Books

I found an old list of my favorite books that I wrote down in 2007 or so. It prompted me to think about what I might now consider my top 10.

Here is the old list:
1. A Conflict of Visions - T. Sowell
2. The Last Battle - CS Lewis
3. Blue Like Jazz - D. Miller
4. The Adventure - J. Sittser
5. The Perfect Mile - N. Bascomb
6. Running with the Buffaloes
7. The Ragamuffin Gospel - Manning
8. Surprised By Joy - Lewis
9. Epistemology - Feldman

New list:
1. O2 - R. Dahlstrom. This book sorts Christian life into "inhaling" or "exhaling" disciplines  It is written by our lead pastor from our Seattle church, so these ideas got covered in many sermons as well. Many of the ideas here have been extremely influential in my life the last 5 years.

2. The Last Battle - CS Lewis. The culmination of history in the land of Narnia. This book wraps up the Narnia series beautifully.
3. Searching for God Knows What - D. Miller. Miller articulates the difference between relationship and religion.
4. Surprised By Joy - CS Lewis. Autobiography of Lewis' early years and his search for happiness.
5. A Sacred Marriage - G. Thomas. We studied this book in a couples small group. The premise is that marriage is intended not to make people happy, but to make them holy.
6. A Conflict of Visions - T. Sowell. Sowell discusses what he calls the "constrained" v. "unconstrained" view of human nature and how these worldviews ultimately shape our views on everying.
7. The Ragamuffin Gospel - B. Manning. Manning describes how he experianced true grace and how that transformed him.
8. The Perfect Mile - N. Bascomb. The story of the men that raced to be the first person to break the 4 minute mile.
9. Epistemology - R. Feldman. The study of knowledge. This was one of my favorite classes in undergrad.
10. Bad Religion - R. Douthat. Douthat traces the current state of Christianity in America and looks at how we got here.

Thoughts

Things i've been reading that have been rattling around my head this week:

A post about unfulfilled dreams by Donald Miller

A fascinating story

How to be the best

What Do You Want To Be?

Been wrestling with the question of what I really want to do. There are lots of changes ahead for us as Janelle finishes med school in the spring, and we will be relocating somewhere as she begins residency. That has given me the opportunity to reconsider what I am doing. My current job is not what I love to do. It has been a great job in the sense that I learned a lot of new things, met some incredible people, and did work that makes a difference for people. It was a job that fell into my lap, and got us through our season of Med school.

But throughout this job I have also realized that I only have a finite interest in the topic of transportation and I have no desire for mastery of this topic. I'm sure to write more about this as I continue to think and pray about next steps.

Quote for the Day

"You must be filled with the Holy Spirit because it is only through Christ in you that you can live the Christian life.

Because the Christian life isn't difficult

it is impossible.

And the sooner I realize that the sooner I can relax and allow Jesus to be in and through me what I know I can never be on my own."

-Richard Dahlstrom

Movement

If you took physics in high school or college or you might remember that the guy who figured out gravity also came up with some insights about movement. He said something like this:

An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

Now, we don't live in friction-less physics theory land, but I wonder if this is true of people as well. It seems to me that when I get into a rhythm of some comfortable spot, my tendency is to stay in that place. And this consistency can be either in movement and trajectory or in a lack of movement.

I have been studying the book of Acts this month, and was encouraged to see that this was also true of the early church. Just before leaving the disciples, Jesus shares his vision for his followers to go out and share the gospel, not just in the relative comfort of the places they knew in the culture they knew, but outwards to new places and people:

Acts 1:7-8 He (Jesus) said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

After this, the disciples do wait and they do get the Holy Spirit, and they do good things and the church is growing and they are resolving problems, but at the same time they are also not moving out as Jesus intended. They are still in Jerusalem, for the most part. Then Stephen infuriates the Jewish religious leaders and is stoned to death. After that this happens:

Acts 8:1b-8
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. ² Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. ³ But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.⁴ Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. ⁵ Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. ⁶ When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. ⁷ For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. ⁸ So there was great joy in that city.

