"Sanctuary" (Heidi B. Neumark)

TITLE: Sanctuary: Being Christian in the Wake of Trump
AUTHOR: Heidi B. Neumark
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: William B Eerdmans, 2020, (240 pages).

No matter where we go or what we read, one thing is for sure. The current President of the United States cuts a controversial figure. Just mentioning his name could easily stoke all kinds of emotions. It is common knowledge that Trump's rise to the top post in American politics is credited largely to the white evangelical support. If Trump is truly Christian, and if his support base is what they claim to be, surely, our society would be better off from a biblical standpoint, right? Hard to say. In fact, it could be worse. In this no-holds-barred critique of the POTUS, and how the age of Trump is making society worse, author and pastor Heidi Neumark speaks out boldly against the ills of power politics. She talks about how the age of Trump resembles the age of Herod in terms of fear instilled by the powers on common citizens. In a sharp rebuke of one of Trump's most controversial policies, she writes: "Jesus welcomes children and Trump locks them in cages." This was with reference to the forced removal of children from their parents during the "zero tolerance" immigration policy in 2018. Neumark was appalled at the arrogance of Trump who boasted about himself being a "great Christian." This boasts happen even as many low-income people suffer with livelihood issues. Big businesses are preferred to small time shops. Trump's "great relationship with the blacks" is contrasted with his apparent refusal to distance himself from white supremacy groups. With a whole list of dissatisfaction with the current POTUS, Neumark critiques his policies (and his tweets!) from the perspectives of the vulnerable and marginalized groups in America. Fortunately, this is not the only thing she does. At the end of each chapter, she offers up a plea to be heard, and for the disenfranchised to be heard. People need a sanctuary from all the injustice and hurts happening around society at large. Even if problems have no immediate solution, at least show some empathy and understanding. 

"Charitable Writing" (Richard Hughes Gibson and James Edward Beitler III)

TITLE: Charitable Writing: Cultivating Virtue Through Our Words
AUTHOR: Richard Hughes Gibson and James Edward Beitler III
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020, (248 pages).

We have been told that love is the greatest. The Bible says so. Our culture also asserts that. We all believe so. We are taught to love our neighbour. We all want love but the truth is, love is often more easily said than done. This applies equally to the field of writing. Authors Richard Gibson and James Beitler helps us understand what it means to apply the expression of love in our writings, via charitable writing. Being a Christian is not just about speaking or living out the good news in public. It is also in how we write and express our love in writing. It is also a way of spiritual formation. It is discipleship. It is using our writing to paint the art of love. The central theme of this book is that "charitable writers listen humbly, argue lovingly, and keep the time of writing hopefully." Without going into the details of how to write or not to write, the focus is on the "big picture," to imagine, to relate, to respond, and how to express our neighbourliness in our writing. In other words, we write not for the sake of writing but for the purpose of showing we care and we love. These can be done through applying "spiritual threshold concepts," which are concepts to help integrate academic disciplines, including the discipline of writing. They engage the wisdom of ancient as well as modern writers to help us along. Through imitation, we learn from the practitioners in the past. Through practice, we apply the process over and over again to solidify the habit. This dual rhythm of imitation and practice are incorporated into the three key parts of the book. I appreciate how the authors remind us once again that writing is not only social and spiritual, it is also communal. The best way to integrate all of these is to begin with humility. Using art and images to supplement this manual about writing charitably, the authors show us the significance of our humble words. It begins with "humble listening." This is most appropriate because charity begins with humility. Being charitable needs to begin with us receiving charity from others. We are reminded that while most writers would write alone, there are wise companions that we can tap upon. Nicolas Frances calls writing a social activity. We cite others. We build upon the works of others. There is also the spiritual component to it when writers pray before writing. 

"Dwell" (Dexterity Books Editorial)

TITLE: Dwell: Celebrating the Arrival of Advent at Home
AUTHOR: Dexterity Books Editorial
PUBLISHER: Nashville, TN: Dexterity Press, 2020, (100 pages).

The year 2020 has been spectacularly dampened by the coronavirus.  This pandemic has affected international trade and many activities that we have come to take for granted. With lockdowns, quarantines, and restricted movement controls implemented in many countries, many of us are pretty much stuck at home, practicing social distancing and non-contact measures. Churches across the nation are also in a state of flux, not knowing when congregations could return to their buildings for a regular Church service. This is especially so for the Advent season, a traditionally busy time for Christians and Church programs. This makes celebrating the Advent at home particularly poignant, both symbolically and literally. The editors of Dexterity Books have come together to expand on the meaning of home through various rooms familiar to us. There is the Living Room where most of the family would be gathering in. There is the Dining Room where we share a meal together. There is the Kitchen where food is being prepared and served. There is the Activity Room for fun and leisure. Finally, there is the open-ended Christmas Space where we can simply share about what it means to have that room for Jesus. Regardless of which room we are in, there are five basic postures that we can take. In Anticipation of the arrival of Jesus, we could go back to the Bible to reflect on how the ancients of old anticipate the coming of the Messiah, a Saviour, a Deliverer, the LORD Himself. There are many references to the ARRIVAL of the Saviour to point us to the coming once again. While anticipation is about preparing the heart emotionally, the arrival could be construed as preparing for action. Then there is the AWAKENING posture where we express gratitude for people around us. We become more conscious of those living together under one roof. ANOINTING is about sharing. It is about learning the meaning of calling and to be set apart for a particular purpose. We learn once again the reason why Jesus came to us in the first place. Finally, the ADORATION celebrates Christmas Day, where we would encourage everyone to come let us adore Him. In each of the five Advent Weeks, we get to celebrate and practice one particular aspect of the 5As of Advent@Home. This common cycle gives us a grasp of the essence of the Advent, and we get to practice all of them in every room of the house. Written like a devotional, each days starts off with a biblical thought, a reflection of the meaning of the room, and how Jesus comes to us where we live. The chapter closes with a brief prayer and a follow-up activity sheet for the family. 

