Through the years, I’ve been equally impacted by other of John’s writing such as “Way of the Wild Heart” and “Love and War”.  Whenever I have picked up a book of John’s, it seems like it confirms the words that the Holy Spirit has been speaking to me. 

One of John’s best qualities as a writer is to be a bridge between old and new.  He will be quoting from George MacDonald one minute and then make a cultural reference to the movie “Saving Private Ryan” the next.  So many authors can play well in either of those spaces, but not both.  John can.

I also felt like I got to know John and his team a little bit better by listening to the podcasts through Ransomed Heart.  Here, I was able to hear how John and the team interacted by joking, flowing with God, laughing, ministering, etc.

All this being said, when I hear that John was writing a new book, I was excited.  But I also tempered my expectations.  Sometimes when a writer puts out material frequently, there are times that their output becomes “crap” instead of continuing the quality of previous messages.  However, as I read “Beautiful Outlaw”, I found that it was not only very “un-crappy”, but it also, again, confirms what the Lord has been speaking to me about.

To quote John himself from the 1^st chapter:

“…millions of people who have spent years attending church, and yet they don’t know God.  Their heads are filled with stuffing about Jesus, but they do not experience him…there are millions more who love Jesus Christ but experience him only occasionally, more often stumbling along short of the life he promised…if you sent someone you loved to school for a decade, yet they remained illiterate, how would you feel about the education?”

Growing up, I was surrounded by well-meaning people that you were so concerned about getting God’s name correctly that they many times were less focused on having a relationship with the One whose name they so loved and defended.  Oh, they knew about Him, they could quote His written words from the Bible, but they very often didn’t hear His voice unless it was read in the Bible or from a preacher at a pulpit.  But if you don’t prioritize hearing His voice for yourself and focus on getting to know Him (intents, personality, etc.), then we will miss Him and all that we could have together.  For the folks I grew up with, they fell into the trap of interpreting random verses of the Bible to mean that God had a dress code and called it holiness, but they miss the fact that the only time Jesus addressed outward appearance is when He told the Pharisees, “you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy – full of greed and wickedness”. 

As you read through “Beautiful Outlaw”, you see how John highlights the personality of Jesus, including areas such as fierce intention, disruptive honesty, cunning, playful, etc.  As you read verses of the Bible such as where Jesus said to the Canaanite woman “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs”, we are tempted to take this to mean that Jesus was being hard on her (waiting for her to come back a 2^nd time so He could commend her on her faith).  However, as John says “what if Jesus was being playful – well that would change everything”.

I would encourage you to read this book and open yourself up to the personality of Jesus.

I noticed that you are reading a Christian book.  Where do you go to church?

I’ve been asked this question many times before so I opened my mouth almost instinctively and, with my mouth hanging open, I realized I didn’t have anything to tell him!  I stumbled through a quick explanation that basically went like this: “Well..um….I don’t have one…”

I went home and cried.  I was embarrassed, frustrated, and angry that I had no church home.  As I was reminiscing of this crazy time of our lives, I thought it would be a good time to share a few tips to keep in mind if you are leaving or have left a church:

Tip #1 – Not everyone is going to be happy about you leaving the church, even if God told you to do it

This was a shocker to me!    I spent a lot of time in one church growing up, but towards the end I had begun to feel like the Lord had something else in store for us.  I felt the Lord tell me in prayer that our time at this church was complete and that we had fulfilled God’s purpose for us in that body.  He was calling us to help out in a new church that was starting up in Framingham, MA and I received multiple confirmations evidenced by my boss transferring me out to the new location with a raise and our house selling in 6 weeks to the first people who looked at it. 

My assumption was that, if God is calling us to do this, then everyone will hear this and see the confirmations and be excited for us!  Not so much….  It was so hard to feel as though we were disappointing everyone in our lives by following God, but we did it anyway and we learned a lot in the process.

Don’t be shocked if not everyone is on board.  Hold close to the Lord during this time and ask Him to affirm His calling as often as needed.  He knows that leaving a church is tough and He’s happy to help you in the transition.

Tip #2 – There will be misunderstandings

You may have good memories of the church and you can think of times standing around the altar singing “Kum-ba-yah” and “You’re my brother, you’re my sister”, but be prepared that, even in the best of church transitions, there will be misunderstandings.  Don’t be blindsided by it, but instead just be aware.  You leaving a church doesn’t just affect you – it does affect those that are left behind as they wrestle with their own questions of “Why”.  Ask the Holy Spirit to help you work through these with patience, love, and understanding.

