Whaley's book is a daunting endeavor and he should be commended for undertaking it. Worship, such as it is in the life of the church, is fundamental to our relationship with God. Whaley goes through the Bible section by section and pulls out what he feels points us to deeper understandings of worship. It is written in a very easy-to-read style and is clearly laid out for worship leaders, lay leaders and personal reading alike.
Strengths of the book:
I give Whaley credit for attempting this kind of work, but I feel that its weaknesses outweigh its strengths.
1) It is always valuable to review the Bible for its foundations in any of our practices as faithful followers. One could imagine similar books on prayer, fellowship and interpretation - and I am sure they are out there. Whaley pursues this project with apparent enthusiasm.
2) The chapters on Psalms and Job are very well executed and clear. Of the entire book, these two chapters stood out for me. I felt Whaley keyed into insights of worship that are often not brought to the forefront in both these books of the Bible. Recasting Job's 'discussion' with God at the end of the book as a reflection on worship was a brilliant move.
3) Whaley's selections from the Bible seemed logical.His choice of stories that reflect worship, for the most part, were valid choices to make.
4) His focus on relationship and focusing our lives on God is a powerful and excellent reminder, especially to those who are pastors and leaders. Many of Whaley's chapters continually refer to this focus in Scripture.
Weaknesses:
1) Writing style -- Whaley's style does not break out of about a 5-6th grade reading level. I am not sure what his intention here was. If it is to write for young worship leaders, well, most of them are at least in college or older, so young would mean between 19-29. I had a hard time with this. Ideas were often simplified without needing to be. Doctrinal statements are deliberately stated as all-encompassing truths without recognition of potential differences. Interjections like "Wow!" or "Did you notice that?!" seemed like some of the youth preachers on GODTV and as a worship leader myself, I found it off-putting.
2) Interpretation -- In many places, Whaley seems to force the issue massively, to the point of warping various texts to fit his claim. Forcing the examples from Genesis and Exodus into the strong claims that Whaley makes for our worship of God seemed highly contrived to me. This highlights the great difficulty of an undertaking like this. Texts that are not referencing worship are made to conform to the demand and desire for worship that the author wishes to make.
3) Assumptions - Throughout the book, Whaley said numerous times, "We all know what happened next...". Well, maybe 30 years ago we could say such a thing. But in 2009, where biblical illiteracy is rampant, where the foundations of Christianity have eroded massively in the culture and where off-the-cuff references from the Bible are no longer recognized as from the Bible, very few actually know what happens next in any Bible story.
Assumptions about authorship (Paul as the author of Hebrews, for instance) and interpretation (literalist to the core, which is no surprise given that Whaley teaches at Liberty University) were a little abrupt and were stated without question. Now, I don't have any illusions that Whaley would adopt these positions, given his background and where he teaches, and nor is the focus of this book having anything to do with authorship or direct interpretation beyond worship. However, if the desire is for a broad audience, some 'softening' of position and doctrine seems appropriate. This aspect is incredibly minor, given the scope of the book, but it stood out for me.
4) Worship = Works -- This was the biggest issue I had with the book. I don't deny that God demands worship and praise. Nor do I deny that it is part of our life as Christians to worship God. But Whaley often made it sound as if our relationship with God was utterly dependent on not only THAT we worship, but also HOW we worship. This comes very close, it seems to me, to saying that our salvation is dependent upon how and that we worship, not on grace and faith. Now, I know that Whaley does not believe what I just said. But particularly in his review of the OT, our relationship with God was completely dependent on how we worship. This modifies a bit in the NT, but the melody resumed on several occasions. Luther says worship is meaningless without the Word of God, and likewise our faith is informed by our worship, but worship does not come first. Faith is first. Worship is what we do in response to our faith.
5) Individualism -- Over and over again, Whaley personalizes worship - "Wouldn't YOU want that relationship with God?" "Don't YOU want to love God in the proper way?" This profound individualism in terms of our relationship with God fundamentally undermines the desire and demand for worship in the book. I am not saying we can't worship by ourselves. Certainly that is true, but in the OT worship is always in the context of the community of faith. And it is even more so in the NT. Whaley well knows that most of the "you" statements in the NT are plural "you's" - the y'all tense of "you". Whaley's personalization of worship to the individual seemed in contradiction, as opposed to being in tension, with any communal claim he made in the book.
