In Cast of Characters: Common People in the Hands of an Uncommon God, Max Lucado presents twenty-two stories of amazing faith from scripture.  Lucado’s ability to take stories from scripture and make them come alive in today’s context is the main appeal of the book.  The stories of David, Lazarus, Paul, and many other beloved Bible figures are presented with a focus on the power of God using ordinary people.  The people who many Christians have looked upon as saints and perfect people who have been used by God are brought back down into the context of the ordinary through Lucado’s book.  The people that Bible readers admire should not be admired because of the things that they have done, but rather they should be seen as ordinary people who were empowered and used mightily by God.  Lucado is intentional to remind his readers that God is the hero of the story, but He is a gracious hero in that He decides to use ordinary people in His plan.  In his typical style, Lucado places profound theological insights in a narrative which is easily accessible to his readers.  This is an inspiring book that encourages readers to allow God to work greatly through them despite being ordinary people.

David Aikman’s book Billy Graham: His Life and Influence was a very interesting biography of the famous evangelist.  Aikman has an interesting writing style that comes from his experience working as a reporter for Time magazine.  The book focuses strongly on Billy Graham’s development with regards to the issues of race, communism, and theology itself.  Aikman continually focuses on what he perceives as Billy’s journey from fundamentalism to a more open an ecumenical version of Christian.  Aikman summarizes  the Christian message as dealing with both issues of truth, which he summarizes as judgment, and issues of love.  He describes Graham as changing from focusing on a message of truth and judgment to a message of love.  Aikman argues that Graham’s likability was one of the reasons for his success with regard to his influence on influential leaders including many American presidents.  Aikman argues that Graham saw himself as a pastor rather than a prophet. He wanted to support, encourage, and guide people and politicians rather than critique them and their decisions.  Aikman’s book places a large focus on Graham’s involvement in the lives of influential political figures of his time.  Aikman presents Graham as America’s pastor and the person who serves as a spiritual guide for many Americans during difficult times.  This is a very interesting and engaging biography of a man who has not merely shaped Christianity in America but also the influencers who have shaped America itself.

The Jesus Manifesto by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola stands as a call to the church to restore the person of Christ to the center of our churches, lives, and ministries.  I cannot think of a more timely topic to be addressed in the American church.  Sweet and Viola do an excellent job of addressing the need for a refocus on the person of Christ in the church and the beauty of Christ, which is clearly seen in scripture.  The final chapter of the book clearly explains the authors’ views on the topic and the goal of the book by stating:

“But if the truth be told, we have been handed a shrink-wrapped Jesus.  Christ has become our once-a-week Mascot.  We rally around Him on Sunday mornings, selfishly reaching for all we can get from Him – goodies and gifts, all for us.  Then we push Him off to the sidelines the rest of the week.  But the game has never been about us; it has always been about Him.  The gospel that’s so often preached today lacks a revelation of Jesus Christ.  The contemporary gospel boils down to a fire-insurance policy, a Santa Claus God, or a performance-based religion.  As long as we stay on that plane, we’ll never see or comprehend the staggering enormity of our Lord.”

I constantly found myself challenged throughout the book.  I would greatly encourage anyone to read this challenging book that seeks to put Christ back in His rightful place – at the center of everything.

About this time last May, I was on a plane headed to East Asia to serve the Lord doing mission work.  One of the towns that we were in was a large city that had little knowledge of the gospel.  One day, we went to a model display of the city to pray that God would open doors in that city so that people could be drawn to Christ.  This week, I was looking through my journal from the trip and came across one of the reflections that I had while praying over the city:

“Satan blinds [city name] with darkness that blocks out the Light while Satan blinds the United States with religion that is used as a weaker substitute for the Light because the Light is too strong and radical to fit within the American dream.”

May the Light of the gospel shine in both the darkness of East Asia and in the darkness of America’s cultural religion.

The Voice is a new translation of the Bible that seeks to bring together biblical scholars alongside talented writers to present a biblically sound yet easily readable translation.  This is the New Testament edition released by Ecclesia Bible Society, which is headed by Chris Seay at Ecclesia in Houston, Texas.

The translation of the text itself reads very similar to another translation, such as the NIV or ESV,  in most places.  The editors have added italicized portions within the text itself that serve as a commentary within the verse to explain the original author’s intent.

These italics additions within the text itself help readers to be able to understand the textual meaning that has a tendency to get lost in a mere superficial reading of the text.  These commentary notes flow easily through the narrative and are seen as an aid to readers rather than a distraction.

I would be hesitant to term this version a translation since there are clearly commentary additions to the written text.  The purpose and place of this work can best be described by looking back at the Jewish rabbi’s commentaries on Jewish writings.  These scholars desired to produce a commentary along with the written text to aid in studies.  This is the purpose of The Voice project.

