Books for Kids

C. S. Lewis begins his book The Abolition of Man by bemoaning the fact that too many intellectuals are unaware of the importance of children's books.  We usually think of children's literature as mere stories without any long-term consequences for the kids who read.  We see their main purpose as merely to entertain kids and inspire in them a general love of reading so they'll be ready to tackle the really important stuff in high school and college.

I agree with Lewis that the kind of reading we do as children will implicitly aid in the formation of our intellectual and moral character.  Every story is about people of certain character (either good or bad) who make choices (either right or wrong) that form the basis for the story's plot.  And quite frankly, there are many children's books out there today that actually celebrate characters with questionable personal qualities, making choices of dubious merit.  They certainly are not the kind of stories to which I want my young son Cyrus exposed. 

Thankfully, my wife is something of an expert in the field of children's literature.  She owns over one thousand children's books, and she shares my concern for exposing our son to good, uplifting stories that can inspire him to be a man of intelligence, integrity, and moral courage.  Here are just a few of the books that I personally evaluate as good literature for children.

[It should be assumed that The Chronicles of Narnia and The Hobbit are not mentioned in this particular list because those books are in a class unto themselves.]

• Anne Holm, I Am David.  An inspiring story of self-discovery, depicting a young boy who escapes from a Communist gulag in Eastern Europe and heroically navigates through dangerous country in an attempt to find his mother. 
• Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time.  An intriguing fantasy/science fiction story about three children who are transported to another galaxy by three mysterious ladies.  Meg, the main character, is on a quest to find her lost father...but in the process she is called upon to fight a great evil that threatens to overtake the entire universe.
• Esther Forbes, Johnny Tremain.  This is historical fiction at its finest, set in Boston during the onset of the Revolutionary War.  Johnny, an independent and daring young man, gets caught up in the conflict between the Bostonians and the British, and he learns how to put his courage in the service of a great cause.
• Marguerite de Angeli, The Door in the Wall.  This story is set in late-medieval England.  The main character is a young boy named Robin who had dreams of being a knight, but during the Black Plague he became permanently handicapped.  With the help of a pious monk named Brother Luke, Robin learned that studying can take you places that your legs can't, and that you don't have to be a knight to display true courage and strength.
• E. L. Konigsburg, From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  A young girl named Claudia feels unappreciated by her parents and decides to run away, joined by her younger brother Jamie.  She ends up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and takes an interesting walk through history, learning that she needs to do some appreciating of her own!
• Any of the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, or Encyclopedia Brown mystery stories.  I'm a huge fan of mysteries, and I grew up loving these stories.  As an adult, I can see why they are such great stories.  The main characters are presented as heroes not because they are cool, popular with their peers, or athletic.  Rather, they are heroes because they use their intelligence and skill to solve problems and help others; they display moral courage and have a real sense of right and wrong; and they earn the respect of their parents and other adult figures by acting mature and responsible. 

These are just a few.  But here are three common themes that I find in all of these novels:

• They are well-written stories.  They use language artfully and tell a story in an exciting, inspiring way.
• They present a view of the world as a benevolent place: while the characters have problems, they learn that they can overcome those problems and that life basically makes sense.  They are not victims of a fate beyond their control.
• The main characters model for the readers the values of honesty, intelligence, compassion, courage, self-discipline, and maturity.

Thanks to my beautiful wife for reminding me of the joy of reading children's books!  Happy reading!

Recommended Reading

Well, as of January 1, I broke my ritual fast of all theology- or church-related books, and I jumped right into the sometimes-inspiring, sometimes-frustrating, always-challenging world of Christian reflection.

I highly recommend that you look at the first two books that I read, both recent releases:

The first is Colin Marshall and Tony Payne's The Trellis and the Vine: The Ministry Mind-Shift That Changes Everything (Kingsford, NSW, Australia: Matthias Media, 2009).

What I love about the book is that the authors take seriously the valid frustrations, raised by the Emergent and the House Church movements, regarding the tendency of both traditional and seeker-sensitive churches to focus too much energy and resources into corporate structures and institutions. They are in total agreement with the Emergents and the House Church people that Christianity ought primarily to be about freely investing in relational ministry, and that traditional and seeker-sensitive church models both have the tendency to create "spiritual consumers" rather than authentic disciples of Jesus.

