Leadership for a Time of Pandemic: Practicing Resilience

By Tod Bolsinger (InterVarsity Press)

Between Canoeing the Mountains and his forthcoming book Tempered Resilience, Tod Bolsinger, vice president and chief of leadership formation for Fuller Theological Seminary, provides a crash course in adaptive leadership in his 37-page booklet, Leadership for a Time of Pandemic.

Bolsinger begins by making the case for a new approach to leadership in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has made novices of just about everyone.

He then summarizes Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky’s description of adaptive leadership. For technical problems, clear-cut responses established from prior learning generally suffice. For adaptive challenges arising from new situations, responses must be learned on the fly. Adaptive leadership calls for the flexibility and reflection necessary to move into uncharted territory.

This kind of leadership calls for organizational transformation, starting with the leaders. Such transformation is resisted and frequently sabotaged.

Bolsinger includes two great metaphors for developing resilience—blacksmithing and fly-fishing. Both require commitment, patience and practice to become good at them. In response, Bolsinger suggests spiritual disciplines as a “rule of life.”

Following Heifetz, Bolsinger prescribes observation before acting as the proper posture when facing changing circumstances. The metaphor Heifetz uses for observing is “getting up on the balcony” to get a bird’s-eye view of what’s going on before re-engaging “on the dance floor,” not as a dancer, but as a listener. This back-and-forth observation generates the creativity needed for addressing uncharted territory.

Leaders often feel the pressure to act. Such leaders may not take time to read a full book on adaptive leadership but may be willing to pause long enough take in good counsel for the leadership they need to exhibit now. This book is for them.

Eric Black, editor

Baptist Standard

Who Could Have Dreamed

By Clifford Dean Hobbs (Wasteland)

From the Piney Woods of East Texas to Liberia in West Africa, Clifford Hobbs shares his story in Who Could Have Dreamed. Born on a Cass County farm in 1933, Clifford and his sister grew up without indoor plumbing. Long school bus rides filled their days. During their high school years, their dad worked in Linden where the family enjoyed “city” plumbing. Job transfers meant Clifford spent half his senior year in Lufkin and half in White Oak. The White Oak principal drove him to College Station insisting the senior test for a scholarship. Although his Linden ag teacher told him he couldn’t make it at Texas A&M, Clifford graduated as the Outstanding Senior in Agricultural Education.

A stint in the Air Force followed. While in pilot training, a classmate invited the Texan to church. At Trinity Baptist in Moultrie, Ga., Clifford found Christ and a wife. Florida State graduate and teacher Betty Nichols had grown up in church. Their first child Donna arrived at Bryan Air Force Base Hospital, and the family became active at First Baptist Church in College Station. As a civilian, Clifford earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in plant pathology. Jobs with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Eli Lilly, developing a garden center and the birth of two sons followed.

Donna felt God’s tug to missions at age 7. The family often prayed for missionary doctors Wana Ann and Giles Fort. Donna later married Gregg Fort, and the two were appointed to Zimbabwe. Betty and Clifford heard agricultural missionary Clark Scanlan speak in the 1960s. Betty had been called at age 12 but hadn’t told Clifford. From 1986 to 1990, the couple served in agriculture missions in Liberia.

Hobbs fills the pages with stories of God using every life experience in Liberia. Later at First Baptist Church in Round Rock, the couple remained missions-focused. Although Betty died in 2006, her desire to build a boarding school for orphans, poor children and those disowned for following Christ became reality. The Baptist deacon took a final trip to Liberia for the 2010 dedication of the Betty Memorial Institute.

Who Could Have Dreamed indeed?

Kathy Robinson Hillman, former president

Baptist General Convention of Texas

Waco

Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology

Edited by Amy L. Chilton and Steven Harmon (Mercer University Press)

Theology is neither understood nor practiced in a vacuum. The same Holy Spirit enlightens all believers, but context and community influence how Christians from varied backgrounds and diverse cultures understand God’s call to mission, ministry, discipleship, worship and daily living.

This collection of 25 essays, counting introductory and concluding chapters by the editors, provides light refracted through a broad range of prisms. Essentially, it is designed to help readers—particularly Baptist pastors in local churches—view issues related to theology, liturgy and ethics from perspectives other than their own.

