ken castor

Psalm 139: How precious are we?

Have you ever felt unnoticed?

Not to bum you out, but think for a moment about a time when you thought nobody was aware of you.  Maybe you felt like nobody could possibly understand what was on your heart.  Maybe you felt like nobody took time to think about you, talk to you, or stop what they were doing long enough to smile at you.

This verse encourages me again today: Psalm 139:1 = Oh Lord, you have searched me, and you know me.

God notices you.  Even if you feel like nobody understands what’s going on inside of you… God does.  He knows.   Actually, God knows you very very well.  He knows what you are going through.  He knows every desire, every need, every hurt, every crazy emotion, every thought, every mess, everything about you.  God cares for you so much that he is willing to get into the middle of your life, crud and all, to search you out... all so he can comprehend you. 

Have you ever felt alone?

I have felt the way.  I've felt absolutely certain of it at times.  But it's just not true.  I am not alone. 

Psalm 139:2-12 encourages me again today: 

2 You know when I sit and when I rise; 
       you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down; 
       you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue 
       you know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me in—behind and before; 
       you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, 
       too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? 
       Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; 
       if I make my bed in the depths,  you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, 
       if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me, 
       your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me 
       and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; 
       the night will shine like the day, 
       for darkness is as light to you.

God is there with us.  He is aware of our every move.  There is nowhere you can go that God doesn’t see each of us.  If we’re standing or sitting, he sees it.  And not only does he see, but he sets it up.  He maps things out for us.  He plots a course for us to follow.  He tells us when to stop and rest.  He knows where we are at every point along the way.  He even knows what we are going to say before we say it.  

The wild thing is that God doesn’t just set everything up and then let it go either.  He goes ahead of us and behind us.  He also is beside us.  He places his hand of blessing on us… gently on our head.  So wonderful is God’s presence that we cannot even fathom it.

We can never be fully alone on this earth.  We can’t escape from God’s Spirit.  We can’t get away from where he is.  If we’re in a plane at 35,000 feet, God is there with us.  If we dig the deepest hole, God is there.  If we go to Mexico or Ireland, Afghanistan or Malaysia, even there God’s hand will guide you and his strength will support us.  It's like St. Patrick's Prayer: "Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise..."

Even in the midst of darkness, we cannot escape God’s presence.  In the darkest moments of our life, God can see us.  He is there beside us.  To him, darkness is as clear as light.  It doesn’t matter what the condition of our soul might be, God is there.  Each of us is never alone. 

Have you ever felt worthless?

Psalm 139:13-18 encourages me again today:

13 For you created my inmost being; 
       you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
      your works are wonderful,  
      I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you 
       when I was made in the secret place. 
      When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body. 
       All the days ordained for me 
       were written in your book 
       before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to  me are your thoughts, O God! 
       How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them, 
      they would outnumber the grains of sand. 
      When I awake, 
      I am still with you.

God values you.  He thinks the world of you.  He is so convinced that you are an amazing person.  Do you think God is wrong?  He made you!  Every delicate little fiber of your body was put together by him.  You are a miraculous quilt of blood and skin and muscle and tendons and tissues and hair.  He knit you together in your mother’s womb.  Even there you couldn’t escape his presence.  He could see you so clearly in that secret, quiet place.  God has made you wonderfully complex!  That’s why nobody else can figure you out! 

Only God knows your intimate soul.  Only God can completely understand your deepest passions.  Only God.  He has known you since the day you were conceived.  He mapped out and then recorded every day of your life.  His heart gushes for you.  He loves you so much.  His thoughts about you are so precious!  They are so wonderful.  And he never stops thinking about you.  He never forgets you.  He is always constantly thinking about you.  Innumerable thoughts!  You couldn’t count all the thoughts God has about you.  More than the grains of the sand of this earth is how many times God thinks about you.  And every single day is like that.  From day to day, every time you wake up, God loves you and is already thinking about you. 

May you be so encouraged today.  May you understand that you are understood.  May you never feel alone again.  May you always feel so important, so special, so loved.  God sees your heart.  God has mapped out a plan for you.  God is with you.  God created you- you!  God is thinking about you right now.  May you live encouraged and refreshed and re-powered in the knowledge that God knows and loves you.

