Something for every reader

By David Daniels and ChristianWeek | March 14, 2008

Wise is the person who recognizes the value of drawing upon the experience and learning of others. As the biblical wisdom writers said: "Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success" (Proverbs 15:22 NLT). Here are a few resources which leaders will find helpful in their daily journey.

Politically oriented Christians will find William Wilberforce: A Biography by Stephen Tomkins (Eerdmans, 2007) a useful reminder of the value of patient tenacity in the political process.

Tomkins provides an engaging look at the life and times of Wilberforce who devoted 20 years to ending the British Empire's slave trade. As readers will learn, Wilberforce was both a man of "contradictions and extraordinary determination." For example, while he valiantly fought to eradicate slavery, he consistently resisted giving the Irish the right to vote. Tomkins helpfully reminds us that even our greatest heroes have blind spots.

Everyone loves a "rags to riches" story, and Harry Schmidt (with the help of James R. Coggins) provides just that in The Incredible Dream (Schmidt Family Foundation, 2006). Number eight in an impoverished Canadian prairies family of 13 children, Schmidt was not expected to accomplish much. No money, no education and a serious speech impediment left Harry with little opportunity except to dream. And dream he did.

Through sheer determination, honest hard work and a compassionate heart, Schmidt became a successful building contractor, community leader, and, along with his wife, a generous benefactor to impoverished children around the world.

Schmidt's story is a fresh reminder that any business man or woman who wishes to invest his or her life for the good of others will find ample opportunity to do so. (Information on obtaining this book can be found at www.harwoodltd.com).

The Multicultural Leader: Developing a Catholic Personality (Clements Publishing, 2005) is one resource that ought to be in the hands of all urban multicultural ministry leaders. Dan Sheffield, director of Global and Intercultural Ministries for the Free Methodist Church in Canada, is well-qualified to write this handbook, having extensive cross-cultural experience from which to draw. Beginning with a Christian view of multiculturalism, Sheffield moves into defining what a multicultural leader really looks like, concluding with three chapters on practical steps in becoming a genuine multicultural leader. Ministry leaders burdened for the culturally diverse cities of our world will find this a welcome resource.

First published in 1982, the revised and updated third edition of With Justice For All: A Strategy for Community Development (Regal Books, 2007) by John Perkins will provide a sometimes uncomfortable reminder that many within our burgeoning communities still wait for an equal opportunity to enjoy the blessings of freedom and well-being so cherished by many North Americans. Christians involved in community development will find Perkins, one of America's foremost African-American leaders, a seasoned counsellor well worth hearing.

The hallmark of the Perkins strategy is summed up in three words: relocation (effective community leaders must live in the community of need); reconciliation (the community of God must show the way in healthy relationship building); and, redistribution (generously sharing God's resources with the world's disenfranchised). Provocative yet proven, this book deserves the extended life given it by the publisher.

As one who has invested a lifetime in preaching, I found Ronald J. Allen's Thinking Theologically (Fortress Press, 2008) a welcome little volume. Allen, a professor of Preaching and New Testament at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, explores how one's theology shapes the preaching process. Six major theological traditions-liberal, mutual critical correlation, process, evangelical, neo-orthodoxy and postliberal-are explored, along with several other theologies, in terms of their view of Scripture and their understanding of the purpose in preaching. The author illustrates his point by showing how each tradition might preach a sermon based upon Luke 7:11-17-where Jesus raises the widow of Nain's son from the dead.

While most of the theologies dealt with in the book are ones with which I have great difficulty, the book is of great value in helping me better understand how those theologies handle the text. Thinking Theologically is the latest volume in the Fortress Press series Elements of Preaching.

And finally, youth workers may want to check out a new series of topic-driven inductive Bible studies for teens from Haley DiMarco. Published by Revell (available July 2008), a division of the Baker Publishing Group, these four new volumes--Mean, Sex, Hotness and Dating--will speak to teens at a felt-need level.