“Thus there is such a thing as human absorption. It appears in all the forms of conversion wherever the superior power of one person is consciously or unconsciously misused to influence profoundly and draw into his spell an individual or a whole community. Here one soul operates directly upon another soul. The weak have been overcome by the strong, the resistance of the weak has been broken down under the influence of another person. He has been overpowered, but not won over by the thing itself. This becomes evident as soon as the demand is made that he throw himself into the cause itself, independently of the person to whom he is bound, or possibly in opposition to this person. Here is where the humanly converted person breaks down and thus makes it evident that his conversion was effected, not by the Holy Spirit, but by a man, and therefore has no stability.”

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, pp. 32-33]

Most of my seminary-educated friends would mock this attempt, since they read close to a book a week. My friend Adam Feldman is the inspiration for this little project. A while back he attempted to read 50 books in 52 weeks. You can read his final review here. For me, this is a stretch. I’m easily distracted. I live in the Internet age. If I want to know something, I look it up on Wikipedia, I Google it, or if my books aren’t packed in boxes and stuck in a storage room (and most are right now), I might open one of my books to look it up. I learn in ADHD. I learn in article format, not book format. And so far that learning method has worked for me. But I need to be more disciplined in reading.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. You see the list of books above and realize I’ve got a 20-something page children’s book filled with pictures up there. True. But sometimes less is more, and I think there’s a lot to be learned from Shel Silverstein. Also, I think The Giving Tree offsets NT Wright’s Justification, which I anticipate will be a pretty difficult book to sort through. It turns out The Word Became Flesh is written in a one year devotion style, so I’ll be reading it every day.

I’ve got a few alternates (that’s why you see 27 books listed above), just in case some turn out to be duds. And who knows- maybe I’ll beat my 2 books a month pace and read more. If you’re interested in any of these books listed above, click here and you can visit my Amazon.com aStore, where you’ll find the entire list with book descriptions. You can buy each book there, too (and I get a little cut from Amazon for each book you buy).

So this is actually a challenge. Twenty-five books in fifty-two weeks. Wish me luck. I’ll need it.

Amazon.com offers a way for individuals and organizations (commercial or not) to open up their own aStores.  These aStores are user-created bookstores stocked with content we want to push.  In my case I’ve added books to categories I’m most likely to discuss here on the blog- anything from photography to cooking to Christianity.  When you click the “BOOKSTORE” link in the menu above, it will open up a new frame or window to the aStore.  There you will be able to browse and purchase books I’ve listed (and recommend) through Amazon.com.  In return for buying through my aStore, I will get about 4% kickback.

I think this could be a helpful tool for church and ministry websites.  Your church can open an aStore to offer an easy way for church members to locate Sunday School or small group materials.  Each small group or class can have its own unique category listing books, DVDs, or other materials used during their meetings.  It’s cheap because it’s from Amazon.com, and it’s easily located because you’ve already got it listed by class.  And it’s only one click away.  As I said, I think this is an efficient and useful way to help churches help their church members.  Plus, any proceeds from the orders can go directly into the church coffers.  It won’t necessarily be much, but it’s worth the trouble (not that there is much trouble).

Click to learn more about Amazon Associates and aStores.

In The Tipping Point, Gladwell offers three uniquely important types of people in the spread of ideas.  They comprise the Law of the Few. “The success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of social skills” (Wikipedia):

• Connectors are the people who “link us up with the world … people with a special gift for bringing the world together.”
• Salesmen are “persuaders”, charismatic people with powerful negotiation skills. They tend to have an indefinable trait that goes beyond what they say, that makes others want to agree with them.
• Mavens are “information specialists”, or “people we rely upon to connect us with new information.”

Gladwell’s contention is that these three personalities are critical in sparking ideas- taking them from nothing to something almost overnight.  What I’m thinking is that if we are all innately connected to each other via Britt’s Congruence Theory, then we can start looking for these connectors, salesmen, and mavens with the explicit goal to spread our ideas.

If a movement starts by understanding our connectedness, then it spreads when we identify those who disseminate ideas, or memes, to others across the world and start telling them our ideas.

According to Britt, Donald McGavran used “the term homogeneous unit to describe a ‘section of society in which all the members have something in common’.”  Britt asked himself, “Which kinds of factors tend to form the basis for a church fellowship in urban America in the latter half of the twentieth century?”  This is a valid question.  The point that he makes is that in every urban center, every individual belongs to many different circles- whether they be ethnic, social, or geographic, is not important.  That everybody has something in common with someone else is a potential unifier for urban multi-culturalism.