6) References - I consider myself to be a perpetual student. I appreciate well-researched books and articles. Universally, in academic circles and publishing circles alike, constant references to the Internet and, worse, Wikipedia, vastly undermine credibility. The internet is easy. Research on the Internet is a crap-shoot. Maybe the information is valid, maybe not. More often than not, it is the latter rather than the former when the Internet is used as the sole source of reference. That is why Wikipedia has the links and references on the bottom of the page to help researchers go to more valid sources. I found myself, as I paged back to the endnotes for the chapters, deeply troubled by constant references to Wikipedia or clearly biased Christian websites as valid source material for such an undertaking as this. It throws the whole project into question and makes it look more like an extended op-ed piece than a research work. I am surprised his editors didn't require more in-depth references.
Overall, I felt that Whaley deserved to be read because the endeavor he undertook was large and filled a surprising hole in the vast library of modern books being written in the Christian market today. For more literalist churches, there is much in here that is useful. I might even use this book as part of a broader examination of worship in the church, during say a Bible study or a book study. But the focus is so limited and the language is so stilted that it made it a hard read for me. Likewise, the warping of the text to the perspective made it difficult for the more academically inclined to appreciate. And please, let this book be an object lesson for the misuse of Wikipedia and the Internet as reasonable references in a large research project.
Peace to all,
Pastor Seth
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
"Between Wyomings: My God and an iPod on the Open Road" By Ken Mansfield
When I first chose this book, I thought, "This sounds very cool." What could be better than a book about Jesus, the open road and rock n'roll? The guy named his van 'Moses'. He has a wife who is willing to hit the open road with him with no destination. He was the executive in charge of the Beatles at Apple Records and worked with some of the coolest people in country and rock n'roll. What is there not to like? Here it is 2 months later and I still can't finish the book. I tried hard. I took it with me on long drives, on airplanes, on hikes. It seems unjust to write a review about a book I haven't finished, and I really do hate to write a negative review. I will take full responsibility and say that the problem is all on my side of the table.
There are some foods I won't eat. It has nothing to do with the taste or even the appearance, but it has everything to do with texture. Soft apples, kiwi fruit, mealy vegetables like overcooked carrots, soft meat...the more I describe it the worse I feel. There is a medical term for this kind of reaction. I get the same reaction when I get chalk on my fingers and then rub them together. It is like all the hair on the back of my neck gets rubbed the wrong way.
I describe this because this is what I felt as I read this book. I can't place my finger on it, exactly. "Between Wyomings" is well-written. It is clear that Mansfield is a man of deep faith and his history in the rock n'roll industry is well known and fascinating.
I am also aware that this is a memoir and memoirs are intentionally self-focused, but I couldn't help wondering when his wife was going to show up. When she did, it was a merely as a foil for his own feelings. The self-reflection never seemed to go deep for me and the self-analysis never seemed to reach outside of itself to something beyond. The spiritual reflection always seemed to come back to Rev. Mansfield. Now, I know many people enjoy this sort of book and sometimes I do too, but "Between Wyomings" rubbed my spiritual, literary and mental fur the wrong direction.
I wish I could say what it was specifically. Maybe it was a hidden expectation that a road book about Jesus would reflect the wildness of Jesus on the open road. Maybe it was a writing style that used the word "I" far more times than necessary. Maybe it was a desire to read a Jack Kerouac kind of Christian story, which this is promoted as by inference if not directly. Maybe it was the presentation of the past as if it had just happened, but was really about 40 years ago. Since I can't say it specifically, I will take responsibility for my reaction to the book and say it was all me, not the writer. I really wanted to like "Between Wyomings" and I will definitely make it a point to try to read something else by Ken Mansfield.
There are some foods I won't eat. It has nothing to do with the taste or even the appearance, but it has everything to do with texture. Soft apples, kiwi fruit, mealy vegetables like overcooked carrots, soft meat...the more I describe it the worse I feel. There is a medical term for this kind of reaction. I get the same reaction when I get chalk on my fingers and then rub them together. It is like all the hair on the back of my neck gets rubbed the wrong way.
I describe this because this is what I felt as I read this book. I can't place my finger on it, exactly. "Between Wyomings" is well-written. It is clear that Mansfield is a man of deep faith and his history in the rock n'roll industry is well known and fascinating.
I am also aware that this is a memoir and memoirs are intentionally self-focused, but I couldn't help wondering when his wife was going to show up. When she did, it was a merely as a foil for his own feelings. The self-reflection never seemed to go deep for me and the self-analysis never seemed to reach outside of itself to something beyond. The spiritual reflection always seemed to come back to Rev. Mansfield. Now, I know many people enjoy this sort of book and sometimes I do too, but "Between Wyomings" rubbed my spiritual, literary and mental fur the wrong direction.
