Top diagnostic indicators of a ministry moving into “slow deterioration” mode:

1. Denial. The capacity of emperors to think they are making fashion statements is staggering. Gary Hamel has a wonderful line: success tends to be self correcting. The very process of being effective also tends to bring complacency, and when effectiveness goes down, we tend not to see it. (As Gary puts it: every successful organization is successful until it’s not. Companies pay him lots of money for these kind of observations.) If evangelistic fervor cools, or prayer decreases, or community lessens, or volunteerism fades, those of us at the center are sometimes the last to know.
2. Loss of motivation. People do not lose motivation simply through age, or challenge, or even repetition. They lose motivation when they lose a sense that they are able to grow. People rarely plan vacations to spend two weeks sitting on the beach at the Dead Sea.
3. Fewer people signing up to lead. My nephew is going through training to join the California Highway Patrol. Because he is based nearby, he sometimes spends weekends with us. The ordeal that CHiPs officers-to-be put up with is remarkable. Many of them do not make it through training. Those that do pay an enormous price of commitment. The very price he’s paying is part of what makes him value the badge. I can’t help but contrast this with leading in the church. Seminaries—and churches—will all-too-often take in any warm body that’s available. It is not higher salaries and longer sabbaticals that will draw people into serving the church—it’s a sense of urgent calling that demands a sacrifice and promises the opportunity to make a difference.
4. Phoning it in. Funny how this one gets sensed by everyone around a person before it gets sensed by the phon-ee himself. Sermons get perfunctory; teams lose morale, planning gets second-rate effort, accountability for results diminishes; and there is a general collusion to not name the dynamic.
5. Cynicism. When other ministries are being effective, instead of producing joy, it creates a sense of envy or a feeling of being threatened. Rather than seeking to learn from it, stagnant people will find some pretext for judging or dismissing it.
6. Spending more time looking in the rearview mirror than out the windshield. More stories get told about how things once were than about what may yet be. Who wants to be watching the road when all that’s left is a dead end?

–John Ortberg, “Decline Is Never the Only Option.”

According to Klaus Haacker’s The Theology of Paul’s Letter to the Romans, the theology at the opening of Romans consists of in a nutshell: 1) Davidic christology, which is a crucial link between Holy Scriptures and the gospel, 2) a healing or saving performance of the gospel due to the outcome of God’s being ‘right’ in his actions, and 3) the right way of life being the way of faith.

The major concerns of Romans are: 1) proclamation of peace with God and on earth, 2) righteousness redefined, translated into a code of ethics for the church, 3) suffering and hope, and 4) mystery of Israel.

For a long time I have been convinced that I could take a person with a high school education, give him or her a six-month trade school training, and provide a pastor who would be satisfactory to any any discriminating American congregation. The curriculum would consist of four courses:

Course I: Creative Plagiarism. I would put you in touch with a wide range of excellent and inspirational talks, show you how to alter them just enough to obscure their origins, and get you a reputation for wit and wisdom.

Course II: Voice Control for Prayer and Counseling. We would develop your distinct style of Holy Joe intonation, acquiring the skill in resonance and modulation an unmistakable aura of sanctity.

Course III: Efficient Office Management. There is nothing that parishioners admire more in their pastors than the capacity to run a tight ship administratively. If we return al telephone calls within twenty-four hours, answer all letters within a week, distributing enough carbons to key people so that they know we are on top of things, and have just the right amount of clutter on our desks — not too much or we appear ineffient, not too little or we appear underemployed — we quickly get the reputation for efficiency that is far more important than anything that we actually do.

Course IV: Image Projection. Here we would master the half-dozen well-known and easily implemented devices that create the impression that we are terrifically busy and widely sought after for counsel by influential people in the community. A one-week refresher course each year would introduce new phrases that would convince our parishioners that we are bold innovators on the cutting edge of the megatrends and at the same time solidly rooted in all the traditional values of our sainted ancestors.

–Eugene Peterson, Working the Angles: the Shape of Pastoral Integrity, 7, quoted by Matt Chandler at SBTS Chapel, November 12, 2009.

