The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church (Leadership Network Innovation Series) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church (Leadership Network Innovation Series)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church (Leadership Network Innovation Series). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church (Leadership Network Innovation Series) ReviewDave Gibbons begins the Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church with an eastern parable. A well-meaning monkey sees a fish struggling in the water after a typhoon. Having a kind heart, the monkey with considerable risk to himself reaches down precariously from a limb of a tree to save the fish snatching him up from the water. The monkey lies the fish on dry land. For a few minutes the fish showed excitement but soon it settled into a peaceful sleep.
Translation: it died. Relevance to the 21st Century church: everything.
Gibbons is the founding pastor of Newsong, a multi-site international third-culture church. Years ago, Gibbons was building his megachurch and was struck with the thought of building a big box that would not be used most of the week to entertain people who for the most part would not change the world. He was a well-meaning monkey thinking he was saving a fish.
God took Dave Gibbons down a journey that has huge implications for us today. What he came to embrace is that the world is changing to a third-culture were we need to be willing to cross lines to reach people where they are.
Love your neighbor
If we take the parable of the Good Samaritan to heart, we see that our neighbor is someone not like us. It is someone of a different race. Someone who with different beliefs. We are called to love, to act, to serve. To be Christ rather than just talk about Him.
Be Liquid
When you pour water into a glass, it takes the shape of the glass. Pour it into a teapot and it takes the shape of the teapot. Water can flow. Be water. Be Liquid.
Our message remains the same but our forms must change. And our conflicts should not be about forms. it's a waste of energy. Third-culture is about being water to a thirsty world. It's being adaptive. It's being willing to change. It's reading the culture. It's being a Jew to reach Jews. It's being poor to reach the poor. It's being liquid
Three questions
1. Where is Nazareth? Who are the people on the margins of life? Who are the outsiders? Who are suffering the most? Instead of looking for the leaders who can offer the most to our churches/movements/organizations/own kingdoms, Gibbons teaches us to look for who are the most in need. It is the model of Christ. It is how God operates. God's power is most perfected in weakness.
2. What is my pain? Instead of always looking for our own spiritual gifts/talents/resources, Gibbons encourages us to identify with our greatest pain. It is through our pain that the world can relate to. It is our pain that shows the power of Christ.
3. What is in my hand? What has God given me? Use that. Stop focusing on what we do not have or comparing ourselves to some myth. Stop trying to become something we are not.
I highly recommend this book! it spoke to my soul. It gave me hope and that we can adapt to help change the world.The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church (Leadership Network Innovation Series) Overview

Want to learn more information about The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church (Leadership Network Innovation Series)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

A Theology for Christian Education Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy A Theology for Christian Education? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on A Theology for Christian Education. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

A Theology for Christian Education ReviewThis was an excellent book, the author's thesis is to integrate theology and Christian education attempting to not only influence the church in general, but to holistically impact the church. They see theology as a filter to sift through social sciences and allow the methodology to proceed from them. They do not see education and theology as two enemies, but as teaching which needs integrated. Their structural approach toward systematic theology covers a large area of doctrines which impact church and life. The authors fulfilled the purpose of integrating education and theology through the explanation of systematic theology followed by its application.
Regarding the integration of social sciences, the authors did not meet their goal. The arguments in the second chapter adequately laid out five levels of integration and social science. They concluded, if education is going to be Christian it has to see theology as the filter which social sciences are integrated, which produces Christian education. Chapters three through ten cover the various topics of systematic theology, but do not adequately interact with the integration of social science. Chapter eleven is an attempt to move toward a theologically informed approach to education. The authors state the chapter is not a complete "systematic theory of education" because it does not include the "social science theories." They did touch on learning taxonomies, but did not inform the reader that this was a form of integration. At this point, the authors loose one of their primary goals stated to attain Christian education.
The authors argued for integrating social sciences with theology, but never interacted with social science integration itself. This is a significant point considering the authors equated proper integration with true Christian education. The only thing that seems like a plausible reason for avoiding this interaction is the authors may not have agreed on exactly what Christian education should and should not integrate, but this is only a guess.
