Summer of 2010 Reading List

The whole crew of CU students will be on campus in just a few days...and the next few weeks of my life are ones with just about every minute filled with activity and conversation and people...and the moments to read beyond emails and ESPN scores are few and far between...but I did grab a few moments to read during the summer season...and here's some of what I read in a top 10 list of the books and articles and words...

Africa United: Soccer, Passion, Politics, and the First World Cup in Africa by Steve Bloomfield

The Slow Fade: Why You Matter in the Story of Twentysomethings by Reggie Joiner, Chuck Bomar, and Abbie Smith

Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life by Donald Miller

Cultural Intelligence: Improving Your CQ to Engage Our Multicultural World by David Livermore

Playing the enemy : Nelson Mandela and the game that made a nation by John Carlin

Warrior Princess: Fighting for Life With Courage and Hope by Princess Kasune Zulu

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson

The New Shape of World Christianity: How American Experience Reflects Global Faith by Mark Noll

*And way, way too many online and magazine articles about every dimension of the 2010 World Cup Experience...although, I never tired of reading them all, to be honest...

MONTANA TALK #3 Notes

Notes and Quotes below...

DON’T WASTE YOUR LIFE ON PURSUING ANYTHING BUT JESUS…

To Know One Thing:
“You don’t have to know a lot of things for your life to make a lasting difference in the world. But you do have to know the few great things that matter, perhaps just one, and then be willing to live for them and die for them. The people that make a durable difference in the world are not the people who have mastered many things, but who have been mastered by one great thing. If you want your life to count, if you want the ripple effect of the pebbles you drop to become waves that reach the ends of the earth and roll on into eternity, you don’t need to have a high IQ. You don’t have to have good looks or riches or come from a fine family or a fine school. Instead, you have to know a few great, majestic, unchanging, obvious, simple, glorious things—or one great all-embracing thing—and be set on fire by them.”
John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life

Are you listening to the call of Christ on your life?

THE CALL OF THE SAVIOR: The voice of Jesus has become a sure beacon ahead of me and a blazing fir within me as I have tried to figure out my way and negotiate the challenges of the extraordinary times in which we live. It allows us to find and fulfill the central purpose of your life. OS GUINNESS

Jesus invites you to do these things and live this life:
*EMBRACE HIS CHARACTER
*SACRIFICE YOUR LIFE
*FOLLOW THE HOLY SPIRIT’S LEADINGS
*IMPACT THE WORLD
*SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS

I JOHN 5:4-5…Every God-begotten person conquers the world's ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world's ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God.

There is nothing more compelling, more satisfying, more demanding, more overwhelming, more significant than a life lived following, loving, and serving the Lord Jesus. CHIP HUBER…after 4 decades of life

MONTANA TALK #2 Notes

Notes and Quotes Below...

Spend Your Life Chasing the Things That are Eternal

What do you think you will care about 50 years from now? What things in your life today will still be important to you?

4 Things That are the Stuff of Eternity…and of Ultimate Worth…

The Kingdom of God—A FUTURE EVENT AND PRESENT REALITY
Luke 17:21; Matthew 6:10; Hebrews 12:28

People—DO WE TRULY PUT OTHERS FIRST?
John 13:34-35

The Body of Christ—WE ARE LIFETIME MEMBERS…
Matthew 16:18

Our Souls—THE VERY HEART OF WHO YOU AND I ARE…
Matthew 16:26; I John 3:2

Most people are not satisfied with the permanent output of their lives. Nothing can wholly satisfy the life of Christ within His followers except the adoption of Christ’s purpose toward the world He came to redeem. Fame, pleasure, and riches are but husks and ashes in contrast with the boundless and abiding joy of working with God for the fulfillment of His eternal plans. The men and women who are putting everything into Christ’s undertaking are getting out of life its sweetest and most priceless rewards. J. CAMPBELL WHITE

Only one life, twill soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ will last…

A PRAYER FOR THE COOL GENERATION…from the book Don't Waste Your Life:

