Category: Book Reviews

Two years ago I was introduced to the author Eugene Peterson by a friend so I ordered the four books he suggested but have only completed three so far savoring them like quality ice cream after an tasty meal (actually ice cream is welcome here anytime) .  And to think I had been incorrectly assuming all along, he had only written The Message! No longer! I find it noteworthy and indicative of the wordsmith he was, that Peterson once commandeered a key word phrase associated with atheist philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche – that the only way to live life is to find a standard and stick to it – and repurposed it to be about following Jesus nonetheless! Peterson literally stole the nonbeliever’s catchphrase, “a long obedience in the same direction,” and made it the name of his own best-selling Christian book first released in 1980.

What makes Peterson’s message so unique today is that he exudes the bedrock transformation of redemption as offered humanity by Jesus Christ. Most believers today view the Nietzsche / Marxist deception that we are now experiencing in America, as being much more sinister in its influence than merely words and ideas behind the smoke and mirrors that lead to the eventual death and destruction of its adherents. Take note, in that The Message, Eugene’s paraphrase of the Bible, has transformed the dusty, ancient Christian scriptures of “faith lived” into imaginative literature for contemporary readers seeking truth for living forgiven and empowered lives today.

While I was reading this chapter 14 (which I’ve summarized below – now with the Preface (verbatim) over 3000 words long; perhaps you can read it in installments while rationing out your ice cream) when I just laughed out loud thoroughly enjoying the lead off hospital incident. The truths of this Kelly parable and the pollster’s definitive “frivolous” report resonates with me as I too at times can mistake a sore throat for a descent into hell. (“Peterson, pray for me!”) Perhaps the best possible antidote is when we can combine an accurate memory of God’s ways with a lively hope in his promises, the essence of Psalm 132 as printed below:

1 O God, remember David,

remember all his troubles!

2 And remember how he promised God,

made a vow to the Strong God of Jacob,

3 “I’m not going home,

and I’m not going to bed,

4 I’m not going to sleep,

not even take time to rest,

5 Until I find a home for God,

a house for the Strong God of Jacob.”

6 Remember how we got the news in Ephrathah,

learned all about it at Jaar Meadows?

7 We shouted, “Let’s go to the shrine dedication!

Let’s worship at God’s own footstool!”

8 Up, God, enjoy your new place of quiet repose,

you and your mighty covenant ark;

9 Get your priests all dressed up in justice;

prompt your worshipers to sing this prayer:

10 “Honor your servant David;

don’t disdain your anointed one.”

11 God gave David his word,

he won’t back out on this promise: 

“One of your sons

I will set on your throne;

12 If your sons stay true to my Covenant

and learn to live the way I teach them,

Their sons will continue the line —

always a son to sit on your throne.

13 Yes — I, God, chose Zion,

the place I wanted for my shrine;

14 This will always be my home;

this is what I want, and I’m here for good.

15 I’ll shower blessings on the pilgrims who come here,

and give supper to those who arrive hungry;

16 I’ll dress my priests in salvation clothes;

the holy people will sing their hearts out!

17 Oh, I’ll make the place radiant for David!

I’ll fill it with light for my anointed!

18 I’ll dress his enemies in dirty rags,

but I’ll make his crown sparkle with splendor.”

(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

20^th– Anniversary Preface.. (verbatim, not summarized)

As I sat down to revise A Long Obedience In The Same Direction I was prepared to do a lot of changing. I have hardly done any. It turns out there are some things that just don’t change. God doesn’t change: He seeks and He saves. And our response to God as He reveals himself in Jesus doesn’t change: we listen and we follow. Or we don’t. When we are dealing with the basics – God and our need for God – we are at bedrock. We start each day at the beginning with no frills.

So the book comes out in this new edition substantially as I first wrote it. I added an epilogue to reaffirm the ways in which Scripture and prayer fuse to provide energy and direction to those of us who set out to follow Jesus. A few celebrity names have been replaced by new ones (celebrities change pretty rapidly!), and I have changed a few references to current affairs. But that’s about it. It is reassuring to realize once again that we don’t have to anxiously study the world around us in order to keep up with God and his ways with us.

The most conspicuous change has been the use of a fresh translation of the Holy Scriptures, The Message, that I have been working on continuously since the publication of A Long Obedience. In fact, the fifteen Songs of Ascents (Psalms 120-134) that provide the text here for developing “discipleship in an instant society” provided the impetus for embarking on the new translation. All I had in mind at first was translating the Psalms into idiomatic North American language that I heard people using on the streets and in the shopping malls and at football games. I knew that following Jesus could never develop into a “long obedience” without a deepening prayer life and that the Psalms had always been the primary means by which Christians learned to pray everything they lived, and live everything they prayed over the long haul (No wonder I missed the boat spiritually so long. Only recently did I begin to read the Psalms).

But the people I was around didn’t pray the Psalms. That puzzled me; Christians have always prayed the Psalms; and why didn’t my friends and neighbors? Then I realized it was because the language, cadenced and beautiful and harmonious, seemed remote from their jerky and messy and discordant everyday lives. I wanted to translate these fifteen Psalms from their Hebrew original and convey the raw, rough and robust energy that is so characteristic of these prayers. I wanted people to start praying them again, not just admiring them from a distance, and thereby learn to pray everything they experienced and felt and thought as they followed Jesus, not just what they thought was proper to pray in church.

And so it happened that the unintended consequence of the writing of A Long Obedience in the Same Direction was this new translation of the Song of the Ascents, and then all the Psalms and then the NT and eventually the whole Bible. The inclusion of that translation in this new edition completes the book in a way I could not have anticipated twenty years ago.

Chapter 14. Obedience: (summarized by merlin)

An incident took place a few years ago that has acquired the force of a parable for me. I had a minor operation on my nose and was in my hospital room recovering. Even though the surgery was minor, the pain was great and I was full of misery. Late in the afternoon a man was assigned to the other bed in my room. He was to have a tonsillectomy the next day. He was young, about twenty-two years old, good looking and friendly. He came over to me, put out his hand and said, “ Hi, my name is Kelly. What happened to you?”

