Midweek Meditation: "Fitness Sign #3 - Community Engagement"

We continue with Gary McIntosh and Phil Stevenson's book "Building the Body" which is about the 12 characteristics of a fit Church. Last week, we talked about EFFECTIVE EVANGELISM. This week, it is COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.

SIGNS OF FITNESS #3 - COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

"Community engagement forces the church to interact with a world unlike itself. The first-century church was in a very unwelcoming culture. Yet the church thrived. What the church today must not do is allow the culture to dumb down its message. And the church must still move into society. The church must infiltrate culture as yeast does dough. This is the kingdom of God. . . . (Lue 13:20-21). Through community engagement the church becomes like yeast. When the church embeds itself into the community in which it is located, transformation begins. When the church inserts itself in culture as Christ's representatives, things begin to change.

Churches must move into the culture in which they reside. The culture is exemplified by the community in which a church body finds itself. In the four spheres of evangelism mentioned earlier, this would be Judea. Judea is the geographical area stretching from a one-fourth to a five-mile radius around a church's meeting location. A fit church will engage the community in this geographic area.

Community engagement involves three basic approaches: attractional, missional, or connectional. These three approaches can be summed up in the following phrases: come and see (attractional); go and be (missional); go and bring (connectional). " (McIntosh and Stevenson, "Building the Body", Baker Books, 2018, p53-54)

Tips: A church that engages community would have:

• Defined where our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the world are;
• Regular meetings with community leaders to find out how we can be of help to them;
• Encourage church members to be involved in community activities like coaching youth sports, joining service clubs, being active in forums, etc;
• Studied the needs of the community;
• Their pastors serving a day a week outside the church;
• Engaged in service evangelism;
• Community recognizing our church for our contributions. 

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Midweek Meditation: "Fitness Sign #1-Outreach"

Starting this week and for the next 12 weeks, we will be looking at Gary McIntosh and Phil Stevenson's book "Building the Body" which is about the 12 characteristics of a fit Church. Each Wednesday, I will share one characteristic that we can use for ourselves personally and corporately. For this week, it is OUTREACH.

SIGNS OF FITNESS #1 - OUTREACH

"An outward focus is the beginning point for outreach. Churches that are inwardly focused neither sense their communities' needs nor are motivated to evangelize or engage their communities. Outward-focused churches, however, are aware of the culture in which their ministries take place. They recognize a need for fitness to effectively evangelize and engage with their communities.

Church leaders often believe their churches are outward-focused when they actually are not. Many church people perceive themselves to be kingdom-minded, concerned for reaching the lost, and connected to people in their communities. Gary remembers consulting with a church in the Midwest. The results of a church-wide survey revealed several areas of strengths and a few dominant weaknesses. One of the church's areas of strength was community outreach. Conversations in five focus groups revealed people believed their church was effective in reaching the community for Christ. Closer examination found otherwise. Five hundred dollars was budgeted for outreach but had not been spent in the past year. A full 99 per cent of the church's identifiable programming was directed to the present congregation. The only identifiable program listed for outreach was VBS. The church was not outward-focused at all. How could a church be so wrong in its assessment of its strengths?" (McIntosh and Stevenson, "Building the Body", Baker Books, 2018, p23-24)

Tips: A fit and outward-focused church would have:

• At least 20% of budget for outreach activities;
• Events held in locations other than our church property;
• Knowledge of what businesses are in our neighbourhood;
• Our members attend and participate in community events;
• Board meetings discuss how we can reach our communities;
• More discussion on fulfilling the Great Commission rather than maintaining our programs and buildings;
• New people from our community attending our worship services;

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BookPastor >> "Pursuing Health in an Anxious Age" (Bob Cutillo)

This review was first published at Panorama of a Book Saint on Nov 25th, 2016.

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TITLE: Pursuing Health in an Anxious Age (Gospel Coalition (Faith and Work))
AUTHOR: Bob Cutillo, MD
PUBLISHER: Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016, (208 pages)


What is health for? With more advanced medical technology and world-class healthcare, should we not be happier people? Not really. In fact, there are some disturbing trends that are happening in our era. There are many top quality tests but there is a lack of accuracy in diagnosis. There are many different branches of healthcare but they are more fragmented than ever. There are also that disturbing lopsided orientation toward cure rather than care. With the experience of hindsight and the genuine concern for holistic healthcare, author Bob Cutillo summarizes his concerns and gives insights on what good healthcare looks like as follows:

It must be scientifically competent and comes with well-informed choices

It needs a measurable and efficient system

It must include genuine care

There are lots of areas that health insurance often leaves out, which means we need to taper our expectations accordingly.

