That Book Rob Bell Wrote

It took going to hell and back to get him into the evangelical time out corner, but Rob Bell has finally unseated Brian McLaren  for the coveted position of “liberal wolf in evangelical sheep’s clothing.” From flippant dismissals from fellow Midwestern pastors to bewilderment to calls of heresy, Bell has found a sweet spot for dissension and anger.

I tried to stay out of this conversation altogether, writing a while ago that worship is our vocation, not deciding who goes to hell and who does not (“Who’s the Judge?“). Maybe providentially, I was offered a pre-publication copy of Francis Chan’s Erasing Hell: What God said about eternity, and the things we made up, which is a response to Bell’s Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. So, not wanting to put the cart before the horse, I read both books over the past two weeks.

First off, Rob Bell believes in hell. He really does. If you don’t think he does then you haven’t read the book. In fact, I think Bell’s book injects one of the single most vital theological arguments on hell to the evangelical conversation to come around in a long time. The main thesis of Bell’s book is not universalism lite, as most critics have argued (more on that later), but that hell does exist. Right here, right now, in our midst.

While Bell does not couch it this way (it would be too point blank for his style), what he sets up in the majority of the book is a counter-part to an already/not-yet view of the kingdom: an already/not-yet view of hell. In arguing that hell exists right here, right now, in the gross injustice, sickness, hopelessness, rage, war, rape, disease, poverty, pillaging, natural disasters, etc., Bell makes a strong case for taking hell very seriously. Love Wins makes a very strong case for a literal interpretation of the role of the kingdom in fighting against the gates of hell and taking death, destruction and darkness head on, like Christ did.

But then there is that pesky chapter 7. Here Bell makes a case for a quasi-universalism. Possibly. I don’t really know. Chapter 7 was really hard to follow and understand. The parable of the prodigal son seemed to be taken a bit out of context, and I couldn’t really follow the logic. I think Love Wins would have been a very different book if this chapter had been more focused, or maybe left out altogether.

For those of you who have heard the warning about Love Wins, that it will lead you down the path of heresy, I don’t buy it, and neither should you. Read it for yourself. Maybe you can figure out Chapter 7!

Love Wins
Rob Bell
HarperOne
$13.79 (Amazon)

The Accidental Anglican

I have written now and again about how in my own life I have experienced a spiritual renewal in recovering the liturgical practices that I forsook while in evangelical and Baptist contexts. So, a book with the title The Accidental Anglican certainly caught my eye, especially the promising sub-title “The Surprising Appeal of the Liturgical Church.” Unfortunately, the title is a bit misleading. There is not as much a discussion of why liturgy should be so appealing it is taken for granted that the appeal of liturgy is self-evident to the reader.

That being said, this is a great book. It is part memoir, part apologia for conservative Anglicanism. Hunter’s journey from the Vineyard movement into an Anglican context is fascinating, and one that is affirming to those who are journeying back to more liturgical contexts.

The apologia Hunter presents in this book is the foundational beliefs for why he is now a missionary bishop within the Anglican church and how this role is an extension of his calling to plant churches. The churches Hunter is planting are inspiring. They are a microcosm of their bishop: charismatic, missional and deeply liturgical. In essence, they are a product of the ancient-future movement and the evangelistic and charismatic zeal of the Vineyard movement (see my review of John Wimber’s Power Healing). Having worked with Wimber for so many years, Hunter has the pedigree to lead such a movement, and the later portion of the book is basically a defense of his model of church planting, which I find convincing.

This book is a delightful memoir and welcome addition to any conversation about how Protestant churches can return to our liturgical roots.

The Accidental Anglican: The Surprising Appeal of the Liturgical Church
Todd D. Hunter
InterVarsity Press
$10.28 (Amazon)

Review: The Book of Men

My review of The Book of Men, Dorianne Laux’s newest book of poetry, is now up on The Englewood Review of Books. An excerpt:

The Book of Men, Dorianne Laux’s latest offering of poetry, is a tableau of the male archetype. The poems, far from presenting the stereotypical nature of man or the masculine, are linked together by the diversity and plainness of different men. Men are captured here in their habitat, specks operating in a humungous and incomprehensible world. No matter how small or great, whether trailer trash or Superman, the men in the poem are set adrift and forlorn but for the simple satisfaction they find in life, women and the world.

To read the rest of the review click here.

Why Business Matters to God

I never thought I would end up spending most of my working hours in the business world. It wasn’t a place I thought I’d be, and it took me by surprise. I had never wanted anything to business, much less big business, yet here I am.

I really wrestled with questions of the validity of my occupation. Business is not seen very positively these days in the church or anywhere else. We may be critical of business, but it touches every aspect of our lives. Sometimes I would despair that this necessary evil was everywhere.

