“The whole biblical teaching is rooted in relationship. Money has ultimate meaning only if it enhances human relationship.”
Kosuke Koyama quoted in Blomberg, Christians in an Age of Wealth
Money and Relationships
Reply
Author Archives: Seth Grotzke
No matter where
It is easy to romanticize life overseas for those who have yet to live that life. And it is easy to romanticize life in your passport country when you are living that overseas life.
I make both mistakes. Neither is truthful. Neither is helpful. Both diminish my joy in the gift of the life that God has given me.
Trusting God is equally hard no matter where I call home. But that also means that joy can be found no matter where I stand on this globe.
Camino day 2
To read the explanation and see the photos of the first day on the Camino this year, click here.
After we hiked over 30 km the first day, we learned our lesson and did 17 km the second day. We had a lot more time to sit and talk, drink coffee, and “smell the roses” (although I prefer to “eat the blackberries”). Here are photos from day 2.
A misty morning
The concept of the Camino is fairly easy – follow the arrows.
Beautiful pueblo homes
Getting recharged
Group picture!
Helping
Tanzen was kind enough to hold Kate’s hand to keep Kate from falling
One of Tanzen’s favorite things- getting stamps in her Pilgrim Passport
Ready for lunch!
American dream
The themes of the American dream are accumulating, upscaling, status, power, consumerism, individualism, and self-actualization. The themes of the homecoming future of God are justice for the poor, peace for the nations, the redemption of the people of God, a restoration of community, a renewal of creation, and a celebration of the shalom purposes of God for a people and a world. These are not two versions of the same dream. These are totally different dreams. One is born out of an ancient faith. The other is the product of an Enlightenment vision of Western progress.
Tom Sine quoted in Blomberg, Christians in the Age of Wealth
Top Shelf Book: Making Sense of God
Book: Keller, Timothy. Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical. Viking, 2016.
Point: Every single individual lives a life based on a complex tangle of “experiences, faith, reasoning, and intuition.” Although the materialist or secularist can claim that belief in a God outside of space and time is unreasonable, that position is only tenable if the presupposition “God cannot exist” is there prior.
Path: In three main parts, Keller patiently and systematically guides the reader through the reasonability of faith in God, and not just any God, but the God of the Bible. Those parts are titled “Why does anyone need religion?”; “Religion is more than you think it is”; and “Christianity makes sense”. The middle part is by far the largest and most comprehensive, dealing with meaning, satisfaction, freedom, self, identity, hope, morals, and justice. His purpose is not to give a definitive argument for God, but demonstrate that arguments against a God are unfounded and fail repeatedly.
Sources: Keller does his normal deep digging and provides the reader with a lifetime of supplementary reading ranging from early church fathers to reformers, philosophers to militant atheists.
Agreement: After reading nearly every chapter I thought, “I just had this conversation last week!” This book both opened my eyes to a greater understanding of the problems and a greater appreciation to how Jesus solves them.
Personal App: The greatest compliment one of my unbelieving friends can pay me is “you understand and state my belief better than I could!” I feel as though this book helps me do this.
Favorite Quote: There is no way to pick a favorite, but one which points to a strength of the book is this one: “The point is rather that science alone cannot serve as a guide for human society.”
Stars: 5 out of 5
It would be worth another read and I would recommend it to someone who:
- Believes science has all the answers.
- Is struggling to believe in the God of the Bible while surrounded by “real life”.
- Wants to better understand their neighbor, coworker, or family member who thinks “faith” is a crutch.
- Anyone trying to engage the modern and postmodern man.
Other books along this theme would be:
Anderson, James N. What’s Your Worldview?: An Interactive Approach to Life’s Big Questions. Crossway Books, 2014.
Craig, William Lane. On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision. New. David C. Cook, 2010.
Keller, Timothy J. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. New York: Riverhead Books, 2009.
Koukl, Gregory. Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions. Zondervan, 2009.
Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity. New York: HarperCollins, 2001.
Strobel, Lee. The Case for the Real Jesus: A Journalist Investigates Current Attacks on the Identity of Christ. 1st ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009.
Camino
Our family participated in a hike with our Conversational English Group on the Camino De Santiago. The route is a 500 mile trek across the Iberian Peninsula which normally takes about 40 days to do, but we only did 3 days of it. Last year Crystal and Tanzen both participated in the first day and took a bus home, but this year they stayed with us the whole time. It was a great time for conversation, friendship building, and cultural exposure!
