Doing Virtuous Business by Theodore Roosevelt Malloch

In an age when “big business” is often synonymous with “great evil,” it’s unusual to see someone stand up and extol the virtues of the entrepreneurial spirit.  Yet, Theodore Roosevelt Malloch, chairman and CEO of the Roosevelt Group and research professor at Yale University, has written a book to do exactly that.  Doing Virtuous Business is subtitled “the remarkable success of spiritual enterprise” and it is a manifesto on being both doing good business and the business of doing good.

Although he is himself a Christian (and most of the book is written from that perspective), Malloch also writes of extolling virtue as a universal good that is embraced by all faiths. He quotes both Augustine and Aristotle with equal ease while making his case that both “hard” virtues such as courage and “soft” virtues such as compassion should be part of the economic capital of a good business. In the long run these values will make a business thrive and increase the wealth and responsibility of those who practice them.

Malloch acknowledges that  striving to use virtue and gaining wealth from it may seem antithetical in some ways to the teachings of following virtue for its own sake. But he points out that the success is a necessary by-product of using virtuous business is not in and of itself an evil thing.   The obtaining of wealth and the pursuit of riches are not necessarily the same thing. Motivation means everything.

Throughout the book the writer presents stories and examples of people who did virtuous business, from architects to restaurant owners and from charity organizations to furniture designers, the pursuit of ethical business is shown to be not only good for the entrepreneur but for those whom they employ and serve as well.

With scandals and shady deals from large companies making the headlines on a weekly basis, it seems a bit mind boggling to think of the possibility that a huge corporation could be an instrument of virtue in the world. Yet, corporations are just groups of people and people are governed by the same spiritual laws that have existed for millennia. And, according to Theodore Malloch, doing good is just good business.

I received this book for review purposes from the blogger review program at booksneeze.com. All content of this review, however, is the product of the machinations of my own overactive mind.

“Separation”

Presbys don’t witness
Methodists drink
Pentecostals use tongues
(demonic, I think).
Anglican pastors preach in a dress
(And some are actual women no less!)
Lutherans take the Lord’s Supper too much
And then there are Amish, so far out of touch
The Baptist Conventions just keep compromising
On the Old Paths and Standards and Version Revising
But as for me and my house we’ll stand here alone
And wait for the Rapture to come take us home
The Body of Christ we will be, compartmental
You say “anti-social,” we say “fundamental”

How to Market With Twitter (The Right Way)

Yesterday, after  making a purchase of some chocolatey goodness and withdrawing some cash from the human ATM at my hospital’s gift shop, I tweeted out this.

So there you have it —  nothing more than a bit of random narcissism about one of my pet peeves.  But a few hours later I spotted this in my replies

Now there’s a fine line between marketing and spamming when using social media and this is really a beautiful example of the former. Let’s parse it a bit:

1) It’s customized. Instead of spotting keywords and blasting out some cookie cutter stock text, they actually read the content of my tweet and responded back like an actual person. If it was a bot which wrote this (which I find unlikely) it’s one that is  good enough to pass my internal Turing test.

2) It’s personal. Instead of just using the @name they actually grabbed my real first name from the Twitter profile. And they even spelled it right! That’s classy.

3) It ends with conversation starter. It doesn’t just yell “switch today!” It asks the question. Have you thought about it? Hey, let us know. Let’s chat. It draws me into a conversation instead of just yelling instructions.

So what was the result? Well, I haven’t switched banks but I did spend 10 minutes on their website checking out what they had to offer. And that’s exactly what good marketing should be doing. They started a conversation that got me to engage with them. And they did it without seeming spammy.

Mere Churchianity: Finding Your Way Back to Jesus-Shaped Spirituality By Michael Spencer

Why are Christians leaving church? According to Mere Churchianity written by the late Michael Spencer (known to the blogosphere as The Internet Monk) it’s often because they’re seeking an authentic spirituality in pursuit of a Jesus who isn’t found in the institutional church anymore.  If those who leave have any hope of finding Jesus again “they know it will have to happen somewhere other than church.” And Spencer freely admits that he has no agenda of trying to get those who have left to return. In fact, he seems to be encouraging more folks to try leaving.

