outside is better

Reading in 2013

Yes, I know this is pretty much a month late. Let's just say I wanted to have some time to think over my list.

Like many seminarians, I dreamt of the day in which I could spend my time reading any book I wanted, no matter how simple or complex it seemed. I thought days like that would come after school...but anyone on this side of education laughs at the thought.

Around October last year I actually began making the time to read again. It was great. I knocked out around 5-6 books in the last few months of the year and realized I wanted to plan out my reading in 2013.

I made a short list. It is actually not very interesting, somewhat old and even trivial, but these are my official "must reads" of 2013.

1. You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church...and Rethinking Faith by David Kinnaman. I actually finished this last week. It was as interesting and insightful as I have heard. Anyone involved in the leadership and design of the local church needs to read it. Kinnaman really makes the complicated social structure of sub 40's faith accessible.

2. E M Bounds: The Classic Collection on Prayer (Pure Gold Classic) by E.M. Bounds. This is a classic early 20th century collection of writings on prayer. Bounds was a Methodist clergyman who spent the last part of his life in publication and deep prayer. This is the type of book that really shakes things up. I started reading it late last year and hope to finish it soon. At almost 600 pages it can be quiet the beast, but the chapters are short and really easily read in devotional times.

3. Imagining the Kingdom: How Worship Works (Cultural Liturgies) by James. K.A. Smith. I read "Desiring the Kingdom" several years ago and it was amazing. I was really excited to find out he is continuing the thread. This isn't out just yet, but I am really excited about it.

4.Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life by William Law. This is old school. As a Methodist pastor I tend to be fascinated with John Wesley's devotional practices. This book was formative to him. I want to read it this year. I tracked down a good edition last year and I am excited to read it deeply.

5.Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church by N.T. Wright. FULL DISCLOSURE. I have never read ANY N.T. Wright. He never popped up on a reading list in seminary and I didn't fall quickly into him early on in my studies like many of my classmates (I read James Smith and Barry Harvey pretty heavily). When I began formal academic work on Revelation a few friends shared they thought I must have read alot of Wright. Since I never had, I considered my thesis an experiment in writing a modern eschatology without the influence of Wright. I need to now rectify the problem. I have been saving this book for about 2 years.

Those are my formal reading plans. I have finished a few other books and have some in my que, but they aren't "essential readings" formally. Did you plan any reading this year? Share what you are most excited about in the comments.

Reading during Lent

A few years ago I picked up the pattern to practice an intentional devotion read throughout season of the calender as well as different parts of the Christian year. Sometimes these readings make alot of sense and at other times I just set aside something to intentional read and pray through.

This lent I wanted to do a light level study of the desert fathers, the Christian monastic tradition found in Egypt from around 300 AD to 600 AD. This tradition is different from the more familiar European monastic tradition most of us are aware off. Instead of living in communities together, most of these lived in either small networks or totally alone.

I am halfway through my readings and think this was the perfect focus in Lent this year. It has provided plenty of new thoughts, truths and depth to my life as a Christian. Here are the books I decided to read.

1. Athanasius : The Life of Antony -St. Athanasius. The book that started it all, a biography of the first well known desert Father, St. Anthony. Written by church father St. Athanasius, this biography called many to the life of the desert. It is possibly the easiest book written by a church father, I would encourage it to just about anyone.

2. Desert Father: In the Desert with Saint Anthony-a modern look at Anthony, it is written from the perspective of the author's investigation into the Desert life. He has conversations with Lazarus, a contemporary hermit living close to Anthony's cave.

3. The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection (Cistercian Studies) -A collection of the proverbs of those who followed Anthony into the Desert. Many of these sayings influenced early church theological development and the movement of devotion and discipline that carries through to our own modern Christianity.

This has been a great devotional cycle for Lent and I will be excited to finish it and see where it leads. What are you reading this Lent?

 

Worship Wednesdays: A bit of Old and a bit of New

I like to use plenty of scripture when I design worship. Years ago, a mentor suggested learning to weave the larger story of scripture in services. Instead of leaning on one longer reading, find several related pieces of scripture and use them throughout the service. This was great advice. I want to show you one of the ways that I do this.

