Unless you have just returned from a Virgin Intergalactic flight, you are probably aware of the controversy surrounding the new book Love Wins by pastor Rob Bell of Mars Hill Church in Michigan. (Not to be confused with the Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington and its pastor Mark Driscoll who is probably plotting at this very moment how to get Rob Bell inside the octagon and beat him to a sniveling, bloody pulp.)

Even before its recent release, Bell’s publisher, HarperCollins, had leaked a very juicy summary strongly indicating the nature of the book. Love Wins would present, in the words of one editorial, “a deeply biblical vision for rediscovering a richer, grander, truer, and more spiritually satisfying way of understanding heaven, hell, God, Jesus, salvation, and repentance. The result is the discovery that the ‘good news’ is much, much better than we ever imagined.”

Early reviews began popping up from Justin Taylor (which generated 1,500 comments and 30k Facebook “recommends”), Al Mohler, Greg Boyd, Kevin DeYoung’s epic, 20-page tome, followed by later reviews from Joey Jernigan, Relevant Magazine (a shockingly good review) and 185 respondents on the book’s page on Amazon. My intent was to not read the book, but I could not be satisfied to have it pass by me, so I broke down yesterday morning and downloaded to my Kindle. Trust me when I say that this review could easily have been three or four times as long. There are plenty of, “Dude, seriously?” moments in the book. I just do not have time to cover all of the 50 sections I highlighted while reading.

First, Love Wins is not all bad, not all heretical and not all varying degrees of bad theology. Second, it has much that is good, true and biblically accurate. Third, the good is good, but the bad is terrible.

Sub-titled Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, Bell’s work is ambitiously named, but is not able to thoroughly address either of its three proposed topics. This is not to say any of them are ignored, but the length of the book and his writing style (short sentences, plentiful use of the return key, and a superfluity of questions) do not lend themselves to the scrupulousness required to explore them at more than surface depth. If the subject was cancer, then the good Dr. Bell merely sprayed it with Bactine and declared, “Antibiotics win!” This is especially disappointing since Bell claims it to be a book of answers. Less than a book of answers, it is a wide ranging book of questions and thoughts about heaven and hell as he sometimes redefines them without going to the trouble of letting the undiscerning reader know that he’s redefined them.

Bell does good in reminding us that Christ’s followers are responsible to exhibit heaven on earth. He writes (pg. 45):

Taking heaven seriously, then, means taking suffering seriously, now. Not because we’ve bought into the myth that we can create a utopia given enough time, technology, and good voting choices, but because we have great confidence that God has not abandoned human history and is actively at work within it, taking it somewhere. Around a billion people in the world today do not have access to clean water. People will have access to clean water in the age to come, and so working for clean-water access for all is participating now in the life of the age to come. That’s what happens when the future is dragged into the present.

This is nothing less than the kingdom present with an implicit repudiation of post-millennialism. Similarly, he asserts (pg. 55):

According to Jesus, then, heaven is as far away as that day when heaven and earth become one again and as close as a few hours. The apostle Paul writes to the Philippians that either he would go on living, or he would be killed and immediately be with Christ (chap. 1). Paul believed that there is a dimension of creation, a place, a space, a realm beyond the one we currently inhabit and yet near and connected with it.

He clearly is not is step with Belinda Carlisle here, as he holds that heaven is an actual place.

He also equates hell to the reality of sin (pg. 72):

So when people say they don’t believe in hell and they don’t like the word “sin,” my first response is to ask, “Have you sat and talked with a family who just found out their child has been molested? Repeatedly? Over a number of years? By a relative?”

Despite muddling the doctrine of hell later, he does not question its existence as related by Jesus, even providing this sterling insight:

Second, note what it is the man wants in hell: he wants Lazarus to get him water. When you get someone water, you’re serving them. The rich man wants Lazarus to serve him. In their previous life, the rich man saw himself as better than Lazarus, and now, in hell, the rich man still sees himself as above Lazarus. It’s no wonder Abraham says there’s a chasm that can’t be crossed. The chasm is the rich man’s heart! It hasn’t changed, even in death and torment and agony. He’s still clinging to the old hierarchy. He still thinks he’s better.

