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I really can’t recommend enough the Voice project. The material that continues to come out is amazing and from what I hear of what is to come out soon will just add to the great resources already available.
This continuing of excellent material continues with Brian McLaren’s The Voice of Luke: Not Even Sandals. McLaren explores a narrative retelling of the Gospel story according to Luke. This book really gives the feel, emotion, meaning, and the “experiential” way of communicating the story of Jesus.
This project is more then a translation or a paraphrase but more a retelling and the structure and feel is more of a screenplay, which makes for interesting and sometimes more engaging way of reading. The devotional thoughts or basically McLaren’s commentary throughout the whole book really is a highlight of the reading and helps with the retelling of the story. McLaren is get with bringing the reader in and really engaging the reader. McLaren ties in the themes going on and even consistently brings you back to the idea of “not even sandals” and develops that as the book goes on (I’ll leave it to you to read the book to learn more about what McLaren is talking about).
Again, I can’t speak enough about the effectiveness of this resource and its ability for retelling the story and engaging a new kind of reader to Scripture. This is a great resource for youth ministry, personal reading, devotional reading, bible studies, and even used in periods of worship.
“. . . doing missions means doing the work of the kingdom wherever you are sent. And the best place to think about where you have been sent is to see where you are. God is a being of great economy. He works before you even realize it and before you sign on, and he’s placed you where you are today for a reason. If you find yourself in the suburbs, welcome to your mission field.”
And with this phrase one dives into Will & Lisa Samson’s book “Justice in the Burbs”. This is a book that deal with more then just justice but brings to the table ideals for holistic living in a suburban context. This is Will & Lisa’s story. They talk a lot about there lives and also have other people chime in with their experiences as well (people such as Brian McLaren, Leonard Sweet, Doug Pagitt, Tony Jones, Luci Shaw, and others). In the later chapters, the book gives some great practical ideas for holistic, missional living in the suburban lifestyle, however the book spends a good deal of time talking about urban or rural areas and the need for the ‘burbs to begin to better focus on the needs in these areas. I agree with this to a degree, however I feel there are needs that need to be met in the burbs as well and many of the same situations can also be taken seen outside of the rural or urban areas. I have done some hands on work both in urban settings and in suburban settings and can say that both have needs that need to be met by people who have a passion for serving others and the world around them. I feel Will & Lisa would agree with me on this and their book is here to be a voice for moving people to action and I would stand with them in that.
At the end of the book, Will & Lisa offer this:
“To hold onto this hope, however, we need a new view of the kind of future that is possible if we act out the call of God on our lives. This is what one theologian referred to as an ‘eschatology of hope,’ or a view of the future that involves the world of tomorrow living more justly because of your actions today.
And this is where we would like to end. Imagine what the world of your great-grandchildren could look like if you begin to live justly today. There is an old Arab proverb that states, ‘Old men plant trees.’ This is precisely the kind of hope we would wish for you – a hope rooted in the belief that another world is possible.”
This is a good read and one that can be read in a very diverse group and would have effect on many different types of people. The book deals with more of the idea for the need to be involved and active in the works of justice. As the sub-title of the book says, we need to be “the hands of Jesus wherever we live”.
A Prayer for Enemies
By Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic, Serbian bishop who spoke out against Naziism, was arrested, and taken to Dachau.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them. Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have. Friends have bound me to earth; enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.
Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world.
Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath Your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless and do not curse them.
They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world. They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself. They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments. They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself. They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance. Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Whenever I have made myself wise, they have called me foolish. Whenever I have made myself mighty, they have mocked me as though I were a [fly].
Whenever I have wanted to lead people, they have shoved me into the background.
Whenever I have rushed to enrich myself, they have prevented me with an iron hand.
Whenever I thought that I would sleep peacefully, they have wakened me from sleep.
Whenever I have tried to build a home for a long and tranquil life, they have demolished it and driven me out.
Truly, enemies have cut me loose from the world and have stretched out my hands to the hem of your garment.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Bless them and multiply them; multiply them and make them even more bitterly against me:
So that my fleeing will have no return; So that all my hope in men may be scattered like cobwebs; So that absolute serenity may begin to reign in my soul; So that my heart may become the grave of my two evil twins: arrogance and anger;
So that I might amass all my treasure in heaven; Ah, so that I may for once be freed from self-deception, which has entangled me in the dreadful web of illusory life.
Enemies have taught me to know what hardly anyone knows, that a person has no enemies in the world except himself. One hates his enemies only when he fails to realize that they are not enemies, but cruel friends.
It is truly difficult for me to say who has done me more good and who has done me more evil in the world: friends or enemies. Therefore bless, O Lord, both my friends and my enemies. A slave curses enemies, for he does not understand. But a son blesses them, for he understands.
For a son knows that his enemies cannot touch his life. Therefore he freely steps among them and prays to God for them. Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