However, Marshall and Payne avoid the truly unbiblical aspects of the Emergents like Spencer Burke (who shy away from making absolute truth statements concerning Christ and who believe that one can be a Christian apart from any connection to a church) and the House Church people like Frank Viola (who extrapolate their own frustrations about "institutional Christianity" into a rallying call to do away with any institutional framework, even that which is biblically mandated).


The image of a trellis and a vine illustrates the third alternative offered in this book, and I believe it will be helpful to others like myself who see the immense problems with the institutional church as it currently exists, but who are also deeply concerned with where the Emergent Church and House Church movements seem to be headed, both theologically and practically. I give the book my highest recommendation. It is available online at http://www.matthiasmedia.com/index.php/.




My second recommendation is James K. A. Smith's The Devil Reads Derrida: And Other Essays on the University, the Church, Politics, and the Arts (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009). Smith is a professor of theology and philosophy at Calvin College here in Grand Rapids. His goal in this book is to interpret current cultural realities through the lens of a broadly Calvinist perspective.



His reflection on the role of Christians in the universities is very insightful. In a world in which many institutions of higher education view their students as little more than "consumers," Smith proposes that Christians must heed the high, counter-cultural call to be disciple-makers of college students.


His theological interpretations of various recent movies, including The Devil Wears Prada, American Beauty, and Little Miss Sunshine, are incredibly helpful and challenge all Christians to enter into the culture with discerning eyes and elicit the biblical messages that are already there.


And he is ruthlessly critical of the political Right and the political Left, articulating his hope that Christians will stop dividing themselves over political agendas and instead focus on the high call of Christian formation through dynamic worship.


Although I fervently disagree with a great deal of Smith's analysis and conclusions, I am grateful for the challenge that the book afforded me, and I think Christians of all backgrounds will find his work both meaningful and helpful in their own discipleship.

No More Theology!

At least for the rest of 2009.

I recently made the commitment that I would read no more books of theology for the rest of the year, and instead focus on reading books only for pleasure, including some that I've been hoping to read for a while.

Apparently some friends of mine--and indeed my own wife--do not believe that I have the self-control and will-power to avoid the temptation of sneaking a peek at the writings of Aquinas, Calvin, Edwards, or (God forbid) Wesley.

I usually make "reading lists" to keep me on task, so to prove to my friends that at least my intentions are true, here are the eight books I have slated to enjoy until the New Years' Day:

Walker Percy, The Thanatos Syndrome
Charles Williams, All Hallow's Eve
Agatha Christie, Death on the Nile
Dorothy L. Sayers, Clouds of Witness
Mickey Spillane, One Lonely Night
Henrik Ibsen, Rosmersholm
Edmund Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac
James Ellroy, Clandestine

So, to all you unbelievers out there, wish me happy reading!

A Christian Horror Novel!

Recently, I re-read Descent into Hell by Charles Williams. Williams was an "Inkling," friend and colleague of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, whose work spans literary criticism (of Dante and other medieval writers), theology (specifically on the religious meaning of love), church history, and...believe it or not, popular thriller novels (of which Descent into Hell is perhaps his greatest).

C. S. Lewis was once asked to list the top ten books that influenced his own theological perspective. Lewis included Descent into Hell on that list, and one can discern clear influences from that work in many of Lewis' own books, including The Great Divorce, Till We Have Faces, and The Problem of Pain (just to name a few).

The book is a thriller in that several of its characters experience supernatural visions or revelations which are indeed frightening. But in its basic theme, it asks and then attempts to answer a very deep philosophical problem: Can something be both frightening and good at the same time?

In the novel, the characters who most clearly "descend into hell" are those who live lives of utter detachment from the world and other people, and choose to love only the vanity of their own thoughts and ideals. Out of fear of an imperfect reality, they retreat into their own minds and neglect the need to be confronted with anything "other," thereby depriving themselves of redemptive relationship. Implicitly narcissistic, they love only their own musings and emotions and offer only bitter contempt for actual reality.

