Top Ten Adventure Books of All Time

I am obsessed with books, but even more obsessed with outdoor sports, travel and adventure.  If I had a second life I would be an adventure travel consultant and guiding service.. no joke.   So, therefore, it is no surprise that I love adventure memoirs more than almost any other type of book.  I have read literally all the most commonly seen titles in an REI or EMS, and here are my top picks.  Other people read supermarket mysteries at the beach, but these are my all-time summer favorites. Please pick a few up (or borrow) if you have or wish you had an adventurous spirit it’s worth the read. 

(In no order, I tried and simply couldn’t rank them!)

1.) A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.

Bryson, travel writer extraordinaire is an “expat” of sorts who had been living in the UK for several years before moving back to the US with his family to settle in New England.  He discovers the Appalachian Trail goes right through his community  and runs from Maine to Georgia.  Much to the chagrin of his teenage son, who is embarrassed at his exploits, he immediately decides he will hike the AT in its entirety, even though exercise is something he historically watches other people do rather than take it up himself.  The book is Bryson’s memoir of life on the trail, and my husband and I have read it on our own or out loud to each other in the car on climbing and national park trips for close to ten years. I don’t want to spoil it, but this book is part environmental history, part comedy, and part adventure. There are characters in the book that will stay with you forever.  If you are an outdoors person, chances are these characters will mirror those you have encountered on the trail or at the rock face and wondered if they would live to see sunrise.  Read it immediately, I do every summer, and laugh so hard I cry each time. 

2.) Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

No one is as synonymous with adventure writing than Jon Krakauer, and although he is still writing, this will probably remain his best book of all time.  Climbers, Alpinists, and armchair mountaineers know exactly what you are referencing if you simply throw out the date 1996.  In that climbing season 11 climbers perished on the peaks of Everest, many of whom were climbing with Krakauer’s team in May of 1996.  His team was descending from the summit when a storm engulfed multiple parties on the mountain killing and severely injuring several people.  Into Thin Air is an account of the disaster and heroism from Jon’s perspective (which is hotly debated to this day by climbers).  It is gripping and engulfs me every time I read it.  Leave yourself a lot of time if you pick up this book, it will monopolize your brain until the end. The biggest plus to this book is that while most adventure writers are outdoor athletes turned writer’s to finance expeditions… Krakauer is nothing of the sort.  He is equally adept in both fields, and his writing is exceptional.

 

 

 

3.) The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev

This book is on the list purely because it tells the tale of Into Thin Air from the opposite perspective.  Before Into Thin Air was published, Krakauer (working at the time for Outside magazine) published an article immediately after the accident in Outside magazine criticizing Boureev’s team for their actions on the mountain.  While not well written, (some is lost in translation as Anatoli’s native language is Russian), if you are captivated by Krakauer, it is fascinating to read about that day from the other perspective.  Outdoor aficionado’s usually have strong opinions about whose account was more accurate.. so pick it up and join in the debate.  Just how much did oxygen deprivation cloud each man’s judgement and memory? Read the books and venture a guess.

4.) Four Corners: A Journey Into the Heart of Papua New Guinea By Kira Salak

Salak is a contributing editor to National Geographic Adventure Magazine, and a winner of multiple travel and adventure writing awards. She is known for her completely wild solo exploits around the globe in danger zones avoided by some of the most seasoned war photographers.  Her writing is superb, and while her other popular book, the Longest Journey, which chronicles her solo trek in an inflatable kayak to Timbuktu, is enticing, the PNG one wins my vote for the list. Full disclosure, part of my love for the book is because I spent a couple months in between high school and college traveling in the same region.  Papua New Guinea is a forgotten travel destination, and I continue to wonder why as it offers the true adventure traveler an idyllic experience truly void of overweight wealthy Americans with fanny packs and Europeans with expensive luggage and frighteningly tight speedos.  Salak treks solo through the jungle into areas still practicing cannibalism, with no hope of rescue, and some tribal areas that literally have never seen white people. As someone who has traveled there myself, the danger for women even for a few hours alone is staggering.  No matter where I travel, PNG remains the most frightening for me as a chick. The draw for Salak and others to PNG is that it is one of the areas that globalization has yet to really consume, although given the fate of other much loved places, its time could soon come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.) Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read

Most have either seen the movie or are familiar with the story of the 45 rugby players and supporters who crashed into the Andean high peaks in 1972, but fewer have actually read the book which is a shame.  Out of 45 passengers, only 16 survived through extreme circumstances like eating the body of your dead friend. This book is an absolute must read, and the story of triumph, survival, and heartache will stand as one of the greatest survival narratives of the century. Once again, leave yourself a day or two if you begin it, because unless you already know details of the outcome, you will likely be glued to the book. 

 

6.) Touching the Void, by Joe Simpson

In 1985 Simpson and his partner were attempting the summit of the Siula Granda in the Peruvian Andes, when Joe breaks his leg on the descent and his partner tries to rescue him.  I actually saw the docu-drama of this story before reading the book, and I still cannot decide which is better.  The documentary of this story was so painful to watch that my jaw hurt the next day because I was clenching my teeth so tightly while watching it. I don’t want to say much about this story, because it is not well-known outside of the outdoor community, and it is in the most astounding survival story of climbing I have ever read; so I’d rather not spoil it for you. It is a phenomenal blend of exploring the thoughts and emotions of Simpson and his partner with the events as they are unfolding.  What happens to Simpson in this book will absolutely blow your mind.