Christ and Caesar: The Gospel and the Roman Empire in the Writings of Paul and Luke. By Seyoon Kim. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008. 228 pages. Paperback, $24.

Give back to Caesar the things that are of Caesar, and to God the things that are of God. These were the weighty words, which divided Christ’s kingdom from that of Rome, which at the time was under Tiberius’ rule. In recent years, there has been a surge of scholarly interests regarding the tension between the imperial rule and the kingdom established under the reign of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. With Christ and Caesar, Seyoon Kim, professor New Testament at Fuller Seminary, provides an analysis and assessment of recent trends that juxtaposes Christ and the Roman Empire in the canonical writings of Paul and Luke.

The book is divided into two main sections—one for Paul and another for Luke. Rightly framing both of these sections is Paul’s clash with Caesar in Acts 17:6-7, where Paul and his companion Silas are accused of “acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” The tension is thus assumed to exist. Kim gives an account of the developments of research. As early as 1971, E. Judge described Paul’s possible subversion of Roman edicts, by proclaiming a future parousia, which hailed Jesus as ruler. Since the eighties, scholars concluded by examining the Thessalonian letters that the inhabitants of the city had deep commitments to the imperial cult, especially toward honoring the Roman benefactors (Donnfried, et. al.). Currently, scholars are pointing to a parallelism of cultic ideology: for instance, the parousia of Christ in 1 Thess 4:17, resembles a majestic ceremony, strikingly similar to descriptions of imperial visits, suggesting that the coming of Christ will conquer the earthly realm as well as Rome. There are also implicit counter-imperial tendencies in Thessalonians with the offering of a different eschatology (Harrison), or with a criticism of Roman aristocracy (A. Smith). Wright identifies Phil 3:20-21 to contain a proclamation that Jesus is Lord, and Caesar is not. Kim notes these developments in historical studies.

Kim’s response to many of these efforts is summed up with “parrallelomania,” an expression originally coined by S. Sandmel. While the historical studies attempt to find parallels and connections with the data in NT writings, Kim suggests that recent studies have been overreaching with its conclusions. In addition, Kim also notices faulty reasoning: deductions from assumptions, proof-texting, and uses of so-called anti-imperial codes in Paul’s messages. Kim concludes that an anti-imperial interpretation is difficult, because 1) there is no reference or critique of the Roman Empire, and 2) Romans 13:1-7 is an appeal to Christians to be subject to Roman rule. Paul complies with the Roman authorities and makes appropriate defenses of his conduct. His preaching of the gospel simply awaits the coming of Christ.

As for Luke-Acts, Jesus’ ministry is defined in terms of his work of redemption toward his people, which includes, among others: no overthrowing of the Roman Empire, no literal restoration of the kingdom of David, and the exclusive saving of a redefined Israel, the eschatological people of God. The focus of Luke-Acts is not a political resurgence of divine power on earth, but a deliverance from the kingdom of Satan. While the gospel details Jesus’ life and ministry, Acts consists of a history of the church in the “continuous work of salvation in the power of his Spirit and through his apostolic church” (Acts 1:1-2). Towards the end of this section, Kim underscores the lack of any real tension between Christ and Rome with his emphasis on the pax Romana, which Kim sees to be playing a key role for an overall conducive setting for apostolic missions.

Jesus’ famous words teaching the disciples about paying taxes are not intended to wage war, or displace the political regime. Christ does not compete with Rome, but distinguishes himself from it. The importance of kyrios in connection to divinity plays a crucial role in the identification of Christ and Caesar. Kim has provided a good starting point to engage the realm of ancient religions. However, the book may be lacking only in that it is limited to only Christ and Caesar; it misses the aspect of the plurality of ancient religions in the Roman Empire. Christianity did not compete with only Rome, but more so, with the local patron deities, mystery cults, and Jewish synagogues. Since all of these religions coexist in the Roman peace, some additional thought and interaction with these religions may help Kim’s cause in defining the historical place of the gospel within its cultural context.