A real dilemma comes when Bell tries to explain away any kind of meaningful (ie, biblically sound) doctrine of eternal punishment. It’s here especially that he veers into heresy only rarely getting even two wheels on the road. It’s as if, given his revulsion for the course charted by the church for 2,000 years, he plots a new course, but, rather than using a GPS, he simply decides to spin the wheel. Bell goes to the trouble of pointing out that having a “personal relationship” with Jesus is not in the Bible, but seems blind to the fact that “love wins” makes no appearance either. Spotty hermeneutics and shoddy church history do little to help his case. It seems for him that Christianity is a religion of mystery of which questions are the core, but, historically, Christianity has been seen as a religion of revelation of which questions are a part.

Nowhere is Bell’s disdain for a doctrine of eternal justice toward sin more evident than his handling of scripture regarding who will be saved. Using a method of cherry picking that would make any migrant worker proud, Bell “proves” that “all” will eventually be drawn to heaven. With complete disregard for any context at all, verses that are directed to Israel, verses that refer to only believers, and verses that directed to another specific group are combined into a theological witches’ brew the odor of which should ward off any serious truth seeker. Even the aforementioned review of at Relevant magazine, noting “Bell’s seeming refusal in Love Wins to wrestle with the explicit difficulties in the biblical text,” concluded:

It would be easy to imagine a new Christian assuming Love Wins is an all-encompassing view of God, and then being dreadfully confused when they read Judges for the first time. Bell’s summation is at least as non-holistic as Mark Driscoll’s “My Jesus beats people up” image. It’s disappointing to see Bell fall into the same trap as Driscoll and some of his contemporaries, when the complexity and paradox in the character of God seem to be overlooked in the chase to gain points.

His belief that “love wins” becomes so completely skewed that he ultimately interprets verses that teach the depth of judgment on those who reject Christ as “there’s still hope for Sodom and Gomorrah.” It is a breathtaking display of eisegetical gymnastics. At least a 9.5.

Since Rob Bell is so concerned that billions and billions of people will go to hell, perhaps he should write a book challenging western Christians’ view of evangelism, rather than letting us off the hook by implying that all but the most hardened sinners will wind up in heaven anyway. Why should we spend one second of time and even one dollar to tell the lost about Christ when

The writers of scripture consistently affirm that we’re all part of the same family. What we have in common—regardless of our tribe, language, customs, beliefs, or religion—outweighs our differences. This is why God wants ‘all people to be saved.’ (pg. 99)

Sorry, Rob. Being in the same family is the result of salvation not the root of it.

Perhaps most disconcerting of all is his caricaturing of what most people would call “historic theology.” His complaint about the many “Jesuses” that have told a toxic story to the masses, is hardly helped by his overly simplistic, baldly inadequate description on page 173:

Millions have been taught that if they don’t believe, if they don’t accept in the right way, that is, the way the person telling them the gospel does, and they were hit by a car and died later that same day, God would have no choice but to punish them forever in conscious torment in hell. God would, in essence, become a fundamentally different being to them in that moment of death, a different being to them forever. A loving heavenly father who will go to extraordinary lengths to have a relationship with them would, in the blink of an eye, become a cruel, mean, vicious tormenter who would ensure that they had no escape from an endless future of agony.

Nothing about the goodness of God leading to repentance. Nothing about unbelief. Nothing about sin separating from God. Bell’s comment would make Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens stand and applaud. It’s a ludicrous, stupid parody of God.

Reading portions of Love Wins I cannot help but think of a scene from the 1995 movie version of A Little Princess where the school girls had endured a lengthy read from some intolerably dull novel. As Sarah Crewe took her turn she immediately woke up everyone with a rousing portion that had every girl and one of the ladies swooning. Upon being reprimanded for changing the story, the adventurous Crewe replied, “I just couldn’t bear to think of her running off with that awful man, so I imagined it another way.” Bell’s conclusions about heaven are informative, about hell are less so, and about the fate of every person who ever lived? It seems he’s just imagined it another, unbiblical, way.