Michael presents a picture of churches as organizations who have largely adopted messages of prosperity and politics and left Jesus out in the cold. Those who wish to have a “Jesus-shaped spirituality” must first begin their journey by leaving behind the false advertising of churches whose signs claim that Jesus is inside when in fact those inside would be hard pressed to find him in the songs, the sermons, or the litany of programs and ministries. The church is no longer a dependable guide to Jesus. In fact, there is “conspiracy among successful pastors to keep displaying only the tame parts of the Bible on the overhead screen.”

This, of course, necessitates our asking where a dependable guide may be found. For Spencer, the answer comes in the form of reading the Bible on your own and trusting the Holy Spirit to interpret it for you correctly. If this creates conflicts in interpretation between Christians, then that’s a risk we should be willing to take. Furthermore, Jesus-shaped Christians should seek out “mentors” and be part of “intentional communities” that are “authentic” for their fellowship. Finally, they should be involved in living lives that are focused on what Jesus would do in everything from the tips they leave to the good works they do in their communities.

It’s hard not be engaged by Spencer’s writing style. He uses personal illustrations and conversational language that draws in the reader as if you were sitting down with him and having a friendly discussion over coffee. Unfortunately, that personable style also masks that even as he chides mainline pastors for lacking sufficient Scriptural support in their sermons, his writing seems to fall into the same trap.

As a person who has struggled with a relationship with finding a place in the institutional church, it was nice to be affirmed in my personal observations on how much wrong there is with churches today. But the alternatives that Spencer gives are often nebulous and hard to translate into practical actions. Read the Bible? Check. Do more for the community? I guess I could. Find a Jesus-shaped person to be a mentor and then join an intentional community of some indiscriminate type? Maybe a little more complicated to actually pull off since I wouldn’t even know where to start looking for either of those things.

With apologies to Michael Spencer, at the end of it all, the call to ecclesia reformata semper reformanda still rings more true to me than the idea of abandoning church-as-institution all together — even while finding  one to call home continues to present an ongoing personal struggle.

I received this book for free from WaterBrookMultnomah Publishing Group for this review. All opinions, however, are from the spectacular machinations of my own hyperactive mind.

Sunday School Catechism

As written by KindOfBored, Myself, James,and various other friends, acquaintances, and minions from pccboard.com

Q. What is the book for thee?
A. The B-I-B-L-E.

Q. Where do you stand?
A. On the Word of God.

Q. Who is with thee?
A. I stand alone.

Q. Where has God prepared a place?
A. Somewhere in outer space.

Q. For whom is the place prepared?
A. For those who trust Him and obey.

Q. What doest thou ask of the Lord?
A. That He do remember me.

Q. Where should He remember thee?
A. Way beyond the blue.

Q. Who is standing in the need of prayer?
A. It’s me.

Q. Is it thy brother or thy sister?
A. We just covered that – it’s me.

Q. Is it thy father or thy mother.
A. Idiot. Next question, please.

Q. Who is on the Lord’s side?
A. We are on the Lord’s side.

Q. Who did not obey God immediately?
A. Jonah.

Q. Where did Jonah find himself?
A. Down in the depths of the deep blue sea.

Q. Why shouldst thou do right?
A. Because it’s right to do.

Q. For how long shouldst thou do right?
A. Until the stars fall.

Q. Who’s gonna get thee for that?
A. God’s gonna get me for that.

Q. What shouldst thou fight?
A. The wiggle worm.

Q: Up what shall we climb?
A: We shall climp up, climb up Sunshine Mountain

Q: How fares the countdown?
A: The countdown’s getting lower every day

Q: What did the Lord told Noah?
A: To build the arky, arky

Q: And wherefore was this arky?
A: For the floody, floody

Q: When are we to be happy?
A: We are in-right, out-right, up-right, down-right…happy all the time

Q: Who hath many sons?
A: Father Abraham hath many sons.

Q: Father Abraham hath many sons?
A: Right Arm. Left Arm. Right Foot. Left Foot.