** I first published a version of this post back in 2009... But thought the reminder would be refreshing this weekend. Be blessed!!

Pride and Donkey Ears

 

 

 

*I rediscovered this colorful gem tonight while skimming through notes from Systematic Theology I with J.I.Packer back in the Fall of 1996 at Regent College.  This is an excerpt ("Luther Concerning the Study of Theology") taken from Martin Luther's "Preface to the Wittenberg Edition of Luther's German Writings". Luther certainly wasn't shy with words! I'm glad for that. For his words remind me that God desires a contrite heart from me... one with ears tuned to his Word instead of the praise of others. Here, after years of wrestling and learning, writing and reforming, Luther considers the impact of pride on theological pursuits:

If, however, you feel and are inclined to think you have made it, flattering yourself with your own little books, teaching, or writing, because you have done it beautifully and preached excellently; if you are highly pleased when someone praises you in the presence of others; if you perhaps look for praise, and would sulk or quit what you are doing if you did not get it-- if you are of that stripe, dear friend, then take yourself by the ears, and if you do this the right way you will find a beautiful pair of big, long, shaggy donkey ears. Then do not spare any expense! Decorate them with golden bells, so that people will be able to hear you wherever you go, point their fingers at you, and say, "See, See! There goes that clever beast, who can write such exquisite books and preach so remarkably well." That very moment you will be blessed and blessed beyond measure in the kingdom of heaven. Yes, in that heaven where hellfire is ready for the devil and his angels. To sum up: Let us be proud and seek honor in the places where we can. But in this book the honor is God's alone, as it is said, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble" [1 Pet. 5:5]; to whom be glory, world without end, Amen.

God's Anti-Aging Potion

Oh, if only there were a miracle elixir that would take off the years. Or a magical potion to re-grow my head hair. Or P90x without the P the 90 or the X.  

I realized today that I'm getting older. My colleague/friend, Dean Ericksen, and I were recounting an event in my life that I was thinking had occurred ten years ago.

"When did that happen?" he asked.

"Ten years ago in 1992," I said. 

"Uh, that was 20 years ago," Dean corrected.

"Thanks a lot Dean for helping me with my math," I muttered quietly when his stinkin' aging ears were out of hearing distance. :) 

Suddenly, a wave of realization hit me. The big FOUR OH is this year! I suppose I'm cool with that fact... but it is also occuring to me that in 2013 I turn 41... and after that comes 42 and then 43 and onward until I die. Fun, eh? (Not "fun-ny"!) This is just the way it goes. Numbers increase in age. See, I can do math.

So I guess, rationally, I'm not really after becoming younger... because that's actually agically (new word) impossible. So what is it that I really want in relation to my inevitable collision with elderliness (new word)?

Well, here it is. This year I suspect that I'll begin to better embrace an age-tested (as in eons of time) idea: The true test of  life is internal vitality... even during external advancement of age.

Some of the most inspiring people are those who have lived many years and yet remain young at heart. There is something miraculously encouraging about an older soul who is flourishing. You can see the spark in their eyes... the excitement of their passions... the resilency of their experiences... and the catalytic impact of their actions.

This is the anti-aging potion of God. Godly maturity: when the heart, soul, strength and mind integrate with God's heart, soul strength and mind.

I'm not suggesting that people who follow after God won't grow wrinkly or weathered or beaten down physically. No, I am suggesting that godly people, at whatever age they happen to find themselves in, draw up strength and vitality and vigorousness from an inexhaustive well. And I am beginning to believe more and more that after a lifetime of developing a pattern of drawing up God's nourishment... a youthful fruitfulness flourishes in the most mature of people.

I said that phrase very deliberately.

Biblically, maturity equals a youthfulness of faith. It does not equal "fully developed"... which is never possible on this earth (even though many of our church mission statements implore us to become "fully developed followers"-- thankfully we have eternity to learn that!).  Maturity, in reality on this earth, equals a continual pursuit of God in all things.  A "long obedience in the same direction" as Eugene Peterson has written. Maturity is a privileged undertaking reserved for any-aged believer... most contagiously and innocently by young children... but perhaps most profoundly and practitionally by those who have lived through many seasons of life. Maturity, biblically, equals a zeal, a passion, a hope, an abundance, a kenitic energy, an unbridled spring of faith... a childlike wonder and enthusiasm held in a quiet, but mighty, resolve which naturally seeds itself to others.