As a friend of mine (who loved the book) said of Love Wins, “This isn’t Bell’s best.” I would go so far as to say there are other books that are far less problematic than this one that are far more effective in teaching what Bell is attempting to say. This is far and away a fan club book.

If you want to read on the unimaginable love of God, please check out The Ragamuffin Gospel. If you want to read about our role with God in bringing justice to the world, read Good News About Injustice. For a far better treatment on helping the poor and providing clean drinking water, see When Helping Hurts. For an much more in depth exploration of heaven, try Randy Alcorn’s Heaven. For the best treatment on the prodigal son in your lifetime, you need The Prodigal God
.

There are baseball fans and then there are baseball FANS. Having read Scott Lamb and Tim Ellsworth’s new book, ‘Pujols: More Than The Game,’ I can say that this book is for both. The casual fan will be taken by the man that is Pujols-a devoted husband, faithful follower of Christ, user of his wealth to help others, and one who has never forgotten his roots. The diehard fan will revel in the depth of baseball lore surrounding the Cardinals record setting first baseman who has set standards that will stand for a long, long time. Consider just these:

When compared to the legends of the game, Pujols stands alongside Stan Musial, Ted Williams, and Joe DiMaggio as one of only four players to have less than five hundred career strikeouts and a career batting average over .330 at the time they hit their three-hundredth home run.

Yankee hero Lou Gehrig posted nine consecutive seasons with thirty doubles, a .300 batting average, thirty home runs, and one hundred runs batted in. Has anyone else accomplished this feat? Nobody except Pujols.

In more than one hundred years of National League baseball, nobody ranks ahead of Pujols in extra base hits (744) within their first 5,000 career at bats. He gets around a lot.

More Than The Game spans Pujols’ humble beginnings in the Dominican Republic through his move to the United States including his high school baseball feats at Fort Osage High School in Independence, MO and college career at Maple Woods Community College, to the minor leagues and finally the pros. Each level witnessed its own legendary baseball from the ever improving young star. A favorite of mine took place during the state playoffs first year playing high school baseball. The opposing pitcher, Ryan Stegall, who would eventually be drafted by the Houston Astros, gave up a mammoth home run to the eighteen year old Pujols. Lamb and Ellsworth describe the shot:

The ball rocketed through the sky in left center field, way over the left field fence. Beyond the fence, about forty to fifty feet back, loomed the two-story Liberty High School building. An air conditioner unit sat atop the building, probably twenty or thirty feet from the edge, and had just become target practice for Pujols. The home run traveled five hundred feet, easily.

Following the standard walk to the mound to deliver a new ball to his pitcher, Stegall’s battery partner, Shannon Blackburn, said,

You suck. I’ve never seen a ball hit that far.

While Pujols includes more than enough baseball to satiate the most diehard fan, it covers the most important part of the superstar’s life with equally as passionate writing: his passion for Christ. Albert Pujols is more than one of the greatest baseball players to ever swing a bat, he’s also serious about faith in Christ. He is not just one of those guys who “Thanks God” when winning an award with nothing about his life matching those words. He’s the real deal. He has a solid walk and a solid public testimony. Pujols is the kind of man you want your kid to like; not the kind you hope they will avoid.

You can order Pujols: More Than The Game through the link below. You pay the same low Amazon price and I make a small commission.

A giant in Southern politics of a day gone by, Harry Dent ultimately found himself a giant in a different kingdom–the kingdom of God. Through the process, he come to understand which had the greatest importance.

I met Ginny Dent Brant a few years ago when we shared a mutual interest in Southern Baptist Convention issues, especially related to its International Mission Board. I knew nothing of Harry Dent or the Southern Strategy; she never mentioned her famous father. I have vague memories of Nixon in office, of Patty Hearst’s kidnapping and of Watergate in real time. I have no memory of Harry Dent and memories of Chuck Colson only start from my mid-teen years.

For the similarly uninitiated, Harry Dent was a Republican strategist in the deep South who is credited with developing the party’s base of strength during a time that Southerners were not generally courted by presidential politics. He was also an insider in the Nixon White House until, providentially, he was demoted just before a certain after-hours tour at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D. C.

