my favorite books of 2011-

Last blog of 2011-
according to amazon, I purchased a bunch of books this year, and by my calculation, I finished about 20 or so of them. Some were ok, but some were incredible- here are my 10 favorite books of 2011:

The Pastor by Eugene Peterson

I got to hear Eugene Peterson talk about this book live at a conference- and the book was so much better. This book is Eugene's story of working at a church. It is incredibly honest, insightful, and delightful. His love for the Bible, the ministey, and the people he served comes through in every page; and his take on ministry is so refreshing.

Replenish by Lance Witt

Lance speaks at my church every now and then. I always enjoy his messages and I have met him a few times. This book is for pastors and is about the tending of a pastor's soul. I have read a few books on this topic and this one is the best by far. It has short readable chapters and is full of practical insight. I read this book slowly and savored every page. I didn''t want it to end!

Scouting the Divine by Margaret Feinberg

I got to hear Margaret speak about this book at a conference and was so blown away by the idea of this book. it's an idea that I wish I came up with myself: she went and spent time with a real shepherd, a farmer, bee-keeper, and a vintner (wine-maker) and asked them to give insight on what the bible says about sheep, farming, wine, honey, etc. and the things that she discovered are fascinating. she is a wonderful writer- this is another book that I was delighted to read.

Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki

This is basically the "How to Win Friends and Influence People" of today- but for the Silicon Valley. This book gives practical advice to leaders and businesses on how to enchant their customers. Its almost too much wisdom for just one book. I also heard and met Guy Kawasaki at a conference a few years ago- he is wonderful to listen to and his other books are great too.

Great by Choice by Jim Collins

I have been waiting for this book to come out for years. Jim Collins is one of my favorite writers and writes the best books for businesses and leaders. All of his books are pivotal, and this one is just as good as his previous ones. This book gave language to some of the frustrations and wins that I have seen as a leader in recent years. I hope that its not his last book.

Sticky Faith by Kara Powell

I heard Kara Powell speak on this book at a conference in town, and my mind was blown. She uses the latest research to explain whay students are leaving the church as they enter college. so many leaders have had ideas on why this has happened, but Kara Powell gives research to back up her ideas as well as strategies to turn this tide back. This book has completely changed the way I speak and lead as a youth pastor. This may be the single most important youth ministry book ever written.

The Genius of Generosity by Chip Ingram

again, I heard this author speak on this topic. I was so delighted by his story that I texted him (totally name-dropping here) and told him that this story would make an excellent book. He texted me back and said that it already was a book and sent me a copy. This story that he shares here is such a clear picture of what generosity looks like and how wonderful and fulfilling that it can be. Chip is so credible. When he makes points from the bible or makes a list of things the bible says about a topic- you know that this has come from years of study, not just copied and pasted from someone else's material. I loved the book and the messages that went with it. I've got a lot of love and respect for the author too-

Cinnabar Hills; the Quicksilver Days of New Almaden by Milton Lanyon and Laurence Bulmore

I'm actually reading this book right now. in the last few weeks I have become very interested in the New Almaden Mine near my house. This book is out of print, and is written by some men who were children in New Almaden in its heyday and were first hand witnesses to the colorful history of that community. It is full of very old pictures that were taken on site 150 years ago. I am absolutely loving this book. If you're interested you can get a copy of this and other books on the subjest at the Quicksilver museum in New Almaden.

Jesus Manifesto by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola

I also got to hear Len Sweet at a conference this year, although he didn't speak on this topic (I went to some good conferences in 2011!) This is my favorite book of the year, and maybe one of my favorite books of all time. I have proably given away 10 copies of this book to my friends and co-workers.This book brings everything back to Jesus. He is the beginning and the End- He is our past, present and future. He is our message, He hold it all together, it all comes through him and to Him and is for Him. its all Him. this book was so encouraging, I can't even put it into words. get this book. I have purchased and read several other Len Sweet books this year after reading this one. they are all wonderful, but this one is the best.

last but not least-

Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss

(I wish I could say that I heard Dr. Seuss at a conference this year!) I have been a long time fan of Dr. Seuss but have never read this book. I saw it once in the bookstore and decided that if it is as good as his others, it will be worth the while. This book is so profound on so many levels. this book has many insightful thoughts on faith in the unseen and the value of a life. this book inspired a sermon-series that I developed on faith and on serving that I will deliver at our ministry's spring break missions trip this year.