As I get ready to start my dissertation, I am finding Joan Bolker’s Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day both very insightful and comforting. The humor keeps the life of a writer more bearable. I came across these strategies for completing the first draft:

• Sit down with all your writing, hold your nose, and read through everything you’ve written several times, looking for different things: 1) materials that stand out, and 2) dominant themes.
• Read for interesting or annoying questions that occur to you as you go through what you’ve written.
• Read for organizational markers.
• Read in order to organize, marking themes with codes, numbers, letters, or colors.
• Read to extract a provisional outline.
• Read through and put a check in the margin to anything that’s interesting, or seems like it might have potential, or even seems terribly wrong.
• If you find recognizable paragraph in the mess, try summarizing each of them in a single sentence.

From BBC:

Human rights groups in South Korea say North Korea has stepped up executions of Christians, some of them in public.

The communist country, the world’s most closed society, views religion as a major threat.

Only the founder of the country, Kim Il-sung, and his son, Kim Jong-il, may be worshipped, in mass public displays of fervour.

Despite the persecutions, it is thought up to 30,000 North Koreans may practise Christianity secretly in their homes. [...]

HT: Z

Fighting for Your Marriage. By Howard J. Markman, Scott M. Stanley, and Susan L. Blumberg. Revised ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001. Paperback. 374 pages. $16.95.

I probably wouldn’t have read this book if it weren’t for the premarital counseling that I’m currently undergoing as the date of my wedding approaches. Not that I have any real objections to marriage and relationship books; I just haven’t made it a priority to read them. A bit disappointed with Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, my first and only–that is, until now, I was left with the impression that books on relationships cannot get away from presenting caricatures of men and women. I’m glad now that I didn’t stop there.

Fighting for Your Marriage has the feel of being more of a strategy guide for effective communication than a how-to formula for a cookie-cutter successful marriage. I didn’t get the sense that I have to follow everything in the book to make marriage work. Instead, it reminded me of the different perspectives in relationships without making heavy generalizations of male and female roles. Understanding how these different perspectives result becomes key in honing the right communication skills for a stronger marriage.

The book begins with the four hallmarks of a great relationship: 1) be safe at home, 2) open the doors to intimacy, 3) do your part and be responsible, and 4) nurture security in your future together. Though these sound like four tasks that need to be done, the book builds on these four hallmarks conceptually to present four important aspects to marriage life.

Part one: “Understanding the Risks on the Road to Lasting Love.” One chapter covers ways couples destroy their relationship: 1) escalation, 2) invalidation, 3) negative interpretations, and 4) withdrawal and avoidance. Then, special attention is placed on how changing times means changing roles and rules.

Part two: “Teaming Up to Handle Conflict.” The “be safe at home” concept is especially vital in understanding communication in this section—the aphorism here is in taking turns to speak/listen. Relationships blow up because of a misunderstanding that escalates out of control, often due to filters that often distort what one is trying to convey to another—1) distractions, 2) emotional states, 3) beliefs and expectations, 4) differences in style, and 5) self-protection.

Part three: “Enjoying Each Other.” Make time for marriage as one does for an esteemed friend. The authors do not shy away from identifying the friendship aspect of marriage as being the core of long-lasting, happy marriages. Friendship needs to be nurtured, so couples need to make the time. Working on the friendship is a worthwhile investment that pays off in the long run. Of course, sensuality is given plenty of notice here as well.

Part four: “Staying the Course.” This section begins with a simple reality check: you can’t always get what you want. But that should not excuse any of the spouses from trying to meet the expectations of another. A great deal of motivation needs cultivating to get the wheels rolling. More than anything else in the section, I found the chapter on forgiveness very revealing with this point: “forgiveness is a decision to give up your perceived or actual right to get even with, or hold in debt, someone who has wronged you.”

Overall, this book has many merits, mainly because it keeps the channel of communication open for a healthy marriage by offering perspectives that make yielding hopefully more possible and manageable.

Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church, and the Bible. By M. Daniel Carroll R. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2008. Paperback. 174 pages. $16.99.

In Christians at the Border, Daniel Carroll addresses a growing concern amongst lawmakers and citizens in the U.S. America is undergoing massive demographical changes with the influx of immigrants from Mexico. The Hispanic population is ever increasing all across the country, while the Latin American culture is growing more ubiquitous with its food, music, and media. But America as a whole has not been warm towards the growing Spanish-speaking population. The purpose of Carroll’s book is to begin informing Christians with the issues surrounding immigration.