 

 

7.) We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance by David Howarth

In this account of the 1943 escape of Jan Baalsrud from the Nazi’s in Norway after an ambush, the details of the story are so extreme that if I had been told it was a fiction instead of a non-fiction I would have found it much more plausible.  Baalsrud astonishingly fights of avalanches, frost bite, Nazi’s, food deprivation, and his own mental demons to survive a Nordic winter solo and unplanned.  The tenacity of Baalsrud mixed with his quiet demeanor makes the reader feel like Jason Bourne is a boy scout car camping with a toy bow and arrow.  As an added bonus, if you are someone captivated by pictures and dreams of massive fjords, the imagery of the landscape is phenomenal. 

8.) The Places in Between by Rory Stewart

Rory Stewart, the now ubiquitous Scottish socialite turned Afghani human rights advocate takes the reader into a region that most Westerners could not even find on a map prior to 9/11.  In 2002 Stewart walked across Afghanistan through mountain passes, desert, and teenage soldiers.  The book does an excellent job of mixing and explaining culture and ideology with the history of a region most know nothing about.  I will fully admit that prior to my read of this book I thought of Afghanistan as a desert wasteland with a boring history.  Stewart’s book more than proved me wrong. 

9.) Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Krakauer makes the list twice for his short account of Chris McCandless’ escape from society into the wilds of Alaska where he ultimately meets his demise.  I will be up front that this book is not an uplifting tale with a wonderful ending of happiness and glee, but it is a classic story of something many dream of and few attempt:  Completely abandoning societal trappings in an attempt to survive in the wilderness.  Others have attempted and completed this feat without incident, and lived to write the tale, but there is something unique to Krakauer’s writings and my generations’ obsession with this story that makes “Alexander Supertramp,” suck us all in.  And yes, as usual, the book is better than the movie.

 

 

10.) Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow by Maria Coffey

So I am realizing that I somehow subconsciously left the two sad and contemplative books for the end, but nevertheless I do love this book.  Rather than an adventurous account of a mountaineer overcoming adversity, this is Coffey’s examination of what happens to the families and communities of those who die in the mountains pursuing their love of risk and adventure. Coffey’s boyfriend Joe Tasker passed away on the north ridge of Everest, and it had a profound effect on her and her family for life.  She dares to raise and discuss the question many extreme outdoor athletes avoid… “Do they have the right to take such risks? What, if any, benefit does it hold for their family and society and large?”  I have yet, and hopefully never will, receive the phone call she does informing her of the death of a loved one in the place they love more than anything, but the book does give me pause as we have vicariously “known,” more than a couple who died or came close in this way.  The book puts the stories you hear at the campfire or at the rock wall of the most recent death of that season into a different perspective.

Stuff Christians Like: Subtly asking where you will send your children to school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pastors have long known that the magic age for a new convert or a former church kid to re-enter the church is right about the time their first kid turns 18 mos. old. When a couple is pregnant, they dutifully read and obsess over things like the ferber method, attachment parenting, bottle v. breast (cosmic showdown BELIEVE ME!), and  au natural v. the pagan epidural (cosmic showdown II).  What said couple learns very quickly is that the baby stage, while sleep depriving, is actually the easiest.  They’re immobile, don’t speak, and unless they have extreme colic will even sleep cozily underneath a restaurant table in their infant seat. When they emerge from their sleep deprived coma it dawns on them that they should either a.) figure out a place to baptize their kid who is now walking and conducting death defying stunts like jumping off the couch  and putting the fear of God into their parents or b.) figure out a place to give their kid morals after they are now running, throwing, kicking, biting, and all of the other fun things young toddlers do. 

  This path inevitably leads many young families to church for the first time since they sang Kum Ba Yah at young life camp when they were 17 and had a crush on someone on the trip.  Being out of that church loop for awhile can be really disorienting, so I would like to kindly offer a primer to introduce you to the EPIC BATTLE AND DECISION that awaits you: PUBLIC? HOMESCHOOL? OR PRIVATE? (CHRISTIAN PRIVATE).  

   Right about the time your first child is old enough to possibly consider preschool, you are expected to not only have made a trajectory decision about your choice in preschool and Kindergarten, but you must also have a theological underpinning to back you up and a selection of books from a Christian author bolstering your case.  This can be tricky though, because few people would ever ask you directly where you plan to send your child to school and why.. in church culture it’s like asking white people about how much money they make.. some things you just don’t do! 

  The first few times someone asks you, you may  not even recognize what they are asking, and if you are reading this, the dimmer switch is probably growing brighter with understanding as you re-process some of the following conversations you are guaranteed to have or have had already: 

I. The Awkward Silence: 

So there you are, rocking a small group for the first time at your snazzy new church, and you are considering buying a house in the ‘burbs and sub-letting or selling your “to die for” loft in a recently gentrified neighborhood. Like any normal water cooler or play date conversation you confidently ask the group assembled around a jellied dessert in a 9 x 13 pan, which school district is best to buy a house in. Instead of the swarm of real estate data and opinions you expect, you are met with dead silence as all 5 conversations in the room cease and everyone stares at you.  You mentally review your comment to make sure you didn’t subconsciously substitute a sexual innuendo or curse word in one of your sentences, but realize that no, you said exactly what you thought you did… What’s happening?!!!

You are experiencing the awkward silence… this is church, we don’t ask about that sort of thing here. Clearly you are an outsider because you have not yet mastered the art of concealing your question as a trojan horse designed to exploit the weaknesses in your “enemies” defenses, theological logic, or clearly inferior parenting skills (parenting is a competitive sport now, in case you hadn’t picked that up). The only thing that can brand you as an outsider faster than this faux paux is cursing, so get your game face on!