I wish I could say what it was specifically. Maybe it was a hidden expectation that a road book about Jesus would reflect the wildness of Jesus on the open road. Maybe it was a writing style that used the word "I" far more times than necessary. Maybe it was a desire to read a Jack Kerouac kind of Christian story, which this is promoted as by inference if not directly. Maybe it was the presentation of the past as if it had just happened, but was really about 40 years ago. Since I can't say it specifically, I will take responsibility for my reaction to the book and say it was all me, not the writer. I really wanted to like "Between Wyomings" and I will definitely make it a point to try to read something else by Ken Mansfield.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
"Faith and Pop Culture Bible Study" by Christianity Today Study Series -- Review
"Faith and Pop Culture Bible Study" is part of a larger series put out by Christianity Today which explores ways Christians can engage the culture without compromising their faith. One of my mentors said to me personally and also during sermons that, because Jesus lays claim to the whole world by his work on the cross, all things in the world either point to Jesus Christ or point to the need for Jesus Christ. He was a devout Calvinist, and his favorite book was Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion. And certainly, his view of Christ's claim upon the world is a very Reformed vision. He is also a devout rock n' roller, a horror movie fan and an all around great Christian man.
I bring up my mentor's perspective because it was a great help to me in that I could engage the culture with a mind toward Christ. What do I mean by that? Well, I have said to many people that I first gave my soul to rock n'roll, then to Jesus Christ. I remember when I heard Kiss Alive 2 for the first time in a friend's living room in the 4th grade. The ripping guitars, the driving bass, the wall of sound, with Paul Stanley's full-bodied wail over the top of it all changed my life forever. Soon after, I heard Aerosmith's Toys From the Attic, then Jimi Hendrix's Are You Experienced?. My life changed forever. More to the point, I had a way of relating my spiritual experiences to sound and vision (to quote David Bowie). My experience of God felt like the jumpy groove of "Walk This Way"; it sounded like "Crosstown Traffic". As I got older and my tastes either refined or devolved into punk rock, I could look to Minor Threat, Big Black, Black Flag, or to the New Wavers, like Joy Division, New Order, The Cure, The Smiths, etc. etc. for my religious and spiritual analogies of life.
The same can be said for movies in my life. Just to speak to some recent, highly influential movies for my spiritual process, you will be surprised. What in the world, you may ask, is a preacher doing looking for the spiritual in "Sin City", "Fight Club" and "Shoot 'Em Up"? But remember, everything either points to Christ or the need for Christ. When I watched "Sin City" for the first time, I immediately saw the redemptive aspects floating to the surface. The sacrifice of the Bruce Willis character at the end for the sake of innocence sure looked to me like a kind of analogy to the restoration of innocence that Christ does for us on the cross. And what are we to make of the whole track of "Fight Club" where, in the midst of its outrageous violence, Jack/Narrator is constantly being stripped of all the things that make him of the world - his Ikea apartment, his low-key 'deep in the machine' job, his ambivalence toward relationships, his money problems - all of which Tyler Durden asks him while on an airplane, "So how is that working for you?" At the end, Jack/Narrator sees the coming of the Year of Jubilee, which is the release of all debt in the fiftieth year in Jewish tradition. For further analysis of this type, one might look to depth psychologist Robert Sardello, who was a Christian back in the 1990s and probably still is. In one of his books, he does a depth psychology analysis of "Die Hard" and ties in some of the spiritual elements of the film (Christmas time, the restoration of relationship, the defeat of evil).
These are the kind of questions "Faith and Pop Culture" seeks us to ask of the media we are assaulted with on a daily basis. This Bible study is very in depth and asks excellent questions without making overt judgments. I was particularly impressed with the article on sports, not being a great sports fan myself. The suggestion by the writer that we don't take sports seriously enough in our culture was striking. He points to the analogies to sports that Paul often draws on to show that our focus is completely off with regard to how we understand sports in our culture. In fact, it appears it is a form of idolatry, which is more about what we have done to the thing than the thing itself.
The article by Mark Storer entitled The Good News According to Twain, Steinbeck, and Dickens was an excellent examination of the ability of the novel to bring one into deep communication with the nuances of the Christian faith. As an English major in undergraduate school, I had a strong appreciation of this approach. It made me think of how powerful it was for me to read Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky when I was returning to the faith.