Carroll is an Old Testament professor at Denver Seminary, born in Guatemala and educated in the United States. His bird-eye view of the two cultures—American and Latin-American, is helpful in presenting a fair view of the cultural dispositions on both sides: in his introduction, he explains why he prefers undocumented immigrants over illegal aliens with the reason being that the former is “a more just label and better represents the present reality” (22). His awareness allows him to avoid bias where possible, and defend views where necessary.

The first chapter, poignantly titled “Hispanic Immigration: Invasion or Opportunity?” gives the bulk of the content on immigration in the U.S. with its history and impact. Historically, various people groups have come to the States: the Chinese, Irish and Southern Europeans, and Africans. Carroll briefly looks at the impact and the sobering realities of displacement.

Previous immigration focused on assimilation, a convergence toward a kind of “Americanism.” Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations, explains how the Hispanic immigration differs from the previous flow of immigrants: 1) immigration from Latin America is not an ocean’s way, 2) the number of immigrants exceeds any previous people group, and 3) the enclave of immigrants, called barrios, slows the assimilation process. Huntington reports that the lack of assimilation leads to “declining levels of English language acquisition, less educational achievement, and poorer socioeconomic success” (41).

The Hispanic communities go through an identity crisis themselves—what to do with their beloved Latin American heritage. To them, America means consumerism and individualism. Internal tensions rise as Latin Americans hold on to fond memories of their distant, native land.

Common objections to the immigration are that: 1) they add financial burdens on the local school systems, 2) many are criminals, 3) they drive down the income of American citizens, 4) health care is affected, because hospitals cannot legally turn away patients, and 5) the billions of dollars sent back to Latin American countries are a net loss to the U.S. economy.

Policy makers have proposed various internal and external measures for controlling the flow of immigrants (e.g. internal would mean pressure on employers not to hire undocumented immigrants, and external would focus on controlling the borders or even the flow of money outside the U.S.) Another option has focused on allowing better educated and highly educated foreigners into the country. These range of options and the issues they each target represent only the tip of the iceberg when addressing the complexities of Hispanic immigration.

The purpose of Carroll’s book is not to merely describe the multifaceted problems of immigration; Carroll also offers a starting point for Christians to look at different sides in light of a biblical worldview. The OT is contains a plethora of theological underpinning for the value of human life, as well as illustrations of movement and displacement of individuals and people groups. The Hebrew for identifying foreigners in the OT are varied: nokrî and zār (foreign people of other faith), tôšab (hireling or sojourner), and gēr (resident alien).

The NT offers reminders of Jesus as one who sought refuge himself. He also later associated with the social outcasts. Carroll recalls the church’s new identity in Christ that looks forward to a world beyond the earthly; the believers, now strangers on earth, no longer belong to this world. Christians are also called to be hospitable.

Anyone hoping to find the final word on Hispanic immigration will be left frustrated and wanting. The author’s intent in writing this short work is not to offer an extensive discussion of the topic. Carroll makes this very clear in his introduction as well as his conclusion. The intent, instead, is to get Christians to consider a brief history of immigration, an understanding of economic implications as well as those of faith convictions.

For what the work sets out to do, it achieves a great deal. Reading it, I gleaned much regarding the social and cultural dimensions of immigration. Christians at the Border begins to give a coherent biblical worldview as a starting point for a Christian response. Though some examples from the OT may not have complete analogical connection to the contemporaneous situation at hand, Carroll offers glimpses of the larger picture, for which Christians hope and affect others. This larger picture of the gospel message keeps our thoughts churning and reminds us that wisdom does indeed await us as we seek to understand and form thoughtful views on Hispanic immigration.

I have to say that not being on facebook has helped me to become more productive. Dan Kimball from CT has posted an intriguing article on the importance of doing missions rather than just talking about it over the net:

I suddenly faced a decision. Do I go home and read blogs about being missional, or do I go to the club and actually be missional? It sounds like an easy decision, but it wasn’t. In all honesty, part of me truly wanted to go to the comfort of home and just sit in front of my laptop.