Q:What if the devil does not like it?
A: He may sit on a bomb. Boom.

Q. What else may the devil sit upon?
A. He may sit on a tack. Ouch!

Q. What doest thou have?
A. I have the joy, joy, joy.

Q. Where doest thou have it?
A. Down in my heart.

Q. Where?
A. Down in my heart.

Q. Where?
A. Down in my heart.

Q. For how long is the joy in your heart?
A. To stay.

Q: Why dost thou read thy Bible and pray every day?
A: So that we may grow, grow, grow

Q: And if thou shouldest forget?
A: Then we will shrink, shrink, shrink

Q. How are we to be happy in Jesus?
A. By trusting and obeying.

Q. Is there another way?
A. There is no other way.

Q: If thou art saved and thou knowest it, how shalt thou showest it?
A: With the clapping of mine hands.

Q. Do you march in the infantry?
A. I may never march in the infantry.

Q. Do you ride in the cavalry?
A. I may never ride in the cavalry.

Q. Do you shoot the artillery?
A. I may never shoot the artillery.

Q. Do you zoom over the enemy?
A. I may never zoom over the enemy.

Q. Then child, in whose army do you serve?
A. I am in the Lord’s army.

Q. Are you down-hearted?
A. No, no, no.

Q. If you were a fish in the sea, what would you do?
A. I would thank the Lord that I could swim.

Q. And as a bird in the sky?
A. Thank the Lord for letting me fly.

Q. And since you are neither?
A. Thank the Father for making me, me.

Q. And not someone else?
A. Not you, but me!

Q. How many doors are there?
A. One door, and only one.

Q. How many sides does the door possess?
A. Its sides are two.

Q. On which side are you?
A. I’m on the inside.

Q. Isn’t He wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, Isn’t Jesus my Lord wonderful? Eyes have seen, ears have heard, It’s recorded in His word, Isn’t Jesus my Lord wonderful?
A. Yes.

Q: For what does Jesus want you?
A: Jesus wants me for a sunbeam.

Q: And what shall the nature of this sunbeam be?
A: It shall brighten up the corner where I am.

Q. What rings in your heart?
A. In my heart there rings a melody in perfect harmony, a melody of love.

Q. And where is your home, and what doth it outshine?
A. I’ve got a home in glory land that outshines the sun (HALLELUJAH!)

Q. What colors of little children doth our Savior love?
A. Red and yellow, black and white.

Q If thou art wise, where will you build your home?
A Upon the Rock

Q Where wilt the foolish build his home?
A Upon the sand

Q What wilt happen when the rain tumbeleth down?
A The house on the sand shalt go splat

Q. What is my strength?
A. The joy of the Lord is my strength

Q. What does He give me that I thirst no more?
A. He gives me living water so I thirst no more.

Q. With what does He fill my mouth?
A. Laughter

Q. What doth this laughter sound like?
A. HAAAA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HA HA

Q. What else doth this laughter sound like?
A. Any number of dying animals

Q. How is the fountain flowing?
A. Deep and wide

Q. How is it flowing beneath the fountain?
A. Hmm and Hmm

Q. What didst David have?
A. Only a little sling.

Q. What could David do?
A. He could play and sing.

Q. What was close at hand?
A. Only a rippling brook.

Q. With what did he arm himself?
A. With the five little stones he took.

Q. What went into the sling?
A. One little stone went into the sling.

Q. And how did the sling go?
A. It went ’round and ’round and ’round and ’round and ’round and ’round and ’round.

Q. What went up in the air?
A. One little stone.

Q. What was the consequence of David’s action?
A. A giant came tumbling down.

Q. What dost He have in His hands?
A. The whole world.

Q. What else?
A. Any additional verses are unnecessary.

Q. Okay, skip it.
A. Thanks.

Radical by David Platt (Review)

David Platt’s book Radical bears the provocative subtitle “Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream.”  If you want to create controversy, implying that the Christian faith stands in opposition to the American way of life is a pretty safe bet. It takes until page 19 to figure out what Platt means when he talks about the American Dream:  ”self-advancement, self-esteem, self-sufficiency…individualism, materialism, universalism.”

