Pastor Mike's Blog

A Great Prayer For Your Family

A couple of weeks ago I started reading "The Principle of the Path" by Andy Stanley.  I love to read Andy Stanley books.  He is practical, relevant, and I find them challenging and helpful in my Christian life.  This book is no exception and I would highly recommend you check it out.  The basic premise of the book is that while many people wonder how they get into the mess they are in (family, marriage, finances, job, etc.), the truth is that it started many months and perhaps years before by the choices they made and the path they started walking down.  As I have been reflecting on this thought, I can see how this principle has been true in my own life (both in the good and difficult things I face) and also in the lives of people around me.

As I was reading today, Stanley shared a prayer that he prays for his family regularly.  It is based on Proverbs 27:12.  Here is the prayer: "Lord, help us to see trouble coming long before it gets here.  And give us the wisdom to know what to do and the courage to do it."  It is a great prayer isn't it?  As I think about our current sermon series on the family it seemed particularly relevant to what we have been talking about.  I offer it to you with the hope that you might consider praying it for your family - especially as it relates to your role as a parent. 

Already Gone - Interesting Book

Several weeks ago, someone from the church gave me the book Already Gone by Ken Ham.  Ken Ham is the founder of Answers in Genesis - U.S. which is also the group who recently constructed the new Creation Museum. The book is basically a research docuement on why kids who grow up in bible-believing, evangelical churches (like Otterbein) are leaving the church in droves as young adults.  Their research says that 61% of today's young adults who were regular attenders are now "spiritually disengaged."  They are not actively attending church, praying, or reading the Bible.  The question is WHY?

That is the purpose of the book.  It shares what they believe is the key factors involved with kids disengaging from the church and some solutions for the church and for parents. 

I am about half way through the book right now but would encourage parents to consider reading the book if you are concerned about what is happening with your kids spiritually.  As a church, we are considering the results of the study and will be talking further about what our response should be to the research. 

You can get the book at Amazon.com.  It may also be available at Lifeway Christian Bookstore.  If you have a chance to read it, I would love to hear your thoughts about it.  You can email me at mike@otterbeinchurch.org or use the comment section on the blog. 

The Shack

For the past several months, I have been hearing a lot about the book entitled THE SHACK.  It has been on the New York Times bestsellers list and I heard the author speak live last fall when I was attending a conference in Atlanta.

After I shared the first message in the Non-negotiables sermon series about the Trinity, I had a number of people email me and talk to me and tell me I should read THE SHACK.  And so I did.  I finished it about two weeks ago and I found it to be a meaningful and helpful book in my own journey with God.

If you have not read it, I encourage you to read it.  As you do, keep in mind that it is a book of FICTION -- it is not 100% theological correct (although I would not consider it heretical by any stretch of the imagination) and it is one person's understanding about God and the relationship of the Trinity.  The other key thing to keep in mind is that you need to read the whole thing.  You may get to a point in the story where you think you shouldn't read it or that it is a little "too far out there" and I encourage you to read it to the end.  If you do, I believe God will use it to help encourage you and overcome some of the common misunderstandings about God.  I also believe it will provide an interesting and thought-provoking perspective about the relationship of the Trinity.  Just keep in mind, it is a work of fiction.

I won't write anymore about the theme or story line so I don't give away too much of the story.  But I think it is worth the read and I encourage you to pick one up.  For me, I read it in a couple of days and found myself getting engrossed in the story once I started reading it. 

Let me know what you think when you are done.