Last week I interviewed blogger Dan King. He just released a new ebook: The Unlikely Missionary.  I hope you enjoy it.

Dan, before we jump into the content of the book, let me ask you a question. “How did you overcome the natural fears that most aspiring authors have and actually write this ebook?”

That’s a great question! Even though I’ve finished writing this one, I’m still kinda freaked out! I’ve been a blogger for about five years. I’ve rarely (if ever) referred to myself as a writer, because bloggers really aren’t writers, are they? But I’ve had some people express their confidence in me as a writer, and that’s helped a lot. One author asked me how many words I have published on my blog, and realizing that I’ve written over a quarter of a million words, he told me that I’ve already been published more than many other authors he knows. I guess sometimes I’m too hard on myself, but that’s only because I don’t have any professional training or a big degree in writing. But sticking to it, consistently, has helped me earn the respect of others who have helped to encourage me. I just know that I have a story to tell, one that’s important to God, and the power of people who believe in me. That’ll get you though any obstacles!

In your book, you state that you believe in the “power of laity of the church.” This struck a huge chord with me, as I believe every Christian must be engaged in seeking justice. Can you expand on this belief?

Yeah… this is a big one for me. And as you read in the book you see that I’m just an average dude. I’m not the seminary-trained pastor, or anything fancy like that. I’m just an average guy who sits in the church like 99% of the rest of Christianity. But as I study the word, I learn that the work of the ministry is for everyone. We are ALL called to go impact the world for the sake of the Gospel. All of the other clergy of the church… they’re really just our support structure. But too often we look at them to lead us somewhere, when (I believe) we are the ones that should be looking at the world and calling out, “Hey! Look at this need over here! They need help, and I want to do what I can to help them… in Jesus name!” I love my pastors a great deal, but if I wait on them to deal with the poverty epidemic or orphan crisis (things that are important to me), then I may never see anything get done. But they have taught me, equipped me, and sent me out to go make a difference on my own. And that’s the way it should be for all of us!

In the ebook, you stated that you knew your life was going to change when you took your first mission trip. Why?

Doing something like going to Africa carries a certain expectation with it. We all see the commercials on TV with the kids with bloated stomachs who are dying of starvation. I knew that I’d probably see some of that, but I wasn’t sure how much. All I knew ahead of time was that diving head-first into an experience like that was going to provide a certain level of culture shock that I knew would be difficult to overcome. But being on that trip made me see lots of things differently. It made me think about how I could experience a similar culture shock by traveling just a couple of miles to another part of town that I usually try to avoid. But taking the time to get into these people’s worlds, understanding them on a personal level, and connecting with them as friends, it all made me see them as human beings who suffer extreme circumstances. And when a friend goes through something extreme, it impacts you. There’s just no way to go back to ‘normal’.

In chapter five, you talk about that it means to invest your talents. You wanted to make a tangible impact. Looking back, how did you do that and what fruit have you seen?

It’s hard to say, because I have little contact with the actual students who’s lives I had the chance to invest in. But I’m definitely seeing impact on this side of the equation too. The experience has impacted my family a great deal, especially my son. He’s learning at an early age that helping others less fortunate than us is one BIG way that we show the love of Jesus to the world. It’s funny, but even at eight-years old he is already sensing the presence of God in the times when we serve through global missions or local outreach ministry. I’m also seeing the fruit in others through the stories that I’ve been able to share. I’m seeing people who are becoming motivated to stand up and find little things that they can do to make a big difference… and THAT’s what it’s all about. Even if I haven’t left much tangible change in Africa, their lives have sent ripples throughout my life and the lives of those around me.

What advice would you give someone who’s never been on a short-term mission trip, and wants to go?

Start small. Don’t get overwhelmed with the idea of having to go on some big trip and do something huge. For me getting to Africa (my first short-term mission trip) started with writing a blog post about an organization who I thought was doing good work. In fact, it probably wasn’t even 300 words. But that little thing led to another little thing, and before you know it, I’m getting an email asking if I’d be interested in going to Africa. And that brings me to the other thing… pray constantly. I’m not talking about asking God, “Should I go to Africa?”. But I talked to him enough about this issue that when the opportunity came up it was kind of a no-brainer. I already knew that He was in it, and it was quickly evident that doing this trip was right where I needed to be. But it’s all about following God’s leading and just doing what you can with the things that He’s putting on your heart.

========================================================

Great job Dan – To read this book in it’s entirety, go here for the Kindle Version, here for the Nook version and here for the PDF version. And, feel free to share this link on Twitter, FB and other social media outlets.