Rootedness producing fruitfulness. That's what I've decided I want to learn to better live out this fortieth year of my life.

"The godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon. For they are transplanted into the Lord's own house. They flourish in the courts of God. Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green. They will declare, 'The LORD is just! He is my rock! There is nothing but goodness in him!'" ~ Psalm 92:12-15

 *Image taken from here.

Adult Definitions

**Sorry--- here's a little rant I got on today. Not very "grown-up" of me I guess. :)

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ADULT 1: fully developed and mature : grown-up / 2: of, relating to, intended for, or befitting adults <an adult approach to a problem> / 3: dealing in or with explicitly sexual material <adult bookstores> <adult movies> ¹

So let me get this straight.  An "adult" is someone who is "fully developed and mature" and/or "dealing in or with explicitly sexual material". I suppose these two bookend statements explain the middle demarcation: "of, relating to, intended for, or befitting adults".  

We all know it is wrong for children to deal in or with explicit sexual material. Even our messed-up-confused-moral culture understands that involving children in or exposing children to explicit sex is sick. Any of us understands that there is something inherently wrong with adulterating children. Therefore, rightfully, the most severe grudges, hatred and punishments are directed towards those predators that mess with children.  

But is there ever truly an age that it becomes mature for someone to "deal in or with" explicit sex? Is there ever someone "fully developed" or "mature" enough to deal in or with distorted sexual interplays that are devoid of a fully developed and mature relationship? For some reason our society has come to believe that explicit sex is okay for adults... because by some form of definitive gymnastics we pretend that falsities and spoiled truths relate to, are intended for, and are befitting adults.

Really. "Fully developed and mature" in which way exactly? In what form of honesty does our society define "fully developed" and "mature" as engagement with perverse material? I don't blame the dictionary for describing what "we" mean by our language. It is not the dictionary's fault that we are so twisted up. 

We adults, after all, feel it is our right to define our own truth. We rate "adult" video games as "M" for "mature" - games filled with explicit gore, violence, language and sexual content. Culturally, we've made these "M" games the most enticing and luring so that our teenagers can't wait to play the "M" games... and many don't wait... and many adults buy those games for their kids... who are, according to the dictionary, not yet fully developed or mature... and our society pushes kids towards adulthood... as if we can't wait for our children to become like us.

Have you read The Hunger Games yet? You should. Your kids have read it. And they get the point... until adults desensitize and innoculate them some more.

Adults are the most selfish, temporal, insular, obsessive people I know. It doesn't take much observation to determine that what adults think befits adults demonstrates some rather childish tendencies in these so-called "fully developed" people. Adults are known for trying to get what they want when they want how ever they want.  And if adults aren't allowed to get what they want when they want they can be known to throw a good hissy fit. Adults have been known to take things from others, form cliques, shun outcasts, rule with distrust, talk behind backs, cut corners, give-in to addictions, and operate on emotional extremes.

Ironically, Merriam-Webster's definition of "childish" relates to, is intended for, and is befitting of many adults in our culture. Engage with this for a moment: The word "childish" is "marked by or suggestive of immaturity and lack of poise <a childish spiteful remark>."

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ADULTERY: voluntary sexual intercourse between a married man and someone other than his wife or between a married woman and someone other than her husband; also : an act of adultery.

Is there any wonder why the word "adultery" means what it does? To lack fidelity in life isn't called "childry".  "Adultery", not "childry", simply takes the logical next step from our own definitions of "adult". To act like an "adult" is to engage in "adultery".  A "fully developed and mature" person, after all, should be able to do what he/she wants with whomever he/she wants and not worry about the consequences it causes to others or themselves. Adultery, after all, simply follows the linear progression of a fully developed self-absorption and a fully matured self-gratification system. Adultery lacks the innocent and uncorrupted heart of a child.