Approaching Christian education from systematic theology provides a great start for the church. It is an ordered coherent picture of the Christian faith. The authors point out; it is a "means to an end and not the end itself." This reminds the teacher to focus on holistic discipleship and gospel growth and not simply delivering content alone. Helping the learner understand how to inject other areas of theology into Christian education would have strengthened the book. An example of this would be the teaching of biblical theology since it allows the learner to see the metanarrative of Scripture and provides a grid to better understand systematic theology.
The book carries significant value which would benefit any Christian educator. There are many solid evangelical systematic theology texts available, but few provide the application of theology seen in A Theology of Christian Education. It is important for the Christian educator to teach people how to connect orthodoxy and orthopraxy, which the authors do superbly.
They recognize the Glory of God as the central goal in Christian education. This forces an educator to evaluate all areas of ministry in light of God's standards and not their own preferences. Seeing education as holistically encompassing orthodoxy, orthopraxis and orthopatheia encourages balance in teaching.
Regarding curriculum selection, they evealuwated 5 approches. The final chapter interacts with the identity crises in Christian education. Four elements of identification are outlined as: theory, task, target and theology. Each area overlaps with the roles of the teacher as the: theorist, teacher, trainer and theologian. The paradigm seems to adequately capture the role of Christian education and the role of the teacher.
A Theology for Christian Education remains a superb book for educators in all age ranges and should help any evangelical minister of education.
A Theology for Christian Education Overview

Want to learn more information about A Theology for Christian Education?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Generous Justice: How God's Grace Makes Us Just Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Generous Justice: How God's Grace Makes Us Just? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Generous Justice: How God's Grace Makes Us Just. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Generous Justice: How God's Grace Makes Us Just ReviewWhen I ordered Timothy Keller's "Generous Justice," I thought I was buying a book about God's justice (in condemning sinners), which has been assailed by so many recently. Never have I been so pleasantly and emotionally surprised by a book. What Keller has done instead is to wed a theology of God's grace to us, and one that is fully orthodox in nature, with a biblical emphasis on social justice. Keller's main thesis is this: God's "generous justice" to humans who are poor in spirit and in great need is a motivation for our administering social justice - as well as an evidence that we have truly received the grace of God.
This is truly a mind-blowing, heart-rending thesis - and it's hit me like a ton of bricks! The very night I read this book, I read (from the Book of Common Prayer) the prayer for Social Justice in our Evening Prayer service at church. Obviously God is trying to teach me something, and I think He's trying to teach you all the same thing. That something is that Christians are to be involved in social justice not only because it's a commandment but because it's a response to a life that's received the grace of God (His "generous justice").
Keller cuts across the great conservative/liberal divide in this book. He has something that most of you will at first disagree about, but when you truly consider it, you'll find that he's probably right. Social justice is about caring for the poor and alienated, both as individuals and as communities. To conservative Christians he preaches that social justice does indeed involve changing entire communities and that real oppression and social injustice still exists in the U.S. To liberal Christians he preaches that much of poverty really does come from the personal moral failings of individuals. In fact, he outlines 3 possible causes of poverty: oppression, calamity, and personal moral failure. He believes that the biblical emphasis is especially on the larger structural factors (although I don't necessarily agree with him here.)
Perhaps most importantly, Keller is putting his money where his mouth is: his Redeemer Presbyterian Church is located in Manhattan.
What Keller does best, beginning with the Old Testament and continuing through the teachings of Jesus and the Epistles is to show God's concern for social justice. You cannot read this book without being challenged to want to be more involved in correcting social injustice, whether at the individual or social level. This book hit me like a ton of bricks because years ago I had read Ron Sider's Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger while in college. I was originally moved by the book but then became aware that Sider had made a lot of errors in his theology and thinking. For years, I allowed this and the liberal emphasis on the social gospel as opposed to the true gospel to shield me from the biblical message of the need for justice.
This book has been like a sledgehammer to my soul, and it will take me months and years to sort out what God would have me do next.