I was no mood for friendly conversation, did not return the handshake,  grunted my name and said that I had gotten my nose broken. He got the message that I did not want to talk, pulled the curtain between our beds and let me alone. Later in the evening his friends were visiting, and I heard him say, “There’s a man in the next bed who is a prizefighter; He got his nose broken in a championship fight.” He went on to embellish the story for the benefit of his friends.

Later in the evening, as I was feeling better, I said, “Kelly, you misunderstood what I said. I’m not a prizefighter. The nose was broken years ago in a basketball game, and I am just now getting it fixed.”

“Well, what do you do then?”

“I’m a pastor.”

“Oh.” he said and turned away; I was no longer an interesting subject.

In the morning he awoke me: “Peterson, Peterson – wake up.” I groggily came awake and asked what he wanted. “I want you to pray for me; I’m scared.” And so, before he was taken to surgery, I went to his bedside and prayed for him.

When he was brought back a couple of hours later, a nurse came and said, “Kelly, I am going to give you an injection that should take care of any pain you might have.”

In twenty minutes or so he began to groan, “I hurt. I can’t stand it. I’m going to die.”

I rang for the nurse and, when she came, said “Nurse, I don’t think that shot did any good; why don’t you give him another one?” She didn’t acknowledge my credentials for making such a suggestion, told me curtly that she would oversee the medical care of the patient, turned on her heel and, a little too abruptly I thought, left. Meanwhile Kelly continued to vent his agony.

After another half hour he began to hallucinate, and having lost touch with reality, began to shout, “Peterson, pray for me; can’t you see I’m dying! Peterson, pray for me!” His shouts brought the nurses, doctors, and orderlies running. They held him down and quieted him with the injection I had prescribed earlier.

The parabolic force of the incident is this: when the man was scared he wanted me to pray for him, and when the man was crazy he wanted me to pray for him, but in between, during the hours of so-called normalcy, he didn’t want anything to do with a pastor. What Kelly betrayed in extremis is all many people know of religion: a religion to help them with their fears but that is forgotten when the fears are taken care of; a religion made of moments of craziness but that is remote and shadowy in the clear light of the sun and routines of every day. The most religious places in the world, as a matter of fact, are not churches but battlefields and mental hospitals. You are much more likely to find passionate prayer in a foxhole than in a church pew, and you will certainly find more otherworldly visions and supernatural voices in a mental hospital than you will in church.

Stable, Not Petrified

Nevertheless we Christians don’t go to either place to nurture our faith. We don’t deliberately put ourselves in places of fearful danger, and we don’t put ourselves in psychiatric wards so we can be around those who clearly see visions of heaven and hell and distinctly hear the voice of God. What most Christians do is come to church, a place that is fairly safe and moderately predictable. For we have an instinct for health and sanity in our faith. We don’t seek our death-defying situations, and we avoid mentally unstable teachers. But in doing that we don’t get what some people want very much, a religion that makes us safe at all costs, certifying us as inoffensive to our neighbors and guaranteeing us as good risks to the banks. We want a Christian faith that has stability but is not petrified, that has vision but is not hallucinatory. How do we get both a sense of stability and a spirit of adventure, the ballast of good health and the zest of true sanity? How do we get the adult maturity to keep our feet on the ground and retain the childlike innocence to make the leap of faith?

What would you think of a pollster who issued a definitive report on how the American people felt about a new television special, if we discovered later that he had interviewed only one person who had seen only ten minutes of the program? We would dismiss the conclusions as frivolous. Yet that is exactly the kind of evidence that too many Christians accept as the final truth about many much more important matters-matters such as answered prayer, God’s judgment, Christ’s forgiveness, eternal salvation. The only person they consult is themselves, and the only experience they evaluate is their most recent ten minutes. But we need other experiences, particularly the community of experience of brothers and sisters in the Church and our local congregation, as well as the centuries of experience provided by our biblical ancestors. A Christian who has David in his bones, Jeremiah in his bloodstream, Paul in his fingertips and Christ in his heart will know how much and how little value to put on his own momentary feelings and the experiences of the past week.

A Christian with a defective memory has to start everything from scratch every day and spends far too much of his or her time backtracking, repairing, perhaps even starting over. A Christian with a good memory avoids repeating old sins and should know the easiest way through complex situations. So instead of starting over each day, we continue building on prior victories as well as forgiven defeats.

You ever notice for all its interest in history, the Bible never refers to the past as “the good old days.” The past is not, for the person of faith, a restored historical site that we tour when we are on vacation; it is a field we plow, disc, harrow and plant, fertilize, lovingly work to insure a bountiful harvest.

Christians who master Psalm 132 will be protected from one danger, at least, that is always a threat to our obedience: the danger that we should reduce our Christian existence to ritually obeying a few commandments that are congenial to our temperament and convenient to our standard of living. It gives us, instead, a vision into the future so that we can see what is right before us. If we define the nature of our lives by our mistake of the moment, or the defeat of the hour, or the boredom of the day, we will define it wrongly. We need roots in the past to give our obedience ballast and breadth just as we need a vision of the future to give our obedience both direction and goal.

If we never learn to do this – to extend the boundaries of our lives beyond the dates merely enclosed by our birth and death, and actually acquire an understanding and appreciation of God’s way as something larger and more complete than those anecdotes in our private diaries – we will forever be missing the point of things, by making headlines out of something that ought to be tucked away on page 97 in section C of the newspaper, or putting into the classified ads something that should be getting a full page color advertisement – perhaps mistaking a sore throat for a descent into hell! (“Peterson, pray for me!”) For Christian faith is a full revelation of a vast creation and a grandly consummated redemption. I prefer to define my faith, or your faith, by witnessing our obedient actions in the same direction, as led by the Holy Spirit

Christian living demands that we keep our feet on the ground, but it also asks us to make a leap of faith. A Christian who stays put is no better than a statue, waiting to be pulled down when the opinion poll tides change. A person who leaps about constantly is under suspicion of being not a man but a jumping jack or worse. Our obedience requires we possess the strength to stand as well as a willingness to leap, and the good sense to know when to do which. Which is exactly what we get when our accurate memory of God’s ways are combined with a lively hope in his promises.        