Dent Brant’s book is both a memoir of her admired father and an autobiography of her own spiritual journey. Chronicling their moves to/from South Carolina and DC, Harry Dent’s not always successful juggling of his family, career and business ventures, and her own ministry, Freedom covers many years of God’s working in and through a family.

While those over 50 might have clearer memories of Harry Dent’s political influence and stature than I, many of those will have no memory of his second career, indeed his second life.

A lifelong church goer, Dent was of that special breed of Southerner: the moralist. Seeing church as a great way to churn out good citizens, his “Christianity” amounted to little more than a few sayings and behavioral expectations. He never saw the connection with the real world and his daughter’s desire to pursue God at all costs. After many years, though, Dent met Christ and was forever changed.

Harry Dent’s second life was that of a lay-preacher fired by the gospel to reach those who had suffered under the rule of communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu in Romania. Preaching and teaching to the spiritually famished people in cities like Cluj became his passion. His founding of Laity Alive and Serving (now headed by Ginny Brant) was birthed from his desire to see other non-pastors involved in taking the love of Jesus to the ends of the earth.

Finding True Freedom is for those who are interested in the Nixon administration, politics in the deep South or the way that God uses willing people to accomplish Kingdom goals. It is also a meaningful reminder of how the lives we lead touch others in ways we cannot always anticipate.

Published by CLC Publications, Finding True Freedom, by Ginny Dent Brant, is available through the Amazon.com link below, at bookstores in North and South Carolina, and select Family Christian Stores. Her upcoming book signings are:
Tues., Nov. 2nd 4 – 6:00 pm at Trenholm Plaza in Columbia, SC
Thurs. Nov. 4th 4 – 6:00 pm at Riverhurst Shop on 123 in Clemson, SC
Fri., Nov. 12th 5:30 – 7:30 at Family Christian on Harbison Blvd in Irmo
Sat. Nov. 13th 10 – 12:00 at Books on Main in Moncks Corner
1 – 3:00 at Family Christian at Northwoods Mall in N. Charleston

Beginning today, anyone can download the full introduction from my latest book The Generous Soul: An Introduction to Missional Giving via the link below. There is no cost; it is absolutely free. There is no restriction on how many times it is downloaded, so please send everyone you know a link to this page.

Use the buttons above to tweet via your Twitter account or post to your Facebook wall.

The Generous Soul is currently available at Amazon.com (link to the right) and bn.com (Barnes & Noble). It is also available for pre-order at all LifeWay Christian Stores nationwide (store list) and through your local bookstore.

Click the link below to begin download. File size is 89kb. Internet Explorer users may need to upgrade to IE 8.
Introduction to The Generous Soul: An Introduction to Missional Giving (106)

I am happy to announce the pre-release availability of my second book, The Generous Soul: An Introduction to Missional Giving. The back cover description:

Christians are inundated with books, messages, and larger-than-life personalities all positioned as experts on God’s will regarding finances. Countering the health-and-wealth attitude are those who abhor any suggestion of financial well-being arguing instead for a life of poverty, and the middle ground is dominated by financially passive churchgoers with little motivation toward radical giving. While Christian bookstores are filled with books on finance explaining how to have a budget, invest wisely, and make good financial decisions, there lacks a thorough study examining how Christ followers relate to money and possessions in the larger Kingdom purpose.

The Generous Soul takes a look at money and possessions from the position that the missionary mandate given to all believers extends not just to country, culture or context, but also to the financial blessings at hand, however meager they may be. Explaining that each child of God is a “missionary manager,” author Marty Duren provides a solid biblical foundation for a life of generosity toward others based on the faithfulness of God.

