"Faithful Politics" (Miranda Zapor Cruz)

TITLE: Faithful Politics: Ten Approaches to Christian Citizenship and Why It Matters
AUTHOR: Miranda Zapor Cruz
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2024, (216 pages).

Do we choose Republicans because the Presidential candidate carries a Bible? Do we choose Democrats because my Christian friends are there? Do we choose parties simply because their policies are more Christian? How do we practice our Christian Faith in our often heated political environment? What is the difference between heavenly and earthly citizenship? How do we know if our actions are serving God or Caesar? How do we live as heavenly citizens while on earth? In our polarized climate, how can Christians behave as peacemakers? Is there such a thing as a Christian political party? Should we vote for candidates who claim to be Christians? These are some of the questions that trouble many Christians. Before attempting to answer any of these questions, we might need to ask a more fundamental one: "What does it mean to practice faithful politics?" This one question is the basis of this book to show us what it means to be salty, prophetic, separationist, and social. Underlying these principles are biblical applications of dual citizens, first of the Kingdom and then of earthly citizens. Living as Kingdom citizens means recognizing the different approaches to politics as compared to what we see in everyday worldly affairs. For instance, instead of limiting ourselves to relationships based on our nationality statuses on earth, we learn a universal perspective of seeing people as fellow humans living under grace from heaven. Instead of fighting one another to gain access to limited resources on earth, we learn to share in the hope that the economies of God will always be more abundant. 

"Culture Making" (Andy Crouch, expanded edition)

TITLE: Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling
AUTHOR: Andy Crouch
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2023, (320 pages).

Culture wars are nothing new. Whether outside or inside, there are different cultures that exist in many places. Organizations too possess a mixture of different cultures within themselves. In many Christian circles, one of the key catchphrases to depict our Christian witness was "cultural engagement." This is a strategy of bringing the gospel to the places where ordinary people are found. What actually is "cultural engagement?" The two extremes of cultural assimilation and cultural rejection are non-starters. Many might think that the solution lies somewhere between the two. Author Andy Crouch gives us a paradigm-shifting perspective to argue for creative culture-making.  This necessitates the introduction of "new vocabulary, a new story, and a new set of questions." Part One is an attempt to understand cultural vocabulary from a sociological perspective. This is essential because culture often means different things to different people. Crouch takes us through a historical survey of how culture changes with a particular focus on the interactions between Christianity and culture. One of the most intriguing discussions happened to be the way he interacts with the various methods of dealing with culture. He makes a distinction between "gestures and postures," the former a mere somewhat passive acknowledgment of the method compared to the latter which is a more active, default, or conscientious attitude. 

"The Call to Follow" (Richard Langer and Joanne J. Jung)

TITLE: The Call to Follow
AUTHOR: Richard Langer and Joanne J. Jung
PUBLISHER: Wheaton, IL: Crossway Publishers, 2022, (224 pages).
 

There are many resources on leadership. From seminars by well-known leaders to books written by famous authors, stuff on leadership continues to be highly sought after. In many societies, aspiring to positions of leadership is a badge of honor. Many schools even have special curricula to teach leadership. Training leaders is now a multibillion-dollar industry. In contrast, not much is talked about or taught with regard to the call to follow. Jesus clearly said: "Follow Me." It is a call to discipleship. For authors Richard Langer and Joanne Jung, this is a tough call. Tough because followship cannot hold a candle to the topic of leadership. Many people prefer to lead but few want to follow. Truth is, few are called to lead but we are all called to follow. Langer and Jung back this up with multiple statistics. When they search Amazon to find our books about leadership, the results outnumber followship on a ratio of 400:1. Even those books that teach us the importance of following eventually become another resource about leadership. The authors want this book to speak to all of us, regardless of whether we are in or not in any position of leadership. They then lead us through the steps to obey our calling to follow, more specifically, to follow after Jesus. In Chapter One, the authors call us to distinguish between helpful and harmful teachings of leadership, before turning to the topic of what it means to follow. They define followship as "we follow Christ (deference) through the power of the Spirit and with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength (engagement and zeal) in order to glorify God and build his kingdom (mission ownership)." They help remove layers of myths regarding the call to follow. Comparing "followship stereotype" and "biblical followship," they help set the stage for us to boldly walk the path of discipleship and followship. They point out the significance of followship that should not be undermined. They help us with reasons to learn more about followship. 

