Book Recommendation; After You Believe by N. T. Wright

The premise of what N.T. Wright sets out to do in After You Believe is best summed up in the subtitle, “Why Christian Character Matters”. This is a fair and honest question that deserves the 280 pages that Wright dedicates in exploring this question. In a world of propositional faith within western Christianity, (Problem? Sin! Solution? Jesus!), this question seems to beg us for an answer. One may be surprised by the direction that Wright takes this premise. You will not find a list of do’s and don’ts. Instead, as a seasoned archaeologist uses the finest tools and due diligence to uncover an ancient civilization, Wright too uncovers the New Testament world in relation to Christian character.

Wright argues that Christian character is not something that can be accomplished in rules and laws. Yet, Christian character also cannot be accomplished by spontaneity of the heart either. (You may find forms of this ongoing/polarized conversation in many churches today). What Wright does propose is an active aligning of ourselves to the unfolding story in God’s kingdom. As we do so, our character, or virtue, will be shaped by our hope for a resurrection. Wright points to faith, hope, and love along with the fruit of the Spirit, to give a frame work that will allow “virtue” to flourish.

What do we do after we believe? If you are like me the pat answers to this question have never sufficed. Some say we should wait for heaven and bring as many people with us. But is there more? Are we just here for good behavior and a shared morality? If these questions resonate with you, then After You Believe is an excellent starting point for a proper framing of purpose within the context of virtue.

-Dan Jones

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the product mentioned above for free by The Ooze Viral Bloggers in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Addison Elizabeth Jones, a Big and Fancy Moment

This blog has been largely dedicated to seeing God in unusual places. For better or worse I have used peculiar life experiences to point to something larger. Sometimes these posts have worked, and more times then not, perhaps they just confused things. But the whole gist of these posts was to encourage our perceptions and train our eyes and hearts to seek God in areas we would never expect Him to show up.

But sometimes, every once in a while God shows up where we expect him. As in the fact that God shows up in little and unusual moments, He also shows up in our big and fancy moments. Addison Elizabeth Jones was born on December 13th 2009. It all happened real fast. We arrived at the hospital at 12:30 and she arrived around 1:30. It was all too much to process in such a short time. I was a daddy of one and now I am daddy of two, and a girl of all things! I would have never thought that I would be a father of a Girl. She is beautiful. It was a beautiful moment that will be etched in my memory for as long as I hope to live. (The same is true with my first born's birth.)

It's not that I felt God in any special way when Addie was born. He was there and present for sure. But that's not what leads me to write this post. I write this post out of gratitude. Big and fancy moments are gifts from our Creator as the small and unusual moments are. There is no need for any profound meaning to be extracted from something that may or may not be there, other then to take the obvious splendor of the moment and soak it in like a sponge. Thank you Addison Elizabeth Jones for reminding me to appreciate the moment as the moment it is and not just the moment it could be!

-Dan Jones

Thank you for all those who responded to the post!

Congratulations to Daniel Turner for Winning and Advanced Copy of The Bible As Improv, Seeing and Living the Script in New Ways, by Ron Martoia. Zondervan will be sending a copy your way shortly.

-Dan Jones

Win an Advanced Copy of Ron Martoia's New Book, Bible As Improv

Zondervan has offered to give away a free advanced copy of Ron Martoia's new book The Bible as Improv, Seeing and Living the Script in New Way on this very blog! This is well worth the read so I encourage you to enter to win.

If you haven't read my review of this book, please do by going here. Post any relevant reactions and thoughts along with your full name on this post, then email me you home address to danieljmjones@hotmail.com. I will select and announce a winner at random on December 18th at 1:00 pm, and Zondervan will send you the book, it is that simple! All entries must be received by Dec. 18th by 12:00 pm. Good Luck!