Here are what people are saying about The Generous Soul:

So far, planet Earth has seen the rise of one and only one fantastically wealthy nation⎯the United States of America. But increasingly we who plumb the depths of this swirling sea of money and privilege and convenience are confronting what James Houston aptly identifies as the failure of success. In The Generous Soul Marty Duren compels a confrontation between the affluent society and the generosity-shaped activity and purposes of God. In clear, accessible, penetrating prose, Duren reminds us or perhaps teaches us for the first time that hands clinched tight around the American dream are neither free to embrace Jesus nor to enjoy the benefits purchased for sinners on the Cross and woven into the very gospel itself.
Dr. Mark DeVine, Associate Professor of History and Doctrine, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University and author of Bonhoeffer Speaks Today: Following Jesus at All Costs

The echo of Carl Henry’s The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism resonates in the background of The Generous Soul. Marty Duren has penned a work that compels as much as it convicts. Just as Henry called for cultural engagement with the Gospel, Duren calls us to missional giving. As much literature of late has called attention to missional lifestyles, serious attention to making kingdom giving a financial priority has been lacking. The gap has now been filled by The Generous Soul. A must read for those that take serious the Great Commission.
Dr. Kevin King, Associate Professor of Historical Theology
Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary

Marty Duren has provided us with an insightful and practical guide to what he calls ‘missional giving.’ From a solid theological base, Duren makes a case for giving as a powerful catalyst to spiritual growth and an essential instrument for Kingdom expansion. Anyone concerned with cultivating excellence in stewardship for the right reasons is going to benefit greatly from The Generous Soul.
Earl Creps, Ph.D., D.Min., Pastor, 360 Church, Berkeley, CA and author of Off-Road Disciplines: Spiritual Adventures of Missional Leaders

Marty Duren has written a very helpful book that challenges the apathetic giving patterns of American Christians. The reason that so many give so little is not a matter of economics but of spirituality and biblical literacy (or, more accurately, illiteracy). The Bible clearly teaches what Marty calls “missional giving” and when Christians embrace the call of God to be “missionary managers” of His resources then the church will be filled with “generous souls.” Read this book to be challenged to think rightly about and handle responsibly whatever amount of wealth God has entrusted to you.
Dr. Tom Ascol, Pastor
Grace Baptist Church, Cape Coral, Florida

I’m not sure I like The Generous Soul! Some books instruct while others encourage or entertain. This one convicts. I’ve been reminded of many things that we as followers of Christ are commanded to do and have been encouraged to begin again. Whether you like what Marty has written or not, yet after reading it, you’ll have to do something about what you’ve read. I know I’ve been challenged to make some changes in my own life as a result.
Rodney McCarty, Pastor
FBC Morenci, Arizona

The Generous Soul takes a fresh and compelling look at our responsibility as stewards of God’s resources. As Duren states, ‘Spending the money God has entrusted to our management, without His involvement, is embezzlement.’ This book will challenge you to the core.
Kiki Cherry, New Life Campus Ministry
Carnegie Mellon University

Delivering a blow to the chin of consumerist American Christianity, The Generous Soul lands a knock out punch. In recent years, the discussion of missional living has seemingly invaded every bookstore, blog, magazine and pulpit. Yet Marty Duren strikes at the heart of this discussion in a fresh new way, challenging believers to understand the transformative power of the gospel not only in heart, home, and mind, but in wallet and bank account as well. Exposing our materialism and pushing through our excuses, the book is helpful to any person seeking gospel priority in their life, challenging us to move from missional living to missional giving.
Rick Garrett, Church Planter, Lead Pastor
Epic Church, Orlando, FL

Chapters include, “creation has its privileges,” “providence is not a city in Rhode Island,” “missionary managers” and “Christmas every day.” Included in the book are both “meditations” and “conversations” to encourage spiritual growth whether read individually or used in group studies.

LifeWay Christian Stores will be stocking The Generous Soul at all 162 retail outlets nationwide. It will also be available through Amazon.com, bn.com and other online outlets.

The Generous Soul will be available for bulk discounts to churches and other religious or denominational organizations via publisher direct purchases. Please contact Missional Press for pricing.

Single copies may be ordered through the secure PayPal link below. Please indicate if a specific inscription inside is desired.

Dr. David Phillips has been a friend for several years. In the SBC blogosphere of yore, he usually went by the name “Tech Support” since he was the only one in our little group that understood the technology behind “Edit Post” and “Publish.” He saved my bacon many times along the way and gave me my first actual domain name to make my blog’s url more memorable. It was a welcome relief not needing to say “dot blogspot” every time.