Think about your workplace (pastors and church staff… pretend).  Your workplace is made up of men and women of different races, ethnicities, religions, and the like.  The one common factor is that you all work at the same place.  When I worked in the cafe at Books-A-Million back in the day, there were four of us: two wiccan girls, an African-American Baptist nursing student, and this white Southern Baptist.  One of the two wiccans was from California, the other three of us were from Alabama.  I was the youngest of us four.  We were all Americans.

We had different views on a lot of things and we ran in completely different circles.  Each of us had a particular worldview that was ever-so-slightly different.  More importantly we each had our own network of friends- and that network was at times both diverse and homogeneous.  And just as we each had our own individual networks, we were a part of the one at Books-A-Million, influencing each other in various ways while we worked together.

Britt’s conclusion (and mine) is that we are all connected in some way.  It might not seem like a brilliant conclusion.  Truthfully, it’s not.  With the advent of the communication age came pluralism.  The foundation of a movement begins when we understand that The World Is Flat.

What happens when we start looking for Malcolm Gladwell’s three personalities in our networks?  Well I guess we should take a quick look at who those three personalities are.  Next time.

The other night, my friend Justin preached Ephesians 6 to the college and singles group at my old church.  I was there, and I appreciated his willingness to discuss such an under-appreciated topic as spiritual warfare.  I didn’t ask him to, but when he visits me in New Orleans, we talk about it on occasion.  Ephesians 6:10-18 is one of the key passages in the battle for our minds and hearts.  Ed Murphy, in The Handbook for Spiritual Warfare, spends an entire chapter (51) on the passage.  I highly recommend that you add the book to your library.

“Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding.”  (Proverbs 23:23, NIV)

We are told by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6 to stand firm in truth.  In every sense, we should prepare ourselves to fight the lies with the truth.  We’re told to put on the armor of God and hold the sword of truth so that we might stand firm.  In this passage, I see little about attack and much about defense.  Now, please understand that I’m basing this off of Scripture, but everything I’m going to recommend to you is based on experience too.   When I’m attacked by a fury of lies that destroy and paralyze, I know that they are from my Enemy.  I hear them whispered in my ear, like a frenzy, as if they were trying to whip me into a panic.  My primary goal in this post is to offer a solid Biblical defense against this kind of attack, based on my experience.  Paul writes about spiritual warfare in Ephesians and Colossians both.  Ed Murphy explains that Paul was writing against the Gnostic heresy in Colossians, but we can draw out of Paul’s exaltation of Christ a defense for ourselves.  The Sword of the Truth as mentioned in Ephesians 6 is this: the Scriptures that teach us who God is, who Christ is, who we are, and who the Enemy is.

In Colossians we see not only who Jesus is, but also we we are in Christ.  Remember, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus, and Christ is in us (Matthew 28:17 and Colossians 1:27).  My suggestion is that you begin to study Colossians or Ephesians deeply if you are under constant attack.  Remind yourself of who you are and who Christ is.

Remember who the Enemy is, and that he cannot do anything to you that God does not allow.  We learn that lesson in Job 1, when the Adversary is given limitations to his destruction of Job.

Combat the lies with the truth.  Here are about three passages you might want to remember:

Colossians 1:15-2:15
Matthew 28:17-20
Philippians 4:8
Ephesians 6:10-18
James 1:5
Proverbs 1:7
Psalm 23
Romans 3:23-2; 8:1

That should do for now.  Add to the list in the comments section.

I can’t say this clearly enough: If we are preaching morality without Christ, and using war rhetoric to communicate a battle mentality, we are fighting on Satan’s side. This battle we are in is a battle against the principalities of darkness, not against people who are different than us. In war you shoot the enemy, not the hostage (191).

Second, a changed life is not irrefutable evidence. Malcolm X was a new man. He got off drugs; he stopped womanizing; he quit gambling; he quit stealing; he was changed! Nonetheless, what he believed turned out to be a lie. There are many people today whose lives have been changed by what they perceive to be the truth. However, in many instances, their “truth” turns out to be no more than self-delusion.

If this is true, then how can we know anything? How can we know that our experience is both real and true? How can we know that our faith is founded upon the rock and not merely upon sinking sand? How can we know that our God is God? …

Just because a person’s life is better doe snot mean that his god is real. There are Mormons, Jews, Catholics, Buddhists, evangelicals, and pagans who claim to have had religious experiences that changed their lives. Everyone has a testimony! However, as stated earlier in our discussion of religious relativism, we can’t all be right. Some experiences are grounded in truth, while others are merely placebos. Ultimately, there must be a standard. I believe that standard is the Word of God, the Bible.

Voddie Baucham, Jr., The Ever-Loving Truth: Can Faith Thrive in a Post-Christian Culture?, 97-98.