Book Review: Free at Last

For years I’ve enjoyed the teaching of Dr. Tony Evans on his radio program: The Urban Alternative. Dr. Evans has a amazing ability to draw illustrations to the Scriptures that draw you in to seeing the deeper truths of the Bible. If you’ve ever look in the mirror frustrated, or even disgusted, by what you see, feeling locked in the image staring back at you (a person who continually fails sometimes even five minutes after you just vowed you wouldn’t do that “thing” again) or weighed down by the weight of a past pain or hurt which not enough time or prayer has been able to heal, or wondering if you will ever “be more” or “measure up,” then this book is for you. Dr. Evans explores the problem of Christians who continue to sin and who do not fully utilize the freedom they have received in Christ.

He compares Satan to a plantation owner who knows that legally his slaves have been freed, but who tries to convince them that they’ll never make it in this world without him. He says that sometimes we need to make it to rock bottom before we realize who Christ isin our lives. Many Christians know they are free from the eternal penalty of their sins, but they are still in bondage to sin on this earth. Dr. Evans reveals how Satan has skillfully used that lie to hold Christians in a prison from which Christ has already set them free. He also shows you how to maintain your freedom once you realize it. It’s already yours, you just need to realize it, believe it and live it. “Free at Last” is an inspiring and encouraging book, both for those who have not confessed Christ and for those who have been Christians for many years.

Book Review: Forgotten God

On my birthday my beautiful wife walked in the house with a few surprises from a local bookstore, one of them was the book Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit by Francis Chan. Chan, who just recently announced he’s leaving the church he help plant, is a radical teacher that doesn’t fit into any wooden description (such as liberal, or conservative). Chan, who is mostly known for his book “Crazy Love” has also been teaching at numerous conferences and is a refreshing voice the culture of self promotion. I believe he has been placed by God in this generation to wake the church up and invite us back to walking intimately with God.

In this book, he talks about the forgotten member of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit. He rightfully asserts that differing beliefs concerning the Holy Spirit has caused some just not to teach on Him or strive to experience His presence in their lives today. He is alive and waiting to be more apparent in our lives. In seven easy to read chapters Chan covers the following topics:

The role of the Holy Spirit as Jesus’ promised gift.
Fears and concerns about the Holy Spirit
How theology about the Holy Spirit has more to do with how a person lives than what they say they believe.
Motivations around the Holy Spirit and his power.
What a relationship with the Holy Spirit can really be like.
Letting go of manipulation and control by trusting the Holy Spirit.
Living in true community with the Holy Spirit and with others.

For a book to be as hard hitting on these themes as it is, the tone Chan takes hardly comes across as a harsh reprimand. There is a pastoral gentleness and humility that flow through these chapters, possibly because the author often uses his shortcomings as examples. It is balanced with his unbridled passion for something better. It is a contagious proposition. For readers who have already embraced the message from Chan’s first book, “Crazy Love,” you will find another winner here. For those who are reading him for the first time, you have found a new, encouraging friend, and Pastor. Please pick this book up for yourself , small group, or for a friend, I highly recommend it.

Next Book Review will be next Wednesday May 19th…

A simple message for Christians and non-Christian friends

This is not easy to post because it may offend many of you, but I do not write on this blog, live my life, say what I say, for anyones sake, only for the Glory of God. Please watch the video and take a second to evaluate what he said and whether it’s true. Then search your heart and respond.

“The same sun that hardens the clay also softens the wax.” -Puritan Proverb

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=587JL4Kzfu0]

How can I pray for you?

Over the last few years in my life I have lost touch of many of you and it pains me deeply. Many mornings my wife and I, who still have a heart for each of you, occasionally have had the experience of having many of you laid on my heart. So I am asking a very simple question… How can I pray for you?

Please leave your name (or initials)
Prayer request.

Thank you and know that I love you… more than you will ever know.

Christians and Tipping Part 2

This post is a continuation from Part 1 of this conversation. Click here to read Part 1

Even though many of my Christian friends are generous in tipping when they go out most of the times, no matter how generous you just were in church to the family whose house burned down, the typical Christian still seen as downright stingy. Don’t believe me? Ask any server’s honest opinion (when they’re not waiting on you of course).   

I can vividly remember one night; a Christian couple had a problem with their food taking much longer than it should have (remember, they were on their way to the concert). Management was diligent to attempt to rectify the problem by giving the couple half off their meal. Guess what they left the server? $0.30 and then they rushed out the door to go worship God! Of course they let us know about that!

