"Part-Time is Plenty" (G. Jeffrey MacDonald)

TITLE: Part-Time is Plenty: Thriving without Full-Time Clergy
AUTHOR: G. Jeffrey MacDonald
PUBLISHER: Louisville, LY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2020, (180 pages).

For many churches, pastors are hard to find. More specifically, finding the right fit between pastor and church is even more difficult, if not impossible. The need will always be there, but pastors will come and go. If one casually checks the websites of various churches, one would quickly realize how many churches need to hire clergy for their various ministries. The signs are not encouraging. With more seminaries shutting down or downsizing due to declining student enrollment, this impacts the pool of new qualified graduates available for churches. Financial challenges are plenty as well. Many churches with aging members experience sharp declines in revenue. With full-time clergy hard to find, financial resources being stretched, and the difficulty of fitting together different expectations, finding a pastor might very well be close to impossible. Churches' budgets are squeezed. Candidates' expectations continue to rise. Demands on sacrificial service are made on a decreasing pool of willing people. In a climate where the demands are so high and the supply so low, we need to do something about it. There needs to be a new model to ensure that churches are still able to function in an environment where full-time clergy are hard, if not impossible to find. What if we lower our search toward part-timers? What if we learn to see opportunities instead of problems? What if we modify the current ways of doing Church to fit the new reality? This would require a paradigm shift. For some, it might mean changing expectations of seismic proportions. Before that could happen, perhaps re-education is required. This book shows the way to prepare our hearts for a new reality. Realizing the potential of part-timers, author G. Jeffrey MacDonald was awarded a grant by BTS Center nonprofit to visit congregations with part-time clergy in ten states in the US. Fair to say, there are some churches where membership dropped when they switched to part-time clergy. Yet, there are also others whose membership stayed strong, even thrived. 

"Not Done Yet" (Elizabeth Donigan Seversen)

TITLE: Not Done Yet: Reaching and Keeping Unchurched Emerging Adults
AUTHOR: Elizabeth Donigan Seversen
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020, (250 pages).

Every generation comes with their own sets of challenges. Put together multiple generations and the challenges are multiplied. As the Boomer generation ages, the Millenials and the Gen Zs are starting to take center-stage in many parts of society. The same applies to churches as well. Here is the problem. More of the younger generation are either "nones" or "dones." The former are those who claim to believe but do not state any church affiliation. The latter are those who are pretty fed up with Church per se and seek to find new and greener pastures. Worse, the numbers for both "nones" and "dones" are growing. In this hopeful book, the author and scholar Elizabeth Donigan Seversen believes that there is still hope for those in churches before they become a "done." The way is to learn from churches who have successfully reached out to the younger generation in their communities. The author hopes to help us see and understand emerging generation of adults, especially those who have never stepped foot into a Church. She compiles "nine initiatives" that we can all benefit from.

"The Lands of the Bible Today" (Dave Branon)

TITLE: The Lands of the Bible Today: Experience 44 Places in Scripture and Photos
AUTHOR: Dave Branon
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: ODB Publishing, 2020, (192 pages).

The Bible is the bestselling book of all time. It is also ancient with many names, places, and cultures totally foreign to many modern readers. One of the best ways to get a feel of the Bible context is to physically go visit the Holy Land. For various reasons, not many people would be able to visit the places. It could be physically demanding or financially limiting. For the rest of us, the best way is remotely or through the print medium. This book is a powerful version of the latter. With beautiful and captivating pictures of 44 places in the land of Israel and beyond, readers are able to get a glimpse of the biblical terrains. The purpose of this book is two-fold: Firstly to help readers be more familiar with the knowledge of these places. Secondly, to make our reading of the Bible a little more personal and also to bring the physical locations alive to us when we read Scripture. For each of the 44 locations, one to two pages have been allocated to provide salient information for Christians interested to know more about the physical locations. Some of the features include:

• Name of the city or place and where is it on the map;
• Events that occurred there;
• Bible passages that referred or alluded to the specific place;
• Key passages that show us the significance of the location;
• Where we can find the location now;
• Some attractions that visitors can see;
• Beautiful photographs and maps;
• Buildings and monuments; as well as scenery;
• Historical background of the place;
• Favourite Site Reflection;
• and much more.

My Thoughts
As I was reading this book, I felt that the book could benefit three groups of people. First, for those who have been to the places mentioned, it would trigger memories of what they had seen or heard. There are times in which the tour guides give us so much information that we are unable to remember everything. We might also be so in awe of the places that we didn't pay attention to what the guide was saying. At the same time, the tour guide might not be familiar with how Christians read and study the Bible. They might not even be believers at all! Thus, the book helps one to link what they remember with the spiritual significance of the place.