In addition to providing the biblical and theological rationale for caring for the poor and disadvantaged, Keller turns towards a more practical approach towards the end of the book, which was exactly what I needed. He answers questions I and many others have, such as "What if I don't live by an area of poverty?" (then look for the disadvantaged, abused, neglected, sick, single parents wherever you are!) He discusses 3 levels of help that need to be offered: relief (direct aid to immediate needs), development (giving a family or community what they need to move beyond dependency), and social reform (changing the conditions and social conditions that cause dependency).
Keller divides his book up this way:
Introduction: Why Write This Book?
Chapter One - What is Doing Justice?
Chapter Two - Justice and the Old Testament
Chapter Three - What Did Jesus Say About Justice?
Chapter Four - Justice and Your Neighbor
Chapter Five - Why Should We Do Justice?
Chapter Six - How Should We Do Justice?
Chapter Seven - Doing Justice in the Public Square
Chapter Eight - Peace, Beauty, and Justice
There are still things I disagree with about the book, and I have a few areas where I think Keller could have been clearer or more forceful so as not to mislead.
My 1st objection is that Keller seems to emphasize justice in terms of structures more than the justice we seek for individuals (for example, the many ways I seek justice among my kids at home). Keller didn't talk about this side of things enough. He also, in my opinion, doesn't adequately take into account the moral failings that are the cause of so much of American poverty since the 20th century. It's not that he isn't aware of this side of things: I just think he understates it.
Second, while Keller's clearly aware that our contemporary situation is not a theocracy like that of ancient Israel, too much of the time he seems to assume that the social justice we seek is out in the world at large, as opposed to the social justice we seek specifically in the Church. The New Testament letters are clearly more heavily weighted toward how we seek justice specifically in the Church, which is to model social justice for the world, even as the justice of national Israel was to be a model for the nations. He also doesn't address the problem that in ancient Israel and the first century Church, Christians knew who the poor were because there was little social mobility. They knew who was really lame and who was faking; they knew who had fallen on hard times; and they knew who was merely lazy or malicious. It's much more difficult for Christians today to discern this, and Keller makes no (or at least inadequate) reference to the traditional Christian distinction between the deserving and the undeserving poor (an issue that several books by George Grant discuss more adequately).
In spite of these errors or exaggerations, "Generous Justice" is still a book every church should be discussing. Read it, and see if it doesn't break your heart and make you more aware of God's grace to you, as well as your need to do justice to those around you!
Generous Justice: How God's Grace Makes Us Just Overview

Want to learn more information about Generous Justice: How God's Grace Makes Us Just?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling ReviewSomeone once told me that our twenties are about figuring out who we are, and our thirties are about figuring out what we should be doing with our lives. I'd say that's about right, in my own limited experience. A mid-career switch from a steady and well-paid job I was good at to a couple of iterations of a new vocation I'm not sure I'm good enough at--this has been the story of my life in my thirties, and I've sometimes gotten pretty lost in all of it. The Church's varied, and usually unsolicited, opinions on these matters often don't help at all.
"Culture Making" offers sharp insight into the issue of vocation, delivered methodically, yet beguilingly, via elegant and sometimes beautiful prose. Andy Crouch sets the scene and tells the story of culture, then rapidly sweeps the reader into this story, finishing with a heart-stopping, imagination-grabbing, challenge to go and make something of the world.
After defining the terms--culture is what we make of the world, creating new culture is the only way to change culture (although gestures of condemnation, critique, copying and consumption may certainly have validity)--Crouch filters the biblical story from Genesis to Revelation through the lens of culture, then addresses our role as co-creators and cultivators with God in this world and the next (it's filled with co-created cultural goods that pass what I call the `new Jerusalem test', and the idea takes my breath away). While all three sections of the book are tightly integrated, it is this third section, entitled "Calling", that really sings.
Crouch's broad definition of culture making--the introduction of any cultural good--is also liberating for those of us with a narrow view of vocation. Essentially--we can, and must, be creative in every area of our life, because we bear the image of our creator. This is must-read stuff, and not just for artists (although I think artists will really sink their teeth into this one). It's food for thought for any Christian wishing to make a meaningful contribution to their world. It certainly has contributed deeply to my own thinking about vocation.Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling Overview

Want to learn more information about Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God ReviewWorship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God is a book written primarily for those who lead music within a church setting. The goal of the book is to give guiding prinicples and practical advice to help the music leader see the essence of what their ministry is about and do that within whatever church context they find themselves.