In general, all the articles in this study series by Christianity Today were quite good and thought provoking. I noted that all the articles dealt with a negative - sports, movies, television - and how our faith should relate to these negatives. The only exception was the one on novels. I would have liked to see some articles on classical music, art through the centuries (think of Mark Rothko's paintings for the chapel in the Alps) and rock and roll (Tommy James seems to be singing about the act of communion in "Sweet Cherry Wine").
More than anything, asking us to engage the culture while maintaining our Christian faith is what Jesus asks us to do when he sends the disciples out into the world to spread the Good News. The Good News means very little if it is not relating to the people we are speaking to 'out there'. Consider Paul on Mars Hill as he speaks directly to the Greeks with intelligence, irony and without condemnation of the culture in which they participate. Church in America is very good at creating its own isolated culture. It is another thing entirely for church to give the tools of critical thought and analysis in such a way that we seek out Christ in the culture we participate in, but are not of. To that end, this is a very helpful Bible study which I will seriously consider using.
Peace,
Rev. Seth Jones
I bring up my mentor's perspective because it was a great help to me in that I could engage the culture with a mind toward Christ. What do I mean by that? Well, I have said to many people that I first gave my soul to rock n'roll, then to Jesus Christ. I remember when I heard Kiss Alive 2 for the first time in a friend's living room in the 4th grade. The ripping guitars, the driving bass, the wall of sound, with Paul Stanley's full-bodied wail over the top of it all changed my life forever. Soon after, I heard Aerosmith's Toys From the Attic, then Jimi Hendrix's Are You Experienced?. My life changed forever. More to the point, I had a way of relating my spiritual experiences to sound and vision (to quote David Bowie). My experience of God felt like the jumpy groove of "Walk This Way"; it sounded like "Crosstown Traffic". As I got older and my tastes either refined or devolved into punk rock, I could look to Minor Threat, Big Black, Black Flag, or to the New Wavers, like Joy Division, New Order, The Cure, The Smiths, etc. etc. for my religious and spiritual analogies of life.
The same can be said for movies in my life. Just to speak to some recent, highly influential movies for my spiritual process, you will be surprised. What in the world, you may ask, is a preacher doing looking for the spiritual in "Sin City", "Fight Club" and "Shoot 'Em Up"? But remember, everything either points to Christ or the need for Christ. When I watched "Sin City" for the first time, I immediately saw the redemptive aspects floating to the surface. The sacrifice of the Bruce Willis character at the end for the sake of innocence sure looked to me like a kind of analogy to the restoration of innocence that Christ does for us on the cross. And what are we to make of the whole track of "Fight Club" where, in the midst of its outrageous violence, Jack/Narrator is constantly being stripped of all the things that make him of the world - his Ikea apartment, his low-key 'deep in the machine' job, his ambivalence toward relationships, his money problems - all of which Tyler Durden asks him while on an airplane, "So how is that working for you?" At the end, Jack/Narrator sees the coming of the Year of Jubilee, which is the release of all debt in the fiftieth year in Jewish tradition. For further analysis of this type, one might look to depth psychologist Robert Sardello, who was a Christian back in the 1990s and probably still is. In one of his books, he does a depth psychology analysis of "Die Hard" and ties in some of the spiritual elements of the film (Christmas time, the restoration of relationship, the defeat of evil).
These are the kind of questions "Faith and Pop Culture" seeks us to ask of the media we are assaulted with on a daily basis. This Bible study is very in depth and asks excellent questions without making overt judgments. I was particularly impressed with the article on sports, not being a great sports fan myself. The suggestion by the writer that we don't take sports seriously enough in our culture was striking. He points to the analogies to sports that Paul often draws on to show that our focus is completely off with regard to how we understand sports in our culture. In fact, it appears it is a form of idolatry, which is more about what we have done to the thing than the thing itself.
The article by Mark Storer entitled The Good News According to Twain, Steinbeck, and Dickens was an excellent examination of the ability of the novel to bring one into deep communication with the nuances of the Christian faith. As an English major in undergraduate school, I had a strong appreciation of this approach. It made me think of how powerful it was for me to read Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky when I was returning to the faith.
In general, all the articles in this study series by Christianity Today were quite good and thought provoking. I noted that all the articles dealt with a negative - sports, movies, television - and how our faith should relate to these negatives. The only exception was the one on novels. I would have liked to see some articles on classical music, art through the centuries (think of Mark Rothko's paintings for the chapel in the Alps) and rock and roll (Tommy James seems to be singing about the act of communion in "Sweet Cherry Wine").