This reminds me of a quote from one of Williams' contemporaries, T. S. Eliot: "Hell is oneself, hell is alone, the other figures in it merely projections. There is nothing to escape from and nothing to escape to. One is always alone." In their desire to protect themselves from the imperfection of this earth and of other people, lost people unwittingly secure their own damnation. For the first step to salvation is to love what is outside ourselves, frightening as that may be for us contemporary Americans who have made self-love, self-reliance, or self-esteem the summum bonum of life. Indeed, to love (and be loved by) a God who is wholly other than us requires that we deny ourselves all together and seek Christ.

While occasionally a cumbersome read, the book is filled with delightful humor, poignant moments of grace, and raw truthfulness about our predisposition to sinful self love. I won't give away any more of the plot, and thereby rob you of a great read. But I will offer you Williams' conclusion to the question raised above:

"Salvation is quite often a terrible thing--a frightening good."

[P.S. - Since Halloween is coming up, I plan on reading another of Williams' thrillers, All Hallow's Eve, and Lord willing I'll have a post on it before Oct. 31!]

Behind Every Great Man...

Everyone knows how much I rave about C. S. Lewis, whose writings have influenced my Christian walk more than any others outside the Bible. There is, however, that old saying that "behind every great man is a great woman." This is especially true in the case of C. S. Lewis.

Although a bachelor for most of his life, in the mid-1950's he married Helen Joy Davidman. Born a Jew in New York City and living as an atheist for much of her younger life, she was - like Lewis - an adult convert to Christianity. Joy was a scholar and artist in her own right; she published a renowned book of poetry (Letters to a Comrade), a novel (Anya), and a lucid interpretation on the Ten Commandments (Smoke on the Mountain). She was honored, along with Robert Frost, with a national poetry award.

Since her writings are not well known, I would like to offer just a few quotes from her book Smoke on the Mountain. Although published 55 years ago, it has much to say to a fragmented church and disillusioned world today. (Please notice that she wrote these things a half-century before the pompous Emergent Christians suddenly claimed to have "discovered" them.)

On Idolatry: An idol is an inanimate object that can do no harm...So is a gun. But a man can do great harm with it. Idolatry lies not in the idol but in the worshiper. The real horror of idols is not merely that they give us nothing, but that they take away from us even that which we have...The more we look to material objects for help, the less we can help ourselves or ask help from the grace of God.

On the Name of God: The necessary corollary of the Third Commandment must be: Thou shalt take the name of the Lord thy God in earnest! We who have used the Name for unhallowed ends, from necromancy down to getting our own way in a family quarrel; we who have misused the power God put in flesh and coal, in wood and waterfalls, in solid matter and in empty space; we who have called upon God to bolster up our own vanity, or have NOT called upon Him to deliver us from prejudice -- we are all black magicians, and like Elymas the sorcerer, we have been struck blind for our sins and now grope in mist and darkness. Habitually, day after day, we have taken God's name in vain. Let us, if we can, teach ourselves to take it in earnest. It is high time.

On Sabbath-Keeping: Most of the ordinary people who lose their faith are not overthrown by philosophical argument; they lose faith because they are disillusioned by the churchmen they meet. One sanctimonious hypocrite makes a hundred unbelievers. One little knot of gossips tearing a neighbor's reputation apart on the church steps smashes the Sabbath to splinters. If we are to put it together again, we must be Christians indeed -- must show the rest of the world that a Christian gets something worth having out of his worship. It is not much use asking others to turn to God unless we set them the example. Let the church members behave like Christians seven days a week, and it is likely that the Sabbath will take care of itself. For how do you make a day holy? By seeing that it is holy already; and behaving accordingly.

And perhaps the most relevant to our current economic crisis, here is what Helen Joy Davidman has to say about stealing: The mother who teacher her child to slide under the subway turnstile rather than pay his dime; the athlete who sells his skill to the highest bidder; the rich man who wins applause through benevolent foundations that just happen to be tax-free, and the poor man who feels more comfortable with government support than with a job; the bribed policeman and the bribing bookie, the bribed judge and the bribing gangster, the bribed Congressman and the bribing industrialist -- are they getting something for nothing or aren't they? And who pays the bill? And what would Christ have called them? And anyone who promised to cure the ills of our time with easy hopes and facile solutions would be the most heartless of all.