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ADULTERATE: to corrupt, debase, or make impure by the addition of a foreign or inferior substance or element; 

UNadulterated people are largely an exception today... and they are largely the topic of insults from leading adults. My grandparents are nearing their 70th anniversary. They have lived exceptional unadulterated lives marked by simplicity, love, trust, and unselfishness. They were like this when they were young... and they are like this now, while they are old. They would do anything for anybody. Their favorite time in life is when they can spend time with each other or with friends and family, playing, chatting, eating. They cherish the little things and fear the big. They relish loving gifts. They take responsibility in their community and live for the best in others. They are not perfect, and they are not fully developed. They have made mistakes and done some things they regret. But they would be the first to tell someone that they do not have everything figured out about life and there are times when they feel lacking to accomplish something or when they realize they didn't do the right thing. Their hearts keep turning, more and more, towards faithfulness. Together they each have almost 90 years of history in learning to embrace the heart of a child. Their age may mean physical deterioration, but it conveys a resolving purity and love.

UNadulterated people are those who live with purity and innocence. UNadulterated people have not been corrupted, debased, or made impure by harmful elements. It's not naievete or ignorance. It's a process of sanctifiying purity that is winning the war against fully developed impurity.  

The knowledge of good and evil does not make someone "fully developed" nor does it make someone "mature."  Instead, the knowledge of good and evil makes someone corrupt, debased, and impure.  In other words, adulterated lives have grown in the wrong direction.

One thing is clear to me. The pure of heart are not adults in the way that our society defines adults. They are so much better than that. They remind me of my six-year old daughter. Beautiful. Wonderful. Wide-eyed. Fighting against the eroding pressures of this world to remain true. Inspiring to me... a person who too often gives in to the complexities and needs a reminder to desire the simple truth of life.

Jesus said, "If anyone who causes one of these little ones who trusts in me to lose faith, it would be better for that person to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around the neck" (Matthew 18:6).  I think he was serious.

¹ Definitions taken from http://www.merriam-webster.com

Fidelity over Accountability

It seems that everywhere I turn in the North American Christian subculture there are "accountability partners."  That's great.

For a while.

The short term intensity of an accountability partner can be just the kick in the pants that we need to accomplish that elusive task or to stay clear of that overwhelming temptation.  

But after the initial intentions, promises and letdowns, I believe that most "accountability" relationships suffer an inevitable lull in passion and purpose.  Accountability can be draining, for both partners.  The one tired of being answerable to another failing human being.  The other tired of having a relationship based on checking-up.

The reason so many accountability arrangements lose their effectiveness over time is that accountability relationships are based almost purely on negativity.  Yes, the desire is to do well, to succeed, to overcome, to stay pure, to quit messing up... ALL GOOD STUFF, yes.  BUT, that doesn't change the fact that "accountability" partnership exists in order to address the tendency towards failure.

Accountability presumes failure.  Without a repeated tendency towards failure there is no need to be held accountable.  Accountability partners are chosen precisely because people are convinced that without external input they will mess up.  Accountability is based on the negative fall-short-comings of our lives.

Fidelity is much better.

Fidelity is optimistic.  It presumes trust and loyalty.  Distrust and letdown are unfamilar words.  Fidelity promotes simplicity, innocence and unselfish passion.  Fidelity creates an ever deeper groundswell of life directed towards others.  Fidelity is a freeing relationship.  It equips and releases and encourages and doesn't hold back.

So why do we keep searching for accountability when fidelity is what we are truly after?   I believe it is because accountability is our natural fall back.  Accountability is what we resort too... because we don't trust ourselves and we don't trust others to have fidelity.

Now, don't get me wrong.  I believe we must have accountability relationships built into our lives.  But they should never be considered the ultimate in relationships... as if because we have an "accountability partner" that we are somehow more spiritual... or more together... or more "good" in the eyes of God and others.  In fact, having an "accountability partner" reveals to everyone that we need help being faithful... that we are struggling to do what is right... that we are adulterers in life... tending toward disloyality to our values or goals or responsibilities... that we regularly hand ourselves over to our lusts or whims or impatiences or worries.  Accountability partners reveal our lack of faithfulness perhaps more than our fullness of faithfulness.