As someone whom I’ve had many conversations about the gospel with, and a genuinely open person ordinarily, he could only rant, and ask me, “Do unto others, huh? Turn the other cheek, huh? What about forgiveness?! Or patience??? And these are the people that dress up every Sunday and give their ten percent, and think that earns them the right to go to heaven?” (I’m not exaggerating – that is exactly what he said, except for the parts not suitable for this forum). If only that were an isolated incident! We fail to realize that because we [Christians] tend to appear all at once, in large groups, and giving good service becomes extremely difficult. Servers frequently wind up penalized rather than blessed by our presence, and then we “judge” them under extreme conditions. The server mentioned earlier? He was upset because his customers not only left her a poor tip; to make matters immeasurably worse, they also left her a gospel tract. Seriously, This is too common an occurrence and it has to stop. As if you think that’s going to make up for not paying someone for services rendered, much less show her God’s “abundant” love? Believe me, your 10-cent tract – AND Christ’s reputation – is going to wind up shredded in the trashcan. I know; I was once a non-Christian server.

Most of us take great pains to study the cultural norms of a foreign land before taking a missions trip, to ensure that we do not unknowingly offend someone, but I’m afraid that we have dropped the ball on the home front. We are told to be wise in the way we treat “outsiders” (Col 4:5) and to be generous on every occasion (1 Corinthians 9:8). Tipping well only for top performance implies a “works based” mentality and not a grace based mentality like the gospel. The sad fact is, Christians are known for being 10% tippers even for good service, which hurts your server to the heart. So please, especially if your server will know you’re a Christian, consider your tip a missions offering, and try representing your Father’s lavishly giving nature. Tip 20% (take the total tab, double it, and move the decimal – $42 tab = $8.40 tip). Got a social outing as a group? Why not conspire to leave $20 beyond what you would have? I know a (very) few people who regularly drop an extra $5-$20 when no one is looking, just to make up for how badly they know the rest of their group tipped. God uses that act too! However, if you finally decide that you cannot practice the simple cultural norm of tipping adequately (if not extravagantly) – in the future, when you’re going to a Christian event that fills up our local restaurants, for the sake of the gospel… could you at least practice the discipline of fasting?

What do you think?

Could you practice fasting?

Christians and Tipping Part 1

Another night at the restaurant that I work at and I try to get myself ready for the divine appointments/ conversations that God has setup for me once again. I begin to setup my section and greet my fellow coworkers with messages that are meant to point them towards our Father and then the manager calls us over to the line up. Roll call…check! Now for housekeeping to let us know what they expect, and gives us the parties that are in town or joining us that shift; and then it comes. The manager announces that there is a Christian convention in town, local Church, or ___________ Christian event coming to the restaurant and the groans begin. This time was a little different though after the meeting a young lady that I worked with asks an honest and long-deserved question,

“Why are Christian people the worst tippers?” OUCH!

It’s so true. As a whole, Christians are thought of by restaurant workers to be among the absolute worst tippers of any single identifiable group. Sundays after church, and during events like the one mentioned, Christians go out in large numbers, perhaps unaware of how poorly they are representing the gospel to a very specific and largely “un-reached” and hurting people group, their servers. This is not a letter from a server complaining about how some people tip, I do well at my job. This is a post from one brother in Christ to other Christians, to inform them of the horrendous damage we do to the Gospel on a regular basis. Probably the best answer to why we are often the worst tippers is very likely, “ignorance.” Living such vastly different lifestyles than many servers and bartenders, my belief (or honest hope) is that the average Christian is simply unaware that 20% of one’s total bill is the expected minimum gratuity one should ever leave in a full-service restaurant. Anything less is personally offensive to the person who served you. Many family-oriented, frugality-minded Christians eat out infrequently it seems, and it is sometimes a large indulgence for them to even go to a restaurant (I understand that, but your non-Christian servers don’t). Especially after giving at church on Sundays, the tip is an easy place to begin to cut back. I have even heard more than a few professing Christians say, “I gave God 10%, why should you get more?” Others may get away with leaving less, but for the Christian it comes down to the fact that personally offending a person all but destroys your chance of them being open to the Gospel (Pr 18:19). For the Christian, it must never be an issue of whether the server even deserved a good tip or not – do you deserve heaven? No! We are called to reflect this in our dealings with the world, by being both merciful and generous to those who may not always be deserving of it either.

What do you think?

Have you seen this?

Are you a bad tipper?