One of my favorite academic resources is the Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament from Baker Academic Press. This book looks at the usage of Old Testament passages in the New Testament. It does so much more than simply list, but gets into the theological reasoning behind why these passages relate. The book shows the "quotations, allusions and echoes" that are found in the New Testament. One of my favorite writers, G.K. Beale, edited the book and it is a huge resource.

But we aren't writing an exegesis paper...we are designing worship. Here is how I used the book this week when planning worship for my community.

I am preaching from 1 Peter 2:2-5 on Sunday. I knew that I wanted to use more scripture to serve as the call to worship, an additional scripture reading during the praise set and perhaps even the benediction.

1Pet. 2:2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation—
1Pet. 2:3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
1Pet. 2:4  Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and
1Pet. 2:5 like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (NRSV)

D.A Carson (who wrote the section on 1st Peter) notes three main OT reflections for my scripture; Ps. 118:22-23, Is. 8:14-15 and 28:16. These images deal with the "stone" imagery found in verses 4-5.  Peter also utilizes Psalm 34 in the language of "calling, tasting and seeing." As you see, there are plenty great images already built in the main scripture for the sermon. I wanted to enrich those images.

Ultimately, I settled on Psalm 34:5-6 for my call to worship, and took it out of the NLT.

Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;
         no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
In my desperation I prayed, and the LORD listened;
         he saved me from all my troubles.

For the additional scripture reading I chose Psalm 118:22-24, also from the NLT.

The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing, and it is wonderful to see. This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

I made these decisions after thinking how the specific language of these pieces fit in congregational worship. I decided to save the Isaiah passage (28) for the sermon. When it came time for the benediction, I ultimately decided to use another piece from 1 Peter 2 (2:9-10) that helps continue the scriptural path Peter has laid out.

Books like these are a great resource to worship designers who design services around a sermon title and text. For churches wanting plenty of scripture in the service, resources like this book help build a strong theological thread through worship. One of my main goals is getting people participate in the narrative of scripture. This service fit the bill!

Search for resoures that help you find these larger themes of scripture. It can be a wonderful addition to your toolbox.

An Annotated Advent Bibliography

This week I have started to do some planning for our Advent services at Asbury Seminary for next month.  A quick trip to the library for some resources both excited and disappointed me. While Advent has been getting press over the last few years (mainly through the great Advent Conspiracy movement), I was surprised to not see more short theological works on the holiday.  I found some interesting devotionals, and great additions in books that dealt with the Christian Year, but nothing "full-length" really jumped out.  Below are a few books that I did pull of the shelves and took a cursory look at.  If you have any additions, please leave them in the comments.

I don't want to discourage anyone from looking more into advent, my liturgical geekery just got the best of me today. 

Annotated Bibliography For Advent:

In no particular order

Bock, Emil. The Rhythm of the Christian Year : Renewing the Religious Cycle of Festivals. Floris Books, 2000.  

Bock offers a wide (but quick and accesible glance) toward the topic of the Christian Year.   His strengths are in explaining the devotional attitude for the seasons, as well as an interesting look at the development of the festivals, as well as some of the transitions from pagan to Christian Holiday.  A sense of consecration as well as deep sacredness to many things are the books strength.  It’s weakness lies in the fact that it really doesn’t say that much.  Written in the late 40’s (I couldn’t find an exact date, this is the 5th edition) it seems to be in step with the unique theological situation of Protestantism coming out of Continental Liberalism.  A good book, but for a practical and theological view of advent, it didn’t hit the mark.

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, John Donne, Meister Eckhart, T.S. Eliot, Gerard Manley Hopkins, C. S. Lewis, Thomas Merton, Archbishop Romero, Henri J.M. Nouwen, and Philip Yancey. Watch For The Light: Readings For Advent And Christmas. Orbis Books, 2004.  

A devotional book (dated from Nov 24th to Jan 7th) it is filled with daily readings from numerous authors.  The meditations can be used in private worship, but also would serve as a great source for thoughts surrounding the holiday for teaching and preaching.


Meeks, Blair Gilmer. Expecting the Unexpected: An Advent Devotional Guide. 1st ed. Upper Room, 2006.  

Another devotional book.  Instead of offering meditations, this book prompts the reader with scripture readings (daily and weekly), directed prayer and short meditations.  A good feature of this book is the integration of the advent hymns of Charles Wesley.  This seems to be an involved devotional, but good for someone wanting to spend time this advent season in private worship and reflection.