In addition to being an accomplished techie, David recently earned the Doctor of Ministry in Leadership in the Emerging Culture degree from George Fox University. One result of those long hours of study, besides the degree, is his new book Holy Rewired: Science, the Gospel and the Journey Toward Wholeness released in May 2010 by Missional Press (also my publisher).

Holy Rewired is an exploration of science and scripture, neurology and theology, emotion and redemption. There is much that hearkened back to biology, anatomy and chemistry classes long forgotten. Phillips does a great job of taking material that could easily bog down in endless explanations of neurons, electrons, protons (and Klingons?), rendering it easily accessible. His step by step walk through of memory, emotion, plasticity and rewiring of the brain was as informative as much as a year’s subscription to Science.

Working through the book one might think that Phillip’s conclusion would be a hodgepodge of Freud, Skinner, Erickson and Mary Shelley, but that person would be wrong. Rather than opting for a naturalistic explanation for human behavior and need, he rightly lets science speak where it can then turns to God for the fuller truths of human existence; we cannot experience lasting change without the gospel of Jesus Christ. He writes:

Because of the Fall, humanity does not truly know who it is, and before any behavior can change in the deepest levels of life, a person has to replace [his or her] rebellious and prideful identity (p. 107).

[...]

…Jesus talked of the process as becoming a little child. He used these phrases to remind the disciples that entering into the kingdom requires a new birth, becoming young, having a faith that is child-like in its simplicity and devoted trust. It is a new way of living…Through [the] re-birthing process, we not only are God’s child, positionally, but we become his child relationally (pg. 118, 119).

I recommend Holy Rewired for those who deal with past issues which distort a biblical view of self, those who are dealing with sinful or harmful habits in the present and those who minister to people so involved. I also think it has a very relevant place in the work of recovery groups as it hits at the core of the addicts struggle: Who am I in Christ? or Who can I become in Christ?

Holy Rewired can be purchased at Amazon.com through the link below. You pay the same low price and I get a small commission. For an autographed copy, you may order through David’s website.

At my wife’s suggestion, I recently read her copy of Flirting with Faith: My Spiritual Journey from Atheism to a Faith-Filled Life. Written by professor Joan Ball, it is the engaging, humorous and revealing story of how an affirmed atheist with no problems to speak of, searching for nothing and experience no spiritual doubts, was smacked down “Paul on the road to Damascus style” and, to paraphrase C.S. Lewis, became the most surprised convert in New York.

What sets this story apart from that of Lee Strobel or Josh McDowell is Ball was not on a spiritual quest either to find the truth of Jesus or to disprove it only to be convinced. She was aware of the gospel and the scriptures, yet had come to the conclusion that neither were true. Her regular church attendance was due only to the desire of her husband and children.

Ball’s encounter with God did not, as so many Christian stories do, end with a new car, nicer clothes, more stuff and a TV show. Instead, she went from a very comfortable upscale life to loss of income, loss of job, husband’s loss of job, loss of savings and a child afflicted with an undiagnosable illness. God did not swoop down and give her a bunch of Christianese; He swooped in and gave her himself.

Speaking of Christianese, Flirting with Faith is, thankfully, completely devoid of it. Her story is told just as she lived it, with all the growing pains, simple faith and lack of vocabulary one would expect from a new convert not grown in the church greenhouse. Especially encouraging is the simplicity of faith in which Joan walked when learning to obey the Bible. It will challenge and convict all those but the closest to God.

One example of the “fall out” from Joan’s conversion is the effect it had on her husband, Martin, who was a solid believer, but with a less than active faith. She relayed the numerous times that she had peppered him with all the standard skeptic’s questions about the Bible, Noah’s ark, and the like. His simple, non-argumentative response always ranged along, “It’s in the Bible, so I believe it.” As she grew, he grew and the first step was in an unlikely place: Ephesians 5. She writes:

I know that he used to read the Bible a lot before we met, but I guess this bit must have gone by him.

“It says right here. I have to submit to you, and you have to be the head of the household.”

Martin looked at me like I had three heads, trying to decide how to respond to this latest wackiness. “Well,” he paused, thinking. “I don’t want you to submit to me.”

“Me neither. But it says it right here, and if we’re going to live this thing, I think we’ve got to be in it all the way.”

