Aging with Grace — at Any Age

Posted on February 15, 2014 by Carl Simmons

A.W. Tozer once said, “Here’s a test to see if your mission in life is finished—if you’re still alive, it’s not.” That quote doesn’t appear in this book, but it easily could have.

I’m getting to that age where I have to at least start thinking about many of the specific issues in this book—and most of my friends are even closer. Even without my own daily reminders, though, Ecclesiastes 7:2 reminds us, “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” Thus this book serves as a reminder to all of us, regardless of age, to “lay it to heart”—and more importantly, do something with it—while we still can. And, that “while we still can” extends far longer than we often think.

richinyearsENJohann Christoph Arnold. Rich in Years: Finding Peace and Purpose in a Long Life. 192p., $12.00, Plough Publishing House.

Arnold, grandson of Bruderhof founder Eberhard Arnold and now well into his 70s himself, writes with the grace, clarity and energy he demands of his readers. Despite the physical and sometimes mental limitations aging can bring, Arnold asserts that everyone has a purpose that can be lived out until our last day on earth, and encourages each of us to forget about what we can no longer do and get on with what we can do:

Just as we fear getting old, we also fear dying. But we will never fully conquer these fears until we realize that we were not just made for this world, but for something greater. If we see death as a stepping stone into another world – as part of a continuum of the human experience and not as the end of it – we can better deal with it.

Although the individual chapters would be considered topical—addressing such issues as loneliness, dementia, accepting the increasing lack of independence/mobility, finding reconciliation and peace with friends and family, and of course “saying goodbye”—they thankfully don’t read that way. The feel is actually quite warm and meditative, and regularly illustrated with stories or friends and relatives who’ve lived out, and through, the ideas and issues being dealt with here.

In short, and to end with the author’s own words: “Growing older can be a gift, but only if we surrender ourselves to God’s plan. Then we can stop complaining about things we can’t do any more and realize that God is finding new ways to use us.”

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FINALLY.

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Carl Simmons

Let’s keep this one short but personal….

I haven’t talked about this at length on this blog, but as many of you know (or at least have deduced), I’ve been the better part of unemployed for more than three years now. Between freelance gigs, unemployment (then, federal unemployment — which, as you probably know, expired for 1.7 million of us [and growing] a couple months back), and temporary gigs we’ve been able to hang on, but the plane could see the ground/side of the mountain/[insert metaphor of choice here] looming close.

That changed last night.

After four months of interviews/talks/what have you — not to mention the 500+ resumes and dozens of interviews before that — the job offer finally arrived. And, needless to say, I accepted it. 🙂

Thus, starting probably sometime next week (pending background check and myriad other paperwork/”onboarding”), I’ll be serving as Coordinator and Editor for The Christian Character Project, a K-12 curriculum being created for charter and Christian schools. This next year oughta be more than a little chaotic, but I’ve done chaotic — in fact, I’m pretty sure I created the roadmap for it (don’t tell anyone; it makes me look better if we keep it a secret). Another start-up project, and obviously this one has a payoff close to my heart.

(Phew.)

By the way, if any of you are Christian-curriculum writers, I could probably use your services going forward. (And for what it’s worth and from what I already know: The curriculum is very question/inquiry-based, with a decent amount of Scripture/commentary in addition.) Lemme know.

In the meantime: Onward….

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You No Longer Have ANY Excuses :)

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Carl Simmons

(aka, carlsimmonslive is now also Carl Simmons FREE….)

I know, I know, I’ve been talking a lot about my books lately. Well, I’m not done just yet.

Those of you who, like me, are avid music fans have probably discovered NoiseTrade by now, where musicians (especially of the alt-acoustic and/or alt-Christian variety) offer their albums as free downloads, although one can also leave a tip and/or pay the proper price if they so choose. The music gets a chance to be heard, the artist gets (somewhat) paid, the “buyer” gets to learn about new music with minimum financial risk, everybody wins.

