"Tech Titans of China" (Rebecca A. Fannin)

TITLE: Tech Titans of China: How China's Tech Sector is challenging the world by innovating faster, working harder, and going global
AUTHOR: Rebecca A. Fannin
PUBLISHER: Boston, MA: Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2019, (256 pages).

Those of us who live in the West would be familiar with the Tech Titans of America, in particular, the Silicon Valley of California. At the end of the Millenium, there were the AOLs, Blackberrys, IBMs, the HPs, the Ciscos, the Dells, Yahoo, and so on. Today, these companies have been eclipsed by Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, and so on. Like the common saying that the big will eat up the small, the new threat to these Western Tech Titans are coming from East Asia, namely, China. Calling them the BATs of China, these rising tech titans of China (Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent) are challenging the FANGS (Facebook, Amazon/Apple, Netflix, Google) in the search, e-commerce, social networking, and many other technology domains. WeChat's userbase has surpassed WhatsApp. China's Silicon Dragon is China's emerging equivalent of Silicon Valley. In fact, China has grown from copying to innovating. If imitation is the biggest form of flattery, the successes of many Chinese tech firms have been validated with Western firms doing the copying instead. Facebook imitates WeChat's messaging features. Amazon has to play catchup in some areas too. Even the giant Apple are copying some of Xiaomi's business model. It is not just the speed of innovation that is catching up, it is also about the super-quick time that these Chinese corporations need to overtake their Western counterparts. Like the words of Gary Rieschel, "China is going to eat Silicon Valley's lunch." While it is true that some areas of advancement are due to government protectionist measures, a sizable chunk of innovation is due to the relentless entrepreneurial spirit and hardworking culture so synonymous with the Chinese. Not only that, the work rate of the Chinese is unmatched. Working over 12 hours per day, six days a week, and having meetings on weekends. Many of these are all-nighters that reflect a workaholic culture not often seen in America. With an enormous domestic market, a relentless entrepreneurial spirit, a workaholic culture, and a protectionist government, all signs point to inevitable domination within China first, and the world next. 

"Glimmers of Grace" (Kathryn Butler, MD)

TITLE: Glimmers of Grace: A Doctor's Reflections on Faith, Suffering, and the Goodness of God
AUTHOR: Kathryn Butler, MD
PUBLISHER: Wheaton, IL: Crossway Publishers, 2021, (224 pages).

Faith and Fear; Hope or Despair; Health or Sickness; Life and Death. These are the daily issues that plague hospitals all over the world. As a critical care surgeon who sees patients experiencing struggles of life and death, author Kathryn Butler has seen a wide spectrum of human ups and downs.  As a Christian, she has also questioned why God had allowed people to go through pain and suffering. Where is God in all of these? What happens when one does not see the promises of God fulfilled in their lives? How do we locate our feelings in the field of grace? This is what this book is about. Seeing God's grace in the midst of medical calamities. Written in three parts, Part One shows us how medical situations could challenge our faith. Part Two looks to the Bible for insights into who God is and how we can find comfort in God. Part Three moves forward to show us how to live with hope based on the Resurrection Promise. 

Butler shares many stories about the amazing grace in the hospital room. She sees how a dying man was able to hang on to his very last breath until his wife arrives. She marvels at how one Christian by the name of David continues to minister to his Church members in spite of his health condition. She remembers a strong and independent friend who just needed prayer even in the midst of discouragement. She notices how the best of medical sciences cannot measure up to the miracle of God's design. God heals from the inside out and the outside in when humans can only apply a band-aid. Each chapter comes with reflections about various medical situations and assurances from the Bible. Readers can sense quickly that the author needs the assurances herself too. Recognizing the limits of science and medicine propels her to embrace the mystery of God's assurance and eternal comfort. Science might define life as a beating and death as flatlining. Faith enables one to go beyond these parameters into the mysteries of the afterlife.

"Talking with Teens About Sexuality" (Beth Robinson, EdD; and Latayne C. Scott PhD)

TITLE: Talking with Teens about Sexuality
AUTHOR: Beth Robinson, EdD; and Latayne C. Scott PhD
PUBLISHER: Bloomington, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2021, (208 pages).