Politics play a big part in healthcare policies

Healthcare must involve not only the curative but also the preventative aspect

Healthcare also requires vulnerability and trust; and acceptance.

Midweek Meditation: "Alzheimer's Communication"

This is from an experienced nurse.

The Problem with Reading Screens Before Bedtime

Here is a warning. If you are regularly checking your emails and reading on digital screens before bedtime, remember that it is important for sleep. I enclose three links for your reading pleasure, hopefully not within 1 hour before bedtime.

Link 1 - "Reading On A Screen Before Bed Might Be Killing You" (Huffington Post)

Link 2 - "We’re All Doomed: Using Your Smartphone Before Bed Can Cause Cellphone ‘Hangover’" (Time)

Link 3 - "This is what happens to your brain and body when you check your phone before bed" (Business Insider)

BookPastor >> "#lightwebdarkweb"

TITLE: Lightweb Darkweb: Three Reasons To Reform Social Media Before It Re-Forms Us
AUTHOR: Raffi Cavoukian
PUBLISHER: Homeland Press, 2013, (192 pages).

As social media becomes mainstream media of communications and interactions, many are hyping up the merits and power of the new web media. From Facebook to Twitter, Google+ to apps on our smartphones, people communicate quickly and frequently, putting their whole lives on digital media at the expense of privacy and self revelation. In the recent case of the suicide of BC girl, Amanda Todd, bullying has taken on a cyber dimension. It takes a perceptive individual to start asking questions:

• How do these new phenomena affect people, especially children?
• Is it safe to share anything on social media, even with privacy filters?
• What are the pros and cons of a digital lifestyle?
• What can be done to guide children and young people on the Internet offerings and the seductions that come with them?
• Is "free" really free?
• What does it take to use digital media to help create a peaceful society, a sustainable earth, and a caring people?

These questions and many more are covered in this book cleverly titled, "Lightweb Darkweb."  Several months ago, Amanda Todd made headlines in Canada as a victim of cyberbullying. The author begins the book with a simple dedication to Amanda Todd. He then wastes no time to question the rising obsession with all things social media, and why people are so free to share everything about what they do, how they live, and what they are feeling at any time. As one who has lived through a "banana phone" and now embracing a smartphone, Cavoukian, a song writer, a ecology advocate, an entrepreneur, as well as a recipient of the prestigious Order of Canada asserts three reasons for reforming the current social media climate before it is too late.

First off is Safety. The unpublished letter to Facebook from the author and others, touches on the problem of the high cost of the free use of Facebook.

"Known security gaps in a proliferating host of mobile applications have converted mainstream social media sites into highly effective devices for predators and abusive bullies. And in what can only be described as the cruelest irony, Youtube now sells advertising on Amanda's desperate video cry for help, while in a well-documented trend, her Facebook memorial page was desecrated. Facebook has become a brand feared by parents, when it should be one they can trust. We appeal to you . . . . to lead industry-wide adoption of systemic security to block predators and abusers from accessing kids on major social media platforms, starting with Facebook itself." (15)

Amid the conveniences and efficiencies of social media, the problems are many. What about unintended audiences accessing our private information? What about unsupervised use by minors? What about the peer pressure that arises out of using or not using Facebook? For these, Ann Cavoukian sets forth seven foundational principles which deserve our reflection.

1. Proactive not reactive; Preventative nor remedial;
2. Privacy as the default;
3. Privacy embedded in the design;
4. Full functionality: Positive-Sum, not Zero sum;
5. End to End Lifecycle Protection;
6. Visibility and Transparency
7. Respect for User Privacy.

Safety concerns also applies to cell phone usage, physical health as well as long term behavioural effects.

The second reason to start doing something about social media is Intelligence. When it comes to learning, we need to understand the difference between "healthy individuation" vs "unhealthy enculturation." Cavoukian borrows from many researchers critical of the way social media is changing the new generation. Sherry Turkle warns against the inability to experience solitude in an always ONLINE lifestyle. Nicholas Carr criticizes the deteriorating ability of people in "deep reading and comprehension" as they delegate learning to machines. Dr Dimitri Christakis highlights the negative aspects of prolonged stimulation of brains. Neil Postman gently reminds us that there is a cost in everything. The Internet gives us something, it also takes away something. Do we know what we gain and what we lose when we use the Internet? Other observations include:

• widespread lack of critical thinking and motivation to learn among University students;
• statistics showing more and more people wishing Facebook had not existed;
• compulsive sharing of private information online;
• recording and sharing everything;
• loose language on social media that cannot be easily censored;
• social media selling private information for profit;

The third reason is sustainability. It has to do with the conservation and wise use of earth's resources and social responsibility. For every iPhone or smartphone gadget, we need to remember the high cost of cheap goods. What about cheap labour by people living in the harshest and inhumane conditions to produce our modern technological toys? Are manufacturing facilities hurting the environment? Are there ways to stay green even as we advance our technologies? What about recycling programs and the reuse of electronic goods?

