This week marks the start of Sing! Conference 2019, the Getty Music Worship Conference. I am privileged to be attending with some dear folks from my church.
Lauren Green is a religion correspondent for Fox News, and also an accomplished pianist and former Miss Minnesota. She shares lessons from her faith journey in her new book Lighthouse Faith.
The book is a compilation of thoughts and reflections on life and spirituality and includes insights from some of the many scientists and religious leaders that she has interviewed over the years. She compares the Christian life to a lighthouse but switches metaphors often in her intriguing book. She finds spiritual power in places and poignant metaphors, and leads us from a quiet cottage, to a rocky shore and on to a vineyard and then into a musical analysis of none other than Handel’s Messiah.
The book does go in circles but the reflections and thoughts shared are honest, heart-warming and rooted in a simple Christian faith. Green attends Redeemer Presbyterian Church pastored by Tim Keller as she notes in her acknowledgements and throughout the book, but her roots are in an AME church and her work brings her in touch with Christians of all stripes.
I was not moved by some of her observations. She finds the cross in the Pythagorean theorem (4 right angles = a cross in the middle) — and so to her, every building that stands, does so by power of the cross. Even in blood some of the molecules have a shape of the cross in them, she observes. She also leans on biblical numerology and makes tenuous connections. Perhaps even more troubling is her attempt to read motives into tragic events and look for a deeper meaning.
That said, her meditations make for interesting reading and no great damage is done. The eye of faith stands behind her work and many will benefit from her simple approach and sometimes deeply personal life-lessons.
Blurbs:
“Though many in the media and the academy portray belief in God as passé in our modern world, Lauren Green astutely observes that the heartfelt question, ‘Where is God in my hour of need?’ is universal. In more than forty years of travel I have heard this plea countless times, whether from students in university forums or corporate leaders in private conversations. A seasoned journalist and an accomplished pianist, Lauren interviews scholars and discloses her own journey to understand God as a living reality. She has lived out her faith with courage and grace in a difficult arena. Her words will encourage and challenge you.”
—Ravi Zacharias, Founder and President of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries; Author and Speaker
“I have known Lauren Green since she played piano on my old Fox News show After Hours. Her discovery of who God is and what it means to be loved and find meaning in a relationship with him will help the reader find meaning and purpose in his or her own life. Isn’t that what we all seek?”
—Cal Thomas, Syndicated Columnist
“Lauren Green is one of the bright lights in American journalism, and she has distinguished herself as an astute analyst of religion and culture. Lighthouse Faith is her new book, and, in it, she brings fresh insights and perspectives that readers will not have heard anywhere else! Her voice is thoroughly original, solidly biblical, and consistently inspiring. having personally interviewed the world’s leading figures in religion, plus drawing from her own knowledge of history and current events, Green introduces timeless truths in fresh new ways. her explanation of how music theory relates to God (specifically as used by G.F. Handel) is absolutely riveting. In Lighthouse Faith Lauren Green brings readers content that truly is unique.”
—Alex McFarland, Director of the Center for Apologetics and Christian Worldview, North Greenville University
Disclaimer: This book was provided by the publisher for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a positive review.
About Book Briefs: Book Briefs are book notes, or short-form book reviews. They are my informed evaluation of a book, but stop short of being a full-length book review.
Last summer, I had the privilege of preaching at our church again in St. Paul. The sermon I delivered was poignant and personal. In light of recently posting about our family’s trials, I thought sharing the sermon here for my readers would be appropriate and offer a window into our world.
The text is Lamentations 3:21-26, but the theme is the biblical genre of lament in general. Going through a dark time really brings home the power and promise of the Bible’s lament songs. Pouring out your soul and your distress to the Lord is part of what biblical faith looks like. All of this is designed to help us wait with hope.
I’m sharing the sermon here, and you can find all my recent sermons from The Heights Church, St. Paul, here.
If you don’t have time to listen to the entire sermon (50 minutes), please do look over my notes.
As a former pastor’s kid (and assistant pastor’s kid, and later a missionary’s kid), this book intrigued me. As a former member of John Piper’s church, this book had special relevance for me. The author is Barnabus Piper, one of Pastor John’s sons. As a Christian who is recovering from legalism, this book was especially helpful for me.
In The Pastor’s Kid: Finding Your Own Faith and Identity (David C. Cook, 2014), Barnabus opens up about the struggles of growing up in a fish bowl. The author doesn’t claim to be a guru, but he is a pastor’s kid who struggled and erred, but also grew and matured and looks back on his time as a pastor’s kid and feels the need to share his experience both for the benefit of pastors but especially for the help of fellow pastor’s kids who may not have turned out as well as he. There are a lot of pastor’s kids, and some of them have jettisoned their parents’ faith and are jarred by the experience. Other’s may not yet have come to grips with why they struggle so much in particular ways.
