Author: Jonathan Dodson

Would You Help Me Title a New Book?

Posted on May 23, 2012

I am finishing up a new eBook on the topic of sharing the gospel.

The goal of the book is to help people understand how they should and should not share their faith with others. All too often, Christians share their faith in ways that are off putting to people, making them feel inferior, un-spiritual, or like a pet project. Other Christians don’t share their faith for some of the very same reasons–they don’t want to be preachy, intolerant, or proselytizing. All of this needs to be addressed, some affirming and some challenging. Plus, we need a new way to talk about the gospel with others. Simply downloading “Jesus died on the cross for your sins” or dropping the name of Jesus isn’t enough.

People need to hear (and see) a believable gospel, one that is worth believing in their own lives, one that makes sense of their real challenges, hopes, fears, and concerns. My hope is that this book will do all of that in fifty pages: address why we shouldn’t and how we should share the gospel of Jesus with others.

With this brief explanation in mind, would you help me with the title? Here are some options:

 

Books I’m Reading

Posted on May 22, 2012

Here are a few of the books I am currently reading:

Imagine: How Creativity Works – a fascinating study on creativity that blends sociology, neuroscience, and psychology to show how human creativity flourishes in a variety of contexts–the arts, business, urban development, and more. I’ve already used some of these insights to encourage and direct our staff.

The Power of Habit – another interdisciplinary study, but instead of creativity NY Times journalist Chrles Duhigg takes up habits and how we change our lives.

Kingdom Calling – A robust theology and vision of what our vocation can and should be, Kingdom Calling is filled with insight into how “the righteous can make the city rejoice” when they steward their vocational influence for the healing, beauty, strength, and justice of the city. One of the best books I’ve read on the topic of work.

Raising a Modern Day Princess – As a father of two daughters, I want to better understand how to love and disciple my girls into the image of Jesus and the security the Father’s love offers. This book is helpfully written from a women’s perspective, opening up new ways of understanding how my little girls work, and has even proved beneficial in how to love my wife better.

All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes – Ken Myers is the director of Mars Hill Audio and an incisive cultural critic who needs to interview less and write more! I read this book about a decade ago and am rereading the republication (with new introduction). This book provides a biblical theology of culture as well as a paradigm for cultural discernment, primarily from the vantage point of Marshal McLuhan (the medium is the message).

Where Mortals Dwell: A Christian View of Place for Today – Noted scholar Craig Bartholomew has shown that he can write with academic depth and practical orientation. While this work is slanted towards the former (a theology of place), it has profound implications for the latter (the places in which we dwell). Just getting started but anticipating a great read.

Missional Preaching: A Review

Posted on May 21, 2012

Al Tizon (Ph.D) is associate professor of holistic ministry at Palmer Theological Seminary and author of Missional Preaching. Heis also the director of Word & Deed Network of the Evangelicals for Social Action.

Preaching as Mission

Missional Preaching is broken into two parts: Essentials of Missional Preaching (theology) and The Goals of Missional Preaching (practice). The first part is nicely done. Tizon provides a concise theology of missional church addressing the missio Dei, a biblical theology of mission, which culminates in the teleology of mission–worship. It is clear that Tizon has a grasp of missiology, providing ample footnotes and clarifying detail, e.g. Karl Barth did not coin the Missio Dei. Throughout he emphasizes the important role of preaching, not our methodology, in the mission of the church. Tizon concludes:

We preach with the aim to make disciples. We preach to cultivate a church of missional worshippers and worshipping missionaries.

In this section, he borrows from Marva Dawn’s idea that “preaching should kill us.” A provocative thought. It should put to death the old self whose incessant pursuit of comfort disrupts worshipful discipleship. Preaching should, of course, also bring us life. His emphasis on the integrity of the preacher is also sharp. We should live what we preach. However, the gospel also exists for the preacher because no preacher can live everything he or she preaches with perfection. Preachers need Jesus too.

Goals of Preaching

This section charts a course for missional preaching by setting 7 Goals and providing sermon examples along the way, a great idea. The seven goals are:

  1. Preaching for Inculturation
  2. Preaching for Alternative Community
  3. Preaching for Holistic Transformation
  4. Preaching for Justice and Reconciliation
  5. Preaching for Whole-Life Stewardship
  6. Preaching for Shalom
  7. Preaching the Scandal of Jesus

This book will challenge the preacher to live the message. It will push the boundaries of many. The example sermons include men and women, pastors and non-pastors, and a diversity of voices (primarily from the evangelical left). It would have been nice to see examples from some of the preaching greats of our time, and how they do or do not fit into Tizon’s theology and goals. Moreover, it would have also been nice to see how “missional preaching” compares with “Christ-centered preaching”. Tizon clearly adores Jesus and wants preachers to preach from their love of God in Christ. More attention to this would have been nice. Nevertheless, this book can serve as a helpful stretch to those who prefer to preach theologically, while leaving missional preaching to one or two Sundays a year. It is also helpful to give missional direction for any preacher, noting categories and goals for sermons. A missional preaching Evaluation Form is even included at the back.