Amazing Reads: Sabbath as Resistance

Sabbath as Resistance

By Walter Brueggemann

Originally, I wasn't going to read this book. Mike Chen recommended that I read this book though (along with several other books), so I thought I would go for it. Walter Brueggemann writes that the Sabbath is not simply about keeping rules but rather about becoming a whole person and restoring a whole society. We are constantly going in order to be more, get more, etc., but we never really take any time to rest. Keeping the Sabbath allows us to break this restless cycle and focus on what is truly important: God, other people, all life. 

Favorite Quotes:

-“In our own contemporary context of the rat race of anxiety, the celebration of Sabbath is an act of both resistance and alternative. It is resistance because it is a visible insistence that our lives are not defined by the production and consumption of commodity goods.” -Walter Brueggemann
-“Sabbath becomes a decisive, concrete, visible way of opting for and aligning with the God of rest.” -Walter Brueggemann
-“The Sabbath rest of God is the acknowledgment that God and God’s people in the world are not commodities to be dispatched for endless production and so dispatched, as we used to say, as “hands” in the service of a command economy. Rather they are subjects situated in an economy of neighborliness. All of that is implicit in the reality and exhibit of divine rest.” -Walter Brueggemann
-“That divine rest on the seventh day of creation has made clear (a) that YHWH is not a workaholic, (b) that YHWH is not anxious about the full functioning of creation, and (c) that the well-being of creation does not depend on endless work.” -Walter Brueggemann
-“Multitasking is the drive to be more than we are, to control more than we do, to extend our power and our effectiveness. Such practice yields a divided self, with full attention given to nothing.” -Walter Brueggemann

Amazing Reads: My Name is Hope

My Name is Hope

By John Mark Comer

My Name is Hope, which is written by one of my new favorite authors, John Mark Comer, addresses several tough topics. If focuses primarily on anxiety and depression. Now, you may think to yourself... I don't have anxiety and I don't have depression, so this book doesn't apply to me, right? Wrong. The thing about this book, and books in general, is that you can find something to relate to in one way or another. In this book, the section about worry applied to me the most. I spend a lot of time worried over every little thing. I worry about school. I worry finances. I worry about my level of chocolate consumption. I worry about the future. I worry about everything. Everything from the mundane to the major. I don't have to though and I know that. John Mark Comer uses this book to address a range of human emotions. Don't get me wrong, it is okay to have emotions. We're human. We tend to be emotional beings, some more than others, but emotional still the same. Recognizing and addressing the emotions you feel is important. 

Favorite Quotes:
-"God allowed a flawed, emotional train wreck to lead Israel- his chosen people. But not only that, he took David's raw, brutally honest lyrics- gushing with fear, anxiety, doubt, depression, and questions about God's faithfulness- and made them part of the inspired scriptures." -John Mark Comer
-"Life without the full spectrum of human emotions is empty and dull. God made us to feel." -John Mark Comer
-"Can you imagine what it would be like to stand in front of the Creator? The problem is that we fear all the wrong things: the future, money problems, the what-ifs. We need to fear God. If we get that right, the other fears fade into the background." -John Mark Comer
-“Humility is not thinking of yourself at all. The humble person is lost in the needs of others.” -John Mark Comer
-"Worry can be a gift because it shows us what we are really passionate about...we should put our hearts' passions into the kingdom, not the fleeting, temporary things that we spend so much time worrying about." -John Mark Comer
-"Humans need a mission. Vision. Goals. Plans. Something on the horizon for which we can work, sweat, and pray." -John Mark Comer
-"Grace is a past event. We have been justified. We have peace with God. We have gained access. But it's also something you have to stand in. You have to believe and trust and stand in the work of Jesus on the cross." -John Mark Comer
-"Gratitude is all about perspective. We are blessed. Never forget that. Never stop thanking God for grace." -John Mark Comer
-"Worry about nothing. Pray about everything. Thank God for anything." -John Mark Comer
-“The church is a hospital—a place where sick, broken, wounded, flawed people are made new by Jesus.” -John Mark Comer
-"Yes, there are days, months, and for some of us years, of mourning. But it's only for a night. It's only for a time. There is a light breaking over the horizon." -John Mark Comer

Amazing Reads: Life Together

Life Together

By Dietrich Bonhoeffer

This story is a bit odd. When you think of life together, you generally think about living in a community and growing. Dietrich Bonhoeffer illuminates his unique fellowship in an underground seminary during the Nazi years in Germany. His journey for fellowship was definitely as interesting as it sounds, having him constantly choosing his Christian community in place of the cultural norms during that time. Bonhoeffer gives practical advice on how life together in Christ can be sustained in families and groups. It makes sure to draw attention to the role of personal prayer, worship in everyday work, and Christian service as simple, almost biblical, words. Currently living in an intentional Christian community, Life Together gave further insight into what that necessarily means. It is a short read, coming in at 122 pages, but it is packed full of information to be thoroughly reflecting on. 

