Review of “What Difference do it Make?” by Ron Hall, Denver Moore & Lynn Vincent

This sequel to the New York Times bestseller, Same Kind of Different as Me, tells of the huge impact this book has had on the lives of many of its readers.  There is story after story of how God used Same Kind of Different as Me to take people outside of their comfort zones and change their lives and their attitude toward homelessness.  It also tells of the continuing relationship of Ron Hall, a wealthy fine-art dealer and Denver Moore who through the impact of Ron’s late wife, Deborah, is now formerly illiterate and formerly homeless and speaks with Ron all around the country.

I had not read Same Kind of Different as Me before I picked up What Difference Do it Make?, but I was able to jump right in and follow their unique story without any difficulty.  I absolutely love the realness of these two men.  Nothing was really glossed over or candy-coated.  They honestly shared their story with grace and a good bit of wit.

Denver’s down-to-earth wisdom shines through a quote like this:

“… there’s a difference between helpin and blessin — that blessin means you give a person a little gift to show ‘em you think they matters on this earth, and helpin is when you stoop down with a person and stay there till they can climb on your shoulders to get up.”

And Ron’s story of the ultimate restoration of his relationship with his father is worth the price of the book.

This really is a good read that will challenge you in a practical way about how you view homelessness, and how we as the community of faith can do something about it.

Donald Miller at Hope – We’re Excited

Wednesday, November 4, 2009
6:30 PM in the Sanctuary | Free

Donald Miller – “A Million Miles” Interview

I am a big Donald Miller fan.  His best-selling “Blue Like Jazz” is a classic, and I am really looking forward to his new book coming out soon — “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years”.  Here is the first in a series of interview post from Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers.  What really excites me is that Miller is coming to Hope Church on Wednesday, November 4th as part of his “Million Miles” book tour.  Also, if you want to get a sneak peek of the first 30 pages of the book, click here.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Dies

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian & Western social critic, prophet, gulag survivor, cancer survivor and Nobel laureate died today at the age of 89.

I have always admired this man of immense strength and courage. In the 1980s I read One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich. I was gripped by his descriptive pros of this one day of life of this man in a Soviet concentration camp. Taken from his own personal experience, you could feel the hunger, the torment, the cold, the loss of dignity in this powerful novel.

I remember reading this last line — the final description of this day in the life —and I wept:
“A day without a dark cloud. Almost a happy day. There were three thousand six hundred and fifty-three days like that in his stretch. From the first clang of the rail to the last clang of the rail. Three thousand six hundred and fifty-three days. The three extra days were for leap years.”

My other encounters came through two books. One edited by my father-in-law, Charles Turner entitled Chosen Vessels (out of print) with a chapter on Solzhenitsyn by Malcolm Muggeridge. The other book was Chuck Colson’s, Loving God where Colson masterfully tells of Solzhenitsyn’s conversion to Christ through a Russian doctor, Boris Kornfeld in the prison camp. In The Gulag Archipelago, after the violent murder of Dr. Kornfeld, Solzhenitsyn committed these words of commitment to memory in the form of a poem. He ends the poem with these words:

But with the even glow of the Higher Meaning
Which became apparent to me only later on.
And now with measuring cup returned to me,
Scooping up the living water,
God of the Universe!
I believe again!
Though I renounced You, You were with me! (The Gulag Archipelago – Vol. 2 – Part 4)

Great words from a great man. Rest in peace.

Prodical Son — Prodical God

In our Introducing Hope Series, which is our new member process at Hope, we spend a considerable amount of time working through the parable of the Lost Son in Luke 15. It is a great story of the results of our wayward attempts to make life work on our own along with the amazing grace of a loving and forgiving father.

I have seen this passage as one that could be entitled as both the parable of the Prodigal Son and the parable of the Prodigal Father. I ran across a great explanation of the dual meaning of this word from Tim Keller in a post by Tullian Tchividjian. Keller is addressing the question as to why his new book is titled, “The Prodigal God”.

Keller says, “The word ‘prodigal’ is an English word that means recklessly extravagant, spending to the point of poverty, of ‘being in want’ (Luke 15:14.) The dictionaries tell us that the word can be understood in a more negative or a more positive sense. The more positive meaning is to be lavishly and sacrificially abundant in giving. The more negative sense, is to be wasteful and irresponsible in one’s spending. The negative sense obviously applies to the actions of the younger brother in the Luke 15 parable of the two sons. But is there any sense in which God can be called ‘Prodigal’?

The answer is YES as Keller concludes by saying that “the title ‘Prodigal God’ calls attention not only to the mistaken way that legalists regard God’s gospel of grace (think elder brother), but also to how Jesus, though he was rich, spent everything without thought for himself, that we might be saved.”

Read the whole post here.

The book does not come out until October 2008 but you can pre-order it here.

Simple Church

In my post yesterday, I mentioned the book Simple Church. Well, Tony Morgan reflected a little on it today,

“I finally had a chance to read the book Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger. It’s been on my list for the last year or more, but I didn’t prioritize it. I wish I had. Honestly, I think it’s one of the top five books I’ve read on church ministry. This is one of those every-church-leader-should-read books. Great, great insights. I wish I would have written this book, because it certainly captures my heart for the local church.”

