When Too Late Isn't Too Late

Imagine a young girl sitting in a hospital bed slowly succumbing to a terminal disease for which there is only one cure. This girl is greatly loved by a hero who is the only one who can rescue her from the disease. As she lies in bed, her family knowing that she's nearing the end, she waits for her hero to come with the cure. Her family just knows he'll show up in time. He's never let them down. They even sent him a message to let him know how desperately he was needed, and he had the means to be there at a moment's notice. But the girl's father sits staring at his watch. He hasn't heard anything back, and his daughter is getting weaker by the moment.



The hero finally shows up with the cure...three days after the little girl's funeral.

That's not exactly the hero story we would expect. The little girl is beyond the point of being helped. What do you do when the hero turns out not to be a hero after all? How do we handle when the hero shows up too late for us?

Wouldn't it be great if too late wasn't actually too late?

Two thousand years ago, Jesus seemed to show up too late on several occasions. His friend Lazarus was dying. When he was warned that Lazarus was nearing the end, he stayed another two days where he was. Lazarus had been in a tomb four days when Jesus finally showed up. Had Jesus come sooner, he could have done something, but Lazarus in the tomb was beyond helping. It was too late.

We know what it's like for too late to creep upon us. The time for hope is gone.

But, for Jesus, too late wasn't too late. He didn't have to follow the rules of nature. Death could be undone. Tragedy could be undone. Sure enough, Jesus calls Lazarus out of the tomb, alive and well. Too late wasn't too late, after all.

The same thing happened with a man named Jairus' daughter. She died. It was too late, and Jairus was devastated. But Jesus undid the tragedy after it was too late. Which means that it wasn't actually too late.

Life hits pretty hard sometimes, and we're often desperate for God to come through for us. But many of us are probably familiar with the experience of too late arriving before God does. So we cling to the God for whom too late isn't too late, and we await our hero to come through. Refuse to lose hope when everything looks grim.

"By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back." - Hebrews 11:17-19

When have you experienced a time when God showed up too late?

Photo Credit: Fleur-Ange Lamothe on Flickr

Churches in Disconnect: A Review of You Lost Me by David Kinnaman

Barna Group president David Kinnaman has written one of the most important and most well-thought-out books on what the church of Jesus Christ is supposed to look like. In YOU LOST ME, Kinnaman writes as a reaearcher who cares deeply about the church and the 60-80% of young people who are leaving it as soon as high school is over.

Based on Barna Group's research, Kinnaman takes us on a moving journey through the reasons 18 to 29 year olds who are disconnecting from involvement in the church. What Kinnaman reveals are people who have questions and who often care very deeply about their faith in God and want to be a part of a faith community, but they're not finding it. Instead, they're finding churches that espouse a faith that seems disconnected from the rest of their lives. These churches seem ill-equipped to connect a generation of young people that are part of a culture that is vastly different than cultures of the past. What has always worked isn't working anymore, and the church is losing many people who are vital to the Body and Bride of Christ and its impact in the world.

Kinnaman labels three different types of young people who are disconnecting from the church-Nomads, Prodigals, and Exiles. The chapters describing these people are very thought-provoking and will probably resonate with church practitioners in the 18 to 29 age range. I know it did for me.

Kinnaman walks us through the six reasons 18 to 29 year olds are disconnecting. They are finding the church to be:
• Overprotective-"The church is seen as a creativity killer where risk taking and being involved in culture are anathema."
• Shallow-"Easy platitudes, proof texting, and formulaic slogans have anesthetized many young adults, leaving them with no idea of the gravity and power of following Christ."
• Antiscience-"[S]cience seems accessible in a way that the church does not; science appears to welcome questions and skepticism, while matters of faith seem impenetrable."
• Repressive-"Sexuality creates deep challenges for the faith development of young people."
• Exclusive-"[Young adults] have been shaped by a culture that esteems open-mindedness, tolerance, and acceptance."
• Doubtless-"[Young adults] do not feel safe admitting that faith doesn't always make sense."

