Life + Faith

Hey, I’m Jon.
And this is where I write about life and faith, no niche included. Just an honest attempt to be faithful and fruitful for Jesus. If that’s something you want more of, subscribe.

  • Recently Read: January 2019

    Here are some books I’ve read or listened to over the summer. And for what it’s worth there are some brief comments about them too.

    1. The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Butterfield

    This is the incredible story of Rosaria herself. At one point she was a tenured professor, thought of with high regard for her LGBT and feminist views. After conversion to the Christian faith she understood herself differently; giving up her lesbian lifestyle and in time marrying a Presbyterian minister. This is a great book and well worth the read. I listened to it with Rosaria narrating. An astounding and excellent memoir.

    2. Why The Reformation Still Matters by Michael Reeves

    Again, I listened to this via audio book. The final three chapters move the book up in any sort of rating. However, because the first nine chapters aren’t particularly practical, which I expected they would be, then I didn’t find this book appealing or interesting. Not really worth the read.

    3. Wisdom in Leadership by Craig Hamilton

    It may have taken me 2.5 years from opening to closing this book but it was still a good one. There is something like 78 chapters, each about five pages long. It provides great practical advice for Christian leaders. Anything from how to lead a team to how to lead a meeting to how to build trust to how to deal with conflict. There are good chapters for those who are main leaders or those who volunteer under other leadership. Again, worth the read but don’t expect to read it through in one hit. It’s also worth noting that the author is Australian.

    4. Without Warning by David Rosenfelt

    A novel based around a murderer and his son seeking to get revenge on the Chief of Police. It moves quickly, involves a good amount of mystery, and is a fun read/listen.

    5. Martin Luther by Eric Metaxas

    There are plenty of Martin Luther biographies to read. Some are dry and academic but Metaxas’ one certainly isn’t. Like all good Metaxas books it is reasonably fast-paced and with great little side stories about what is going on in wider culture. I tend to read quickly to the halfway point and then slow down when reading Metaxas and this happened here too. It could have been shorter but is still a valuable and fun read on the life of one of the more significant people in world history and church history. You’re in for a humorous treat on page 334 too.

    6. Reset: Living a Grace-paced Life in a Burnout Culture by David Murray

    Easily the best book on this list. It may have been because of the time of year I read this one, or because I was feeling tired after 2018. Whatever it was, this book gives great theology that moves into great practice for rest, sleep, work, identity, sin and temptation, eating, exercise, and numerous other factors that can cause us to deplete our energy and lead us to burnout. Again, focused on Christian leaders but really gives good wisdom for a grace-paced life for all believers. I listened by audio, I’ll make sure I pick up a hard copy in due course. I think it’ll be useful for a small group study or course too.

    7. Act of Treason by Vince Flynn

    A fast-paced novel (ironic given the last book mentioned) about the attempt to take down the President and the US government. A typical thriller involving the CIA, the Russians, terrorists, and sleazy politicians.

    8. How To Be A Christian: Your Comprehensive Growth to Flawless Spiritual Living by The Babylon Bee

    The Babylon Bee. Enough said.

    The whole book is satire. It’s mostly amusing but perhaps they do their best work in short blog posts, rather than 150-page books.

    9. The Hand of Justice by Susanna Gregory

    This is volume 10 in the Matthew Bartholomew series. I’ve grown to love the main characters of this series and the setting of medieval Cambridge is fascinating. There are always far too many murders to be anything realistic but it’s great fun when you’re into it. It is a holiday read as the writing is slow, nothing happens quickly. But, I liked this volume more than some of the recent ones I’d read.

    10. The Prophet by Gibran Kahlil

    A famous spiritualistic work by the admired Lebanese poet and writer Kahlil Gibran. I’ve known of this book since I lived in Lebanon over 10 years ago, he’s very famous and well regarded. The Prophet is about a prophet (obviously) who gives wisdom on the human condition and what it means to be human in relation to love, marriage, work, death, beauty, and other such topics. I was happy to have read this for the first time.

