Brandon Ives

The following is an excerpt of My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers

“Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3)

The New Testament notices things that do not seem worthy of notice by our standards. “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” This literally means, “Blessed are the paupers.” Paupers are remarkably commonplace! The preaching of today tends to point out a person’s strength of will or the beauty of his character—things that are easily noticed. The statement we so often hear, “Make a decision for Jesus Christ,” places the emphasis on something our Lord never trusted.

He never asks us to decide for Him, but to yield to Him—something very different. At the foundation of Jesus Christ’s Kingdom is the genuine loveliness of those who are commonplace. I am truly blessed in my poverty. If I have no strength of will and a nature without worth or excellence, then Jesus says to me, “Blessed are you, because it is through your poverty that you can enter My kingdom.” I cannot enter His kingdom by virtue of my goodness—I can only enter it as an absolute pauper.

Labels: Book, christianity, Oswald Chambers, poverty

I recently picked up Healing the Heartbreak of Grief by Dr. James Flamming (former pastor at FBC Richmond). Currently I am taking a class on congregational trauma and thought this might be an interesting book to read alongside the course. It is.

Drawing on his personal encounters with grief, which includes the loss of a son, Flamming guides the reader through the stages of grief. Ranging from loss, pain, suffering, the day to day struggle, and finding strength beyond yourself, the most captivating aspect of the book is the shear honesty in it.

At one point the words of a mother who has lost a son to cancer appear saying,

I go to the grocery store, and everything goes on just as if nothing has happened. I want to stand at the door and scream, Don't you know what has happened? My son is gone. His future is gone. His promise is gone. His wife has no husband and his children have no father. Our lives have changed forever, and you go on gathering your groceries as if none of this matters.

All of us at one point or another will feel this way. I remember hearing of the death of a young man that I had ministered to for years. At nineteen, his life was taken by a car accident that most people would have walked away from. I walked around for a week in a daze. Sure, I went to work. I cared for my son. I did my normal activities, but I wanted to scream out to the world, "This Young Man Has Died And We Just Keep Going..."

We did. The next weeks kept going and we continued to do the things necessary to sustain our life. But is that right? It is and Dr. Flamming helps us understand why.

If you or someone close to you has suffered a loss recently, I would recommend this book. It doesn't provide easy answers but it helps us live with our questions.

Labels: Book, God, Grief, Peter James Flamming, Review

Recently I picked up The Smell of Sawdust by Richard Mouw for $1.39 at Lifeway. (Don't we love Clearance) I have really enjoyed this read. For those of us, who where raised among the evangelical crowd this book is a good review of where we came. Mouw endorses the best of the Fundamentalism, yet is not blind to the realities of its many shortcomings.

During the chapter, Fundamentalism Revisited, Mouw shares an analogy given to him by his predecessor David Hubbard. He said we evangelicals should look at the battles fought by previous generations in much the same way that American citizens honor the memories of those who fought in the Revolutionary War. "I can go to Bunker Hill," he said, "and feel patriotic, even though I have no animosity toward the present-day British."

If we could only live such a life. All to often, we live the battles of the past over and over again...

I am appreciative of those who have fought for truth, but not always proud of how they won. Every victory has losses, but our Christian witness, our generous spirit, our ability to forgive should never be the victim. Perhaps there is still much to learn from our past.

And perhaps this book is a place to be reminded of that again.

Labels: Book, Richard Mouw, Theology

Seth Godin has an interesting ebook out that discusses what's next...

He has taken one page submissions from 70 "big thinkers" and called our attention to the big ideas to come in 2010.

Contributors include Chris Anderson, Ariana Huffington, Guy Kawasaki, Dave Ramsey and many more... It is worth taking a look at being absolutely free.

Find Seth Godin's Blog Post Here

Labels: Book, Ideas, Seth Godin