Ally's #18 A Holy Ambition by John Piper

"There are only three kinds of Christians when it comes to world missions: zealous goers, zealous senders, and disobedient."

I think I've found the perfect Piper combination. A lot of his books go way over my head and are challenging to digest. I dig his sermons, but his voice is so distracting that I can't concentrate on what I'm hearing. A Holy Ambition hits the mark, as it's a collection of Piper's sermons on the topic of frontier missions--preaching Christ to unreached people groups worldwide as modeled by the Apostle Paul. I am only about half way through his book, Let The Nations Be Glad, on the supremacy of Christ in missions, so I won't try to compare them here.

The book is divided into three topical sections (see below) and is bookended by two intro sermons, one concluding sermon, and two very helpful sermons in the appendix. I highlighted a great deal in the final sermon in the appendix on the "Driving Convictions Behind Cross-Cultural Missions"...my guess is Piper knew it needed to be included, but didn't have a good place to fit it. While reading, I found some overlap here and there, but it's to be expected in sermons that span from a few months before I was born (June 1983) all the way to 2008. Each chapter was roughly 10-15 pages long, so it's a great book to read if you can only do so intermittently.

-A Biblical Theology of Gospel-Centered Missions

"...if we want our heart for the nations to rest upon God's heart for the nations, it should rest upon the basis of God's heart for the nations, namely, God's heart for his own glory."

-The Mandate of World Missions

"God is not done with the work of missions. He said go make disciples of all nations. And then he said, 'I will be with you to the end of the age.' The promise is good till Jesus comes, because the commission is binding till Jesus comes. Therefore, you and I face the question individually what our role is in obeying the great commission to reach all the unreached peoples of the world with the gospel of the riches of Christ."

-The Costs and Blessings of Mission

"I get very tired of people coming to look at staff positions in my church, which is in downtown Minneapolis. We all live in the inner city, and one of the first questions they ask is, 'Will my children be safe?' And I want to say, 'Would you please ask that question tenth and not first?' I'm just tired of hearing that. I'm tired of American priorities. Whoever said that your children will be safe in the call of God?"

As Jim and I consider our future, quite possibly in world missions, I dogeared two different sections that I think will help us on our journey. The first is a list of questions at the end of Chapter 8 "The Aroma of Christ Among the Nations." The questions are derived from 2 Corinthians 2:17 and include five tests from the Apostle Paul as to whether or not someone is fit to be a missionary. I appreciate that Piper follows it up by saying that there are no perfect missionaries, and we will all miss the mark in some way or another, but our desire should be a resounding "Yes!" in response to all of the questions posed.

The second section that would be an especially helpful resource for anyone considering world missions or in the midst of it is found in Chapter 10 "I Am Sending You Out As Sheep In The Midst of Wolves." Here, Piper does an excellent job of succinctly describing the six costs and ten blessings of frontier missions. I think the ten blessings would be an awesome thing to commit to memory or to have readily accessible in times of discouragement.

All in all, this was a great book and an easy read. I highly recommend it!

Ally's #17 The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

This work of historical fiction landed a spot on Oprah's book club list several years ago. I picked it up cheap at a used bookstore when I was in college. I wasn't Christian at the time, and I distinctly remember putting the book down and thinking "If that's what mission work and loving Jesus is all about, then I don't want any of it."  I also recall crushing the dreams of a classmate who had shared with me that her lifelong passion was to be a missionary to Africa. I told her missions were a sham and that she should read this book. My, oh my, how things have changed since then.

The book hasn't changed, but I have--dramatically--and any good change in me I attribute solely to Christ. Now it's my dream to be a missionary in a distant land. I love reading missionary biographies and encourage friends to read them as well. I decided to pick this book up again and to read it with new eyes, a new mind, and a new heart. I learned a great deal more the second time around.

If I had to briefly sum up this book, I'd call it the "How NOT to do Missions Handbook." It follows the journey of the Price family, a Southern bunch that venture to the Congo in response to the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20). The book is told from the point of view of Orleanna Price and her four daughters, Rachel, Leah, Adah, and Ruth May.

At the head of the family is Nathan Price, a zealous, strong-willed, ill-tempered man who is dead set on baptizing each and every person he meets in the Congo...never mind the crocodiles lying in wait in the river that would snatch up children in an instant. Nathan is resistant to anything that exists outside of his tunnel vision and takes criticism as an affront to his goals. Despite being rejected by the Baptist Missions Society to go to the Congo, he starts raising funds anyway.

The Price's receive no pre-field training in language or culture, and it shows the day they arrive in Kilanga. Within hours of their arrival, they manage to insult the entire village, who just sacrificed an exorbitant amount of food to celebrate and welcome the Price family. Nathan loves to preach about the preciousness of Jesus, but his mispronunciation of the tonal Kikongo language means that he often speaks of Jesus and the Bible as "poisonous." "Come to Jesus, everyone! He wants to give you pussy boils and pain! My, he is a good Jesus! He wants you to feed your children to the crocodiles!" No wonder no one trusted this Jesus.

Orleanna carries the burden of feeding their large family three meals a day with a garden that won't produce anything, a husband who doesn't know (and isn't interested in learning) how to hunt for meat, and a small stipend from the mission society that basically says, "We didn't want you here in the first place, but we don't want you to die of starvation." Orleanna loses her precious house helper and cook extraordinaire, Mama Tataba, to Nathan's relentless push to get children into the crocodile infested river for baptisms. Mama Tataba gives him a piece of her mind and then leaves--her compassion is all dried up for this stubborn man who doesn't want to hear what anyone has to say or learn anything from anybody.