This book explores the unique challenges of pastor’s kids and yet doesn’t burn the parents and blame them for all the problems. Pastor John actually writes the foreword and while Barnabus spares no punches, one gets the sense that their relationship is in-tact and both respect the other.
This is part memoir, and part self-help. And it isn’t all Piper’s memoir, as he shares stories from countless pastor’s kids he interviewed in preparation for the book. Some of them are not in the faith anymore, and it does us good to wonder why. Barnabus’ prescription calls for grace and care for children, and a proper set of expectations. He also gives hope to those who have been burned, or are wondering what they can possibly due at this stage in the game.
I particularly appreciated his emphasis on legalism. This excerpt resonates well with me:
Not everything is right or wrong, true or false, yes or no. The PK needs some maybes and sort ofs. If every question is answered in black and white and every decision judged as right or wrong, the PK never learns to make value decisions. In fact, he never learns values at all. He just learns to dance the morality two-step and avoid getting out of step with what’s ‘good’ or ‘true.’ If every question is given a concrete answer and no room is left for exploration or doubt, the PK is forced to either acquiesce or bury his doubts where they can fester and rot his faith. (p. 83)
I listened to the Christianaudio.com version of the book. This was extra special in that Barnabus Piper himself was the one reading his book. This made listening to the book more poignant as his passion for his book’s message was evident.
This book is well-written and preaches an important message. I don’t know of any other similar book that is designed to both help those who have been hurt, and equip those in the ministry now who are raising another generation of children. Cautions are raised and challenges issued, but grace and hope pervade the book. This is must reading for churches, pastors and of course, pastor’s kids.
For more on the book, watch this video clip from the author:
Disclaimer: This book was provided by Christianaudio.com. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a positive review.
About Book Briefs: Book Briefs are book notes, or short-form book reviews. They are my informed evaluation of a book, but stop short of being a full-length book review.
A story of conversion to Christ is always refreshing and encouraging, but the story of Rosaria Champagne Butterfield is more than that, it is faith-restoring. Her story reminds evangelical Christians that the saving power of the gospel really is bigger than the contemporary “threat” of homosexuality. The book addresses the homosexual question from the inside out, and illustrates what an incarnated gospel ministry and a church full of people who have the compassion of Christ can accomplish through Christ.
Rosaria Champagne was a tenured English professor and chair of feminist studies, at Syracuse University. She was also an outspoken lesbian. She was up and coming and making a name for herself. But then, she was abruptly stopped in her tracks through an encounter with a kind Reformed pastor who took the time to interact with her on a column she had written in the paper. She didn’t know how to classify his letter, it didn’t fit in the fan mail category, nor was it hate mail. Eventually she was drawn into a friendly exchange with him and slowly he began to shatter her perceptions about Christianity. Over time, she was drawn to faith in Jesus Christ, and slowly came to reject her identity as a lesbian and found new life in Christ.
Her story is told with honesty and charm in an autobiographical account titled The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor’s Journey into Christian Faith. In her book, Rosaria Butterfield recounts her conversion and her growth in understanding the Scriptures. She recounts the struggle it was to be accepted as a redeemed lesbian in conservative Reformed circles. She shares her struggles and misteps in forming healthy relationships, and shares some of her steps on the way to marriage. She recounts her husband’s ministry and her involvement as a ministry partner and home-schooling mother. She also opines about problems she sees in Evangelicalism, including our modern obsession with our rights to sex. She also defends exclusive psalmody in worship.
This “unlikely convert” speaks with a disarming grace, that educates, inspires and aims to help us all change. She attacks the hidden part of us which may loathe the homosexual, and illustrates how genuine ministry will be messy and will prize making a difference above staying safe. Her story is a call to the church to come out of her cocoon and take the saving gospel of Jesus to the world around us.
I listened to the ChristianAudio production of this book. The recording was extra special in that Rosaria read her own book. The emotion and flavor of the audio recording was certainly enhanced with the author as narrator. The book is quite short, but profound. I highly recommend it. It will challenge and inspire, encourage and perhaps unsettle. Above all, it will magnify Christ.
Disclaimer: This book was provided by ChristianAudio.com for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a positive review.
About Book Briefs: Book Briefs are book notes, or short-form book reviews. They are my informed evaluation of a book, but stop short of being a full-length book review.