This project is off to a great start and is producing Bibles that will function well for a devotional reading of the text but should be avoided when seeking to do an in depth study of a particular passage due to the commentary elements getting mixed with the text itself in the minds of the reader.

The Voice is a new translation of the Bible that seeks to bring together biblical scholars alongside talented writers to present a biblically sound yet easily readable translation.  This is the New Testament edition released by Ecclesia Bible Society, which is headed by Chris Seay at Ecclesia in Houston, Texas.

The translation of the text itself reads very similar to another translation, such as the NIV or ESV,  in most places.  The editors have added italicized portions within the text itself that serve as a commentary within the verse to explain the original author’s intent.  A clear example of this is found in the second Beatitude from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:4, which reads:

“Blessed are those who mourn, who weep about sin and long for how things are supposed to be – they will be comforted.”

These italics additions within the text itself help readers to be able to understand the textual meaning that has a tendency to get lost in a mere superficial reading of the text.  These commentary notes flow easily through the narrative and are seen as an aid to readers rather than a distraction.

I would be hesitant to term this version a translation since there are clearly commentary additions to the written text.  The purpose and place of this work can best be described by looking back at the Jewish rabbi’s commentaries on Jewish writings.  These scholars desired to produce a commentary along with the written text to aid in studies.  This is the purpose of The Voice project.

This project is off to a great start and is producing Bibles that will function well for a devotional reading of the text but should be avoided when seeking to do an in depth study of a particular passage due to the commentary elements getting mixed with the text itself in the minds of the reader.

This is a modern day adaptation of Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son from Luke 15.  I wrote this to incorporate in a message for my middle school students and thought I would pass it along.

There once were two brothers who lived on the rich side of town.  Whatever there was to be had, they had it.  They were the first to get the newest video games, the most expensive Mac computers, and the most coveted car in the high school parking lot.  They had it all.

One day, the younger son got to thinking about how much money his dad really had.  He began to imagine what he could do with not just the little trinkets that his dad had given him but with his whole half.  He knew that one-day down the road when his dad finally died he would end up with half of the family money.  So he got to thinking, “Maybe, I could work my way into the money now.  It is mine anyway so I should have it when I want it.  It is my right.”

So the younger son went to see his dad.  He angrily told his father: “I know that when you finally die and are out of my life that I will get half of your fortune.  I know that you only give me small trinkets of what is truly mine because you hate me and do not want me to have all the stuff and fun that I am entitled to.  So, I want you to fork it over now since you are not looking like you are going to pass away anytime soon.”

The father was shocked and amazed at his son’s greed and hatred, but he decided to give in.  After going to the bank and getting some things together, the father reluctantly gave his son his half.  This caused the father not just financial hardship but also personal pain and loss over the son who had abandoned him and taken his acts of love on him and saw them as acts of hatred.  He mourned the loss of his son so much more than the loss of his money.

The son immediately took off and began living the high life.  He built himself a huge house, many cars, and gained many “friends.”  He became a celebrity just because of his wealth and the crazy ways that he spent it.  When MTV’s “Cribs” showed up at his door, the son knew that he had made it big.  The life that his father had robbed him of had finally become his.  He was who he was entitled to be.

Like many overnight celebrities, however, the son’s empire came crashing down.  He had spent money so quickly that he had lost count of it.  His credit cards became completely filled up along with his closets, garages, and house.  When the bank came to collect, the son realized that he was out.   What the son quickly found out is that his dream was over.

He now found himself out on the streets in the city that he once was the king of.  He was now a poor beggar with nothing but the clothes on his back.  His friends had quickly found someone else with money and connections to hang out with.  He tried to get a job but because the economy was so bad there were no jobs to be found except that of a garbage man.

The son now found himself doing the smelliest job that he could have ever imagined.  He was so snowed under in the money that he owed the bank that he could not afford to pay for food or a place to live.  He began to scrummage through the bags, which he was paid so little to pick up.  He would find random half eaten fruits and every once in a while some week-old leftovers.

The son quickly began to think.  His dream of riches, fame, and popularity had quickly turned into a situation that was so bad that he could not have even imagined it.  His life had become this way because of his hatred and rebellion against his father.  He began to see the brokenness in his life and he began to mourn.  He knew that he was a horrible son and that he had treated his father in a very hurtful and mean way.

As the son began to think about his father, he wondered what life was like at home.  He could imagine his older brother sitting around the table with his mom and dad having a warm home-cooked dinner.  He began to be able to taste the flavor of his favorite cookies that his mom used to make him.  He began to long for home.