    I hope you’ve had a good time reading so far in 2019 too.

  • Christian Blogging And Social Media

    For the last three months I’ve felt like I’ve been in a bit of a funk about this whole blogging and writing thing. And it’s not really the writing itself, it’s more about the way in which I should promote and share the things I write.

    For a time I ended up deciding not to promote my writing on my personal Facebook profile because I felt it wasn’t who I wanted to become. I had noticed that in the previous few months nearly everything I shared was my own writing from my own blog. I didn’t want to be that guy. There’s a kind of arrogance to that, I think. There’s something not quite right only promoting and sharing the things I am doing.

    Ironically (conveniently?), the last week or so has seen a few Christian bloggers commenting about the state of Christian blogs. It’s been an interesting conversation to follow.

    Tim Challies’ kicked it off with a post about the kinds of blogs there are in the Christian blogosphere. He made the case that the decrease in Christian blogs is due to the rise of the rightfully named ‘ministry blog’, in amongst a brief point on the future of blogging. Samuel D. James at Letter & Liturgy then made some great points about the various effects of the ministry blog, but also raised concerns bloggers need to be aware of as they seek to have their content written. In the last few days Challies’ has again written about Christian blogging, this time encouraging more Christians to write and publish their own content on their own blog for the sake of the wider church. Again, he makes some great points and I certainly found it encouraging for my own blogging.

    In this day and age of platform building through online presence, everyone being a brand, and the addictive nature of social media, it is worth thinking about the impact this has on Christian writing and blogging. For what it’s worth, here are a few more observations I believe worth consideration.

    First, the temptation to stay perceptively relevant.

    Years ago, when I started blogging myself, there was the belief that having your own blog helped you become a thought-leader in your field. This was, and still is, true. Sort of. The decrease in personal Christian blogs doesn’t mean there are less thought-leaders, it just means these leaders are more likely to be writing on larger ministry blogs. But for the Christian blogger who has a small audience the temptation is to try and impress others with their thoughts. To impress others usually means staying relevant and talking about topics that are ‘in the news’. In other words, writing what other big ministry sites are writing about (the irony of me making this commenting while referring to the ongoing Christian blogging conversation has not past me). I see this in the youth ministry sphere all the time. As posts comes through my RSS reader each day I find it amusing that 3-4 of the large youth ministry blogs are talking about similar things all within a few days of each other. In this way the big ministry sites are actually talking to themselves most of the time and the perception is that everyone is being relevant.

    Second, the opportunity to share a message. 

    Christian ministry is about the message not the man. The message is centred on the Good News, it’s not about the person who is delivering that message. Because of blogs and social media the opportunity to share this message is phenomenal.

    Part of the difficulty in my wrestle to promote my own things isn’t the lack of opportunity to share whatever message I wrote about that week. It is the question of frequency and what other perceived. My own issue may have been solved if I only took time to share the writing of others. And while it is something I do, I don’t do it that often. I just don’t want to flood my own profile with my own articles, let alone other people. I also don’t want to spend an inordinate amount of time curating content. Curating. It just sounds dirty. But, it is the reality of the blogger life.

    Third, the meaning of humility. 

    Humility is something we as Christians strive for because we recognise we’re not the centre of the universe. This is not to say we can’t say or do anything that will increase our own profile. This can naturally happen as our writing becomes more well-known and for the message that we proclaim. However, in seeking to be humble there is to be a constant checking of our own hearts as to where we’re leaning. The temptation to think that we are better than others somehow because we publish a blog post on a Monday and Thursday each week is real. It’s real because humility is difficult to cultivate when you’re seeking to write and publish and speak a message. Again, it’s not about the messenger, it’s about the message. But because they are intrinsically linked the temptation to redefine humility in our own minds becomes a reality.

    Fourth, the slow-drip social media saturation. 

