THE JOURNEY

Book tip: Anatomy of Peace

This is a follow up post to my previous post about the reasons church plants fail. 

I think the number one reasons church plants fail (or churches go through crisis) is because there is an inability to deal with conflict well.

I could be spiritual and say that churches operate in a spiritual warzone - and in a war there are always casualties. True - but not much of an excuse...

I have been reading a book on conflict resolution that I want to recommend to you. It’s called ‘Anatomy of Peace’ and it is dynamite! In fact, I have to read so slowly, because I keep being afraid I will miss something.

There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who divide the world into two kinds of people and those who... sorry, couldn’t resist. No: there are two kinds of people in this world: people with ‘a heart of peace’ and people with a heart of war’. They respond to conflict differently. People with a heart of war make conflict worse; people with a heart of peace resolve conflict well. Conflict is inevitable, but ‘how you do conflict’ makes all the difference.

But how do you obtain ‘a heart of peace’? This book helps you get there. It is not a Christian book with lots of bible-truthies in pink cute letters and floral arrangements. In fact: it’s not a Christian book at all (though the way it deals with conflict and heart issues reminds me of lots of truth I also find in Scripture). Written by the Harbinger Institute it tells the story of a group of people who all have their own share of conflict (family, friendships, work- and culture-related). In the course of the story conflict is picked apart and you discover how peace and war work - on a personal scale, as well as on a larger scale.

I wish I had read this ages ago. I have been learning a lot about conflict; how it works, who I am in the midst of conflict and how I can maintain a healthy sense of self in conflict. There are situations in my past that would have had a different conclusion had I known then what I know now.

Book tip: Otherways by Andrew Perriman

For months this site has listed two books on the left hand side that I finished reading long time ago. Truth is I wasn't reading much at all -- except books and magazines on photography.

But this week my friend Andrew Perriman gave me a copy of his new book, 'Otherways.' I have only just started reading it, but I like it a lot! Definitely recommended.

Andrew started a website called Opensource Theology. If you have any interest in the following subjects: theology, emerging church, N.T. Wright, eschatology and/or postmodernism -- this site is a must! The purpose of the site is to "assist the development of an emerging theology for the emerging church." (I like the name of the site: it suggests that we all need to pitch in and give our perspective as we develop this our theology/theologies.

In the book Otherways Andrew has bundled 59 of his own contributions to the site. While Andrew has written other books through regular publishers he published this book himself through Lulu. The book is available here.

How Christianity grew

One of the books I am reading right now is Rodney Stark’s “Cities of God.” It is a book about the first 300 years of Christianity. I studied church history at Tyndale (three classes) and that was always interesting: it was a lot about who said what, and why this church came into existence, and why that church separated from the other one.

This book is different. It looks at Christianity from a sociological angle, and not a theological one. I am learning all kinds of interesting things!

Here are a few things I have discovered so far:

• By the year 40 (ish), there were about 1000 Christians in the whole world. By 350 there were about 32 million!
  
• How would such a growth be accomplished? What sort of growth-rate would it require? It could happen if 3.4% new Christians were added annually!
  
• It has been suggested that Christianity was a faith of the oppressed: slaves, the poor, and people deprived of Roman rights. But that is not true. Research shows that ‘the early Christians were drawn mainly from the ranks of the privileged.’
  
• For the first 300 years Christianity was very much an urban faith: few people living outside the city came into contact with Christians. You see this in Paul’s travels for instance: he travels from city to city.
  
• So why did Christianity grow so strongly? Remember it had to face fierce persecution every now and then! It grew because Christians took care of each other – and of all people.
  Ancient cities were regularly plagued by disaster: war, disease, fire, epidemics, etc. When these things happened people would leave their sick and weak to die. As soon as the plague hit a city (and that happened more often than you think), people would leave a city. But the Christians would stay behind. They would take care of all the sick – even their enemies. It was this radical love for others that caused so many people to convert to Christianity. As Stark says: “Christians created a miniature welfare state in an empire which for the most part lacked social services” (p. 30).
  When Emperor Julian launched a campaign to revive paganism, he recognized that to do so it would be necessary to match Christian “benevolence.” But this was asking the impossible (p. 31).

Interesting stuff, don't you think? I (and many people whoare better thinkers on this subject than me) wonder about this question a lot: how can Christianity again become a way of life for more and more Europeans? How can it become a grassroots movement again?