More than anything, asking us to engage the culture while maintaining our Christian faith is what Jesus asks us to do when he sends the disciples out into the world to spread the Good News. The Good News means very little if it is not relating to the people we are speaking to 'out there'. Consider Paul on Mars Hill as he speaks directly to the Greeks with intelligence, irony and without condemnation of the culture in which they participate. Church in America is very good at creating its own isolated culture. It is another thing entirely for church to give the tools of critical thought and analysis in such a way that we seek out Christ in the culture we participate in, but are not of. To that end, this is a very helpful Bible study which I will seriously consider using.
Peace,
Rev. Seth Jones
Friday, April 24, 2009
The Hole In Our Gospel by Richard Stearns
The Hole in our Gospel: The Answer that Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World
by Richard Stearns: President of World Vision US
by Richard Stearns: President of World Vision US
Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision US, has written a powerful testament to the strenght of Christ in the world. He has also born deep witness to the great need for Christ in the world. As president of World Vision, Stearns has the truly amazing experience of traveling around the world to fulfill Christ's work from Luke 4, which is where Jesus unrolls the scroll and tells those gathered in the synagogue why he has come: "The Spirit of the Lord...has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors, and that the time of the Lord's favor (the great Jubilee year, permanently) has come" (Lk 4:18-19).
Stearns' book is full of tear-inducing stories of people overcoming great poverty and horror to become servants of God, and also inspiring stories of regular people like you and I who have stepped up and become channels of the mercy of God. Stearns' own story is very inspiring, moving from high-flying CEO for several large corporations to the public face and president of one of the great Christian aid organizations on the planet. He is an effective writer and very insightful, particularly into his own gradual perception of the "hole in our Gospel".
The "hole in our Gospel" of which Stearns speaks is the great tragedy of the American church as a whole. I have had the great advantage of being involved with a couple very mission-oriented churches and it is a moving thing to witness the whole congregation getting behind the desire to serve the world in the name of Jesus, whether locally or globally. I have also been in churches where the concern for missions is very limited. That lack of concern is very hard to overcome and Stearns goes far to pointing out the fact that the Gospel is incomplete and misunderstood if it stops at personal salvation. In fact, Stearns seems to take a view with which I agree: There is no salvation unless we are serving the world in Christ's name. In other words, salvation expresses itself most clearly in the good works that come as a result. World Vision is a profound example of that expression. Heifer International is another one which I have supported financially as well. As Stearns quotes from several Biblical sources, we are saved for good works. This can be a hard realization for those of us who want to just rest on the laurels of our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Stearns says that this attitude is the one Jesus is speaking of when we knock on the door and Jesus says, "I do not know you." Conversely, when we look out on the world and seek the face of Christ in everyone, we have a very different experience. Stearns has a great prayer from the founder of World Vision. It says, "Lord, break my heart with the things that break Your heart in the world."
There is plenty to break God's heart in the world today. When I started The Hole In Our Gospel, it was like reading a left undercut to the chin of the American church. The timing couldn't be better for the release of this book - right at the height of one of the worst economic crisis we have faced as a nation and as an interconnected world. What better time to make excuses for not fulfilling the Biblical command to serve the widows and orphans of the world? Stearns front-loads the first 2 and a half sections of his book with horrifying statistics regarding world poverty, illness and chronic issues in the world. He weaves these statistics with well-constructed theological insight and Biblical witness.
Everything in this book at once inspired me and convicted me with regard to my relationship to the world through Jesus Christ. It is a powerful and moving piece of writing. I am seriously considering using this book as a basis for Bible study at my present church. Stearns overcomes every denominational line, and as an evangelical he expresses the very best of what the Christian faith has to offer the world. God bless World Vision and its thoughtful, caring leader, all the kingdom workers who serve World Vision and most of all, God bless those who World Vision serves the world over.
Peace,
Rev. Seth Jones
Stearns' book is full of tear-inducing stories of people overcoming great poverty and horror to become servants of God, and also inspiring stories of regular people like you and I who have stepped up and become channels of the mercy of God. Stearns' own story is very inspiring, moving from high-flying CEO for several large corporations to the public face and president of one of the great Christian aid organizations on the planet. He is an effective writer and very insightful, particularly into his own gradual perception of the "hole in our Gospel".