Living with Teenagers can be quite an enriching experience, educational too. Not just for teenagers but more so for parents. When asked about what their parents needed to know about "teens and sex," a group of teenagers quickly replied: "Everything!" Indeed, there are many, if not everything, that parents need to know in order to relate to their growing child at an impressionable age. The curious thing is this: Parents have also gone through their respective teen phase. What else do they need to learn? It's the "other" perspective. It is one thing to experience the growing-up phase. It is yet another to be on the receiving side of teenager communications. So for many "clueless" parents, they need help, and they need it badly. For the contexts have changed drastically over the years. Compared to many parents' generation, today's kids have smartphones and ready connectivity to the Internet. Many of them are digital natives. They are also becoming immersed in a liberal culture that challenges many traditions of the past. What was taboo then is acceptable now. What seems reprehensible yesterday is embraced openly today. This is particularly true in the area of sexuality, something that teens battle with as they grapple with raging hormonal changes. The authors list some questions to show us the range of issues with regard to sexuality:

"Preaching to People in Pain" (Matthew D. Kim)

TITLE: Preaching to People in Pain: How Suffering Can Shape Your Sermons and Connect With Your Congregation
AUTHOR: Matthew D. Kim
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2021, (240 pages )
 

What type of sermons should pastors preach more of? Should it be more rah-rah "success-driven" high-fives or the more solemn sermons on pain and suffering? Arguing that success only happens to a minority while suffering is universal, author and professor Matthew Kim believes that sermons on suffering are more relevant for our world. Drawing from his pastoral and personal experience, this book shows us how we could walk with people in pain. Through the preaching of the Word, he models for us the way to "preach less pain-free sermons and to preach more pain-full sermons where preachers disclose their own su­ffering and pain." Designed more as a corrective rather than a directive, Kim is concerned about the way many pulpits celebrate sermons about success which in turn could lead to more individualism and materialism. He begins with his personal story that shapes his preaching narratives today. In pastoral ministry, he laments how pastors themselves experience rarely some care from their congregation members. Most care is unilateral from pastors outward. The same thing applies to seminary contexts where students expect their professors to constantly be at a top spiritual and emotional level. For both situations, the fact is that pastors and professors are human too. They need care as well. He shares about the pains some pastors go through. One was battling cancer. Another was going through a painful marriage. Still, another was experiencing unimaginable tragedy. Sadly, the culture we live in chooses to avoid instead of engaging. Suffering is ubiquitous, success is not. 

"The Parables" (Douglas D. Webster)

TITLE: The Parables: Jesus's Friendly Subversive Speech
AUTHOR: Douglas D. Webster
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2021, (352 pages).

Storytelling is one of the most powerful ways of spreading a message. Jesus used lots of them. Parables communicate. They disarm. They clarify. They also rebuke. Used appropriately, they transform lives. There are 2 Old Testament parables and 35 in the New Testament. How and why do we study the parables? For author Douglas Webster, he discovers that the parables are transformative strategies rather than merely an alternative way to teach. After many years of teaching and preaching, while trying to help students make sense of the Sermon on the Mount, he realizes that Jesus uses parables not to teach but to use parables to "penetrate people’s defenses, circumvent the opposition, extend his gospel ministry, and creatively train his followers." In other words, parables are not just another way of telling gospel truths. They are there to prick the conscience and to open hearts up for the message of the kingdom. They reveal the truth that sets people free. Jesus uses ordinary characters from common life. He bridges heavenly truth with earthly objects. Concentrating on the parables in Matthew and Luke, the author deals with each of Luke's parables individually to paint the gospel story. He organizes Matthew's parables according to the Passion Week narrative. He structures the book dealing with the 22 parables in a chronological fashion. Beginning with the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:1-23), and ends with the end of the world judgment parable. 

"Christians in a Cancel Culture" (Joe Dallas)

TITLE: Christians in a Cancel Culture: Speaking with Truth and Grace in a Hostile World
AUTHOR: Joe Dallas
PUBLISHER: Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2021, (208 pages).

