Faith For Exiles by David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock

Faith For Exiles by David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2019)

Sometimes I look at my life and it seems like I should still be my younger self. Have you ever felt that way? A few days ago, it hit me that the 1980s — a time in my life where I moved from childhood into my teenage years — began four decades ago. Four decades! Where has the time gone?

And when I look at all that has changed in that time, one of the biggest things I notice is the generational differences that stand out. I am right in the middle of the Gen X generation. My kids are in what many call Gen Z. In between the two are the Millennials. And frankly, there are some pretty big differences between all three of those groups, and even more when you add in the Boomer generation that was before me.

Now throw all of that mix into the church. How do you accomplish the mission we were called to when so many different groups of people see life so differently? That’s the focus of Faith For Exiles, by David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock. This book takes a look at how we can continue to help people follow Jesus from generation to generation.

The premise of the book is pretty simple: In my generation, and even more so in the generation of my parents, church was a pretty significant force in most parts of our culture. But that has changed. More and more, these younger generations seem to be more aptly described as exiles.

The concept of exile is a common theme throughout the Bible. The nation of Israel found themselves in exile in Egypt, and then later in Assyria and in Babylon. They had to learn to live in a foreign land, learn to maintain their faith in a foreign culture, and learn how to manage to pass that on to the next generations, who were more deeply rooted in foreign thinking. As Christians, Peter calls us exiles as well.

Today could be compared to a digital Babylon, and Millennials and Gen Z’ers live right in the middle of it. To continue to do church like we’ve always done it is increasingly ineffective, and unless we find new ways to engage discipleship in younger generations, we may see many of those people walking away from Jesus.

So how do we help the church adjust to such new thinking… exile thinking? How do we help new generations of believers grasp a hold of Jesus and follow him? How do we help these newer generations thrive in their faith and discipleship?

Based on more than fifteen years of research by the Barna Group, Faith For Exiles is revealing and timely. We would do well to pay attention to what is ahead for the church, and watch how Jesus continues to sustain and grow his church, even though it my be completely different from anything we’ve ever experienced.

Faith For Exiles may be the most important book you read this year. But don’t just read it, look for ways to engage with it, and with people of a generation different than yours, and watch how you grow together as disciples. Pick up a copy on Amazon and read it. You’ll be challenged, to be sure. But you’ll be encouraged too.

Prayer in the time of trouble brings comfort, help, hope, and blessings, which, while not removing the trouble, enable the saint to better bear it and to submit to the will of God. Prayer opens the eyes to see God’s hand in trouble. Prayer does not interpret God’s providences, but it does justify them and recognize God in them. Prayer enables us to see wise ends in trouble. Prayer in trouble drives us away from unbelief, saves us from doubt, and delivers from all vain and foolish questionings because of our painful experiences.

E. M. Bounds, The Essentials Of Prayer
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Reestablishing Routine

Intentionally Choosing To Eliminate

For the past year or two, it seems my routines have been out of whack, and it’s been more than a little frustrating. So what do you do when that happens? Eliminate those things that distract!

Eliminate

I am a creature of routine. I much prefer when things go the same way, every day, without change. Change messes with me more than I’d like to admit, and as I get older, I find myself more and more routine oriented… and more and more frustrated because of it.

Routines are good. They can be very beneficial. They can help you make the most of your time, utilizing your days for the most effective impact on your life, on the lives around you, on your community, and the list could go on.

But if there is one thing that is certain, it is that things change. Routine can only work up to a certain point, because the fact that things will change and shift is inevitable. Finding a balance between the two can be tough to do.

I have been in a season of life recently that has messed up my routine. This has impacted various areas of my life, including my desire to write more, to read more, and to study more. And honestly, I’m hard pressed to identify where the time is going that I used to invest in these areas.

Eclipse Of Heaven by A. J. Conyers (South Bend, IN: St. Augustine Press, 1992)

Every now and then I run across a book that has a tremendous impact on my life. Many of the books make an impact, but there is the occasional book that just really hits hard. Eclipse of Heaven by A. J. Conyers is one of those books.