-Dan Jones

"The Bible as Improv", by Ron Martoia, An itch worth scratching

The nagging feeling of an itch, it just doesn't go away until you give into its urge. It demands our attention and response on a timely manner. But what if you are unable to locate this itch, let alone define it? You may be very aware that it is there, but what if you couldn't pin point it's exact location? Perhaps you can find it, but the scratching itself is not helping, but in fact, it is making it worse.

This is the best way I can describe the ways in which I engage the Bible. Hermeneutics (The way we apply the Bible) has always left me with a shallow feeling, an itch that has not been satisfied. I could never pin point the problem. Instead I was left scratching all over in hope for some relief. I was struggling to even identify the problem let alone work toward anything that resembled any solutions.

I received "The Bible as Improv; Seeing and Living the Script in New Ways", by Ron Martoia from Zondervan to review. I had high expectations after reading Martoia's last book Transformational Architecture. Not to long after beginning the book, I knew I was on to something special.

What Martoia does so well here is that he identifies the "itch". He sheds light on some of the ways that we have tried to engage the Bible, while also illuminating new ways to apply it. Martoia appreciates the grand narrative of God and his creation. He points to the problematic attempts to pull truths out of context only to really mess things up when we try to apply it to our lives. He reminds us that the Bible is a collection of a specific people within a specific history trying to make sense of what it means to be children of God. For us to neglect this when we read the Bible is tragic.

Luckily, Ron Martoia also points us in the direction for authentic engagement with the Bible. If the Bible points us to God's sweeping narrative, then Martoia proposes that we need to immerse ourselves with in "script-ure" and improv with in our own context what it means to follow Christ. Martoia makes some fantastic metaphors using the idea of musical and theatre improv. In both situations you must attempt to stay true to the structure of the musical piece or play, but still faithfully improv so that you are moving the song or story forward.

If you find yourselves with an "itch" when you engage the Bible, I would highly recommend this book. I have truly found hope within the possibility of faithful improv of "script-ure" within my community and in my context. My hope is that many more will read this book, embrace this new hope. "The Bible as Improv" is truly an itch worth scratching.

- Dan Jones

Drops Like Stars; Review of Rob Bell's New Book

I received my copy of Drops Like Stars by Rob Bell recently and I have finally had some time to sit down and read it all the way through. The thing about this book is that you find yourself tempted just to thumb through it, in part because of the artistic layout in the way of a coffee table book. (Perhaps this can be my excuse in not reading it thoroughly the first time around even though I have had ample opportunity to do so.) My thoughts on this book are three-fold;

1) Layout - Rob Bell deserves props for the courage to author this sort of book. If you have read Bell's previous books Velvet Elvis or even Jesus Wants to Save Christians; A Manifesto for the Church in Exile, this is a departure of sorts from these types of books. The book itself is physically imposing (shaped like a high school year book) and it includes stunning photography. Some pages have minimal wording on them. The layout is in the way of Rob Bell's video series Nooma. If you were to translate a Nooma video into words and pictures, I believe this is what it would look like. The most important aspect of the layout is that it works!

2) Dialogue - Books that move from being just a monologue by the author into being a dialogue proves to be difficult to find. However, Drops Like Stars proves to accomplish dialogue in ways that I never felt that a book could accomplish. This is the case in part because of the unique layout, and in part because of the personal stories that Bell weaves in throughout the book. With the photography and personal stories married together throughout, the reading of Drops Like Stars proves to be a very interactive experience.

3) Substance - With what seemingly appears to be little said in Drop Like Stars because of the fact that there are many pictures and less words written, "Stars" may surprise because it is very deep in substance. Bell explores the relationship of suffering with creativity. The question that Bell explores is not "why we suffer?", rather the question he asks is "what now?". Rob Bell writes in a way that allows the reader to listen, to talk back, and to explore. I believe that this style leads to a deeper learning experience.

In many ways this book invites further exploration and further questions. Pat answers will not be found, and the ending does not provide any resolve with any modernistic satisfaction. If you are looking for a typical book experience, this may not be the type of reading for you. However, if you want to interact with something that invites a deeper learning experience this may be something to look at, if for no other reason that it does look very nice on a coffee table.