Tip #3 – Don’t defend yourself when people talk “smack”

People will talk and it will hurt.  At our last church, there was a bunch of discussion going around that I stole a car from the pastor.  This hurt and I wanted to defend myself so badly.  They had no idea of the thousands of dollars that I lost on that transaction by trying to help.  But when I went to prayer about it, I felt the Lord say to me:

If you defend yourself, then I can’t defend you.  Do you trust me that I can defend you?  I am your avenger.

Once I decided to keep my mouth shut (a miracle!), I felt peace and later there were people who were able to receive understanding regarding the situation.

Sometimes you just have to pity other people who don’t know the whole story.  You will find people making judgements with their eyes and listening to whatever they hear instead of just asking the person involved.   

Tip #4 – Be careful of the agreements you make in your mind

When we are going through difficult situations, there are times that we make what John Eldredge calls “default agreements”.  It’s assumptions about life to permeate our consciousness and guide how we think and live in the future.  It’s easy to find yourself sayings things like:

Well, I’ll never open myself up like that again!

If this is what church is like then who needs it?

All churches must be like this.

Have the courage to open up again, trust again, and have faith in this model (the church) that God has given.  People aren’t perfect, but God is and we need to trust Him and be careful about the thoughts we let into our minds during these vulnerable times.

Tip #5 – Trust that, if being involved in a community of believers is important to God, He’ll connect you with a new body of believers

This was one of the prayers I kept bringing to the Lord during this time of our lives.  I truly believed that, if belonging to a church family was a critical component of a strong walk with the Lord, then it would be a priority to Him to help us find a new place to be planted.  And he did!

Tip #6 – Gossip is sneaky

Even if you have resigned yourself not to gossip, what will be difficult is when it comes time for you to share your story to help others going through similar transitions.  Depending on the circumstances surrounding your departure, it can be almost impossible to share your story without entering into a grey area of gossiping about the character of the individuals involved.  As I’ve shared some of our own story in this post, I’ve tried to be very careful to not mention names.  Please just keep this in mind as you begin to share your story to help others.  Gossip is sneaky and will look for any foothold that it can.

Tip #7 – Don’t blame God

I had a minister that I trust share with me a story of what his pastor said to him as he was getting ready to leave for bible college.  His pastor called him into his office and said I want to share with you something that will help you in your future years of ministry.  This young minister was all ears and was prepared to write down what was about to be share.  The older pastor said “People are stupid and they’ll do things that won’t make sense”.  That was it!

Now we know that not everyone is stupid, but during church transitions, people will do things that do not always make sense, but we have to be careful to not blame God.  It wasn’t God that was talking about you, it wasn’t God that had a moral failure, it wasn’t God that is misunderstanding you….it was people.  Keep your heart open to God, especially during challenging times. 

Conclusion

I pray that this helps you as you work through church transitions.  I know what it’s like to have people scratch their heads when we left a church.  But the Lord has always been faithful and if I can help you and pray with you in your journey in any way, please let me know.

Servant of a wicked cool God,

Matt Legere

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DJS5XZcpS0

The areas that are impacted by couples praying together, to name a few, are: Communication, Respect, Lovemaking, and Finances. 

This book also provides you as the reader the opportunity to join in on the conversation/practice by completing survey questions and following along with the couples in the book.

I think that this book highlight a very important need.  Marriage is hard work and it doesn’t get any easier because you profess a belief in Jesus Christ – it gets harder.  Most couples do not pray together often and one statistic from the book stated that only 4% of Christian couples pray together. 

One couple who was trying out the prayer experiment said:

 “When we give ourselves to each other as husband and wife, it’s as if God rewards us.”

And, in terms of who should start pursuing this practice in your marriage, take the following quote to heart:

“…each of you should expect to put in much more than your share to make your marriage work.”

I pray that this is something that all of us married couples can put into practice and watch as God transforms our marriages.

I thought this book in many ways addressed an unmet need of ours.  It’s more than understanding the consequences of our actions.  Andy Stanley says:

“As you are about to discover, the principle of the path is at work in your life every single day.  Once embraced, this compelling principle will empower you to identify and follow the path that leads to your desired destination.  And this same principle will enable you to avoid life-wasting detours along the way.”

