Sports Break

There have been plenty of years to call Seattle sports boring. Two years ago was absolutely abysmal, losing the Sonics to Oklahoma City, the Mariners losing 100+ games, and the Seahawks only garnering 4 wins.

I’ve dealt with losing the Sonics and the Mariners made great strides last year. There was much to be optimistic about as baseball season ended and the Seahawks were expected to bounce back and contend. They didn’t. Another miserable season. But the offseasons for the ‘Hawks and the Mariners have not been at all boring.

The Mariners have been absolutely amazing this offseason. The Seahawks have decided to get in the ‘making-news-in-the-offseason’ fray.

They’ve sacked Jim Mora and it looks like they’re on their way to signing Pete Carroll away from USC. I’m not sure how much I like this move. I’m warming up to it a little, but there are concerns. He was barely .500+ as a pro coach, but he’s had great success in running the USC program for the last decade. Running a program, which is beyond just coaching, may help him run the Seahawk organization – because it seems he coming here to do more than just coach. I don’t know enough about what it takes to run a college program so I could be way off.

I’m not excited, but I wouldn’t know, unless it was a big name (Holmgren, Cowher), whether any move was good because I don’t know the lesser names. Here are some links to the Seattle response on the matter.

Steve Kelley (Seattle Times)

Field Gulls (Seahawk fan blog)

MyNorthwest.com/ESPN Radio Seattle

A Prayer Challenge

Yesterday I mentioned I read a prayer book each year. We’re teaching on prayer at our church so I thought (since I’m preaching next Sunday and February 7) that it might be a good time to at least start the book. Maybe it will have some useful insight for the teaching series. My book this year? Experiencing Prayer with Jesus by Henry & Norman Blackaby.

I’d be lying if I said I’ve been reading carefully or even, dare I say it, prayerfully. Ironic, I suppose. But it really challenged me the other night. Enough so that I either need to put the book down or really prepare to be changed.

I often hear the challenge to believe what you pray. Believe that God can answer. That’s good and it makes sense, but they didn’t go there. At least not at this point. Instead, they ask this: “Have you resolved that no matter what God reveals to you and requires of you through prayer, your answer is an unqualified yes, even before He shows you?”

I know I’m always supposed to be obedient. I know God wants me to pray. I know He wants me to obey when He directs me in prayer. But there’s something about this that is particularly challenging to me. Maybe it shouldn’t be, but it is.

Do I go into prayer saying, “Yes, God. I don’t know what you’re going to ask yet, but ‘Yes.’ I’ll do it”? I don’t think I consciously do that and it seems like a risk to do so. But I agree that the cost of not doing it is greater.

Am I the only one that finds this challenging?

Keep on Praying

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it here, but I’ve mentioned it in messages before. Prayer comes naturally to some people. They ‘connect’ in a meaningful and personal way when they pray. I don’t. At least I don’t ‘feel’ it. It is often a challenging discipline for me rather than a joy. One of the things that helps me, though, is that I read a prayer book each year – just to continue challenging me and keeping prayer in front of me so I do it more.

I’ve also re-started working through The Divine Hours by Phyllis Tickle. It’s a book of fixed hour prayers that is easier to navigate than the Book of Common Prayer. I did it a couple years ago and it became stale after a little over a year, but it was a tremendous help at the time. It’s helping again. Just by checking in – even if via borrowed prayers – helps me stay more conscious of what God is doing around me and has me closer to praying without ceasing than a little time in prayer in the morning and maybe a little more at night. Experience tells me it won’t last forever, but it’s helpful for now.

What about you? What do you do to keep a strong prayer life?

On the Reading List for 2010

The reading list always expands because I need to read stuff for work, but here’s the goals (always subject to change) for 2010.

Currently reading…
Jesus Wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell
Bringing Up Boys by James Dobson
City of God by Augustine (probably several posts to come after I finish blogging Missional Renaissance).
Mentoring Leaders by Carson Pue

Notables coming off the shelf soon…
Show Them No Mercy edited by Stanley Gundry
The Lost Virtue of Happiness by J.P. Moreland and Klaus Issler
Andrew Jackson by H.W. Brands
Announcing the Kingdom by Arthur Glasser
Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers by Christopher Hall

I also hope to study the “New Atheism” and some of those who are engaging culture as they present the gospel (Tim Keller’s The Reason for God).

There are a few more, but I hope this will bring out some gems worth talking about throughout the year.

Best Books of 2009, Part 2

Here’s the back half of my favorite books of 2009 with some honorable mentions.