Favorite Quotes:

-“We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts.”-Dietrich Bonhoeffer
-“If my sinfulness appears to me to be in any way smaller or less detestable in comparison with the sins of others, I am still not recognizing my sinfulness at all. ... How can I possibly serve another person in unfeigned humility if I seriously regard his sinfulness as worse than my own?” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer
-“We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer
-“The Christian, however, must bear the burden of a brother. He must suffer and endure the brother. It is only when he is a burden that another person is really a brother and not merely an object to be manipulated. The burden of men was so heavy for God Himself that He had to endure the Cross. God verily bore the burden of men in the body of Jesus Christ. But He bore them as a mother carries her child, as a shepherd enfolds the lost lamb that has been found. God took men upon Himself and they weighted Him to the ground, but God remained with them and they with God. In bearing with men God maintained fellowship with them. It was the law of Christ that was fulfilled in the Cross. And Christians must share in this law.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer
-“Who can really be faithful in great things if he has not learned to be faithful in the things of daily life?” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Amazing Reads: Mercy Never Sleeps

Mercy Never Sleeps: Sleepless Thoughts on Faith, Heaven, and the Fear of Heights

By Jamie Blaine

Does life ever just not go the way you planned it? That's exactly what happened to the author, Jamie Blaine. After a series of oddball jobs that didn't really seem to pan out, he became a late-night psychiatric crisis guy. He walks us through some of his calls. The book description on the back cover says "Jamie travels time to untangle his own story of God through the wilderness, battling alligators, acrophobia, anaphylactic shock, Christian tricksters, Christmas, insomnia zombies, hymn-singing bridge jumpers, preteen bullies, paranoid ER patients armed with knives, hatchet-wielding housewives, septuagenarian pugilists, locust swarms, and ghosts of the present, future, and past. Jamie Blaine's life isn't exactly going as planned. When a twist of fate places the late-night psychiatric crisis guy on 24/7 call, his insomnia ramps up to desperate stages as he veers closer to becoming the very kind of person he's trying to save." If that doesn't say it, I don't know what will. I consider it a tale of self discovery. Discovering who he is, not only in his faith, but also as a human being. Although it was not my favorite read of the summer, it was cool to hear someone else's story, to hear how their life went nowhere close to their plan.

Favorite Quotes:

-"I’m working a dead-end dangerous job in the middle of the night for not much money and no place for advancement. My social circle consists of junkies and schizophrenics, inmates, suicidal housewives, cops and ER docs, and convenience store clerks on graveyard shift. In one sense I am alone in the wilderness, the best possible place to meet God. In another I am drifting too far, needing to settle down and get serious about making a life. Am I lost? Or found? I wish I knew." -Jamie Blaine

-"Nothing gets easier; we just find better ways to admit how vulnerable we are." -Sean Beaudoin (Jamie Blaine used this quote to begin a chapter)

-"Truth came from a lot of strange places in the Bible. Misfits and loners and loose women. Outcasts, outlaws, oddballs, and thieves. Jesus ran with a rough crown. And he warned the religious about labels and easy assumptions. Those people you're calling lost might be closer to the kingdom of God than you." -Jamie Blaine

-"There is a mystery in the darkness that connects us. Beyond matter and energy, gravity and time. Maybe there really is just one secret to life." -Jamie Blaine

-"I am thankful for the wind and the still, small voice. For grace and mercy, each day's chance to start again. The stars are thick, and the path endless." -Jamie Blaine

Amazing Reads: God has a Name

God had a Name

By John Mark Comer

Now, I read Garden City first. God has a name is a separate book that addresses different topics, but at the same time, it feels like a continuation of Garden City. God has a Name is shaped around a portion in Exodus. The book goes sentence by sentence through the text and goes into details that sometimes get skimmed over. 