The following summary is my attempt to summarize this real life 78 page mini-novel to possibly interest you in its distribution in the marketplace.

Nick is a white male, three years out of college, a computer techie grad, under-employed as a letter carrier at the post office who after a big fight with Jessica, his live-in of 2 years, finds a note explaining she had enough and has moved out and of all things, has moved in with his best friend Eric with whom she had been developing a relationship for the past several months. To top it off, she took their savings and the rent was already two months past due and he was about to be evicted.

As children, he and his sister had been taken to church each Sunday by his mother, taught to pray, and he still remembered some of the verses and songs from Sunday School, all the while his father chose to stay home and watch tv. But that abruptly changed when Nick, then twelve, and his sister came home from school one day and found the house locked and a note from their mom saying she was starting a new life running off with a man from church and they’d not seen  her again. Now he had no relationship with either his father or sister and was truly, all alone; even his two best friends, had now shut him out. He was left alone with no money, about to be evicted from his apartment strewn with empty beer bottles and pizza boxes. Nick also drank too much and he knew it.

Besides, his bike was broke requiring a visit to Andy at his bicycle shop the next morning who turns out to be a major player in Nick’s messed up and lonely life for the next weeks as detailed for you in this mini-novel.

This Andy is a real mystery to Nick in that frequently there are people engaged in deeply personal conversations with Andy when he delivers his barrage of first class mail from all over the US. And then there is always all this food appearing, which Andy frequently shares with his visitors, saying they just can’t eat it all. But the one big negative about this mysterious Andy, is that he is so winsomely religious; not at all the “in your face you’re going to hell” type, for Nick has witnessed frequently in-depth counseling conversations, and even actual prayers being offered with a client in the shop.

 The one thing that really irks Nick no end though is the big sign over Andy’s desk that says “God is Good!” Nick has experienced considerable relationship pain in his short life, but he did well in his classes at the university and now knows first-hand that belief in a supreme being may sound wonderful to many simple minded people, but when life gets difficult, a fictious god won’t solve real problem’s in real people’s lives. In fact, Nick has been down right rude to Andy on several occasions ridiculing him for his religious crutch for people who couldn’t handle reality. And Andy would never show any anger; he’d just listen and frequently even tend to agree with Nick’s observations.

And besides all that, Andy spoke of his church over on 5^th St but Nick never could find it. He knew the area well since he delivered mail in the neighborhood and there is no church on 5^th St. And then, there was the thing about his back rent mysteriously being paid, and how Andy loaned him his own bike when Nick’s was in for repairs. And where was his wife anyway? Nick was so confused. Never had he ever met anyone quite like Andy, so generous and loving to so many.  

And unfortunately, most of us in our culture of separation and individualism, seldom do. But down thru history for the past 2000 plus years, there are persons just like Andy who hopefully exist in your community, who believe and practice daily God is Good, and that He desires you experience spiritually more than becoming merely a convert, but like Nick did, to experience Christ while being discipled in community amongst believers who live their lives in simple loving obedience faithfully sharing with and loving their neighbors as family.

It is our hope and prayer that this mini-novel provides you or someone you may know, with exactly the desired “dose” of “loving hope” to brighten your/their day. For you will soon see when reading the story about Nick, how can anyone really not say, That Our God is Good?

Blessings on your Journey for Truth Today! II Cor. 6:2 states that “today is the Day of Salvation.” Do not delay. Get the BIG Picture. Get inspired and read all of Chapter Six, preferably in The Message!!

Please contact me for a free copy of Gary P Miller’s book “How Can Anyone Say God is Good.” if you desire a copy. merlin.erb@gmail.com or text / voice 330 465-2565

The words to the hymn “Take Time To Be Holy” say it all and more.

Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord,

Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.

Make friends with God’s children, help those who are weak,

Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.

Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;

Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.

By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;

Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.

Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;

And run not before Him, whatever betide.

In joy or in sorrow, still follow thy Lord,

And looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.

“Written by William Longstaff, an English businessman, who took his faith seriously. Upon hearing a sermon on the text “Be ye holy, for I am holy,” Longstaff was inspired to write a poem. Being a good businessman, Longstaff had a practical mind. This was reflected in his poem which offers many practical suggestions for becoming holy.

It reflects his understanding that holiness, like every virtue, requires time and attention to develop it. It reflects his personal experience that prayer deepens faith. It tells us that we can face adversity calmly if we look to Christ for guidance.

You need to know that Longstaff managed to get his poem published in a Christian newspaper, but that was the end of it – or so it seemed. But as it turned out, George Stebbins, a Christian musician, had seen the poem and had clipped and filed it. Years later, needing a hymn on the subject of holy living, he remembered the poem and set it to music. It has been a favorite now for more than a century.

I don’t know whether Longstaff ever knew Stebbins had set his poem to music. I don’t know that he ever heard it sung. I know only that he felt called to write the poem – and God did the rest. When we do something good – something for God – (as Matthew alludes to continually in his book encouraging us to enter in to our Holy Moments), we might never know the full measure of that we have accomplished. We can only know that God will take what we offer, great or small, and make it a treasure.” Copyright 2006, Richard Neill Donovan

 This is the good news that will raise us out of our neutralized, passive, inactive state and opens our hearts, minds and souls to an amazing new reality of possibility. Part of this new reality is the joy that comes from Gospel living.