Well, now they’re branching into books—and for once in my life I’m an early adapter by choice. Click HERE and discover for yourself. (FWIW, there’s also books by John Piper, Matt Chandler and Dave Ramsey, and there’s only two pages of nonfiction books so far. See, I really am an early adapter this time.)

What you’ll find are the four out of seven books I’ve written (and specifically, the ones I currently own the rights to): Lay It Down (which is still awaiting news from elsewhere, so get it while you can), and the recently “out of print” Seasons 4-6 of the From Disciples to Disciplers series (Growing Others, Growing in Leadership, and Growing in Your Mission). And again, they’re yours for FREE, if you like (although a tip would be cool, too).

createspace coverSeason 4 coverSeason 5 coverOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

If you’re ever had an interest in my writing… and the fact that you’re here kinda suggests that… this is your big chance. You no longer have any excuse to at least not try each of them. And I’m willing to bet you’ll get something out of them when you do. After all, that’s why I’m still pushing them. You’ve got five years of my creative life/God-wrasslin’ in writing, and I refuse to believe it’s all for nothing.

So there it is. Now, GO FETCH. 🙂

And then spread the word. ‘Cause other people like good cheap stuff, too, you know.

And thanks.

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The Covers Have Landed!

Posted on January 23, 2014 by Carl Simmons

Those of you who like pictures more than text will enjoy this post. 🙂 Because the new From Disciples to Disciplers covers are here, courtesy of the illustrious Marion Simmons…. Enjoy….

Season 1 coverSeason 2 cover  Season 3 cover

Season 4 cover

Season 5 coverOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAGranted, the covers for Seasons 1-3 won’t be used in the immediate future, but Marion wanted to work through the whole series and thus we’re ready for that if/when the remainder of the series reverts back to me (although Season 1: Growing in Jesus, in particular still seems to be performing reasonably well and was in fact charting on Amazon yet again yesterday).

Probably next week: Some minor but still good news—especially for those of you who like a cheap book…. Stay tuned….

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Once More into the Breach

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Carl Simmons

Happy New Year, y’all. While I continue to await good news from other sectors, there is something I can take into my own hands here—since that’s where they were thrown back into….

This time last month, Seasons 4-6 of the Growing Out: From Disciples to Disciplers series officially went out of print, and the rights reverted back to me. Thus, I’ve been spending some time editing and reformatting the content so I could make them re-available. You can still find the originals on Amazon for the foreseeable future, of course; but I can actually get paid for these ones, so I wouldn’t at all mind you purchasing these new editions. 🙂 It should have some fancier covers forthcoming (I’ll use the old ones below for now), but you would be buying it for the content, after all.

So first, said purchasing information, then I’ll get on my soapbox about why they deserve to once again see the light of day…

Season 4: Growing Others — book here, Kindle version here
Season 5: Growing in Leadership — book here, Kindle version here
Season 6: Growing in Your Mission — book here, Kindle version here

GO4Let me start here: “Once more into the breach” is more than just a literary way of saying “they’re baa-aack….” The fact is: Growing Others is truly the centerpiece of the entire Disciples to Disciplers series—the objective reason this series had to be written. (I have my personal reasons, too.) Anyone who’s worked through Seasons 1-3 in their own lives—in other words, you’ve developed and deepened your walk with Jesus, learned how to live it out among those people you most care about, and discovered some of how God’s created you and why—now needs to address this question: How do you take what God’s already revealed to you, turn around, “step into the breach” and help someone else walk through those same issues, rather than stamp them with a “saved” sticker and leave them to drown?

I still have yet to see another small-group study on the market that addresses this. (Books, yes, but not a single study to help groups/churches process this together.) And, put simply, this is where the American church has failed miserably. People get plateaued or stuck, and leave, because a critical point has been overlooked – the people coming in the door and/or just coming to Christ? They need you. And guess what? You need them, too—more than you know. So pick up a copy of Growing Others and learn how to stand in the breach for yourself (and others).

GO6For that matter, I don’t see another study out there that explores how to genuinely flesh out a God-given vision (i.e., Season 6: Growing in Your Mission), and not a whole lot of books either. Whether it’s a new ministry, a church plant, or whatever God’s put on your heart to develop, this study will help you process it and “make the dream real.” It’s pretty stinking unique, if I do say so myself. And I just did.