Writers include four who teach or recently taught at Texas Baptist schools—Derek Hatch from Howard Payne University, Nora Lozano from the Baptist University of the Américas, Myles Werntz from Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon Seminary and Jason Whitt from Baylor University. Several others have Texas Baptist roots.

Like any collection of essays by multiple authors, not every chapter is of equal quality. Some provide broad overviews, while others are highly specialized. Some of the contextual categories may be too narrowly sliced, while other essays explore issues of such complexity that the allotted space seems inadequate. Any reader who doesn’t find something with which he or she will disagree or take offense must not be paying attention. By the same token, any reader who fails to have “aha” moments of illumination from unexpected directions probably needs to be more open to the Spirit. Prepare to experience flashes of light from unanticipated sources.

Ken Camp, managing editor

Baptist Standard 

The Spiritual Danger of Donald Trump: 30 Evangelicals on Justice, Truth, and Moral Integrity

Edited by Ronald J. Sider (Cascade Books)

While a title seeming to disparage Donald Trump likely is enough to stop many from reading a review of the book, there are some essays included among the 25 that even supporters of Trump might appreciate.

Given the title, no one will be surprised that the writers do not support the re-election of Trump in 2020. Some even make an explicit plea against voting for him in November. Bracketing out their clear bias, some essays—in particular those written by self-identifying religious and political conservatives—provide thoughtful reflection.

Three cautions are in order. Readers will need to get past the essay titles, as they seem intended to provoke more than to draw the reader into the stated intent of reasoning together. Some of the writers are not particularly charitable toward Trump. Because the writers quote Trump directly, many essays contain his explicit and offensive language.

Most essays in this collection attempt to hold up the words and actions of Donald Trump against the virtues and tenets held by evangelical Christians. The argument of most contributors is less about whether a person should vote for Trump but whether evangelical Christians will hold him accountable for the ways in which he contradicts their and his own stated Christian values.

Amid the repeated litanies of Trump’s offenses is the worthwhile counsel that if evangelicals re-elect Donald Trump as president even while disagreeing with the ways he violates basic Christian values, then those same evangelicals must be ready to hold him accountable rather than defend him.

Much of the content is up to date, commenting on Trump’s statements and actions right up to February 2020. Due to be released June 1, most essays do not speak to the events of the coronavirus pandemic during March, April and May.

The middle section of essays contains the most interesting points of discussion.

D Zac Niringiye recounts a conversation in Uganda with a woman from Burkina Faso. She likes Trump because he “is like a mirror … a reflection of the society that voted him into power.” For her, Trump offers Americans and American evangelicals the chance to see themselves as they really are.

Stephen Haynes responds to those evangelicals who identify with Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s activism before and during World War II by claiming they ignore his real concern, which was the church conforming to a political party.

George Yancey, professor of the social sciences at Baylor University, suggests supporting Trump is dangerous pragmatically. Evangelicals who support Trump may win some battles while losing the war. His concern is that Christians as a whole may become associated with racism, sexism, lying and other sins because of evangelical Christian support for Trump.

For Yancey, the way forward for Christians is through culture, not political power. Since in the United States, laws tend to follow culture, evangelicals reacting to “Christianophobia” would be more strategic to win over culture than to seek political power.

The essays in the first part are those least likely to change any Trump supporter’s mind. They recite the numerous charges against him, including accusations of sexual assault and actual sexual and financial improprieties, bullying and ridiculing, racism, pride and lying.

Despite knowing these things about Trump well in advance of the 2016 presidential election—and railing against similar faults in Bill Clinton decades before—evangelicals overwhelmingly voted for Trump in 2016.

Though Trump supporters’ minds are not likely to be changed by essays in the first part, Christians of varying political persuasions surely can agree on concerns raised in some of those essays.

Vicki Courtney exhorts Christians to consider Trump’s language about women. Her concern is the objectification of women—regardless who is doing the objectifying—and how that will affect culture and culture’s view of Christians who do not speak out against such objectification.