The "hole in our Gospel" of which Stearns speaks is the great tragedy of the American church as a whole. I have had the great advantage of being involved with a couple very mission-oriented churches and it is a moving thing to witness the whole congregation getting behind the desire to serve the world in the name of Jesus, whether locally or globally. I have also been in churches where the concern for missions is very limited. That lack of concern is very hard to overcome and Stearns goes far to pointing out the fact that the Gospel is incomplete and misunderstood if it stops at personal salvation. In fact, Stearns seems to take a view with which I agree: There is no salvation unless we are serving the world in Christ's name. In other words, salvation expresses itself most clearly in the good works that come as a result. World Vision is a profound example of that expression. Heifer International is another one which I have supported financially as well. As Stearns quotes from several Biblical sources, we are saved for good works. This can be a hard realization for those of us who want to just rest on the laurels of our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Stearns says that this attitude is the one Jesus is speaking of when we knock on the door and Jesus says, "I do not know you." Conversely, when we look out on the world and seek the face of Christ in everyone, we have a very different experience. Stearns has a great prayer from the founder of World Vision. It says, "Lord, break my heart with the things that break Your heart in the world."
There is plenty to break God's heart in the world today. When I started The Hole In Our Gospel, it was like reading a left undercut to the chin of the American church. The timing couldn't be better for the release of this book - right at the height of one of the worst economic crisis we have faced as a nation and as an interconnected world. What better time to make excuses for not fulfilling the Biblical command to serve the widows and orphans of the world? Stearns front-loads the first 2 and a half sections of his book with horrifying statistics regarding world poverty, illness and chronic issues in the world. He weaves these statistics with well-constructed theological insight and Biblical witness.
Everything in this book at once inspired me and convicted me with regard to my relationship to the world through Jesus Christ. It is a powerful and moving piece of writing. I am seriously considering using this book as a basis for Bible study at my present church. Stearns overcomes every denominational line, and as an evangelical he expresses the very best of what the Christian faith has to offer the world. God bless World Vision and its thoughtful, caring leader, all the kingdom workers who serve World Vision and most of all, God bless those who World Vision serves the world over.
Peace,
Rev. Seth Jones
Monday, March 9, 2009
Christianity In Crisis by Hank Hanegraaff
Hanegraaff is the Bible Answer Man and the primary force behind the Christian Research Institute. This book is a rewrite of a book he wrote 20 years ago about the rise of prosperity preachers and the “health and wealth”, “gab it and grab it” movement in Christianity. 20 years ago, this was simply a lurking threat to the foundations of the faith. Now, we have Creflo A Dollar drawing thousands and thousands to coliseums and Joel Osteen, who had to buy a former basketball stadium in order to fit all the people into his church. Joyce Meyer claims if we just believe enough we can have the jets and cars and houses that she has. Hanegraaff, to say the least, is horrified by this development and rightfully so.
This book, Christianity in Crisis: 21st Century, takes all the prosperity preachers to task in the hope that some of the people in those kinds of churches might read this book and return to the foundations of the faith. While the prosperity movement denies the sovereignty of God, Hanegraaff hammers home again and again that it is God who is running the show, not us.
The prosperity movement believes some very strange things and Hanegraaff uses various mnemonic devices to help remember their errors. He has a thing for mnemonic devices and uses them everywhere. They are helpful and give a good foundation for organizing this 325 page book. The first 2/3 of the book examines the FLAWS of prosperity preaching. Hanegraaff is rigorous, scholarly and deeply passionate about the cause here. For the most part, he maintains a strong Reformation stance against this modern day heresy (which mirrors heresies throughout Christian history). What gives this heresy power and strength is television and advertising. Ultimately, it is designed to “dull the critical-thinking process because the mind is seen as the obstacle to enlightenment” (pg 83).
Hanegraaff goes out of his way to make distinctions. It would be easy to confuse this movement with the Charismatic movement, which includes Pentecostalism and the Assembly of God church, as two examples. But the only similarity may be the singing and dancing. Otherwise, the Assembly of God has roundly and consistently rejected this sort of distortion of prosperity preaching.
What disturbs me the most about this movement is the dangerous idea that we somehow control the outcome of our lives by how well and how much we have faith. Hanegraaff documents claims of raising people from the dead, healings from cancer and other bizarre manifestations, all of which are made by the preachers themselves. When it comes to doctor’s proof, however, there is a great lack of eyewitness verification. Yet these preachers ask their followers to deny symptoms because to recognize symptoms is to recognize Satan. Of course, the fact that people came to Jesus to be healed because they had symptoms that required his attention escapes these people.