The church is persecuted and that is the spark that causes them to go out, as Jesus intended. 

I have been feeling that I need to pursue something bigger with my life than what I am currently doing, but don't have a solid grasp on what that might be. Fortunately, I am being pushed out from this place i'm in by many factors right now: an impending move, uncertainty at work, and other things. I'm not sure what this all means yet, but i'm trying to be thankful for the challenges that are going to force me to move to where God wants me to be.

Bad Religion - Conclusion

A few weeks ago, we finished Bad Religion in our small group. Around that time, the Olympics were also going on over in London.

A couple of things grabbed my attention during the Olympics that fit right in with the conclusion of the book. For some background, the 10,000m race has been dominated by athletes from Kenya, Ethiopia, and other East African nations for decades. Prior to that it was Europeans. In fact, a US runner hadn't metaled in the 10K since 1964. But this year, a US runner, Galen Rupp, coached by Alberto Salazar, finally made it on the podium.

Some quotes following the race:

For Galen and Alberto, the silver medal was a work in progress that started in 2000 when Galen met Alberto as a freshman at Central Catholic High School in Portland. They have worked together ever since and dreamed of tonight with Alberto planning for it all along. Galen said, "What makes him so great is he is willing to adapt. He never leaves any stone unturned. He is meticulous in his plan. This has been a long buildup. ... I remember talking about this with him in high school. ... He said, 'This is going to take a long time. We're not going to take any shortcuts or do anything to go after short term rewards.' He takes a really long-term gradual approach and I think today he showed that pays off. I'm forever indebted to him. He's like a father figure to me. ... He's an unbelievable man."

On final getting the elusive American medal, Alberto said, "I absolutely believe starting twenty years ago American and Western Europeans had a defeatist attitude. They thought the East Africans were so good and there was just an onslaught of East Africans and they got so much better and for whatever other reasons the Americans and the Brits went through a little bit of a lull. Not only the East Africans running faster than anyone ever before, but now the Americans and Brits and Europeans were running slower, so all of sudden you had this huge gap and there really shouldn't be that gap. Back thirty years ago there weren't as many East Africans, but there still a lot of very good ones and they weren't any better than the best Europeans and Americans. I don't believe all of a sudden they were genetically better. I think a lot was psychological. I think Americans and Europeans just gave up. Another big problem I believe was there's too many people who use the excuse of drugs, that anyone who runs fast is on drugs. The second you start thinking that as a coach or as an athlete you're basically saying you're not good enough to compete with other people unless you cheat. What I've always told our guys is 'Don't believe all that bull. Those are the losers that say that.' Rather than trying to change their own training to get better they use that as excuse and it's a defeatist attitude. A lot of the mind-set for us was 'We can beat these guys. We've just got to train smart.'"

This of course brings to mind the language used by Paul:

 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

 This language is made practical at the end of Douthat's book as well:

To make any difference in our common life, Christianity must be lived - not as a means to social cohesion or national renewal, but as an end unto itself. Anyone who seeks a more perfect union should begin by seeking the perfection of their own soul.

That quest begins with a single step - over the threshold of your local church, back through the confessional door, or simply into an empty room for a moment's silent prayer.

Those simple steps are what make a habit, which in turn is what makes a life.

The future of American religion depends on believers who can demonstrate, in word and deed alike, that the  possibilities of the Christian life are not exhausted by TV preachers and self-help gurus, utopians, and demagogues. It depends on public examples of holiness, and public demonstrations of what the imitation of Christ can mean for a fallen world. We are waiting, not for another political savior or television personality, but of a Dominic or Francis, an Ignatius or a Wesley, a Wilberforce or a Newman, a Bonhoeffer or a Solzhenitsyn. Only sanctity can justify Christianity's existence;  only sanctity and make a case for faith; only sanctity, or the hope thereof, cam ultimately redeem the world.