Napp Nazworth, who identifies himself as “a theologically conservative evangelical Christian” and “a political conservative,” charges Trump with promising white evangelicals the same kind of prominence and power Satan promised Jesus. His concern is with Christians seeking protection from a human being rather than from Jesus. For Nazworth, the problem is not electing Trump as president but is in defending his words and actions.

Michael Austin states he wants every American president to succeed. In reflecting on the lack of humility in Trump’s words, Austin writes, “The problem is that the vice of pride has the potential to hinder not only Trump’s success in office, but the well-being of” others.

The third part delves into underlying theology, history and legal philosophy and requires more patient reading than the first two sections.

Stephen Meyer criticizes Democrats and Republicans as looking backward rather than facing the world as it is. He does not see the comparison of Trump to Hitler as legitimate for several reasons, one being “the economic situation” in the United States “is far from the desperate conditions that plagued Germany” in the 1930s. Meyer wrote prior to economic downturn resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.

Christopher Hutchinson, a pastor in the Presbyterian Church of America, provides perhaps one of the most interesting essays for conservative readers to consider. He and his father are military veterans, he received Jesus as his personal Savior, he opposed Bill Clinton and opposes the “scourge of widespread abortion,” and he “weathered the 1990s by listening to increasing amounts of Rush Limbaugh and celebrating the rise of Fox News.”

Calling for unity among Christians of varying political persuasions, Hutchinson writes, “If anything, the New Testament enjoins a conservative yet prophetic posture towards our surrounding culture, as we call out a society’s sins, seeking change by persuasion and internal reform rather than by force or fiat.”

Ron Sider concludes the collection with practical suggestions for how Christians who hold similar faith convictions but who differ on Trump can come together around what they hold in common.

Readers who support Donald Trump and who advocate for his re-election in 2020 likely will wonder why the Baptist Standard published a review of The Spiritual Danger of Donald Trump while not also publishing a review of a book detailing his spiritual advantages. If such a book is written, it will be welcomed for review in the Standard.

Eric Black, editor
Baptist Standard

Sacred Endurance: Finding Grace and Strength for a Lasting Faith

By Trillia J. Newbell (InterVarsity Press)

Unlike many Christian speakers and writers, Trillia Newbell grew up an atheist. Today the University of Tennessee graduate serves as director of community outreach for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. As a high school track state champion, Trillia learned the importance of endurance and understands as a believer the magnitude of Sacred Endurance: Finding Grace and Strength for a Lasting Faith.

The author begins with the story of Mahalia Jackson singing “How I Got Over” prior to Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Using Scripture, personal stories, relatable examples and practical advice, Newbell takes the reader from the starting blocks of God’s call to “press on toward the goal” through the curves and straightaways of life to crossing the finish line.

Chapter titles include “Enduring and the Mind,” “The Heart Needed, the Strength Supplied” and “Falling and Getting Up.” The wife and mother of two school-age children covers such topics as grace, anxiety, suffering, freedom, focus, faith, prayer, pain, belief, complacency, confusion and clarity. She emphasizes the importance of the “great cloud of witnesses” and the church. An appendix examines what happens when a Christian doesn’t endure, and discussion questions facilitate group study.

Trillia Newbell admits she had the talent to run track in college but not the heart to endure. Her book provides insight not only into the principles of running “the race that is set before us” but also the heart needed to finish. Worthy to be heavily underlined or marked with a myriad of post-its, Sacred Endurance should be read and referred to again and again.

Kathy Robinson Hillman, former president

Baptist General Convention of Texas

Waco

The Last Pastor: Faithfully Steering a Closing Church

By Gail Cafferata (Westminster John Knox Press)

There is a lot of speculation about how many churches may have to close due to the pandemic. This book’s arrival is impeccably timed! But the book was written without knowing we would be in this unique time. So, it serves a critical need right now, as well as the ongoing need in normal times for when churches come to the end of their life cycle.

The Last Pastor is written by a pastor who went through closing a church herself. Now, more than two decades later, she takes us through the story of 130 pastors in churches that found closing to be the best option. The pastors are from mainline churches, but the applications are easily transferrable to Baptist life. Cafferata uses her sociologist skills to take an honest look at the many complicated issues involved in closing churches.