Opposition to the gospel is nothing new. It could be direct persecution, like in the Early Church. It could also be indirect insinuation in the form of cynical comments or sarcasm. Both forms of hostility are alive and well today. While physical persecution happens mostly in closed countries like North Korea, open criticism and condemnation occur daily whenever Christians attempt to speak against worldly values. In the 60s, when Christians speak about a Christian perspective of a particular issue, it was generally accepted in a "business as usual" manner. Then comes the 90s culture of cynicism, where the same issues in the past need to be defended. Apologists grew in number as more people attempted to engage a generation of cynicism. Today, the tide has been turned completely around that Christians no longer can speak about such issues freely. Their rights to expressing the same views of the past are increasingly being "canceled." Author Joe Dallas has been observing such a "cancel culture" trend. He sees how Big Tech is playing the role of censorship to "streamline" views they deem unsuitable. At the same time, they are lenient toward those who mirror their views and "cancel" those who don't. While the natural instinct is to fight back forcefully, Dallas gently guides us toward a loving rational response. Convicted that the Bible today is alive, relevant, and potent, the primary purpose of this book is to equip Christians with skills to respond with grace in a hostile climate. The first five chapters provide some background on the formidable challenges of today that tend to blackmail Christians into silence. The second part of the book focuses on the knowledge of biblical truths and wisdom about rules of engagement. For thirty years, the author had encountered countless opposition and he shares from his wealth of real-world experience. 

"Marriage, Scripture, and the Church" (Darrin W. Snyder Belousek)

TITLE: Marriage, Scripture, and the Church: Theological Discernment on the Question of Same-Sex Union
AUTHOR: Darrin W. Snyder Belousek
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2021, (352 pages).

How do we deal with the issue of same-sex marriage? Should the Church bless same-sex union as marriage? How do we deal with the growing divide between those who support and those who do not? These issues continue to split the Church all over the world. Do we take each Bible verse on the topic and start espousing how right we are and how wrong the other view is? Do we use such passages to hammer down the other party into submission? How is it possible for both sides to say that they are biblical and yet arrive at different conclusions of the same matter? With regard to same-sex union, the debate continues to rage. Feeling the tensions in his own Church as well, author and Professor Darrin W Snyder Belousek re-examines the common approaches done so far and proposes three key thrusts in dealing with these questions. First, he ties the issue of sexuality with marriage. How one deals with the topic of marriage will directly affect our interpretation of same-sex, and vice-versa. He brings in the examples of how Jesus deals with questions about divorce and the "three-faceted reality of marriage." Positively, the Bible sees marriage as likened to Christ as groom and the Church as the bride. Negatively, infidelity destroys such a nuptial union. The author also asserts that all three major branches of Christian tradition: Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant have always taught marriage as man-woman monogamy. He pits the teachings of the patristics and the forefathers of the faith against modern scholars like David Gushee, Dale Martin, Robert Son, James Brownson, Mark Achtemeier, and so on. He brings in arguments for both sides before presenting theological conclusions. 

"Lies My Preacher Told Me" (Brent A. Strawn)

TITLE: Lies My Preacher told Me: An Honest Look at the Old Testament
AUTHOR: Brent A. Strawn
PUBLISHER: Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2021, (128 pages).

What do you mean by "lies?" Aren't preachers supposed to be telling the Truth? How could anyone paint them as liars? Perhaps it is a marketing gimmick or a clever way to capture attention. I suppose that is so. Looking at the content, it is more about misconceptions or misinterpretations over the pulpit rather than flat-out untruths. Thankfully, the author explains right from the beginning that the title was merely to highlight ten controversial Old Testament "mistruths." Mistruths according to Strawn are about the Old Testament as:

1. Someone Else's Mail
2. Boring
3. Obsolete
4. Tales of A Mean God
5. Hyper-Violent
6. Putting David as sole author of Psalms
7. Non-Spiritually enriching
8. Non-Relevance
9. Law an Impossible to Keep type of Burden
10. That only Jesus matters

"Recovering the Lost Art of Reading" (Leland Ryken and Glenda Faye Mathes)

TITLE: Recovering the Lost Art of Reading: A Quest for the True, the Good, and the Beautiful
AUTHOR: Leland Ryken and Glenda Faye Mathes
PUBLISHER: Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021, (304 pages).