Kinnaman describes six turns that these reasons provide opportunities for churches to reconnect young adults to the church:
• Discernment
• Apprenticeship
• Stewardship
• Relational
• Embrace
• Doing

Kinnaman's suggested solutions for young adult connection are biblical and provide hope for a church that is deeply impactful to the world around it.

Kinnaman closes out the book with some insightful thoughts on generational connections in the church and a return to the concept of vocation. Finally, the book includes ideas for connection from some great thinkers, both well-known and not so well-known.

YOU LOST ME is a vital book for church leaders, youth ministry and young adult leaders and parents of teens and young adults.

I received this book for free for review from Baker Books

What ideas do you have to keep young adults connected to the church?

A Review of For Calvinism by Michael Horton

Michael Horton is a well-respected theologian and gifted communicator. I write this review as a non-Calvinist who has read a lot of books on Calvinism, and one of the common characteristics I've encountered from Calvinist authors is a sense of theological arrogance, almost as if anyone who doesn't hold to their belief system is unintelligent. In FOR CALVINISM, I didn't find that sense of theological arrogance from Michael Horton. In fact, Horton takes a humble and self-critical stance when exploring Calvinism's soteriology, commonly known as the five points of Calvinism or TULIP. Horton reveals his reservations about the name Calvinism, as well as his discomfort with the labels of Irresistible Grace and Limited Atonement, preferring Effectual Calling and Particular Redemption, respectively.

While Horton communicates with humility and a genuine desire to convince people that Calvinism reveals a loving God, I can't say that I'm any less convinced that Calvinism, when followed to its logical conclusion, doesn't reveal God as internally divided and the cause of evil because of God's determinism of all things. It also often seems like Calvinists are seeking to obliterate human will and personality to practical non-existence with the talk of needing God's grace to do anything good.

What I did like about the book was Horton's focus on church involvement as a means of sanctifying grace. Christians need the church to grow as believers, and Horton communicates that well. Horton also treats Arminians with fairness, something not often seen from a Calvinist perspective. Another element I appreciated was his pointing out that humans aren't free as it relates to sin; in other words sin enslaves us, not God.

Obviously, as a non-Calvinist, I found much to disagree with in FOR CALVINISM, particularly Unconditional Election, Particular Redemption, and Effectual Calling. However, I also find Michael Horton to be a great thinker, and I enjoyed reading his thoughts on a very challenging subject. This is a great book for anyone who wants to know exactly what Calvinists believe and reach their own conclusions.

Zondervan has also released a companion to this book by Roger Olson called AGAINST CALVINISM, which I've also read and will be reviewing soon.

I received this book for free for review from Zondervan.

What are your thoughts on Calvinism?

Dead Grass and Tragedy

Human history is messy. So messy, in fact, that it's a natural struggle to see an intelligent Designer behind all this. If God is perfect in every way, and is actively working in the world, wouldn't we expect things to be a lot less dysfunctional? For example, the grass in my front yard is dried up and dying from overexposure to extreme Texas heat. Don't get me wrong. As long as it's dying, i don't have to mow it. But still, isn't that messed up? Of course, that's a little thing in our world.



What about tragedy? Genuine heart-breaking tragedy. What is it, anyway? It's when we know something isn't going the way it's supposed to. We instinctively know that the Creator behind the world we live in designed everything for good.

But what happens when someone you care about hears someone say something really hurtful to them? We know something's wrong with that. That isn't supposed to happen. Yet it does. Or someone you love dearly suffers a medical condition. Something inside their body isn't working right. You just know things aren't going according to plan. God, who creates things perfect and good, could not intend for that to be. Yet it happens. And it's heart-breaking.

Think about tragedy from God's perspective. He looks at you, someone he created with the greatest of intention and hopes and dreams, and all your life is meant to enjoy him and find your greatest joy and satisfaction in him. But what if you try to find enjoyment somewhere else? What if you think the welcome of other people, people incapable of loving you the way God does, is more satisfying, and you turn away from God? You want nothing to do with him. You're wrong, of course. A desperate longing that only he can satisfy will leave you perpetually restless.