O God, who will get in their face and give them something to live for? They waste their days in a trance of insignificance, trying to look cool or talk cool or walk cool. They don’t have a clue what cool is. Of course we cannot use the word cool to describe true greatness. It is a small word. That’s the point. It’s cheap. And it’s what millions of young people live for. Who confronts them with urgency and tears? Who pleads with them not to waste their lives? Who takes them by the collar, so to speak, and loves them enough to show them a life radical and so real and so costly and Christ-saturated that they feel the emptiness and triviality of their CD collection and their pointless conversations about passing celebrities? Who will waken what lies latent in their souls, untapped—a longing not to waste their lives? O that young and old would turn off the television, take a long walk, and dream about feats of courage for a cause more precious than anything else in their world. If we would dream and if we would pray, would not God answer? Would He withhold from us a life of joyful love and mercy and sacrifice that magnifies God and makes people glad in God?

RESOLUTIONS OF JONATHAN EDAWRDS…
RESOLUTION #5: Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can…
RESOLUTION #6: Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live…
RESOLUTION #17: Resolved, that I will live so, as I shall wish I had done when I come to die…
RESOLUTION #22: Resolved, to endeavor for myself as much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of…

Risk is right. And the reason is not because God promises success to all our ventures in His cause. There is no promise that every effort for the cause of Christ will succeed, at least not in the short run. John the Baptist risked calling King Herod an adulterer when he divorced his own wife in order to take his brother’s wife. For this John got his head chopped off. And he had done right to risk his life for the cause of God and truth. Jesus had no criticism for him, only the highest praise (Matthew 11:11). Paul risked going up to Jerusalem to complete his ministry to the poor. He was beaten and thrown in prison for two years and then shipped off to Rome and was executed there two years later. And he did right to risk his life for the cause of Christ. How many graves are there in Africa and Asia because thousands of young missionaries were freed by the power of the Holy Spirit from the enchantment of security and then risked their lives to make much of Christ among the unreached peoples of the world! And now what about you? Are you caught in the enchantment of security, paralyzed from taking any risks for the cause of God? Or have you been freed by the power of the Holy Spirit from the mirage of Egyptian safety and comfort? Do you men ever say with Joab, “For the sake of the name, I’ll try it! And may the Lord do what seems good to Him?” Do you women ever say with Esther, “For the sake of Christ I’ll try it! And if I perish, I perish”? JOHN PIPER

What will be the legacy left by you on our campus at the end of this school year? Your college career? Your days on this earth?

MONTANA TALK #1 notes

SOME NOTES AND QUOTES BELOW...

Don’t Waste Your Life on the Things that Don’t Matter

A HUGE QUESTION FOR THE WEEK:
What does it mean to waste my life? That is a burning question. Or, more positively, what does it mean to live well—not to waste life, but to…? How to finish that sentence was the question. I was not even sure how to put the question into words, let alone what the answer might be. What is the opposite of not wasting my life? “To be successful in a career”? Or “to find the deepest meaning and significance”? Or “to help as many people as possible”? Or “to serve Christ to the full”? Or “to glorify God in all I do”? Or is there a point, a purpose, a focus, an essence to life that would fulfill every one of those dreams? JOHN PIPER

I JOHN 2:15-17…Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.


Popularity and Status—ISAIAH 40:6-8
We all know if we are in or out, don’t we?


Achievements for Reward’s Sake—LUKE 6:12-16; I COR 3:11-13
How much of your life is trying to prove yourself worthy?


Our Bodies and our Looks—I TIMOTHY 4:8
We all need an extreme makeover, don’t we?