P 55: The primary problem concerning Christianity’s role in changing the modern world is that most Christians no longer believe we are capable of accomplishing that change. This is a direct result of the fact that Christians by and large don’t believe holiness is possible. But it is also deeply connected to a false belief widely held by Christians that the culture has become so powerful that we are simply incapable of transforming it. This leads to conversations that the culture has pushed the envelope too far and the only solution is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. This is tragic defeatism, which is the antithesis of the spirit of Christianity and at the same time an astounding form of spiritual laziness. It is nothing more than the fruit of the biggest lie in the history of Christianity. It is only because we have been deceived into believing holiness is not possible that we would believe the culture is too negative and too strong to be transformed by Christianity.  

P 68: The important piece that we need to be abundantly clear about is that the first Christians of the early church clearly differentiated themselves from the dominant culture of their times. Modern Christians blend, and that needs to change if we are going to establish a new vibrant and positive identity in the midst of a culture that is proactively hostile toward Christianity. Just how do we do this? By inspiring every person and every environment we touch with Holy Moments. It’s time for Christians to astound the world with our generosity, kindness, patience, courage, thoughtfulness, and selfless care for the weak, poor and forgotten.

P 73: We have played right into the culture’s negative narrative about Christianity by settling for mediocrity and not striving to live more authentic Christian lives. As a result we have an identity crisis which simply is most people think Christians and Christianity are “inauthentic and seen as a joke because too often the Church and its members do not even possess the endowed and transformative empowering of the Holy Spirit in order to facilitate the life changing Holy Moments through out their daily activities.” (Merlin’s suggested revision)

P73: I believe Matthew is spot on with his idea that the people who show up in church on Sundays and those that don’t show up all have the same ten things on their minds. If we speak powerfully and practically to people about these ten things predominately on their mind, we will change the world… again. And those ten are: Relationships, Family, Health, Work, Money, Addiction, God, Spirituality & Church, Fear, Hopes & Dreams, and #10, the answer to that one deeply personal question we each uniquely possess that we have researched on the web, asked our trusted friends and advisors about, and yet, have not felt confident, reassured or at peace about it. Each and every one of us is waiting on God for that deeply personal answer to our unique question (And we all have such a question! If we are honest!)

P 85: I don’t like alarm clocks. Just the name disturbs me. Who wants to start the day alarmed? When you check into a hotel, they often ask you if you would like a wake-up call. I like that. We all need a wake-up call from time to time. ….(So very true!)

P 99: We would like to change a few things in our lives here and there, but these changes are born from our own selfish preferences, not from a passion to either change ourselves or our world. I call it tweaking. We are not interested in transformation, but we just want some tweaking. So we pray for tweaking. Once we abandon the transformation that is the Christian life, our focus falls on tweaking; our spirituality becomes mediocre and very self-centered.

Then we start praying for tweaking: Dear God, please tweak this… and please tweak that… and tweak my spouse… and tweak my spouse again because it didn’t take the first time… and tweak my kids… and tweak my boss… and tweak our pastor… and oh yes, tweak all the politicians. I suspect 90% of our prayers are tweaking prayers. This desire for tweaking is selective and selfish, while transformation is total and selfless. And after tweaking, we even have the audacity to wonder or even complain that God doesn’t answer our prayers? The reason is simple and clear. God is not in the business of tweaking. God is in the business of transformation. Any time you are ready, he’ll be ready and available… and that word available is what God looks for in the resume of our hearts. Simply reading the Bible helps us know the heart of God as well  as the heart of man. This takes time and patience. The Bible is not a self-help book, in which every line is filled with clichés and step-by-step directives. Rather, it is about learning God’s heart and also, learning our own heart.

P 102: An Example of a Prayer of Transformation

Lord,

Here I am.

I trust that you have an incredible plan for me.

Transform me. Transform my life.

Everything is on the table.

Take what you want to take and give what you want to give.

I make myself 100 percent available to you today.

Transform me into the person you created me to be, so I can live the life you envisioned for me at the beginning of time.

I hold nothing back.

I am 100 percent available.

Lead me, challenge me, encourage me, and open my eyes to all your possibilities. Show me what it is you want me to do, and I will do it.

Amen.

P 108: … I have realized over the years that when I am listening to the voice of God in my life and trying to walk in His way, I find myself focused, inspired, and energized…. And when I don’t seem to be focused, inspired and energized for any prolonged period of time, it’s usually a solid indication that I have stopped listening to the voice of God in my life. (So true!)

Remember it is in the classroom of silence that God illuminates our hearts and minds so that we can see clearly and answer passionately those four questions of  life: Who Am I? What am I here for? What matters most? What matters least? With these answers and clarity, God then sends us out into the world to enjoy living (in fulfillment) with passion and purpose.

P 109: So it’s time to quit making excuses. At the end of our lives though, if all our excuses were gathered up, they could be sorted into two buckets; either being “I’m too young for those things” or “I’m too old for those things.” And you already know how life passes us by in a blink. Don’t let these be your excuses. Now is your time! Now is our time.

P 113: This world should be different because we were here. We have an obligation to leave the world better than we found it. Lies breed hopelessness, so we shouldn’t be surprised that in our culture of lies so many people feel hopeless. The lie that holiness is not possible creates hopelessness among the one group of people who should never lose hope: (authentic) Christians!

But truth breeds hope. And the truth is, holiness is possible for you, for me, and for your neighbor, one Holy Moment at a time. We can collaborate with God and create a Holy Moment today. That is amazing grace in action.

Don’t let the sun go down today without giving the world a Holy Moment. Your holiness is possible. This is the one truth that will bring hope to an age of hopelessness. This is the one truth that will unite (authentic) Christians to collaborate with each other to transform the world…again. This is the one truth that will make all (authentic) Christians people of possibility. If you allow this truth to permeate your thoughts, words, and actions, you will become happier (and more fulfilled) than you have been at any other time in your life.