The second group of people are the tourists or visitors wanting to make a trip there. While there are many other guide books to help us navigate the terrain, this book is a compact volume that provides brief and concise notes for us. Usually, we depend on the guide to do all the talking. However, not all guides are equally knowledgeable. With this resource, we can easily use it to supplement what we have heard or to ask more questions based on the knowledge in this book. Books like the "Christian Traveler's Guide to the Holy Land" would give us more information. This book is a good companion to that. We can even map out our own itinerary!

Finally, this book is for the rest of us who had never visited or not intending to go to the Holy Land. They would find this book a welcome guide to bring the holy land scenes to them. Not everybody have the privilege or the financial means to travel to such a distant place. It is also useful for professors, preachers, pastors, and teachers of the Bible, where they could use information in the book to teach their students or their congregation. My favourite part of the book is the many references to help me connect the place to the Bible, and to help my audience visualize the physical place. This would make this book a helpful teaching resource.

Dave Branon is a freelance writer for many years. For 18 years, he served as managing editor of Sports Spectrum magazine. Now he is an editor for Discovery House. He loves going on ministry trips with students.

Rating: 4.25 stars of 5.

conrade

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This book has been provided courtesy of Our Daily Bread Publishing and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

"Lifelong Leadership" (MaryKate Morse)

TITLE: Lifelong Leadership: Woven Together through Mentoring Communities
AUTHOR: MaryKate Morse
PUBLISHER: Colorado Springs, CO: Tyndale, 2020, (240 pages).

Leadership is tough. It is a marathon. It is often lonely. As leaders minister to others, who ministers to them? Those who lead in the Name of Jesus, do they then claim that their strength comes from above? Theologically, that is true, but practically, God has placed people among us to be His avenue of support. Enters the notion of mentoring. In recent years, mentoring has become popular. There was a time in which people learn from famous leaders who are experts in their specialty fields. Going to conferences and seminars, leaders and trainees would lap it all up all the knowledge and experience they could gain from these top leaders. When they return back to the grind, they start to yearn for the next shot of spiritual adrenaline. What if leaders could do more than just depending on gurus and inspirational talks? What if they could be freed from the expectations of leadership molds that are beyond them? What if they could be truly themselves without having to carry around a facade of invincibility? Wouldn't that be liberating? Wouldn't that be comforting? What if the thing leaders need most is not knowledge nor the inspirational stories other leaders tell, but a special place of safety and encouragement that could help them grow? Enters this book that teaches the importance of mentoring communities. Author MaryKate Morse defines a mentoring community as:

"a yearly, three-to-five-day gathering of a mature leader mentor and five to ten younger leader participants who step away from work and daily life and come together to rest, listen, and pray for each other."

"Resisting Babel" (John Mark Hicks, ed.)

TITLE: Resisting Babel: Allegiance to God and the Problem of Government
AUTHOR: John Mark Hicks
PUBLISHER: Abilene, TX: Abilene Christian University Press, 2020, (160 pages).

This book gives us a collection of articles that looks at David Lipscomb's political theology summarized as follows: "Human government is still Babel - confusion, strife." From the study, one learns to distinguish human government from kingdom rule; understand the limitations of human politics; and to remember that allegiance to God and loyalty to government does not necessarily mean the same thing. Richard T. Hughes shares the background that leads to Lipscomb's position. Hughes is quick to rebut a modern example of leaders using the Bible for their own political ends, ignoring the trajectory of Scripture that teaches us not to let human governments usurp the position of God. John Mark Hicks states Lipscomb's idea as follows: "Submit but don't support." He points out the historically different political stands according to the different theological persuasions. The Institutional view (Roman Catholic) holds that churches should ally with world institutions to control and use the institutions for common interests. The "Two Kingdoms" (Protestant) holds that the success of the political regime is essential to the success of the Church. The "Conflicting Kingdoms" (Anabaptist/Mennonite) holds that the Church and the world are to be separate and distinct. As far as Lipscomb is concerned, there is a difference between supporting a government's work versus imbibing the "power's spirit." The operating principle is to witness and embody justice in this world in a manner that is "without coercion, disorder, or violence." Hicks follows up on Lipscomb's political theology with a case study on the ills and evils of racial segregation. The Church is to be the center of "reconciliation, peace, unity, and healing." Lipscomb connects modern slavery with divine punishment. His thinking evolves from seeing slavery as God-ordained to abolishing it gradually in favour of freedom for all. In a nutshell, Lipscomb may not be as fast as we would hope to abolish slavery, but he was surely progressing in the right direction toward eventual freedom for all.

