Book recommendation - Surprised by the Voice of God, by Jack Deere

I have recently discovered at least one friend who checked my blog a couple weeks back to see if I had posted anything new (thanks, Jesse). Then, last night, I was talking with another friend of mine, and in the course of the conversation, he said something like, "you should have a blog" (cheers, Tom). So, today's entry is in their honor, and in the name of non-futility (someone might be paying attention! yee-haw!).

In past prayer letters since coming to seminary, I've made a habit of recommending a good book here and there (like Scot McKnight's The Jesus Creed and Bruce Shelley's Church History in Plain Language). I like doing this for a few reasons: (a) we generally read far too few books in today's world; (b) a book is long enough to address a topic much more comprehensively than other media ever could; (c) when you read a book, it forces you to spend time ruminating on a topic rather than just letting it enter your consciousness for five minutes and subsequently forgetting about it; (d) I amuse myself with the delusion that someone other than my mother might someday take my suggestions seriously, and thus, I would have the privilege of playing a small role in his or her spiritual formation. (This post is now officially in honor of Jesse, Tom, and my mom, too.)

So, that brings us to today's recommendation - Surprised by the Voice of God, by Jack Deere. This is Deere's second book on the topic of the role of the miraculous in today's church (I have not read his first, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, but I bet that one's good, too).

My primary ministry setting has never been with a ministry that emphasized the importance of the more blatantly supernatural gifts of the Spirit (such as prophecy and healing). At the same time, most Christians I know believe in the validity of these gifts. Why is it that we accept the theoretical possibility that God will move in amazing ways, but our practical approach to church and ministry makes no room for him to do so? On the other end of the spectrum are those who emphasize the supernatural so much that they allow their personal experiences of the presence of God to override the spiritual life of the mind and/or the character.

Enter Jack Deere. Deere was once a professor of Old Testament at a well-respected seminary in the United States. This particular school rejects miraculous spiritual gifting for today's church. Deere began to question this doctrine, through reading the Bible, observing his own church, and observing ministries that were open to the movement of the Spirit. Over time, he came to recognize the need for the miraculous ministry of the Holy Spirit in our world.

His book is thorough in its scope. He intellectually defends his beliefs from Scripture, church history, and contemporary experience. (Chapters five and six on the "Presbyterian prophets" and church historical method are particularly fascinating.) He outlines the ways in which God speaks, giving very practical guidelines for cultivating a listening ear and for encouraging a healthy ministry of the miraculous in your church - one with appropriate boundaries rather than an authoritarian "thus sayeth the Lord" kind of atmosphere.

In my own life, I came to recognize a need to explore these gifts of the Spirit within the past few years. The rubber hit the road starting last October, when I began meeting with a man from my church who walks in circles where people are encouraged to seek the voice of God. I still have a long way to go on this journey, but the role of mentoring along the road has been vital. We expect to need help from those ahead of us in life when it comes to everything else, whether it's "spiritual" stuff or "regular" stuff; why not this, too?

So, I encourage you to read Deere's book, then find someone you respect who can serve as a guide in your journey towards the manifest presence of God. (And even if you don't read Deere's book, you would do well to have a mentor in the spiritual life... and other areas of life... tangent...)

Questions? Thoughts?

Cultural consumption and self-awareness

To those of you who prayed for the conference, thank you! It truly was a blessed day. All told, between participants, kids, and volunteers, we had about forty people there. As far as I could tell, the speakers were engaging; more significantly, the conversations people were having penetrated into the deep issues in their lives. Everyone offered very positive feedback, including the three nonbelievers present. We're still in the process of discussing "what next."

Some food for thought... At what level do you consume the goods of your culture? Meggan and I are in the midst of a ten-day media fast for one of our classes (the professor is a prolific blogger himself); we're abstaining from TV, movies, video games, and superfluous internet usage. (That last one is ironic, as here we are on a blog... For me, it primarily means abstention from ESPN.com, etc. for the duration.) Just for fun, I've tacked on a fast from caffeinated beverages for myself (though I have had some delicious coffee ice cream).

