Here is next week's home devotional booklet. Just like in last week's booklet, we'll be reviewing the Bible passages we read and studied on Sunday, along with a view to the upcoming Sunday's Bible passages at the end of the week. The main scripture texts this booklet covers are Ecclesiastes 6-7 and Philippians 2:19-30.

I really encourage you to use this booklet as a family, as much as possible. This is written especially to men, including myself. The Bible commands men to be good managers of their households. This includes, if nothing else, being a good spiritual steward of the family God has given us.

But if you are a single parent, please gather your children and spend this short time reading and discussing the Bible together and praying together. If you are a husband and wife with no children, find a way to read and pray together. If your children are very busy, spend some extra time and meet with them separately, if you have to.

I hope you use this booklet to edify and build your own family in the grace of God.

Truth be told, I struggle with intercessory prayer. I find it both challenging and overwhelming. Challenging because I don't always know what to pray for; overwhelming because the number of people to pray for can become massive over time.

Paul Miller suggests a way forward in his insightful book, A Praying Life. There, he points out that for many, an intercessory prayer list actually gets in the way because it becomes event- and situation-driven rather than person-driven. For example, we make a list by writing down a person's name and the situation or event that needs prayed for. We end up praying for them, which is good, but we tend to not pray for their overall spiritual character. For example:

Sue -- health
Rick -- new job
Tom -- marriage

Instead, Miller points out that we are more likely to be effective in our prayers if we focus on people and praying for their spiritual growth and character. A useful tool for doing this is to build a notecard for each person in your life that you want to pray for.

On the notecard, write their name and perhaps a verse or two from the Bible that encapsulates your prayer for them. Beneath these verses, write a few categories within which you will pray for this person. Over time, you will create a "deck" of cards that you will refer to in prayer. Miller suggests praying for just a couple each day, but I wrote out about 5 or 6 on yellow cards that I will pray for every day--my wife, my son, myself, those I'm mentoring (and being mentored by), and my church's leadership group. Then, I have about 10 other cards that I'll pray through by going through a couple each day.

Below is an example card. It's a card for my son. On it, you can see his name, the verses I use to focus on while I'm praying for him, and the specific categories I'm praying in for him: health, spiritual, and sleep.

I've personally found this to be very valuable. It has enabled me to pray much more effectively for people in my life because it helps me focus on them as people, rather than as items to be prayed for (like on a list). There is nothing wrong with using a list, but if you struggle with it like I did, give this method a shot.

Links to three recent items of interest for me. Maybe they'll be of interest to you.

• Book recommendation: Puritan Evangelism by Joel R. Beeke. A short but interesting look at the evangelistic efforts of the Puritans. These are not strategies, nor will this book give you a "pattern" for evangelism. Instead, Beeke offers several examples of the biblically-saturated, doctrinally-informed, application-oriented approaches of the Puritan preachers as they tried to reach those who were lost through prayer, plain preaching, and catechizing.
• This year I'm aiming to memorize Philippians. So far, I'm through most of chapter 1. One of the reasons I haven't given much thought to memorization, prior to this year, was because I didn't like the idea of memorizing verses in isolation from each other. In this post, James Pothen describes the value of memorizing chunks of the Bible instead of verses--context matters.
• A temptation for some pastors, preachers and ministers is to look with envy at the larger, more successful programs of churches around them. This article, referencing the Puritan preacher Richard Baxter, is a reminder that all effective pastoral ministry is based on clear preaching, evangelistic appeal, and pastoral care of members.
  

See this thread that details my project to read at least 52 books this year. At that thread I list each book I've read and provide a brief summary of it. I'm writing these three brief book reviews in one post to provide a little more context.

The Missional Mom by Helen Lee

I read this book because it came highly recommended on a website I think highly of. Sadly, I was disappointed with it. Although I appreciated the variety of topics that Lee chose to write about, and her emphasis on her church, I was turned off by an incident related early in the book that I completely disagreed with. My view of this incident affected the way I viewed Lee's entire project.  Perhaps the most valuable lesson I learned from Lee's book is this: you can be both missional and a member of a "traditional" church. I already knew this, but I think many "missional" books underemphasize (or omit) this connection.

Update (2/14/2001): I want to be more positive about this book. As I've thought more about it, it was not right for me to largely dismiss the book because of what I disagreed with early on. In fact, Helen Lee has offered a very accessible primer on missional living. I don't have a particularly large collection of missional books, but of what I do have, Lee's book is perhaps the cleanest and simplest introduction to missional living. In other words, if I had to give someone one book on missional living out of my collection, I would more than likely give Lee's to a person.

