Paul Luckraft reviews 'The Day is Yours' by Ian Stackhouse (2008, Paternoster)

Rooted in the monastic liturgy of the hours, this book aims to help Christians find a "slow spirituality in a fast-moving world", as the subtitle indicates. The central thrust is that living each day as it comes, with contentedness and gratitude, is vital in our modern society if we are to avoid succumbing to the distractedness and pressures of a 24/7 world.

Stackhouse skilfully demonstrates that 'one day at a time' spirituality is not sophisticated but it is important. It provides a tool for survival which delivers us from the anxieties of a future that may never exist and places us firmly into the particular reality that is definitely in front of us.

He explains the distinction between chronos (clock time and schedules) and kairos (God's moments, the rhythm he has placed into the time we experience). The art of living is not to be hurried by the former, but to enter and enjoy the latter.

Important Resting Points

There is a good discussion on the Sabbath rest, the need for a punctuation point somewhere in the otherwise relentless sequence of days in the week. Embracing a different kind of day from the others is a celebration of freedom over necessity, a recognition that we don't have to keep going in exactly the same way day by day. To embrace the Sabbath is to "enter a different construct of time" (p34) which can dominate other days.

Stackhouse skilfully demonstrates that 'one day at a time' spirituality is not sophisticated, but it is important.

Part Two (the central three chapters of nine) is devoted to the monastic 'Liturgy of the Hours'. The author realises that it is not realistic in modern life to embrace all the monastic hours and offices, but he does insist that some of them can, and should, still be appropriated nowadays. He focuses on three of them: morning, noon and evening. His exploration of 'evening' is particularly instructive, asserting that ending the day well is as important as starting it well, and offering (perhaps uniquely) a theology of sleep.

Each Day is Given

For all of us, time is a mysterious entity. We talk about making time, losing time and managing time, all from our own perspective (which may not be the best). We may never fully understand what time is, but we still have to recognise it, respect it and live within it.

Here we have an honest appraisal of the problems that living within time throws up, together with good advice on countering these problems, though the author always accepts that there will be difficulties putting his advice into practice. However, it is not difficult to agree with his overall proposition that each day is not a "vacuous hole waiting to be filled" (p81) but is given to us already shaped according to God's purposes, full of rhythm and moods waiting for us to step into and live through.

Here is an honest appraisal of the problems that living within time throws up, together with good advice on countering them.

The book is very well written in an easy style, with good endnotes and a comprehensive index. The author has thought through all the issues he brings before us, and brings us wisdom and insight from his own years in ministry. Ultimately, though, it is God who must write this on our hearts and make it effective in our lives.

Ian Stackhouse is the Pastoral Leader of the Millmead Centre, home of Guildford Baptist Church. The Day is Yours (158 pages) is available on Amazon.

Paul Luckraft reviews 'To Life!', the final instalment in Steve Maltz's trilogy on the Western Church (2011, Saffron Planet)

With this book the author completes his Way-Truth-Life trilogy (see previous reviews of How the Church Lost the Way, and How the Church Lost the Truth) and fittingly divides his final volume into three parts named The Way, The Truth and (the longest section) The Life.

As always, Maltz writes in an illuminating and witty manner, challenging us to rethink our traditions and natural tendencies in order to gradually shed our Greek way of thinking and become more Hebraically, and hence more biblically, minded. He explains that while the Greek mindset may have enabled us to make certain advances which we call 'progress', it is not comfortable with the supernatural, nor does it offer the correct tools for understanding God's word. Overall, Greek thinking "does not provide a natural interface for our dealings with God" (p38).

The Way: What 'Church' Should Look Like

In Part One, Maltz describes the early church and the way it operated, contrasting it with today where organised structures and hierarchies dominate - both in terms of buildings and management. Western churches now seem like distant cousins of those founded by the first apostles. So much baggage has been added over 2,000 years, largely squashing the original idea of church as a collection of 'called-out ones' each functioning according to gift and calling.

He devotes a few pages to certain small groups who did seek to exist independently of the mainstream Church and apply biblical principles. Brief outlines of such faithful (but often persecuted) remnants include the Waldenses, Albigenses and Hussites. Appendix 1 contains recommended reading for anyone wanting to learn more about this aspect of Church history.

So much baggage has been added to the Church in 2,000 years, squashing the original idea of a collection of 'called-out ones' functioning according to gift and calling.

He asserts that 'church' may have started out as a group of called-out ones but "once Greek thinking and personal ambition had been added to the mix, it had reversed metamorphosised, from the beautiful free butterfly of the earliest expressions to the ugly caterpillar of State control" (p36). He goes on to ask the key question: is any of this reversible? Is there a way back? He is not optimistic but in the remaining sections he explores this further.

The Truth: The Battle for Our Minds

In Part Two, The Truth, the author claims that what we usually classify as wisdom is very different from the wisdom that is 'from above'. We naturally strive to acquire wisdom by our own efforts and thought processes rather than by faith. Such pride can only produce a wisdom that is earthly, unspiritual, even devilish, rather than the pure kind which is transmitted to us directly from heaven itself (James 3:15-17). To highlight this the author takes us back to the Garden of Eden and the Fall to show us how Adam's thinking changed and what our default position now is.

The battle for our minds can be summed up as Hebraism versus Hellenism. The Greek mindset is man-centred, where self-fulfilment dominates our thinking. It drives us to exploit God for our own needs and creates a thirst for more knowledge, independent of that which God desires to give us. Greek thinking tries to work God out - to find out how he ticks.

It aims to remove all mysteries as it "seeks to know the unknowable, understand the un-understandable...To the Greek mind, the intellect must be exercised, even if this exercise is futile" (p100). By contrast the Hebraic mindset is one of reverence and respect which accepts God's majesty and greatness, and simply aims to please him by doing what he wants. Only this way can we be led into real truth, his truth.

Maltz contrasts Hellenism with Hebraism, outlining the battle between man-centred 'logic' and the Hebraic mindset of reverence, mystery and faith.

The author suggests that ideally, we need to install a new operating system and reboot our brains, but recognises this is impossible! The only realistic approach is an incremental one, a gradual process to encourage us to think more as God would want us to and less as the world has trained us to. In his third section he explores how this can happen as we head 'To Life!'

The Life: Working Out Kingdom 'Logic'

Part Three is more thematically arranged, including topics such as the family, money, the Bible and Jesus himself. The author argues that the Kingdom of God is not arranged according to Greek rules and logic. It is not always predictable and orderly. God is far bigger than this.

Maltz is equally concerned that we learn to act Hebraically, not just think Hebraically. He offers many practical tips to help our transformation and transition. There is also an informative chapter on the One New Man concept which would radically bring the Church back into line with God's purposes. The author critically examines its current situation and what is needed to make it a greater reality.

Maltz is concerned that we learn to act Hebraically – not just think Hebraically.

In this book Maltz continues to ask all the right questions which, if we are not afraid of them, will motivate us to change. Overall this is another absorbing read from a refreshingly honest writer, whose heart is to see a worldwide family of believers who are following the one who in himself is The Way, The Truth and The Life.

'To Life' (223 pages, paperback) is the final book in a three-part series by Steve Maltz on the state of the Western church. It is available from Saffron Planet Publishing for £10.

Next week: an interview with Steve Maltz!