But the person who lives with fidelity is free.  There is nothing owed, nothing stolen, nothing abused by their hands.  No one needs to step in to confront the faithful man or woman.  In fact, their example inspires the faithfulness of others.  Fidelity relationships are contagious... people are amazed and enthused when they see faithful living with their own eyes... or when they hear high fidelity with their own ears.

Fidelity is an other-centered lifestyle.  Accountability is an ego-focused relationship.  Giving faithfulness to someone is a powerful gift.  Fidelity is the foundation of marriages, it is the heart of families, it is the structure of communities, and it is the soul of the Gospel.  

Can I trust myself to live with fidelity?  In all things?

No?  Not completely?  Then I will need accountability in my life... but only so that I can learn the pattern of faithfulness.  I must not be held accountable for ever... for eventually I must break the clutches of shame and embrace the run of freedom. The goal is not nor should it ever be "accountability."  So I'd like today to hold our obsession with accountability accountable. The end goal, the prize, the telos in this life both now and forever is fidelity.

chaos converted

At every turn

Unexpected awe

Inspiring intricacy

Trembling awareness

of a Comprehension so much greater than me

At every turn

A startling visual

A resounding rhythm

A soulful feast

of color of detail of love of attention of place

of blended worship

Breath taking

Breath giving

Above, glory reaches high

And praise spreads wide

Around, patterns embrace the song

And anoint the Story

Below, confidence is sustained by awe

And knee-knocking wonder

Chaos converted.

 

Books for Spiritual & Leadership Development course

You might be interested in the text books I use for my section of the Spiritual & Leadership Development course at Crown (Dr. Glenn Meyers teaches the other section).  I find limiting the book selection to be a difficult task because there are so many life-changing, formative works that have been written throughout the centuries.  The following, however, serve as either required primary textbooks or secondary reference/content materials:

Primary Sources:

The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine ~ by A.W. Tozer.  "Faith is the gaze of the soul upon a saving God," Tozer wrote. To encourage that gaze, students write a reflective journal/prayer from a chapter a week.

The Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth ~ by Richard Foster.  Students use this book as a guide for learning and practicing spiritual disciplines throughout the semester such as prayer, solitude, worship, and, believe it or not, celebration. 

A Tale of Three Kings: A Study in Brokenness ~ by Gene Edwards.  One of the most interesting little books I've ever read, A Tale of Three Kings embodies many of the spiritual and leadership themes from our course.

In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership ~ by Henri Nouwen.  No Christian who has a role of leadership should make one more decision without wrestling with this book.  The temptations for power and relevance and glamour are too great... even in the Church.

Secondary Sources:  A litany of other books serve as resources for our course content throughout the semester.  Some of the more resourceful include: The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a' Kempis, The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction by Eugene Peterson, A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis, The Proslogion by Anselm of Cantebury, From Brokenness to Community by Jean Vanier, and Jesus on Leadership: Discovering the Secrets of Servant Leadership From the Life of Christ by C. Gene Wilkes

 

Books for Ministry in a Pluralistic Society course

You might be interested in the text books for our Ministry in a Pluralistic Society course at Crown.  The course will run as an 8 day intensive "block" for students who are preparing for their 5.5 month internship experiences.  The intensive nature of the course means that we can dig hard into a couple of textbooks, and then make reference of others in seminars and discussions.  (*The course also has built-in substantial field-observation and other active-learning assignments.  This course was a gem last year... hoping it will be that way this coming January once again.)

PRIMARY RESOURCES:

The Gospel in a Pluralist Society ~ by Leslie Newbigin.  This book is a vocabularists dream... and it serves as the bulk of journal reflections for our block environment.  Each day the students will wrestle with the issues of integrity, truth, culture, pluralism, relativism and motivation that are presented so eloquently in this book.