"What are Christians For?" (Jake Meador)

TITLE: What Are Christians For?: Life Together at the End of the World
AUTHOR: Jacob R. Meador
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2021, (192 pages).
 

In a self-driven, self-seeking, and self-centered world, it is common to ask questions about one's identity, purpose, and significance. Who am I? What am I called to do? What is my purpose in life? These are all familiar questions about the self. What if we take some time to think about our role in the community we are in? What if we take it even further to think about our role as believers in Christ? What if more of us recognize that the individual is incomplete without the whole body of believers? What if we begin not with the self in mind, but with the people, the very people that God has called us to love and to be a part of? That changes everything. In a powerful reminder of how interdependent we truly are, author Jake Meador shares with us the simple but powerful effects of simply being faithful to our calling no matter where we are. Called the "whole life approach," Meador draws our attention to the need for believers to be active in social justice and everyday spirituality. Like how Father Ted played his part in supporting the persecuted during the apartheid in South Africa, or how Frederick Douglass helped battle slavery in the 19th Century. Why are not more people stepping up to do the good that they ought to do? Why are we not seeing more of such radical practices in our modern world? Why are we increasingly disenfranchised with society, with political divisions, and isolated? Meador uses the title of the book as a veiled challenge to all Christians to do something about authentic discipleship. This book is a guide to help us understand the reasons why we fail to live up to the expectations of our callings; to remind us once again of our need for interdependency, and the courage we need to step up. 

"Demystifying Decision-Making" (Aimee Joseph)

TITLE: Demystifying Decision-Making: A Practical Guide (The Gospel Coalition)
AUTHOR: Aimee Joseph
PUBLISHER: Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2022, (176 pages).
 

We all make tonnes of decisions daily. From wondering what time to wake up to which hour to go to bed, living essentially means making multiple decisions all the time. Some decisions happen like clockwork according to times set by our schools, our employing organizations, our clients, and our schedules. Others are everyday no-brainers like quenching our thirst or going to the restroom. Interestingly, the author observes that there is some correlation between our freedom of choice and the anxieties of decision-making. Perhaps, that is why adults (with more freedom) are often more stressed compared to children (under parental direction). Even among children, those living in developing countries with few choices are often happier than children in developed countries offering many choices. For instance, if a child in a poor country has only one school in the neighborhood, he has just two choices: To go or not to go to that school! In contrast, a child in an urban Western district would have to choose from among the different school offerings, each catering to different needs, different backgrounds, and various areas of specialization. Rather than allowing the different criteria of the world to give us jitters, author Aimee Joseph urges us to use this book as a "little pointer" to see our decision-making from God's perspective. This is done through a few stages.

"Calling in Context" (Susan Lynn Maros)

TITLE: Calling in Context: Social Location and Vocational Formation
AUTHOR: Susan Lynn Maros
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2022, (240 pages).

Calling is a much-talked-about topic whenever there is a life transition. The Bible says it. People use it. We live it. From looking for a life partner to trying to find a job; choosing a college to commit to making investments; the word "calling" has been used, misused, and sometimes abused. Some say calling is for those contemplating entering into a ministry, while others apply it specifically to schools, jobs, and various project assignments. The truth is, any specific calling needs to be seen in its proper contexts simply because we are all unique. Our participation in the working out of this calling is also unique. With hindsight, author and professor Susan Maros admit that a lot of instruction about calling in our world has been restricted to "well-intentioned, White, evangelical, individualistic" views. Gradually, after hearing stories from friends and colleagues from different cultural backgrounds, she grows to apply the concept of calling to a wider world. In this book, Maros shows us step by step how our understanding of calling is influenced by our social and cultural contexts. Calling our existing maps problematic, she takes us through mental maps which often become the lens with which we interpret our world. She then takes a few notches up the ladder of deconstruction to question the way we use "biblical models" in our mental maps. This alone should make many of us sit up and reconsider our own mental maps and our own definitions of what it means to think biblically about calling. Specifically, she identifies five key characteristics in most theological thinking:

