On the Verge: A Journey Into the Apostolic Future of the Church

I admit it: I'm stuck in Constantinian models of the church. I'm used to clergy, church buildings, and seminaries. I've lived through the books and conferences that have tried to help us out of the mess we're in. I've been through the church growth stuff. I've heard it's all about unleashing the laity and building a culture of small groups. I've read about going missional and organic. I admit that I hardly know who I am anymore. I'm a middle-aged white male who was pastor of an established church, and I'm now a church planter in search of what's coming next -- except that I hope it's not another phase that will be discarded with the heap of books that are about as relevant as the flannelgraph figures we used to use in Sunday school.

In his book The Art of Pastoring, David Hansen reflects on his predecessor's library. The library represented all the trends in ministry that had come and gone during his tenure. Hansen writes:

My predecessor's library haunted me. When he left his church, he left the ministry and forsook his library. Every single book remained in the office on the shelves, undisturbed; he took not one...

His library presented a bleak testimony to me … He and I were cut from the same piece of cloth. I believed that following Christian movements amounted to following Christ. I was suckled on trend-driven Christianity. I'd grown up in the thick of consumer religion. It was all I knew. I knew every movement represented in his library. I'd tried them all myself. I didn't know if I could do pastoral ministry without them. But every time I looked up at his library, I knew that I had to try.

I'm tired of the discarded trends. Like Hansen, I want the rest of my ministry to be as free from fads as possible.

That's why I'm a little wary of On the Verge: A Journey Into the Apostolic Future of the Church. I almost developed a rash reading about new paradigms, and as I tried to get my head around terms like mDNA, mPULSE, Future Travelers, ADEPT, Apostolic Movement, and more. I promise that I tried to keep a good attitude as I read this book, and I was well behaved most of the time.

The thing is, I think this book is on to something. We do live in a post-Christendom world. I think the authors are probably right that "the prevailing, contemporary church-growth approach to church will have significant appeal -- marketability, if you will -- to about 40 percent of the American population." And there are some good insights in this book. We need to think about how to break out of some of the unhealthy institutional, consumer, and church-growth mindsets that are holding us back. There's lots in this book that stimulates thinking about our current reality, and the failure of church growth theory to address our problems.

But it will take some work to get past the buzzwords. It will take some sorting out what's useful in this book with what's trendy. And it will also take some serious theological reflection and a good infusion of the gospel.

In short, I worry that this book will join the piles of books that promised the answer, but left us looking for more. There's a lot to like about the book, but it's not the answer. Better to use it as a way to stimulate your thinking than as a field guide you'll discard when the next book comes along.

I talked to a friend recently who spent time studying Acts as he planted his church. I plan on doing the same. I'm grateful for books like On the Verge as they help me think through key issues, but I don't need the buzzwords and I don't trust myself to follow any more trends. Maybe I'm just stuck in a Christendom mindset, but I'm going to be slower to jump on any more bandwagons, even if they are On the Verge.

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Sinema7: A Movie Watcher's Guide to the Seven Deadly Sins

Haddon Robinson has taught us the importance of ideas. An idea, he writes, is a distillation of life. "Ideas sometimes lurk in the attics of our minds like ghosts," he says. They influence us more than we know.

Ideas are everywhere. They're in the Bible. They're in TV commercials. And they're in movies. The better we get at identifying the ideas, the better we'll be at understanding and evaluating them.

Stories contain ideas. The power of a story is that it communicates an idea powerfully without us even being aware of the idea. The story shapes us without us even being aware of what we've absorbed.

That's why I'm glad for Sinema7: A Movie Watcher's Guide to the Seven Deadly Sins by Maureen Herring. Sinema7 explores the seven deadly sins using stories and characters from the movies. It's an attempt to explore theology and culture through the movies.

"Movies offer a culturally relevant context in which to discuss sin," Herring writes. "This provides opportunities for conversations about sin and redemption in which believers, seekers, or agnostics all get to feel like sinners."

Herring deals thematically with each sin by making reference to movie plots and characters. Each chapter reflects on the human condition from movies, and then touches on what the Bible teaches about that sin, and how God's grace meets us at that point of need.