Thank God for thoughtful, faithful women like Helen Joy Davidman, whose witness and leadership have spoken prophetically to the church and the world. May we heed her sound words and example!

Recommended Reading...

I recently re-read one of my favorite plays: The Cocktail Party by T. S. Eliot.

Eliot was a contemporary of "The Inklings" but did not share their common love for Medieval and Renaissance literature. Definitely a man of his own time, Eliot prefered modern poetry and contemporary themes for his plays and literature (with the exception of his Nobel-prize winning Murder in the Cathedral, which is a historical drama based on the martyrdom of Thomas Beckett). C. S. Lewis himself expressed a deep dislike for Eliot's style. However, near the end of both their lives, they worked together in committee on a new translation the Bible, and they developed a mutual respect for one another.

The Cocktail Party illustrates the messiness of modern relationships: the breakdowns in communication, the alienation, and the total misunderstandings that often occur between people. Though its theme is serious, it is a comedy. It centers on the failing marriage of Edward and Lavinia Chamberlayne, although other friends with their own idiosyncracies are brought into the mix. The most interesting character is "the unidentified guest" at the cocktail party, originally portrayed by the master character actor Alec Guiness. This unidentified guest is later revealed to be a wise counselor who enables all the characters, especially Edward and Lavinia, to better understand the nature of their flawed relationships and the path that is necessary for healing.

Eliot's Christian faith shines throughout the play, often in specific lines, but also in its overall message: that it is sacrifical love that leads to the redemption of relationships. Although written sixty years ago, this play has much to teach our culture today, in which fragmented relationships have become the rule rather than the exception. I highly recommend it!

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the play:

"To invite a stranger is to invite the unexpected, to release a new force, or let the genie out of the bottle. It is to start a train of events beyond your control."

"What is hell? Hell is oneself, Hell is alone, the other figures in it merely projections. There is nothing to escape from and nothing to escape to. One is always alone."

"I really want to believe that there is something wrong with me--because, if there isn't, then there is something wrong, or at least, very different from what it seemed to be, with the world itself--and that's much more frightening! That would be terrible. So I'd rather believe there is something wrong with me, that could be put right."

"You suffer from a sense of sin, Miss Coplestone? That's most unusual!"

"Only by acceptance of the past can you alter its meaning."

Signs of Hope are Everywhere!

Here are some grim facts about reality today:

Gas prices are way too high... The economy is in serious trouble (especially here in Michigan)... The political dialogue in this country has declined to a level that would make our Founding Fathers ashamed to be called Americans... America is engaged in a war that, in my opinion, is no longer justified if it ever was... Too many teenagers are graduating from high school without adequate knowledge, direction, and confidence to make their way in the world... Divorces, teen pregnancies, abortions, and sexual depravity continues to pollute our moral landscape... And there is devastation, poverty, and injustice on every continent of the globe.

Our world is clearly flawed on some fundamental level. A person...even a Christian...could easily be tempted to throw up his or her hands and choose cynicism, despair, or indifference. God knows that I am often tempted to lean in that direction.

But then I return again and again to the writings of the Inklings and I find that, in spite of all temptations, I must choose a different attitude.

In his classic Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesterton distinguishes between three ways of looking at this world. The first is pessimism, (pretty much described above) in which one sees the evil, injustice, and inhumanity in the world and immediately concludes that the world is unredeemable. This pessimism, Chesterton writes, is not an option for any true Christian.

Secondly, one may choose what Chesterton calls "rational optimism," in which a person looks at the world around him or her through rose-colored classes, simply avoiding any engagement with the evils and injustices of the world, and merely settling for the way things are. While I'm sure we have all run into Christians like this, Chesterton would argue that this is also not an option.

The third option is what Chesterton labels "irrational optimism," and this is the true attitude to be espoused by the disciple of Christ. Irrational optimism is when the person sees what the world has become, acknowledges its fallenness, but still wills to see a deeper hope. The Christian believes that in spite of the wickedness and inhumanity all around us, the world is literally saturated with God's grace, beauty, and goodness. If we look hard enough, even when we are enmeshed in the worst that life can throw at us, we can find signs of hope, signs that God is still acting redemptively to fulfill His purposes in the world.