"Following the Call" (Charles E. Moore)

TITLE: Following the Call: Living the Sermon on the Mount Together
AUTHOR: Charles E. Moore
PUBLISHER: Walden, NY: Plough Publishing House, 2021, (396 pages).

One of the most powerful teachings of Jesus is none other than the Sermon on the Mount. Even though many sermons have been preached on it, many books written about it, and many references made to it, these precious messages continue to astound us. If there is one theme about the Sermon on the Mount, it would be about the revelation of the Kingdom of God. This is where this book comes in, to help us learn from the different masters of reflection throughout the ages. Compiled from the writings and expositions from Early Church leaders like Irenaeus (2nd Century), Gregory of Nyssa (4th Century), and Jerome (4th Century); to modern writers like Wendell Berry, Stanley Hauerwas, Timothy Keller, Philip Yancey, and more, readers get to learn about kingdom character, kingdom commands, kingdom devotion, and kingdom priorities. Like having multiple preachers on selected sections of the Sermon on the Mount, we get many powerful perspectives on Jesus' teachings. E. Stanley Jones asserts that the Sermon is not about a Christian's duty but liberty to do all the good they can. On the beatitudes, Philip Yancey gives us a profound image of what it means to be poor in spirit, often making provocative observations about the virtues of poverty. There seems to be a correlation between the beatitudes discussed and the corresponding expertise or experience of the authors concerned. For instance, the beatitude on mourning brings together writers like Nicholas Wolterstorff who had experienced personal tragedies. The beatitude on purity engages Søren Kierkegaard's famous reflections on purity. The beatitude on persecution draws from the experience of Jerome and Oscar Romero, both of whom were persecuted because of how they practiced their faith convictions. Just reading the short reflections alone and a little knowledge of the contributors' backgrounds gives the reader a fascinating insight not only into the passage but also into the unique ways God has touched these individuals.

"Why You Matter" (Michael Sherrard)

TITLE: Why You Matter (Perspectives: A Summit Ministries Series): How Your Quest for Meaning Is Meaningless without God
AUTHOR: Michael Sherrard
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2021, (194 pages).

For every "what" there needs to be a "why." For some of us, we need more than simply an answer to the latter. For many of us, this is essentially a quest for meaning and significance of our lives. What makes life meaningful? How are we part of the grand plan of significance? The key thesis in this book is that God exists, and that is why we matter. With the ongoing pandemic, many people are dealing with disruptions, loneliness, deaths, sicknesses, health issues, in particular mental and spiritual well-being. These might lead them to question the meaning of life. Then comes racial issues which led to the rise of the "Black Lives Matter" as well as an "All Lives Matter" reaction by some quarters. Even in societies that pride on equality and freedom of expression, many people still go through crises of various types. Author and pastor Michael Sherrard focus on a "crisis of meaning" to probe behind the reasons why people insist their lives matter in the first place. Once we can understand that, the rest will come into place. He helps us go beyond mere feelings as a judge of our worth. For feelings are often too subjective to be reliable. Rather than letting our feelings, our skills, or our subjectivity determine our life's meaning and identity, why not go back to our Creator? How is that meaningful? In the quest for such answers, we start by observing the culture and society we are living in. Can our present situation of secularism and godless society bring everlasting meaning? What are the promises of atheism? What about morality? The author helps us take a critical look at the society we are in, on the emptiness of the "good life" we often assume we are in. Gradually, he switches gear to help us envision a world with God. Sherrard essentially says the following:  

"Hinge Moments" (D. Michael Lindsay)

TITLE: Hinge Moments: Making the Most of Life's Transitions
AUTHOR: D. Michael Lindsay
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2021, (176 pages).
 