There are two ways to misuse this book. The first way to misuse it is to preach or plan a small group based on this book. That would be taking this book more seriously than it deserves. I've attended churches that are trying too hard to be culturally relevant. Don't base a series on a book about movies; the Bible will do.

The other way to misuse this book is to use it as a source of illustrations. I can see preachers flipping through the index looking for a movie clip to illustrate some point. That would be treating this book less seriously than it deserves.

Instead, I'd recommend this book to those who enjoy movies as a field guide to understanding how movies communicate ideas. The more we understand how stories contain ideas, and how ideas shape the way we live, the better equipped we'll be to communicate how God's truth applies to every area of our life.

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Hell Is Real (But I Hate to Admit It)

Leave a book like this lying around, and you're sure to get reactions.

On one hand, my twelve-year-old son loved the title of this book, Hell Is Real (But I Hate to Admit It). "That title tells the truth," he said. On the other hand, I was turned off. It sounded like a grudging acknowledgement of the reality of hell. As Kevin DeYoung puts it, it's okay in a sense to admit that we don't like hell, but we need to guard against grudgingly accepting what God has revealed about himself.

It turns out I was wrong about this book and its title. It's not a book about grudgingly accepting the reality of hell. It's a book that recognizes that hell is real, and that confronts us with our tendency to try and pretend that it's not.

The book is written by Brian Jones, pastor of Christ's Church of the Valley near Philadelphia. While on a spiritual retreat, Jones became convicted about his lack of belief and teaching on hell. He spent the next five hours reading the New Testament, discovering:

…hell is not an ambiguous topic supported by a few hard-to-understand passages. It is inescapable: Virtually every book in the New Testament underscores the reality of hell. Jesus taught it; Paul, Peter, and every early church leader taught it, but I wasn't teaching it. I realized that I had a decision to make. Could I discount what Jesus taught on hell if I based my belief in heaven on similar passages in the same books?

Jones returned to his church and repented before his congregation and asked for their forgiveness. "Hell is real," he writes. "Deciding whether or not hell exists isn't an intellectual exercise; it's a matter of eternal life and death."

Jones tackles a number of important areas in this book. First, he covers the biblical teaching, and answers some common questions and objections. Second, he talks about our own struggles to deal with the reality of hell and act accordingly. He does this with a sense of urgency. Finally, he gives us practical encouragement on how to share the gospel appropriately. This is a book that's informative, passionate, and practical all at once.

Jones is a skillful writer. He somehow manages to make a book on hell enjoyable to read.

One note: There were a number of books that came out last year in reaction to Rob Bell's book Love Wins, such as Erasing Hell, Christ Alone, and God Wins. While I'm grateful for the books that were written in reaction to Bell's book, I'm also grateful for this book that deals with the topic without even referencing Bell. There's a place for both kinds of books.

Before the entire controversy last year, my son encouraged me to preach about hell. "We don't hear enough about it," he said. I agree. The subject of hell isn't a comfortable one, but it's important. This book reminds us of its importance, and does a good job of encouraging us to live accordingly.

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Real Marriage

I should have known Real Marriage would be controversial. It is, after all, by Mark and Grace Driscoll, and Mark Driscoll seems to be in trouble a good deal of the time. As I write this I have several friends who almost lose it when Driscoll's name comes up. I have several other friends who appreciate him, even though they recognize his faults. Why did I agree to review this book again?

Well, it's too late. I did agree to review the book. I began reading, and it wasn't long before I got to some controversial bits. When Grace cuts her hair short, Mark disapproves. "She had put a mom's need for convenience before being a wife," he writes. Say what? I remember being surprised by my wife's haircut one time, but I'm not sure I would have put it this way. He makes a few statements like this that made me scratch my head.

Early on the Driscolls talk very openly about the struggles they've experienced in their marriage. Kudos to them for this. Their openness and honesty is important. This section is pretty raw, though, and it left me feeling a little defensive of Grace. And I've never been sure what to think about Mark's visions, such as the one he has of Grace committing a sexual sin around the time they started to date. Even if you believe in revelatory visions, it's unusual to think of one that is as sexually graphic as this one.

Once you get past the first chapter, you're into the best part of the book. The chapter on friendship in marriage is good. The chapters addressed to men and women respectively are also fairly well done. The chapter on taking out the garbage -- dealing with sin and conflict -- is also helpful and important. These chapters are the best in the book.