In Mark Batterson’s third book, he tries to get the reader back to a “primal Christianity.” In essence, he attempts to remove the multiple layers of culture and religion that has sunk the Western Church into a mere form of institution, rather than the movement that it’s called to be. The author tends to focus on a few key areas that he considers primal.

1. Justice: I was a bit surprised, and happy, to find so much focus on the issue of justice. Mark strives to help us re-imagine what scripture states about serving those who are on the underside of power.

2. Hearing God: Throughout the book, there is a huge focus on spiritual disciplines. Praying, scripture reading and doing. Needless to say, the author is humble, passionate and compassionate. He writes with a sense of balance, love and wide-spread knowledge.

There is no doubt, that once we read this book we will have a pathway to live a more missional life, that will in fact help us move back in-time to a profusely, primal version of Christianity, so we can move forward with a vision to see a better way if serving Jesus, and following in His footsteps!

Some books offer a tremendous balance and Live Sent is one of those books, it has the ability to influence a wide-spread audience, which not only includes church leaders, but also those folks who are called to minister outside the four-walls of the church.

It’s vital for the church to grasp what it means to truly be on mission in our day to day lives, and this book will help us figure out what that mission looks like.

Let me share some quotes:

The Sender (God) delivered His message to us and then writes His message in us and through us for us to deliver to others.

Our mission will always be determined by who or what it is we live for.

That’s our mission as letters from Him. To carry His through word and deed into all the world-both around the corner and around the globe.

I think Live Sent could be used in multiple settings. But, I would highly encourage small groups to read this book and discuss it’s implications. Because of the missional praxis that it offers, if we truly embrace the message, we can live a more missional life, filled with meaning and impact as we all embrace the reality that God calls every Christ-follower to “live-sent” in his or her culture.

I encourage you to buy the book, read it, discuss it, blog it, tweet it and spread the word; that we are all called to “live-sent” as disciples of Jesus!

Here are some ways you can connect with Jason.

- Live Sent Website
- @jasoncdukes
- Twubs-Live Sent

The story is gripping, fast paced and heartbreaking. Yet filled with hope in the midst of tragedy, Tom paints a picture of reality, but also pens a pathway of change and hope.

My prayer for this book is simple, that the rest of the world would somehow realize that if we choose to love and care for those who live in extreme poverty, we can make a difference, life can be better, extreme poverty can be eradicated. I feel like this book is vital as it can help us see humanity beyond the issues the global poor face. These are real people who are desperate and deserve a better life. Hopefully, through this story, it will cause a movement of compassion and service.

In the next week or two, I’m going to do a video interview with the author. I also have two free copies of Scared to giveaway, more details to come. In the meantime, you can learn more about Tom’s organization, Children Hopechest, they are doing great work with orphans across the world. You can also visit the books website to find out more info.

Now to be fair, I used to be an avid John Maxwell fan back in the 90′s. John’s teachings were beneficial. That being said, it’s been a longtime since I’ve read one of John’s books. Which Is why I decided to read this book and hear John’s thoughts on leadership a decade later!

In Put Your Dreams to the Test, John ask 10 key questions:

1. The Ownership Question: Is my dream really my Dream? 2. The Clarity Question: Do I clearly see my dream? 3. The Reality Question: Am I depending on factors within my control to achieve my dream? 4. The Passion Question: Does my dream compel me to follow it? 5. The Pathway Question: Do I have a strategy to reach my dream? 6. The People Question: Have I included the people I need to realize my dream? 7. The Cost Question: Am I willing to pay the price for my dream? 8. The Tenacity Question: Am I moving closer to my dream? 9. The Fulfillment Question: Does working toward my dream bring satisfaction? 10. The Significance Question: Does my dream benefit others?

In each chapter, John gives us some very practical ways that will help the reader process and think-through our personal dreams that we may have. While none of the information is ground-breaking or new, there is a lot of good reminders and thoughts that trigger’s one’s thinking and brings some good clarification.

John passion is to help the reader learn how to manage our dreams and lead it well and this book will help you do just that.

Some thoughts from chapter two: 

The focus on chapter two is the need to ReJesus the individual as disciples of Jesus. The authors argue that the life of the disciple should directly be influenced by our Christology, and our Christology then directly influences our missiology, which then determines our ecclesiology. Basically our mission in life and how we operate that mission comes directly from our belief in the way of Jesus. 

Not everyone agrees with the authors conclusions. Some argue that our Ecclesiology should come second, then Missiology should come third: Christology>>>>Ecclesiology>>>Missiology. I prefer to see it more from a triangle perspective: Jesus is the head and missiology and ecclesiology are both essential, but one is not more vital then the other-they need to co-exist! 

Some quotes:

“If it is not already clear, let us state it emphatically: We believe that Christology is the key to the renewal of the church in every age and in every possible situation it might find itself in.”