The first day we walked from Samos to Ferreiros, a full 30 kilometers. Tanzen did quite a bit of the walking (with the help of Crystal, and gracious friends!) and by the time we arrived at our hostel, we were exhausted!
We had a great group with us!
The path is a mixture: gravel, single track, rocky, smooth, pavement, and stone.
What keeps the pilgrim moving? Take a guess.
We count this as science class.
A church along the way
Enjoying the walk
Learning new whistling tricks
Pulling (or pushing) her own weight
Constantly changing landscape
By the end of the trip our stroller was a moving flower shop
Personal change
You cannot initiate and lead a culture-change process if your own personal culture is not up for change as well.
- Vine Project
Resources: Anger
I have asked Josh Stephens from Community Baptist Church and Biblical Counseling Alliance to share some of his top resources in various areas of counseling. Over the following weeks I would like to share those, interspersed with some of my own. Please share your own below in the comments.
The order is alphabetical. See Addictions.
Anger
Jones, Robert D. Uprooting Anger: Biblical Help for a Common Problem. P&R Publishing, 2016.
Scott, Dr Stuart. Anger, Anxiety and Fear: A Biblical Perspective. Bemidji, MN: Focus Publishing, 2009.
Other Resources:
Here is a handout which Crystal put together:
Anger: What it is and how do I deal with it?
One small step
If we call upon the average church member to take up arms as a gospel minister or a disciple-maker or an evangelist, then (rightly or wrongly) many will feel sufficiently threatened to run in the opposite direction. But what if we were to say the following instead? “Why don’t you pray for the person next to you (wherever that might be), and see if by your word and example you can encourage them to take one step—even one small step—to the right?”
- Vine Project
The Vine Project
Book: Payne, Tony, and Colin Marshall. The Vine Project: Shaping Your Ministry Culture around Disciple-Making. Matthias Media, 2016.
Point: Making and maturing disciples is not something that a church does, it is something a disciple does. Here is a workbook on how to pursue disciple making in all of church life.
Path: The authors lay out five phases to work through, making sure that everyone understands that this is not as much of a how-to-manual, but rather a workbook. They lay a biblical foundation, explain logical truths, and give practical examples. This isn’t a book to just read, but to work through with others.
Sources: Based on their previous book and the interactions they have had since then, the authors do a great job at walking the reader through both biblical truth and e
veryday experience.
Agreement: Top shelf book. I am so thankful how they presented these truths not as a “five steps to your best church now” but “take time to think through these principles with others and you will change”.
Personal App: Am I seeing every relationship as an opportunity to encourage the other individual to take one step toward Christ?
Favorite Quote: Engaging unbelievers on Sunday is ”like taking in a gues
t at your house for Christmas dinner. This often happens in our part of the world. If there’s someone at church who doesn’t have any family to share Christmas with, then you invite them to join your family for Christmas lunch. Now in doing so, you don’t change who you are or what your family does in any significant way at all. But you make very sure that your guest is looked after. You warmly welcome them, and introduce them around. You explain what is going on at different points— why Uncle Fred always has to sit in that chair, what the background is to your funny family games or rituals, how to play, and so on. You put yourself out to make your guest feel at home and part of the family, even though it’s not their home or their family. Likewise in church— outsiders are not part of our church family. We don’t stop being who we are, or pursuing God’s purposes, just because we have guests present. But we do welcome our guests, who, like the ‘outsiders’ in 1 Corinthians 14, turn up and (God-willing) come to know and worship the living God in our midst.” (Kindle loc. 2967).
Stars: 5 out of 5
It would be worth another read and I would recommend it to someone who:
- is planting a church
- is leading a church
- is
serving in a church
Other books along this theme would be:
Anyabwile, Thabiti M. What Is a Healthy Church Member? 9Marks. Wheaton: Crossway, 2008.
Dever, Mark. Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. Expanded. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2004.
Marshall, Colin, Tony Payne, and Matthias Media. The Trellis and the Vine : The Ministry Mind-Shift That Changes Everything. Kingsford, N.S.W.: Matthias Media, 2009.
Rainer, Thom S., and Eric Geiger. Simple Church. B&H Publishing Group, 2010.