For the worship leader: This book is a must read. I can think of no circumstance a worship leader may find himself in which he should not read this book. It is the best on the topic of which I am aware, combining into one well written, heart-shepherding book all of the good things that before you would have had to read a dozen separate books to find. The book is both practical and theological, realistic and idealistic. It is God-centered, God-exalting and man-minimizing, while realizing that man must play a role. I have only rarely seen a book that so skillfully and thoughtfully combines rich doctrine and practical advice.
For the band member: Must read. The book is not only about how to lead those who perform, but about what the goal of the music portion of the worship service must be. The book will help you evaluate and redirect your heart in what you may have grown comfortable with. Maybe you
For the pastor/elder: Must read. Know how to encourage, direct, and come alongside your worship leader. I would recommend that the worship leader, band, and pastor(s) read this book together. The book so accurately describes the Biblical vision for worship that all who are involved in how a Sunday service, smallgroup gathering, or other meeting unfold should do so in light of the thoughtful, biblically informed direction Bob Kauflin lays out. There is even a chapter specifically for non-music-oriented pastors.
For the church member: Should read. I do not lead worship; I can't even sing on pitch, but what I was gained from the book made an immediate and palpable difference in the entirety of my worship (singing, participating in the Lord's Supper, listening to the sermon, and interacting with others) on Sunday. There are certainly other books that can benefit you in this regard, but this book is certainly one that can benefit all members of the body of Christ. Wayne Grudem recommends the book with the following words, "Worship Matters is an outstanding book borth for those who lead worship and also for every Christian who wants to worship God more fully. The book is biblical, practical, interesting, wise and thorough in its treatment of the topic."
The 260 pages of Worship Matters is laid out in a very convenient manner: Each of the 32 chapters are generally 4-7 pages in length, focus on a single topic, and can easily be read in a single sitting, even for slow readers. It reads much like a devotional and could easily be read in one month using only 10-15 minutes per day.
The book is broken into four parts:
Part 1: The Leader - Focusing on what kind of man the worship leader must be, touching on the heart, mind (doctrine), hands (practice & skill), and life.
Part 2: The Task. Each chapter takes a phrase from Kauflin's definition of a worship leader to define his task:
A faithful worship leader
magnifies the greatness of God in Jesus Christ
through the power of the Holy Spirit
by skillfully combining God's Word with music,
thereby motivating the gathered church
to proclaim the gospel,
to cherish God's presence
and to live for God's glory.
Part 3: Healthy Tensions - Bob identifies that many of the debates that surround music in churches tend to polarize people and points out that as a response to incorrect emphasis placed on one aspect of worship, that aspect may be neglected and too much weight given to the other extreme. We should rather see the wisdom in each of the two poles and using Scripture as a guide find ourselves in a healthy tension between them not as a response. The poles discussed, each in a chapter are:
* God's transendence and immanence
* Head and Head
* Internal and External
* Vertical and Horizontal
* Planned and Spontaneous
* Rooted and Relevant
* Skilled and Authentic
* For the Church and For Unbelievers
* Event and Everyday
Part 4: Right Relationships - Lays out some biblical guidelines and practical advice for how the various groups of people and the worship leader can interact in the most edifying, God-glorifying way possible. Groups addressed are people in general, the church, the worship team, and the pastor. The book finishes with a chapter written specifically for the pastor(s) of the church.
I cannot sum up my thoughts any better than D.A. Carson did in his endorsement: "Here is a rare book: a practical treatment of corporate worship that nevertheless reflects deep theological commitments. One may disagree here and there with some of the judgments, but it is demonstrably unfair to imagine that Bob Kauflin has not through about these matters deeply." Bob's life and ministry at sovereign grace have demonstrated that he is a worship leader and pastor from whom we want to learn. C.J. Mahaney writes, "I know of no man more qualified to write this book than Bob. And I know of no more important, useful work for those who would lead God's people than Worship Matters." I agree.Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God Overview

Want to learn more information about Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Definition Of A Miracle Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Definition Of A Miracle? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Definition Of A Miracle. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Definition Of A Miracle ReviewAlthough the book is not autobiographical, author Farida, like her heroine, has cerebral palsy.