The results can be devastating however. Sick children die because the prosperity preacher claims he or she can heal them. Cancer explodes because people believe healing will come if only they have more faith. The rejection of the miracle of modern medicine and scientific thought is deeply disturbing in all of Hanegraaff’s examples. The negation of “mustard seed” faith and the distortion of Job as being an example of how to bring disaster upon oneself is a tragic misreading of the nature of belief and faith. Hanegraaff makes it clear that faith is from God and always has been from God. As a result, the works of God in our lives, assuming we believe God and Christ to be active in our lives, cannot be dependent on the things we say or the greatness or smallness of our faith.
Hanegraaff does not go into any detail with regard to one of the most troubling social developments of this movement. That is the exportation of the “prosperity gospel” (it really doesn’t deserve the name ‘gospel’ at all) to the poorest regions of the world – Africa, India, central Asia. John Piper has some things to say about this, he being another pastor is outraged at the torturous distortions of the Bible these preachers use to their own advantage.
Right at the end of Hanegraaff’s excellent book is part of a letter written by Jim Bakker, the former prosperity preacher from the 1980s. Bakker repents of having led people far astray from the discipleship that Jesus calls his followers to. It is a moving and powerful testimony to how far the mighty must sometimes fall to be humbled before the Lord.
My single argument with Hanegraaff (who otherwise mirrors much of my own belief) is his insistence that Christian Apologetics must begin with the assertion that evolution is wrong and flawed. Hanegraaff is concerned throughout this book about people seeing Christianity as ridiculous and pointless as a result of prosperity preaching. However, this is precisely how people who do not believe see Christians who deny evolution. Why begin there? Why insist upon it? Given that Genesis 1 and 2 are just 2 of several different creation accounts, why is it such an issue in Apologetics? His rejection of evolution with regard to humans is based on the fact that transitional fossils have been hoaxed. Well, by that logic, we should reject the Resurrection of Christ because the Shroud of Turin is also a hoax, not to mention centuries of pawning off hoaxed artifacts of the Apostles and the Virgin Mary as actual. The standard must go both directions. Regardless, rejection of a scientific theory (theory being a repeatable, observable phenomenon proven over and over again based on a hypothesis that can potentially be disproven) as a basis of Apologetics seems dubious at best and doomed to failure at worst.
In almost all ways, I recommend this book highly. It is well-written, well-researched and well-thought. Hanegraaff has produced a powerful and passionate rejection of the “health and wealth”, “prosperity”, “say it and have it” movement in Christianity.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Review -- Max Lucado: For The Tough Times
This is my first review for Thomas Nelson's great new program for book reviews. They send you a book, you read it and then you write a review for it. The first book I received was Max Lucado's For the Tough Times: Reaching Toward Heaven for Hope. All things being equal, I would not normally buy a book like this. It is a small devotional book designed to give to people who are having a difficult time - facing their own death or the death of a loved one; accidents and injuries; illness; disasters and essentially whatever befalls us that causes us to question God and what God is doing to or for us.
Lucado is very talented at taking complex theological issues and making them accessible. He does this very well in this little book. At times, his writing is very poetic and emotionally provocative. At others, I had the sense he was being intentionally "homey" or colloquial in order to access anyone and everyone. Overall, Lucado is far more effective when he is being poetic than when he is being colloquial.
As a pastor, I noticed some very effective and inspiring turns of phrase. When Lucado speaks of God coming to earth as Jesus Christ, of God "taking on skin" for our sake, he relates a conversation with his daughter and her confusion as to why he is being so "weird" as he tells her how special she is to him. The comparison is between the love of a parent for a child and God and God's love for us. As a parent, we are for our children in every possible way. God is for us in a similar but far deeper and more mysterious way. We tilt our heads and wonder what is up: "Neither Mary nor Joseph said it as bluntly as my Sara (Lucado's daughter), but don't you think their heads tilted and their minds wondered, What in the world are you doing, God? Or, better phrased, God, what are you doing in the world?" (pg 20).
There were parts I struggled with theologically in this book. I am not sure that it is particularly comforting for a person who has lost a loved one in tragedy or violence to hear that God is in charge of everything, whether good or evil. Lucado maintains a strong and solid "Calvinist" vision throughout, which I have some admiration for, against my better judgment. Essentially, God allows evil to exist, "God will actually allow a person to experience hell on earth, in hopes of awakening his faith" (pg 42). I hesitate to validate this position. On the level of pastoral care and being a leader of a congregation, this is not an answer. This is doctrine. Another doctrine that works for evil, aside from God being ultimately responsible for good and evil alike (not unBiblical, according to the Prophets), is the actions of Satan, or the satanic for the less literal, in the world. The "cosmic and spiritual warfare" position has its own comfort as well in the face of death and evil. That position has issues as well. I give Lucado credit for being very clear and concise in his expression of his "Calvinist" position, but ultimately I don't think it speaks well to the human experience of death and evil as it relates to Christ's suffering on the cross.