It is my sincere wish that for you this evening only hours before 2021 arrives, and the following days, that Matthew’s words will indeed provide you focus to sharpen your clarity as you create your Holy Moments of memorable consequence and joy.

Continual Vibrant Blessings On Your Journey Home>>>>>merlin

This book was brought to my attention recently by my friend Chuck from church and is worthy of a quick review. Leadership in our culture today is vanishing and not faring any better in churches either. I recall Terry Shue saying more than a decade ago that already some congregations are in need of hospice care; to be lain to rest gracefully….

We are dealing with more issues today than even at New Years, and we may soon expect more chaos and confusion, making this book on leadership even more pertinent to our future well being. Read John Maxwell’s introduction and chapter titles, and then quietly reflect and construct a list of those persons you know whose business, personal life, career, marriage, spiritual witness, etc. may be positively impacted by your investment of time in sharing this book with them. Contact me if you have ideas or questions. Graduation gifts are coming. Certainly appropriate for college grads and with your mentoring, certain high school grads may qualify. Start this summer and finish up in college this fall. Great opportunity to build bridges with your kids, grand kids, nephews, nieces, friends, etc…. and an excellent basis for life long relationship building.

I presume you fully understand a salesman is only as good as his intimate experience with his product and this is best facilitated by you having experienced this book in your daily life. Otherwise, what has been happening for decades in our culture and our churches will re-occur with us… as perhaps we have been instructed and advised at times by hopefully, only a few, and if so, not majorly impacted, who also were “inauthentic in not having experienced radical transformation and the subsequent empowering to affect effective joyful change in us.” (mle) If implemented, this book will not a walk in your backyard, but it will bring you immense joy at harvest time! Invest in people! After all, weren’t we commanded to make disciples?

Once again, the effective mentoring of our future leadership is always our responsibility; whether in our culture or in our churches! Blessings as you get creative in your “opportunity to be responsible” Holy Moments!! >>>>> merlin

Introduction by John Maxwell

How can I become a better leader? That’s a question I ask myself every day of my life. I’m constantly searching for new things to learn and ways to grow. But sometimes the best way to learn is to return to the fundamentals. After all, that’s what championship coaches when they want to sharpen the skills of their players, whether they’re rookies or seasoned veterans.

That’s what prompted me to go back to the Source, to the greatest leadership book ever written: the Bible. Every leadership lesson I’ve ever taught has been based on scriptural principles. Now in The 21 Most Powerful Minutes in a Leader’s Day, I’m bringing the leadership contained in the Bible to the forefront. By examining the lives of the Bible’s great leaders, we can learn more about leadership and apply the principles we learn to our daily lives.

This book is a leadership development tool. It’s not meant to be read through in several sittings. It’s designed to be consumed in daily bites and digested slowly, so put it someplace where you can conveniently read it five days a week.

If you go the process as I’ve intended, you will spend the next twenty-one weeks working your way through the material. The book is organized around The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You and I recommend reading the related chapter from it over the weekend to provide a thorough overview prior to beginning The 21 Most Powerful Minutes in a Leader’s Day. Each week you will spend four days learning leadership from a different biblical figure. Every day focuses on one predominant leadership thought, contains a lesson learned the biblical leader, and poses a question for you to meditate on all day long. The fifth day will help you change your focus from thinking about leadership to  acting on it as you take steps to help you become a better leader.

I hope you enjoy the next few months living with some of the greatest leaders in mankind’s history – and with a few who should have been but weren’t. I’ve learned some wonderful lessons from them, and I hope you do too.

Table Of Contents

1. THE LAW OF THE LID

Leadership Ability Determines a Person’s Level of Effectiveness

Two leaders couldn’t have been more different, from the depths of their hearts to the lids of their leadership. One was a leader after God’s own heart. Both teach invaluable leadership lessons.

2. THE LAW OF THE INFLUENCE

The True Measure of Leadership is Influence – Nothing More, Nothing Less

The first time he attempted to lead, the people wouldn’t listen to him. Years later when he tried again, his influence was so strong that the people did everything he wanted – no questions asked. That’s the power of influence.

3. THE LAW OF PROCESS

Leadership Develops Daily, Not in a Day

He was ready to lead as a cocky kid, but God had a different plan in mind. As a result he helped his family, saved a nation, and fulfilled God’s destiny for his life – all because of the Law of Process.

4. THE LAW OF NAVIGATION

Anyone Can Steer the Ship, but It Takes a Leader to Chart the Course

In a few weeks, he was able to accomplish what other leaders couldn’t do in a century. His secret? Visions, calling, and the Law of Navigation.

5. THE LAW OF ADDITION

Leaders Add Value by Serving Others

They were the one group Jesus criticized most. Why? Because they added value to themselves instead of to the people they led. May Jesus’ admonition be a warning to us!

6. THE LAW OF SOLID GROUND

Trust Is the Foundation of Leadership

He should have been one of the greatest leaders in Israel’s history. Instead he was one of the worst. Why? He violated the Law of Solid Ground and frittered away his leadership.

7. THE LAW OF RESPECT

People Naturally Follow Leaders Stronger than Themselves

Why did Israel’s strongest leaders follow a woman when every other leader of the nation had been a man? Because she was the greatest leader of her generation. That’s the power of the Law of Respect.

8. THE LAW OF INTUITION

Leaders Evaluate Everything with a Leadership Bias

Would you want to listen to the advice of one of your in-laws? Your answer would be yes if you were teachable and he was an intuitive leader able to help you turn your leadership around overnight!

9. THE LAW OF MAGNETISM

Who You Are Is Who Attract

His leadership was characterized by fire. So who did he draw to him to follow in his footsteps? He couldn’t help attracting someone with the same kind of fiery leadership. Learn from him whom you will likely attract.

10. THE LAW OF CONNECTION

Leaders Touch a Heart Before They Ask for a Hand

He could have had the people eating out of his hand. Instead, they ate him alive. It cost him everything. That’s what happens when you violate the Law of Connection.

