more to do with the head and the heart and less with the wallet and the balance sheet.  (epub edition, 73)

Never say, "I can't afford it."  This implies that you would normally spend all the money you have, and the only reason you aren't buying is because you are completely broke.  Watch your money language.  Better to speak from a position of strength: "I choose not to spend my money this way because this thing is not a priority now, or maybe ever" (epub edition, 90)

Generosity is a means of grace.  It lets us know who we are.  Giving forces us to define our priorities.  It promotes patience and discipline.  Generosity wars against greed (epub edition, 199).

Shannon Durling:  A Girl and Her Money

Snippets: Made for Happiness

In Made for Happiness:  Discovering the Meaning of Life with Aristotle Jean Vanier synthesizes major concepts in Aristolte's philosophy.  He focuses on extracting wisdom from Aristotle's writings that can be applied to everyday life.  The discussion is concise and focused, considering what is necessary to live a full, rich human life.
     Vanier begins by outlining Aristotle's concept of happiness, and then proceeds to discuss the nature of friendship, truth, and virtue.  In a final, short chapter, Vanier describes the weaknesses in Aristotle's philosophy, particularly regarding the sanctity of all human life, and the nature of our relationship with God.
     Vanier quotes often from Aristotle throughout the book, but also intersperses his own wise, thoughtful commentary.
     Some highlights from the book:
"There is no way of becoming just, wise, and good other than through the actual exercise of these virtues through the daily regulation of our spontaneous desires by the logos.  'States of character arise out of activities.  This is why the activities we exhibit must be of a certain kind' (NE 1103b20).  Temperate action gradually creates the virtue of temperance.  In order to become accomplished and mature, a man needs good dispositions, among them good health and a good education.  He needs to have opted definitely for a good life and true happiness, and desire to progress towards that end; this involves work on himself, effort and struggle in order to look clearly into himself and orient his passions towards the best goal.  Become a mature human being takes time." (epub edition, 283)

From the chapter on friendship:  "Here, Aristotle provides us with some very interesting criteria for discernment.  He distinguishes between three sorts of friendship:  true friendship centred on the good of the other, which is fully deserving of the name friendship; friendship based on what is pleasant; and friendship based on usefulness.  These are the three motives that can inspire friendship" (epub edition, 135).

"In Aristotle's definition, happiness is not therefore a state, but a vital activity proceeding from within each human being.  Happiness, for Aristotle, is not the lot of someone who peacefully and comfortably enjoys his possessions, who is content with his family, work, success, riches, and honours, or is satisfied with himself.  Happiness is a vital activity that brings immense joy and that is life.  It is the completely joyous activity of one who is entirely, with his intelligence and whole being, oriented towards that which is nobler and greater than himself.  This life that is an activity, however, implies that we first work on ourselves.  It involves study and discipline" (epub edition, 60)

Made for Happiness: Discovering the Meaning of Life with Aristotle