My reading stack

I have a small reading stack ofbooks by my bed (pictured). It is the result of book recommendations by friends whose advice I take very seriously). It is also the result of having worked so hard for three years that I haven’t been able to keep up with all the good stuff that has been coming out. Furthermore, it is the result of discovering so many things I need to know more about. Lastly, it is the result of a desire – and a need – to invest in my own sense of spirituality.
Now that I have time I am reading. Still not as much as I would like, but at least I am reading again.

Truly inspiring read

Someone asked me last week if I was reading anything good. As a matter of fact I am. And it’s not just good, it’s really good! It’s Following Jesus, by N.T. Wright. I warmly recommend it. The chapters are small and mostly independent. I read it as my devotional right now. NT Wright’s understanding of scripture is so deep and profound, and it makes these chapters strike home in a major way – every single one.

Creation Regained

I am reading 'Creation Regained' right now. it is a book about God's plan for the world in which we live. It explains how God's purpose for this world even now after the fall is so much more than just saving the christians before the world is destroyed.

I first came in touch with this line of thinking after reading and hearing N.T. Wright. But apparently some people in Holland were already thinking this way well before. Apparently they were called proponents of the 'Wijsbegeerte der Wetsidee' (WDW for short) -- don't ask me to translate that. Among them are Herman Ridderbos and Herman Dooyeweerd.

Gerard kelly of Crossroads Amsterdam gave me this book when I told him what I was thinking about. He also gave me 'Church After Christendom' by Stuart Murray. I plan to read that next.

If you know anything about these books, theologians, or like this idea, drop me a line...

Excellent books

I am reading two excellent books at the moment. One feels like it is changing my life. It is 'Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas.' My favorite statement by Bono these days, speaking about Debt Relief and the fight against AIDS in Africa: "This is not about charity--it's about justice." This book, like the person it is about, rocks, and it (he) is rocking my world!

The other book is 'Creating a healthier church, by Ronald W. Richardson.' It is all about how a church community can have healthy relationships, and when and how relationships become unhealthy. It draws on family systems theory, and so it is really two for the price of one: a great book on healthy church relationships, and a great book healthy family relationships!

Also, just read on the Emergesque website by Stephen Shields, that Kyle Lake, pastor of University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, died. He received an electric shock when he was doing a baptism and grabbed a microphone while standing in the water. Kyle was 33. University Baptist Church was one of the first churches in the US to really start thinking about postmodernism. Its former pastor, Chris Seay, started UBC, and the church became internationally known for their innovative approach. I don't actually mean this is as pun, but it's shocking news.

GOOD BOOKS

I am reading a great bunch of books: Your God is too safe, by Mark Buchanan, reads like a devotional. I read a chapter most days, and then think about it all through the day. It is really the first time somebody is succeeding in making spiritual disciplines sound attractive to me!

I have also just finished The last word and the word right after that by Brian McLaren. It is the third part to this 'a new kind of christian' trilogy, and I really liked it. As Brian says in the foreword: this is not high-quality fiction--and it isn't intended to be. Instead it is conversation that helps you understand the subject matter better.
The subject-matter in this book is, in one word, hell. Brian attempts to deconstruct our view of hell, and I think he does a pretty good job of it. By deconstruct, I don't mean 'destruct,' but rather, pull it apart to assess how different hidden assumptions have allowed us to misunderstand some things, and to construct a better understanding now that we can actually see those assumptions for what they are. I recommend the book highly (the whole trilogy for that matter!), but be sure it will rock your faith in places (which I think is a good thing!).

One thought I had this morning, is that now all the trilogies I have known have come to an end. First the Matrix trilogy, then the Lord of the Rings trilogy, then Star Wars (which we recently saw as a family), and now the new kind of Christian trilogy. Sad!

Confusing and exciting!

The last few weeks I have been listening to some lectures given by NT Wright. They have excited me a great deal! I have given them to everybody on the XRR management team, and now all of us are listening to them, and talking about them.
(You can find them on www.opensourcetheology.net; the lectures are here).

So I ordered some books by NT Wright (his name is Tom). Today I received from Amazon 'Jesus and the victory of God,' 'The New Testament and the people of God,' and 'Rediscovering Jesus.' I have started reading them, and they are fascinating!