I also read all of the books on hell that came out this year- lots of controversy and talk about those, for the sake of avoiding all of it, I'll just say that each of us should know what we believe on THAT topic with the SCRIPTURE (not tradition or good thoughts) to back it up. I also read some great books by Craig Groeschel.

leaders are readers-

God is love.

-rev-rob

children's book theology:: runaway bunny

jane has always loved goodnight moon by margaret wise brown (illustration by clement hurd).





we have the audio version on my iPod so she can listen to it in the car and follow along in her book. when deanna was on her trip, jane and I were driving in the car and listening to goodnight moon, and jane noticed that there is another book, by the same author and illustrator, named "the runaway bunny." we decided to pick up the audio book and listen to that too. it seems to be a kind of prequel to goodnight moon. since then, we have read it and listened to it a thousand times. each time I listen to it, I am reminded of God's loyal love that is illustrated by the runaway bunny's patient mother.

the story goes like this:

"Once there was a little bunny who wanted to run away.

So he said to his mother, “I am running away.”

“If you run away,” said his mother,

“I will run after you.

For you are my little bunny.”

“If you run after me,” said the little bunny,

“I will become a fish in a trout stream and I will swim away from you.”

“If you become a fish in a trout stream,” said his mother,

“I will become a fisherman and I will fish for you.”

“If you become a fisherman,” said the little bunny,

“I will become a rock on the mountain, high above you.”

“If you become a rock on the mountain high above me,”

said his mother, “I will become a mountain climber,

and I will climb to where you are.”

“If you become a mountain climber,”said the little bunny,

“I will be a crocus in a hidden garden.”

“If you become a crocus in a hidden garden,”said his mother,

“I will be a gardener. And I will find you.”

“If you are a gardener and find me,” said the little bunny,

“I will be a bird and fly away from you.”

“If you become a bird and fly away from me,” said his mother,

“I will be a tree that you come home to.”

“If you become a tree,” said the little bunny,

“I will become a little sailboat, and I will sail away from you.”

“If you become a sailboat and sail away from me,”said his mother,

“I will become the wind and blow you where I want you to go.”

“If you become the wind and blow me,” said the little bunny,

“I will join a circus and fly away on a flying trapeze.”

“If you go flying on a flying trapeze,” said his mother,

“I will be a tightrope walker,and I will walk across the air to you.”

“If you become a tightrope walker and walk across the air,” said the bunny,

“I will become a little boy and run into a house.”

“If you become a little boy and run into a house,”said the mother bunny,

“I will become your mother and catch you in my arms and hug you.”

“Shucks,” said the bunny,

“I might just as well stay where I am and be your little bunny.”

And so he did.

“Have a carrot,” said the mother bunny."

jane loves that part on the audio book.

she shouts out "SHUCKS! said the bunny!" and laughs out loud.

whenever I read this story I always think about the great lengths that the bunny is willing to go to to get away from his mother; and the great lengths that the mother would go to to be reunited with her bunny. I think about the ways that I rebel and run from God and the lengths that He goes through and went through to be reunited with me.

only love will go to such lengths.

at the end of the story, the bunny realizes that its futile to try and escape from the love of his mother- and in the end, he decides to stop running and enjoy her love and compassion.

this reminds me of that familiar phrase in psalm 23:

"surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life..."

the word for "love" used here is the word "hesed," which is also translated as "loyal love," "mercy," or "steadfast love."

the word "follow" is the word "radaf" which means "to pursue, or hunt."

so just like the bunny, psalm 23 tells us that loyal love is hunting you and me.

as if God were saying to us, "If you run away, I will run after you. For you are my child.”

so maybe we should take a lesson from the bunny and stop running, and just enjoy God's love and compassion.

have a carrot.