11. THE LAW OF THE INNER CIRCLE

A Leader’s Potential Is Determined by Those Closest to Him

His leadership team was a “who’s who” of Israel unlike any seem before him or since. They helped him become a great leader – and they helped make Israel the nation it was destined to be.

12.THE LAW OF EMPOWERMENT

Only Secure Leaders Give Power to Others

Who would have the courage to embrace a man everyone feared and then empower him to be the greatest leader of his time? Only a leader secure enough to give his power away. That’s the secret to the Law of Empowerment.

13. THE LAW OF THE PICTURE

People Do What People See

Elisha was able to part the waters of the Jordan, ensure that a destitute widow miraculously survived, and even raise the dead. How was a farmer able to do such amazing feats? Simple: He watched Elijah. People do what people see.

14. THE LAW OF BUY-IN

People Buy In to the Leader, Then the Vision

The people suffered horrible oppression and wanted relief, but they did nothing – until this leader arrived on the scene. Why? Because people buy in to the leader first, then the vision.

15. THE LAW OF VICTORY

Leaders Find a Way for the Team to Win

Everything was stacked against him: he was only eight years old when he became the leader, his father and grandfather had been horrible leaders, and the country was a mess. Yet he achieved victory like no other king of Israel. His secret is contained in the Law of Victory.

16. THE LAW OF BIG MO

Momentum Is a Leader’s Best Friend

His father started the momentum. He increased it. As a result, people came from all around the world to meet him and learn from his leadership. There’s no doubting that the Big Mo was his best friend.

17. THE LAW OF PRIORITIES

Leaders Understand That Activity Is Not Necessarily Accomplishment

The stakes were as high as could be, and he (of all people) was entrusted with leading the movement. He succeeded, and that movement has grown for thousands of years – all because he understood the Law of Priorities.

18. THE LAW OF SACRIFICE

A Leader Must Give Up to Go Up

He was a prince who stepped down in order to move up – to a higher calling. How was he able to do it? He understood the true nature of leadership. You have to give up to go up.

19. THE LAW OF TIMING

When to Lead Is as Important as What to Do and Where to Go

There are certain moments in a leader’s life when timing is everything. She understood that, and she made the most of it. And as a result, an entire people escaped certain death.

20. THE LAW OF EXPLOSIVE GROWTH

To Add Growth, Lead Followers – To Multiply, Lead Leaders

 Everywhere he went, he left in his wake … leaders. He found them, developed them, and empowered them. That was the way he spread his influence across the globe. That was the power of the Law of Explosive Growth.

21. THE LAW OF LEGACY

A Leader’s Lasting Value Is Measured By Succession

Some leaders collect souvenirs. Others capture trophies. This leader created a legacy that endures to this day. Learn his secret, and carry on in his footsteps.

Greetings everyone! What a phenomenal month October has been and now this morning, our first brush with snow. October provided exceptional harvest weather, great meals with new friends, my winter’s firewood supply is finally completed, and most importantly, I’ve recently enjoyed being stretched by listening to five diverse books that are now being more fully processed in my simple but yet inquiring mind. Indeed, I’ve been blessed!

The book’s titles and authors are as follows:

Jesus in Me: Experiencing the Holy Spirit As A Constant Companion by Anne Graham Lotz

The Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Peterson

The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi: My Journey Into the Heart of Scriptural Faith and the land Where It All Began  by Kathie Lee Gifford, Rabbi Jason Sobel

Heaven Declares: Prophetic Decrees to Start Your Day by Hakeem Collins

The Prophetic and Healing Power of Your Words by Becky Dvorak

.We will first consider Anne Graham’s “Jesus in Me,” which is my first read of any of her books. I, as virtually everyone else in believer circles today, is familiar with her as Billy Graham’s eldest daughter. She is a delightful author weaving frequently personal anecdotes into the “meat” of experiencing the Holy Spirit as a constant companion. In this book I noted rather astonishingly in her upbringing in a Presbyterian church and even her childhood home, the term Holy Spirit was rarely ever used. She recalls as a child when the ushers placed the filled offering baskets on the front table, a standard prayer was offered over them including the words “the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” Likely the same for many of you.

I however am likely an exception as I happened to live as child near a MN Indian reservation in the early fifties. We there experienced a “Holy Spirit outbreak” among some native American “disciples in training” in the neighboring Mennonite mission church, one of at least five started in Northern MN by spiritual adventurers from such Mennonite communities as Plain City OH and Franconia PA. Understandably, this outbreak created all sorts of tension among the area Mennonite church fathers. So even though, I had heard the terms all my life, I do not recall they were ever explained with the clarity and forthrightness that Anne Graham brings to the table here. I am not aware that she ever even mentions anything about tongues in the entire book. I am sure I would have remembered since tongues are the essence of the evidence of the Holy Spirit for many evangelicals today. Strange, I never once even questioned their omission until just now.

The depth of this presentation made me realize early on that this was a book Loretta and I needed to “digest” together. I see the book being particularly helpful to both younger and middle aged women who now as assertively growing believers, will benefit from the wit, wisdom and nurture that Anne Graham provides, especially if they were not nurtured in a solidly expressive Christian home; having experienced the tyranny of “religious form” but not the “joy of gospel substance.”

As this undercurrent about tongues and the Holy Spirit ebbs and flows through out the North American church today, it is apparent the Holy Spirit can function well in both believer environments. I as well as you, have no doubt witnessed its life and power in both camps. May I offer that the problem seems to arise when either camp insists the other camp adhere to their unique interpretation. Anne Graham does an outstanding presentation of the Holy Spirit as our Constant Companion without even mentioning tongues;

By Loving the Person of the HS,

by Enjoying the Presence of the HS,

by Relying on the Power of the HS,

by Embracing the Purpose of the HS,

by Living by the Precepts of the HS,

by Reflecting the Purity of the HS, and

by Trusting in the Providence of the HS.