When was the last time anyone of us has read a book? From cover to cover? Not many. Does this mean that we have lost the art of reading? Possibly. As far as reading is concerned, most of us, if not all would agree that we all read. The difference is mainly about how we read. In this captivating book about how reading has been lost in a new culture, authors Leland Ryken and Glenda Faye Mathes argue that the kind of reading that we have been doing in the past is now basically lost. People no longer read books. They skim articles. The browse social media. They glance at headlines. They peruse selectively. The art of reading is lost. What they are saying is that we no longer read with delight but as a duty. With the rise of electronic media, traditional books have been digitized. So do our reading habits. A simple test would be this: "What books have you read recently?" Surveys have shown that many wanted to read more but are actually not doing it. Not a single age group who say they read, do so for more than an hour daily. Yet, people spend nearly six hours per day on digital media, mostly cursory reading! A more challenging test would be to read Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" in its entirety. The problems are many. Hyperlinks tempt one to click to go to other sites. Pop-up windows distract. Attentiveness is divided. Digital media are changing our brains. From brain researchers to literary artists, experts are seeing the demise of reading. Plus, our minds get so infatuated with the present that we lose touch with the past. We lose touch with essential human experience. We also lose touch with the beauty of literary art. On and on, the authors give us a compelling case of a growing non-reading phenomenon. They believe that this would lead to a loss of our "mental sharpness, verbal skills, and ability to think and imagine," and many more.

"Reading the Times" (Jeffrey Bilbro)

TITLE: Reading the Times: A Literary and Theological Inquiry into the News
AUTHOR: Jeffrey Lyle Bilbro
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2021, (208 pages).
 

A few decades ago, we receive news via the radio or the daily printed newspaper. We hear the daily digest or news bites with the radio and for more details, we open up the editorial pages or the news reports for both local and foreign news. Then comes the Internet. Our hunger for news and information remains but the medium we use differs. This also coincides with the cellphone revolution accompanied by the rise of social media platforms. The new technological landscape has also broken up the dominion of the humble newspaper or printed magazines. Now, we read news snippets via short texts such as Instagram, Tik-Tok or Twitter; and longer pieces via blogs or websites. For information that matters to friends, we might opt for FaceBook. We look for jobs via LinkedIn, read books on electronic devices, do quick updates on Twitter, and watch videos on YouTube, and many more. When freedom of the press meets freedom of individual expression, everybody becomes a reporter, an editor, and sometimes, an expert. In such a decentralized environment, it becomes more challenging to sieve out the truth from falsehood. Even celebrity gossip and news opinions have become so decentralized that the world sees only specific angles from any one social media user. On the topic of news, Bilbro raises several specific questions on reading the news. Underlying these is a growing awareness that our daily habits are more effective than what we say or believe. 

"100 Poems to Break Your Heart" (Edward Hirsch)

TITLE: 100 Poems to Break Your Heart
AUTHOR: Edward Hirsch
PUBLISHER: Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021, (512 pages).

"We live in distracting times," writes one of the most popular poets in our modern era. In the midst of widespread superficiality, we need a more down-to-earth reality. Driven by an overwhelming rush for success, we often do not spend time licking our wounds of failure, reflecting on setbacks, or grieving over losses. Busyness could be a convenient coverup for emotional weakness or vulnerability. The difference between prose and poetry is quite well-known. Prose tends to be relatively direct while poetry requires time to digest. It also takes on a more pragmatic mode rather than imaginative; information-driven vs experience-led; utilitarian vs expressiveness; and so on. Poetry on the other hand gives one the freedom to express our feelings that allows us to use a variety of literary art such as art, music, or various methods of illumination. There is more freedom of expression, something that adequately sways with the feelings of the poet. Poet Edward Hirsch gives us a powerful collection of poems from various contributors, both past and present. He writes this book of poems as a way to invite us into a world of how many people have expressed their hurts, pains, and struggles. People from the past such as William Wordsworth who mourns his daughter's death with a poem "Surprised by Joy" or Alfred Lord Tennyson's "In Memoriam" that describes his distress over the passing of a dear friend. People in the present such as Mary Oliver who mourns the loss of loons due to lead poisoning in New England where her poem "Lead" laments the failure to protect the environment we live in. Anne Sexton's "Wanting to Die" is a counsel for a friend wanting to commit suicide. Muriel Rukeyser's "Poem" is an anti-war cry. Anya Krogovoy Silver's "Persimmon" is a mindful meandering over fruit in the midst of cancer. Michael Collier's "An Individual History" expresses the struggles and pain of seeing one's grandmother going through a potpourri of medication and drug side-effects. Philip Schultz's "Failure" expresses a humiliating situation where one needs to borrow money from his father's debtor to pay for his father's funeral. 