God is love.

-rev-rob

children's show theology:: entry 04

I was in Walgreens this morning, and I saw some Winnie-the-pooh candy where pooh was dressed up like a ghost and tigger was dressed up like the devil. the devil?! he had a pitchfork, a cape, horns and a forked tail. it made me think how far disney has allowed a.a. milne’s characters to deviate from milne’s original creation.


when jane was a baby, her favorite dvd was “the many adventures of Winnie the pooh.” one day I decided to watch the making of it, and learned much about the character and his author. pooh bear started out as bedtime stories to the original christopher robin. these evolved into children’s books, which walt disney’s children loved. when walt acquired the rights to the character, he wanted to make sure that he stayed true to the books. in walt’s cartoons, pooh bear is actually animated into a book. he’s often seen jumping over pages and text. all of the original cartoons were inspired by a.a. milne’s stories.


the last chapter in “the many adventures of Winnie the pooh” has christopher robin going away to school and the story ending; but the story didn’t end. disney continued to create pooh bear stories- all of them not written by milne, and most of them not including christopher robin. they also introduced new characters into the hundred acre wood, and evolved many of the existing ones. to me that always seemed strange that they would make a movie or a cartoon that was not originally imagined by milne, or use characters that were not created by milne.


there is a new show on the disney channel called “my friend tigger and pooh.” jane loves it. its about a new friend named darby and her dog, buster. she, pooh and tigger form a team called the super-sleuths and the solve mysteries. I enjoy the show, but I have some problems with it. number 1, they use modern technology in it, like darby’s razor-scooter. second, christopher robin appears in the show! he’s back from school! but pooh does not spend his time with christopher, he spends his time with darby! this makes no sense to me at all.


and it reminds me of what I see all the time in Christianity. we started out, much like disney did. we wanted to stick to the book. we wanted to be true to the original text, and to its original hero, jesus Himself. but as times change, we allow things to evolve to suit our purposes. we let jesus evolve into an American or a republican, or a social activist, or a hippie, or even a politician. we take his words out of context to confirm our caricature of jesus.


I’m a purist. with Winnie the pooh, for sure, but when it comes to jesus, definitely. if all the pooh bear fans really want to know milne’s stories,, they should go get a copy of “now we are six,” and any other of milne’s books. and if we want to know jesus, we need to meditate on the words of matthew, mark, luke and john.


disney made a joke about how strictly he was sticking to milne’s stories. he introduced a new character into the story named gopher. One of the first lines Gopher utters during his first appearance in the Disney cartoon is: "I'm not in the book". He is referring to the fact that he is not in the phone book, but this is actually referring to the fact that he was not in any of the original stories by milne. in one story, he zooms off under ground leaving the other characters puzzled. pooh says, “well, he’s not in the book you know…”

what if we had the kind of radar for spotting false caricatures of jesus and were able to say of inaccurate portrayals of jesus, ““well, he’s not in the book you know…”

children's show theology:: entry 04

i went back and renamed some of my old blogs to fit into this new little blog-series: children's show theology. this is when i sit on my sofa eating crackers with jane and think about how a kid's show illustrates the character of God-


jane likes to watch this show on pbs called super why!
its all about reading and spelling, which are two of jane’s passions right now.
they don’t make toys for super why, so I actually went to the hardware store and craft store and made some for her! I thought that they turned out pretty cool, but she is sort of over them right now.


anyhow, the show is about this boy-superhero named super-why. whenever he has a super-big problem, he and his friends (the super-readers) “take a look in a book!” they open up a fairy tale and then step into the story and interact with the characters and learn from their stories. oftentimes, a character in a story is doing something wrong and super-why seems to ask them why they are doing this. oftentimes they feel like they have no control over their actions. they say, “its says right here in my story…” and then they show super-why the text of their story book and how it dictates their decisions and behaviors. super-why then takes his “why-writer” (one of the toys that I made for jane) and then zaps one of the words out of the story and then replaces it with another. he changes the end of the story all-together.


