Turn your life around

 Dr. Tim Clinton was one of my doctoral professors at Liberty Theological Seminary. He is a professor of counseling and pastoral care and the president of the American Association of Christian Counselors. The class I took under him focused on family care. About half-way through the first class day I asked if this material was offered in any other degree program than the DMin. He answered it was not, and I said that was a shame because I had learned more in two hours about ministering to families than I had learned in my entire life. I have since bought several of his books and found each of them very beneficial.

In Turn Your Life Around Clinton discusses about how our past can and does keep us from enjoying life to the fullest. We all know that life does not always turn out the way we had hoped. Marriages fail, people lose their jobs, the economy falters, illness takes over one's life, and the list goes on. At these transition points in a person's life they have to make some choices. Some will choose to rise above them and move forward with their lives. Others will fall into addictive behaviors that can have destructive consequences.

We have become an addictive society. We usually think of addictions that involve drugs, alcohol, sex,  pornography, gambling and the like. But in today's world people also can become addicted to technology, shopping (retail therapy), work, power, the pursuit of success and wealth, and this list goes on as well. Even religion and serving in a church can fall into this line-up of addictive behaviors. Clinton notes that each of these are often attempts to replace the God who disappointed us by allowing the bad things to come into our lives.

The good news is that anyone who finds themselves in this path of destructive behavior can be set free. This freedom, Clinton believes, can only come when we develop healthy attachments to God and to other people. Just because one is a Christian does not mean that he or she enjoys a healthy attachment to God. For many Christians, God is Someone they think about on Sunday mornings but seldom at any other time. What marriage would work if a spouse only thought about his or her partner one hour a week? That relationship would surely not survive, or, at least, it would not be the kind of relationship that would help one through difficult times. Clinton offers some helpful suggestions for how to grow in our attachment to God.

There's more good news. Clinton writes, "I should warn you that true transformation usually occurs in the middle of pain and life's adversities." True change in one's life is often found in the painful times in our lives. I don't know about you, but I do know this is true for me: I have grown much more during hard times than I ever did when everything was going well. 

Addicts in the church

 Many of the stories one hears about addicts and the difficulties they have seem to focus on those who are homeless, without families, living in poverty and usually outside the church. However, it is likely that there are people sitting in our congregations every week who are addicts. They go to work every day, they are involved in church activities, they appear to have solid families, and it seems they have their lives together. However, they are still addicts. What can your church do to minister to them?

When you first hear the term addict you may immediately think of someone addicted to drugs or alcohol. Yes, you may have some of those folks in your church, but we need realize that a person can be addicted to many things that, in themselves, may not be harmful but still present a challenge to live a God-honoring life.

For instance, many people are addicted to shopping. They practice what I often call "retail therapy." I know one faithful Christian lady whose house was overflowing with things she had bought late at night on a TV shopping channel. She didn't have one of something; she had 10-12 of the same item, all in the original package. A family member told me they had hauled several dumpsters of things out before selling the rest at auction. I do not know what battles this lady had, but it seems she was trying to overcome those battles with a shopping addiction.

A very common addiction today is to social media and electronics. The amount of time people spend on social media and their electronic devices is staggering. In my book Is Your Church Ready for Ministry in the Coming Decade? I share some statistics that demonstrate how prevalent this addiction is. While it might be found more in younger people, it affects people of all generations.

The list of potential addictions is endless and would include many things which are not harmful in themselves. One of the dangers of addictions is that they take our focus away from God and place it on the things we desire more. In effect, these addictions become our gods. We bow down to them and worship them. We become devoted to them. They take over our lives. The rob us of the best God desires for us.

I included a chapter on addictions in the above mentioned book because I do not find many churches addressing the problem except as it relates to alcohol, drugs, pornography and other harmful behaviors. Yet, studies indicate that there are many in our churches who have no problem with those things but are addicts nonetheless. We need to offer these individuals help as well. Satan uses these addictions to pull people away from God, and we need to let them know that and help them break those addictions.

The book includes several other ministry needs that are taking on more importance as we continue through the 21st century. It is available only as an eBook and is being well received by church leaders. As we enter into a new year it's my hope the church becomes more intentional about addressing the challenges people are facing and helping them find biblical solutions to those challenges.

2018 Top Reads 6-10

Each year many bloggers post their favorite books for the year. I've done this myself for the past few years. Out of 45 books I read this year this is my top 10 books for 2018. Today I'll list 6-10, and tomorrow we'll mention 1-5.

Since retiring from active ministry my reading has changed somewhat. For instance, I read fewer books on pastoral ministry since I'm not serving in that role now. I tend to concentrate more on theology, philosophy, apologetics, and how our world is being impacted by various worldviews. You'll see this in the lists. As an act of editorial transparency, if you click on one of these books and purchase it through Amazon.com I will receive a small referral fee. Believe me, it's very small, but I wanted to be upfront with my readers!

10. Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked by Adam Alter. We all know how addictive technology can be with many of us checking our emails, Facebook and other media accounts so often it affects our productivity. The author points to studies that demonstrates that the average human had an attention span of 8 seconds in 2013. BTW - A goldfish has an attention span of 9 seconds. Problems associated with technology led Steve Jobs to not allow his children to use an iPad, and many other tech giants had similar rules in their homes. Why? Because they understood how addictive technology and social media can be. This fascinating book could be helpful to anyone in ministry for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is when we are helping someone with addictions associated with technology. One clinical psychologist told the author "Every single person I work with has at least one behavioral addiction." Chances are there are people in your church, or family, with the same problems.

9. Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals by Michael Hyatt.  Numerous studies have shown that setting goals is critical to achieving success in any endeavor. Many years ago I followed a goal setting plan that allowed me to achieve more than I would have thought possible. If you do not have a goal setting program that works for you, this book will provide you with one. Did you know that merely by writing your goals boosted achievement by 42 percent? If you had read this book you would have known that. Now is the time to be setting your goals for 2019 and beyond which means now is a great time to follow the advice presented in this book.

8. Not God Enough: Why Your Small God Leads to Big Problems by J. D. Greear.  Many of us, and many churches, like a small God who we believe we can control and predict. The problem is conceiving God in this way holds us back from experiencing the true God who wants to do marvelous things in our lives. One of my favorite chapters in the book discussed the burning bush encountered by Moses in the wilderness. While we don't know much about how Moses perceived God prior to that experience, we know what happened afterwards! Moses went on to do far more than he ever thought possible. The author points out several things that can burning bushes in our lives. I identified with some of them, and I guess you will, too.

7. Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland by Christopher R. Browning.  This is a troubling book that I could not put down. It tells the story of ordinary men who made up the Reserve Police Battalion 101 of the German Order Police in 1942. These men were responsible for mass shootings of Jewish people and rounding them up for shipment to Nazi death camps. The first time they were ordered to murder innocent people, many in the unit refused. As time went on three different groups emerged. One was a core of eager killers who enjoyed hunting down their victims, a second group who carried out their orders, and a third group who continued to refuse to carry out the killings. The meticulous research of this book followed many of the men in this unit. One of the reasons this book was so troubling was that it described how far down ordinary people can fall. Which of the three groups would any of us find ourselves? Until we face the pressures these men experienced I'm not sure we can honestly answer that question.

6. The Devil's Delusion: Atheism and its Scientific Pretensions by David Berlinski.  This is a book I read a few years ago and decided it was time to reread it. One of the things that makes this book interesting is that the author identifies as a secular Jew who admits his religious training did not take. Most of his life has been committed to teaching and writing books about mathematics and the sciences, but here he takes on the New Atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris. With biting humor and a brilliant mind he defends religious thought and attacks the idea that science disproves the existence of God. As he writes, "Confident assertions by scientists that in the privacy of their chambers they have demonstrated that God does not exist have nothing to do with science, and even less to do with God's existence." For me, this is a must read book for pastors and anyone who wants to better defend their faith against the attacks being made today against Christianity.

Tomorrow I'll share my favorite top five books that I read in 2018.

Top 10 books of 2017 II

Today I will complete my list of my top 10 favorite books of 2017. If you missed yesterday's post that included the first five books I encourage you to check it out. Here are the remaining five. Again, they are in no particular order.

Messy Grace by Caleb Kaltenbach. This is a fascinating story of a conservative pastor with gay parents. Raised in the gay lifestyle he came out to his parents as a Christian and later became a pastor. No issue is more divisive in today's church world as the issue of homosexuality. If your church has not discussed how it will relate to those involved in that lifestyle, you need to do so, and this book can help that conversation.

Taking Pascal's Wager by Michael Rota. This is an incredible book on apologetics that demonstrates how reasonable it is to accept the truth of the Christian faith. This book is not a simple read, but it is one that I thoroughly enjoyed. If you are a minister with preaching responsibilities, it will give you a lot of great material to share with your congregation.

A New Kind of Apologist by Sean McDowell, ed. One of the reasons this book made my top 10 list is that it addresses topics often ignored by traditional apologists, the kinds of issues faced by pastors and churches today. Over twenty leading apologists contributed to this book.

Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked by Adam Alter. The title alone should make you curious. It did me! The author demonstrates how many of today's products are made to be irresistible to consumers and how addictive they have become to millions of people. The good news is that he doesn't stop there but also shows how we can reverse that to improve our own health and that of our families.

Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air by Francis J. Backwith and Gregory Koukl. Many today insist that there are no absolute moral values. One behavior is considered no better or no worse than another. The authors attack that idea in the introduction by pointing out that under such a belief system Mother Teresa is no more moral than Adolf Hitler. They continue attacking the idea of moral relativism throughout the book. I found it to be an excellent read.

Tomorrow I'll share some of the books I'm currently reading and some titles on my shelf waiting their turn. Will any of them make the top ten list for 2018? You'll just have to check back next January to find out!