Cultural Intelligence: Improving Your CQ to Engage Our Multicultural World (Youth, Family, and Culture) ~ by David Livermore.  I'd be remiss if I didn't stress the importance of Cultural Intelligence to the future of missions, evangelism and discipleship work.  No longer can Christians be (and we never should have been in the first place) ignorant or arrogant concerning people in this world.  A true love for this cosmos would neither take for granted nor discredit the experiences and characteristics that make-up a person's identity.  Instead, in our desire to love others we should work tirelessly on our ability to actually love them.

 

SECONDARY RESOURCES: None of the following texts are required for the course, but they either provide some direct material for course content, or they serve as direct influences on the course outcomes.

Christ and Culture (Torchbooks) ~ by Richard Niebuhr.  The argument structure of this book is often used as the framework for discussions concerning Christian interaction with culture.

Transforming Worldviews: An Anthropological Understanding of How People Change ~ by Paul Hiebert.  Hiebert offers fantastic study and theory about how appropriately added data can change perceptions and constructs of reality.

Coaching 101: Discover the Power of Coaching ~ by Robert E. Logan and Sherilyn Carlton.  I was personally impacted by this book while going through CoachNet training with the North American Baptist Conference of Churches in Canada.  I wish someone in my early days of ministry had exposed me to these concepts of "Active Listening"... I wouldn't have flung myself so arrogantly and regretfully into many conversations. 

The Human Experience ~ DVD documentary by Grassroots Films.  This beautiful and moving documentary (not "Christian") serves as an introduction to differing experiences and paradigms that exist in our world today.  We can't assume that just because we view life/faith/world through our __(fill in the blank)__ lens that others from completely different backgrounds/languages/cultures/experiences will see things the same way we do.

Christianity Rediscovered ~ by Vincent Donovan.  This book tells the dramatic story of a Catholic missionary to the Masai... It wasn't until Donovan discovered humility, community and a deeply rooted appreciation for the people and culture of the Masai that he felt he discovered Jesus personally.  And until that moment, he realized he didn't have much to share.

Missionary Methods: St. Paul's or Ours, A Study of the Church in the Four Provinces ~ by Roland Allen.  This book examines our patterns of ministry against the approaches of the earliest church movements.  This is a powerful reminder, again, to not grow arrogant in our methodologies, as if we have evolved to be the fittest missionaries in history.  Perhaps we can learn something by remembering what made mission in the 1st century so effective?

The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church ~ Alan Hirsch.  I would like to humbly state that we drew up the model for Hub in Calgary as this book was being printed... so I realize that once again someone else came up with my brilliant ideas.  :)  I especially love the hub and nodes network discussions (the diagram on p.204 looks remarkably similar to the Romans 16 network I've been drawing for the last 7 years or so)... and I have to admire that Hirsch does a much more thorough job at explaining networked/partnered ministry.

The Celtic Way of Evangelism, Tenth Anniversary Edition: How Christianity Can Reach the West . . .Again ~ by George Hunter III.  Only a few books outside the Bible have impacted me as profoundly as this one has.  My developing approaches toward partnership and creative initiatives in mission were both affirmed and enhanced through this introspection of St. Patrick's way of ministry.  Rarely a week goes by that this book doesn't pop up my conversations about the activity of the Church.

Books for Social Justice course

You might be interested in the text books I'm requiring for the Social Justice course at Crown in the Spring of 2012.  *Note: The term "Social Justice" is, unfortunately, froth with controversy because right behavior has not always been held in congruence with right doctrine... and vice versa.  The following books, however, help us realize that true justice cannot be devoid of faith and true faith cannot be devoid of justice.  So our course spends 1/3 of its time on biblical foundations for systemic and personal approaches to justice issues, 1/3 on comprehension of the raw, current global and local justice issues, and 1/3 considering proper personal and missional engagement. 

Primary Resources:

The Hole in Our Gospel: What Does God Expect of Us? The answer that changed my life and just might change the world. ~ by Richard Stearns - The President of World Vision discusses how he came to personally discover that caring for the poorest of the poor in the world is not only a kind action, but a necessity of the Gospel.

With Justice for All: A Strategy for Community Development ~ by John Perkins - John Perkins invites the Church to live out the Gospel through reconciliation between racial and ethnic groups and to examine current systemic structures in light of the Gospel.  Perkins' voice evidences the strong integrity that can only come through the humble experience found in the midst of injustice.