How much of your daily energy is given to activities of this nature? What are the effects of these media on your heart, mind, and relationships? Have recreation and entertainment become synonymous for you? Which of the following words ring true:
...thought-provoking?
...mind-numbing?
...distracting?
...relaxing?
...fun?
...inspiring?
...exciting?
...wasteful?
...enriching?
Others?

Take a minute to think about which words describe your cultural consumption (and which words do not). Honestly chew on that information. Consider trying a media fast, especially if you think it will help you to discern better the effects of these things in your life. I'm not saying one should run away from everything, but a little self-awareness could go a long way. Maybe Meggan and I will come out of this fast & choose to reduce our regular media intake. Maybe I will replace some ESPN.com time with conversation, or contemplation, or study, or prayer, or any manner of other truly enriching human engagement.

As always, comments are welcome...

Musings on results in ministry

Hello, friends!

Meggan and I have set up this blog primarily in preparation for our upcoming summer in Madrid. We hope it will be a good way to keep you updated on what we're experiencing and how we're processing those experiences. In the long run, it could become our primary family website (maybe?). This particular post is, more or less, a test post, but I've decided to discuss something real rather than just saying, "omg, our blog works!"

As I'm writing this, it is a Tuesday in early February. On Saturday at Bethany (our church home here in Denver), we are hosting a marriage conference for Spanish speakers in the area. I'm the organizer of the conference; it was an idea God planted in my brain a few months ago, though I am in no position to play a speaking role in the conference itself as I am not yet proficient (let alone fluent) in Spanish (or Hispanic immigrant culture). Also, I've never really planned anything like this, so that's interesting.

What are our goals? We desire to see God redeem and restore broken marriages. We desire to see followers of Christ deepen their faith in him. We desire to see non-Christians come to know this God who loves them dearly. I desire to honor the immigrant population, that they might perceive from their interactions with a handful of us Anglos that we do not see them as proverbial cultural stepchildren but as fellow sojourners on this earth. And, to be honest, I'm probably thinking, "35 people in attendance would be great; and if 1/3 of them are non-evangelical folk, that would be awesome; and if everything went really smoothly, I'd be really thankful; and if God showed up in amazing ways, a few families were saved from divorce, four couples gave their lives to him, three families joined Iglesia Vida Nueva (the Spanish-speaking congregation at Bethany), everyone told all their friends about how great it was, twice as many people showed up at a follow-up conference in May..."

... and a partridge in a pear tree. You get the picture.

So, what should I be thinking, praying, believing, hoping as this weekend approaches? What would define a successful weekend? a failure? How should I respond to either of these occurrences?

Emotionally, my first instinct is to define success by observable things - number in attendance, welcoming environment (as if a cultural outsider could truly measure this), no organizational hitches, number proclaiming life change, increased involvement at Vida Nueva. But I can't stay there for long, for a few reasons... (1) It makes me too nervous. (2) I've done that in the past when an event "failed," and it bites. (3) I've done that in the past when an event "succeeded," and it can lead to giving oneself too much credit for what God has done.

(4) I've read the prophets. Sometimes God calls people to engage their world, and the world shrugs its shoulders and continues down its path of self-centered living. If success were to be defined as above, Jeremiah was a colossal failure.

So there must be something else.

Success must be about faithfulness to God and to that which he has put before us for this season. It must be about loving him and loving people created in his image. It must be about our identity as his ambassadors, not the response of those to whom we ambassadors have been sent. It must be about walking the road Jesus has set before us in the manner Jesus leads us to walk it.

Of course, I will still pray for many of the things which the old "success" would entail. I will pray for people to come, and for God to change lives. I will pray that we will somehow accidentally stumble into making our Hispanic neighbors feel welcome and honored. I will ask God to grant us few problems and the grace to handle well those problems which we do encounter. I will pray for healthy growth for la comunidad de Vida Nueva. I will work hard toward all these ends, as much as it is up to me. And when it's over, we'll evaluate what went well and what didn't, what should change for next time and what should stay the same, etc. But my hope is not built on this kind of success. We still live in a fallen world; Christ is yet to return to this earth, to redeem it entirely from its brokenness. We will continue to experience this brokenness, even as we observe the reign of God breaking into more and more of the world he loves.

So, the results belong to God, and I trust him for as much. And I also belong to God, but this latter statement is not dependent on my personal ability to observe the former.