"How to Tell Stories to Children" (Joseph Sarosy and Silke Rose West)

TITLE: How to Tell Stories to Children
AUTHOR: Joseph Sarosy and Silke Rose West
PUBLISHER: Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021, (208 pages)
 

When a child asks for a story, he is not asking for a narrative but attention. This one gem is already worth the price of the book. Children loved stories. We all do. Whether it is fairy tales or present-day events, they loved to hear them from the mouths of people close to them. Parents, grandparents, teachers, babysitters, childcare assistants, even professors could learn several things from this fantastic book about telling stories. Using the storytelling loop, readers are encouraged to use everyday objects and events to connect with children. There is no need to fret over trying to remember stories of long ago or some dramatic classics from the library. All we need is some imagination, some keen observation, and our natural selves. Telling stories often build trust. They also enable children to grow with a healthy curiosity. For the growing storyteller, the good news is that such a skill often improves one's social standing as well. After all, relationships are about connection, and what better way to begin by practicing with children. For all we know, we are the best storyteller as far as they are concerned. While there are many storybooks out there, not many of them focus on original storytelling. This book helps us do that and more. Focusing on storytelling as a relationship, readers are urged to be more observant of the things near them instead of grasping at things far away. The more one finds one's unique voice, the more original and captivating the storytelling would be. We would be encouraged that we are already great storytellers. The difference is, many of us are waiting for our own storytelling prowess to be discovered! Sarosy and Rose West show us how. 

The storytelling loop essentially about the process rather than content. Take something ordinary, tell a story about it, and from the unique situation, weave a story around them. It sounds easy but practice makes perfect. We learn how to use simple daily objects and to let our imagination run wild, and invite the children to run wild with us. That is the key, for stories often are bridges between reality and imagination; facts and fantasy. Readers also get to listen to the sample stories after each chapter. The goal is not a perfect story but a connection with the children. We learn other tips about starting simple; establishing a rhythm; telling stories of various genres; and many more. Indeed, the book excites me because it not only is easy to follow, it encourages us to be ourselves. That is so important. Often, we tend to dumb ourselves down just because we can't remember stories we have heard or struggle to find stories to please children. Once we realize that children are mainly seeking our attention, the pressure's off and we are left to discover ways to connect with our kids. No longer will we be handicapped into silence when kids want to hear our voices. With simple objects and creative imagination, we can be great storytellers. Thanks to Sarosy and Rose West, we are encouraged to take this journey of telling stories using ordinary objects and natural circumstances. I believe that the benefits of developing such skills grow far beyond just children, but also for adult storytelling as well. This is a great book to inspire not only storytellers but all storytellers waiting to be discovered.

Authors Joseph Sarosy and Silke Rose West are early childhood educators who have told thousands of hours of stories with children. Sarosy is the founder of the Juniper School, an outdoor school comprising of children in grades 1-3. He manages a blog called "The Storytelling Loop." Silke Rose West is a Waldorf teacher and a veteran in the Waldorf method in teaching kindergarten kids.

Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.

conrade

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This book has been provided courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

"Prayer in the Night" (Tish Harrison Warren)

TITLE: Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep
AUTHOR: Tish Harrison Warren
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2021, (208 pages).