"A Burning in My Bones" (Winn Collier)

TITLE: A Burning in My Bones: The Authorized Biography of Eugene Peterson, Translator of The Message
AUTHOR: Winn Collier
PUBLISHER: New York, NY: Waterbrook, 2020, (368 pages).

This is a biography of one of evangelicalism's best known authors, Eugene Peterson. For his beloved Church, he will always be their beloved pastor. For Regent College students, he will be remembered as a quiet, patient, and wise teacher. In the literature world, he is respected for his ability to weave words into meaning and nuance the words into spectrum of meanings. For many leaders and professors, he is an authority in spiritual theology. For the rest of the world, he is the translator of the popular paraphrase of the Bible: THE MESSAGE. Before his death in 2018, author Winn Collier was given permission to write an authorized biography about Eugene Peterson. Given free access to Peterson's journals, papers, letters, manuscripts, as well as personal interviews, Collier had unprecedented insight into the personal life of Eugene. Most of all, it was the way that he knew God so personally that we would want to learn about. 

The book is written in three parts. Part One describes the early years of Eugene's Norwegian grandparents, Andre and Juditta Odegard Hoiland moving to America in 1902. Flathead Valley in Montana was where they eventually moved to. It was where Eugene was born to Evelyn and Don. His creativity and imagination were credit to his mother. If Eugene had learned about creativity and contemplation from his mother, he learned about companionship and community from his father. He experienced what it meant to lose a family member at a tender young age when his 2-year old sister Lois died of pneumonia. Knowing the deeper connections to Eugene's family helps us appreciate his background and how it shapes his spirituality. Then there was his time in Seattle Pacific University where he rubbed shoulders with people of different denominational backgrounds. He learned the importance of manageable size from his early experience as President of a student body. Hence, he developed this principle of not pastoring a church larger than 300 people. He refuses to put himself up on a pedestal, but chooses the humble path by identifying himself with the rest of us, that he too like many have lived haphazard lives of discovery rather than a clearly defined path. Sometimes, the discovery has to do with what one does not want to do instead of one wants to do. This was Eugene's posture when he opts for ministry instead of getting involved in the Korean war. He shares about what it meant to be a butcher's son and subsequently a butcher's life. It was not to be as his direction shifts again after much rejection from existing Church denominations. He went to Bible School hoping to do some teaching after that. Gradually, the Bible became less of a book to be studied but an invitation to a conversation with God. He learned ministry from George Buttrick, philosophy from Soren Kierkegaard, prayer from his Pentecostal roots, and theology from Karl Barth. He eventually became ordained in the Presbyterian Church USA. He studied at New York Theological Seminary and continued with a doctoral program at John Hopkins University, focusing on semitic languages. He was blessed to study under the supervision of Bill Albright. However, he did not complete his dissertation as he decided to go into full time pastoral work instead. 

"Always a Guest" (Barbara Brown Taylor)

TITLE: Always a Guest: Speaking of Faith Far from Home
AUTHOR: Barbara Brown Taylor
PUBLISHER: Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2020, (256 pages).

Many churches invite guest preachers to their Sunday pulpit time for different reasons. It could be giving the regular pastor a break. It could also be due to a specialized topic that the congregation needed to hear in a specific moment of time. Sometimes, a famous preacher might be in town also available. Many churches would pounce on the opportunity to listen to experienced clergy and well-known preachers. Barbara Brown Taylor is one such person that I find churches should not miss out. As an Episcopal priest who had stepped down from her Church in order to teach, while she may not be preaching at her regular Church, she has been guest preaching in other places like seminaries, colleges, community groups, as well as churches from different denominations. In this book, Taylor shares her thoughts and experiences about what it means to be doing guest preaching and hones her literary creativity in a constantly changing congregational environment. This collection of sermons is a gift to the rest of the world. Not only does Taylor stay faithful to the Scripture, she expounds it in a way that is very much herself. On her website, she calls herself as one who dares to say things that most of us are not "supposed to say." Things like learning to see the ordinary as beautiful. The world famously glorifies the pretty aesthetics but fails to see from God's perspective, that all of God's creation is good. Our problem is sin, which has marred the way we see the world. She looks at political anxiety in society and carefully redirects the problem back to the nature of human unneighborliness.

"Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling" (Robert W. Kellemen)

TITLE: Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling
AUTHOR: Robert W. Kellemen
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2020, (272 pages).

For many people, marriage is about love between two persons. For Christians, marriage is indeed about love, but with an additional belief, that marriage is about being united before God. What is marriage from God's perspective? Why must we treat marriage counseling as based on the gospel of grace? Theologically and practically, what does it mean? Unlike books that dish out advice for married couples, this book is about equipping marriage counselors to help married couples. For author and pastor Robert Kellemen, marriage counseling is about helping couples "see their marriage from a larger set of eyes." In fact, he insists that for Christians, it is a no-brainer that marriages are essentially meant to be gospel-centered. So, the author gives us 22 "counseling relational competencies." He suggests that the book be used in a "small group lab setting." For couples, focus not on "solutions" but on "soul-utions." The emphasis is about forming the inner soul. A marriage with transformed inner selves will be gospel-centered. Kellemen tells us the three common approaches to marriage counseling: Family systems; narrative therapy; and solution-focused therapy. All of them have in common the need to understand people; to diagnose the problem; and then to identify the solution needed. Kellemen aims to go a step further than all of these by pointing us to "gospel connection." This is done through facilitating "gospel conversations."