And I end with this quote:

"Time and time again, Chesterton noted, 'the Faith has to all appearance gone to the dogs.' But each time, 'it was the dog that died.'"

Bad Religion - Ch 7&8

Chapters 7 and 8 talk about two other forms of heresy pervasive in our culture: the "God within" movement and nationalism.

The God within comes in many forms, pulling ideas from Eastern religions, Christianity, and deism to form a nebulous "God is within you" religion. The idea that ultimately, your innermost voice is that of God, because your innermost being is God. 

Douthat does fail to make the distinction between pantheism (God is everything, and that is all that is) and panentheisim (God is within everything but is beyond matter). Panentheism is uncharacteristically undefined, while examples of both types are all lumped together. The point of the chapter remains that while the God within movement borrows from many religions, it does not define itself by any particular religion. It ends up being a nebulous support of self, in which people aren't challenged to change themselves, because that self is actually God. 

The thesis of this religion is that "somewhere within us all, there does exist a supreme Self that is out true identity, universal and devine". (E Gilbert). The key, the proponent say is not in organized region, rather God is beyond that, and therefore, heaven is available to us all here on earth.

The problem is that the God Within movement promises much, but fails to deliver: "... It's striking that the things that therapeutic, God Within religion doesn't seem to have delivered to Americans are the very things that it claims to be best suited to provide-contentment, happiness, well-being, and, above all, the ability to forge successful relationships with fellow human beings. Instead, the solipsism and narcissism that shadow Got Within theology seen to he gradually overwhelming our ability to live in community with one another."

Nationalism is another form of heresy common today in both sides of politics. Douthat states, "the obvious resemblance between America and the Christian Church - both pan-ethnic, universalizing bodies that promise to create a new man out of the old one, and redeem a fallen and corrupted world - has tempted many Americans to regard the United States as a whole as a New Israel, a holy nation, a people set apart." I can completely relate to this. Growing up and attending a Christian school for middle school, high school, and undergrad college, I heard this argument either implicitly or explicitly with surprising frequency.

As our policital parties continue to become more polarized, the effect of this has actually become more dramatic. "Instead of balencing each other out, the two heresies of nationalism have taken turns in the driver's seat of both political coalitions, giving us messianism from the party in power and apocalyptism from the party out of power, regardless of which party is which."

Striving

In our small group discussion on Bad Religion, it was brought up that the author points out many ways that the Christian faith deviated from Orthodoxy, but it didn't offer many solutions to how to become better Christians. It is a good question, worth pondering. I think that the author may have intended to point these things out and not merely offer a solution.

There are two reasons for this: first off, we are all creatures of habits. In fact, around 40% of what we do each day is simply habit. I would say that most of the ways we demonstrate (or not) our faith through actions are also habits. Moreover, the first step in changing a bad habit is the knowledge that it exists and monitoring it. So in pointing out habits that Christianity developed is part of the answer.

The other other key is contained in Philipians 3:

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

The word that is written here as "press on to take hold of" here is also translated strive.

The verb strive (diwkw) is used 24 times in the New Testament. It is used thirteen times in Matthew-Acts, always with the sense of to persecute or hunt down, as, for example, in the case of Israel who always persecuted the prophets sent to her (Matt 23:34; Acts 7:52). Paul uses the term ten times (Romans 9:30; 12:13, 14; 14:19; 1 Cor. 4:12; 14:1; 2 Cor 4:9; Gal 6:12; 1 Thess 5:15; 2 Tim 3:12), both in the sense of “to persecute” (Rom 12:14; 1 Cor 4:12; Gal 6:12; 2 Tim 3:12) and “to ardently pursue” something, i.e., righteousness (Rom 9:30); love (1 Cor 14:1); doing good to others (1 Thess 5:15). Whether Paul is thinking here of the athletic metaphor of running a foot race, as Hendriksen suggests, the point is clear: it is strenuous and requires great effort and focus. 