In reading the daughters' accounts, as well as those of Orleanna, I realized that none of them truly had a firm grip on the Gospel: that we are justified and saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in the work of Jesus Christ. Orleanna went to a tent revival when she was a teen because it was the "cool" thing to do, and you'd be more attractive to handsome Christian men if you looked like you really meant it when they did an altar call. Nathan Price believed with all his might that he earned God's favor. Going to the Congo was a good thing, so God had to bless it and take care of them and give them oodles of converts. God just had to. Even when political upheaval forces the missions society to evacuate all its members, Nathan Price refuses to leave or send his family home. No Price would leave the Congo until his work was done, regardless of the dangers it posed to have zero means of support. Even his wife falling into a severe depression and one of his daughters dying didn't make him budge on his convictions. Eventually, enough was enough for Orleanna and the surviving girls, and they left without so much as a goodbye.

The latter 1/3 of the story is about their departure and the way each woman carried that year-long experience in Kilanga into their future. One daughter found love, while the eldest found found a string of husbands/lovers. Another daughter found a voice and a passion for medicine and contributed greatly to work in infectious diseases. Pretty ironic considering her father is a total misogynist:

'Sending a girl to college is like pouring water into your shoes,' he still loves to say, as often as possible. 'It's hard to say which is worse, seeing it run out and waste the water, or seeing it hold in and wreck the shoes.'

Orleanna lived on in Georgia, never remarrying because one husband was about enough to kill her, and beating herself up over the loss of one of her girls. I was surprised that the book continued on as it did giving glimpses here and their of how the girls lives had morphed over about 30 years. It could have easily ended with their escape from Kilanga, but it was interesting to see how their lives were forever impacted by Africa and what they experienced there.

Mark's #14 - Uneclipsing the Son by Rick Holland

"Don't judge a book by it's cover" - especially this one, because the cover is awful. Outer aesthetics aside, the point and purpose of the book is timely and much needed.

The knowledge of, love for, and glory of Christ should be the all-consuming passion of all Christians.  In fact, this is exactly what Paul prays for Christians in his letter to the Ephesians, "...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, ¹⁸ having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe... (Eph. 17-19).

This book does a good job of reminding Christians what it really means to be 'Christian' - To behold the glory and majesty of Christ.

Buddy's #14 Try Giving Yourself Away

I picked this book up off the shelf in Phnom Penh because it was only a couple of bucks and the title was intriguing. I had checked the copyright date (2007) but quickly discovered it was a reprint of a book that was 89 years old as many of his illustrations dealt with travel by train and other vestiges of our recent history in America.

Though he calls himself a Christian the author approaches giving himself away not as part of his religious duty but rather as a hobby that brings him much joy.

One of the big takeaways from the book for me was to be on the look out for ways to add value to the lives of others. Another takeaway was that the door to give yourself closes quickly so walk through it while you have the chance.

The author also said that the more specific you can be with gifts, compliments and praise the better. To someone with the spiritual gift of giving this may come as no surprise but it was a good reminder for me.

Even if you never read the book you should still "Try Giving Yourself Away" this week and I am sure you'll have a much better week and bring glory to your God in the process.

Mark's #13 - The Reason for God by Timothy Keller

New York City pastor and founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Tim Keller, has regularly engaged skeptics of faith in general and Christianity in particular.  In The Reason for God, Keller compiles decades worth of intellectual engagement with these skeptics to put forth a great introduction and defense for the Christian faith.  What C.S. Lewis did for the people of the 1940's through Mere Christianity, Keller does for the modern mind and modern objections to Christianity. Recently at The Harbor, we read and discussed this book in our monthly Apologia meeting.  Though this was the second time we've read this group, I once again benefitted from the read.  In part one, Keller addresses the most common and difficult objections people have, such as;

1. There can't be just one true religion.
2. How could a good God allow suffering?
3. Christianity is a straitjacket
4. The church is responsible for so much injustice
5. How can a loving God send people to Hell?
6. Science has disproved Christianity
7. You can't take the Bible literally

After dealing with these objections, in part two Keller goes from the defensive to the offensive, in presenting the evidence he sees as compelling 'clues of God'.  These include points such as design, beauty, longing, morality, the purpose of the Cross, and the reality of the bodily resurrection of Christ.

While I didn't agree with every point Keller put forth, overall I would highly recommend this book for both Christians and non-Christians alike.

Buddy's # 13 Kisses from Katie

Kisses from Katie is the kind of book I would never purchase. Someone purchased it for us as a gift and I am glad they did because I loved it. I loved the stories of her struggle and the joy that comes from serving the least and the last.

There are times when I feel like the life I live here is a bit of a struggle. I have spent 4 of the last 13 months sick. I got home at 1:10 am this morning after going around our city on a moped looking for kids who may have been trafficked. Some days I just want to have a normal job and not deal with the heartache and injustice, the fundraising, the multiple ministries, and the multiple projects in multiple countries.

Katie Davis's account of her first three years in Uganda was convicting, inspiring and challenging.

Convicting because the life she lives and the sacrifices she has made are 10 X's more difficult than my own. Inspiring because she makes it clear that there is no better path to be on than the one that God has called you to. Challenging because she chose to despise the things of this world and say yes to the things of God.

If you are looking for a personal account of the radical life lived out, look no further.