Strangely, the next five chapters are on sex. That's half the book. Sex is certainly a topic that needs to be covered, and the Driscolls do cover some important ground here. They talk about a biblical understanding of sex, and recovering from abuse, and breaking free from porn. Perhaps it takes half a book to deal with this area of marriage because we're all sexually broken, but it is a big part of the book.

The most controversial chapter in the book is chapter 10, "Can We ____?" I have no problem with honest questions, and I'm amazed at how well some people answer them. The grid that the Driscolls use, however, is a little too simple, and it never gets to some of the deeper issues that need to be explored. I would use this chapter as a discussion starter, but a lot more needs to be said in answering some of the questions.

The final chapter is a simplified guide to setting goals as a couple. It would be a useful chapter to go through as a married couple. The questions are good, and I'm sure they'd start some good discussions.

I get why the reaction to this book is so mixed. Some like it, and I can see why. There is lots that's good about this book, and I'm glad the Driscolls tackle tough topics with honesty and candour. But I also get why some struggle with this book. It's a little too hard on Grace at points, a little too harsh sometimes in general. It goes fearlessly into areas that need to be addressed, but maybe a bit of fear would be appropriate.

I'm not sure how long the Driscolls have been married, but it seems to be less than twenty years. At this point they have lots to share, and I'm sure their congregation is benefiting. But it may be too soon for a book on marriage.

I hate pile-ons, and I really don't like that the Driscolls have become such a target. I appreciate a lot about them and their ministry, and I'm sure this book will prove useful to many. But it's not the book it could be. It's a book with good points, but with too many flaws to ignore. That's too bad, because there's so much to like about this book, but so much that leaves me feeling disappointed.

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Advanced Reader's Copy of the book has been provided courtesy of Thomas Nelson and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favorite bookseller from Thomas Nelson.

Letters to a Young Pastor

The first rule of pastoral preparation should be that you don't get to pastor until you've apprenticed under a godly, seasoned pastor. I'd bend the rule occasionally for special cases like Spurgeon, but the rule would apply to the rest of us. And my second rule would be that you have to read a curmudgeon or two. I recommend Carl Trueman. But I think Calvin Miller might be up to the job as well.

In Letters to a Young Pastor, Calvin Miller shares from decades of pastoral ministry on almost every topic possible. I love it. I don't agree with everything he says, but I sense that he wrote more than a few sentences in this book with his tongue firmly in his cheek.

Miller is so out of step with contemporary Christianity that he's willing to call the emperor naked. He's played many of the games that young pastors play, and he's no longer interested. He's brutally honest, even when it rubs against the evangelical grain.

Here are some samples.

• On being a pastor and a father: "If the church suddenly came up with a critical meeting on circus night, I'd go to the circus."


• On ministry in a megachurch world: "One of our chief sins is that we school our students in the works of preachers with large churches and then brutally send them into the world of small churches where they remain until retirement."


• On theological mushiness: "The world is looking for answers. If you have some of them, for goodness' sake spit 'em out. The world is looking for servants of God whose yes is yes. How elementary, how refreshing."


• On hell: "I confess I miss hell … a lot! What Jesus saved us from is no longer perfectly clear."


• On the mission of the church: "What does your church offer that's missing at the YMCA? … When you read your church's bulletin and determine the invitation you offer, you will know whether your church is a community center or the globalizing, wounded arm of the Savior."


• On pastoring small churches: "Trust no theology that doesn't work where the crowd is small and the pay is inadequate … If your church is small, it will likely more approximate the ministry of St. Paul than Dr. Megachurch."


• On church business meetings: "Baptist business meetings were my nemesis for all thirty-five years of parish life. I have always lived in fear of them and have always despised those five little words from hell: 'Is there any new business?'"

I have to confess that Miller almost lost me in the introduction when he said, "I led only a couple of people a week to Christ. Anybody can do that." Over 25 years, that led to 2,800 people. But I'm glad I kept reading.

Miller is out of sync with some of what's wrong with me and with the church, and that is one of his greatest gifts. There is no substitute for training under a seasoned pastor, but reading one will do in a pinch. This book is good for young pastors - and middle-aged ones too.

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