“Christology must determine missiology (our purpose and function in this world), which in turn must determine ecclesiology (the cultural forms and expressions of the church).

“One of the most urgent reasons why we need to re-envision ourselves around Jesus is that our imaginations so easily become captive to the dominant forces in our culture, whether those forces are economic, political, religious or ideological.”

Quotes from chapter one: 

“By dying for us to set us free from the penalty of our sinfulness, he doesn’t nullify the call to good works and godly living.” 

“The process of reJesusing the church will begin with a rediscovery of the fierce and outrageous life of Jesus.”

“Through the eyes of Jesus, we will see God differently, no longer as a distant father figure, but through the paradigm of the missio Dei to find the sent and sending God. Second, we will see the church differently, no longer as a religious institution but as a community of Jesus followers devoted to participating in his mission. We call this the participatio Christi. And third, through Jesus’ eyes we will see the the world fresh, not simply as fallen or depraved but as bearing the mark of the imago Dei-image of God.”

“When we see God as Jesus understood him, we see a God so devoted to his broken planet that he issues himself forth to redeem it.” 

“It us one of our greatest mistakes to equate the church with the kingdom of God. The kingdom is much broader than the church-it is cosmic in scope. The church is perhaps the primary agent of the kingdom but must not be equated fully with it. We need to be able to see the kingdom activity wherever it expresses itself and join with God in it.”

My thoughts: 

The authors are laying a foundation in chapter one. Basically they are promoting the idea that God is on a mission (missio Dei) and he calls us to be ambassadors for that mission. Yet, we’ve (current Western culture) have domesticated Jesus and replaced him with religion.  Therefore we need to be “reJesused” so we can get back to the original plan of God and participate (participatio Christi) and bring redemption to humanity which had been created in the imago Dei-image of God.

I’ve decided to do a chapter by chapter review on ReJesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church.

Missional is all the rage these days. But I’m worried we may water-down the importance and meaning of missional. No I don’t think we need to have a post-missional discussion yet. I think we need to do our best to stay focused on the task at hand, which is: 

1. How do we become missional followers of Jesus from an individual perspective? How does the story of Jesus change me as a person?
2. How do we become missional followers of Jesus as people involved in a larger global community which is known as the church or God’s people?
3. How does God’s people live on-mission outside the so-called walls of the church? How do we influence culture, love our neighbor etc?

Thooughts from the Introductions

H&F asks some key questions:

 -”What ongoing role does Jesus the Messiah play in shaping the ethos & self-understanding of the movement that originated in him?”
- “In how many ways do we domesticate the radical Revolutionary in order to sustain our religion and religiosity?”
- “How can a rediscovery of Jesus renew our discipleship, the Christian community, and the ongoing mission of the church?”

“It seems to us that a constant, and continual, return to Jesus is absolutely essential for any movement that wishes to call itself by his name.”

“Surly the challenge for the church today s to be taken captive by the agenda of Jesus, rather than seeking to mold him to fit our agendas, no matter how noble they might be.”

“The challenge before us is to let Jesus be Jesus and to allow ourselves to be caught up in his extraordinary mission for the world.”

“And so any attempt to reJesus the church must also recover a real sense of the radical and revolutionary nature of what it means to follow JEsus in the current  Western context.”

“Christology is the study and examination of the entire phenomenon of Jesus, including his person and work and teachings, for the purpose of determining in what ways the various elements of his life and activity can be emulated by sinful human beings.” 

“ReJesus is an attempt to reinstate the central role of Jesus in the ongoing spiritual life of the faith and in the life and mission of God’s people. More specifically, it is an attempt to recalibrate the mission of the church around the person and work of Jesus.”

I’ve recently received The Chronological Study Bible from Thomas Nelson. Needless to say I did not read the entire text. I spent a few weeks doing my morning devotions from this Bible. Because of that I feel like I have a good feel for what the publishers were trying to accomplish.

First of all let me say that I’m thoroughly impressed with the artwork and amazing colors. It really makes reading the Bible enjoyable. 

The text is arranged in chronological order. So if you’ve read the Bible over and over, this can really be refreshing and it can also help you understand the events as they happened. The point is not to change the canonical order of scripture but to help us grasp the Biblical narrative as it played out. 

They used the NKJV Translation and the Bible is divided into Nine Epochs. Each Epoch has a through introduction and  I did enjoy the various study tools that was provided. They also provided a legitimate concordance. Throughout the text you will find great study tools that will benefit the reader. 

Don’t get me wrong, I would not make this my permanent Study Bible. But I do think it adds value to my collection. I’m thinking about reading it as a devotion in 2009 and I would recommend it.