When God Says War is Right
I blogged this here (set link). It was an interesting walk through the just war theory. I’ve heard of it, but didn’t really understand it. This is a pretty layman’s level look at the issue and really helpful. Cole walks through recent American conflicts and discusses whether they were in alignment with just war theory. It

Missional Renaissance
There are a handful of books I wanted to blog, but I’m just going to have to bail on them so I can blog on the current books I’ll be reading. I’m deciding between blogging No Perfect People Allowed (check yesterday’s list) or Missional Renaissance by Reggie McNeal (I don’t think those others ‘on the bubble’ will make it – The Oresteia or Servolution). I think it will be McNeal because it is such a paradigm shifting book.

The subtitle is changing the scorecard for the church. We count bodies, offerings, and buildings, but this book challenges us to re-think what we should be about. It is a challenge to be an outward-facing church. I won’t get too deep into it because I hope to get deeper into it later this month blogging. Well worth the read, though.

The Tipping Point
This was likely my favorite book of the year and I didn’t even read it. My wife and I listened to it – with Pixar’s Cars showing in the back seats – during our trip to Seattle this summer. Malcolm Gladwell narrated his own book and it was full of interesting insight. I think I learn better visually than audibly so I haven’t soaked the book in thoroughly, but now I’ve started listening to it for the second time.

It had some insights on community (the rule of 150) and leadership (connectors, mavens, and salesmen) that I need to think through in terms of how church is/should be done. Gladwell is an interesting thinker. I’m not sure if he’s right, but he takes a different angle on basic research that is fascinating. I’m a fan. I’ve already bought Blink, trying hard to save it for my next road trip. I hope I can hold out that long.

Honorable Mentions
I liked these books this year and would encourage you to read them if they look like something you might need. Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus. Sticky Church by Larry Osborne. Servolution by Dino Rizzo.

Best Books of 2009, Part 1

Just to clarify, this is the best books I read in 2009, not the best books published in 2009. I have no idea what they are. I suppose I could say I’m not into ‘chronological snobbery’ as I’ve heard CS Lewis calls it – the idea that the only good ideas (or books) are new ones. It’s more that I’m so far behind in my reading that I’m working through books on my bookshelf that are fairly old. And yet, I still want to read them. So here we go …

I read 38 books last year and it wasn’t a particularly fascinating year of reading. A few of these books are re-reads that I’m going through with our group of interns. Of the 38 books, six distinguished themselves in my mind. There’s no particular standard and these are in no particular order. We’ll do three today, three tomorrow.

Compassion, Justice, and the Christian Life
Lupton’s (forgot the first name) was an interesting look at how the church can genuinely combat poverty in urban areas and how everyone, particularly businessmen, can use their gifts to move beyond handouts to genuinely helping people grow and take responsibility for breaking the cycle of poverty. A really short book (just over 100 pages) that is worth the read for those seeking to minister among the poor.

The Dip
Seth Godin’s little book is helpful and will be early reading for all my future interns. He says winners quit all the time. They just quit the right things. And when they find that thing they want to be successful at, they go for it and pay the price, knowing the payoff will be worth it. The key to quitting or succeeding is doing it before the dip … and sticking through the dip if you’re going for it.

No Perfect People Allowed
John Burke talks about how his team has sought to create a church that lives the culture of ‘no perfect people allowed.’ They are looking for people who are far from God, but moving toward Him. He talks about how they create the culture and help people move toward embracing Christ as their hope. I hope to blog it, but this book is so good I’ve loaned it out both my copies – and I’m not buying a third!

Happy New Year!

Each morning when I get to the office I take a minute or two to read a brief devotional. I finished The Passion of Jesus Christ by John Piper. Two page devotions on the difference the cross makes. Lately I’ve been reading Ragman and Other Stories by Walter Wangerin, Jr. He has a story called, “Meditation on a New Year’s Day.” It’s a meditation on God’s greatness and how amazing it is that He loves us. One particular thought reminds me of the last few chapters of Job – some of my favorite chapters in the Bible. I hope they challenge/encourage you, too.

Who knows the beginning of the things which we can know? Theory! Theory! We chirp theories like chickadees, because ignorance is a terrifying thing and we need the noise. But when I can with courage know I do not know; when I admit that I stand with my back to a void, that I am indeed blind to the beginning of my own things, then I am silenced. Then I am chilled by my own triviality – some dust at the edge of the desert. Nevertheless, you kneel down, and find me, and tell me that you love me. (p. 7)

He loves you. Happy New Year’s.