"Loving Your Community" (Stephen Viars)

TITLE: Loving Your Community
AUTHOR: Stephen Viars
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2020, (240 pages).

The greatest commandment according to Jesus is simply this: Love the Lord our God with all our heart, our mind, and our soul. The second is to love our neighbour as ourselves. Saying it is easy. Doing it is hard. That is why love is easier said than done. Many churches budget for outreach programs as part of the Great Commission. Such outreach generally comprises evangelism, mission, social concerns, and community outreach. If I can use one word to summarize all of the above, outreach would be quite appropriate. Whether local or foreign, near or distant, the reason churches exist must be for the sake of proclaiming God's kingdom far and wide. The moment churches become inward-looking, that would not only compromise their calling as the Bride of Christ, that marks the beginning of the end for their existence. Author and pastor Stephen Viars shares his over thirty years of experience serving the community both inside and outside of his Church community. He shares his work and ministry in this book driven by one objective: Helping us to default from "Saying NO unless you have to say YES" to "Saying YES unless you have to say NO."  He knows the appalling rate of outreach among many churches that choose to play it safe and to keep their resources to themselves.

"The Art of the Lie" (Marcel Danesi)

TITLE: The Art of the Lie: How the Manipulation of Language Affects Our Minds
AUTHOR: Marcel Danesi
PUBLISHER: Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group, 2020, (256 pages).

Lying is one thing. Choosing to continue to believe in the lie pushes the hypocrisy to a whole new dimension. Written by an internationally renowned linguist and semiotician, this book asserts the following: "that lying is the most destructive of all types of deportment." This is a cancer that if not eradicated, should at least be neutralized. We need to be able to recognize them. By calling the lie as a form of art, author Danesi shows us the many different faces of the lie. The Trojan horse story is a powerful example of the art of deception, of how people could be deceived. Lies and lying are nothing new. From Lucifer as the "Prince of lies" to political leaders of today who tell half-truths in order to manipulate public opinion, we learn of this disease infecting our society in more ways than we know. Some would say there is a difference between a black vs a white lie. Others would claim that a lie is a lie, regardless of the colour. Regardless of justification, there is a sense of manipulation whenever lies are used, and this is where the problem begins. Danesi gives us a laundry list of these manipulators. From swindlers to con-artists; scammers to tricksters; cunning characters in literature to political figures in real life, all of these are ways that Lucifer, the prince of lies has influence in. The author calls this problem perfectly defined as according to George Goebbels: "Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it." Sadly, this has become pervasive throughout society. By showing us the different faces of such lies, author Marcel Danesi reminds us to be on our guard against two things: Being manipulated, and becoming a manipulator.

"Beyond Burnout" (Amy O’Hana)

TITLE: Beyond Burnout: What to Do When Your Work Isn’t Working for You
AUTHOR: Amy O’Hana
PUBLISHER: Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2020, (208 pages).

Even in the most enjoyable jobs we do, once we over-exert ourselves, we experience exhaustion leading to burnout. What then can we do about that? How do we sustain our energy levels without wearing ourselves out? As one who has experienced what burnout means, even writing a dissertation about it, there is much to learn from Amy O'Hana. In order to keep us all on the same page, she begins with a description of what burnout is. Externally, it means physical and mental exhaustion. Internally, it involves questions surrounding "meaning, fulfillment, and passion." For Christian ministry workers, the expectations are higher because of the desire to want to please God (and people!). Realizing a wide variety of material and resources in the market that prescribe solutions to burnout, O'Hana wants to help us begin a conversation about the things that really matter to us. Generally speaking, the three types of burnout are physical exhaustion, emotional exhaustion, and loss of meaning. Most people would have a combination of the three that change at different stages of our life experiences. Before we spiral out of control into a crash-and-burn scenario, it is important to take heed by being self-aware and to take steps toward self-care. This is different from selfishness or ego-centric behaviours. It is about caring for the caregiver in us, that we may continue to serve and help others. As the saying goes, "too much of a good thing is not good." For all our good intentions, we can become lost in the busyness of good works. We need a way to be rested. Otherwise, we will become entangled in an unhealthy cycle of "performance, disconnection, and renewed fervor" to do more. We are to remember that we are human beings, not human doings. Through a five-step intentional process, O'Hana teaches us to grow beyond burnout toward spiritual connection with God.