Hell is a tragedy because it is human beings violently, intentionally, and permanently tearing themselves from the One for whom they were created, the One who pursues them relentlessly, the One who will satisfy the desperate longing inside of them.

Tragedy surrounds us. It breaks us. Like C.S. Lewis said, pain is "God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world." Tragedy, when we really listen to the story it's telling us, reminds us that we are in desperate need of rescue by someone who can restore everything. Imagine a world where the grass doesn't die because the sun is too hot. A world without medical conditions, harsh words, or death.

The feeling we get when tragedy strikes tells us something is wrong. Something isn't going according to plan or lining up with the design. Tragedy tells us that there is a design that's supposed to be adhered to, that everything messy isn't supposed to be messy.

We cling to Jesus in the midst of the messiness. He sees it, yet he's chosen to take a messy path to clean up the mess. Someday, the mess will be gone, and only God's re-creation will remain.

What tragedies in your own life do you want to see undone?

Photo Credit: Brian Sinasac on Flickr

The Funny Things Christians Do: A Review of Stuff Christians Like by Jon Acuff

Christians do some ridiculous things sometimes. Have you ever been to a restaurant with a Christian who left a tract explaining how to accept Jesus that looked like a twenty dollar bill instead of money? I have, and I can't imagine that the waiter's reaction was anything other than frustration when they grabbed what they thought was a great tip, only to find out the person who left it was a cheapskate with an agenda. Or how about when someone decides to start attending another church, claiming the reason, "I'm just not getting fed." It's the perfect argument to not only take the blame off of you, but to also make you look super spiritual by how much you care about being at a church where you'll be "fed."

For years I've grown up in the church and noticed a slew of silly things that Christians often do. Jon Acuff, who has run a blog called STUFF CHRISTIANS LIKE for several years, released a book of the same name. In this book, as well as on his blog, Acuff explores all the silly things that Christians often do, and the result will keep you laughing all the way through the book.

The book includes several essays on topics such as the people you meet in a prayer circle, the metrosexual worship leader, and confessing only "safe sins" in small group. Anyone with an extensive history with Christianity and the church will recognize many of the idiosyncratic tendencies of Christians that Acuff points out. Chances are, you'll notice several things you've done yourself that, now that you think about it, really don't make a lot of sense.

STUFF CHRISTIANS LIKE serves to give people an hilarious look at some of the things about the Christian subculture. Hopefully, readers will come away from reading it with a greater love of God, some great laughs, and they'll probably be less likely to do some of the silly things they've noticed about themselves.

I received this book for free for review from Zondervan

What silly things have you noticed that Christians do sometimes?

Fear as a Positive Driving Force: A Review of Uncertainty by Jonathan Fields

Some people handle fear and uncertainty better than others, almost as if it doesn't even affect them. Other people, when faced with uncertainty, become paralyzed and creativity is hindered. To these people, the ones who face uncertainty head-on seem like they were born fearless.

But according to Jonathan Fields in his new book UNCERTAINTY, no one is born fearless, but fear can actually be harnessed and used as a driving force to be more creative and productive. The people who face fear head-on are the ones who have learned to turn fear into a force for their good. Fields calls them "fear alchemists."

I love how Fields points out at the beginning that uncertainty is a sign that the creative endeavor you're pursuing isn't something that's already been done. That's why there is risk and fear of judgment involved. A lack of uncertainty usually means we're playing it safe.

Unfortunately, we often experience uncertainty as a source of suffering, and this causes us to try to remove uncertainty instead of using it to drive us.

Fields suggests several practices to implement into our lives to help us embrace uncertainty and allow it help us create better:
• Create creative rituals or routines that help counter resistance
• Developing a hive of people to give genuine constructive feedback on your creative endeavors
• Getting the input of the people you're creating for early on in the process
• Training your brain in the art of focused awareness through Attentional Training practices
• Create boundaries around your creativity, so that it doesn't become your whole life
• Operate from a new storyline that sees failure as something that can be recovered from

UNCERTAINTY explores many real life examples of people who have harnessed uncertainty to their advantage. From a creative perspective, I enjoyed this book as it helped me to think through the fear that often paralyzes me when I sit down to write something. I especially enjoyed the chapter on socializing creativity because I think getting potential audience input early on will make us better creators.