Favorite Quotes:

“But the Bible claims something radically out of step with its time. It claims there is one true Creator God who made everything. And the world was born, not out of conflict or war or jealous infighting, but out of the overflow of his creativity and love.” -John Mark Comer

“In the modern world, we start with the assumption that we know what God is like, and then we judge every religion or church or sermon or book based on our view of God.” -John Mark Comer

“Here’s how you know if you’ve created God in your own image: he agrees with you on everything.” -John Mark Comer

“When we say that God is faithful, we don’t mean you’ll never experience suffering. A lot of people—in particular, Americans—misinterpret God’s faithfulness to mean some kind of promise to give us life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. So when tragedy strikes or the economy goes south or the child tests positive or we don’t find a spouse by thirty, we think God is unfaithful.” -John Mark Comer

“If your heart is stubborn, cold, or in open rebellion against Yahweh, then the worst thing God can do is give you what you want and let all your desires come true.” -John Mark Comer

Amazing Reads: Sacred Echo

Sacred Echo

by Margaret Feinberg

Have you ever felt lost? Struggled to find your calling? Struggled to hear God's voice? Just all around struggled? This is the book for you. God sometimes speaks through a Sunday sermon, a chance conversation with a friend the next day, even a random email. The same theme, idea, impression, or lesson will repeat itself in surprising and unexpected ways until you realize that maybe, just maybe, God is at work. 

Favorite Quotes: 

“And like an echo, God often uses the repetitive events and themes in daily life to get my attention and draw me closer to himself."- Margaret Feinberg

"May our every inhale be infused with God's presence, our every inhale an extension of his love." -Margaret Feinberg

"God knows your prayer before the words even leave your lips." -Margaret Feinberg

"Remember: God is steadfast. He hasn't given up on you." -Margaret Feinberg

Amazing Reads: Restoring Broken Things

Restoring Broken Things

by Steven Curtis Chapman and Scotty Smith

We are all broken in one way or another. This is a book about restoration. Forgiveness and restoration is not something that happens at once. It is something that needs to be continually worked on until not only your head believes it, but your heart does too. 

Favorite Quote (Sorry, this is the only one, mainly because it is my absolute favorite in the entire book. It is a daily reminder.):

"We are commanded to forgive, but we can never demand forgiveness from anyone. Forgiving is not forgetting or ignoring an offense. Forgiving is not excusing, justifying, or pardoning an offense. Forgiving is not smothering a conflict. Forgiving is not tolerating what should not be tolerated. Forgiving does not always result in reconciliation. Forgiving does not mean you stop hurting. Forgiving is refusing to punish. Forgiving is a commitment not to repeat or discuss the matter with others. Forgiving is a radical commitment to uproot any residual bitterness. Forgiving is a choice to merciful as God you Father has been merciful with you." -Steven Curtis Chapman and Scotty Smith

Amazing Reads: Liturgy of the Ordinary

Liturgy of the Ordinary

by Tish Harrison Warren

How do you find God in the mundane aspects of your everyday life? Tish Harrison Warren addresses this by looking at the mundane things she does everyday, from making the bed, checking her emails, brushing her teeth, and more. 

Favorite Quotes:

"Everyone wants a revolution. No one wants to do the dishes." -Tish Harrison Warren

“In the creation story, God entered chaos and made order and beauty. In making my bed I reflected that creative act in the tiniest, most ordinary way. In my small chaos, I made small order.” -Tish Harrison Warren

“My minty breath—a little foretaste of glory.” -Tish Harrison Warren

“Without realizing it, I had slowly built a habit: a steady resistance to and dread of boredom.” -Tish Harrison Warren

Amazing Reads: Garden City

Garden City

by John Mark Comer

Everyone in the house was given a copy of this book the day they came. I wanted to start reading it right away, but I was in the middle of another book and waiting patiently (well, not so patiently). Looking back, part of me wishes I started reading Garden City right away because I found it to be incredible. First off, the author talked the way you or I would. His book was easy to read and if I found something truly inspiring, I was able to mark it to go easily find the quote I wanted to look back on. John Mark Comer discusses work, rest, and the idea of a garden city. It is one of my favorite books now and I hope to read more of his books in the weeks to come. 

Favorite Quotes:

"It's not failure if you fail at doing something you're not supposed to do. It's success. Because with each success, and with each so-called failure, you're getting a clearer sense of your calling." -John Mark Comer

"Sometimes a calling is staring us in the face, we just need to make eye contact." -John Mark Comer

"That’s why Sabbath is an expression of faith. Faith that there is a Creator and he’s good. We are his creation. This is his world. We live under his roof, drink his water, eat his food, breathe his oxygen. So on the Sabbath, we don’t just take a day off from work; we take a day off from toil. We give him all our fear and anxiety and stress and worry. We let go. We stop ruling and subduing, and we just be. We “remember” our place in the universe. So that we never forget . . . There is a God, and I’m not him." -John Mark Comer

"If we fight the image of God in us — even if we succeed in the short run — it will come back to eat us alive." -John Mark Comer

"Jesus is calling us out. He’s saying that greatness is when we love and serve others." -John Mark Comer