I think that this is a great word for us. Especially since, as we have seen in this book our tendency towards heresy can be out of wanting to make things easier. Or even to just decide that God wants us to be happy just the way we are. This is human nature. The challenge then is when we receive a word from God that is challenging to the place our hearts are in, either individually or collectively, we need to strive to move from that place. It will take effort and focus, intentionality and vulnerability, it may hurt or be embarrassing; but changing a heart is not easy business. And as Paul says, this is a continual striving. We will consistently be able to move more from our old selves towards Christ.

Bad Religion - Ch 5&6

Section 2 of the book talks about the main ways the American Church has wandered from Orthodoxy. First, Douthat points out that all heresies attempt to remove paradoxes from the gospel by focusing on a few main tenets while minimizing the other details. This results in a "more consistent, streamlined, and non contradictory Jesus." The crux being the following: “Every argument about Christianity is at bottom an argument about the character of Christ himself, and every interpretation of Christian faith begins with an answer to the question Jesus posed to his disciples: ‘Who do you say that I am?’ From Thomas Jefferson and Ralph Waldo Emerson to Joseph Smith and Mary Baker Eddy, America’s famous heretics have always offered their own answers to that question, drawing on a mix of scholarship and supposition to craft alternatives to the Christ of orthodoxy.” Additionally, scholors have suggested that the current iterations of Christianity have won out from older editions of Christianity, and that tomorrows Christianity will be yet another iteration. 


Meanwhile, if we review the texts, there has not been this wild variation. In general, orthodoxy has, in the past help establish tradition within a very narrow road with core ethics and beliefs consistent with the oldest accounts of Christ available (the letters of the Apostle Paul). 

Chapter 5 also introduces three mainstream deviations that are popular today: The prosperity gospel, which associates faith with material blessing; the God within movement, which suggests that God is inside all of us and that our own deepest longings are actually those of God; and Nationalism, which claims America is the second Israel, God's favored land.

Chapter 6 covers the Prosperity Gospel. The face of modern prosperity theology being Joel Osteen. "By linking the spread of the gospel to the habits and mores of entrepreneurial capitalism, and by explicitly baptizing the pursuit of worldly gain, prosperity theology has helped millions of believers reconcile their religious faith with their nation's seemingly unbiblical wealth and un-Christian consumer culture" 


The problem of this is this:

"But like many forms of liberal Christianity, the marriage of God and Mammon half-expects somehow to undo the Fall, through the beneficence of Providence and the magic of the free market. In its emphasis on the virtues of prosperity, it risks losing something essential to Christianity - skipping on to Easter, you might say, without lingering at the foot of the cross.

It's there that you find the pieces of Christian tradition that a gospel of prosperity leaves by the wayside. An understanding that there can be strength in weakness and defeat; an appreciation for the idea that there might be greater virtue in poverty and renunciation, suffering and purgation, than there is in abundance and "delight"; a hard-earned wisdom about the seductions and corruptions associated with worldliness, power, and wealth." (p.205)

Bad Religion - Ch 3&4

Chapters 3 and 4 describe the two ways in which mainstream Christianity responded to finding itself in decline.

The first was to attempt to accommodate culture. In the view of these Christians, the reason Christianity was losing it's appeal was that it was too dogmatic and judgmental, and that by becoming more accepting of people as they were and letting the standards become more lax.

This ended up being a very slippery slope, as some accommodationalists continued to push away from the dogmas of traditional Christianity to the point of denying that Jesus ever claimed to be God.

Interestingly, the net result of becoming accommodating was not to win the culture, but rather to continue to shed membership. The author implies that for most people, if Christianity didn't hold on to at least most of its orthodox standards than there wasn't much point in being a part of the club.

The resistance movement was led mainly by the Evangelical Church and traditional Catholicism. This shared cause actually led the two to work together to emphasis similarities and fight back against the accommodation movements. It was effective in the sense that the Evangelicals became the largest segment of Christianity.

Recent events that have weakened the resistance movement were the Catholic Priest sexual abuse scandal and the Bush administration, which was widely supported by Evangelicals despite its faults.