GO5And yes, there are studies on leadership already out there, although they’re more about developing obvious leaders. Growing in Leadership focuses on the rest of us—arguably the majority, in terms of the church—whose spiritual maturity has led to positions of spiritual leadership but who aren’t “natural-born leaders.”

Also: If you’ve ever used these—or just got inspired to do so—spread the word. Tell your buds; start a group in your own church; go put up a review on Amazon (under the new versions now) or elsewhere; and help get the ball re-rolling here.

As always, thanks. This series means a lot to me, and so does your help.

— Carl

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From the Head to the Heart (but not quite to the hands)

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Carl Simmons

Even though this book comes up short on the how-to’s of spiritual formation, it does a good job of provoking you to get off your butt and actually pursue it. However, you’ll probably want to do that long before you finish the book itself.

saucyRobert L. Saucy. Minding the Heart: The Way of Spiritual Formation. 344p., $21.99, Kregel Publications.

If you think I sound conflicted here, you’re right. This book’s heart is in the right place, and so are a lot of its words. It genuinely moved me to want to act—and then didn’t give me a lot to actually work with. But let’s start with some of that provoking stuff, because it’s well worth considering:

The picture of continually walking may be unpleasant and tiring to us…. We may have never thought of the Christian life in this way. But in reality, we may be practicing it by relegating our spiritual walk to well-defined religious activities…. The rest of our life—whatever else consumes our time—is not part of the journey. It’s a vacation. It doesn’t count.

Robert Saucy spends a lot of time addressing the problem of our “fat and hard” hearts. A lot of time. An important point he makes throughout, though, is that our minds determine much more of what’s in our hearts than we normally give it credit for. Indeed, “The point is that an emotion is always interpreted [by the mind] before it has any effect upon the person.” And thus, our minds need transforming.

Saucy does provide some ideas on ways to approach this—by meditating on God’s Word (especially via lectio divina) and community (which, I have to admit, is about the time I started mentally checking out, as we were already 200-plus pages in by the time this was even touched upon). But he spends a decidedly small amount of time on this, compared to the amount of time he spends telling us why it’s important. Any reader will be sold on the idea 100 pages before getting any kind of answer to the question, “OK, so how do I do it?” (And realistically, most readers were probably sold before even picking up this book.)

Granted, it’s almost all good content—well-presented and biblically solid. That said, I would’ve lost a bunch of the secondhand examples/illustrations here, for reasons that are by now obvious. For that matter, the dozens of sidebars here add pretty much nothing to the book, aside from length.

In fact, it feels very much like a visit to a wise old seminary professor, to learn the answers to some very specific questions regarding spiritual formation. He regales you with a depth of knowledge on the subject. You know he’s walked it himself. And yet, two hours later, you realize he has yet to answer your question. And that he probably won’t.

And so, you thank him for his time and his heart for Jesus, say “good day,” and move on.

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It’s the End of the World as Paul Knew It

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Carl Simmons

As C. Marvin Pate points out from the get-go, “[The apostle] Paul was a product of three worlds: Greco-Roman, Jewish, and Christian.” This collision of worldviews (and the sub-worldviews within — e.g., Caesar-worship, Stoicism, Platonism, and especially the “Judaizers” so often confronted in both the Acts and epistles), then, heavily informed Paul’s responses and eschatology throughout much of the New Testament.
And as we edge closer to the last days, Pate gives us both a sense of the original context and a lens through which we too can begin to “see darkly” at least some of what Paul saw and often openly confronted.
apostle of the last daysC. Marvin Pate. Apostle of the Last Days: The Life, Letters, and Theology of Paul. 320p., $22.99, Kregel Academic.

Between the two bracket-chapters of Paul as “apocalyptic seer” and a summary of Paul’s end-times theology are in-depth analyses of each of Paul’s letters from an eschatological viewpoint—and again, the particular contexts he’s responding to in each of those letters. (Actually, the pastoral letters are treated in a single chapter.)