II. The Trojan Horse

In the trojan horse, the conversation initiator is guaranteed to possess five characteristics. 1.) an extremely opinionated viewpoint on how not only their child should be educated, but yours as well. 2.) a mastery of the art of not asking what they are actually asking that could stall the most seasoned litigator. 3.) an extreme example of an extended family member who choose the “wrong” method of education and now has a tattooed child with an emergent blog to show for it. 4.) An arsenal of Christian books designed to sway you to their side. 5.) They are considered an “evangelist” for their educational method of choice by people on facebook. 

Their line of questioning will begin like this.. 

Person I: “So, I heard you were thinking of buying a house?” 

you: “Yah, I was thinking about the apple blossom district.” 

Person I: “Hmm.. interesting choice. You know we live in the cherry blossom district, but the apple district is nice too.”

you: What do you mean? Are there better bike paths and closer access to trader joe’s in cherry?”

Person I: “Well, yes, but those are just perks for us. Add ons if you will. But they really don’t matter that much to us.”

You: (you are confused and wondering why they would mention them if they are not a big deal, instead you say:) “Why doesn’t it matter? what does?”

Person I: “Well, cherry is a nice district and it does keep our home value high when we eventually sell and downside to pay for the kiddo’s to go to Wheaton, Cedarville, or Liberty, but since we send our kids to a private Christian school there really is no need to be concerned about the public school system. Especially since there are lots of after school activities and even a young life chapter at the Christian school. Did I mention the township offers busing to the school? My wife doesn’t even have to carpool from the cherry district. Does the apple district offer free busing to the Christian school?”

You: (stunned you realize this ninja has just asked you a. your plan for your child’s future b.) given their opinion on it c.) cleverly inquired how much money you make by feeling out if you could afford said private school. d.) managed to let you know how much they make without saying how much they make.)  You stammer a few lines about living close enough for the in-laws to sit for you, realize you are now stressed about a decision you previously thought little of, and instead blurt out a prayer request on seeking God’s will for your 18 mo. olds Kindergarten decision.

Person I: They put their arm around your should and assuredly say, “I am always praying for you.. on another note, I have this parenting book I would love to give you a copy of…”

Death is Inevitable, not Natural

This past week my spouse’s family buried the 3rd grandparent and 4th relative in a year and half, but it was a beautiful time.  When you become married you acquire not just a spouse and some sweet wedding swag, but their habits and their extended family as well.  For me, the fusion of our two families has been an exercise in experiencing what life is like in a family (both sides) that is rooted primarily around Jesus.  There are the random relatives that are not followers of Jesus, but by and large, Christianity permeates their relationships.  The aberration in his extended family is the one who does not believe; the aberration in my extended family was the one who does.  That simple fact shaped our spiritualities very differently, and creates a very different atmosphere when someone’s physical body passes from life to death. 

    Yesterday I had the privilege of watching him perform the graveside service for his grandma, and while sad, it was exciting to celebrate the hope of those in attendance because there is such a different spirit of grief when you are amongst believers.  Thinking of my own family of origin, each of these believer’s funerals I have attended with his family have been very painful.  Something my husband shared yesterday was that death is not natural… our souls were designed for life.  Sin and the brokenness of a fallen world have marred that.  Our culture tells us death is a natural part of the life cycle to cushion the blow as a physical life is extinguished.  

    Watching few other people work with us in ministry has been as rewarding as watching God work in our friend Heather.  We worked together with her early in our ministry, and she has always been a source of inspiration, satirical comedy gold, and encouragement.  A few months ago, at 36 she found out she was facing a physically scary and demanding cancer that is invading her body.  Just this week she posted about her experiences thinking about death and life, and it is a great extension of what my husband shared at the funeral.  Read it; it will encourage you.

My fave quote: “Death belongs to Satan. Life belongs to Christ.” 

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction

   I am not a “devotional book” person, believe me, I have tried. Oswald couldn’t do it for me, neither did Stormie O’Martian (fun fact.. she used to be married to Steve Martin, I just found that out this week, and for some reason it still gives me the willies).  I prefer straight Bible reading or study.  

This book is the exception.  Eugene Peterson is most well-known as the translator of The Message, but his truly phenomenal work in my opinion is his writings, and this one is my favorite.  I have literally read this book based around the Psalms of the ascent about 10 times, and I would encourage you to do the same. 

 

Eugene is older than God, but still alive, and teaching at Regent in Vancouver.  My favorite EP story is that a couple of years ago, Bono and his band became very enthralled with his work, and Bono personally called Professor Peterson to try and get him to do a 3 day spiritual retreat for Bono and the members of U2.  EP apparently had no idea who Bono was, googled him, and then still declined the offer because 3 days was too much of a loss for him in study time. 

 

This week I have read and re-read the chapter on community, as it is convicting and encouraging to the place I am at.  I originally began to post this as a more well thought out review, but my mind is mush, and instead I want to just share a few paragraphs from this chapter that are rolling around in my head. 

Peterson starts out the chapter talking about how whether we like it or not, by confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior, we are automatically part of the community of Christ.  Our siblings in Christ may confuse us, anger us, irritate us, or spur us on towards worship, but they are our siblings just the same. Whether we choose to formally ‘do life’ with the church or not, we are a part of this body.  I love the way he talks about this, so I will just put up a few lines in hopes that others are encouraged by it the way that I have been. 

“Living together in a way that evokes the glad song of Psalm 133 is one of the great and arduous tasks beofre Christ’s people.  Nothing requires more attention and energy.  It is easier to do almost anything else.  It is far easier to deal with people as problems to be solved than to have anything to do with them in community.”