The great thing about this book is that Andy hasn’t written a “one size fits all” book.  It talks about principles versus specific actions.  It’s designed to get you to think things through in regards to your individual situations.

This book made me take inventory of the areas where I’m not getting the end results that I hoped and realize that it may not be due to the fact that “it wasn’t in the cards for me”, but instead, it’s making me think of how I can make decisions know to help me attain desired goals/futures. 

Another helpful aspect of this book is that it includes a study guide.  This allows you to ask yourself the necessary questions and engage in this journey with a friend or colleague.  I’d definitely recommend it.

I thought that Outlive Your Life was one of the more thought-provoking books that I’ve read in a while.  I think what also makes this book so intriguing is that it provides tools to answer a question that so many of us either ask ourselves now (or will ask ourselves as we progress in years): “Did my life matter?”

During the monotony of the day to day grind, we tend to focus on the urgent, on whatever is screaming the loudest, or whatever is in front of us.  This book is a call to lift up our heads from the latest fire drill our face is buried in and confront deep questions as to what kind of legacy our life will leave behind for those who will follow us.

Max Lucado says:

“It’s not enough for you to do well.  You want to do good.  You want your life to matter.  You want to live in such a way that the world will be glad you did…may you live in such a way that your death is just the beginning of your life.”

Another helpful section of the book asks the reader 2 hypothetical questions to consider how they would have responded at that snapshot in time:

1) Had you been a German Christian during World War II, would you have taken a stand against Hitler?

 

2) Had you lived in the South during the civil rights conflict, would you have taken a stand against racism?

 

Before you get a chance to digest the weight of those questions, Lucado asks another question which helps our minds focus on the potential of future impact:

When your grandchildren discover you lived during a day in which 1.75 billion people were poor and 1 billion people were hungry, how will they judge your response?

Later in the book, there is a chapter called “Let God Unshell You” that talks about submitting to God’s process of finding out who you are and then how you are wired to make an impact to your generation and the next.  Galatians 6:4 (Message Version) says “make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that.”  As part of the “unshelling/discovery” process, Lucado asks the following questions

1)      With whom do you feel most fluent?

2)      For whom do you feel the most compassion?

These questions highlight one of the things that I loved about this book.  In “Outlive Your Life”, Lucado doesn’t just tell us what to do to “outlive our life’ as if a model would accomplish this; instead, he structures much of his message in a serious of questions that provoke thought, bring clarity, and incite passion to make an impact.  The message of this book speaks to such a deep-seated human desire (to have our lives matter) and presents it in such a God-centered fashion.  I would definitely recommend this book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Shannon O’Dell has challenged the mindset of the American church in his new book “Transforming Church in Rural America – Breaking all the Rurals”.  Right from the very first chapter, he seeks to debunk the myths that the American church has subscribed to in relation to evangelizing Rural America. 

Some of these myths are as follows:

1) Successful churches grow in thriving urban or sprawling suburban America

2) Sparsely populated rural communities are behind the times and not worth our time

3) Cities are strategic and the country is inconsequential

4) If you want to be a successful Pastor, go to the city

5) If you want to drive a minivan with 200,000 miles on it, go to the sticks

If I’m honest, I must say that I had previously subscribed to the fact that, if my mission as a Christian is to lead others to Christ, then I need to focus on where I can have the “biggest” impact.  What Shannon O’Dell’s point is in this book is that, if God has called you and you are following His calling, then whatever the outcome, your impact will be great.  Between sharing his personal story and by sharing the Word of God, the author has helped debunk the myth that Rural America isn’t worth our time or efforts to share the Gospel.

In regards to the myths previously mentioned about rural America, Shannon O’Dell had these thoughts:

Where would thoughts like that come from…from the God who desires that none should perish?  From the One who leave the 99 to find the one?  From the Son who had a carpenter for a dad in a town with a population of less that 500?  No way…when the invitation to join Him at His banquet table fell on indifferent ears in the cities, Jesus invited small town people to His party: “Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full” (Luke 14:21)

Early in the book, the author lays out his heartbeat and what the risks are if our mindsets remain unchanged:

I personally believe that rural America is one of the most over-churched, unreached people groups in the world.  The number of church buildings says nothing about the state of Christianity in rural America…..these struggling churches won’t survive the next decade if they cannot grow, and rural churches have challenges unique to the ministry, especially if they are passionate about their family’s church heritage (but are not passionate about the mission of Christ) or have great desire, but little faith, their vision limited by what they see, not by Who is unseen.

