An opportunity to change the world

The High Cost of Living (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do you have any money? Of course you do, you’re on the internet.

The average salary in the UK a few years ago was £25,000. If you earn that much, you’re on about 25 times the global average salary. Even taking into account the cost of living that makes you massively wealthy – part of the top-earning 1.42% in the world.

Just to prove I didn’t make that up, check out the calculators here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17543356

http://www.globalrichlist.com/

And Crossway is giving us all the opportunity to donate to a very worthy cause: give generously over here and see the world changed to the glory of God: http://www.crossway.org/group/grant

Want to be challenged?

Image via Wikipedia

A little quote from Cal Thomas:

It is now possible to live a “Christian life” without doing the things that Jesus commanded us to do. We have hired people to go into all the world, to visit those in prison, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to care for widows and orphans.

The average Christian doesn’t have to do it.

Looking at that list he gives, I don’t think I actually do any of those. And that’s pretty concerning, because the Bible pretty much commands Christians to do them all, and I do think that I’m a Christian. Apparently a very disobedient one.

I suppose the point is that although I don’t personally hand over clothes to naked people, I do give money to people who do, so the question is: Does that count?

A couple of years ago I was reading Paul’s letter to Philemon. The letter relates to Philemon’s slave who had run away but had since become a Christian and had started serving Paul instead. Paul sent the slave back to Philemon with this letter, which says ‘I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord.’ (Philemon 1:14)

Now this really struck me. Philemon’s runaway slave serving Paul without his knowledge was still counted as Philemon’s goodness. Do you find that interesting too?

So what I think that means is that if I’m ‘going into all the world’ through the medium of giving to a church planting organisation rather than me physically climbing onto a plane, in God’s eyes that still counts.

But.

The conclusion of this, therefore, would be that the guy who gives the most money to the most charities is being the most obedient, and that’s simply wrong. So for me it seems that the true Christian life demands sacrifice: sacrifice of time, sacrifice of effort, sacrifice of possessions, sacrifice of money, sacrifice of relationships.

I wonder how much like the New Testament church the church today looks.

Chasing Francis by Ian Morgan Cron

I like the idea of inspiring biographies but often find them difficult to read. So I was inspired when I discovered that this book presents a biography of Francis of Assisi in the form of a fictional story. It’s about an evangelical pastor who has a crisis of faith and ends up on a pilgrimage around Italy, discovering Francis’ life, acts, and attitudes, and being challenged and changed in the process.

Cron writes well – the style is sometimes a little too simple and there are some editing errors but it’s certainly readable, engrossing, and moved me to both laughter and tears. The first chapter didn’t impress me that much but after that the characters became far easier to relate to, and by the end of the book it felt like quite an emotional farewell not only for the travellers to say goodbye to one another, but to me as well.

This unique way of communicating Francis’ life works very well so I hope others do the same with other great lives, and the challenges which come over in the text are convicting but never judging. At times he caricatures evangelicalism to the point that it becomes quite unpleasant, and presents Roman Catholicism as a carefree, nature-loving, all-forgiving, mystical experience while happily saying nothing at all about liberal Christianity, probably hence its glowing endorsement by Brian McLaren.

If you’re interested in a biography of Francis of Assisi, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this. There’s even a study guide at the end so that it doesn’t become stale. But take it with a pinch of salt – at the end of the day this is still fiction, and the churches presented are not necessarily typical of their respective traditions.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

#TOAM Rob Bell: hero or heretic?

That was the title of one of the sessions I attended at the Together on a Mission conference, and it was certainly interesting.

Some background may be useful – Rob Bell wrote a book called Velvet Elvis. He suggested in it that doctrine is often stated as such fact that it’s like bricks on a wall, but that it should be like springs on a trampoline. The result is that if a brick has to be removed or change shape, the whole wall falls down, whereas flexible springs would make Christianity more enjoyable.

The picture’s a nice one, but his infamous example shows its weakness – he asked the question, ‘what if the virgin birth wasn’t true?’ Actually, in and of itself the virgin birth shouldn’t make any difference, but there’s a big problem.

The springs don’t sit on their own – take out the spring of the virgin birth, and you then have to lose the truthfulness of the Bible, Jesus’ divinity, and a whole host of other issues, without which we really wouldn’t have a Christian faith at all!

So if the question is ‘is Rob Bell a Christian?’ I’d have to say that I think he is. He affirms the authority of the Bible, believes in substitutionary atonement, and doesn’t actually question the virgin birth (he just uses it as an extreme example to get a rise out of the reader).

