How To Inherit The Earth by Scott A. Bessenecker

With How To Inherit The Earth, author Scott A. Bessenecker set out to “write a critique of the Christian infatuation with leadership.” Instead, he added his own contribution to the mix. Even if it was by accident, as he says, we are the better for it.

Bessenecker does explore the near obsession with leadership material in Christian bookstores today, but not just as mere observation. He asserts that our focus should be on becoming effective followers of Christ, and less on becoming effective leaders. Bessenecker points out that even the apostle Paul “was more concerned with the exercise of excellent servanthood than he was with excellent leadership” and clearly communicates the need for Christians to do the same. By becoming effective followers of Christ, we are able to lead from a place of love and humility. “Followers of Jesus should be preoccupied by an ambition to outdo one another in sacrificial love, respect, obedience and submission,” he says.

Bessenecker explains the MONOPOLY (TM) mindset and “biggering” that dominates the West and has infiltrated our churches and leadership structures. He explains why it flies in the face of the downward mobility that is required of Christians. While Bessenecker emphasizes the need for a renewed focus on becoming better followers, he never questions the necessity of leadership; only how it is defined and implemented. He says, “We want to come under meek leaders, destined to inherit the earth because they lead with love, are mindful of the powerless and feel the spiritual weight of their position.”

Bessenecker uses personal stories, self-deprecating humor and brutal honesty to get his points across, often sharing his personal struggles and failures to punctuate an idea. In particular, I found his thoughts on wealth, comparison and entitlement, and how they impact our lives as believers, to be challenging and insightful. He suggests we should live a life defined by meekness, submission, repentance, following, slavery and obedience in order to flourish spiritually. It looks good in print, but, as Bessenecker would likely agree, is quite challenging to live out. Hopefully, we are up to the challenge.














http://www.urbana.org/blogs/blog.main.leastofthese.cfm

(Book provided by IVP)

Introverts in the Church by Adam S. McHugh

In his book, “Introverts in the Church,” author Adam S. McHugh admirably represents those of us that are sometimes perceived as “the Eeyores of the social scene.” Not only does he give voice to how introverts think, feel and process, but he lays a solid foundation of how to experience healing, embrace our introvertedness, and be ourselves in ministry and as church-goers.

McHugh explains the extroverted nature of the American church today and the expectations that our leaders must be extroverted in order to do their job. He then debunks those sentiments. While extroverts excel in many areas of leadership, there needs to be a balance, which introverts provide. He then clearly and compellingly describes how the introverted personality affects our spiritual lives, our relationships to others and our community, our ability to lead and my favorite topic, introverted evangelism. The practical advice he gives for our approach to evangelism is indispensable.

There are times I have read a book that I so identify with that I think, “He took the words out of my mouth!” This was one of those books. I can't count the number of times I said to myself, “That's me!” It was such a good feeling to know that someone else “gets it.” It was empowering to be encouraged and instructed on how to embrace who I am. McHugh has done a tremendous service to the Christian community at large and I for one appreciate his efforts.



http://www.introvertedchurch.com/

(Book provided by IVP)

NLT Mosaic Bible Blog Tour Stop Today!

Welcome, Keith Williams!

Today should be fun! Keith Williams, general editor of the Mosaic Bible, will be visiting throughout the day to share his thoughts and answer any questions you have. Mr. Williams is a Bible and reference editor at Tyndale and has an M.A. in Biblical Exegesis.

Please read my previous review (below) and then post any questions you have for Mr. Williams as a comment on this post.

To get things started, here are a couple questions I have:

How long did it take to assemble all of the Weekly Meditations? Selecting all the different parts must have been a painstaking process! How difficult was it to secure the rights to use all the art and quotes and stories? The user guide says that "meditations were written specifically for this Bible by Christians engaged in living out the gospel in their own communities." How did you select these writers?

Thanks! And have fun!

(I'll be at work all day, but will check in when I can to see how things are going. Thanks!)