While I think it was really helpful for Shannon to share his personal story as an example of the mind transformation he was discussing, I think that there were probably too many references to his specific church as part of the book.  Not that his church isn’t a great example, but I think that with all of the references to their model and church, some individuals may walk away from the book looking to replicate a specific model instead of pursing the mind transformation that God brought Shannon through.

What I’ve taken away from this book is to not make broad judgments in regards to the location that God may call you to.  If God were to call you to rural America to minister, then, regardless of the population of the place where you are called, you should follow the Lord; otherwise, you might miss a fantastic opportunity to be line with the Lord’s will.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

“Primal” helps to remind the body of Christ of what a relationship with Christ is supposed to be about.  There are many voices, concepts, and belief systems clamoring to be accepted in this “information age” we live in.  However, Mark Batterson reminds of some deep truths. 

In the following quote, Mark Batterson reminds us that our faith is to be put to action:

“As we grow in our love relationship with God, we begin to empathize with God.  We feel what He feels.  Then we begin to sympathize with others.  We experience sympathy breakthroughs as we see the image of God in others.  And when those empathetic feelings turn into compassionate actions, they set off chain reactions with eternal ramifications”

If our heart is truly breaking with the things that breaks the heart of God, there will be action.  Regarding the source of our action, Mark said the following:

“…one act of Spirit-prompted compassion can change the course of history.”

That’s one of the things that I felt made this book so fresh and relevant to what God wants to do with our generation.  He’s not impressed with our intellect.  He wants to be able to speak and direct His will to our generation and have us actually align with His plan. 

I’ve read in the book of Hebrews that we “surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses” (aka “those that have gone before us”).  However, the opening of “Primal” helped make that concept more real to me.   Mark Batterson describes what it was like to enter the catacombs under the Church of San Clemente in Rome, Italy where second-century Christians secretly worshiped God. 

“As we navigated those claustrophobic catacombs, I was overcome by the fact that I was standing in a place where my spiritual ancestors risked everything, even their lives, to worship God.  And I felt a profound mixture of gratitude and conviction.  I live in a first-world country in the twenty-first century.  And I’m grateful for the freedoms and blessings I enjoy because of where and when I live.  But when you’re standing in an ancient catacomb, the comforts you enjoy make you uncomfortable.  The things you complain about are convicting.  And some of the sacrifices you’ve made for the cause of Christ might not even quality under a second-century definition.”

Regarding the author, what impresses me the most is how often Mark Batterson alludes to himself taking personal action in response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.  It is that reality that makes me more willing to let down my “filter” and take in the words that Mark writes about.  It’s very easy to find people who are willing to minister and write from their intellect.  It’s not always easy to find someone willing to minister and write based on things heard from the Spirit of God. 

In conclusion, I would definitely recommend this book.  “Primal” is just the right size to devour without it feeling like overkill.  The style/tone helps make this book a very easy read, but you also close the book feeling like substance was conveyed to you.  Enjoy!

“We do not want you to copy or imitate us. We want to be like a ship that has crossed the ocean, leaving a wake of foam, which soon fades away. We want you to follow the Spirit, which we have sought to follow, but which must be sought anew in every generation. “

By Charles Thomas Studd, Missionary to China, India, and Africa

Two little lines I heard one day, Traveling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart, And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one, Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet, And stand before His Judgment seat;
Only one life,’ twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, the still small voice, Gently pleads for a better choice
Bidding me selfish aims to leave, And to God’s holy will to cleave;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, a few brief years, Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its clays I must fulfill, living for self or in His will;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

When this bright world would tempt me sore, When Satan would a victory score;
When self would seek to have its way, Then help me Lord with joy to say;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Give me Father, a purpose deep, In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep;
Faithful and true what e’er the strife, Pleasing Thee in my daily life;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Oh let my love with fervor burn, And from the world now let me turn;
Living for Thee, and Thee alone, Bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne;
Only one life, “twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one, Now let me say, “Thy will be done”;
And when at last I’ll hear the call, I know I’ll say ’twas worth it all”;
Only one life,’ twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.