I was watching this show with jane the other day and this frog was wasting water. super-why asked him why and he said, “I can’t help it! it says right here in my story, “the frog wastes water.” super-why changed the word “wastes” to the word “shares.” and the story was changed. it had a new ending.


I started thinking about the many people that I meet that feel trapped in their circumstances. its almost as if I can hear them saying, “I have to make these choices, its says so right here in my story.” “I have to misbehave or chase boys or destroy my relationships or abuse substances or whatever because my story has been written, I can’t change it.”


we need a hero.
we need someone with the power to change the words of our stories so that the endings are different. we need a hero to step into our stories and remind us that they are not set in stone. do we have the courage and the energy to see our stories change?


Christ stepped out of eternity into the human story. the ending of our stories can be different now- not just on an eternal level, but for today as well.
"why-writer, WRITE!"

children's show theology:: entry 03

ok- this week we’re on to a show on Disney channel called mickey mouse clubhouse. this is a computer generated show about mickey and his friends- jane loves it. she loves helping mickey solve his problems and she loves the characters and the music.





this show is a lot of fun, and it says a lot about our ideas of the perfect world- and maybe even heaven:


first of all, mickey’s world is a cross between Disneyland and a golf course. he lives in this land where the perfectly manicured and weedless green grass goes on for miles. where there buildings they are all colorful and very spread out. there are very few people in mickey’s world- and everything in his world pays tribute to him somehow. even his house is shaped like him! there is a mickey park and hidden mickey-heads in the details of everything. mickey’s house hides underground until he says the magic words, “MEESKA-MOOSKA-MICKEY-MOUSE!” and then it pops out of the ground fully equipped with a hot-air balloon, space-traveling-rocket, airplane and telescope. it also has a fence, which is funny to me, because he has no neighbors.inside of his house there are all sorts of handy-helpers to help him out. these are hands are on machines that predict his wants and help him do everything, from clean up to make lunch.


i often watch this show with jane thinking that i would like to live in this world- where everything is clean and made for me. a world where there are no crowds or roads or waiting, and everything exists to help me. but it gets better:


mickey doesn’t need anything because he has everything- right inside of his house: he has an airplane, a rocket hip, a car, a telescope. in every episode, mickey and his friends solve a problem. and again he is helped by a magical machine- this one is called toodles. whenever mickey faces a problem he calls out, “OH TOODLES!” and this magical, mouse-head-shaped machine appears out of nowhere and gives him a mouseketool. my favorite is when mickey needs money, because then, toodles gives him a magical piggy bank with just the right amount of money inside. (i think that some people are disappointed when they realize that prayer rarely, if ever, works like this).


i often watch this show with jane thinking that i would like to live in this world- where i have everything that i need- even money, and all i need to do is shout into the air and everything that i need magically appears. but it gets better:


mickey has almost no conflicts in his world. there is technically a bad guy named pete who often tries to thwart mickey’s plans, but all he really wants is attention from mickey. mickey does get into conflicts from time to time, but in the end, all he has to do is say, “sorry pal,” and everything is magically better. at the end of every episode, mickey does a mousekedance in perfect unity with his friends and they all do ska-dances to a song called, "hot dog!" by "they might be giants."


i often watch this show with jane thinking that i would like to live in this world- where everyone wants my attention and no one is hurt by my thoughtlessness. and even though we would love to live in mickey’s world, we don’t. unlike mickey, the world does not revolve around us. unlike mickey, we don't always get our own way. unlike mickey, we deal with crowds and people and we have to share. our world is not as spacious as mickey’s, and its not as manicured. in our world we have real conflict and we have real needs. and our problems often have complex and long term solutions.