-Dan Jones

Twirling Umbrellas In Our Own Little World

Fall in central Ohio means rain and lots of it. I own an umbrella that gets rarely used. For at least a year, my umbrella rested under my desk collecting dust. Sure, there were times I could have benefited from using it, but I only realized this when I needed it the most. And by that time, I could do nothing about it. Often, I would be kicking myself when I was in the middle of a down-pour, because I realized that the possibility existed of a wet-free scamper to indoors. This was a snapshot of my relationship with my umbrella, that is until recently.

I was at work, and it had been raining all day. I was about to go on my lunch as I glanced at the weather outside. I was in no mood to fight the elements just for a bite to eat. As I peered down at the floor below my desk, I was reintroduced to my umbrella-friend that was still neatly housed in a plastic sleeve. Perhaps one of the reason I never utilized the umbrella is the 6 inch blade on the end. (It is actually just a metal point, but I can just envision a run in with security guards about the potential "danger", especially in these times.) Either way I made the decision to utilize the umbrella for the first time.

I grabbed the umbrella and took off down stairs. As I reached the bottom of my building, I just realized that I had forgotten my badge, which serves as a clearance to renter the building from outside. Reluctantly, I decided it to be a good idea to go back to my desk on the 7th floor to retrieve my badge. Instead of taking the stairs back up 7 flights, (it is a lot easier to go down, then going back up), I decided to take advantage of the open elevator. As I entered the elevator with two other individuals, I have to admit, I was in my own little world. (In all reality, I was way to excited to actually use my new friend the umbrella.) I was in the front of the elevator looking down at the pointed end of the umbrella and I just twirled the end against the floor. As I was doing this, for some unexplained reason, I decided that the plastic sleeve that housed the umbrella needed to come off. Still in my own little world, I slowly lifted the end point on the umbrella and I placed my hand around the plastic sleeve and pulled it off revealing the full glory of the umbrella. (Dangerous point and all.)

To my surprise and humor, the other two individuals had been watching me the entire time. Actually, as I pulled the umbrella from the plastic sleeve, I am positive that they may have been thinking that I was going to attack them with the metal point. Their eyes were as wide as can be, and of course looking back, I can see their concern. I pulled that umbrella out they way you pull a knife or gun out of the holster. I started laughing as I realized how this might of looked to the other two individuals. I reassured them that as ominous as my pointy umbrella looked, I had no plans for any attack on them. Once we arrived at the fourth floor, the two individuals jetted out of there without looking back. (I admit that this made me laugh out loud as I reached my stop at the 7th floor.) It is amazing how when we get caught up in our own little world, we become very unaware of what is going on around us.

If we are not careful, followers of Christ can get caught up in the sub-culture of Christian religiosity. This sub culture is much bigger then we sometimes realize. When you have Christan music, Christian apparel, Christian bumper stickers, Christian talk-radio, Christian television, Christian News, and even Christian magazines, we can get swallowed up by our own little Christian world. This isn't even considering the fact that we have built Christian buildings, Christian Schools, and even Christian sports leagues. Is it no wonder that we can loose sight of what our mission can and should be within this world.

I remember in my short stint in youth ministry, there was a point where I felt very convicted about the fact that I did not have one meaningful relationship outside of church, not one! How is it that I can connect with God's mission to be a blessing to the world (Light on the hill) when I didn't even have one relationship with anyone out side of the church building. How many of us that follow Christ can be convicted in the same way?

In the same way that I got caught up twirling my umbrella in my own little world in the elevator that one day, I believe that the danger exists as Christ followers that we too can get caught up within our own sub-culture, to the point where we are in danger of becoming irrelevant to the world around us. It can be possible to be swallowed up completely in our own world that we may not have any meaningful connections in a postmodern culture that values authenticity. Maybe we need to infuse this culture in which we exist with the kingdom living that is "not of this world" but very much within this world.

-Dan Jones