I can see how random this was. And now that I have learned how differently people approach their understanding of what the Bible says to them, and how they react to it, I find this independent choice to respond to this scripture literally is even more fascinating. But this was not some fallible human telling me what I was supposed to do, or a rule some church was throwing down at me. Best I could tell, these instructions were coming from the Big Guy himself, and I was ready to say yes to whatever he put in front of me.

“Okay,” Martin said. “Here is my first command.”

He certainly shifted quickly from not to yes on this one, I thought, bracing myself for what would come next.

“My first command is…that we do everything like we’ve always done it.” (pg. 59, emphasis in original)

This book is a good book for understanding how many seekers approach life and faith. It is also good for those who are seeking. Flirting is a “Read this and tell me what you think” kind of conversation starter.

It’s also a good book to be reminded of the simple faith you might have had when you first came to know God. A faith that might have gotten smothered in the ensuing complexities of life. Isn’t it odd how so many who have “walked with God” for a long time sometimes find themselves actually walking away from Him? There are some reminders here of what the early days were like.

You can order Flirting with Faith and more through the links below. You pay the same low price and I get a small commission.

Anyone who has ever pastored or attended a small town church can appreciate the reality of the “one who runs everything.” Those closed communities where the same folks have lived on the same land for generations are sometimes situated around those churches that I call “family owned and operated.” Everyone in the church is related, except the pastor of course, so even when they are fighting with each other blood is thicker than water. And God forbid the pastor step into one of those family squabbles to find it like grabbing a rabid dog by the tale. The setting of The Devil in Pew Number Seven is just such a place.

In 1969 Robert Nichols moved with his wife to Sellerstown, North Carolina to serve as the pastor of Free Welcome Holiness Church. The church had dwindled to 12 women and one man attending when Nichols and wife Ramona arrived. Before long they became aware of “the devil in pew number seven,” an influential county politician and business man, Horry James Watts.

Although not a member of Free Welcome, Watts exuded enormous influence on the congregation and was not pleased when the people began to ignore his influence to follow Nichols’ leadership. Watts, who reminded me of John Wallace from Murder in Coweta County, had numbers of people under his thumb by virtue of economic leverage and pure meanness. After a short amount of time, he began to wage nothing short of a terrorist campaign against the young pastor, his wife and two children, the oldest of whom, Rebecca, is the author of the book.

If you are a pastor and are thinking, “Yeah, been there; done that,” do not jump the gun. Most in the same situation have experienced gossip, active opposition, mean spirited behavior, business meeting disruptions and the like. The Nichols experience dynamite blasts, sniper shots, threatening letters and phone calls and more coming, primarily, from this one man. The book chronicles the efforts of the church and of local and federal law enforcement to curtain the attacks, but to seemingly no avail. It also follows Robert and Ramona Nichols as they endlessly try to model Jesus Christ in the face of unflinching adversity. It is an extraordinary story of forgiveness, blessing those who persecute us and sacrifice.

Every pastor, especially those experiencing church troubles, should read this book. It should be required reading in pastoral ministry classes at seminaries and/or Bible colleges. It would benefit any person who has ever had a reason to hold a grudge. As a percentage of Christians, or even of pastors, few people in America have experienced what the Nichols family endured. Yet Rebecca and her brother, Daniel, speak of forgiveness as the “language of heaven.”

A word to guys: Much of this book is like reading a memoir as the author shares her growing up years, her relationship with her Mom, Dad and friends (especially a nearby neighbor). Many sections have a distinctly feminine feel and I was tempted to skip them. I think these areas will appeal much more to women (most of the reviewers at Amazon are women), it is worth reading through them to gain some perspective on how pastors children see their parents and the ministry.

Another warning is that the book is an easy read, but not easy to read. In fact, it can be brutally heart-rending at times. The deep well of empathy for Nichols and his family is likely to cause more than one spike in blood pressure as Alonzo’s story forces us to answer this question: how much suffering is one soul worth?

You can order The Devil in Pew Number Seven through the Amazon link below. You pay the same low price and I get a small commission.