On the Move ~ by Bono - Stemming from his address at a National Prayer Breakfast before the President, world dignitaries, and religious leaders, On the Move creatively packages Bono's speech that transitioned him from his rock star status to that of a world advocate for those living in abject poverty.

Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity ~ by Ronald J. Sider.  Although I don't require students to buy this textbook, I will be referencing it extensively because it is a convicting, biblically engaging response to some alarming statistics about the wealth of North American Christians in the face of the extreme poverty of most of the people in the world.

Secondary Resources:

 

 

E is for Everyone ~ DVD documentary by Unveil Studios - I use this in class a visual introduction to the disparity that exists in our world... and as a means to deconstruct our temptation to pursue Maslow's heirarchical scale.

The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical ~ by Shane Claiborne.  Many students have read this book or have at least already been indirectly influenced by Shane Claiborne by the time they take this course.  It is a convicting account of Shane's struggle to integrate into his life Jesus' call to care for others.

Humanitarian Jesus: Social Justice and the Cross ~ by Christian Buckley and Ryan Dobson.  A recent book interviewing significant evangelical leaders (e.g. Francis Chan, Franklin Graham, etc) on concepts related to Jesus' approach to social justice.  This is an interesting and provoking discussion starter.

Sunday Asylum: Being the Church in Occupied Territory ~ DVD and booklet by Stanley Hauerwas and The House Studio ~ I utilize this challenging visual study guide in class to discuss the theological identity of the Church's role in culture and urges us to reassess our motives and actions.

Walking with the Poor: Principles and Practices of Transformational Development ~ by Bryant Meyers.  Another perspective from World Vision, this staple book discusses the figures, theology, principles and implementation of strategies to overcome social evil in our world.

 

100+ words from "Thanksgiving"

100+ words out of the one word thanksgiving.  If you take the letters of this word and scramble them up, you can create some great omelets.  It's just so much fun.  From Star Wars to Astronaut drinks, from intelligence to annoyance, I'm so thankful for the words that come from thanksgiving.

Words like giving and thanks are obvious.  But think of all the others (favorites in orange):

THINK(s)    THANK(s)    HANG(s)    TANG    GNAT(s)    KING(s)    GANG(s)    SING(s)    SINGING    HANGING    SKIING    THAN    THIN    SNAG    THING(s)    THANG    NAG(s)    KIN    TIKI    STINK(ing)    THANKING    THINKING    HANK(s)    GAIN(s)    GIN    SANG    SITH    IT    AT    IS    AS    GIST    GAS    ITS    ANT(s)    TAN(s)    SHIN    GASH    SHIV    SHANK    KIT(s)    HIT(s)    (a couple of bad words omitted)    HAT(s)    SAINT    SKIT    ANGST    TAKING    VAN(s)  VIN    SKIN    HINT(s)    STING(ing)    HINTING   ASK(ing)    TASK(ing)    AH(s)    SIN    IN    AN    GIG(s)    INN(s)    ANN(s)    GAG(s)    TAG(s)    TANK(s)    STAN    STAG    STAGING    AGING    GIGI    GIST    TAG(s)    SKI

The Bible speaks often about the words that derive from thanksgiving.  An "attitude of gratitude", as a I say with my 5-yr-old daughter (it's quite cute when she says it), causes us to erupt in thankful expressions.  For instance, in 1 Chronicles 16:8-36, David overflows with thanksgiving to God... which creates in him a litany of other words too:

SING(s)    PRAISE(s)    TELL(s)   MIRACLE(s)    GENERATIONS    GLORY    ACTS    WONDERFUL    NAME    KNOWN    NATIONS    CALL    GOOD    JOY    REJOICE(s)    REMEMBER(s)    SEEK    FACE    THE-LORD    YAHWEH    STRENGTH    DWELLING    DECLARE(s)    ASCRIBE(s)   RESOUND    SPLENDOR    HOLINESS    PORTION    OFFER(s)    TREMBLE(s)    HEAVENS    SALVATION    EVERLASTING    PEOPLE    SAY    AMEN   

*Do you see more words stemming from Thanksgiving today?