The problem, says Platt, is that America Christianity has too much and cares too little. The real Jesus is much too radical for our Western tastes with His commands to sell all we have and give to the poor; to give up our lives; and to take up our cross and follow Him.  To Platt, the American suburbs is a place all to often  isolated from the world and insulated from hearing its cries for help.

Through each chapter, David shares his own experiences traveling around the world visiting mission fields. He speaks in glowing terms of native peoples who are as hungry for the Bible and as they are in need of daily bread. In fact, if one were only to take his accounts, they would believe that the entire world is full of nothing but gracious and grateful people who (be they ever so poor) are yet willing to drop everything to learn more about Christ.

As the book progresses, a litany of familiar names and stories begin to appear. George Muller, C.T. Studd, William Carey, Jim Elliot,  and John G. Patton all put in a showing causing anyone who went to Baptist Sunday School (as I did) to have flashbacks of multiple five day missionary stories and sermon illustrations. Yet Platt unabashedly reaches for these classic tales to support his pleas for a more real and committed witness even to the point of sacrificing our own lives to spread the gospel.

He ends the book with a call to a five step plan that will help any Christian become “radical.” The steps are (in so many words) praying more, reading the Bible more, giving more, going more, and committing to the ministry a local church. Wait a second…I thought this was something radical? As the book concludes the reader is suddenly left aware that they are listening to what sounds suspiciously like the plea from every Baptist pastor for the last hundred years. And as if one needed any further confirmation, there’s even a decision card for the reader to sign.  It’s been a long time since that was considered radical.

I appreciate David Platt’s zeal. It’s evident that his writing comes from an honest heart and that he’s wants to see billions of unreached souls enter the kingdom. Yet, I felt a slight unease as I read the book — and not for the reasons one might think. I am personally no stranger to scenes poverty or hardship, having myself grown up in the third world on one of many mission fields. That experience has taught me that the solutions to the problems of the needy are never as simple as a dollar dropped in an offering plate.

Platt admits in the book that he is not an economist. If we were an economist he would be aware that the problem of poverty in the world is a tangled knot of social, economic, and political maladies. Even if every American Christian gave up their fineries for a life of self-imposed penury, it would not make those in most of the developing world any richer.

Guilt imposed upon ourselves for our success is not the answer. The economic question is never “why do we have so much?” but rather “why doesn’t everyone?”  Evidently Platt doesn’t consider the idea of exporting the American work ethic, know-how, and ingenuity along with our cash or if he does so, he doesn’t mention it.  That’s not to say that we in America should not be looking for way to give but rather that we should not wallow in guilt at the financial blessings that our country affords and invite others to join in the ideas and freedoms that have allowed us to build the wealth we have.

Platt also seems to posses a glamorous view of the foreign mission field that actual foreign missionaries are quickly disabused of.  The soul of the suburban housewife is not lesser in value than that of a tribal witchdoctor — although the later admittedly makes for a much better sermon illustration than the former. If we are to honestly look at the whole world then someone must teach Sunday School at the First Baptist Church of Boise as well as labor in the fields of Bangladesh.

Jesus’ call to us was to follow him and become fishers of men. I admire David Platt and the work that he and his church are striving to do in spending their time and money reaching out to the world. But in the end, as timely as some of its challenges may be, Radical seems to fall short of its title and instead delivers a decent repackaging of a fairly familiar message.

I received this book for free from WaterBrookMultnomah Publishing Group for this review. All opinions, however, are from the spectacular machinations of my own hyperactive mind.

The Faith of Ronald Reagan (Review)

Although I was only eight years old when he left office, Ronald Reagan continues to be one of my favorite Presidents of all time.  I was both excited and hopeful when I received this book by Mary Beth Brown about the faith of a man who was usually very private about his personal faith.  My hope was short-lived, however, as what I hoped would be an insightful and informative book turned out to be a mere rehashing of some well-known facts with a little Jesus language and some speculation added.