Readers will be engaged by the frequent sailing metaphors used to introduce many chapters. The author then weaves together stories, and conversations, to reveal what closing a church is like. We see things from the pastors’ viewpoints and from members’ viewpoints. It becomes obvious this is something a church—and pastor—should not be doing without assistance. Thus, a three-way partnership is needed between pastor, church and denomination. Any one of these can disrupt a healthy closure. All three working together can be used by the Holy Spirit to redeem the situation. In fact, while she names the difficulties pastors and church members go through, the author also demonstrates that, overwhelmingly, pastors and members found themselves unexpectedly blessed by their church’s closing.

So, if your church is near the end, The Last Pastor will help you to: initiate the conversation (Cafferata found laity do so 60 percent of the time); look at the skill sets needed in leadership; be aware of the negative reactions that will surface; find the silver linings for pastors and church members; and consider the ultimate ways the church might “live on” through a number of opportunities that come with closing. In other words, this book can help you move on with your heads held high.

Karl Fickling, coordinator

Interim Church Services

Baptist General Convention of Texas

When Narcissism Comes to Church:

Healing your community from emotional and spiritual abuse

By Chuck DeGroat (InterVarsity Press)

This publication caught my attention for a couple of reasons. First, Chuck DeGroat noted his personal experience of encountering those with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Second, DeGroat found a higher rate of people suffering from this in church planting situations. My ears perked up, because the church we are affiliated with is serious about planting churches. It is a plant from a similar church, and church starting is in its DNA. Additionally, looking at the contemporary Christian scene and political scene, we have a front row seat to narcissism at work. When I ran the mental health department for a prison, I also saw this personality up front and personal while working with offenders and staff. I also began to understand other folks in whose orbit I found myself through my years of ministry and counseling who probably suffered from debilitating narcissism.

DeGroat’s perspective and work are anchored in humility and grace. He identifies those in the news who most likely suffer from NPD, but moves on to ask, “What shapes this personality disorder?” Some reoccurring themes appear in his book. He speaks of the power of shame and how NPD is an attempt to cover, placate and deflect the brokenness. Add insecurity, which attempts to cover for a lack of confidence but shows arrogance instead. He also mentions again and again a “lack of curiosity.” All of this could be identified as NPD being a “shame-based identity.”

DeGroat uses the Enneagram as a foundation for his consideration of the issues related to narcissism. While I am not versed in this test, it has some appeal in the business and Christian world. DeGroat considers these categories: heart types as shame-based; head types as anxiety-based; and gut body types as anger-based. Building on insights from the personality types and his own wounds and experience, he offers grace to those who have suffered from the abuse of a narcissistic person/leader/spouse.

DeGroat not only explores the inner life of the narcissist but also sheds some light on those parts of us broken and yet unredeemed. Erik Berne’s transactional analysis—developed in the 1960s—talked about the child, parent and adult in each of us. It suggests there are parts of us that are flawed, broken and painful—perhaps rooted in childhood through experience or perception. Childhood trauma is profound, deep and lifelong for many. The child does not have the coping skills an adult can learn and use. The narcissist’s outer shell is designed to deflect the inner pain, failings and trauma.

This book has value because it may introduce a person to someone in his or her orbit who is a narcissist. It also extends grace and challenge to us to face those facets of our inner life still untouched by the grace of Christ. In our rush to be righteous, we often decide what is acceptable brokenness and what is not. The truth is that broken is broken. As individuals and churches, we should give each other grace as we ask God’s grace to heal us.

Michael Chancellor, counselor

Round Rock 

Reading Karl Barth for the Church: A Guide and Companion

By Kimlyn J. Bender (Baker Academic)

For ages, book lovers have held to the maxim: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Kimlyn Bender, a professor at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary, means to turn this nugget of sage advice on its ear with his latest book, Reading Karl Barth for the Church. In fact, he emblazoned the distinguishing feature of his book right on its cover. This book is “for the church.”

Karl Barth’s theology has enjoyed a resurgence among conservative seminarians, as well as 20-something and 30-something Christian intellectuals. Despite this renewal, most of the secondary Barth literature clearly has the academy as the target demographic. Bender sets himself and his book apart from this trend by clinging to Barth’s perception of his own work. Barth considered himself, even in his teaching career, a pastor. When he wrote, Barth wrote for the church. Bender simply follows suit.

