I have a problem - many of you can probably understand or appreciate, I can never have too many books. There is always one more or another that is calling to be read. It really isn’t a serious problem, but I do love books. I love everything about them - I enjoy them in libraries, bookstores, and probably most of all stacked by my chair in the living room, and next to my bed! I don’t think I will ever be one to adopt reading books on electronic pads or listening to books on my ipod - I enjoy too much the feel of a book in my hand and turning pages!

I acquired three new friends in the past 12 hours. Well, to be truthful, they aren’t “new” friends - they are new works from old friends. I have acquired the following books:

Chris Folmsbee - A New Kind of Youth Ministry

Chris is the CEO and President of Sonlife Ministries and is already at work on his second book (tentatively titled, Story, Signs and Sacred Rhythms). I am looking forward to reading this book (besides Chris being a close friend, he is also a great resource for those working with youth in the church) - this is a book I have anticipated reading since it came out at the YS Convention in Cincy this past November, and one I look forward to reviewing. I have already scanned the contents and know I will be encouraging my church youth ministry team to go through it as we dream, pray and consider how to improve our ministry with/for youth.

Thomas Merton - A Book of Hours (edited by Kathleen Deignan)

This is meant to be a daily guide for leading a person in contemplative prayer over the course of a week with the pre-eminent 20th century spiritual guide, Thomas Merton. I have found Merton to be extremely challenging and often his writing has caused me to ponder a thought for days… and that is a good thing. The book is designed beautifully and has readings and prayers for prayer at Dawn, Day, Dusk & Dark for Sunday through Saturday.

A small taste: “I only have time for eternity.”

Think on that nugget from Merton for more than a second.

Dr. Bruce Demarest - soul guide (Following Jesus As Spiritual Director)

The third and final book came to my attention as a recommendation from a friend. It is right up my alley and the things that I am thinking about these days. It looks like a helpful and enjoyable read. What I have read so far is engaging and produces a lot of nods of the head and agreeable sounds.

A taste… (a bit more than Merton!)

As Christians we confess that Jesus the Christ is the fullness of God, come to us in human flesh to offer us the example of a life lived perfectly under the guidance and direction of God. As such, Jesus Himself is the perfect paradigm for completed humanity and the pattern for Christian ministry. Looking to Jesus as human beings we find answers to the questions and issues with which we all struggle. Looking to Jesus as disciples we find in Him the perfect pattern of how to minister grace to spiritual seekers.

Looking foward to gleaning more from these new books from old friends! Hope to share a full review of each of these selections with you!

Today I celebrate the anniversary of the day I was born, and that got me thinking. I am now in the midst of mid-life (not a mid-life crisis, though!). I have been thinking quite a bit about mid-life and it’s benefits and about life-stages in general and what they bring to our lives. It seems that at each life stage we are faced with challenges and benefits that accompany us on our journey (I think I originally began thinking about this from reading Kenda Creasy Dean’s, Practicing Passion).

Infancy - dependence
Childhood - wonder
Adolescents - passion
Late Adolescence - mid 20’s - idealism
Early Adulthood - energy, industrious
Mid-Life - resources, stability
Retirement - wisdom, experience
Senior - wonder, dependence

Anyway, the list above represents some early thoughts about the dominant challenges/benefits that come as we journey through the stages of our lives. There is much more that could obviously be said about this, but it makes me wonder what does this mean for our churches. Too often the practice in the church is to divide every life stage into homogeneous units. Classes and events are planned and designed to target specific age groups. It makes me wonder all that we are missing by avoiding the mixing of generations and folks from various life stages. We miss the the wisdom of a 70 year old reflecting on the wonder of a child. We miss the passion of a teen calling us to follow God’s heart for the lost and least of these; and the resources of one in mid-life catching the passionate/idealism and taking a risk to finance the new endeavor.

I pray that our churches would stop dividing up the Body of Christ into neat and convenient “ministries” or “departments.” I pray that we would “be one” as the Father and Son are one. I pray that our churches would reflect a unity, amidst diversity. Not just an appreciation for the Gifts of the Spirit; but also the unique and diverse challenges and benefits that accompany our stage of life. I pray that we would value and come to appreciate our need for one another. I pray for the day when our churches would reflect our God-given humanity; redeemed and reflecting the image of God - Our wonder-filled, passionate and industrious God. The God who does not change and the God who calls us to impossible tasks. The God who has everything we need and who is full of wisdom and full of power. May the Body of Christ that gathers in each of our churches become a place where all belong, all contribute and all learn from and sharpen one another. A place where a child can lead, a teen can point us to God’s heart, a 20 something can remind us of how it “should” or “can be,” an adult lends her experience to sharpen another, a 60 something share his life with a 20 something…

May it be.

Wow, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Mark Riddle tagged me for a “Thinking Blogger” award.  And it actually comes with a little doo-hickey!

 Mark is someone I met at the Youth Specialties National Youth Worker’s Convention and is an amazing thinker.  A ministry I work part-time for has definitely been a benefactor of his keen insight and consulting skills.  I can confidently recommend his services (The Riddle Group) if/when your youth ministry is in need of helpful guidance.