“Not what a man is in himself as a Christian, his spirituality and piety, constitutes the basis of our community.  What determines our brotherhood is what that man is by reason of Christ.  Our community with one another consists solely in what Christ has done to both of us.  And what Christ has done is anoint us with his Spirit.  We are set apart for service to one another.  We mediate to one another the mysteries of God.  We represent to one another the address of God.  We are priests who speak God’s word and share Christ’s sacrifice.  The Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s Word to him.  He needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged, for by himself he cannot help himself without belying the truth.  He needs his brother man as a bearer and proclaimer of the divine word of salvation.”

“Important in any community of faith is an ever-renewed expectation of what God is doing with our brothers and sisters in the faith.  We refuse to label the others as one thing or another.  We refuse to predict our brother’s behavior, our sister’s growth.  Each person in the community is unique; each is specially loved and particularly lead by the Spirit of God.  How can I presume to make conclusions about anyone?  How can I pretend to know your worth or your place? …. A community of faith flourishes when we view each other with this expectancy, wondering what God will do today in this one, in that one.  When we are in a community with those Christ loves and redeems, we are constantly finding out new things about them.  They are new persons each morning, endless in their possibilities.  We explore the fascinating depths of their friendship, share the secrets of their quest.  It is impossible to be bored in such a community.”

Academia’s version of humor

In honor of a website I am addiction to… PhDcomics.com  I thought I’d post a comic for today.  I have realized in showing these to friends that grad students find these hilarious, and others find them at best mildly amusing. Anyways…. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And in honor of the fact that this week I am wrapping up spending 4 mos. of life I will not get back writing about the sub-prime crisis… here is how it may, or may not affect me!

Torture & Evangelical Prejudice Towards Non-Christians: Aaron Taylor

  If you have been following the political football being tossed between the Obama administration and Cheney, then you know that there have been some heated discussions regarding how the US will be handling torture of suspected terrorists in the new administration.  As part of that larger discourse, the Pew Forum has released some rather disturbing numbers regarding who supports torturing people.   With 6 out of 10 white evangelicals believing that torture is often or sometimes justified, it makes them the group more likely to support torture than ANY OTHER DEMOGRAPHIC IN THE UNITED STATES. In Aaron Taylor’s post, he raises the question, about what is it about that group that makes them more likely to support it? My favorite quote from his post is the following…

     “What troubles me isn’t so much that some of my fellow white evangelicals believe that in a sin-cursed earth, morally complex situations arise in which Christians sometimes have to choose the lesser of two evils. What troubles me is that most white evangelicals think this way.”

For a short essay, he packs a lot of though provoking dialogue, I would encourage you to check it out, and post some thoughts. I am curious to see what people think.  I really liked the way he gently, but honestly tackles a mine field of a topic.

Why I Am No Fan of Mother’s Day

This Sunday, churches all across the country will participate in my second biggest pet peeve of American materialism that is co-opted, celebrated, and elevated in church. (the first is churches that have easter egg rolls and bunny themed events, I am sorry, but that is just sacrilegious. I am the mean mommy who does not buy easter egg baskets, but I do allow g-ma to).  

Mother’s Day has absolutely nothing to do with church, and was created in 1912 by a woman who a few short years later decried it, because of the rampant commercialism that she saw as detracting from the holiday she had envisioned. I have two beautiful children, so this rant is not borne out of the angst of the 14 year old girl who dislikes Valentines Day because she has no BF to list on facebook.  I dislike the way the church has embraced Mother’s Day as a holiday so pivotal in the church preaching calendar, that any pastor who does not interrupt their preaching schedule to do a little ditty about tiny fingerprints on a window pane, risks being egged as they run to safety past the spot where the baseball glove adorning the stage should have been.

I have always been bothered by the way the church acts on this holiday, so I have been trying to examine why that is.  There are my superficial and opinionated reasons: ie–saccharine videos that should never see the light of day are guaranteed to grace the screen (There are some great videos out there, our church often finds them so that is proof it can be done!).  

There are my social worker impulse reasons: really??!!   the only stock art you could get was of white people? was of suburban houses so large they could house 30 people and spit off enough energy to power Rhode Island? was of idealized children dripping ice cream out the window of a brand new mini-van? seriously?! no, really?!   My issue with those things is not that the suburbs, white people, ice cream or mini-vans are bad. It’s the way that type of family is idealized, and subconsciously held up as the only way a family can or should look.  Imagine what types of barriers to the gospel may raise.  Are the images bad? No.  But, are they wise? Not always.

 

On a deeper level I believe that the way Mother’s Day is treated is the exact opposite of the message of the gospel; which is what church ought to be about. 

The core of the gospel is the deep understanding that you are more awful and sinful than you ever could possibly know, but more loved and accepted than you ever dared hope.  Out of deep appreciation and love for our saviour and that truth, we are to be a community of people that functions differently than society.  We should be the one place that exudes acceptance and love regardless of status or station in life… and the way the church practices Mother’s Day is the exact opposite of that.  

     Church grates on me. It’s the place where I have had the most phenomenal experiences of my life, and also the most painful.  Prior to having children, or even trying to have children, I never felt more worthless as a woman than in church in general, and particularly on Mother’s Day because although I was missionally carrying my faith as a woman into some crazy work and life situations, that was not valued by my church community… only women home with kids were.  Then, once we began trying to have kids, and we miscarried a few weeks before M-Day, I had to endure walking out of church and not being handed a gift that was given to every other woman in line because I did not have children.  The year prior to that, when a youth group guy drafted to hand out flowers was about to hand one to me out of generosity as his youth worker, he was loudly stopped by the woman in charge who said, “oh no, don’t give any to her she doesn’t have any kids yet.”  Thankfully my current church is much more gracious, and I always appreciate the way our pastor prays for all women on mother’s day, I look forward to his words each year because I know how empathic they will be.