Wright, Wendy M. The Vigil: Keeping Watch in the Season of Christ's Coming. Upper Room, 1998.  

The Vigil takes the reader through Advent and Christmas.  It deals heavily with the Old Testament witness.  I find that this resource really helps ground the prophetic theme that rests inside of advent, as well as the eschatological idea of waiting and promise.  This is a theological resource, while still remaining accessible.


Marshall, William. O Come Emmanuel: Scripture Verses for Advent Worship. Morehouse Pub., 1993.  

Dealing with the liturgical idea of Antiphon, this book draws through the “Great O’s”, some of the great advent hymns from the high church tradition.  These hymns are part of the prophetic tradition and they deal with Mary’s Magnificat.  Good resource for designing services for advent.


Webber, Robert E. Rediscovering the Christian Feasts: A Study in the Services of the Christian Year. Hendrickson Publishers, 1998.  

This contribution comes from Protestant worship giant Robert E. Webber.  This is a short book that gives glancing worksheets on the Christian Year.  It’s advent contribution is minimal, but still loaded.  The book also gives a good introduction to Christian time.  This would be a great read for anyone interested (or skeptical) about the Christian year and it’s importance.

Webber, Robert. Ancient-Future Time: Forming Spirituality through the Christian Year. Baker Books, 2004.  

While longer in form (and not a workbook), another Webber resource offers broader strokes regarding the Christian Year.  This is a deeper theological resource, and like everything of Webber’s I have seen, it looks great.

Like I said, this is just the fruits of my labor this afternoon, I wouldn't call this list anywhere close to exhaustive.  From previous experience, I would also welcomes Wesley's Hymns on the Nativity

Weddings and Ankles

I am spending my weekend working two weddings at Asbury in the sound booth.  I am the only engineer here this summer so I am doing around two of these bad boys a weekend.  It is not so bad except I had a nasty fall in the garden this week and ending up twisting/spraining/screwing up my ankle.  We actually thought it was broke for awhile, but now I just think I have some strained muscles involved.  It makes running up and down the stairs to the balcony hard.

While I have been doing all of this I have been reading Mark Galli's "Beyond Smells & Bells", and really enjoying it    .  The book is filled with small chapters that extol the beauty of liturgical life, and explain why the liturgy keeps us grounded in the story of the kingdom.  Without ever attacking, Galli manages to re-direct us from a path of narcissistic worship toward a worship that is enthralled with the story of God and our participation in it.

There is no way to find a singular piece to sum it up, but I will attempt bring out a point.  The author brings up how Enlightenment thought has brought us up thinking that individualism and intellectual pride are the foundational elements of life. 

"While this insight has blessed the Western world in many ways, it has led to an excruciating loneliness, as well, which the nineteenth-and twentieth-century existentialists (Camus, Sartre,among others) articulated so powerfully, and in the twenty-first century, as led to a deep despair, as expressed by many  postmodern philosophers.  When the individual is our starting point, we can find no way to satisfy the basic yearning of the human heart, which has been created for communion"

Inside the liturgy, we express ourselves in our created nature of community, us made in the image of the Triune God.

This brings me to one of the main reasons that I have spent the last few years thinking so much about worship.  What exactly are we doing together as a worshiping body?  I know the usual answers...giving God glory, showing our thankfulness,etc,etc.  But really, what are we doing?  Do we wrap ourselves inside of each other?  Are we aware that we are gathered together as the assembled church when we worship? 

Our worship can't be good enough to "summon God down."  I hate to tell you, but when you suffer from a "bad day" in worship-it's not because you didn't worship hard enough.  This isn't about getting a big God fuzzy.  There is no way we can work ourselves up into a collective frenzy and "make" good worship.

The Church draws together to say Holy,Holy,Holy-and that throughout all space,time and venue we join together in this song of the Church.

So what do you think about communal worship?

Found elsewhere....

Frequent readers will remember me extolling the greatness of the site goingtoseminary.com earlier in the year.  I still think it is a great site, with good information to offer to new seminary students, or current.  It also is a great place for discussion.  About 2-3 weeks ago, I also became a staff writer for going to seminary.  My first post is up today, it is about building a home library (a topic we talked about here).  You can find it here.