i think that we are frustrated that our world is not mickey’s. maybe in our hearts we think that the world should revolve around us- and that people should forgive us instantly and we really should have everything that we ever needed or wanted. after all celebrities live like this, why shouldn’t we? i think that those of us who follow God are especially frustrated that our world is not like mickey’s. we think that since we worship Him that He owes us. He owes us the magic house and the spacious land and the magical piggy bank and the conflict-free life. is that so much to ask for? maybe we secretly think that heaven will be like mickey’s world: a world with no work- a world centered around us- with a magical house that caters to our every need. but does the bible say this anywhere?


God never promised that our lives world be like mickey’s. not this life- not the next one. instead, living in a world cetered around ourselves, God says, “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
your attitude should be the same as that of christ jesus:
who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant…”


life is not about me-
it never was-
and it should never be.
in the real world, people like mickey are miserable.
instead of endlessly looking for ways to make our lives perfect, we would be much happier helping others make their lives better. that’s when life gets magical.
(and yeah, both jane and I are probably watching way too much disney channel.)
“OH TOODLES!”

children's show theology:: entry 02

this week’s preschool obsession is little einsteins-





and somehow it has turned into my obsession too. little einsteins is on the Disney channel in the morning- its associated with baby einstein, and it features a team of kids doing missions through art and classical music with their friend, rocket.


in the past, jane has been mildly interested in this show, but lately, its all she can talk about. she walks around singing the theme song and doing hand motions from the show. a couple of weeks ago, we bought a little einsteins book. it quickly went into her rotation of favorite books. so I decided to look for a little einsteins toy. so friday morning we went to the mall to find a rocket toy. they have this one at target that is pretty cool, but its really big and a little expensive.





we went over to disney store, but then went back to target to get the figures from the show. they were a total hit. she takes them to the dinner table, to the tub, she would sleep with them if we didn’t take them away. I often hear her having dramatic adventures with the little einsteins saying things like, “oh no! what will we do?! we need more power!”


so a couple of days later, I went to take it up a notch and look for a rocket. we went to target and saw the submarine version of rocket, we went to both disney stores and dug through their stuffed animal pits- I found a couple of children hiding in there, but no rocket.
finally, we went back to target and got the submarine rocket. again, total hit. it went in the bath, to the dinner table, and all around the house. our white bed has now become a place for rocket to have a snow adventure, and a blue blanket is for rocket to go into the ocean. jane loves rocket so much that she even took a nap (!!!) with rocket!





on the show, rocket has all of these features: he has a “look and listen scope” and a “grab-nabber.” the grab-nabber is a robotic hand that pops out of him to grab things. jane often has adventures where she says, “rocket! use your grab-nabber to pick it up!”
so- last night we went looking for a grab-nabber. I figured that some plastic salad tongs would do the trick. so we went to lucky’s, then the dollar store, then to diddams, then to bed bath and beyond. we never did find red salad tongs, but we found some clear ones. I took them out of the package and jane said, “a GRAB-NABBER!” and played with it all night; picking up random things with salad tongs and imagining she was a rocket.


so yeah- her obsession has somehow turned into mine. I almost drove to capitola today to get another toy, but I figured that she’s having so much fun with the ones she has, why mess with it? every time I call home I can hear jane in the background saying things like, “rocket! what are we going to do?! oh no! we need to get out of this snow!”


all of this reminds me of stories that my mom used to tell me of her driving all over town to buy a star wars toy for me and then enjoying my reaction to receiving the gift and enjoying hearing me play with it. sure, I buy these things for jane and for her enjoyment, but it brings me a lot of joy to watch her play and see her get excited and use her imagination.


jesus said something that seems to fit into all of this:
“If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (matthew 7:11)
funny thing is, jane didn’t even ask for any of this! I just thought she would enjoy it so I searched for it, paid for it, and then presented it to her- and her joy overflowed to me. I wonder if God not only gives us what we ask for, but what we didn’t ask for, all because He knew that we would love it?