But if the question is ‘should I listen to Rob Bell?’ I’d have to say no. While no individual idea is fundamentally heretical on its own, his focus is not the same as the Bible would recommend. In other words, it would be quite easy to read any of his books as an agnostic, ignore some minor points and still agree with the whole thing. That wouldn’t be awful, were it not that Bell’s intention is to write from a Christian perspective.

This whole session was really interesting and can be found as an mp3 download on the Newfrontiers website.

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream by David Platt (audio)

This is a study about how the church in America sometimes leans more on the American Dream than on the truth of the gospel. Through many true illustrations, and a wide range of biblical references, Platt shows many ways in which the church has become just another symptom of our consumer, materialistic society.

Platt’s theology is spot on, and thoroughly Bible-based. By working through typical ‘Christian’ statements to their logical conclusions, Platt shows that they are either unbiblical, or just plain silly, and over the course of the book he also teaches the truth powerfully.

If you’re a member, and particularly a leader, of a church in the West prepare yourself to be massively convicted and challenged to begin a truly radical, Bible-based, Jesus-focused ministry. In particular I found his comments on our reliance on God and attitude to the poor challenging. This isn’t a feel-good, encouraging book, but it’s certainly one of the best books I’ve read this year.

The audio version is narrated by David Platt himself, and he does a really good job so if you’re into audiobooks, this one’s a good one.

I’d recommend this to every single Christian in every Western church. Full marks from me!

I got this audiobook for free from the christianaudio.com audiobook reviewer programme. I’m not required to give a positive review.

The Hole In Our Gospel by Richard Stearns (audio)

The Hole In Our Gospel is the detailed explanation of an idea which the Western church desperately needs to hear: ministry to the poor is missing from our presentation of the gospel. Stearns, CEO of Worldvision, begins this book with his own story before turning to the Bible’s attitude to the poor. He then looks at the current state of the world before facing the American church and giving it a good telling off.

The message behind this book is a timely one. The church really does need to wake up to social action, and Stearns presents it well. At times I felt a bit uncomfortable as his presentation of social action seemed to present quite a liberal theology, but he did not hesitate to underline his deep biblical convictions, which are clearly strong.

His communication is very good, but I’d have to question one part of his language, and that’s his use of the word ‘mission’. It would seem to me that ‘mission’ for Richard Stearns means travelling abroad to provide clean water, food, housing, medical attention, jobs, and education to those that need it most. I’d rather he included all this stuff within the wider category of mission which would incorporate ministry to the poor at home as well as actually preaching the gospel of grace.

I think there would be a danger in a new or pre-believer reading this book for only one reason: the difference between being saved by good works and being saved for good works is not defined as clearly as I’d like it to be.

Overall, I must say that this book is a good one. It’s theologically accurate, written well, and carries with it a big challenge. I’m not sure it’s the best book out there about social action, but if you’re looking for one I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it. The audio version I listened to was presented well and clearly, with good emotion throughout.

I got this audiobook for free as part of the christianaudio.com reviewers programme. I’m not required to give a positive review.

When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor or Yourself by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert (audio)

The classic shortfall in the modern church is that those on ‘the left’ have no regard for biblical truth, whereas those on ‘the right’ have no desire for social action. This book is thoroughly biblically based, yet speaks clearly and soberly about social action.

The book is spectacularly well-researched, and shows that most traditional methods of serving the poor doesn’t actually do that much to solve the problem – in most cases it actually makes it worse.

In terms of the content this book gets five out of five. It’s well written, addresses real needs in a biblical and logical way, and presents real-life examples of what works in alleviating poverty.

My only concern is that the practical action required after reading this book can’t really be carried out by your average Christian – this book would be best read by church leaders.

In terms of the narration there are two things which jump to mind. Firstly, the narrator’s voice is, I think, a bit of an acquired taste. I didn’t mind it, but it’s certainly got a lot of character in comparison to other audiobooks, which other listeners may not appreciate. Also, there’s something in the recording which is simply odd – when quoting Scripture, the narrator always includes the word ‘says’ – e.g. ‘Jesus, while in conversation with Nicodemus, said, John 3:16 says ‘for God…” – and that just adds an almost humorous surrealism to the book, which isn’t really what you need with this subject matter.

Overall then – this is a superb book. Good foundations, good research, good communication, good message…but too little practical application for my personal taste. Nine out of ten!

I got this book for free as part of christianaudio.com‘s book reviewer programme. I’m not required to give a positive review.