Bender makes his objective clear. He hopes to introduce Barth’s theology to his readers and begin to help the reader think about their own theology with the same depth of engagement. Each chapter of Bender’s book corresponds to a section of the first volume of Barth’s Church Dogmatics. Bender brings his wealth of insight and research from his time at the Center for Barth Studies at Princeton Theological Seminary to this current volume. Each chapter provides what Bender describes as a guided tour through Barth’s original text. In these sections, he removes common obstacles to reading Barth for both the novice and theological student alike. After each “tour” concludes, Bender adds his own insightful commentary, in which he restates Barth’s point in more modern language and links that point to the current state of the church. Bender’s desire for this volume to serve the church comes through as he concludes each chapter with a “questions for reflection” section clearly meant to aid a small-group study.

I found Bender’s insights into Barth’s theology—specifically the structure of Barth’s call and response to his own questions, as well as the questions of other theologians—especially moving. Bender plainly handles Barth and the mountains of secondary literature in a way that creates a clearly defined path to follow. In fact, one of the book’s many strengths lies in Bender’s ability to write based on his own authority, reducing the need for pages overflowing with footnotes. Bender writes a well-organized and linear commentary to the Church Dogmatics on visually clean pages that prove a welcome respite from Barth’s own looping and symphonic style. Despite Bender’s best efforts, the novice may find some passages remain elusive, but that probably owes more to the original subject matter than to any flaw in Bender’s writing.

If you always wanted to read Barth, or if—like so many of us—you tried and failed to read Barth with any comprehension, then I encourage you to judge Bender’s book by its cover. Bender provides a vehicle to ask why interest in Barth has remained secluded from the church, and perhaps even cause some to question why they stayed away from Barth in the first place. He reminds us Barth never meant his writings for the academy. Rather, Barth wanted to present a “full and comprehensive account of the Christian faith … written for the universal church” (p. 31). Bender captures that desire for the church and provides her with a tremendous resource and link back to one of her greatest theologians.

J.R. Watkins, student

Dallas Theological Seminary 

The Gift of One Day: How to Find Hope When Life Gets Hard

By Kerry and Chris Shook (WaterBrook)

Every person, every family and every church will face a time when life becomes almost too hard to bear. Kerry and Chris Shook, co-founders of Woodlands Church near Houston, share their family’s difficult journey in The Gift of One Day: How to Find Hope When Life Gets Hard. In the introduction, the couple wisely reveal the outcome of the story. Knowing what will happen makes the ending less sad, but that knowledge doesn’t lessen the tears or the lessons garnered.

The first child born to the Shooks’ middle son and daughter-in-law lived just one day: “One sunset. One sunrise.” Kelli and Josh Shook announced their pregnancy with great anticipation. At 20 weeks, ultrasound revealed kidneys that could not function apart from his mother without a medical near-miracle. The couple named their son Jude Samuel, meaning: “Praise! The Lord has heard.”

With faith and eyes on God’s goodness, the grandparents impart 14 lessons their family learned. Among them: hard isn’t the opposite of good; when nothing makes sense, just obey; everyone needs help, including you; and the number of your days is unrelated to the impact of your life. Jude’s impact continues in his Christmas stocking filled with gifts for others, in the witness of his parents to those who have also lost a child, and in the knowledge that God does not waste tears.

The Gift of One Day closes with the birth of Jude’s little sister Mary Love—love because of God’s promise in the second verse of Jude from The Message: “…open your hearts, love is on the way!” That’s God’s message and the message of the book.

Kathy Robinson Hillman, former president

Baptist General Convention of Texas

Waco

On the Bright Side: Stories about Friendship, Love, and Being True to Yourself

By Melanie Shankle (Zondervan)

Somewhere between decoding the current fashion trends at Target and allowing a child to make and learn from their mistakes, wisdom and hope spring forth in On the Bright Side: Stories about Friendship, Love, and Being True to Yourself, leaving readers laughing, crying, and biting their lips.