College paths. Career choices. Marital options. Life-changing moments. Even moving addresses. Some moments are exhilarating while others are plain tragic. Some call it a fork in the road. Others call it a choice among many. Christians often describe it as discerning one's calling. Historians call it turning points. Still, many would call it transition moments. For author Michael Lindsay, he calls it "hinge moments." After recalling his own hinge moments, he shares his findings on leadership in America, based on a ten-year study of 550 top leaders in America. He calls these people "Platinum Leaders" and notices a common thread going through the lives of these people: they responded by converting crisis into opportunity. He shares about the early life of Oprah Winfrey, who rose from poverty to stardom. Along the way, she encountered isolation, rejection, even abuse. Prashan De Visser left his war-torn country in Sri Lanka, found a new passion for peacebuilding at Gordon College, and eventually started an organization for reconciliation called "Sri Lanka Unites." He interviewed Jamie Dimon, former CEO of JP Morgan Chase Bank on how he felt when he was fired involuntarily. Another successful CEO, Bruce Kennedy of Alaska Airlines voluntarily walked away from his job to transition toward spending more time at a non-profit. When Condoleezza Rice changed her major from Music to International Relations, her career soared. These stories and many more show us that hinge moments happen to people across all kinds of economic and social strata. 

"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. 

"Diary of a Pastor's Soul" (M. Craig Barnes)

TITLE: Diary of a Pastor's Soul: The Holy Moments in a Life of Ministry
AUTHOR: M. Craig Barnes
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2020, (240 pages).

[Update Correction: This is a fictional account of the life of a pastor. The review should be read as that. Thanks Craig!]

What goes on in a pastor's life? For most people, they tend to see the pastor praying or preaching on stage every Sunday. They don't really know what happens on the other days. While most people would describe their lives as being defined by some crisis or sensational event, the challenge is to learn to pay attention to the ordinary. This is where pastor Craig Barnes manages to share with us, his daily ordinary work in the midst of a busy ministry. In this book, Barnes shares wittingly often with humour about his life as a pastor. 

Right off the bat, he recalls the challenge of dealing with older parishioners who are resistant to change. Some tend to view God's mission in terms of preserving the "temple," such as physical assets like building, structure, facilities, and so on. He understands what it means for pastors to serve anonymously and faithfully. His sharing about his own wife would easily debunk anybody dreaming that pastors' wives are perfect! I believe pastors appreciate that others not put their spouses on the "holier-than-thou" pedestal. Only God is holy. I appreciate how Barnes differentiate "expectations" from "expectancy." The former presumes some intention that is somewhat negative, while the latter removes all such presumptions and be ready to listen. He talks about the reality of loneliness where it is hard to distinguish between pastor and friend with a member of the Church. His sense of calling is essentially about serving all, regardless of whether they are for or against you. His sharing about Mac the custodian is a touching story of how people of good intentions clash with one another, and how there is that need for forgiveness and redemption in a broken world. 

"Aging" (Will Willimon)

TITLE: Aging: Growing Old in Church (Pastoring for Life: Theological Wisdom for Ministering Well)
AUTHOR: Will Willimon
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2020, (192 pages).

One of the world's biggest concerns is a growing aging population. As people live longer, world leaders are increasingly concerned over the costs of medical care and the rising infrastructure requirements to take care of the elderly. In many societies, the aged are no longer net contributors to the economy. It costs the state more money to take care of them. Of course, it can be argued that during their younger days, the aged have done their fair share to bless the economy. Retirement benefits are a way in which the state show appreciation for their past contributions. However, if the aging numbers continue to dwarf all other age groups, it does pose not only a financial concern, but many other issues as well. Projected numbers by various research groups show that if the trends continue, many aged will be living in abject poverty. Measured on such a scale, it can be downright depressing. Author Will Willimon writes that many people in this age group, "unaffordable health care, poverty, housing insecurity, and painful dislocation will fill their last years with anxiety and fear." This is indeed a major concern. For the Church, financial matters are not the main concern. They need to help address the spiritual and emotional side of aging as well. More importantly, we need to ask the question: "Where is God leading me in this time of life?" Willimon aims to help us do just that. This is also something crucial to the author's ministry as the average age of his large Church denomination is 62!