  The second book we’ll review “ The Burnout Generation” by Anne Helen Peterson, unfortunately is only available on Audible. Less than two hours in length, it was born early in 2019 prompted by an article written by journalist Peterson when she received millions of emails from readers who resonated with her description of burnout, many so burned out for so long that they were unaware it was not the norm. But how would they know, had they never witnessed a functional loving home as children where two parent relationships were valued, where living skills were learned, boundaries were understood, accepted and respected, family economic decisions and plans were openly and respectfully discussed around the supper table, especially if the evening meal together seldom if ever occurred. And I didn’t even mention the common denominator to living life successfully by fully integrating the Gospel into our daily living.

She interviews four persons whom replied and to be honest, I quit listening several times because I was bored and tired of hearing only how these millennials today have been so dumped on by society. Many of them have incurred college loan debt as high as six digits and are now in underpaying jobs that too often consume their whole life given their lack of ability to separate their work from their personal life. Evidently many are working two or three jobs. The book does not paint a pretty picture of their plight. But weren’t they sold on assuming the dream of higher education without either foundation or substance? Evidently they were not adequately mentored financially by either parents or grandparents as likely none of them remembered the Great Depression; maybe soon to be termed the Great Divide!

Again, I’m likely the exception but I remember well the day and the place my Dad told me how he as a son of a NB sharecropper during the Depression attended farm sales of his schoolmates where everything a family owned was auctioned off to pay their debts except for basically the shirts on their backs. But I never conveyed any of that history to my three sons until just now, so they too are without any word pictures in their memories to ponder prior to a questionable financial decision such as borrowing big bucks just to attend a prestigious college, much less a mediocre school!

In my humble estimation as is born out in the first two interviews, perhaps these millennials were raised with too much intellect and too little common sense. And neither is that entirely their fault. If our high school grads can’t balance a checkbook, open and utilize a savings account, cook, clean, economically maintain their apartment and transportation, etc., what then shall we expect? Notice I did not even mention anything about knowing your life’s essential purpose, planning for your future, setting and reaching goals, delayed gratification, avoiding addictions, practicing healthy lifestyles, seeking proper nutrition, etc.

In conclusion, may we consider the last three books.  If you’ve not yet visited Israel, spend your money and buy “The Rock, The Road, and the Rabbi.” Very insightful and I’ll also encourage you to read our local Holmes County author Paul Stutzman’s “The Thirteenth Disciple,” both of which may just prompt you to envision the significance of you too, someday visiting Israel.

I am finding “Heaven Declares: Prophetic Decrees to Start Your Day” by Hakeem Collins to be an amazing inspiring book containing 90 days of challenging readings. Currently now on day 20, I find myself eagerly anticipating hearing its scriptures, decrees and declarations being read aloud to myself. Portions of it I even read twice for greater impact.

“The Prophetic and Healing Power of Your Words” by Becky Dvorak has opened my spiritual eyes in new dimensions that I only wish I had been introduced to during my college years. I simply was never exposed to the “power of my words.” And consequently, without that understanding and appreciation for the power to speak truth into my life and those about me, that empty vacuum in my mind was filled too often with negative empty spiritual calories that cost me dearly. I do believe both of these books will quite effectively stretch our theology among Anabaptist believers to bring to the forefront scriptures we’ve just missed prior.

I apologize for the length here but we have covered considerable turf, and with the time change, you’ll have more time to read during the winter months. I urge you to break out of your comfort zone and let God lift you out of your “rational” mind more into your “intuitive” mind where we should go more often during prayer. May God then speak to us clearly as we humble ourselves, seek His truth, and then simply obey. He repeatedly states throughout Scripture He desires our obedience rather than our sacrifices! That’s just how I see it tonight!

 Blessings as WE ALL GO FORTH IN SIMPLE OBEDIENCE!!!!       merlin

Prior to vacation Loretta searched for an inspirational novel to listen to while traveling. We just finished listening to her choice, Lisa Wingate’s epic masterpiece, Before We Were Yours, as we traveled north across Michigan into Canada toward Minnesota on Rt 17, the Trans Canadian Highway, finished in the sixties, comparable to the US famous Rt 66. Fourteen hours and twenty-nine minutes in length, the book thoroughly captures your imagination with its alternating chapters from the years just prior WWII of an impoverished family living on a houseboat shanty salvaged from their house on their depression foreclosed farm near the Mississippi River around Memphis TN. The alternating chapters depicts a 30 year old privileged US Senator’s youngest daughter, an accomplished government prosecuting attorney  recently returning home to SC to perhaps prepare her entrance into politics, considering her 57 year old’s father brush with colon cancer and his uncertain future. The book’s plot  continually contrasts the lives of the “white trash river rats” with that of the southern aristocracy in today’s current culture of cellphones, media driven life styles, and crumbling southern protocols and values.

Inject into that drama mix the tragedy involving the Memphis  branch of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society that was well entrenched in the upper echelons of the Southern elite involving its political, legal and institutional hierarchy providing a continual separation and flow of the “endangered and unsuspecting children” literally kidnapped in broad daylight off the streets or hospital delivery rooms and funneled through a corrupt system for big bucks to childless couples from Wall Street to Hollywood across the USA.

Throughout the book, Lisa Wingate is able to intimately involve her main “present time’s” character’s personal struggles with the identity issues today we all face, provided we are “living in the moment,” as opposed to last month or even 20 years ago. Or perhaps today, even equally devastating, is our living for and dreaming of some future time, seldom if ever under girded with actual steps of accomplishment,but more likely relegated to some Magic Kingdom pie in the sky. Oh, we may never admit publicly to such ephemeral wishes with no ties to our current realities. And in fact, we may even look down our noses on those statistically impoverished “financially challenged” folks today who buy lottery tickets when we ourselves are also quietly and quite methodically squandering our “precious  resources” primarily, our relationships of trust and value with family and loved ones, as well as poorly investing our spiritual gifts of time and energy as our hourglass flows on.  