I originally heard about this book through a podcast I listen to regularly, the Every Thought Podcast, from a few of the professors at Ozark Christian College. I was intrigued, so I added the book to my Amazon wish list for reading material and didn’t think too much more about it. But episode after episode of the podcast continued to refer to this book, so I purchased it and started in on it.

This is one of those books that not only makes an impact now, but the implications will last for a long time to come. In this short book, Conyers, who was a professor of theology at Baylor University, address the loss of transcendence that our culture has experienced. And that loss has impacted us in far deeper ways than we might realize.

Written in the early 1990s, this book feels incredibly relevant for the second and third decade of the 21st century. We’ve lost our sense of the divine, our sense of heaven… transcendence. Because of that, our views of the value of life and the meaning of death have shifted. We’ve taken on a much more shallow view of both. Because we no longer live with heaven in mind, our culture has dipped further into moral decay.

This is evident in the way we view community, in the way science has taken the lead in our understanding of the nature of all things, and in the way that religion has faded to the level of a discarded crutch that we once needed. (Although we’re still very much “religious.” Our religion has just shifted from being about God to being about us.)

Our way of thinking has shifted, maybe more deeply than anyone has realized, and we are going to have to regain our focus on what’s beyond this mortal existence, or we run the risk of losing more and more of our humanity. It’s time to refocus our sights upon eternity, and reclaim the hope that we can have because of what God has done on our behalf.

I highly recommend that you read Eclipse of Heaven. But be warned; it will challenge they way you look at life and the way you react to everything around you. If you’re willing to see how this cultural shift has impacted us, and to strive to reclaim the hope that we need, get this book and read it carefully. You can find it on Amazon.

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Looking West To Wilderness

The Need For A Spiritual Retreat

Colorado is probably my favorite place on this planet; and to be more specific, a small retreat center in the mountains west of Colorado Springs is my favorite place on this planet. And I go there every year.

Wilderness at Bear Trap Ranch

Recently, I have been writing about my thoughts and ideas concerning all the stuff in my life, and all the stuff going on in my life. I have come to realize that it is time for some simplification, some reorganization, and some reprioritizing of much of my life. That’s not always easy to do, simply because the regular pressures of the day to day grind can prevent us from taking the time to really evaluate where we are and compare that with where we want to be.

I have found that a spiritual retreat can be a very helpful tool to help accomplish this. This is something I have implemented into my life on a regular basis for several years, and have seen some very amazing results in my life. I do this at two different levels: Annually, I take a week and head to Colorado with several other people in ministry. It’s a time of refreshing and renewal. More on that in a moment.

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Keep An Eye On Your Giving

A Look At Matthew 6:1-4

Matthew six is the second part of Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount. In this section, Jesus tells his listeners to watch certain areas of their lives: their giving, their praying, and their fasting.

Keep An Eye On Your Giving - A Look At Matthew 6:1-4

Jesus begins this section of Matthew 6 with the phrase, “Take care,” which carries the force of, “Beware.” That immediately tells us that this is an area of our lives that we need to keep a close watch on so that we do not go astray. And, as with the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus doesn’t just deal with our actions, he deals with the motives and attitudes behind them. He gets to the root, and in the case of our giving, if the root motive isn’t right, it won’t be long before we are off course.

The next thing that is interesting is the connection between giving and righteousness. The Pharisees had several outward expressions of their righteousness, and Jesus address three of them in this chapter: the giving of charitable alms, prayer and fasting. But when they are performing the acts of righteousness for show, so that others can see how pious they are, their root motives are wrong.

But don’t misunderstand what Jesus is saying here. He is not saying that others should not see any of our righteousness, or that we must keep it hidden, he’s condemning those whose motives is to be seen by others. The fruit of our life must be displayed, so that others can see Christ in our actions, but our motive must be pleasing to God first and foremost.