Possessions and Money—MATTHEW 6:19-24; 25:14-30
“Every time we give we remind ourselves of several things: God is on the throne; All that I have is from Him; I do, in fact, trust God; I’ve been given an awful lot—JOHN ORTBERG


The overwhelming needs of our world issue a call to us for strategic living…we must realize that when we spend our resources on our own private wants and concerns, it leaves fewer resources for the Kingdom’s crucial and central concerns of great importance…and God has given each of us the chance of a lifetime in His appointment of us as His Kingdom resource managers…


“At these moments, when the trifling fog of life clears and I see what I am really on earth to do, I groan over the petty pursuits that waste so many lives—and so much of mine. Just think of the magnitude of sports—a whole section of the daily newspaper. But there is no section on God. Think of the endless resources for making your home and garden more comfortable and impressive. Think of how many tens of thousands of dollars you can spend to buy more car than you need. Think of the time and energy and conversation and leisure and what we call “fun stuff.” Or think about how we view our clothes. What a tragedy to see so many people obsessed with what they wear and how they look. And add to that now the computer that artificially recreates the very games that are already so distant from reality; it is like a multi-layered dream world of insignificance expanding into nothingness.” JOHN PIPER



Let us consider this final advice as a manager of God’s Trust He’s given in your one life: choose your investments carefully; compare their rates of interest; consider their ultimate trustworthiness; and especially compare how they will be working for you a few million years from now…RANDY ALCORN

HOW AFRICA WON THE WORLD CUP by Dayo Olopade, Washington Post

A great closing article as the world cup leaves South Africa, and a continent seeks to continue to grow and move forward in the days and years to come...

The first African World Cup didn't belong to Africa, at least not on the soccer field. Of the six African nations that made it to the quadrennial tournament, five fell early -- to indiscipline, tough competitors and heartbreaking missed opportunities. The plucky and focused Black Stars from Ghana were a bright spot for the continent, but when Sunday's final is over, the new FIFA champion will not be African.

Still, winning games isn't everything. For one month of one South African winter, the tournament brought an international celebration to a continent more widely known for malnourished bodies, grandstanding leaders and the ravages of AIDS. Rather than indigence, the world saw balls sailing into the net, crisp tackles, sweat. Ten gleaming stadiums and the collective warmth of 50 million South Africans offered thousands of football pilgrims the time of their lives.

In a year that marks five decades of independence for 17 African countries, from Somalia to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the cup doubled as an anniversary party. "Just the fact that African teams can compete, defeat and be defeated on the world's stage is wonderful," Carmen Arendse, a South African psychologist, said while watching Ghana's quarterfinal match against Uruguay.

There's an earlier sentiment that still rings true, as well. In a 1960 speech, Patrice Lumumba, the first Congolese prime minister, made a remark that fits the occasion: "We are going to show the world what the black man can do when he works in freedom."

Even before I had my passport stamped in Lagos late last month, airport ads for telecommunications giant MTN reminded me what the cup means for the continent. With images of star footballers Michael Essien of Ghana, Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon and John Obi Mikel of Nigeria ran the tournament's slogans: "Let's go Africa." "United we score." "Today is a good day to be African."

And it was a good month. While the petty crime that is common in Johannesburg didn't disappear, there were no major incidents of violence at the fan parks or outdoor screening areas. Dignitaries such as former president Bill Clinton and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, not to mention Mick Jagger, came to see the beautiful game at the bottom of the world. In every African city I visited, a raucous, family atmosphere prevailed. At game time in Lagos, traffic cleared, strangers crowded around television sets indoors and out, and alongside the news of the world, chatty conversations on the state of play looped constantly on the radio.

In Johannesburg, the "Jabulani" ball, designed specially for the tournament, graced pickup games outside bars and on dirt patches by the highway. In the poor and sprawling township of Khayelitsha, black South Africans live far from the shadow of Cape Town's shiny new stadium -- but during Ghana's fatal match against Uruguay, several men and even a few women celebrated by sporting jerseys from Brazil, South Africa, Liverpool and beyond.

The World Cup didn't just feel universal -- it was. According to market research company InsideView, some 80 percent of the world's population has watched "at least some part" of the competition -- and 600 million are expected to tune in to Sunday's battle between Spain and the Netherlands.

The global spotlight also created some unexpected common ground. The Black Stars may have done more for continental solidarity than staunch pan-Africanists such as Kwame Nkrumah, the father of contemporary Ghana. The team was adopted wholesale by South Africans, whose squad had been eliminated, and by millions more Africans on the continent and in the diaspora who hoped for a showing to rival the great footballers of Europe and South America. In Observatory, a student neighborhood in Cape Town, fans like me who normally identify as Nigerian, Kenyan, Congolese or South African chanted, "Up Ghana!"

