The year 2020 wasn't so great for a lot of reasons. Yet I did manage to read some good stuff during the year. Here is my little list of books that I read and found enriching, challenging and helpful. They are not all the books and articles that I read but they are the ones that I felt like sharing. Here they are in no particular order.
In September of 2019 my good friend Jerl Joslin suddenly passed from this life into the next. Jerl served several Christian Churches in Oklahoma. The majority of his life was spent preaching, teaching and encouraging fellow ministers and their families. In 2014 Jerl and his wife Dani started a new ministry called Refresh Ministry. Refresh Ministry seeks to refresh and encourage local ministers. Jerl drove countless miles across Oklahoma touching base with local ministers to be a trusted listening ear, someone who would pray for them and be an overall source of encouragement. It is the encouragement part that is often so lacking in the lives of local ministers and their families. One of the ways that Jerl found to be an encouragement was in writing books and giving them away for free. This is one of the books that Jerl gave me. You won't find deep theology here. That is not Jerl's intent. What he does offer are some everyday behaviors or common sense applications on many of the proverbs found in the Book of Proverbs.
Lee C. Camp Alabamian by birth yet currently calls Nashville TN home. After graduating from Abilene Christian University he attended Notre Dame and received a PH.D in Moral Theology / Christian Ethics. Currently Lee is Professor of Theology and Ethics in the Hazelip School of Theology at Lipscomb University. In 2008 Lee started a show called Tokens Show. It is a show for Christians who want to think seriously but don't take themselves too seriously. If you are interested in good theology, great folk music, poetry and good interviews then check the show out and or the podcast.
Anyway, on to the book. It has been said that those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it. Lee C. Camp offers up a much better kind of hope. Mr. Camp, in his recent book Scandalous Witness: A Little Political Manifesto for Christians, is out to remind Christians that the end of history has already begun. That history is not just one thing after another. History has an endgame. Jesus’ death burial and resurrection has inaugurated the Kingdom of God and thus the end of history has already started.
Thus, as Mr. Camp points out, the political fights of “left” and “right” are like getting into a fight on the Titanic. One way or another the ship is going down because the end has already started. Regrettably, as Mr. Camp highlights, Christians often get drawn into fights that are “right” and “left” because we have been trained by our culture that “religion” is a private thing that is not appropriate for the public square. Thus we settle for the categories of “left” and “right” without considering that there might be a more Christian political position that does not fit so neatly into "right" and "left".
In the long run what Mr. Camp provides, in his well written book, is something deeper and richer than the liberal positions often called liberal and conservative. While his suggestions might raise the hackles of some Christians, others such as myself, will have a sense that - I’m not crazy. I’m not crazy to think that the Kingdom of God that Jesus inaugurated is something more than just going to heaven when I die.
The year 2020 exposed that racism is sadly still alive and well. Not only it is alive and well many white Christians live and act as if it doesn't. Many white Christians might deny that they are in denial of racism. Yet that position is the culmination of habits and bad theology that has been nurtured since before the Civil War. I like history cause it often illuminates the present. That is what this book does. Mr. Tisby traces the sad and long history of so many white Christians participation and complicity in America's racism. Instead of being a place of shelter and compassion many white churches conformed to the culture. Instead of being a voice for the voiceless the American church was often silent.
Thankfully the author makes it clear that his goal is not to hate on white people or white Christians. What Mr. Tisby does do is share factual history of how the American church has participated in and perpetuated racism. The last few chapters of the book Mr. Tisby offers some answers to possible objections to his work as well as offers some paths forwards that both white and black Christians can get on board with. This was a challenging read. It made me mad, sad and glad to know this history as well as some ways for Christians to more fully follow Jesus in this matter. If you are not much of a book reader yet use Amazon video then you can access a series of videos in which the author presents the book.
Richard Beck (PhD) is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at Abilene Christian University. He has written several books that you can find here on his website.
Mr. Beck wrote Unclean in 2011 yet I would consider it a classic that needs to be read every other year or so. What Mr. Beck points out is that the emotion of disgust is a powerful force at work in our personal and national lives.