For many of us, we learn prayer as a manner of talking to God. From the pulpits, we learn about the importance not only of praying but also to pray without ceasing. The Bible says so. The ancients say so. The pastor says so. Many books have been written about prayer. Those who are starting up the journey of prayer might have been influenced by popular books such as Bruce Wilkinson's "The Prayer of Jabez," the prayer books for specific people by Stormie OMartian, and devotional books that help us learn the steps toward God. These books might teach us the techniques of prayer, but they often don't go far enough or deep enough. It didn't take long for many to desire fewer books on techniques and more on what the essence of prayer is about. Enter the ancients. For a time, advanced readers and pilgrims would gravitate toward the early ancients such as St Augustine, St. Clement of Alexandria, St. John Chrysostom, to medieval saints such as St Benedict, St John of the Cross, Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila, etc. Readers who prefer something more modern would appreciate prayer books by James M. Houston, Philip Yancey, Richard Foster, Tim Keller, etc. Yet, there are very few books that teach us the compline, or prayers of silence. Enters a powerful prayer book that speaks to us about the latter. In a book that is birthed through personal pain, author Tish Harrison Warren shows us the importance and beauty of praying in the silence. Although the book was written just before the pandemic lockdown in early 2020, it was not inspired by the pandemic but a reflection on the "personal stories of pain, vulnerability, anxiety, and loss that will continue long after the current crisis ends." What a revelation! Just like how the author did not know how her first book won the popular vote, she probably didn't know how this second book speaks to a generation gripped with pandemic worries and concern.  Warren begins the book with a flashback to her time in hospital needing surgery two days after her miscarriage. The first thing in her mind was to pray the Compline. It wasn't simply a prayer for some bleeding to stop or some pain to numb. It's about seeking the peace and comfort of Christ in the midst of growing darkness. Warren learned the necessity of Compline even as she endures two devastating miscarriages and the dark night of the soul where she didn't know how to pray anymore. These and other struggles form the backdrop of her journey into a new prayer dimension. Instead of starting prayer off as a form of daylight ritual, the Compline teaches nighttime prayers. Instead of beginning our journey of prayer, the Compline forms the "last prayer office of the day." Instead of something that hopes only for the best, the Compline enables us to prepare our hearts even in our worst moments. Prayers of Compline could be found in the Anglican Book of Common Prayers online. 

"Ward Nine: Coronavirus" (Alys Morgan)

TITLE: Ward Nine: Coronavirus: One Woman's Story
AUTHOR: Alys Morgan
PUBLISHER: Cardigan, Wales: Parthian Books, 2020, (150 pages).

We are now in the second year of the global pandemic. Since late 2019, many parts of the world have been locked down, travel curtailed, and in many countries, the mandatory wearing of masks. In the early part of 2020, it was also common to see members of the public coming out regularly to openly support workers in essential services. These are the front-line workers in healthcare, people who face customers regularly, and those in public services who had gone beyond their call of duty to serve others. Most of us see these healthcare professionals and frontline workers from the outside. What about scenes from the inside? What about stories and perspectives that come from the patients of hospitals, especially in those wards that are focused on caring for Covid patients? This book is about the story of a Covid-19 patient admitted to a special ward on March 21st, 2020, and her 48-day journey to recovery.

Part One of the book describes all the activities prior to her entering Ward 9, the NHS Wales and Mind. It all began with caution. With impending city lockdown, public facilities like libraries were all preparing to close. People were told to avoid gathering in public and to stay home. The news throughout the country was about the lockdown. Soon Alys Morgan was working from home. Some people were panic buying. People were starting to wear masks when they venture outside. Ten days later, her daughter Caitlin got sick. Soon, Alys got the sniffles, which coincided with the British Prime Minister who was moved into the Intensive Care due to Covid-19. By mid-April, it was Alys turn to get sick. As her illness struggles linger longer, her daily notes grew shorter. Soon she had to be hospitalized. She has been infected by the dreaded coronavirus. Even in her weakened condition, she manages to put down her observations in writing. She writes about how she was admitted to hospital. She remembers the different nurses and doctors checking her blood pressure, taking her temperature, monitoring her overall health, and the presence of so many different medical specialists. It was a surreal moment when she saw her ward description: "Ward Nine. Coronavirus: No Unauthorised Entry."

"40 Questions about Pastoral Ministry" (Phil A. Newton)

TITLE: 40 Questions About Pastoral Ministry (40 Questions Series)
AUTHOR: Phil A. Newton
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2021, (336 pages).