 

Despite the fact that the church exists for all people, our American church has elevated the status of the nuclear family in a manner that has made it an idol.  We do not feel convicted of this because families are a good thing.  Parents raising children to seek hard after God in a community of like minded people is a good thing; but it’s not THE thing.  Jesus is THE thing.  I honestly believe that two biggest idols the American church has today are 1.) the nuclear family and  2.) comfort.  The craziness of Mother’s Day is a symptom of the disease of idolatry the church has about the nuclear family.  Once again… are nuclear families bad? No. Are they unbiblical? No, they are part of God’s design to show us who he is.  The problem is that our sinful human hearts have colluded with the bad parts of our individually focused American norms to produce an idol of something that God intended to use a signpost to point towards him. Instead, we use God as a signpost pointing towards our idealized version of family, therefore shifting the focus to the created rather than the creator. The end in that scenario becomes the nuclear family, and God is just a means along the way towards our idolatry of it.

Married families with children CONSTITUTE ONLY 25% OF OUR TOTAL US POPULATION, and by 2010, it is projected to drop to 20%.  44% of Americans are single. But, if you were to walk into the average evangelical church examine the programming, the types of people on the banners and brochures, and the images flashing by behind the powerpoint, you would think that singleness was not just an aberration, but a disease.  Christianity Today, in an article on single women in the church, quoted one woman as saying,” Sunday mornings are the loneliest part of my week.”  another said, ” In my church, communion is served by the elders…. often accompanied by their wives.  This makes sense on logistical levels, but it leaves me with a few perplexing questions: How does being married to an elder make one more qualified to serve? …Will I be able to serve in this capacity only if I get married?- and to someone with elder potential?…. I don’t mean to bash the church…. I love the church. I am the church. But there are times when I feel more like its black-sheep spinster aunt than one of its valued daughters.”**  (If it were me making those comments, I would add the following questions… Where in the Bible does it say that only elders/e-wives serve communion? Where in the Bible does it say that only men serve communion? To my knowledge the Bible does not explicitly state that either of things are how things have to be, it is our preference based upon our convictions in other areas.)

Wow. I know those quotes were not specifically about M-Day, but it is indicative of the elevated status we give to this model idea of mom, dad and kids.  Don’t get me wrong, families are wonderful and good things, gifts from God, but the modern way we view family…as a solitary nuclear unit is remarkably different than it was pre-industrialization or in still developing countries where family means extended family.   The concept of mom, dad and kids flying solo in their home, living alone, and not in community with others physically is new.  Something is off when you can drive home from your work to your nuclear family, drive into your garage, and bbq on a back deck instead of sitting on a front porch.  None of those individual things are wrong, but stacked one on top of the other, they further isolate us into our small family units and away from our communities. 

 

What I love more than anything about church is the explosive power the gospel gives it to shatter the categories expected by society.  I was recently sharing with a Jewish friend of mine how I love that in my church I am forced to do life with people of every demographic, various races, ages, and interests.  It’s a collection of people that no company or cause would pull together in quite the same way. And yet, we have swallowed a commercialized holiday from our culture hook, line, and sinker.  

What we are missing is an opportunity to do Mother’s Day differently than our culture.  Each year at this time I think to myself… what would it be like if instead of Mother’s Day, we just celebrated women and what they bring to our church community? What if, instead of preaching about Proverbs 31, or motherhood for the 100th time, the sermon focused on the special place that women held in the lineage of the Messiah? What if, instead of a celebration of womanhood being expected to be held by only feminist institutions or causes, it was the domain of the church?  Think for a minute how category busting it would be if a celebration of femininity and women, regardless of marital or offspring status, became synonymous with the church on Mother’s Day.  What if Mother’s Day at church became synonymous with a day of service for single mom’s who were not part of your congregation? If any single mom or single woman in your community was guaranteed a free oil change in the church parking lot on Mother’s Day? We can do so much better than stock art and flowers. 

 

**Stats and quotes were taken from Lauren Winner’s Book, ‘Real Sex.”

Tim Keller at the Gospel Coalition Conference

Tim Keller has been had tremendous influence on me theologically.  He spoke yesterday at the Gospel Coalition Conference. His message was titled “The Grand Demythologiser: The Gospel and Idolatry”. It’s a bad title but was an excellent talk.  As usual, Keller homes in on exactly what the audience needs to be convicted of in order to repent and be free in the gospel.

He spoke about confronting idols with the gospel which rightly so, is really all he every preaches about. His most convicting point to me, and I feel most useful to Evangelicalism in general, was his point that truth can be an idol. He pointed out that you can look to the purity of your beliefs about Jesus for your righteousness rather than to Jesus himself.  I think this is HUGE! I think this is the key to why Christians can be so ungracious in how they proclaim grace. We make the belief in salvation by grace through faith essentially a work.  It’s subtle but prevalent.

You need to hear this talk. Here are the notes. The audio will be posted on the Gospel Coalition Website some day in the near future.

Book Review: Girl Meets God by Lauren Winner

Can you believe it? I am actually blogging. I have been living inside of writing, reading, IRB apps, and editing assignments for the past two months, specifically as I transitioned out of a job I loved dearly doing community development in Philadelphia, and into a job as a researcher through my Doctoral program. I love the feeling of being swamped with academic reading, even though it kills me, because at this stage of the game, I am basically studying exactly what I want to. Nice caveat! Yet, I find myself in need of lots of “down-time” reading, which for me tend to fall into one of three categories.. chick lit, memoirs, or satire.