children's show theology:: entry 01

who is pooh-bear’s best friend?
is it piglet?
is it christopher robin?
does he have 2?
I was watching the pooh-bear movie with jane
and i was struck by this thought.
the story isn’t clear on who his best friend is-


pooh looks after piglet,
and christopher robin looks after pooh.
christopher influences pooh
and pooh influences piglet-


maybe there is something to that-
we need a friend that looks after us-
and we need someone that we’re looking after-
we need someone to lead us
and someone to lead.
in the bible the apostle paul had a timothy-
someone that he built into-
and he had a friend named barnabus-
that encouraged and inspired him.
it made sense to paul-
strangely- it made sense to pooh.


for some people, its easy to find mentors, and people that they look up to-
but could they also find someone to mentor?
for others- its just the opposite-
they have all kinds of people that they inspire,
but haven't asked anyone to build into them.
both relationships are important-
because both leave a person better and leave the world better.


students ask me all the time about friends of other faiths-
or friends with no faith at all-
is it good to have a friend like that?
maybe a better question is
"am I the christopher robin in this friendship or the pooh bear?"
who influences who?
who leads who?


who is your best friend?
are you the piglet in the relationship?
the follower?
the christopher robin?
the leader?
who is influencing who?
who leads who?


maybe you’re like a bear that’s stuffed with fluff-
and you’ve got 2 best friends-
a timothy and a barnabus,
a piglet and a christopher robin.
both are vital-
just ask the apostle paul
and winnie the pooh.

ay-wee-ol

my little girl jane has gone through a few phases of obsession

with disney dvds.
it started with baby einstein.
it went to winnie the pooh,
it moved on to mary poppins,
and then mickey mouse,
and now, it’s the little mermaid.


with every little obsession,
janie picks up some new skills.
from baby einstein, she learned a lot of words,
sign language,
and she has become very familiar
with classical music.


she learned a lot from pooh-
how to dress like pooh,

how to start your own parade,
how to hop like a tigger,
and to love books.


she learned a lot from mary poppins too-
like-
how to stand on a turtle with one leg,

how to dance like a chimney sweep,

how to dance like a penguin,
how to ride a carousel horse,

and how to draw on the sidewalk,
like mary’s friend bert.


what she picked up from mickey mouse is pretty funny.
he has a new t.v. show,
and all of the music is done by a former ska band-
and the characters do a lot of ska dancing-
and so does jane.


but i’m a little concerned about little mermaid.
she often comes to me with the dvd in hand saying
“ay-wee-ol.” (ariel)
and when she watches it
(we skip the scary parts about sharks and ursula)
she dials in-
its like her heart becomes one with ariel.

i got sort of sentimental about it at first-
here ariel is a girl who can’t talk-
but in reality, she has a beautiful voice waiting to emerge-
and "janie is like that" i thought-
"a beautiful voice, just waiting to emerge."
and then i remembered how ariel gets her voice!

she has to kiss a boy!
WHAT?! oh HECK NO!
i turned into king triton.


i’m concerned that the things that janie will learn from the little mermaid are:
· how to dress immodestly,

· how to be boy-crazy!

(i’ve been a youth pastor for a long time! i know what this look means!

and its not good!)
(during this scene:

i heard her whisper:
ay-wick! (eric) what?! )
· or how to initiate kisses with boys!

· or how to wreck your relationship with your father over a BOY!


ack!


i have become king triton!
i’m the one telling ariel to stay away from eric!
and i am much more sympathetic to that character
now that i have a little girl of my own.

go triton!


i have become one of those
ultra-conservative parents!
and i’m not sure i like the underlying message
in the little mermaid!
boys are not worth it!
i’m one of them! i know!


maybe i can find a way to hide the movie!
or maybe get her into a new movie!
the jungle book?
that doesn’t have any kissing does it?