Living the Lord's Prayer

I just finished reading "Living the Lord's Prayer" by Albert Haase (InterVarsity Press). I've been reading it off and on, slowly for devotion, since November. It's easy to read, I just wanted to breathe it all in. A former Roman Catholic missionary to China, he writes with a rich usage of scripture, church history, personal illustrations and insights, and memorable turns of phrase. The man really knows how to use alliteration!
This book is so full of great quotations.
Haase loves to speak of the ego as "easing God out." Some other good quotes:
"Remember your suffering. It need not be in vain. It can become the womb of compassion." (p. 44)
"Many descendants of Adam and Eve to this day do not see a tree until they have need of paper." (p. 49)
"Ministry is about people-- not paper, processes or procedures." (p. 69)
Speaking of anxious living: "With antacids in their pockets and ulcers in their stomachs, they race toward tomorrow." (p. 69-70)
"Always putting ourselves down is just as wrong and just as sinful as always raising ourselves up." (p. 80)
"Trust your gut-- but use your head." (p. 127)
"Constantly reminding us of our sin, the ego then condemns us to forced labor in a cemetery where we are repeatedly exhuming skeletons, only to bury them and exhume them again." (p. 156)
"There is never reason to despair or doubt the forgiveness of God, no matter how hideous, heinous or hateful the sin may be." (p. 161)
"God loves us not because we are good but because God is good." (p. 161)
"Emotional wounds are like physical wounds: They do not heal if they are neglected; they only become infected." (p. 187)
"There is no 'spiritual microwave oven' that guarantees instant holiness; holiness occurs in the slow cooker of daily fidelity." (p. 204)
"When we mistakenly allow feelings to become the barometer of our souls, we risk the possibility of our spiritual life devolving into a self-centered narcissism focused on 'me' and not on 'Thee.'" (p. 218)
"Trust in God's power and grace can never be overdone, since no situation is too complex, too complicated or too convoluted for God." (p. 234)

Breaking the Missional Code

I just finished reading Breaking the Missional Code: How Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community by Ed Stetzer and David Putman.
Ed Stetzer is an experienced church planter who did research for the North American Mission Board (NAMB) at the time that he wrote the book, and now does research for LifeWay Christian Resources and also consults with NAMB. David Putman is also an experienced church planter.
Stetzer and Putman challenge the reader to see North America as a mission field, and use the same techniques in North America that international missionaries use-- particularly understanding the culture and context of your environment and making sure that you do not allow cultural barriers to prevent you from getting the message to people. Too often, pastors have tried to imitate the methods of other successful pastors like Rick Warren or Bill Hybels, rather than trying to discover the unique culture of their own community (which is what they call "breaking the missional code") and then applying that knowledge to designing ministry for their own community. The authors stress that every community is different, and within each community there are different cultures that need different kinds of congregations. A truly missional church will recognize this and seek to plant other churches for other cultures, such as ethnic groups, postmoderns, multi-family housing dwellers, etc.
The authors stress that in today's culture that is changing from modern to postmodern, we should no longer see missions and evangelism as separate activities, nor should we see discipleship and evangelism as separate. To "break the missional code," we must see that postmodern people will often come to the gospel through a slow process, through building relationships and through Bible teaching, since they often come from a culture that is ignore of the Bible, although open to spiritual things. Postmoderns may actually worship, participate in community projects with a church, attend Bible study and listen to sermons for a year or two before being ready to make a commitment to Christ. Thus the missional church must see that missions and discipleship are part of the process of doing evangelism.
This was a thought-provoking and challenging book. Every church leader would benefit from reading this book.