Quite a bit of time is spent on Paul’s responses to Jewish Merkebah mysticism, which I confess I knew nothing about prior to reading this book (think of it as late OT/early NT-era kabbalah), especially in the chapter on Colossians. The Roman imperial cult (i.e., Caesar as god) gets its fair share of examination here, too, especially in the chapters on Ephesians, Colossians and the pastorals.

It’s probably obvious by now that this is a very scholarly book. It’s not for everyone. Still, for those who can put in the work, Apostle of the Last Days will bring you deeper into Paul’s world—as well as deeper sense of the world to come, where Jesus awaits—and a better sense of how to respond to today’s own collision of worldviews.
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The Mystery in the Mess

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Carl Simmons

(Sounds like a Bones episode, don’t it? Anyway…)

Some devotional books are dedicated to helping you feel better about your life each day…. My purpose here is to embrace the mysteries of God and then proclaim by faith that, despite my selfishness and lack of understanding, God is worthy of all praise. If that encourages you, then good. You can thank God for that, too.

Sound like your cup of tea? Then read on….

van dusenJohn Van Dusen. Standing By the Sea: Stretch Out Your Hands, Walk Into the Mystery. A 52-Week Devotional. 188p., $6.92 (paperback), $2.99 (Kindle), CreateSpace.

Although John Van Dusen’s stated intent elsewhere is to get you deeper into the Word of God (and there’s ample sections in each weekly devotional to help you do that), what it’ll accomplish more is to get the already-existing Word of God deeper into you. To realize that in the messiness of life, all our emotions, all our bewilderment, all our failures, there God still is. And that’s a message worth sharing.

You’ll be able to tell pretty quickly that John’s a worship leader; there’s a creativity here (and yes, flakiness — but that’s not a bad thing) that’s hard to miss. In his best moments, John’s style reminds me more than a little bit of Shane Claiborne — winsome, disarmingly informal, insightful, sometimes meditative and/or sensory. Other times, I think, “He really could’ve/should’ve stopped there.” But that too is part of the charm here.

The meditations themselves are each a modest length — two oversized pages, as a rule — and each closes with a few “questions of mystery,” again ranging from the profound to the goofy but all of them intended to get you thinking about God’s place in each part of your life and to help us remember that we’re all in this together. And with that, one more sample to give you the flavor:

The plain truth for all as we walk out our simple faith is this: That nearly invisible Sunday school teacher struggling to write yet another lesson for a class suffers the same ups and downs that Eugene Peterson has. No matter how bright the star, we’re all made of the same stuff. And that stuff is characterized by missteps and tipped halos….

Take heart. Despite personal failure we more often than not reflect the handiwork and artistry of God…. We are beautiful, undone, planned on but free to blossom in the most unlikely places…. Reflect on that.

In short, Standing By the Sea is a very human book. And if you’re a human, too, you’ll enjoy it — and likely get pulled up short a few times by the Spirit in the process.

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Ambition and Its Discontents

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Carl Simmons

Ambition is a tricky thing. It can be the “divine discontent” that drives us to accomplish great things for God, or it can be… well, we’ve all seen what it can be. And as a result, many of us don’t pursue our ambitions at all, as if they’re inherently evil. But as R.T. Kendall points out over and over throughout this book, it’s not the ambition that’s good or bad, but the source and the goal of that ambition—both of Whom should be the same.

kendallR.T. Kendall. Finding Your Heart’s Desire: Ambition, Motivation & True Success. 192p., $14.99, Chosen Books.

“There is nothing more promising for the Kingdom of God than godly ambition, and yet there is nothing worse and more threatenting to the Church than unsanctified motivation,” Kendall says. Thus we must choose wisely—and before anything else, choose God. As he says a handful of pages later, “I began a journey that has taken me to this day—seeking the honor that comes from God only—with all the ambition I can muster. I am still in pursuit of that glory.” At its best, this book will inspire you to do the same.