Lucado is very strong in his call for us to listen more and speak less. He uses Job as the classic example. Job talks and talks, but does not really listen well to God, until the end when God assails Job with question after question about the power and greatness of God's work. Then Job is silent. He has no argument to counter God. Particularly in times of trouble, it is perhaps the most difficult time to just listen. God often speaks in the still, small whisper. Silence can be our best friend in times of trouble. But so can a good argument with God, which God does not turn away from (see Exodus, Isaiah and Jonah for examples).
Heaven is a comfort to the living who believe, as I do, in our reunion with Christ and those who go before us. But it is not for those who are on the edge of faith. We may need to back up our discussion significantly before discussing the comfort and promise of eternal life with someone faced with tragedy and a massive faith crisis. For a small section of my church population, I would recommend this book in a time of trouble. For most, though, I would send them to other books that take very seriously the human experience of suffering. The first that comes to mind is St John of the Cross' The Dark Night of the Soul.
Peace!
Pastor Seth
Lucado is very talented at taking complex theological issues and making them accessible. He does this very well in this little book. At times, his writing is very poetic and emotionally provocative. At others, I had the sense he was being intentionally "homey" or colloquial in order to access anyone and everyone. Overall, Lucado is far more effective when he is being poetic than when he is being colloquial.
As a pastor, I noticed some very effective and inspiring turns of phrase. When Lucado speaks of God coming to earth as Jesus Christ, of God "taking on skin" for our sake, he relates a conversation with his daughter and her confusion as to why he is being so "weird" as he tells her how special she is to him. The comparison is between the love of a parent for a child and God and God's love for us. As a parent, we are for our children in every possible way. God is for us in a similar but far deeper and more mysterious way. We tilt our heads and wonder what is up: "Neither Mary nor Joseph said it as bluntly as my Sara (Lucado's daughter), but don't you think their heads tilted and their minds wondered, What in the world are you doing, God? Or, better phrased, God, what are you doing in the world?" (pg 20).
There were parts I struggled with theologically in this book. I am not sure that it is particularly comforting for a person who has lost a loved one in tragedy or violence to hear that God is in charge of everything, whether good or evil. Lucado maintains a strong and solid "Calvinist" vision throughout, which I have some admiration for, against my better judgment. Essentially, God allows evil to exist, "God will actually allow a person to experience hell on earth, in hopes of awakening his faith" (pg 42). I hesitate to validate this position. On the level of pastoral care and being a leader of a congregation, this is not an answer. This is doctrine. Another doctrine that works for evil, aside from God being ultimately responsible for good and evil alike (not unBiblical, according to the Prophets), is the actions of Satan, or the satanic for the less literal, in the world. The "cosmic and spiritual warfare" position has its own comfort as well in the face of death and evil. That position has issues as well. I give Lucado credit for being very clear and concise in his expression of his "Calvinist" position, but ultimately I don't think it speaks well to the human experience of death and evil as it relates to Christ's suffering on the cross.
Lucado is very strong in his call for us to listen more and speak less. He uses Job as the classic example. Job talks and talks, but does not really listen well to God, until the end when God assails Job with question after question about the power and greatness of God's work. Then Job is silent. He has no argument to counter God. Particularly in times of trouble, it is perhaps the most difficult time to just listen. God often speaks in the still, small whisper. Silence can be our best friend in times of trouble. But so can a good argument with God, which God does not turn away from (see Exodus, Isaiah and Jonah for examples).
Heaven is a comfort to the living who believe, as I do, in our reunion with Christ and those who go before us. But it is not for those who are on the edge of faith. We may need to back up our discussion significantly before discussing the comfort and promise of eternal life with someone faced with tragedy and a massive faith crisis. For a small section of my church population, I would recommend this book in a time of trouble. For most, though, I would send them to other books that take very seriously the human experience of suffering. The first that comes to mind is St John of the Cross' The Dark Night of the Soul.
Peace!
Pastor Seth
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
A blog?
Apparently, I started this blog space but never entered anything into it. I will use it to post theological musings and book reviews. If you are interested in doing book reviews, Thomas Nelson has this great new program that allows you to review books for them. They send you the book, you post the review on your blog and a retail site like Amazon, Nelson's website or other dealers. Check it out at http://brb.thomasnelson.com/.
Peace o' Christ!
Pastor Seth
Peace o' Christ!
Pastor Seth
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