 So now I am supposed to “tag” five other blogs for this award,  so in no particular order here I go:

1. Rustin Smith - Rustin isn’t a youth worker, but he is doing some cool sounding stuff in a church plant in Kansas City.  His posts are a mixture of real-life, sermon-material and fresh approaches to age-old issues - Check it out!
2. Chris Folmsbee - Chris is the President of Sonlife Ministries and author of a fairly new book, A New Kind of Youth Ministry.  Chris is a person in youth ministry I enjoy learning from and I can’t recommend highly enough.
3. Justin Ross - Justin is a youth pastor for a Presbyterian Church in Oak Harbor, Washington - I have recently begun to enjoy his blog, a daily read.  It is a great glimpse at his life, his learnings and stuff he loves (even beer!)
4. Brian Eberly - Brian is a youth pastor for a church called The Grace Place in Oregon.  Another fairly recent discovery - Brian has found a clear voice in his blog.
5. Monty - Monty, was a youth pastor (for 15 years or so, I believe he mentioned to me), but now has responded to a call to be a pastor in paradise.  Monty is a Nazarene pastor in Hawaii (Kailua Kona to be precise).  Monty has a wonderful and engaging writing style (check out his postings from Holy Week of this year - they are priceless!) that brings me back to his blog, again and again.  He also is a fellow freak for the 77’s, Daniel Amos, and a bunch of other great music!

So, I hope the new honorees enjoy their sparkling new award - and keep the love going.  You are each now obligated to reference the source of your Thinking Blogger Award (that would be your’s truly) and tag five more worthy recipients!

I know that for too many folks picturing youthworkers as theologians is not an image that readily comes to mind. Despite that I am encouraged because I believe that more and more youthworkers ARE thinking theologically. This is a trend I want to celebrate and one I want to encourage. For far too long youthworkers would be approached by kids asking advice on the latest video game cheats and music reviews, not seeing their youthworker as a viable spiritual director. But, again their seem to be signs that in many churches and among a growing number of our constituency this is changing (the deepening discussions at YS Conventions, the latest publishing titles on Youth Ministry proper, and the dialogue I have with youth ministry colleagues are the anecdotal evidence I can cite). May the youthworker as theologian tribe, increase!

Those who work with youth in the local church must come to embrace and become experts in the practice of theology. One of my former professor’s, Dr. Kevin Vanhoozer, defined theology as, “Bringing God’s Word to bear on the world.” I really like that as a working definition for this discipline we call theology. It embraces the “two worlds” that a theologian must straddle - the world as revealed in and through the Living and written Word and the context we now find ourselves in. It is the work of a theologian to rightly understand both worlds and help the church live out a Word-embodied response in our setting. Will we do the difficult work of becoming experts of both biblical and historical theology, as well as, our culture? Will we become known as a person in our community of faith as a theologian? Will we faithfully and reliably bring God’s Word to bear on our community and world?

One such person who has been a model of “youthworker as theologian” is Kenda Creasy Dean. From where I look, I think she is one of the finest examples in the discipline of youth ministry of bringing God’s Word to bear on the world of students. As evidence of this one needs only to read her latest book, Practicing Passion: Youth and the Quest for a Passionate Church. In her treatment Kenda does an amazing job of providing a theological basis for engaging youth, as they are - as passionate people. I recommend this book highly if it is your desire to grow in your theological thinking as a youth worker. Kenda’s book sets the standard for what youth ministry can look like when it is treated as a theological discipline.

Take up, and read.

Over the past 8 or so years I have made regular use of a prayer book. It has probably been the one thing that has most influenced my spiritual life in a positive manner. I often still struggle with the discipline of prayer, but through the use of a prayer book I have seen my prayer life both deepen and broaden. A prayer book is really a liturgy (or worship outline) of written prayers and readings (primarily taken from the Book of Psalms) which are meant to be said (recited and prayed) at set times during the day (morning and evening most often). It is a practice that Christians adopted from Israel, so followers of the Living God have been following this ritual of prayer for millenia.

I discoverd this practice from an Episcopal Priest. When I mentioned, I was struggling with the prayer habits that I was taught in my evangelical traditions (talk to God, like a friend or use the ACTS outline as a guide to spontaneously speak with God) he recommended I try the Book of Common Prayer. I did and it led me on a study of this practice referred to as, “praying the hours,” “the liturgy of the hours,” and/or “fixed hour praying.” Maybe this is an area of struggle in your life - praying regularly, intelligently, sincerely, and fervantly. If so, I would encourage you to look into the simple practice of using a prayer book.

Scot McKnight has written a great introduction to this practice in his book Praying With The Church. I highly recommend it as an introduction to the “whys and hows” of using a prayer book.

Two of my favorite prayer books for practicing liturgical prayer are:

Phyllis Tickle’s, The Divine Hours

(This is a three volume series to cover the entire year for morning, evening and night-time prayers. It is extremely well-organized and written from a protestant perspective. I can’t recommend this highly enough as a resource for those who want to go full-immersion into this practice.)

Northumbria’s Celtic Daily Prayer

(This is a one volume manual for prayer that includes a liturgy for morning, mid-day, evening, and night-time prayer as well as daily readings. It has a wonderful language and feel - some of my favorite prayers and readings can be found scattered through this beautiful manual of prayer.)

Finally if using a prayer book is an entirely new idea that you have never tried… I can’t do any better than pass on the advice I recieved. Don’t try anything I suggested follow the advice an Episcopal Priest shared with me, “Have you ever tried the Book of Common Prayer, that might be a real help to you.”

Just a little tour guide stuff - I am starting to add books that I have found helpful in the areas of Youth Ministry, Spirituality and the Christian Life - you can access it on the right menu guide. You will be able to see not only what I have, am or planning to read - but also if you look at the whole library you can access my rating and review of the book (you will also see more books than are listed on the menu to the right).

Hope it serves as a guide in helping you make reading decisions. I am choosing the books that I have found the most helpful. I will be adding quite a few more books in the next couple days and weeks.

Enjoy.