Category Archives: Book Reviews

Heaven on the Brain: Three Book Reviews

Book Reviews

A few weeks ago marked the 5-year anniversary of the death of my best friend Holli. She passed away at age 37 during the H1N1 pandemic of 2009. I guess you could say I had Heaven on the Brain, because around this time of year ever since she died, one of the things I do to cope and avoid depression is to really think and pray about Heaven.
It was almost exactly a week past this anniversary when my husband and I were headed out of town on a little mini-vacation, just a few days of R&R time sans kids (only our second such trip in seven years). I found myself in the airport looking for books to read on the plane and on the beach during our trip.
With Heaven on the Brain, I chose three books:

At first I hesitated to buy three books about Heaven. I mean, that’s pretty weird, right? Even for someone in ministry, it just seemed a little over the top. But I reasoned to myself that if it is perfectly acceptable — even normal — to binge watch an entire season of Orange is the New Black on Netflix in a day… so then it shouldn’t be so weird to binge-read about Heaven over a few days. After all, two of these books are on the New York Times bestseller list and the third was #1 for a good while. Re-convinced of my normalcy, I made the purchase.

While the subject matter of Heaven is certainly a common denominator in the three works, each book is quite different. The first one I read, The First Phone Call from Heaven, is a fictional novel. Set in a made-up northern Michigan town, First Phone Call tells the story of a select group of residents who begin receiving phone calls from the deceased. A flurry in the town erupts as miracle after miracle seems to occur. I can’t really say much more about the story without spoiling, but what struck me about this fictional account was how real I imagined people’s reactions to the miracles were. We so badly want to believe there is a Heaven, but when presented with possible proof, we are all skeptical. We have been duped so many times, we all have a penchant toward non-belief in the face of something that could be truly miraculous. I wonder how much we miss because of our bias.

I switched gears when I finished First Phone Call, and read some non-fiction: The Map of Heaven. OK, I’ll be honest, I started reading The Map of Heaven and got a few chapters under my belt. This book is dense. One of those ones that if you didn’t pay attention in science class (I didn’t), you have to read reallll slooooowwww. So I am continuing to slowly read. But man, it is fascinating stuff. Written by a neurosurgeon who previously did not believe in God and had a near-death experience that changed his mind, as a Christian there is an angle that takes getting used to as you read. It’s a cross-cultural, cross-religious view of the scientific and philosophical principals that support the concept of Heaven and the assertion that there must be a creator. For someone who is accustomed to reading about Heaven purely from a Christocentric perspective, in reading this book that mentions Jesus as one of the “possibilities,” I almost felt like I was cheating at first. One the other hand, as I read, I enjoyed getting the more cross-cultural view. The more I know, the better I can communicate with anyone struggling to believe.

So I didn’t finish reading Map yet, but, give me a few weeks and I’ll get ‘er done. For the plane ride home, I decided to dive into Heaven is for Real. The movie came out this year, and I hadn’t seen it because I really wanted to read the book. But yet I didn’t want to read the book, because I honestly felt like I had heard so much about it, what was the point of reading it? I felt the same way when I went to see the movie Titanic in 1997. One of the most colossal movies of all time, and I had a bad attitude going in, because, really, didn’t we already know how it was going to end? And then of course by the end of the movie I was bawling my eyes out to Celine Dion. Well, the same thing happened in For Real. Except the Celine Dion part. This book got a grip on me, largely because my own children are very close in age to Colton Burpo, the little boy featured in the book. During his illness and hospital scare, I think I held my breath for the entirety of two chapters. The story is well-told, and a nice read.

Too intimidated to study Old Testament? Here’s an Epic help.

Book Reviews

epicofedenI recently completed Old Testament Introduction through the Cross Training program at Oklahoma Wesleyan University. To be honest, I was dreading this class. Why? I was intimidated. While I have studied the Bible in church my whole life, I was overwhelmed at the prospect of taking on — and sorting through — the meaning of 39 distinct books and thousands of characters spanning several thousand years!