    Again, my little break of self-promotion provided me with conversations with people who thought I was weird. And I say this because some people were almost angry at me for stopping the promotion of my own material. They just couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t promote it. It was unfathomable to them that I stop promoting my blog posts on my personal profile and instead suggest people subscribe via email or follow my sites FB page.

    To me, this pointed out how many of us Christians have been sucked into the culture of social media, platforming, and self-promotion. It has come to the point where we have no problem with any of this kind of behaviour and thinking. We don’t stop to think just how much we think of ourselves as a brand, instead this is now natural, it is what makes up personhood. Thankfully, we are able to reset ourselves when we realise that we haven’t been created as brands but as people; people who are created by God and for his purposes in this world.

    Fifth, the settling of the self. 

    After prayer and reflection, conversation and writing myself clear, I’ve come to a sense of peace about how I am to write, where I seek to write, and what I will and won’t promote on social media. There are, of course, no particular rules about all this, just like there are no rules in what you can read. But there is most likely a wiser course of action to take. In the end each Christian blogger needs to wrestle with who they are, who they are in light of God, and what they are seeking to get out of their own blog.

    Like Samuel D. James comments, there are plenty of temptations to get more involved in social media-land because of blogging. But, there is also plenty of opportunity to find more of your own heart and character in amongst it all. When I say the ‘settling of self’, I mean finding where you are comfortable with right now as you seek to write and share for the glory of God.

    The whole point in all of this has been to figure out what exactly is God calling me to do about my writing and sharing of said message. Surely, as we seek to improve our blogs as Christians, and have Christian bloggers speaking into the wider church in their own ways, we are seeking the benefit of others, serving the Church, and trying as best we can to articulate and highlight the grace and glory of God.

  • 6 Reasons Not To Buy Books In 2019

    On my bookshelves sit over 800 books. On my Kindle sits around 250. I haven’t read them all.

    Granted, some of these books are more reference material for when required. I have plenty of commentaries and Bible dictionaries that help in Bible study or preaching preparation. However, I also have a lot of books related to the Christian faith which I haven’t read. Last year I went through a spate of buying a number of books but knew I wouldn’t be able to read them for another few months.

    So this year is the year of not buying books. Instead, I have given myself a goal of reading the many books on my shelves that are unread. Yes, that’s right, I’m not going to buy a single book this year.

    For some people this might be easy, very easy. It would help if one didn’t read. But, for someone like me who enjoys perusing secondhand book stores, or picking up a bargain from the Christian bookstore, then it is a significant challenge.

    6 reasons not to buy books in 2019

    This personal challenge is exactly that, a personal challenge. I’m not here to rope anyone else into this challenge. I just know I have enough books on my shelves that can and ought to be read. In contemplating this challenge, however, I have six reasons why I won’t be buying a book in 2019.

    First, I have enough books to read without having to buy any for 12 months. 

    I did just say this. I know, I can’t believe I said this myself.

    There are books on my shelf that I haven’t read. They should be read. They’re good books, recommended by others or bought for a particular purpose. At some point it is worth saying, “I have enough”. I have enough books to keep me reading and achieve my goals for 2019. With this being the case there isn’t a need to buy more from a pragmatic point of view. I have books to read, this will be sufficient.

    Second, I don’t want to waste money. 

    Books cost money. I have a finite supply of money. Spending money on books that I don’t need right now because I have enough reading material for the moment seems logical. I don’t want to waste my money on books that I won’t read for a number of months, or possibly years!

    The other side of this is all the money I have already spent. The sunk cost of the books I have on my shelves. If I don’t read them and they just sit there then this is also wasted money. The financial drivers of the reading endeavour do play into this decision of not buying a book in 2019.

    Third, I want to know what I need and what I don’t.

    There are books on my shelves that have sat there for years. One would think that if they haven’t been read by now, like 10 years unread, then it might be worth giving them to charity. However, I’m sure there are gems on my shelf that I’m unaware of. It would benefit me to read them, no doubt. There are also some terrible books on my shelf, no doubt. These don’t need to be read as thoroughly as others but they still need to be taken off the shelf and evaluated.