Right Here, Right Now by Alan Hirsch and Lance Ford

I always enjoy reading Hirsch's books. Though I find them too theoretical for what they are, they are also filled with practical ideas and concepts. This book is no different. Hirsch wrote the first and last chapter and provides insights throughout the book. Ford wrote the majority of the book. The two worked out a good pattern--the book is engaging, interesting, theologically sound and theologically practical. I recommend it if you want to learn how to engage people in mission for the sake of Jesus Christ.

Church Planting is for Wimps by Mike McKinley

I loved this book! I'm finding that anything in the 9Marks series hits the mark, so to speak. McKinley was an intern at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., and followed Mark Dever's suggestion that he plant in a church in northern Virginia. His efforts led him and his wife to revitalize an already existing church, rather than plant a new one. This short book details how he went about the process of revitalization, with an emphasis on gathering around the word of God, maintaining integrity with the membership rolls, creating an accurate and useful statement of faith, and changing the church's constitution and by-laws to organize around biblical leadership (elders). A final chapter encourages a dedication to faithfulness, not numbers. Very encouraging! I highly recommend this book for anyone in church ministry.

It was interesting to read these three books inside of the same way. In my opinion, too many books written from a supposedly missional orientation leave the organizational church out. They include discussions of the church but with much more nuance. For example, Hirsch and Ford tell a story about a group who had bush walking as a hobby but could only meet on Sunday. This became their "church." I'm personally uncomfortable with designating this activity "church." That doesn't mean it's wrong; this is still something I'm processing as I study scripture and keep reading. To me, despite the problems I had with Lee's book, one strength was her ability to create a bridge between the organizational church and missional activity.

McKinley's book focused more on the outreach activities of the church as evangelism. In my opinion, many missionally-oriented books simply describe ways of evangelizing people with integrity. These writers and practitioners cringe at the traditional methods of evangelism, as do I. But evangelism can be done properly and with integrity. There is much to learn from the missional movement and their books about evangelism without throwing away the organizational church (despite its flaws). McKinley fills in these gaps and provides the necessary building blocks while maintaining a witness to the community around the church.

Here is next week's home devotional booklet. Just like in last week's booklet, we'll be reviewing the Bible passages we read and studied on Sunday, along with a view to the upcoming Sunday's Bible passages at the end of the week. The main scripture texts this booklet covers are Ecclesiastes 5 and Philippians 2:12-18.

I really encourage you to use this booklet as a family, as much as possible. This is written especially to men, including myself. The Bible commands men to be good managers of their households. This includes, if nothing else, being a good spiritual steward of the family God has given us.

But if you are a single parent, please gather your children and spend this short time reading and discussing the Bible together and praying together. If you are a husband and wife with no children, find a way to read and pray together. If your children are very busy, spend some extra time and meet with them separately, if you have to.

I hope you use this booklet to edify and build your own family in the grace of God.

Context: Paul has exhausted his legal defenses in Judea and still no charges were found against him. But because he had appealed to Caesar, he was sent to Rome.

Sailing (27:1-12)

1. Who else is with Paul? (1)
2. Was Paul treated like a prisoner by the guard? (3)
3. What favorable treatment did the guard give Paul?
4. How did Paul need to be cared for? (3)
5. How is the shipwreck foreshadowed in this section? (see vs. 4, 7-8, 9, 12)
6. What does the reference to "the Fast" have to do with their travel plans? (9)
7. What was Paul's message? How was it received? (10-11)
8. How is Paul being presented? (10; cp. 21, 24-25, 34, 44)

Storm (27:13-38)

1. Why did the crew decide to set sail again from Phoenix? (13)
2. What difficulties did they face on this journey? (14-20)
3. How severe did things get? (20-21)
4. How did Paul seek to influence the crew? (21-26)
5. What did Paul promise them? (22)
6. How did Paul encourage them? (23-24)
7. How did Paul evangelize them? (23)
8. What is the reason given why they--through Paul--will be saved? (24-25)
9. Why must they shipwreck? (26)
10. What similarities and differences exist between Paul in a storm at sea and Jonah?
11. Why was the salvation of the centurion and the others contingent on the sailors not escaping? (31)
12. What scene is Paul's provision of food like? (35) Is this deliberate on Luke's part?

Shipwreck (27:39-44)

1. What was the plan to deal with the ship? How did the plan work? (41)
2. Why did the centurion wish to save Paul's life? (43)
3. Was the word of God through Paul fulfilled? (44) Why is this important?

Themes for application

1. In this story, how is God's word delivered? What is required upon hearing God's word?
2. What do you learn about evangelism or discipleship from this story?
3. What are the different ways God's word and sovereignty worked along with human action?
4. What did you learn in this lesson that we should pray about?