Thankfully, after expounding on the dark side of the Internet and technologies, Cavoukian gives some helpful tips on the light side. Here is a short list that I find helpful.

1. Safety
1. Data protection of information of minors
2. Default setting of privacy information to be closed rather than opened
3. Limiting; Unplugging on a regular basis; 
2. Intelligence
1. Using online media to promote offline activities
2. Coordinated learning with school groups or community teams
3. Learn the pros and cons of new media on a regular basis.
3. Sustainability
1. Ask questions about the devices we use
2. Support your local organization that fights for free and fair labour and sustainability projects
3. Vote with our bucks

I concur with Cavoukian that we need to reform social media before it reforms us.

conrade

Kregel Blog Tour: "Praying with the Grain"

This review is part of a blog tour with Kregel Publications for the week May 21-25, 2012. Published simultaneously on my book blog, "Panorama of a Book Saint."


conrade

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TITLE: Praying with the Grain: How Your Personality Affects the Way You Pray
AUTHOR: Pablo Martinez
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2012, (176 pages).

Why is prayer so easy for some people, and difficult for others? Why are some people uncomfortable about praying in public? How do I learn to pray with pleasure rather than pressurize ourselves to pray? Is there a way to pray in a way that befits how we are created, like our personality types? What about prayer as a psychological projection? Are Christians imagining a divine person in their prayers? These questions and many more are tackled in this very insightful book about personality types, psychology, psychotherapy, Christianity, temperaments and how prayer can be therapeutic and also spiritual.

In this book, Pablo Martinez describes the psychology and the apologetics of prayer. In Part One, "The Psychology of Prayer," Martinez highlights three factors that directly affect our praying, namely; our temperament, our personality, and our circumstances. All of these are not separate entities but play varying roles according to the interactions of our mental, emotional, and spiritual being. For temperament, Martinez uses Carl Jung's classification of two general attitudes (introvert, extrovert) and four psychological types (thinking, sensation, feeling, intuitive). For instance, introverts tend to prefer praying in private while extroverts are comfortable in public prayer gatherings. Introverts prefer meditation while extroverts work better through activities. The author is careful to point out that such classifications are simply tendencies rather than totalities.

Psychological Profiling

Jungian Four Personalities

On the psychological profile, Martinez believes that while everyone exhibits a little of thinking, of sensing, of feeling, and of intuition, only one trait is dominant. The problem occurs when there is an imbalance of all four to the point that this dominant trait grows at the expense of the rest. The healthy condition is for the dominant trait to be strengthened and not undermine the rest. For example, while we can cultivate our strengths, it is good to be aware of our weaknesses. We can train ourselves in such a way to train ourselves accordingly, knowing our psychological tendencies. This helps immensely when it comes to relationships. With this understanding, thinking types tend to be more objective over the subjective. The Apostle Paul and Martin Luther are thinking types.

At the other end of thinking, there is the Feeling types that use emotions more expressively than the thinking types. Feelers are more sympthetic to social causes and reactive to injustice they see. For them, they step forward with heart first. The biblical character, Jeremiah is an example of Feeling personality.

Then there is the Intuitive type that sees the possibilities, contemplate better, and more apt toward the presence of God in prayer. Mystics like Theresa of Avila, St John of the Cross, are known as intuitives. The missionary David Livingstone is also another example. Intuitives shun methodical praying, preferring freedom in approaching God.

On the other end of the vertical spectrum is the sensation which responds more readily to external senses. For them, perception is key in their seeing, their hearing, their touching. While they can enter into prayer quite readily, they are also susceptible to the ups and downs of everyday living.

The three recommendations that Martinez gives are the need to accept ourselves as we are, accepting one another, and to strike a "temperamental balance."

The rest of Part One deals with how the various temperaments and personality types interact with regards to overcoming difficulties and therapeutic element of prayer.

Apologetics of Prayer

Part Two addresses two basic questions. The first is about psychology and prayer. The second covers the comparison between Christian prayer and Eastern meditation. In it, Martinez engages a challenging aspect of psychological versus prayer, painstakingly distinguishing one from the other, clarifying the purposes of each and how they can complement, not supplant each other. There is a powerful explanation that prayer is not another form of "self-suggestion" because of three factors. First, unlike self-suggestion, the purpose of prayer is not evasive from reality, but seeking a known God. Second, the object of prayer is not a hysterical or "uncritical compliance" designed to please man but a journey toward God in peace, order and balance, zeal and fire.Third, the duration of prayer outruns that of self-suggestion. Prayer is also not behaviorism which is essentially us growing out or away from something, but growing in love more toward God. Martinez finishes his book with a brief comparison of Christian prayer and Eastern Meditation in terms of differences in purpose, means, and how it leads to valuing the person concerned.

