erikscottberg.com

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

After taking way too long, I finally finished Rob Bell’s book, Jesus Wants to Save Christians, today. I’ve been a fan of Bell since I first heard him speak at a Youth Specialties Conference about 6 years ago. I always find his teachings to be fresh, insightful and challenging.

This has been true of his last two books, however this latest work struck me in a much more profound way than the others. Bell (and coauthor, Don Golden) doesn’t teach anything “new” here, but he does present a fresh perspective on who God is and how he desires to interact with us.

In a culture where the Church has (in many ways) lost its voice, this book provides some insight into how we can reclaim that. Rather, how we can reclaim the mission of God for his people.

There’s too much to get into, so here are some of my highlights:

“This is not an abstract god who floats above the blood and dirt and pain of the world. This is a god who is fundamentally defined by action on behalf of the oppressed.” (pg 32)

“The majority of the Bible was written by a minority people living under the rule and reign of massive, mighty empires, from the Egyptian Empire to the Babylonian Empire to the Persian Empire to the Assyrian Empire to the Roman Empire. This can make the Bible a very difficult book to understand if you are reading it as a citizen of the most powerful empire the world has ever seen.” (pg 121)

“Entitlement leads to immunity to the suffering of others, because ‘I got what I deserve’ and so, apparently, did they.” (pg 124)

“A Christian is a living Eucharist, allowing her body to be broken and her blood to be poured out for the healing of the world.” (pg 150)

“A church’s authority…comes from how we’ve been broken open and poured out, not from how well we’ve pursued power and lobbied and organized ourselves to triumph.” (pg 161)

“A church is an organization that exists for the benefit of nonmembers.” (pg 166)

These quotes don’t do the book much justice because they are isolated from the whole of the book. To feel the real weight of these statements, you need to read through the book and understand the progression of thought that is made throughout it.

Most books stir my mind, but this book also stirs me to action. The authors do a wonderful job of highlighting and emphasizing parts of the Christian faith that have been forgotten/abandoned and need to be reclaimed. In this post/anti/(whatever you want to call it) Christian society we live in, we need to be able to look at who we’ve become and be God’s people, his body, here on earth.

Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy.

_________________________________________________________________

Today, on my day off, I “got” to be the helper at Parker’s preschool. He was super excited, and though I love my son, I wasn’t too crazy about being in a room with a dozen other 4 and 5 year olds. It ended up not being so bad if you ignore the fact that I had to clean up a huge puddle of urine off the bathroom floor. Apparently one of the boys needs some aiming lessons.

On a much better note, we carved pumpkins tonight. Kent lost interest after about 30 seconds and began playing with toys (at least he was at the table). Parker stuck with it, but didn’t really help because he was grossed out by the “pumpkin guts.” At least Parker had a plan for the design: triangle eyes, triangle nose and “really scary mouth”.

You can view more pictures here.

_________________________________________________________________

Today is Bethany’s birthday. I’m incredibly lucky to have her in my life. Since it’s her 30th, I thought I’d write out 30 things I love about her.

1. Her smile
2. Her sense of humor
3. Her green eyes
4. Her strong personality
5. Her determination
6. Her love for people
7. Her amazing sandwich making skills
8. Her thriftiness
9. Her capacity for giving
10. Her perspective
11. Her relationship with God
12. Her passion for students
13. Her insane cleanliness
14. Her ability to work with students
15. The fact that she thinks she can dance
16. The way her hand fits in mine
17. When she says “I’m taller than you now” (when wearing chunky shoes) and she’s still inches shorter than me
18. That she is a wonderful mother to Parker and Kent
19. That she’s a better blogger than me
20. Her ability to articulate herself
21. When she “rocks out” with the boys in the kitchen to 80s music
22. When she “listens” to me talk about things that she has no real interest in
23. That she’s trustworthy
24. That she’s the same person in private as she is in public
25. Her style
26. Her creativity
27. The fact that she’s a hottie
28. Her passion to know God and to make Him known
29. That she’s my best friend
30. That I’m going to be with her forever

_________________________________________________________________