When the team's best chance at making history clanged off the crossbar in the closing seconds of its quarterfinal, the upbeat drone of vuvuzelas gave way to groans. "We had the chance," said one Zimbabwean observer who backed the Ghanaian squad. "We just didn't execute."

That is the simplest explanation for the disappointments among the African teams competing this year. And they perhaps mirror the disappointments that have stalled the continent's political and economic progress. Similar to the lack of strong primary and secondary education systems on the world's youngest continent, not enough attention has been paid to youth development in soccer. The sub-Saharan teams' reliance on foreign coaches with little skin in the game echoes the broad mistrust in local leadership and institutions. And the perennial "brain drain" among the smartest African graduates correlates with the flight of top talent to European soccer clubs.

Perhaps fittingly, Ghana's breakout performance came after its investment in a championship under-20 team and two years of training under its (foreign) coach -- and despite being without its star player, Michael Essien of British club Chelsea.

Though athletic victories have eluded African fans, progress has not. In South Africa, many of the 44,000 police officers deployed to watch over the throng of foreign visitors -- Argentine and German, British and Brazilian -- will stay in their positions, armed with better skills, equipment and federal coordination. The upgrades to the transit and telecommunications infrastructures will last as well. And though the "white elephant" stadiums in less-trafficked towns such as Nelspruitt and Polokwane will be a sorry reminder of FIFA's misplaced zeal, regional tourism is slated to rise -- and South African President Jacob Zuma has declared that "after this, employment will go up."

While it may be decades before less-wealthy African countries are prepared to host the tournament, the World Cup has been an essential engine for African self-confidence. This is particularly salient in South Africa, whose racial traumas still live in plain sight. As fellow competitors Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cameroon celebrate their half-century of independence (Ghana broke with Britain in 1957, and Algeria with France in 1962), South Africa is catching up in terms of full freedoms. De facto segregation by race and income persists -- especially on the scrubbed beaches of Cape Town.

Of course, spending money on elaborate new stadiums doesn't address the economic disparities that can inflame tension, but the very sight of white Afrikaners rooting for black strikers is a salve of sorts. "Apartheid consciousness for white society is rugby or cricket," says Gareth Colenbrander, a Western Cape resident who supported the Ghanaian team. "2010 consciousness is football."

Before Ghana's Black Stars departed South Africa, they greeted thousands of fans in Soweto and had lunch with former president Nelson Mandela. Though they weren't leaving as champions, they were leaving as heroes.

For many others I encountered, the official outcome was beside the point. Africa wasn't just the world's poorest continent -- it could compete. Perhaps the best assessment came from a wistful Ghanaian fan, who passed on a Zulu phrase to carry home: Hamba phambili. Move forward.

Missing Zambia...and Why I Think Everyone Needs to GO...

Today is an interesting day for me...I woke up this morning thinking about a team of folks from my former school who were spending their first day in Zambia...this is the first trip that Wheaton Academy is taking where I'm not leading the trip, and it is the first year I won't be visiting sub-Saharan Africa since 2004...don't get me wrong, I am way, way thrilled that they are still going without me...in fact, that is the whole point, isn't it as a leader? But there is a real sadness that I'm not there with them, seeing old friends, playing soccer on dirt fields as the WORLD CUP goes on a couple countries below, and being moved again by the mixture of great need and great Kingdom work present in a nation and communities I've strangely fallen in love with...

A couple weeks ago I already started working on setting up dates to take students from my new campus environment back to Zambia and all that Africa has to offer...I can't imagine not going back, and I still deeply feel called to expose students and co-workers to life and the church and reality in this other part of the world...there are already plans in the works here at Cornerstone to host a big soccer event to help raise funds to purchase bednets that we can distribute next summer as we fight and help to prevent the deadly impact of malaria on families and children...and I've been left to wonder why I am still so consumed with taking people to meet others and see things that I know has great potential to make messy their lives that might be rather together and tidy in their current states...