What is a pastor? What do pastors do? What does it take to remain spiritually healthy? How could pastors lead the Church? How do pastors handle conflict? What do pastors do when expectations clash? What about discouragement? How do pastors conduct marriages, funerals, and other landmark rituals? Why should pastors aim for long pastorates? These questions and many more are covered in this comprehensive volume of advice for pastors present and future, young and old. Written in an easy to reference Question-and-Answer format, author and pastor Phil Newton shares from his over 40 years of pastoral experience about what a pastor is, what it takes to develop a pastor's health, some key practices, the ministry of preaching, Church leadership, and many more matters related to the pastoral ministry. Burdened for the pastoral ministry, Newton shares his conviction that any pastoral ministry must stem from the foundation of God's Word, with appropriate reflection theologically, and applied contextually to the modern Church environment. He writes this book even as he deals with chemotherapy challenges. The questions mainly provide a framework for issues commonly faced by pastors. In five sections, he gives answers to 40 of the most important questions with regard to pastoral ministry.

"Viruses, Pandemic, and Immunity" (Arup K. Chakraborty and Andrey S. Shaw)

TITLE: Viruses, Pandemics, and Immunity
AUTHOR: Arup K. Chakraborty and Andrey S. Shaw
PUBLISHER: Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2020, (224 pages).

If the year 2020 was known as the year of the pandemic, the year 2021 would be known as the year of the vaccines. For the past couple of months, most of us in society cannot avoid the topic of viruses, pandemics, vaccines, quarantines, etc. With social media so freely available, information and misinformation could spread like wildfire. Once out there, it is impossible to retract or remove it from circulation. Even medical professionals often differ in their interpretations of the best approaches to take.  Since the declaration of Covid-19 as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, large parts of the world have shut down global travel and implemented widespread restrictions on people movement. There is a need for more reliable and scientifically tested information. In fact, the best way to address fears and avoid pandemonium behaviour is to share reliable and trustworthy information as quickly as possible. This book is a contribution toward this cause. The authors are not only medical professionals but also on the teaching faculty of renowned schools like the MIT and the University of California, San Francisco. They begin this book by reminding us that pandemics are nothing new. There were serious influenza-related breakouts back in 1918 (Spanish Flu), 1957 (Asian Flu), 1968 (HK Flu), and 2009 (H5N1). The history lessons include the two eras: Pre-Vaccine and Vaccine eras. Before the discovery of vaccines as a defense tool against viruses, people resorted to all kinds of non-scientific speculations about the causes of the diseases. Even the name "influenza" was derived from the popular idea that illnesses were caused by the Italian word for "influence of the stars." Gradually, the thinking shifts from helpless acceptance toward observations of why people recovering from illness were not infected by smallpox. This led to theories such as the "expulsion theory" and "acquired immunity." With the discovery of cowpox as protection against smallpox, the stage was set for more research on "vaccinia," the Latin name for cowpox. Thanks to the work of Edward Jenner (1749-1823), the threat of smallpox was addressed in a large scale. We learn also from history that vaccinations were controversial then, not just today. Readers will slowly join the dots of healthcare and medical advancement to give credit to van Leeuwenhook's microscope, Robert Koch's postulates, Louis Pasteur's research on the anthrax vaccine, and how our present work derives much from Pasteur. The modern challenges include the search for a solution against coronaviruses and contagious diseases. Readers learn about the way viruses work; the way human cells replicate; the differentiation of the body cell into DNA, RNA, and Proteins; and how cells reproduce. They then describe the manner viruses enter our cells to make us sick. Knowing the genome and viral DNA/RNA aids in finding ways to battle them. They explain the reasons for the pandemic in a post-agrarian culture. 

"An Introduction to Christian Mysticism" (Jason M. Baxter)

TITLE: An Introduction to Christian Mysticism: Recovering the Wildness of Spiritual Life
AUTHOR: Jason M. Baxter
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2021, (208 pages).