Much of our daily living is dictated by disgust. Where you eat and what you eat or don't. What you wear or don't. Who you associate yourself with or don't. All of this and more is dictated by a sense of disgust. You might have only taken one bite out of the apple yet as soon as it is thrown into the trash it is now disgusting. Something that you shouldn't touch and certainly not eat. It is gross!
Mr. Beck's point is that this same thinking is happening when it comes to our treatment of people. Mr. Beck walks the concept of disgust through Matthew 9 and the issue the Pharisees have with Jesus. How can you eat with sinners? That is disgusting and makes you, Jesus, disgusting. The Pharisees are unable to imagine that Jesus isn't being contaminated. They can't see that his presence is redeeming. Simply put often some of the things that Christians fuss and fight over is often rooted in a concept of disgust. Should Christians drink beer? How should Christians act towards homosexuals or other sinners?
Like the apple in the trash you don't touch it. It is gross and it could contaminate you. Leave it alone because you don't want to get infected. The driving force isn't love but disgust. Mr. Beck doesn't offer a simple just love everyone solution. Instead he paints the painfully real dilemma that we face in our churches and nation dealing with this issue of disgust. I found this book challenging as well as refreshing. Mr. Beck does not take the normal tack of many Christian authors by shaming or guilting their readers. He doesn't take some moral high ground. Instead he points out the what behind the what is happening in our nation and personal lives on a daily occasion.
I am an introvert. So when I saw this book that suggested that introverts had some kind of power I was interested. The author Susan Cain points out that our culture promotes a certain kind of successful person.
In order to be successful one must become an high functioning extrovert. Your work and personal life to-do list should be long. You need to work hard and play hard. To be successful you must be outgoing, self promoting and collaborative. Do you want the scholarship, internship or work promotion? Become an extrovert.
The cultural focus a extroverts means that many talented introverted people get overlooked. They are seen as cold or not team players.This means that talent, energy and happiness get wasted and passed over. One of the powers that introvert have is that they don't like small talk. Introverts like deep and profound conversations. Introverts are the people at the party that have found one person to talk to. And the conversation isn't over superficial issues. They want to talk about deep things and share profound thoughts. Introverts have the power to intensely focus on their work. Introverts are happy off working by themselves on some project. Introverts find working in groups to be something that slows them down and distracts them from the task as hand. Introverts need their own space and uninterrupted time to work. In our culture these things make introverts the oddity in the office and culture. Long story short introverts have powers that are often overlooked by our culture as well as by introverts themselves. If you're an introvert then get this book you will be glad that you did.
Sean Palmer opens his book by talking about his childhood experience with church. Sean considers himself a child of the church. As a child his family never missed a Sunday at the Church of Christ that they attended. He went to Sunday School, VBS, Summer Camp, youth group and youth conventions. He grew up hearing a lot about how the church was supposed to be different than the culture. Then Sean grew up and became a minister at a Church of Christ and discovered that as much as the church talked about being different then the world it wasn't. What he discovered is that the church has often been controlling and condemning. Instead of being known for extending grace the church is known for causing hurt and harm.
What Sean sees across the New Testament is a major disagreement that many readers of the Bible seem to be unaware of. There are Jews and Gentiles showing up to church on Sunday and they are not getting along so well (See Acts 15). When Paul writes that he is not ashamed of the gospel he is stating that to the shock of Jewish Christians. Paul is saying that he is not ashamed that the gospel is connecting with Gentile Christians.
What Sean presents, after walking through the story of the New Testament church, is that from the beginning God's aim has been to bring people and nations together. One of the amazing things about the early church is that it brought all kinds of different people together. Something that the current American church seems to have forgotten. Sean points out that one of the things that can bring the church more inline with God's desire is much of what Christians already practice. For example Jesus ate with sinners. When Jesus did expended forgiveness and grace. Most Christians practice the Lord's Supper or communion. It is a shared meal in which forgiveness and grace is being extended. What would happen if the forgiveness and grace being extended was shared with others?
If you're a church leader please get this book and study it with your fellow leaders. If you are someone who has been hurt by the church please get this book. If you have a desire to see the church be more like what God desires then get this book.
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