"The Voices We Carry" (J. S. Park)

TITLE: The Voices We Carry: Finding Your One, True Voice in a World of Clamor and Noise
AUTHOR: J. S. Park
PUBLISHER: Chicago, IL: Northfield Publishers, 2020, (288 pages).

Many of us have heard about the differences between the head and the heart. The former popularly refers to the intellect while the latter describes the emotions. Using the head means we let our thinking and rationalizing decide our next steps. Using the heart means we allow our emotions to lead the way. Truth is, we need both head and heart for authenticity. Instead of separating the head and the heart into two entities, how about looking at it from the perspective of voices that speak to us, regardless of whether it is to the head or heart? This makes sense because the line between the intellect and the emotions is not easily distinguishable. What is more important is how we listen to the voices, both from outside and from the inside. Author JS Park writes this book with honest inquiry and personal experience about the many different types of voices that come at us, both voluntarily and involuntarily. In an age of social media, we are susceptible to all kinds of comments, both positive and negative. Even the most well-intentioned posts could trigger a whole spectrum of criticisms and trolls. One may claim to communicate facts but others would be quick to clothe all kinds of feelings and judgment on them. External voices create all kinds of inner ripples, some good, some bad. The best way forward is to discern the facts, determine what's helpful and what's not, and to find our own voices. Don't cave in to lies.

"Living Into Lent" (Donald K. McKim)

TITLE: Living into Lent
AUTHOR: Donald K. KcKim
PUBLISHER: Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013, (160 pages).

Lent is here again. The word "Lent" means "fortieth" in Latin. IT is 40 days to Easter, starting from Ash Wednesday. Traditionally, we exclude Sundays in the counting, so Lent concludes with that great Resurrection Sunday. What do we do during these forty days? Some believers fast from something as a constant reminder about Christ's journey to the Cross, how He offered Himself up to do the Father's Will.  Other believers spend more time in prayer or in various spiritual disciplines. The key themes of Lent are prayer, meditation, contemplation, silence, resisting the world, faithfulness, obedience, fasting, sacrifice, etc. One helpful way to observe Lent is to use devotionals to help us through each day. This book is one such devotional. There are several features that make this book stands out.

First, it is biblically referenced. Each theme is centered on the Bible. The author does not flood us with chunks of Bible to overwhelm us. Instead, he takes selected verses and guides us through the Word. Depth is key. As a devotional, it should be simple and focused, rather than to be expounded and analyzed. As a devotional, the Word is used to guide our mind to think deeply of God and to make our hearts bigger for God. McKim does well to give us brief notes without too much explanation, giving readers ample time to pause and to pray.

"Five to Thrive" (Dr Kathy Koch)

TITLE: Five to Thrive: How to Determine If Your Core Needs Are Being Met (and What to Do When They're Not)
AUTHOR: Kathy Koch
PUBLISHER: Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2020, (240 pages).

The popular cliche says: "Don't just try to survive, thrive!" It is a nice way to inspire one to grow beyond the status quo. Yet, there is also a sense that such motivational phrases might have become too common, or overused. Strangely, many people still pay lots of money to go to motivational seminars and lavish conferences to get a new kick at life. The trouble is, once the initial hype is over, everything goes back to square one. What happens next? Another motivational project? If only there is a proven way not only to get a motivational impetus, but to make it sustainable. This book acts on that principle, not just driven by our human determination, but linked intricately to divine dependence. At the same time, there is sufficient qualitative and quantitative data to support the way to thrive. Thanks to Kathy Koch, we have one helpful avenue to improve our lives. The way to do that is to determine our core skills in our journey to being whole persons, fully in tune with who we are and what we are created to be. We cannot be less than who we are. The moment we are able to be the best of ourselves, that is where thriving begins. Author Kathy Koch lists five things that can make us whole. She calls these the "five core needs."