This joyous and exuberant novel will warm the cockles of your heart and it is frequently side-splitting. When you get beneath a person's skin color, beneath prejudices and religious beliefs, when you get right down to the core of a person, to his soul perhaps, you'll see that people everywhere in the world are really very much alike. Nevertheless when the heroine, eight year old Zaara, and her family move to Ghana after spending years in England, there is a series of cultural shocks.
Her parents are highly educated Oxford graduates and Mummy is a lawyer. He is Muslim, she is Christian. In Ghana disabilities are not understood and Zaara, who has cerebral palsy, must have been visited by evil spirits or gods or bad karmas or a wicked witch. Therefore an exhortation must be performed by a tribal elder or a witch doctor or a fiery preacher A spiritual healing must take place
Zaara, without self pity, explains to her readers her disability:
"People who have all their body parts functioning as they should be take a lot for granted; little privileges such as taking a walk alone through a green meadow or running with the wind in your hair, or buttoning your shirt knowing your fingers will cooperate, go unappreciated."
Ghana is a country where witch doctors and soothsayers abound, where people speak in tongues and writhe and really get into things while attending the so-called "spiritual crusades."
The children, Zaara and her sister Bath and her brother Jalal, will visit their father's native city in the north of Ghana where a soothsayer will give each child a special name. A live chicken will be beheaded and thrown to the ground where it will writhe for a moment or two and hopefully die either on its back or stomach, both good signs so the special name is given and the child will have a prosperous life. However, Zaara's chicken succumbs on the left side- a bad sign. Another chicken is sacrificed and it dies on its right side. A third chicken is guillotined and it flops on its left side. The soothsayer says this is a bad omen but Zaara gets her special name. The soothsayer will later pacify the gods with special rites so that Zaara's future is bright, too.
The grisly ritual results in the children's being splashed with blood and the children desperately want to go back to England and leave forever this country of horrid rituals, potholed streets, absence of toilet paper and toilets that won't flush and many languages they can't understand. And they feel they'll never eat chicken again.
But Zaara's Mummy is determined to have her daughter healed and the little girl is dragged from one spiritual "crusade" to another. The preachers are Oral Roberts types. There's lots of chanting, and speaking in tongues with the congregation yelling responses of Amen and Hallelujah and some members even faint on the floor. Poor Zaara is paraded to the front where she is ordered to stand without her crutches and she does for a moment or two before she collapses.
Zaara isn't reduced to spiritual slavery but Mummy is. One Auntie Ofolley gathers Mummy into her spiritual clutches, giving Zaara gallons of healing holy water to drink every day, even at breakfast.Mummy and Daddy start bickering constantly both over Mummy's gullibility and everything else. Their home life becomes rife with argument and on top of that unpleasantness, drinking all that holy water is sheer hell.
Luckily Zaara goes to a public school for the first time where she becomes an object of curiosity. But she makes a lot of friends, and she learns much about herself: she's smart. She's pretty, too, and she finds a gold mine of strengths tucked away in her small body that she didn't know were there.
Mummy has to be exorcised from the bad karma of Auntie Ofolley's holy water and finally another preacher does this and Mummy sees the light. The family is at peace again.
Volatile, warm and exuberant and sometimes greedy, a fine assortment of Ghanaians is paraded before you in this charming book. I guarantee you will not stop laughing until you reach the last page. The human spirit is a wonderful thing. And the definition of a miracle? This miracle is Zaara herself. She may never be able to stand alone but she comes to terms with her disability. She has a warm, supportive family around her, she will never be like the crippled beggar on the street. And she has a first class intellect which will carry her to new heights.
A wonderful read!Definition Of A Miracle Overview

Want to learn more information about Definition Of A Miracle?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...