In Tolkien's The Return of the King, there is an incredible line that I think of often. It involves one of my favorite characters, Sam Gamgee, when he is in the devastated land of Mordor, exhausted from a long journey, with evil all around him. Here are Tolkien's poignant words:

"There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."

May God give us the wisdom to know that evil and injustice, in spite of their imposing presence in our lives, are nothing more than superficial Shadows that have been defeated forever in the Cross of Jesus Christ. And when confronted with evil and injustice, may God give us the "irrational optimism" to look deeper and to see His glory and grace...and then to go forth boldly with the spiritual armor to resist the Shadow and to do our part in restoring God's masterpiece of Creation.

What Are You Reading?

I don't know about you, but I find that my brain starts to resemble a pile of mush when I go any length of time without delving into a good book. I find I function best when I am absorbing the creative thoughts of other people, or just enjoying a good story. I think I already quoted this on a prior post, but a professor of mine used to say, "Leaders are Learners."

Here's a list of recent books I've enjoyed:

THEOLOGICALLY DEEP:

Hugo A. Meynell, Postmodernism and the New Enlightenment. A Catholic philosopher, Meynell argues that "postmoderns" are correct in their critique of many negative aspects of modernity (for example, their scientism, their utilitarianism that results in consumerism, their naive attitude towards the darker human passions, and their uncritical contempt for traditional ways of thinking). However, he maintains that the alternative offered by postmoderns (especially Derrida, Foucault, Rorty, and Lyotard) is actually worse than the modern. He proposes a third alternative, a "new enlightenment," which strives to rise above the modern-postmodern debate by emphasizing the need for attentiveness, intelligence, rationality, and responsibility in all areas of thought. Definitely not an easy read, but one which greatly helped me to understand the core issues in the current cultural transition.

Kenneth E. Bailey, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes. Having spent a great deal of his life among traditional Middle Eastern cultural realities, Bailey offers a fresh perspective on Jesus and the four gospels for those of us who have been trained to see them only through a modern Western perspective. This is definitely the magnum opus of a first-rate biblical scholar!

John R. Schneider, The Good of Affluence: Seeking God in a Culture of Wealth. A religion professor at Calvin College, Schneider re-examines and critiques much of the contemporary Protestant understandings of wealth, poverty, and market-driven economics. He challenges the anti-capitalist exegesis propounded by Marxist and Liberation theologies, but he also takes issue with the "simplistic" views of capitalism that are presented by people like Hauerwas, Sider, and Blomberg. No matter what your political and economic views, I'm sure this book will challenge your assumptions about the Bible's teachings on economics!

PRACTICAL MINISTRY:

Mark Dever, The Gospel and Personal Evangelism. Senior pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., Dever presents a model of evangelism that is grounded in the proclaimed Word of God, but which also includes the necessity of authentic relationships. Perhaps the most illuminating chapter in the book is entitled "What Isn't Evangelism," which argues that much of what the church passes off as "outreach" is actually not central to the ultimate thrust of the Gospel message. A short and easy read, but definitely worth it!

Alvin L. Reid, Raising the Bar: Ministry to Youth in the New Millennium. In many ways, this book echoes the concerns of several of the excellent texts on youth ministry to be published in recent years. It too advocates a total transformation of how we do youth ministry. I recommend it simply because it focuses on three very basic factors: Pray Hard, Teach Scripture Well, and Live Authentically among the youth. These three factors are central. The other stuff, whether in its modern or postmodern package, is just icing on the cake.

Terry Wardle, Healing Care, Healing Prayer. Wardle is a professor at Ashland Theological Seminary (I have to give a plug for my alma mater!!!). I recommend this book because it skillfully combines biblical spirituality with informed counseling techniques. It is practical and has helpful resource lists for further reading. In having some deep conversations with my youth over the past few months, I have found myself drawing on its concepts and helpful illustrations. It also emphasizes the central role of the Holy Spirit in all healing that is truly Christian.