The past few days I read the memoir Girl Meets God, by Lauren Winner, and enjoyed it so much that I finished the last page on the train today, and literally turned to the first page and began to read it again. I am still kicking myself that I was at a conference a few weeks ago with Winner, and went to someone else’s session instead of hers; in my pea-sized brain I am convinced we would be so BFF if circumstances were right!

Girl Meets God chronicles her conversions from Judaism, to Orthodox Judaism, to Christianity (Episcopalian to be exact). Dr. Winner’s writing is witty, sharp, raw, satirical, and an honest portrayal of the stumbling we all experience in our never ending process of sanctification.
Raised in a home that was basically a-religious, with a mother who was a lapsed Baptist, and a father who was Jewish, she feels drawn throughout childhood to her Jewish roots. Dr. Winner spends inordinate amounts of time reading Jewish commentaries and scholarly literature as early as middle school, and it culminates in her conversion to orthodox Judaism in her late teens. Later, while a student at Columbia, through studying Christianity on her own and as part of her religious studies research, she gradually fumbles towards Jesus and the cross, which for me was the most gut-wrenching part of the book.

Conversion
A choice to convert is as one friend’s rabbi put, chayav mita, meaning literally, “obligated to death.” As Dr. Winner points out, if the Sandhedrin was still active, she could be stoned to atone for her sin of leaving her community and turning her back on God. This theme is woven throughout the book as she recounts the tight-knit, beautiful relationships she had within the Jewish community that have been completely torn apart by her conversion. Her subtle understanding and empathy with their pain speaks volumes, and it was refreshing to hear someone speak of such pain with respect for the loss of relationship. Too often, in new conversion stories, we instead hear a litany of reasons why the old faith was wrong, and a string of narratives depicting failed conversion attempts. We believers then applaud the wonderful conversion story, and rarely give any thought to what was lost in the conversion. Winner’s experience is closer to the truth. As the child of parents who converted to Christianity when I was very little; we were literally excommunicated from some of my family for several years.  For that reason, her treatment of the break in relationship deeply resonated with me. Whether or not my parents are aware, that spiritual and relational wound they felt, profoundly shaped my own spirituality. Reading her account of loss, gave me a window into what it must have been like for them to follow Jesus when they knew it was breaking familial and ethnic ties.  

Sexuality
Those who know me best, know I have little tolerance for glossy Christian literature, that lacks the reality of sanctification. Winner deals with sex in a frank, but not crude manner.  She states simply what it was like to be in NYC having sexual norms with partners, and then converting to Jesus, and working through leaving that lifestyle with a priest she confessed to regularly ( she has another book specifically about sex, which is next on my list; curse you amazon for messing up my order!!). Too often, in our zeal to attempt to whip men into shape, and “control” their lusts, the reality of female sexuality is ignored. With the exception of a handful of books, Winner’s being one of them, female sexuality is diluted into romantic historical fiction that treats sex within marriage almost as a duty, and certainly not as a God-given desire. The end result is generations of Christian women who misunderstand sex, and a subtle message being given that natural, biological functions are wrong or a source of shame. Instead of explaining where, when, and how those natural functions are okay, we ignore it all together, leaving our young women to learn about sexuality from our culture. Winner’s blunt comments about struggling in this area, were beautiful to read.

Judaism
If you love Jewish traditions, or have constant contact with those of a Jewish faith then this book is a must read. I have been surrounded with Jewish friends, co-workers, and a boyfriend, since childhood, and reading this book made something “click” in my mind about the perspective they were coming from. As evangelicals we are so ethnocentric, and are subconsciously taught that our faith is the only one that’s real in the eye of the beholder. In many settings I have been a part of, we seem to treat other people’s faiths as though they don’t actually believe them to the depth that we hold ours.  Her portrayal of the depth of spirituality in the Jewish tradition, makes the reader long with her that she lost the traditions that were her first step towards knowing Jesus, and makes you rejoice that God chose to bring her to Him. If I had realized back in Bible College how much my personal and academic adult life would be surrounded with Jewish religion and culture, I would have studied Hebrew and been more focused in a few studies. The book filled in a few gaps for me that I have previously missed, and piqued my curiosity with a few more ideas.

 

Episcopal Church & Liturgy

As I mentioned earlier, my family left their religion of origin (Catholicism) for evangelical Protestantism, and partially as a result of the associations they had with Catholic liturgy, they choose a faith tradition completely  absent of liturgy.  To this day, if I sit next to my Father in a cathedral style church, the colors, artwork and detail cause the intellectual and creative side of me to spontaneously worship.  Simultaneously, in the same pew, he feels unable to worship because of past associations.  It was not until adulthood that I began to appreciate the liturgical style of some churches, and understood the draw to acts like confession, public creeds, and regular communion services.  Winner, an Episcopalian, goes into great depth as how their traditions assist her in her faith.  It was very helpful for me to understand why I feel drawn to those styles, particularly the reverence for the church calendar and the sacred nature of the Eucharist.  In  the Baptist traditions I am more used to, we do not seem to take it as seriously or reverently, and I believe that something is lost that God intended us to have. It’s never the centerpiece, but rather an afterthought tacked onto the end of a sermon that was docked 7 mins to give room for it in our schedule. There is much my tradition can learn from Winner on this. 