Souvenirs and Solitude by Brennan Manning

In Souvenirs and Solitude, Brennan Manning reminds us of the importance of meeting God in the void. Of taking time to be by ourselves and shutting everything off. It is during these times that our Heavenly Father lavishes us with his unrelenting love. These times are also times of refreshment. "When I am able to disengage myself from others and allow the Lord to liberate me from an unhealthy dependence on people," Manning says, "I can exist more for them, listen more attentively, love more unselfishly, speak more compassionately, play more playfully, take myself less seriously, and become more aware that my face is bright with laughter in the midst of a game I thoroughly enjoy". The goal, then, of silence and solitude is to center ourselves in God in order to give ourselves away to others. Only when we are full of Christ are we able to accomplish this selfless act of love.

First published in 1979, the stories and insights Manning illuminates are as effective and as relevant today as when they were first recorded. The relatively short chapters all stand alone nicely, making this book a sort of devotional. As a whole, though, the theme of God's love for us permeates every page. Souvenirs and Solitude gives readers an excellent representation of Manning's ability to make you laugh on one page and cry the next. Readers of Manning will be familiar with his honesty and candor, powerfully evident, for example, in chapter fifteen, "One For The Road." As a recovering alcoholic, Manning shares his gut-wrenching experience at a program and his struggle with "what could have been."

Punctuating each chapter is a poem by the late Miss Sue Garmon. Simple, yet, thoughtful, Garmon puts words to the thoughts in our head after reading what Manning has written. A perfect compliment. Ultimately, Manning and Garmon provide us with a tool to help us turn from ourselves to our Father and then, to others; an experience that is sorely needed in these days of mass information overload. Let us heed their advice and take time out to listen and be refreshed by our Lord.

And The Winner Is...

Brian P, who wrote:

Lovely Mosaics
The color of autumn leaves
Brings wisdom for life

Thank you for participating everyone! Sorry I didn't get this up until now.

In Him,
Ryan

Win A Mosaic Bible For FREE!

Here's your chance to win your own copy of the Mosaic Bible for free!

All you have to do is write a haiku about why you want it and I'll pick my favorite one. A haiku is a simple poem made up of three lines; the first is 5 syllables, the second line is 7 and the third is 5.

Here's an example:

Reading the bible
is my favorite thing to do
I need a new one

That one probably wouldn't win, but it works.

So, write away (post here or on the Facebook post) and then I'll pick a winner on OCTOBER 22nd.

The winner will have a gift certificate sent to them that they can use at their local Christian bookstore to get their copy.

Good luck, poets!

The Well-Behaved Child by John Rosemond

John Rosemond's “The Well-Behaved Child” is old school. Rosemond tells us that our grandmother could have written this book. That is, if your grandmother is demeaning and thinks she's the best grandmother in the whole world.

Unfortunately, the few positive aspects of this book are lost in the sea of Rosemond's war against the psychological establishment. He spends the majority of his time attacking and belittling the “psychobabblers” that came on the parenting scene in the '60s and '70s. He also has no shortage of “self-confidence,” declaring that he talks with more parents than anyone in the entire world. And he makes it clear that he has little regard for the intelligence of children. Overall, he comes off as self-important and quite demeaning, in my opinion.

He disregards virtually every current technique or practice as ineffective "psychobabble," a word he uses on what seems like every other page. Rather, he prefers the methods our grandparents would be familiar with. “Because I said so” is one of the most effective phrases a parent can give to their children in Rosemond's opinion because parenting is about leadership, not relationship. At times, his advice seems just as childish as the behavior it's supposed to correct. For instance, the Piling On technique (pages 105-109), where you essentially make things horrible for your child with no end in sight, with the apparent goal of getting them to surrender out of sheer exhaustion. The example he uses makes the parent look more immature than the child. And then there's “The Doctor,” a technique he claims to have created and one he thinks is quite brilliant. The point is to correct your child's behavior by lying to them. Your kid doesn't want to eat? Tell them you talked to the The Doctor and he said it's because of a lack of sleep and they need to go right to bed. I honestly thought it was a joke for a while, until I saw the testimonies of “real people” he included to bolster our faith in his technique's effectiveness.

At the very end of the book, he gives 7 pieces of advice that I thought were decent, but by then it was too late. At one point he says that effective parenting is about “communication, consequences and consistency.” If the book echoed this sentiment throughout, without the demeaning and combative overtones, I think he would have been right on target. As it stands, this is not a book I'll go back to for help any time soon. In fact, as a parent of three children under six years of age, it scares me to think other parents will buy into these methods.

(Thomas Nelson’s Book Review Blogger program http://brb.thomasnelson.com/)