"Adorning the Dark" (Andrew Peterson)

TITLE: Adorning the Dark: Thoughts on Community, Calling, and the Mystery of Making
AUTHOR: Andrew Peterson
PUBLISHER: Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing, 2019, (224 pages).

Seeking God in our lives is a daily practice of intentionality. Seeing God clearly comes about with an awareness that His presence is always with us.
If we take our time and pay attention to the way others have done it, we would learn a great deal. The great song composer Bach is acutely aware of the presence of God as he writes the initials "S.D.G" (To God be the Glory) at the bottom of his manuscripts written for church. Eric Liddell runs for God and feels His pleasure.  Instead of getting stuck with mere admiration for these spiritual giants, author Andrew Peterson boldly writes essays, music, and various thoughts to express his devotion to God. The title of this book is exactly about that. While initially, he may seem to be in the dark about what to write and how to go about adoring God, faith is essentially about taking the first steps to be creative. Don't let the ways of the world hem us into its mold. Instead, grow our relationship with the divine through a recognition of our identity in Him; our calling from Him; and our living for Him. Peterson shares details about how he writes music. Overcoming the writer's block is essentially about a battle of fear and a leap of faith. Writing a song is essentially telling a story. Putting songs together into an album strings together stories according to a certain theme or focus. Peterson recalls his first college album which he calls "Bible album." Incredibly, this album became a tour and more importantly providing him with a platform to connect community, family, and his devotion to God.

"What's Next?" (Daniel Ryan Day)

TITLE: What's Next: Your Dream Job, God's Call, and a Life That Sets You Free
AUTHOR: Daniel Ryan Day
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers, 2019, (131 pages).

Transitions are a way of life. For people at particular junctures, the question of "What's Next" is particularly exciting or distressing. For Christians, another way of asking the same question is "What is God's will for me at this time of my life?" Many people have grappled with this question from different angles. This question is also related to the topics of calling and purpose in life. Author Daniel Ryan Day begins with his own story of how circumstances and choices impacted the decisions he made. He had wanted to be a professional pilot but never sent in any application to the Air Force Academy. He don't know what his future looks like and constantly seeks answers to his search for the next thing. He poses several scenarios of this predicament. If one belongs to "Team Senior," one has to decide what to do after the senior year of their academic program. If one is in "Team College," the challenge is to decide on which program of study. If one belongs to "Team Rut," then the question is how they could find a right fit between their aspirations and jobs. Those belonging to "Team Deck-of-Cards" will have to depend on what comes their way, especially unforeseen circumstances, before they decide. The rare breed of people in "Team Hero" would take care of the interests of others before their own. Using two guidelines to determine the next step, DRD looks at purpose and fulfillment as criteria for determining our calling. He calls this team as "Team Called." In order to get our spiritual bearings right, he begins with the Bible. Such calling is neither about some special "high calling" related to Church work. Neither is it about a special job. It is something way beyond our popular definitions of dream jobs and higher callings.

"Reading People" (Anne Bogel)

TITLE: Reading People: How Seeing the World through the Lens of Personality Changes Everything
AUTHOR: Anne Bogel
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2017, (224 pages).