Click here to read some more of Tony’s post.

The Power of Simplicity

We are starting to think about focus and being strategically simple around here at Hope. One resource that is helping us work through this process is the book “Simple Church” by Thom Rainer & Eric Geiger. They set out a philosophy of focusing your church to develop a simple disciple making process. There are four elements that they see as crucial in helping churches rethink and retool their ministry process.

1. Clarity – The ability of the process to be communicated and understood by the people.
2. Movement – The sequential steps in the process that cause people to move to greater areas of commitment.
3. Alignment – The arrangement of all ministries and staff around the same simple process.
4. Focus – The commitment to abandon everything that falls outside of the simple ministry process.

It is a good read with some powerful implications for ministry. One thing they point to is the power of simplicity being seen in web design today. Look at Google. Incredibly simple design. Incredibly successful. Look at the simplicity the web site of Mars Hill in Grand Rapids. Look at Starbucks. Look at the clarity seen in Calvary Church near St. Louis.

Also, give a look to this quick video that Kem Meyer posted on her blog. It deals with simple vs. complex solutions in problem solving.

Assimilation – Serving and Growing

Here is a great quote from Erwin McManus’ book, An Unstoppable Force:

“A person who attends but does not begin to serve will drop out within a year. One can ponder all the research…on how to assimilate… new believers into the body of Christ, but it comes down to one simple variable. If people begin to serve, they stick.”

This past weekend at Hope my brother, Eli Morris, challenged us all to move beyond lukewarm by serving at Hope. That is — to take our spiritual walk to another level through serving others. He shared four thoughts on serving:

1. Serving at Hope is more than a requirement it is Hope’s culture.

• • “Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people” 1 Cor. 9:19 (MSG)

Serving in a ministry at Hope is a requirement for membership but that requirement comes straight out of who we are as a church. We have spent years building a culture of service. It is who we are.

2. Serving is not ability it is availability

• • “And then I heard the voice of the Master: ‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’ I spoke up, ‘I’ll go. Send me!’” Isa. 6:8 (Msg)

It is more about showing up than having all these incredible gifts. Yes, he wants to use our gifts and abilities but more than that he just wants us to say, “Use me!”

3. Serving is not paying Christ back, it is imitating Christ.

• • “Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many.” Matt. 20:28 (TLB)

We can give nothing in comparison to what he gave to us. All we can give is ourselves in following Him. Walking like He walked. Serving like he served. Loving like he loved.

4. Serving is not a task; it is a lifestyle.

• • “Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding. When you do something for someone else, don’t call attention to yourself. You’ve seen them in action, I’m sure—’playactors’ I call them— treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that’s all they get. When you help someone out, don’t think about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.” Matt. 6:1-4 (Msg)

Is is not a show. It is just faithful service to Christ. Just like George. (See previous post)

Ego & Humility

I read an interesting post from Guy Kawasaki regarding “Egonomics”.  It is an interview with Steve Smith who wrote the book on it —- egonomics: What Makes Ego Our Greatest Asset (or Most Expensive Liability) 

Here is a quote that really stood out to me regarding humility.

“Question: How can humility survive in a capitalistic, “dog-eat-dog” market?

“Answer: That’s the cool thing we discovered in our work, and the perceived “weakness” of humility is the assumption even in a question like this one. Humility is the only real way to become great, everything else being equal. As a trait, humility is the point of equilibrium between too much ego and not enough. Humility has a reputation of being the polar opposite of excessive ego.

In fact, the exact opposite of excessive ego is no confidence at all. Humility provides the crucial balance between the two extremes. When Jim Collins did his work in Good to Great, humility was one of only two characteristics he discovered that separated leaders capable of leading good—even very good—performing companies, and leaders who made their companies great performers. And all of those leaders who lifted their companies to greatness and sustained them for over fifteen years did it in the same dog-eat-dog world everyone else was in. Humility was custom made for the dog-eat-dog business world.”       (Emphasis Mine) 

To read the whole interview click here.

Strengths and Children

Craig is preaching a series entitled 105º …beyond lukewarm Hope. It is a series on how we need to take our relationship with God to the next level — to fire up our relationship with Christ. Yesterday, he was encouraging us toward service by discovering our SHAPE — the acronym developed by Rick Warren which stands for:

Spiritual Gifts

Heart Passion

Abilities

Personality

Experience

One thing he mentioned was that parents need to help their children discover their strengths. He gave a personal example of when he was a 10 year old and asked his dad to buy him a lawn mower. He wanted to start a lawn cutting business and promised to pay him back for the mower. That was the beginning of the development of an entrepreneurial gift that eventually led him to use that gift in planting a church called Hope. Thank God his dad helped him develop this gift from an early age.

Here is a resource that you might want to check out. It is a book entitled Your Child’s Strengths, Discover Them, Develop Them, Use Them by Jennifer Fox. It is actually not out yet, but you can check out the concept at Jennifer’s blog — Strengthsmovement.com and pre-order the book through Amazon. Marcus Buckingham has written the forward for the book and it looks to be a great resource for the strengths movement.