In the evangelical tradition, many of us yearn to know God more. Whether it is through Bible study or prayer, devotional practices or spiritual disciplines, we try to know God based on our own knowledge or backgrounds. If we are willing to admit, we often do these things on our own strength rather than to wait upon the LORD. We think we can know God more by mining the Bible, forgetting that it is one thing to know the Word of God, but yet another to know the God of the Word. We think we know God's Thoughts by praying according to our needs instead of needing God regardless of our needs. We forget that prayers are less about telling God about how great our problems are, but to tell the problems of the world, how great God is. In trying to master the Bible, we end up forgetting that spirituality is about the Word mastering us in order to know God more deeply and to make God known more widely. For us to grow into this level of spirituality, we need the help of those who have traveled those paths of spirituality. Mysticism is one of these paths. In our world of Do-It-Yourself spirituality, we tend to gravitate toward how-to manuals even in the area of Christian spirituality. There are steps to do this and steps to do that. It takes mystics like Meister Eckhart to remind us a rather controversial thought: that "in created things, ...., there is no truth." It is a reminder that our own perceptions of truth is imperfect or partial at best. Even our interpretations of God's Word is fallible. That is why we need the Holy Spirit to teach and to guide us. Having said that, moving into the mystical world can be a nervous experience. Aren't Eastern religions practicing mysticism too? How do we know when we are treading to an extreme? Is there such a thing as a correct approach? Even great teachers in the past, such as BB Warfield and CS Lewis, have cautioned us on the mystic practices. Author and Professor Jason Baxter assures us that in this book, he is not trying to convince us to accept all of Christian Mysticism but to "make it easier" for readers to be willing to be patient, to listen, and to be open to it. He does this by describing mysticism like what many mystics do: apophatically. Like the classic work, "The Cloud of Unknowing" by an anonymous writer, the deep desire for God is not through our eyes but through God's eyes. It is to let God be God instead of trying to make God into our own image. Baxter asserts that society in spite of its widespread secularism, there is still a hunger for spiritual and religious thought. He seeks to offer the Christian mystical teachings as an alternative in a world of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD) and a "nice and polite God" we conjured up in our heads. He then shares snippets of spiritual wisdom throughout the centuries. People such as Plato, Plotinus, Gregory of Nyssa, Evagrius, John Cassian, etc, in the first millennium; Bernard of Clairvaux, Hildegard of Bingen, Guigo II, Bonaventure, Meister Eckhart, Julian of Norwich, Thomas Merton, etc in the second millennium. 

"Journey to the Common Good, Updated Edition" (Walter Brueggemann)

TITLE: Journey to the Common Good, Updated Edition
AUTHOR: Walter Brueggemann
PUBLISHER: Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2021, (143 pages).

Our world is in a crisis. Whether it is economic or financial, social or spiritual, the pandemic is rocking the world from its sense of normalcy and security. The economies of the world are mostly in recession and with the continuing loss of jobs experienced by many, and with many more to come, people need hope more than ever. There is also the continuing tussle between opposing groups with opposing philosophies of life. The Right vs the Left; the East vs the West, and the various other divisions that are split based on age, education, ethnicity, gender, nationality, and others.  What is good? How do we progress to a better world? The way forward is actually to learn about lessons from the past. Author and esteemed professor Walter Brueggemann urges us to go all the way back to the wilderness narrative experienced by ancient Israel. Calling  wilderness as "the hard work of alternative," Brueggemann reminds us that such an environment pushes us toward greater dependence on God and exposes our innate sinful tendency to complain. It forces us to look toward life according to the mercy and providence of God instead of self-dependence or self-centered subsistence. More importantly, we are reminded that life is a gift from God and it takes a wilderness crisis to wake us to the reality of how God had provided for us through all times and how we all need God. Under Pharaoh, Isreal could neither protest nor complain. Living freely in the wilderness, the freed slaves of Israel could even complain against God! Brueggemann observes how our modern culture has "freed" the various people groups who had previously faced "repression, brutality, and abandonment."  In this book, Bruggemann offers three paths toward a common good. From the Exodus narrative, he attempts to show us how hope could progress from personal anxieties to the practice of neighborly love. Readers are challenged with the question: "What is the common good?" Like how Jews welcomed Christians to share in the joy of seeing Israel liberated from Egypt, we also share in the natural common anxieties surrounding food, safety, security, and freedom. We see how Pharaoh exploited the Israelites and how God eventually delivered Isreal from slavery into freedom. Seeing how God had provided for His people should encourage us to hope in the future of promised abundance. For that, we need to recognize our anxieties caused by a scarcity narrative that often prevents us from generosity for the common good. We need to depart from the old to enter the new. These movements away from scarcity to abundance are essential in order to avoid extreme nationalism, toleration of poverty, policies that harm the environment for the sake of selfish profits, and so on. It is a mindset revolution that is needed.