Enter Epic of Eden by Sandra Richter. Richter’s strategy in approaching this overwhelming topic is to categorize and bring order to a huge stockpile of information. She organizes the Old Testament into key places, time periods and people. The time, space and persons of the Old Testament are not only clarified for the reader, but suddenly much easier to memorize and recall. Richter is thorough, intelligent and explanatory.

This book is not just a reference, it is a fascinating and enjoyable read. Learn more about it at the Amazon link below!

Working with Negativity in Ministry Professionals: It starts in your head!

Book Reviews, Ministry, Professionalism

People are messy. Humans are humans, and we all have flaws. In a field full of people anointed with incredible talents and gifts, we work with people who have passions (tempers), alternate scheduling tendencies (disorganized and unreliable), introvert awkwardness (antisocial behaviors), extreme self confidence (arrogance). Yep. Even just downright jerks. The negativity in some, despite incredible talent and anointing, can cause a level of dysfunction that drags down the efforts of the entire ministry team. Dysfunction leads people to quit – or worse, turn their backs on the Jesus they have worked so hard to promote. So, how do we deal with these difficult personalities?

Consider this biblical passage from the book of Philippians:

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. – Philippians 4:8-9 (NIV)

The trickiest part of the passage is those last few words: “think about such things.” The ultimate “think positive” verse… it all starts – and ends – in our heads. Ultimately, what causes people to give up on a ministry really isn’t any one particular event, but how we think about and react to that event in our brains.

How do you handle it when someone loses their cool with you, lets you down, or isn’t being cooperative? For me, a self-described “Polly Positive,” such behavior from other people, especially professionals, can be derailing. Here are some methods that I have used successfully to ward off the negative thoughts and negative consequences of bad behavior:

1. Pray for the person who irritates/insults/annoys you. Remember the title of this blog post — it starts in your head. It starts with YOUR thoughts. Pray that God would help them with their shortcomings, as He helps you with yours. Pray for heart change, either in their heart, or in yours. Remember that you have faults, they are just not as annoying to you as someone else’s faults are.

2. Be honest and constructive with people who are dragging down the effort or the team – or you. Don’t avoid conversations or interactions because someone is difficult. Be prepared with specifics, and have a direct conversation in private.

3. Identify the positive in the project you are working on. That’s right – define your task according to Paul’s criteria. What about the task you are trying to accomplish is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy? Share these characteristics with the team. Be sure the mission is clear. Lack of clarity breeds negativity.

4. Think positive, but stop being surprised by a person who consistently acts badly. At some point over that last few years, while struggling with a particularly negative person, I had to admit to myself that in being shocked by their negative or rude reaction, I actually got personally hurt. Such behavior really knocks me off the tracks. This realization was huge. I needed to expect the behavior and be prepared for it. Rather than take it personally, or hope that this time when you deal with them that they will somehow be different, use strategies (in the next step) to prepare yourself for the situation.

5. Craft your message ahead of time. Take a factual, cool, calm, collected approach. STICK TO THE FACTS. Know what you want to accomplish, get it done, and don’t get dragged emotionally into the conversation. Don’t react in the moment, it only fuels the negativity.

6. Prune. Sometimes, it really is time for people to move on. A team cannot flourish — and God will not bless a ministry fully — when there is negativity brewing. Negativity is neither honoring nor respectful to God. He is patient and loving with our flaws, but does not expect us to wallow in them. Encourage, or insist, that someone with an incurable negative attitude find another position or way to serve.

For further reading on this topic, I recently completed Joyce Meyer’s bible study called “Battlefield of the Mind.” In it, she explores overcoming negative thinking and using scriptures to realize that God loves you and wants the very best for you. The bible study is FREE and is available at YouVersion, also a free phone app. The bible study is based on Myers’ book of the same title:

Thinking positive, and understanding the good that God has promised, are huge factors in being able to succeed with a team of humans. Starting in your own head will go a long way toward how you approach, and accomplish, those tough tasks and win over those tough people.