    In essence, I don’t know what is in some of these books and I would like to know what’s in them so that I can use them, learn from them, grow in some capacity or make the decision to get rid of them. I want to know what I need to keep and what I don’t need anymore.

    Fourth, I need to make space.

    Another practical reason for reading the books I already have is that I need to make space for others. While I won’t add to them this year, my bookcases are packed. There is little room for new books. Therefore, in reading more of my own books, and deciding to part with some of them, I will help my bookcases by freeing up space. Of course, doing something for a bookcase is not really truthful, it is so I can buy more in coming years. There are ulterior motives.

    Fifth, I can bless others with books I don’t need. 

    I know a few avid readers and a number of theological students who could benefit from some of the books I don’t need. Giving books away to people I know, with books that I believe would benefit them, helps them as much as it helps me. And while saying good-bye to some books sounds like a sad proposition, if it helps others then that’s great.

    Sixth, of many books there is no end. 

    As the write of Ecclesiastes reminds us, and all good students, at the end of his book of wisdom,

    “Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.” (Ecclesiastes 12:12)

    There will always be books, and in coming years I will no doubt buy more. And while being surrounded by books somehow makes me feel more intelligent than I really am there can be a weariness that comes from it. Although, apparently it is a good thing to be surrounded by more books than you can ever read. In any case, I’ll keep reading, and learn to be a little less precious about my own collection and learn to enjoy them for what they are.

  • Therefore I Have Hope by Cameron Cole

    My experience of suffering is minimal compared to many around the world. Let’s be honest, it’s minimal compared to many people I know.

    While I have seen suffering in different forms; everything from widespread child exploitation and slavery in the Middle East, to sex trafficking and its effects in Asia, to friends and acquaintances who have lost spouses, children, or been  diagnosed with something horrendous. In my own life, however, I can’t really put a finger on too much suffering, that’s just a fact right now,. Something will come along some day, one can’t help but wonder when.

    But, it’s not helpful in comparing my own lack of suffering with people who have suffered much. The comparison game is never helpful in any setting, and with regard to suffering it seems rather morbid. But this does not mean I cannot have empathy, sympathy, and feel the affects of what others are going through. However, in reality it is just not the same.

    With this in mind, a friend of mine has written a book. I don’t know him all that well, and didn’t know his story until earlier this year. But he has written a book because he and his wife lost their first child when he was 3-years-old. Their child died in his sleep, there was nothing that could be done.

    Yet out of this tragedy it is evident that Cameron Cole and his wife, and the awful sitaution they have been through, is something of a blessing to so many people. This blessing is now in the form of his recently published book ‘Therefore I Have Hope: 12 Truths That Comfort, Sustain, and Redeem In Tragedy‘.

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    Throughout the book Cameron outlines 12 truths that comfort, sustain and redeem in tragedy. These are: Grace, Gospel, Resurrection, Faith, Empathy, Providence, Doubt, Presence, Sin, Joy, Service, and Heaven.

    In each chapter Cameron outlines what he and his wife experienced, what stage of grief they were going through, and how it affected them. But, he then goes on to talk about the key truths that helped them understand more of God and more of the situation.

    There are left some unknowns; and rightfully so when we live under the Creator God. But each chapter finds its place in helping work through an aspect of grief, and also an aspect of what God says through his Word about this suffering, this ‘Worst’ as Cameron calls it.

    Of course, suffering comes in different ways, and in different stages, and for different lengths of time. In whatever way suffering may come to me or to you this book provides excellent foundations for being able to process it without becoming bitter and angry with God (at least in the long run). It acknowledges that these emotions toward God will of course occur, but God is still here and giving hope.

    “…we must remember that our stories fall under Christ’s story of redemption. Your life is but a chapter in God’s greater narrative of restoring the world. Your Worst is merely a chapter in your own story. If we allow God to write our stories and to carry us through the season of darkness and despair, he will ensure that redemption constitutes the central progression of our stories (p47)…All the promises and comforts–the presence of God, the possibility of joy, the empathy of a suffering God, the hope of heaven, the promises of redemption of the world, the availability of grace, the gospel–apply to your story. The promises of the gospel become something you can bank on. They comprise a narrative under which you can live and thrive and hope (p58).”