 

Intellectualism 

Sometimes it feels impossible to find a christian writer, particularly a woman (women are still banned from many seminaries altogether, and many more only permit enrollment in counseling), who is an intellectual in the secular sense and the scholarly Biblical sense who writes for a popular audience. Winner balances these tensions naturally, and there will be much for us to learn from her as she grows as an author and thinker.  I look forward to having her feminine voice in intellectual secular and sacred settings for many years to come. 

Church Users Manual

As some may have noticed we have been blogging very little lately on doxxa, and that is primarily because I am personally swamped with school and some major life transitions with that, and because my husband has been working on a project for our church called 40 days of prayer, where he or another Pastor blogs devotional materials specifically designed for our congregation around reorienting ourselves to the Gospel.  As a wife, I am completely biased, and think he is great, which leads to me sometimes being frustrated that people cannot see the drive he has for ministry and service.  I am going to put up a few of his posts from the other blog for the benefit of those who are not in our church, but also so that those of you who see us little in the 3D world can have a window into our ministry a bit.  Some of these will be very practical, some contemplative.  If you’re from our church, feel free to skip over as I am sure you have already read it! (these will be edited for church anonymity, please do not post with reference to anyone specific).

Back in college I  spent a lot of time in the school exercise room. I’d spend 2 hours 3-4 times a week lifting, running, stretching etc. While I was there I began to notice a pattern. There were some folks who were exercising and getting incredible results. One friend of mine went from lanky to ridiculously muscular. Another guy, over the course of a year and a half lost over 200 pounds! He was virtually unrecognizable from beginning to end. However other folks who were there just as often didn’t change much at all. They stayed the same weight, they never were able to lift more. Generally the difference wasn’t the frequency or amount of time they spent in the gym, it was how hard they worked while they were there. Some would do cardio but with too little resistance or for too little time. Others when they’d lift wouldn’t push through muscle burn or increase their weight. The end result was they had far less to show for their time in the gym even though often they were putting in the same amount of time.

If you’re a Christian you’re probably going to spend many hours in church over the rest of your life. How much you profit from those hours depends in large part on how you participate in them. It’s possible to be putting the time in but still get very little results as far as sanctification or relationship development.

We have compiled a list of ways we think the average Christian can get more out of Church. To a large degree these won’t be recommendations that cost you much more additional time, they’ll just shift some of how you go about participating. I have co-written this post with our senior Pastor but for the most part we aren’t going to homogenize our writings into identical style or one continuous flow.

Purpose
Did you ever wonder why the church has a worship service or Sunday School classes or a fellowship time? They seem so normal that you probably don’t think about them much. But there is a reason we gather on Sunday morning to do the things we do.
 
“Church” is not the name of the building nor is it the 9:45am Sunday morning time slot. Church is the name for Christians. The word means a group of “called out individuals.” What did God call us out to do? God called us to glorify Jesus through the Spirit-led fulfillment of worship, ministry, edification, fellowship, and evangelism. Each of these five purposes has a corporate expression and an individual expression.
 
By corporate expression I mean that the gathered local church engages in this purpose all together at the same time. For instance, we worship together every Sunday at 9:45am. God expects a corporate expression of worship. Hebrews 10:25 says Let us not give up meeting together.
 
By individual expression I mean that we are to engage in the purposes as individuals and families throughout the week. For instance, families and individuals worship daily. Hebrews 13:15 says Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise– the fruit of lips that confess his name.
 
Each purpose must have daily ongoing expression in every Christian.  The local church provides a corporate expression for which an individual believer could not create to the same degree acting alone.  This is what the local church does best when it is gathered. The most gifted individuals minister to the entire body when it is gathered. This stimulates the individual expression of that purpose in the life of the believer the other six days of the week.
 
Purpose          Corporate                  Individual
Worship           Sunday Worship          Daily Devotions
Ministry           Group Service               Individual Service
Edification       Truth For Life               Bible Study
Fellowship       Sunday Fellowship    Home Meeting
Evangelism      Group Outreach          Personal Outreach

Individuals tend to have areas they value more than others. Some get a lot out of the worship, they just want to sing. Others value the sermon, they’ll come in late because to them the music is just there to give everyone a chance to get to the church before the preaching starts. Others value fellowship most. Others want to serve, they like ministries that take them out of the service. No matter what we value each of us needs all the elements of church to have a balanced spiritual diet.

Preparation
A lot of what happens in church depends on what happens before church.
Before Church ask yourself the questions like “Am I ready for worship?” “Have I prayed?” “Have I read the next section of the Bible the pastor is likely to preach?”

Another way to prepare is to have read the Scripture to be preached on ahead of the service. Often times the songs we sing are built around a theme found in the text to be preached on. If you know the Scripture going into the service you’ll see verses of the music have special significance.

Parking – “Can I park further away to permit someone who needs to be nearer
the door to park closer?”

Expectations and Attitude
Our expectations shape how we experience church in tremendous ways. Do you listen to the music looking for wrong notes? Are you searching for mistakes in the pastors preaching? Are you evaluating the whole experience like it was a performance for you instead of a family offering toGod? It almost guarantees you frustration if you measure church by it’s entertainment value or it’s satisfaction of your own particular concerns.

 

The Elements of the Service

Call to Worship

One thing I can see as a Worship Pastor that most other people don’t see is the whole sanctuary right before we begin at 9:45.  Usually the room is much more full by the end of the first song than it is when the song begins.  People are coming in from outside or finishing their conversations in the middle of the song.  The result is people miss what is traditionally called the invocation, the part of the service designed to call our hearts to attend to God and call God’s Spirit to enable us to worship.  That’s not just form, it’s important for the whole rest of the service.  It hopefully lets us settle and engage with God in a purposeful way so that our hearts are open to be taught and convicted and encouraged.  