My favorite two chapters of the book would be “The Fruit of the Spirit,” which dwells largely on the matter of forgiveness (which makes for a great litmus test of our own ambition: How willing are we to ask not only for God’s forgiveness but God’s blessing on others who’ve hurt us? Are we that willing to want what God wants?); and “Too Much Ambition?” in which R.T. shares some of his own story, especially concerning his relaionship with his father who pushed him into so much ambition both good and bad. The latter chapter closes with seven principles for gauging the condition of our own ambitions, and serves as a good practical measure for us.

In between we gets plenty of examples, both biblical and personal, to remind us of both the potential plusses and minuses of our ambition. And it comes down to this:

We have seen that ambition is not necessarily a bad thing. But it tends to be more bad than good when described in the Bible. When we come to understnad this, we should learn to see ambition as an amber light—use caution: Slow down and be prepared to stop. Ambition can achieve wonderful things; it can accomplish the most evil things.

For those on either end of the spectrum, Finding Your Heart’s Desire will help you to better see ambition through God’s eyes, and to adjust accordingly.

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Get Real, Get Right

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Carl Simmons

I think (hope?) that by now most Christians realize that evangelism isn’t about delivering some canned presentation—let alone about smashing nonbelievers to bits with our “unassailable” arguments—but about sharing the hope we have in Christ, the hope He has given us. Still, many of us have problems articulating that hope, or in believing that what Christ has given us is enough for someone else. If you’re one of those people, this book is for you.

get-real-thumbJohn S. Leonard. Get Real: Sharing Your Everyday Faith Every Day. 192p., $17.99, New Growth Press.

(The obligatory disclaimer: I was editor for this book. Well, of course I was. :))

One huge point of the book is that evangelism is a team sport. The opening quarter of the book, “The Gospel We Share,” lays the groundwork for what’s to come. The linchpin for the entire book, in fact, is the discussion of Luke 7 that closes this section, and John Leonard sums it up nicely in this passage:

It’s remarkable that each time Jesus steps down and identifies with sinners and their suffering, there is a corresponding elevation and revelation of who Jesus Christ is. If I were God and wanted to prove it to the world, I might do it by some big flashy event—maybe write my name in the sky. But God chooses to do it by identifying with the suffering and the sinful—identifying with us….

We practice “personal evangelism,” “friendship evangelism,” or “one-on-one evangelism.” We indoctrinate our children at an early age to this individual approach. Every child who has ever attended a Vacation Bible School and sung the chorus, “I Will Make You Fishers of Men,” has been taught that evangelism is something we do by ourselves. 

There is nothing wrong with the words of the chorus; after all, they come straight out of the Bible. It’s the choreography…. [O]ur Lord was not speaking about fishing with a rod when he called the disciples to follow him. He was talking to fishermen who used nets. When you fish with nets, you must fish together.

The latter three-quarters of the book, “A Real Approach to Sharing the Gospel,” delivers on this. Whether it’s through relationship, parties, prayer, listening, or giving nonbelievers a taste and leave them wanting more (rather than plowing them over with EVERYTHING THEY NEED TO KNOW), there’s a entry point somewhere to grab onto.

One interesting concept here is the idea, “evangelize Christians and disciple non-Christians.” It sounds backwards to us, but you’ll get it by the time you’re done reading about it. As believers, we need to hear the Gospel fresh; and nonbelievers need to have it broken down and fleshed out in order to believe it—with relationship every step of the way. Plus, guess what you have once you’ve discipled someone to Christ? That’s right: a disciple, rather than a baby Christian with no foundation and no support system, which we see far too often in the church these days.

Anotehr unique aspect of the book is its approach to ministry to Muslims. The final chapter deals directly with this issue, but as this has been a big part of John’s calling it’s peppered throughout the book as well. And again, it points back to living our faith as we share it. Too often, we do one to the exclusion of the other.

In short, there’s a lot of mental paradigm shifts to enjoy and absorb here. A lot of this may well be stuff you’ve probably grasped on one level—but haven’t yet grasped how to actually apply it. Get Real will help you to cross that bridge as well.

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