Lauded as an inspirational book, you’ll not be reviewing scripture but you will be continually reminded of the under girding of our prior generations sacrifices and the accompanying  opportunities that we enjoy today and too often dismiss without adequate thankfulness, and much worse, are not winsomely nor effectively passing the inherited torch down line. 

Yesterday I finished reading a less entertaining book but nevertheless, so very important in the mix of we successfully living a satisfying and fulfilling life. Let’s not get bogged down in the specifics and definitions of “satisfying and fulfilling” as we consider Gary Miller’s latest book, Surviving the Tech Tsunami as I think we can all agree on the magnitude of our current consuming challenge of technology.

Quoting Gary beginning page 11, Life consists of change. I face each day understanding that it will not be an exact replica of the one before. Circumstances, challenges, and decisions will be different, and I accept this. If today were a repeat of yesterday, something would be dreadfully wrong. But there is one caveat; I don’t like too much change too fast. Yet for many of us, that describes the world we live in. Can you imagine someone from the 1800’s picking up one of today’s newspapers? In just a short time, our world has experienced a massive upheaval beyond anything previous generations imagined. Standards of morality, belief in God, and even the public’s view of truth – everything is up for grabs. Mores of society that seemed immovable, like the definitions of marriage or gender identity, are suddenly open for debate. All of this has created a confusing world in which to live and raise a family, and the constant change of electronic technology only generates more challenges.

The Electronic Explosion

Every week seems to bring another gadget, new device, or some product we’ve never heard of and didn’t know we needed. Those of us who lived during the end of the 20th century witnessed an electronic explosion unlike the world has ever seen. Communication, transportation, entertainment, and traditional marketplaces were all affected. Our language has been altered, with social media and texting spawning a lingo of their own. Young people communicate using a dialect  of words and phrases that were nonexistent just a few years ago. I grew up never hearing words like megabytes or gigabytes. Checking for mail meant walking down the lane to a little black box with a red flag. All that has changed, and Google, something I once knew nothing about, is now a common verb in the English language.

Those of us desiring to follow Jesus and chart a safe course for ourselves and our children are constantly faced with tremendous challenges. Changes are coming fast, so how do we know which path to take? Every decision will have consequences, but how can we know what they are? It is tempting to assume we are the first generation to deal with this but as we look at the effect of technology on humanity and the church, we will see our generation is not the first to raise an alarm about it’s negative impact.

Gary divides the book into five sections and twenty-eight chapters:

            Part One: Change – The Historical Battle

            Part Two: Is Something Else Happening Here?

            Part Three: Deadly Diversions

            Part Four: Where Are We?

            Part Five: Re – Evaluating Our Course

Quoting from Gary beginning on page 10,  Gordon Moore, co – founder of Intel, an early pioneer of computer chips, in 1965 predicted the industry would double the number of transistors on one square inch of chip every year. In ’75, he adjusted this prediction to doubling every two years. He anticipated that the industry would make computers increasingly cheaper, faster, and useful for purposes man had not even dreamed of yet. This audacious forecast was scoffed by many, but for the past forty years it has held true.

To get a better picture of this exponential change, imagine the same progression in the field of transportation. If automotive technology had advanced at the same rate, cars today would travel at 300,000 miles per hour, get over two million miles per gallon, and cost only four cents each.

God intends his kingdom to be more powerful than culture. A church able to face current and future challenges needs a clear Biblical vision and open dialogue, collectively addressing each threat and its hidden influence. This requires leaders who are willing to take risks, address difficult topics, and speak out on issues that touch hidden areas of our lives. This also requires a higher level of personal accountability than many churches have thought necessary.

At times leaders must make decisions, even though they may not meet the mindset of every member. But if pursuing Jesus instead of the surrounding culture is not part of the churches DNA, then adding rules is meaningless. If a church is no longer concerned about the things that concerns God, just how much protection will He give? It is easy to analyze every question solely by  how it will affect our church, our reputation, or our image. And if we expect Him to empower our churches, our mission needs to agree with His.

At one time most members of the Anabaptist churches were involved in farming or other agriculturally based occupations. Now we are increasingly pushed into trades and businesses that require increased use of technology. Sometimes we fight this shift as it seems uncomfortable. Life seemed better back on the farm. God’s eye,however, is still on redeeming this lost and broken world, and if we seize the moment, the push into the business world can provide tremendous opportunity. Sharing our faith with coworkers and other business associates has a purifying effect on our own lives. Those we are trying to reach are quite adept at pointing out hypocrisy and inconsistencies. We desperately need their observations!

We are invariably drawn to technology because it promises what we naturally long for – ease and efficiency. We are naturally impatient and constantly looking for anything to accomplish our goals faster. Ironically, the more efficient we become, the higher our expectations and the greater our propensity for disappointment. High efficiency seldom translates into greater contentment. Yet shunning all technology doesn’t seem to be the answer either. God intends that we think, create, and improve. Failing to do this is failing to live in His image.

I challenge you to aim higher than mere survival. God is at work in our world and has promised to be with us. He has assured us that He will never leave us, told us that His power is greater than all the powers of darkness, and promised that he will never allow temptations to come that are greater than we can bear. God is able and willing to protect us against whatever might come.

So, as in a real tsunami, we first seek higher ground. God‘s goal is larger than having people sit safely under His protection, pursuing risk – free lives. God is looking for individuals and congregations who are willing to join him in the battle. His desire is that we labor together with him to build and nurture his kingdom. Electronic technology isn’t taking our God by surprise, and His goal in the coming years is not that we merely survive, but that we thrive!

Blessings as you GO FORTH SEEKING HIGHER GROUND & ARE EMPOWERED TO THRIVE……..  merlin