UNCERTAINTY is a great resource for anyone who wants to turn fear into a productive driving force.

I received this book for free for review from Portfolio Hardcover

In what areas are you prone to experience paralyzing fear?

Are We Haunted?

With Halloween being today and people dressing up as the things we envision haunting large old houses or abandoned factories, it seems like an important question to ask, "Are we haunted? Are hauntings real?"

Hauntings are an interesting concept that humans have come up with. The idea that sometimes when a person dies, though their body is dead, their spirit lives on in our world because they either have some "unfinished business" or they just don't want to leave. These spirits stick around, and sometimes they make their presence known to those of us still living. Some are content to live in our world, while creating very little disturbance. But others, the ones we most hear about, live in our world to torment and induce fear, and sometimes cause death. These are the ones that are angry about something and want to make someone pay for it.

Of course, there are some who find comfort in the idea of ghosts because that means there's a possibility of communicating with the people we care about after they die. The relationship doesn't have to dissolve with death if ghosts are real.

Then there are those who get a thrill out of the idea of encountering a ghost. Countless TV shows are dedicated to showing people hunting ghosts in some of the world's most haunted places. While there's always something clearly weird going on, no one ever seems to catch the tiniest glimpse of a ghost on camera. Yet there have been so many eye witnesses throughout history who claim to have seen a ghost that the evidence would seem to point to something close to what humanity has come up with to describe ghosts.

We're All Haunted, But Not By What You Think

We don't need ghosts to be haunted. People who are very much alive do the things that ghosts are said to do all the time. People that torment you and tear you down. Who needs ghosts when we have real living human beings, some who unmercilessly make the world a miserable place to live in for some people?

Do people really get to stick around to do the things they've always done, including haunting people? Is that really an option?

Jesus tells us a story in Luke 16:19-31 about two men who died-a nameless rich man and a homeless beggar named Lazarus. The interesting thing about the rich man is that he was desperate for the concept of the dead returning to earth to be true. He's tormented in the eternal place where he'll never have God, and he begs Abraham to send Lazarus back to warn his brothers. Abraham doesn't say it's impossible. Anything is possible with God, and there is one isolated instance in the Old Testament in 2 Samuel 23 when God did send the spirit of a dead man back. The result was terrifying to the people who experienced it, which is much what we would expect. But in this instance with the rich man and Lazarus, Abraham seems to say that it would serve no purpose to send a man back, so God isn't going to do it. The rich man doesn't ask for the ability to go back himself, but you have to think that he could only desperately wish that sticking around earth as a spirit after death was an option. But Lazarus' spirit is carried away to heaven after death, and the rich man's spirit was carried to hell immediately upon death. It doesn't say who carried the rich man. He didn't get the option to stick around. Surely he had some unfinished business, but it would remain unfinished.

Another interesting element of the story is that Lazarus, in life, was a beggar outside of the rich man's home, begging for food daily. The rich man could have made Lazarus' life better, but instead he gave him nothing. The rich man was the one haunting Lazarus in life by his neglect. But once death occurred, the haunting stopped.

God holds the power over the human spirit, and he doesn't seem to leave any room for the belief that he allows spirits to stick around after death.

But what about all the evidence? It seems like something's haunting places all over the world. It's not too hard to imagine a race of spirit beings that the Bible talks about impersonating the spirits of human beings. Who knows why they do it, but it seems like the most likely answer for the hauntings that are legitimately real. That's really another post for another time, though.

We're haunted by things that are a little more close to home. For human beings, haunting happens during life, and sometimes we're the ones doing the haunting. Nobody wants to be haunted.

Life is better spent creating hope rather than creating fear. Human beings were never meant to haunt other human beings.

What kind of activities do you have going on for Halloween?