For some people the best thing you could do to get more out of church is arrive 5 minutes earlier.  You’ll have the kids in place in the nursery, you’ll have greeted your friends and you’ll be ready and engaged at the start of worship. 

Singing

Singing itself isn’t necessarily worship.  Worship is something that happens in your heart and mind and singing (as well as the rest of the service) can be both an expression and a stimulus to it.  That happens as you participate and you can participate in all kinds of ways.  

Singing – most obvious but some people can’t sing and sometimes you won’t be familiar with a song. 

Moving – clapping, standing, sitting, lifting hands.  What our bodies do matters.  Some of us, like myself are more naturally stoic.  Other’s easily express ourselves.  Physical participation can help us engage more fully. 

Contemplating – read the lyrics.  You don’t have to know a song to worship through it.  It’s a mistake to think that because you can’t sing along that you can’t worship.  Oftentimes it’s songs you don’t know that you can worship with the best because the lyrics haven’t grown familiar to you. 

Praying – Pray along with the worship leader, pray the lyrics to songs, pray during instrumentals and silences.  Sometimes the most powerful parts  of the service are lost because they’re not filled with our individual silent prayers.  

Announcements

Are there events I need to be in prayer for?  Are there things coming up in the life of our church I need to schedule so as to participate in?  Every year people come to me after events like the Good Friday service and say they wish they had invited a friend who would have benefitted.  The thing is they had the chance but didn’t take the opportunity because they weren’t really tuned in as to when something was going to take place.  

Meet & Greet

Ask yourself  questions like – Has God led someone here today who needs a friend? Has God led someone here who needs my help to understand the Lord better?  Do I need to sit in a different part of the sanctuary so that I can greet new people?  How can I best use the few minutes of greeting time to really create an atmosphere of authentic love and community?  

Sometimes this is the most important 3 minutes of the service for people visiting a church for the first time.  If they’re not welcomed or if their welcome is perfunctory and obligatory and without genuine warmth they’ll decide not to come again. 

Sermon

A lot could be said about how to get the most from this.  Probably the best three recommendations we could give are. First, bring your Bible and follow along with the text.  You could use the pew Bible but I find following along in my own Bible actually helps me remember the Scripture better because I remember what the page looks like.  Second, take notes.  I nearly always take notes and I nearly never revisit them.  Just the act of taking notes helps me remember and absorb the message even if I never look at them again.  Third, fill out the Next Steps card.  This isn’t a matter of legalism.  It’s an exercise in making sure we listen to the word each week as more than an act of education but of sanctification.  It’s a way of answering the question “What is God saying to me through this message?”

Offering

Ask yourself “Is this gift my best?” “Am I thankful?”  Did you figure out your tithe ahead of time or are you just putting in whatever is loose in your wallet?  Being purposeful about giving can make it an act of sacrificial worship.  

Communion

Whenever we practice communion we nearly always sing song of confession or conviction earlier in the service.  Purposefully engage in that time to confess sin and remind yourself of the cross and resurrection of Christ.  

Community Vows

Community vows take place when we welcome new members or dedicate children.  I tend to think most people make these vows very lightly.  For example how can we vow to support a couple with raising their child during a dedication then not fully staff children’s ministries with volunteers?  When taking a congregational vow think about its implications.  By vowing are you actually obligating yourself to certain practices like prayer, friendship, ministry support etc?  

Responsibilities

If you have a responsibility during the service like offering communion, reading Scripture or collecting the offering know your responsibility ahead of time.  Read the service planner before worship begins so you know exactly what you need to do.  It’ll help you to be engaged throughout the service without worrying about what comes next and it’ll protect the congregation from distractions as well.  

Exiting

Ask yourself questions like “who seems touched by worship and needs prayer? …a friend?…help?”  ”How has God met me in worship today?”  ”What do I need to do as a result of hearing God’s word?”  That afternoon you can discuss the message with your friends or spouse.  Ask them what they learned?  Ask your kids what they experienced?  It’s not just exchanging info about church people’s lives but info about God in people’s lives. 

A Few other Big Picture Issues

Attendance

The statistics on church attendance say that the average person misses 30-50% of Sundays.  That’s a real obvious way people can short change their spiritual growth.  Sometimes it’s as simple as waking up a few minutes earlier or planning out your weekend a little better.  

Church Programming 

Sunday morning worship isn’t designed to supply all your spiritual needs.  For example don’t look to Sunday morning service to provide fellowship.  As much as we’d like it to be there’s no “one stop shop” for spiritual needs.  You’ll need to get involved in small groups, personal study, volunteer ministry, etc to really get the most out of Church.  That may mean sacrifices in time or moving out of your comfort zone.  

This is going to be slow

Finally be aware that sanctification is SLOW!  There are no easy solutions or quick fixes.  Unfortunately there are many churches that will tell you there are.  Overcoming sin or doubts is more likely to take years than it is to take a 4 week class or sermon series.  Just like exercise the process of growing stronger often feels like your getting weaker.  You can’t observe weight loss or strength gain except over long periods of time.  Neither can you see sanctification as it’s taking place.  It’s something you look back on and notice after it’s happened because it’s the result of thousands of little steps and decisions.  

Prayer Time

• Did any of the above strike you as a helpful practice to get more out of the church service? 
• What are ways you could engage more deeply in the church service? 
• Pray that God would use your time in church to sanctify and use you. 

• How have you been approaching Church with the wrong spirit or expectations?
  

 

• Could preparing for church help you experience a greater degree of God’s power during church?
• What could you do this week that would help your church experience?