When dealing with any individuals philosophy and religious views it’s important to know who their influences were and what those people believed. Instead, Mary Beth spends most of her time getting very excited about a litany of apparent coincidences and near-misses to which she assigns the title of “miracles” and “providence.” Most of the book is devoted to things that happened to Reagan externally not the inner life of the spirit that matters most of all.

For example, Brown mentions in passing that young Ronnie was very close to a Reverend Cleaver who “became a father figure to him.” If this were a serious book about his actual religious and spiritual formation one might imagine that at least a few words would be shared about who this Reverend was, what his religious background was and the kinds of things that he said and wrote.  But alas, what we’re left with instead of actual facts is paragraphs of tales suggesting angels surrounded the bed of the President after nearly being assassinated and how the clouds would magically clear whenever he got up to speak.

While the book does have some merit in giving a brief biographical sketch of Reagan’s personal life, it’s hardly a great resource for answer the big questions about how his religious philosophy really affected his life, his family, and his policies.  My search for a book that does address those things will go on.

The review copy of this book was provided by Thomas Nelson via their review program at booksneeze.com. All opinions are my own.

Precious Moments Storybook Bible (Review)

Story time with my daughter is a nightly ritual at our house and recently I’ve been on the lookout for a few Bible story books that might capture the attention of squirmier-than-average three-year-old. The Precious Moments Storybook Bible is a pretty decent addition to our library with a durable hard cover, one-hundred and seventy-nine pages of stories, full-color pictures, large fonts, and a decent number of extras included.

The book isn’t a chronological “Bible” but rather a series of stories and lessons divided into color coded sections with labels such as “Favorite Bible Classics,” “Words of Praise and Wisdom,” and “More Stories of the Faith.” Each story is between two and four pages long with full-page illustrations placed at regular intervals.

In the back is a section of Bible songs and prayers which come in handy if you’re trying to establish a bedtime routine. There’s also space to write in your own additions if you want to add some specific things to your child’s prayer.

The only concern I might have with this particular book is that the Precious Moments artwork tends to run the risk of turning very serious Bible stories and lessons into a cartoon parody of themselves. Daniel wasn’t menaced by cutesy lions who smiled cheery cartoon smiles. On the other hand, not having a child with nightmares about being eaten alive is probably just as well.

If you’re looking for a book of Bible stories this one may well be worth checking out.

The review copy of this book was provided by Thomas Nelson via their review program at booksneeze.com. All opinions are my own.

He Was Born To Live

For years I rarely heard the Christmas story preached about in church without references to the crucifixion following hard on its footsteps. There was even a favorite song titled Born to Die from a cantata of the same name. It was as if the Incarnation was seen as little more than the first step on the road to a grim finish at Calvary. “Don’t be too joyful about Christ’s birth,” they seemed to say, “he won’t be here long.” For unto us a Son is given and his name shall be called Doomed, Condemned, Destined for Destruction. He was born to die.

But we do our Savior a great injustice if we give this Christmas season a tragic tone as if this Baby should be mourned as merely mortal. Consider too the years he live in humanity as a child and grew in wisdom and stature. Wonder at his his miracles. Weep at his compassion. Marvel at his wisdom and his teachings of love for others. Remember the laughter and tears and hunger and weariness that was experienced by our very God who condescended to become a man and walk among us. He was born to Live.

And yes, as a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world he was betrayed and mocked and falsely accused and beaten and crucified…but the story doesn’t end there! For of his own will he defeated death and rose from the grave, comforting his grieving friends with words of Everlasting Life. He was born to Live.

Remember too the words of his promise that he will never leave us or forsake us and that he is that friend who is closer than a brother. After our years of struggle and pain are ended we too will share in his gift of life in an eternity where there will be no darkness or pain or dying ever again. In him we will finally be truly alive. He was born to Live.

Dear heart, if you want to remember the Reason for the Season as you gather on Christmas Day this year, do not mourn as if Christ’s life was only given to be consumed in the tragedy of his death. Read instead these words…”Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen.”

He was born to Live.

Invictus

OUT of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud,
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
William Ernest Henley