Melanie Shankle allows readers to travel through her mishaps, first as a child of the 1980s working at a record store and continuing with her 462-step anti-aging routine at nearly age 50. The book is filled to the brim with personal stories and life lessons about how looking through the lens of “the bright side” can change our perspective and remind us of what really matters.

A Southeast Texas girl and graduate of Texas A&M University, Shankle is delightfully forthcoming, drawing her followers in with “cat in the freezer” tales of epic proportions. One reading likely will entice you to re-read it and buy it for all your friends.

Each chapter opens with pithy quotes taken anywhere from the Bible to Gianni Versace. She leads into Chapter 5, “Believing in Ever After,” by quoting her husband: “Marriage is kind of like being a member of a street gang. You pretty much have to die to get out easily.” This type of relatable humor weaves its way throughout all 16 chapters. Shankle also uses biblical illustrations to point us to the God who turns what the enemy meant for evil into something good.

At a mere 213 pages, this book is well suited for a day at the beach, or a Dallas-to-Atlanta flight, or—during these days of stay-at-home orders—sitting in the bathtub hiding from your kids. Shankle finishes each chapter by highlighting things on her own bright side list—from seeing an Amazon package on her front doorstep to the more pressing matter of watching her child do the right thing when she doesn’t know mom is paying attention.

Light on spirituality, heavy on heart and humor, On the Bright Side comes highly recommended for a little pick-me-up while hunkered down with your “quaran-team.” You’ve never laughed so hard from your back porch.

Brooke Young Sparks, student

Dallas Theological Seminary 

Killing a Messiah: A Novel

By Adam Winn (IVP Academic)

In Killing a Messiah, Adam Winn has created a compelling fictional narrative of the events leading to Jesus’ crucifixion. Like all historical fiction, he combines fact and fiction, which he addresses in a concluding note.

Winn’s cast of characters—both biblical and fictitious—are involved in a grand conspiracy that wraps in all sides. The priesthood, Pilate, militant zealots, a shop owner and families close to these people all are involved.

Part of what makes Winn’s narrative a page-turner is how he tells the story from the perspective of the main cast members. Though he writes in third-person throughout, the reader gets the sense of being closer to the characters than being a mere observer. Winn draws the reader in to the characters, making each one relatable in a way the brisk biblical narratives don’t. As a result, the reader can imagine his or her own complicity in the events.

One might wish for a more robust treatment of Jesus’ resurrection and the events surrounding it as they relate to the priestly establishment and the Roman presence in Jerusalem. For Christians, this is the most exciting part of the entire story. After such an engaging lead up to Jesus’ crucifixion, the last chapter is anticlimactic. Perhaps a sequel is in order.

Acknowledging his novel could be taken as adding to the biblical narrative, Winn is careful to explain his approach in a concluding note. He lists questions skeptics ask about the historicity of the biblical accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion. He also explains the plausibility for the kind of conspiracy he envisions in his novel, and it certainly is plausible.

Winn, assistant professor in the College of Christian Studies at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, includes another concluding note on anti-Semitism and his efforts in Killing a Messiah to combat it. The importance of his message in these last few pages warrants careful reading.

Eric Black, Editor

Baptist Standard

The Myth of The American Dream: Reflections on Affluence, Autonomy, Safety, and Power

D.L. Mayfield (InterVarsity Press)

In The Myth of The American Dream, D.L. Mayfield says she wants to be a poet more than a prophet. Clearly, she is both, because her book beautifully confronts the major idols of white, middle-class evangelicalism. Mayfield explores whether pursuit of the American Dream (the quest for affluence, autonomy, safety and power) is antithetical to the pursuit of the kingdom of God and the shalom and peace found there.

The book is divided into four parts with 25 essays calling Christians to pay attention to their neighbors, especially the refugees, widows, orphans and minority communities for whom the gospel of the American Dream has not been good news.

The Myth of The American Dream is a book of lament, but it also is a book of hope calling us to keep our eyes on the resurrection and redemption to come. You will disagree, you may even get angry, but maybe it’s because there is some truth and conviction we all need. This book will help you pay attention to the work of God in unlikely places, to see all those made in God’s image as precious, and to seeking first his kingdom.

Zac Harrel, pastor

First Baptist Church

Gustine .