Some of the men in the church here are going through a leadership training class by Lynn Anderson called They Smell Like Sheep. The idea is, using the biblical metaphor of shepherding, that leaders (shepherds) are so entwined with people's lives (their "sheep") that they "smell" like sheep. It's a good book, and a good course.

In lesson one, Anderson includes an article about praying the psalms. I've read about this before and have some experience in praying the psalms, but was reminded in this reading of this great habit that I've neglected. He challenges those taking the course to pray through the entire book of Psalms in one month (5 psalms each day) and then to continue praying one each day.

I took up his challenge but modified it. I'm going to begin praying one psalm each day. Today, of course, I prayed Psalm 1. Thinking about the psalm, I was reminded of the two ways to approach God. One way ends in life and righteousness, the other in perishing. The key to walking in the life-ending and life-affirming way is to meditate on the law (scripture; the words of God) day and night.

This was critical for me. Over the last 6 months or so, I have probably read more of the Bible than at any other time of my life. But I haven't meditated on it. (There is a difference.) Through praying Psalm 1, God challenged me to meditate on his word, not just in the morning when I do my Bible reading, but also in the evening. I've been brainstorming ways to do this.

It is through meditation that we grow in strength of faith to be like the great tree planted by a stream that yields its fruit in season. This is what we want to be--giants in faith. But we only get there through meditation on God's word, which allows his word to seep into the cracks and crevices of our souls, take root, and blossom.

Below is an audio devotional I made awhile back on Psalm 1. I think it's appropriate to repost it.

See this thread for an ongoing record of what I have read in 2011, combined with brief reviews.

The Mentor Leader by Tony Dungy

This book is a nice follow up to reading Tony's earlier memoir, Quiet Strenth. (I have yet to read Uncommon, though I would like to, so if any of my blog readers would like to send me a gift....) Although this book was good and useful, I think I prefer Quiet Strength because Tony shared many of the same principles but they were better contextualized in his personal examples (in my opinion). Still, this book is an excellent resource for people who want to mentor others.

Two of Tony's key insights that I really resonated with are: 1) mentoring is a way to "build into" someone else's life; and 2) good mentors will never be known by their fruit because their fruit will receive all the attention. Mentors must be willing to live in the shadows of their results, so to speak.

The concept of "building into" someone's life, which Tony repeated over and over, was very important to me. Sometimes in business, or in church ministry (my sphere), we can lose focus on building people because we become distracted by trying to build an organization. Organizations are made up of people, and people must be built to strengthen the organization. As Jesus taught that the "Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27), so it is with the organization: it exists for people, not people for it. When we "build into" the organization and neglect "building into" the life of the people within the organization, we end up with a cold, empty shell. Rather, we should "build into" people and work with their strengths and abilities, even if it means restructuring the organization.

The second key insight was perhaps more important to me, because I have never seen this idea emphasized in a leadership book as clearly as Tony emphasized it. Good mentors, because they "build into" the life of another, will often see the fruit of their mentorship overtake them. Good mentors must be people of humility who are focused on the betterment of others ahead of their own recognition. For example, Tony says that when we mentor others--a football player, a businessperson, a child--people will always look at the end result: "What a great young man that is!" They will not often reflect on the training and mentoring that went into making that person the person they are. Good mentors understand this and are okay with this. There is no room for pride in mentoring.

If you are looking for a good book on leadership, this is a good one that will teach you the principles of mentoring and "building into" the lives of others. Build people, and the organization will thrive.

See this thread for the list of books I've read this year (I'm trying to read at least 52 books this year).

Money: God or Gift by Jamie Munson

This is a short book in the Re:Lit series. It was very inexpensive and well worth it. Munson teaches along 3 themes from Luke 12--giving, priorities and stewardship. Yet, the book is much more than just a study of Luke 12, as Munson hops along to many different scriptures that teach about money and stewardship. His third section on stewardship was worth the cost of the book alone, as he provided many different examples of how stewardship can be practiced at different phases of life. Perhaps the most challenging part of the book for me was in the first section where Munson challenged me on saving, specifically whether I save money as a steward or out of fear and anxiety about the future.

I'm trying something new to encourage Bible reading at home, especially among families. Below is a devotional booklet I'll hand out Sunday. For 6 days, Sunday through Friday, you will read a section of scripture that was read or preached from on Sunday. There are a few questions and a prayer focus to help you get started. On Saturday, you'll read the Bible passages that will be read and preached from the next day.

Please use this aid to help you draw closer to God in obedience through his word. Consider reading and discussing these passages together as a family.

There is a download link for the booklet in PDF form at the bottom of this post.