That moment forced me to begin reflecting on how much time I spend on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and other online social networking sites. I wondered, If I spent less time online, could I be spending more time building friendships? Have I become so consumed with reading about mission that I’ve forgotten to actually engage it? As these questions arose, I started to get uncomfortable.

Don’t misunderstand me. I find blogs quite encouraging. I’ve learned a lot about missional living by reading insightful bloggers. I have even gotten reacquainted with non-Christian friends from years ago on Facebook. But in truth, the bulk of my Facebook time is spent conversing with Christian friends and other church leaders. And most of the missional discussion I read online does not include stories of people coming to faith, but theoretical definitions and debates about what being missional actually means. [...]

The Early Christians in Ephesus from Paul to Ignatius. By Paul Trebilco. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2007. 826 pages. Paperback, $85.00.

Paul Trebilco’s work represents a substantial endeavor in describing the ancient urban life of Ephesus in light of its early Christian believers. The purpose is two-fold: to first look at the life and activity of the early Christians, and second, argue that there was not a single body of believers in Ephesus, but a number of believing groups or communities. Trebilco’s erudition of ancient Ephesus is undeniable from the introduction, which explains how recent interests in Ephesus have sparked in the form of historical undertakings in cultural studies, sociological dimensions, cultic presence, and new archaeological findings. The scope of Treibilco’s research is not in any way a wholesale assimilation into any one of these historical approaches. The difference in Trebilco’s voluminous work is his careful examination of the biblical texts connected to Ephesus. Trebilco takes these canonical sources seriously enough to allow them to tell the history of ancient Ephesus.

The book is divided into four parts, but chapter one stands alone apart from the divisions of the book with an offering of the city’s brief history and significance as a religious center for the cult of Artemis and later, the Imperial cult. This first chapter is only a brief treatment of the vibrant spectrum of religious life in the city. The bulk of Trebilco’s book falls into the four parts, which assess the early Christians primarily from the canonical sources and a early letter from Ignatius.

The first part deals directly with the biblical sources, beginning with the Pauline correspondences, and comparing Paul’s descriptions of his stay in Ephesus with Luke’s account in Acts. Noticing the slight nuanced discrepancies, Trebilco here identifies Luke’s tendencies to underscore Paul’s success in Ephesus, glossing over much of the difficulties Paul faced and reiterating the positive effects of the gospel message throughout all of Asia.

Part two looks at what the Pastorals, Revelation, and Johannine letters say about the Christians in Ephesus. Because of the ongoing discussions on the authorship of these letters, Trebilco noticeably sidesteps the issues of authorship, by presenting the varying positions and evidences, while also attributing the specific positions with their respective scholars (e.g. Papias’ views as presented by Richard Bauckham). The primary objective however is his dealing with the content of these others letters with their situations and teaching to make connections with the Christians in Ephesus.

Part three is a rather novel approach that is born out of the narrative critical method. Trebilco looks at the readers of the Pastorals, Revelation, and Johannine letters. The readership includes issues with material possessions, authority, leadership, and women. Trebilco demonstrates how these issues find common grounds with those in Ephesus. Although Trebilco begins to speak of different groups in part two, part three is where he begins to argue for a plurality of readership, which suggests a plurality of communities.

Part four compiles the various aspects of Ephesian life and culture from Ignatius’ letter from Antioch. Some points, which Trebilco observes, include: the notable elevated stature of the Ephesian addressees, the Ephesian community’s strong ties with Paul, and the community’s spiritual maturity.

The extensive nature of Trebilco’s work encompasses numerous contributions in the field of study, incorporating not only the research on Ephesus, but also with research in other New Testament writings. With the large number of secondary sources used in completing this work, it is no surprise that Trebilco uses the sources sparsely in what may appear to be uncritically receiving the findings and conclusion. But in no way is Trebilco blindly accepting entire works; his selectivity is his primary mode of critique, and the controversial theories are generally left aside.

Moving beyond the categorical boundaries of expositions or commentaries, Trebilco’s work is a multifaceted description of the life and history of the early Christians in Ephesus—a remarkable achievement worthy of a serious look.