A brief look into the writings of Larry Hurtado

  This Semester I have been reading two books by Larry Hurtado about the origins of Christian worship.  Below is a brief review of the two works combined.

Larry Hurtado’s two works “At the Origins of Christian Worship” and “Lord Jesus Christ” present a solid and thoughtful view of the patterns of worship and their significant contributions to the development of doctrine in the first two centuries of the Christian Church (refereed to as proto orthodoxy).  The religious environment of the time was one religious immersion and the distinction that must be made is why Christianity broke free from its definition of a Jewish sect into a unique, and never seen before pattern of corporate and private devotion.

The person of Jesus is unlike anything seen before in Judaism, with the amount of adoration placed on Christ never being a part of Jewish monotheism.  But while Christ is separate from any Jewish idea, there is a specific relationship between the Father and the Son that brought about this devotion.  In this relationship there is no displacement of God, and this participation within the God-head is one that is pre-existent and has Christ functioning as the dispenser of the Holy Spirit. What is distinctive about the rise of Christianity is how the early church understood Jesus of Nazareth in a theological position where no man has been placed before or after.  The relationship between the LORD of the Jews and this man Jesus was one of intense theological scrutiny.  How can Jesus be placed inside of the realm and divinity of a monotheistic religion?  The only was was to say that Jesus of Nazareth was God come to earth.  It is in the inner play of this construct that Christianity developed, through it’s devotional practice of ascribing glory to Jesus, into a religion set apart from Judaism.

Inside of the writings of the Christian Church we can start to find the beginnings of devotional practice becoming widespread among the church.  The synoptic Gospels share information and a common source (known as Q), but maintain their own individual identity, shaped by the pattern of early Christian thought.  In these writings the church showed a claim to legitimacy, that through the words of Christ himself they worshipped the man of Jesus as God.  In these readings known collectively as “The Gospels” we see statements made about Christ that defend the early Christian idea the Jesus of Nazareth was truly the son of God and shared in his nature, and through this, the Old Testament scriptures can now be truly explained.  Through attributing traditional names for God to Jesus (such as Lord, Son of Man) and linking the activity of Christ with the activity of God we see a very early Christological development in process.  The writing of the Johnine corpus show us that for a specific segment of early Christianity, and emphasis was placed on right belief about Christ.  The Johnine community places the pre-existence of Christ into a key place.  The writing of Paul pre-dates the Gospels and gives proof to these developing strands of thought that turn into orthodox belief.

The existence of extra-canonical writings show that, just as now, there were “popular” writings about Christ, and for the most part these writings didn’t seek to tear down orthodoxy.  The one instance of is with Marcion, who sought to replace everything in the Christian schema with his own version.  Ultimately early church belief about Christ was built inside of the rhythm of these developing devotional practices.  It was the action of the Church that influenced and began to start it’s doctrinal practices.  Worship came before theology, and it was through worship that theology was developed.

Wrapping it all up

  fall semester 
  Originally uploaded by chadbrooks

This is my bookshelf for this semester.  Everything up there is a textbook or something I am using enough to keep right over my desk instead of on my other bookshelves.

It's odd to think that I am starting to become settled into seminary.  I am finishing up my third semester and I am starting to take some high level classes.  I never thought that I would enjoy school this much, but I really do.

To briefly jump back into our ministry vs. chaplaincy conversation I think about how some folks in my denomination (southern Baptist) and tradition (free church or as I like to call it generic evangelical) have had an argument against higher education, especially seminary education.  They feel that it impedes the Holy Spirit.  The best argument I have heard about that is "Well you have to give him something to work with."

One of our deacons lightly ribs me about using "100 dollar" words.  I think my natural gifts lie inside of teaching and not classic gospel preaching.  So I have to be careful, when I am teaching Sunday school or when I am preaching.

So could a seminary education get in the way?  I know inside "Resident Aliens" by Hauerwas and Willimon there is a small section about a new pastor fresh out going to a church that prides itself on being a great first church for new pastors. 

There are things that do get in the way, but I think one of the marks of ministry (vs one of chaplaincy) is that of compelling the congregation to grow in their thinking and theology.  You can't stop, and that is where one of the dividing lines is.  It really takes getting to know people on a personal level, and not just what the front of their head looks like when you standing behind the pulpit.