Below is an excerpt from Palmer Chinchen's new book True Religion that speaks to the power of being deeply bothered when we experience things that produce real conflict in our lives are turned loose...it's a great summary piece of why I long to and will continue to take people to places different than their own worlds...to be disturbed and moved to response and in the process to become spiritually transformed...

"Welcome to hell," the European doctor greeted our medical team snidely at the entrance to the Lilongwe Hospital. Hell is what it was.

I had first visited hell a few years earlier when Boyd, a young man I knew in Lilongwe, was struck by a car while crossing the road at dusk.

Boyd's father showed up at my house in the dark and asked anxiously if! would drive him and his family to the hospital to find his son.

The stench was nauseating. Every part of the hospital was in some state of disrepair. Nothing appeared to have been painted in years. I watched the staff mop floors that remained curiously grimy.

We found Boyd on a dingy gurney in the hallway leading to the ER. He had a compound fracture; the bone protruded through the skin. His leg, his pants, and the gurney were all drenched in blood. He was still bleeding.

"Has he seen a doctor?" I asked.

An ER attendant spoke. "No, we are waiting for the doctor."

I walked into the ER to try to find help. There were no doctors, so I rounded up two interns and convinced them to bring Boyd into the ER to get the bleeding stopped and clean the puncture wound in his leg. They agreed, rolled him into the ER, and promised to look after him until the doctor arrived. I felt good about being helpful and headed home.

That was Friday night. Late Monday evening, Boyd's father was back at my door. "Boyd is in a lot of pain. Could you help me with some money for some pain medication?"

"Pain medication?" I was surprised. "Once a fracture is set, there should be no pain."

"The leg has not been set yet," his father replied.

What? Boyd lay there in the hospital for three days with a compound fracture, and no one had set it! I knew the orthopedic surgeon would not be in at night, so I waited until the morning and headed back to "hell" with several of my Malawian college students. We hunted the halls for an hour looking for the one orthopedic surgeon in the country and finally found him in an operating theater, teaching a class. He waved me in, and I told him about Boyd. He was unaware of the case and graciously told me to bring him.

We found Boyd, but none of the nurses could find a gurney to roll him to the operating room. So we picked up his bed, each taking a corner, and we carried him to the operating theater.

His leg had rotted. It took almost six months to heal. If there's a place in this world where people lie for days with gaping wounds—that's a place of hell on earth.

Bothered
I'll be honest. I write all of this with the intention of bothering you. I hope you will no longer be willing to ignore people who hurt.

Oppression, injustice, poverty, bigotry and abuse are real and present. But it doesn't have to be this way. God put you and me here to make this world a better place, a more beautiful place. When Jesus left, He asked that you and I continue to change and love the world. The mission and purpose of the local church was never intended to end at the edge of our community.

King Solomon writes about the heart of God: "Rescue the perishing; don't hesitate to step in and help. If you say, 'Hey, that's none of my business,' will that get you off the hook? Someone is watching you closely, you know–Someone not impressed with weak excuses."

So whatever the cost, go in the name of Jesus and love people who hurt. Tell them and show them that God has a better way, a more beautiful war, a life-giving way.

Conflict
Educators have discovered an interesting phenomenon: We learn best and comprehend more when our minds are disturbed. In other words, the more people are bothered by what they are being taught—because it is new or radically different and they disagree—then the more likely the information will change the way they think and live. The process of wrestling with difficult concepts makes them better thinkers and ultimately deeper people. The process even has a name—cognitive conflict (or disequilibration).

Jesus was brilliant at this. He masterfully used parables or illustrations to disturb those He taught.

Being disturbed is not just a good way to learn—it's necessary for transformation.

Jesus would always propose equilibration to people’s thinking by offering a better way to live, a more beautiful way to live, a more godly way to live. But He let them choose.