My Thoughts

This book is rich. It dives in deep into explaining the psychological and temperamental traits of a person without becoming lost in the psychotherapy world. In fact, the author makes it a point to constantly check back on Christian principles and biblical perspective of it all. Even the analyses of each personality profile are measured carefully. It is clear that the author does not want to paint a picture of a one-size-fits-all scenario for all readers. Instead, the author invites us to consider the different personality types, understand the nuances, and the importance of depending on the Holy Spirit to show us ourselves. He deals with some of the most difficult questions asked.

1. Is pain a spiritual or psychological problem?
2. How do we make sense of feelings in prayer and intercession?
3. Is it ok to ask for things for ourselves?
4. How do we know God's will?
5. What to do with bad thoughts in our praying?
6. How do we avoid over-analyzing things when we pray?

What Martinez is trying to drive at throughout the book is that prayer is not only necessary but a vital return back to the first relationship we have with God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Everyone of us can pray, albeit differently. The book is more descriptive rather than prescriptive. What is missing are some basic questionnaires that can help readers at least to get some snapshot of their own tendencies. For after reading and appreciating the different prayer personality types, I am still not sure where I am. Moreover, while Martinez affirms the unity of the mental, the body, and the spirit, his wholesale adoption of Jungian concepts makes it challenging for the reader in knowing how to integrate them intuitively. It gives me a feeling of the book being easy to understand but difficult to apply.

What is more helpful in the book is the way Martinez answer the various questions regarding overcoming difficulties in prayer, prayer and psychology, eastern meditation and Christian prayer, and the various apologetics. If that is your area of interest, this book is a must read.

Rating: 4 stars of 5.

conrade

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This book is provided to me free by Kregel Publications without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

Book Review: "The Mysterious Epigenome"

TITLE: The Mysterious Epigenome: What Lies Beyond DNA
AUTHORS: Thomas E. Woodward and James P. Gills
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2012, (160 pages).

Here is my review that I have posted at Amazon entitled "Every genome points to an Intelligent Designer." A fuller review is available in my book blog here.



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If the human genome is the tip of the iceberg, the epigenome is the rest of the iceberg. This sets the tone for the entire book that argues for the case of an Intelligent Design, created by an Intelligent Designer. Science alone cannot answer all the questions of life. This book is an opportunity for readers to see that science, health, spirituality need to work together to paint a fuller picture of the human genome, genetics, and the purpose of it all.

We can try to dichotomize life into various compartments. Yet, it is not possible to separate life into spiritual and non-spiritual categories. Everything in life is spiritual. It is like how possible is it to separate our work from our feelings? We are not robots. Every act, every thought, every plan, stems from an intentionality that begins somewhere. Whether we are writing a book, planning a project, or studying for a course, there is a certain intention. The authors ask four basic questions of life that involve the interface of all aspects of life, be it science, health, or spirituality.

• What is life's purpose? 
• What is the point of the universe? 
• Why is there something rather than nothing? 
• Why is humankind brilliantly equipped to pursue such questions - to analyze the conundrum of creation? 

These are questions that can only be addressed when we consider spirituality. Science can explain the 'whats' and to some extent the 'hows.' Spirituality extends the quest to include the 'whys.' I agree a lot with the authors with regards to Intelligent Design. Unfortunately, I feel that the authors could have engaged alternative views more openly, instead of an outright dismissal. What is more helpful is to present an unbiased view and then to offer their interpretations, instead of interpreting for the readers right from the start.

That said, I highly recommend this book for its ability to weave spiritual insights into scientific research. I like the convictions of the authors. I like the clear storylike explanations of the various concepts and terms. I like the integration of scientific research and the constant asking of what does it mean for us in practice throughout the book. This book is clearly a book arguing for the existence of God. It is another piece of evidence that the atheistic position is less and less tenable. It requires more faith on the part of the atheist to believe that such intelligent design and workings of the genome 'simply happened.' For me, there has to be a God behind such intricacies. If you are not convinced about a Creator God behind such Intelligent Design, at least, this book helps keep a posture of being open about it.

Rating: 4.75 stars of 5.

conrade

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I am grateful to Kregel Publications for supplying me a free copy of the book, without any obligations for a positive review. The opinions offered above are freely given without expectation of any financial compensation.