Now how to do that is a different monster altogether.

Sharing a Special Bible(s): The Old Guard

  The Old Guard 
  Originally uploaded by chadbrooks

In the spirit of my buddy Alan Creech and Micheal Spencer (The Internet Monk), here is my post on my Bible(s).  This idea is floating around the blogosphere right now, and this is my contribution.

The blue bible on the left is a Zondervan Thinline NIV.  I refer to it as "Ole Blue".  My parents gave it to me when I was around 8 or so to celebrate my baptism.  Somehow, I managed to keep up with it among the many times I dragged it all over the country when I was in youth group.  I secretly imagine I kept up with it because I never really used it when I was young. 

When I hit college was the first time I ever REALLY used it.  It was my bible for a year or so and then I got my first study bible and put it away again.  It ended up getting pulled out again and put away for a couple of more years.  About the time I really started straightening out I started using it exclusively.  I felt attached to it since I had it as a kid (and there are tons of silly kid stickers inside it to show that era of my life), and it was small and handy to keep around.  The wear and tear started to really break it down, so I ended up putting it in a box and replacing it with another thinline from Zondervan which I have lost.  I pull it out of it's box when I can't find a scripture that I know I have read and studied.  Chances are if I know I was really into it from the ages of 20-24 I will have it marked in there.

The maroon bible on the left is a ESV thinline.  I really don't like the thinline, double column reference style, but these seem to be the Bible's I am attached to.  I started reading ESV when I was 25 or so because I wanted to move into a more literal translation, and I really can't stand the NASB.  This was my third ESV and I got it randomly at a lifeway store because I had a coupon.  I have tried to replace it, but it has so many notes from working at Wesley that I couldn't ditch it when I came to seminary.  It is now filled with notes and starting to fall apart.  Crossway really doesn't make a good bonded leather bible and it is not to far away from the state of destruction that "Ole Blue" is at.  Until I find a suitable replacement I will keep on carrying it with me everywhere and hope I don't loose it.

Both of these bibles are very dear to me.  They represent and serve as reminders of my spiritual journey.  I have way too many bibles, lets say around 30, but these two are important.  I can trace my spiritual growth using both of them, and I love going back to "Ole Blue" and seeing notes I made almost 20 years ago when I was a kid.

So what would my perfect Bible be?  Either a NRSV or a Jerusalem bible with WIDE margins and nice leather, so I could use it for a decade and it still be in good shape, and Meredith would give it to me.  Why move out of the ESV?  Well it is a really silly reason.  I found out that it is the "new" translation of the younger reformed folk, and that really annoys me.  I know it is a stupid reason, and I try to convince myself of it every day (especially since I read that only 6% of ESV text is not just like the NRSV).  I really dig the Jerusalem Bible, I have a NJB but it doesn't work for me like the original.

Well there is my long expose on my favorite Bibles and what a new one would look like.  Thanks for sticking around this long.

I really think this is interesting, so if you do a post about your bible, leave a comment.

the system

  the system 
  Originally uploaded by chadbrooks.

I was talking about books today with my friend Anna, and my method of keeping up with what I read came up. I have decided to share it with you.

Here is my little reading system.  In seminary, keeping up with all of the things that I read started to become a hassle. So I started keeping an index card as a place-marker in everything that I read.  On it I jot the author and title of the book, as well as little notes and page numbers. If I own the book, I make some sort of mark in the book as to what is notated on the card, if I don't own it I hope for I can remember what I thought was cool if I ever need the information again.

I keep all of these in a paper organizer envelope thing for future reference.

EDIT+++++++++++++

After accumulating to many notecards I started taking advantage of Apple Pages and how easy it is to export to a pdf.  This sounds like I am keeping a dinosaur on my desktop at first, but it really makes it easier in the long run.  I have one document with ALL of my reading notes in it.  Every three or four books I enter in the notecards into the document and re-export the pdf.  This system could seriously get my in trouble if I didn't keep up with the latest copy, so I delete the old pdf as soon as I make the new one, dating it in the title. As of right now (8/07) I have around 40 books in it.  I take notes on everything now, not just what I am working on for class.

I have started to actually take notes in regard to this system, and I tag books as well now.