Diamonds
Spiritual transformation often happens in the moments of life that stun us. When we experience, watch or hear of something disturbing, it creates this cognitive conflict that can change the way we think and live.

You may already know how diamonds are formed. Carbon, which is just black dirt, is compressed by millions of pounds of pressure by the earth's weight. This extreme pressure and heat from the earth's core transform the carbon into something pure and beautiful. The greater the heat and pressure, the more pure (or clear) the diamond forms.

In much the same way, I'm convinced we are transformed through moments of spiritual conflict. Under the pressure of going globally and giving our lives away, we open ourselves to the possibility of God crafting something beautiful in our souls. He uses the pressure of the experience and the heat of the moment—sometimes literally—to transform us spiritually and make our lives a bit more beautiful.

We have two options. We can choose to stay and ignore. Or we can choose to go and see and be disturbed. One choice leads to a kind of death; the other leads to life and change and hope.

20 Years and Counting...

Tomorrow afternoon some of my best friends in the world make their first visit to Grand Rapids after traveling from all over the country and the world...there will be six of us spending a long weekend together catching up, listening to a lecture on faith and sports, watching NBA Finals and World Cup matches at the local Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant, cooking out on my deck, playing a round of golf, hitting the west MI beaches, and doing a lot of laughing, eating, playing, praying, and writing another chapter in a friendship story that began over 20 years ago as soccer teammates at Bethel College (MN) in the late 80's...

We've been looking forward to this reunion for several months and the emails we've shared have been filled with comments about each other's sports teams, questions about what we should do, memories from college road trips, and genuine enthusiasm to simply be together again...and the time will definitely go way too fast over the next three days before they all head back home...

As I've reflected on our history as friends in looking forward to seeing these guys again I am filled with gratitude, memories, and to be honest, a bit of a strange wonder...for the relationship we share together seems from my perspective to be rather unique...over the last 20 years of ministry since I graduated from college and physically left this crew of friends I've had easily hundreds of young guys express their frustration with their lack of true friends and inability to find guys who love Jesus and love the things they are interested in when it comes to life...many of these guys have been athletes that I've had the chance to coach and mentor over the last 2 decades...they've actually sometimes thought about quitting sports or giving up hope of finding the elusive relationships they long for and were created to enjoy...

I've had lots of people including family members comment about how lucky I am to have been blessed with a crew of friends that has had such impact and positive influence in my life...I do feel exceptionally blessed and know that we have a community that others would enjoy having in their lives...but I've also often felt the need to share our experience so that other guys can have hope and be encouraged to pursue similar types of relationships...

This group of soccer guys made me believe that following Christ was something you could do as a quality college athlete...it made me believe that young men can talk about their struggles, their questions, their loves in authentic and open ways because of a share trust and commitment to loving one another because He first loved us...it made me believe that there are guys out there who I can have a crazy and fun time without compromising any of my core convictions or hurting other people around us...and it made me beleive that in order to follow Christ well for a lifetime I desperately need the partnership of friends to walk the journey of faith alongside me...

As has been the case often in my life, the sport called the beautiful game by most of the world brought us randomly together...as we practiced and traveled and played together, we fell in love with the game and with each other...athletics was the conduit for bigger and better things beyond just a pretty goal or a last second win...I don't think it is coincidence that a highlight of our weekend will be watching what is perhaps the most anticipated soccer game in US soccer history against mighty England Saturday afternoon...

This weekend I'll show my college friends the university world I work in every day at Cornerstone...we'll kick the ball around on our soccer field and look at the pictures of college students hanging in my office...and as they enter the world God has called me in the past year to enter here in Grand Rapids they represent what I long for the students and athletes in my current sphere of influence to experience at CU...I get to share my story with them as I can tell them that there is a way to become friends as guys that will meet their desires and longings for love and fun and connection...that they can create lifetime memories without generating regrets...and that there is great joy in following Jesus together with brothers who love the games, the passions, AND the Savior in similar ways...

Gotta go get some sleep now...there won't be time for much sleep the next three nights in west MI for a group of former Bethel soccer players...

PROVERBS 18:24...There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.