He wondered if he could ever come back to the table as a part of the family again.  He knew that if he had been in his dad’s place that he could never have him back.  He began to wonder.  Was there any hope to be found?  Maybe, he could just ask for the week-old leftovers before they hit the trash.

The son decided to drag himself home to see if there was any hope of some leftovers.  He quit his job and walked to the interstate and stuck out his finger towards home.

Through the kindness of several truckers, he made his way back to his hometown.  He walked from the interstate exit near his house to the neighborhood.  After convincing the gatekeeper to the neighborhood that he was not a criminal, he began to make his way down the familiar neighborhood streets.

He finally arrived at the street where he had lived for so many years in a time that seemed so long ago.  He could begin to see the big tree in the front yard that he and his brother used to play in as children towering in its place at the end of the cul-de-sac.  He was getting closer.

The house slowly came into view.  The son’s legs felt like they were about to snap in two as he got closer to the house.  Part of him wanted to stop and rest but he knew that he had to know what would happen.

As the son got closer to the house, he saw his dad in his usual chair in front of the plasma TV in the living room.  Just as he glanced into the window, his dad looked up from the TV and caught a glimpse of his son.   The father immediately got up from his chair.

Many things began to run through the son’s mind.  He is going to get his gun to shoot me for taking advantage of him.  He is going to go get the paddle that he used to use on me as a child.  He is going to grab the phone and call the cops to get this trespasser off of the property.  But before these thoughts could finish running through the son’s head, the front door swung open.

He saw his father with arms wide open running out to hug his son.  The prodigal son had returned and found that his father was there to love him and welcome him back into the family even before he could get out the words “I am sorry.”

When we come to the Christmas season, we are met with many things to do.  Our lives tend to immediately get busy and hurried in the midst of all of the presents, parties, and other things that make this season so loved by many.  But before we get lost in the craziness of the season, let us take a look back to the beginnings of this holiday.

The Gospel of John begins with a great picture of Christmas.  He gives this picture of Jesus (who he calls the Word) being the Creator, Sustainer, and Giver of life.  He shows us a great and powerful God, and then he says “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1: 14a ESV).  That is the center of what Christmas is about.  The Creator of the world, the Author of life, the Originator of all beauty, the Sustainer of all came down into our world.  This loving God was willing to come down into our world which is scarred with the pains of grief, crying out with hurts, and full of sin and corruption.  The holy God of the universe stepped down into our pain and world to redeem us from it.  He came from His home in Glory to make a way through His own suffering and death to bring us to Glory and to restore fellowship with us.

This Redeemer, however, did not come on the scene as many would expect.  The lightning did not flash, the earth did not shake, and the angels did not belt out a joyful noise.  No the God of the universe came as a baby, and He was “wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger, because there was no room in the inn” (Luke 2:7b ESV).  God comes on the scene and is given no kingly treatment.  The God of the universe should have at least been given a room in the inn, but instead He is born in an animal food trough.   Jesus Christ comes to redeem His people and everyone seems to miss it.  The writer of John says it this way: “The true light which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.  He was in the world and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him.  He came to His own and His own people did not receive Him” (John 1: 9-11 ESV).  He came to bring light into the darkness of our world, and we missed Him.

This Christmas in the midst of all of our trees, Santas, gifts, families, Christmas parties, and dinners will we miss Jesus?  It is very easy in during the busy holiday season for us to forget what is important.  Jesus wants a relationship with you this Christmas season.  He wants to spend some time with you this Christmas.  The question is “Will you be like the wise men and shepherds and seek Him, or will you miss Jesus this Christmas?

In A Million Miles in a Thousand Places: What I Learned While Editing My Life, engaging author and masterful storyteller, Donald Miller, invites his readers into the realm of story.  This memoir, which journeys with Miller through the past few years since his last book, To Own a Dragon, brings the idea of living your life as a story that matters to front and center.  This book uses Miller’s personal journey to show his readers the importance of living a life that becomes a story that makes a difference in the world.

The book’s premise focuses around the opportunity that Miller had to edit his life in working to produce a film based off of his first book which made him famous, Blue Like Jazz.  Through the writing and editing experience of this film, Miller realizes that the life that he finds himself living is anything but the epic and exciting stories that good films are made of.  This causes him to seriously evaluate his life to see what living a life that counts for something would look like for him.  This personal evaluation led him to start a ministry to children and students in the inner city called the Mentoring Project and to also take a bike journey from one side of America to the other to raise money and awareness for clean water in Africa.  Through these experiences, Miller realized that living a good story is found in living for a bigger story outside of yourself.

This hilarious, touching, and honest memoir calls readers to seek their own story.  A story that makes a difference in the lives of others and calls them to take risks to be able to have a large impact on the world.  This book will inspire you and encourage you to step into a larger story that you cannot even imagine.