Why do people behave in a certain way? How can we understand another person based on their behaviour? How can we better understand others and ourselves? Enter personality tests. These help us learn more about ourselves and give us a snapshot of who we are at any particular time. Many of these are based on scientific data and research. With choices lie a new challenge: Of the many  many personality tests out there, how do we choose? What are the differences between them? How do they stack up against one another? Here is where author Anne Bogel can help us navigate the potpourri of models. She talks about how the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (16 personality types) help her understand her own unique characteristics, how it explains her marital relationship and understanding herself. She dwells on Carl Jung's famous introvert/extrovert temperaments and takes it beyond just human people but church structures. For instance, she observes that most denominational churches have programs that appeal more to extroverts, which becomes a challenge for the introvert. Looking at Elaine Aaron's "Highly Sensitive Person," we become more aware of how sensitive our nervous systems are to various stimulus. This is particularly useful for parents dealing with highly sensitive children. Then there is the popular "Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman that essentially deals with our primary language that would stir us up emotionally. Kiersey's four basic temperaments are the Artisans (SP); Guardians (SJ); Idealists (NFs); and Rationals (NTs). Bogel goes into detail the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, showing us what we need to know about the eight cognitive functions (combinations of extrovert/introvert perceptive (sensing or intuiting) and judging (thinking or feeling) functions. She takes time to explain what each of the eight cognitive functions mean and gives us three reasons for persisting in this self-analysis. First, it helps us to be confident of our own MBTI Type. Second, it helps us understand people. Finally, it helps us in our relationship as we adapt ourselves to adapt to the respective persons we deal with. She covers the "Clifton Strengthfinder" and confesses how this tool helps her love reading in the first place. Listing the 34 strengths, we learn about themes in executing; influencing; relationship-building; strategic-thinking; etc. The Enneagram is a personality framework that "fosters self-awareness and self-examination" to help us understand our spirituality. It is based on Evagrius Ponticus's eight or nine vices that impede our relationship with God. She then summarizes all the models and shares about the uniqueness and challenges of personality change vs behavioral change. While the results for us change over time, our core temperaments remain consistent. The more important questions are:

"Calling All Years Good" (Kathleen A. Cahalan & Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore)

TITLE: Calling All Years Good: Christian Vocation throughout Life's Seasons
AUTHOR: Kathleen A. Cahalan & Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids. MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2017, (208 pages).

What is calling? Is a person called only with regard to a particular career or vocation? If that is so, what about people who have retired? What about those who are unable to work for some reason? Do they not have a calling as well? Addressing this is a powerful expansion of calling to address this conventional lopsided understanding of calling. We tend to think of vocation as some kind of a question that could be answered once and for all. Whether it be a Full-Time ministry engagement or a particular career work, people have tended to restrict their understanding of vocation only in one particular part of their life. What about transitions in between vocations? What about life stages? What about retirement? Is there a different calling for each life stage? Or is there only one calling for all of life? These questions are boldly dealt with in this collection of articles that reflect on six phases of life: Childhood; Adolescence; Younger Adulthood; Middle Adulthood; Late Adulthood; and Older Adulthood. No one phase should be allowed to define one’s whole life, for each phase comes with unique challenges and specific contexts. Questions asked during one phase would either be asked differently or be irrelevant altogether in another phase. The key question being asked “What would a lifelong perspective do to our understanding of vocation?”

"Calling in Today's World" (Kathleen A. Cahalan & Douglas J. Schuurman)

TITLE: Calling in Today's World: Voices from Eight Faith Perspectives
EDITORS:  Kathleen A. Cahalan & Douglas J. Schuurman
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2016, (238 pages).

What do people in generally think about calling? Is it only something that Christians ask? Surely, the Buddhists, the Muslims, and the secularists in society would have their own perspectives too. In fact, according to the editors of this book, many students and colleagues have been asking the same question: "What do other people think about calling?" or "Is there an equivalent concept in your religion or belief?" So they went forth to ask various individuals whether they can contribute to the overall understanding of what calling means according their faith perspective. They found eight! According to Cahalan and Schuurman, their purpose for this book is to help "build a better, more humane world" by establishing bridges of understanding of one another's beliefs. Apart from that, Christians reading this book would be able to revisit their own understanding of what calling means in their own tradition. They can dispel any notion that calling is merely for the ministry or church related endeavors. They can avoid limiting calling to only supernatural matters, but to be inclusive of all matters. They can look at calling more in terms of freedom of choice rather than some strict "blueprint" we have to adhere to. In a conversational approach, each of the eight contributors are given an opportunity to talk about what calling means.