The new book Green Like God: Unlocking the Divine Plan for Our Planet, by Southern Baptist leader Jonathan Merritt, is likely to ruffle more feathers and garner both more praise and more criticism than any book by any other Southern Baptist author in 2010. That’s because Merritt holds the unusual position of being Southern Baptist and environmentally friendly, or “green” to use the popular term. Southern Baptists, long suspected of being the chaplaincy arm of the Republican party, have never been mistaken for Greenpeace. Their idea of recycling tend to be making sure all the fried chicken buckets get stacked up properly so there will be room in the dumpster for the mashed potato boxes.

Personal confession: Years ago I regularly harangued my mother for recycling her aluminum foil. She would wash it, dry it, fold it and put it in the laundry room to take to the recycling center with the old newspapers. Now I clean the aluminum foil, fold it and put it in a kitchen trash can to take to the recycling center with the natural plastic, the clear/green plastic, the tin cans, the clear bottles, and the brown bottles to take to the recycling center with the old newspapers.

How times have changed.

With the current emphasis on going green that emblazons the cover of many magazines, is the emphasis of many documentaries and, because of the global warming debate, maintains central focus on television talk shows it might be easy to write off Merritt’s efforts as a mere riding of a wave or jumping into the middle of an already comfortable swimming pool. You’d be mistaken.

For the Christian, Green Like God holds an important allure: It’s based on Scripture more than science. In fact, Merritt does not argue that we should be environmentally conscience because the Sierra Club demands it, but because God does. God loves planet Earth; the Discovery Channel did not create our terrestrial home, God did. The Department of the Interior did not set humanity as stewards over the planet, God did. Al Gore was not the first to address environmental issues (whatever his motive and however accurately) God did in the earliest days of humanity and as long as He spoke to His people.

Merritt does address statistics behind the polluting of the planet and quite convincingly so. He uses wide and thorough documentation to build his case, while relegating the global warming controversy to an appendix. His approach is not to convince people to be good stewards of the earth’s resources because of statistics, but because of the commands of God about this stewardship and the concerns of God about His creation.

For conservatives who really are concerned about the environment, but were afraid of being pigeonholed as “tree huggers” or “environmental wackos,” this book is, so to speak, your salvation. Armed with the theology behind the position, one might find that trees are not what the arms are wrapped around–God is.

Green Like God can be ordered through the link below. You pay the same low Amazon price and I get a small commission.

Up for grabs is a group of ten (10) leadership books to keep or give to leaders around you. Most of these are used having been picked up at various sales or thrift shops over the last few months (not everyone actually reads them, you know) or books that were given to me for attending conferences.

Included are: Pour Your Heart Into It, by Howard Schultz, founder of Starbucks, Credibility, by Kouzes and Posner, Mad Church Disease, by Anne Jackson, The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make by Hans Finzel, From Lucky to Smart, by Chester Cadieux, co-founder of QuickTrip, When Teams Work Best, by LaFasto and Larson, and, by John Maxwell, Failing Forward, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Developing the Leader Within You, and Maxwell’s newest, Everyone Communicates Few Connect.

Entering this give away is easy:
1. Leave a comment in the comment thread. One comment per entrant, so make it your best shot.
2. In 35 words or less, explain why you would like to win. You can use humor, satire, other creativity or be straightforward. Thirty-six or more words means disqualification.
3. I will choose the winner based on the 35 or less word entry, my choice being final and completely subjective. Losers will be prayed for.
4. Shipping will be media mail, paid for by me. Cash or other remuneration will not be given if shipment is lost or damaged.
5. No other gifts are promised or implied.
6. Entry is open from the time this post goes online through 10:00 pm (Eastern), Wednesday, March 31, 2010.
7. Winner must be able to provide a valid USPS shipping address within 48 hours of notification. Notification will take place via the non-published email address used when leaving comment.
8. THIS CONTEST IS OPEN WORLDWIDE. HOWEVER, ONLY SHIPPING TO THE 48 CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES IS FREE. IF THE WINNER IS SELECTED FROM ALASKA, HAWAII OR ANY OTHER COUNTRY, WINNER AGREES TO PAY (VIA PAY PAL) ALL SHIPPING COSTS ABOVE $10/US.