    There is little wonder this book won the World Magazine’s ‘Most Accessible Theology Book of the Year for 2018’. It is simply a great book on suffering, a great book on the impact of the gospel in our lives in times of suffering, and a great book on the character and nature of God.

    In my role as pastor I come across people suffering regularly. This is the book I will be giving to them before, during, or after whatever their Worst may be. It is a terrific book, one of my top reads for 2018.

    If you’d like to listen to Cameron talk further about the book and his experience you can do so here. And you can read another review of the book here and here. 

  • Reading For The Head And The Heart

    Over the summer break we’re exploring some of the Psalms in our Sunday gatherings. I was able to kick off the series this past weekend by preaching through Psalm 1. It was an apt Psalm to end 2018 and look toward a new year. Like much of the Psalms there is a call for a response. One aspect to this is the assessment, or re-assessment, of our delight and meditation in the instruction of the Lord.

    The start of the year is often a time of assessment. New Year’s resolutions aside; the sun, warm weather, and most people being on of holiday helps conjure up an environment for reflection. Continuing on from my last post, particularly point six of my 10 Tips For Reading In 2019, Psalm 1 challenges us to re-assess our affections and reading habits of God’s Word. Psalm 1 encourages people to delight and meditate on the Lord’s instruction because this is the way to happiness.

    Reading For The Head And The Heart

    The first three verses of the Psalm read:

    1 How happy is the one who does not
    walk in the advice of the wicked
    or stand in the pathway with sinners
    or sit in the company of mockers!
    2 Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction,
    and he meditates on it day and night.
    3 He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams
    that bears its fruit in its season
    and whose leaf does not wither.
    Whatever he does prospers.

    The central verse for the whole Psalm is verse two. The way of happiness – which is a contentment, a peace, a satisfaction – is through the delight and meditation on the ‘law of the Lord’, the Lord’s instruction, the Scriptures.

    And here we find two characteristics of the way of happiness:

    First, there is the aspect of the heart. The delighting in the Lord’s instruction.

    Here is our emotional response to God.

    We are to have affection for him and his instruction. We know God through his Word, through his instruction, and our heart response is to be delight. We are to be moved in feeling and fondness toward God because of his instruction. As Psalm 37:4 says,

    “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

    Our heart, our desires, our delight is to be in the Lord and his instruction. This leads to the way of happiness.

    John Piper, in his book, Desiring God, puts it this way,

    “Strong affections for God, rooted in and shaped by the truth of Scripture – this is the bone and marrow of biblical worship.”

    Second, there is the aspect of the head. The meditating on the Lord’s instruction.

    Here we read of our knowledge and understanding of God that affects our thinking.

    Day and night, we are to chew over the Word of God in our minds. Like a never ending piece of gum, we’re to chew over the Lord’s instruction in our heads. Our minds are created to understand the things of God through our thoughts, this in turn is to influence the way we live. This is why Paul, in Romans 12:2 says,

    “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” 

    In its proper vision, we find the knowledge of God is to touch our hearts and inform our heads.

    Theology, which is simply the study of God, is not just head knowledge. It is something that affects our heads and our thinking, but it should also move us and affect our hearts and affections for God.

    As we start off a new year I always find it helpful to re-assess my devotional life. The habits of reading Scripture and prayer. The start of the new year is great for starting a new bible reading plan, creating a new prayer list, beginning a new devotional work. It’s essentially a good time to re-assess a lot of things, so why not be intentional about it for your faith?

    This year I’m seeking to read through the Bible using this plan. Other plans worth looking at are the one from The Bible Project (which I wrote about last year) or simply reading through four chapters of the Bible per day. In reality, if you’ve got a Bible and you’re using it then that’s a great thing.