I began to change my outlook on business as more and more businesses have sprung up that do not have profit as their ultimate goal. Some business could do important, meaningful and even kingdom work. You just can’t lump Tom’s Shoes in with Monsanto. Jeff Van Duzer, the dean of business at Seattle Pacific University, captures the purposefulness and godliness of business in his excellent book Why Business Matters to God. In it, he argues that business should have human flourishing as its ultimate goal. You can read my full review at The Englewood Review of Books. An excerpt:

Operating within this “messy middle” between Fall and the Kingdom requires businesspersons to approach business from a kingdom mindset. Too often, in Van Duzer’s perspective, this has meant lowering businesspersons down to second class citizens in the kingdom, whose only purpose is to make money and tithe. Businesspersons, when trying to bring God’s economy into the “messy middle,” are engaged in vocations that are pleasing to God. This means that all the cornerstones of a modern conception of business, even profit, are seen as tools to further God’s economy.

The Crescent Through the Eyes of the Cross

In one of the best books I read last year, Dr. Nabeel Jabbour of The Navigators writes with passion about how Western Christianity has completely missed the boat in terms of relationships with Muslims and how to go about fostering meaningful relationships and cultivating common ground between Muslims and Christians.

The majority of what Jabbour does in the book is seek to reverse the colonialist mentality of many Western and Arab Christians by exploring ways to be in relation with Muslims not as religious adversaries or persons to be feared, but as fellow human beings. Jabbour does this by exploring the narratives of an archetypal Muslim family: how they view Westerners, Western Christians, Jesus, religion, family, proselytizing, and how Arab Christians are not doing enough to build meaningful and real relationships with their Muslim neighbors.  In essence, Jabbour explores the religious and sociological implications of living as neighbors with Islamic people, and how prejudice and judgment too often lead to anger and confusion.

In chapter 14 of the book, Jabbour presents his case for relational evangelism, which is in essence a missional framework. For true engagement and relationships to happen, Jabbour argues that Christianity should be presented relationally, in a way that does not “yank individuals out of their context but rather ministers to them within their context.” This relational evangelism framework is pushed further as Jabbour explores how to properly define the “ekklesia” in a Middle Eastern context and presents case studies of how a use of more grassroots, relational forms of ekklesia, as opposed to the building and membership oriented Western ekklesia. Jabbour illustrates how the ekklesia manifests itself differently within different cultural constructs, and that outside ekklesia models can backfire and sometimes damage relationships and communities.

If for nothing else, this book should be read solely because it provides an Arab Christian’s opinion on how Christianity functions within the Middle Eastern context. There are not enough indigenous voices in this area, and Western Christianity has foolishly listened to our own outsider’s opinions for far too long. This well reasoned and thought provoking will push you to think creatively about how to be relational within your own contexts, and lead you to think outside the box when it comes to a Western viewpoint on the Middle East.

The Crescent Through the Eyes of the Cross: Insights from an Arab Christian
Nabeel Jabbour
NavPress
$10.19 (Amazon)

Books I Read in 2010

Last year I decided to actually record the books I have been reading in a log so that I wouldn’t forget all the books I read like in years past. It came out to 46 books, way more than I thought possible. The number is higher this year because I’ve started listening to audio books, which has been rewarding. Some books are boring if read but entertaining when listened to, and vice versa, so it’s opened up a whole new avenue for me to “read.” I’ve included links to all of the books in the list I’ve reviewed.  Here’s the list:

Fiction

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Pigmy by Chuck Palinuk
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
I Hate To See That Evening Sun Go Down by William Gay
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers by Thomas Mullen
Life of Pi by Yanni Martel
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
S P R A W L by Danielle Dutton
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris

Memoir

Acedia & Me by Kathleen Norris
Shop Class As Soulcraft by Matthew Crawford
The New York Regional Singles Mormon Halloween Dance by Elna Baker
Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter
Heat by Bill Buford
Born Round by Frank Bruni
As Is by Krista Fitch

Poetry

Writing the Silences by Richard Moore
Dialogues with Silence by Thomas Merton
Barbies At Communion by Marcus Goodyear
New Covenant Bound by T. Crunk
Human Chain by Seamus Heaney

Graphic Novel

Genesis: Illustrated by R. Crumb

General Non-Fiction

The Way of Ignorance by Wendell Berry
Into the Wild by John Krakuaer
The Blind Side by Michael Lewis
Terra Madre by Carlo Petrini
The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Relin

Theology/Spirituality

Welcoming Justice by Charles Marsh & John Perkins
Blessed Are the Peacemakers by Wendell Berry
Thy Kingdom Connected by Dwight Freisen
The Wisdom of Stability by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
The Reason for God by Tim Keller
Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller
Manifold Witness by John Franke
Hipster Christianity by Brett McCracken (plus interview)
Centering Prayer by M. Basil Pennington
Fasting: Spiritual Freedom Beyond Our Appetites by Lynne Baab
Contemplative Prayer by Thomas Merton
The Crescent Through the Eyes of the Cross by Nabeel Jabbour
Christmastide: Prayers for Advent through Epiphany by Phyllis Tickle
The Illuminated Heart by Frederica Mathewes-Green
The Paraclete Psalter by Paraclete Press
Farming as a Spiritual Discipline by Ragan Sutterfield

I’d love to hear your thoughts on some of these books. Are some your favorites? Least favorites?