JUST FOR FUN:

C. S. Lewis, Prince Caspian. In preparation for the movie's release this weekend!

Elizabeth Kostova, The Historian. It was the title that drew my attention (you know, me being a history buff and all). As for the plot, all I'll say it: Dracula a la The DaVinci Code. Check it out!

So....What's on your reading list?!?!?

Preaching to the Choir

For my personal devotions, I'm reading a book by Brennan Manning entitled A Glimpse of Jesus. Just today I came across a sentence that totally resonated deep within me...I felt like Brennan was personally describing me when he wrote that sentence. Does this sound like any of you? "In preaching the Gospel I have been graced to speak fearlessly in the knowledge and conviction that the Word of God must not be fettered, compromised, or watered down; but in my personal life, my fears and insecurities continue to lead me voraciously to seek the approval of others, to assume a defensive posture when I'm unjustly accused, to feel guilty over refusing any request, to doggedly live up to others' expectations, to be all things to all people in a way that would make St. Paul shudder." Thank God for men like Brennan Manning who have the insight to discern the destructive motives that often undergird much of our ministry work, and who challenge us to just "get over it" and live in the reality of God's grace.

What Are You Reading?

As one of my seminary profs likes to say, "Leaders are learners." Over the years I've tried to live by that and intentionally schedule some one-on-one time with a good book. Still, it is often much easier, after an arduous evening committee meeting or youth event, to simply plop myself in front of the TV next to my wife and view one of the latest installments of House, The Office, or Seinfeld reruns.

Still, I believe there is no substitute for reading a good book and, at least for me, it is one of the chief ways that God forms and challenges me for ministry. Here's a selection of some of the stuff into which I've delved over the past year.

MINISTRY-RELATED:

Tim Conder, The Church in Transition: The Journey of Existing Churches into the Emerging Culture. I really enjoyed this book because it avoids two pitfalls: It's not simply a how-to book ("Do these five things and your church will be postmodern"). It's also not simply a book glorifying churches that were started as postmodern. Rather, it challenges existing churches to reframe the conversation that takes place among their members so that creative transformation can happen.

Avery Dulles, Models of the Church. This is written by a Catholic theologian, and is filled with references to a plethora of other Catholic theologians I've never heard of and never intend to read. Still, I absolutely loved it. In presenting six distinct models of the nature of the Christian church, I believe this book will challenge pastors to rethink some of their own biased ecclesiological practices, and also to think outside the box about how they can "do" church even more effectively.

Norm Wakefield, Between the Words: The Art of Perceptive Listening. As pastors, we love to talk...whether it's in sermons, lessons, prayers, or at meetings. We are often esteemed as the voices of authority and wisdom in our congregations. But we are often poor listeners, and we do not present ourselves simply as people willing to listen to others. This book gives some great practical suggestions and techniques for improving our listening skills.

Brian J. Walsh and Sylvia Keesmaat, Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire. This book is an exposition of Colossians, looking at the practical relevance of its theology for the political, economic, and social realities of today. While I take issue with some (not all) of their methodologies and conclusions, I am glad to have read it, and I believe that Walsh and Keesmaat have added some valuable thoughts to an ongoing conversation.

JUST FOR FUN:

Dan Brown, Angels and Demons. This one has been sitting on my shelves for a couple years now. His theology (if you can call it that) aside, I think Brown is an exceptional writer and have enjoyed every one of his books. This one challenged me to really think about the relationship between faith and reason, religion and science.

Bernard Goldberg, Arrogance. First, a disclaimer: This book does not argue that there is a liberal "conspiracy" within the mainstream media. What it does try to prove is that the media elite of this country are so removed from the views, beliefs, and realities of people outside their own circles, they are simply incapable of having an objective, balanced perspective in reporting and editorializing the news, despite their own assertions to the contrary. This book is extremely helpful for ordinary Americans to interpret the content of their news sources....whether it's the New York Times or FOX News.

Scott Turow, Limitations. This is the latest book from a great writer of legal thrillers. While the plot is not as well-crafted and integrated as some of his past books, especially Presumed Innocent, I thought it was overall intelligent and enjoyable. I think it's a good illustration of Christ's precept that one must deal with the log in one's own eye, before one attempts to deal with the speck in someone else's. Overall, it addresses the "limitations" of human justice.