Kim Gentes

Pastoral Care is an ancient volume written by Pope Gregory the Great in 591AD. It was written to instruct pastors on the details of their office, warnings to those entering its service and extensive instructions on how to administer spiritual care to parishioners. The primary content of the book is a systematic listing of methodologies for how to evaluate and speak to Christians under the pastoral care of the reader. The methodologies, called admonishments,  contain two basic components in each. First, each admonishment contains a paradoxical evaluation of two kinds of people. These are categorizations of the types of people a pastor will encounter. While they are fairly simplistic in name, it is their simplicity that makes them especially effective as diagnostic tools.  Each admonishment begins with a listing of the two paradoxical types of people that will be dealt with. A pastor can use those types to help him find (within Gregory’s extensive treatise) and diagnose the kind of person he is trying to help.  Second, each admonishment also contains a specific and detailed account of how to treat each person described therein. Especially clear is the assumption that Gregory feels his coverage of the subject as a whole should be sufficient for almost any situation, and he approaches it is an analogous manner to a physician, employing the metaphor extensively, and acting as a instructor to spiritual physicians.

One topic which Gregory deals with that I was particularly impressed by was his understanding of giving. He states it this way:

For when we administer necessities to the needy, we give them what is their own, not what is ours; we pay a debt of justice, rather than do a work of mercy..[1]

His discourse on giving is one of the most extraordinary I have seen. Though not without objectionable points, he perfectly applies a surgical knife to misguided thought about giving when he states:

"[one] gives of his bread to an indigent sinner, not because he is a sinner, but because he is a man. In doing so one actually nourishes a righteous beggar, not a sinner, for he loves in him not his sin but his nature." [2]

Though the work is vastly important and helpful to the pastoral office, it is not without its questionable suggestions:

The married must be admonished to bear in mind that they are united in wedlock for the purpose of procreation, and when they abandon themselves to immoderate intercourse, they transfer the occasion of procreation to the service of pleasure. Let them realise that though they do not then pass beyond the bounds of wedlock, yet in wedlock they exceed its rights. Wherefore, it is necessary that they should efface by frequent prayer what they befoul in the fair form of intercourse by the admixture  of pleasure.[3]

Sadly, Gregory’s pre-medieval understanding of the marriage bed will only serve  as a template to plunge the church and its leadership into 1300 years of further angst and castigation against sexual fulfillment through marriage in specific, and anything sexual in general.

Product Link : Ancient Christian Writers - The Works Of The Fathers In Translation - St Gregory The Great: Pastoral Care

 
Review by Kim Gentes

[1]Johannes Quasten, “St Gregory The Great: Pastoral Care” in Ancient Christian Writers - The Works Of The Fathers In Translation, translated Henry Davis, SJ (Westminster, MD: Newman Press, 1950), Pg 159
[2]Ibid., Pg 155
[3]Ibid., Pg 188

In the last ten years few people would not recognize the impact that Saddleback Church, Rick Warren (its pastor) and the “Purpose Driven” books and ministries that have sprung up from this community. It’s no surprise then, when you talk to worship ministers in local churches around America that you hear them referring to Saddleback’s Rick Muchow (pastor and worship leader) and Tony Guerrero (Director of Creative Arts) for insights on music and worship. A few weeks ago, while at a worship conference, I was thumbing through a new book called “Attracting Quality Musicians” by Tony Guerrero. I was intrigued by the book because it spoke head-on to a specific topic that touches most churches in western culture. While I was standing at a vendor booth scanning the book, the vendor said to me “if you are interested in that book, you can ask the author, he’s right there”. Tony just happened to be walking by (he was teaching some classes at the conference I was at) so I had the chance to catch up with him and talk briefly. I was glad I did.

Tony Guerrero is a successful jazz musician of some notoriety, who has won popular acclaim in concerts, recording appearances and music reviews. He has quite a story of how God moved him into serving local churches, and eventually overseeing the music ministry at Saddleback church. Much of this story is shared in the pages of Tony’s book “Attracting Quality Musicians’, which is both enjoyable and well balanced in its treatment of the topic. In this work, Tony presents a concise, but complete, treatise for why and how a local church can go about “Attracting Quality Musicians”.

The book begins with several pages which address some philosophical and Biblical points related to the premise of putting quality music into the local church. I liked this because he took the approach of helping to bring everyone to the same place of understanding before launching into the mechanics of attracting and keeping quality musicians. Even if you don’t end up agreeing with his viewpoint, this book is an excellent scale on which to weigh your opinions. And in the end, there is plenty to discuss here. From foundations for why a church might want to improve their music, to identifying, engaging, pastoring, working with and keeping top notch musicians, Mr. Guerrero meticulously covers the gambit of issues that face anyone in local church music leadership.

Another thing I liked about the book was that Tony doesn't shy away from any hot button issues. Particularly, the topics of paying musicians, using non-Christian musicians, volunteerism and personal moral character is dealt with head on. This may be controversial to some, but Guerrero is upfront and clear about his agenda and perspective. Also refreshing was that the author presents the reader with other options, sometimes going so far as to articulate and explain how one could support alternate opinions. All along the way, we learn more about the author and the concepts by well placed personal stories and examples and quotes from others such as Tommy Walker, Buddy Owens, and Chris Falsom. The core of the book is a relatively short read at about 85 pages, so it is nicely manageable for worship leaders and musicians who (if they are like me) have limited spare time. But the book has an additional 40 pages of excellent interview material that helps to bring some additional voices to the discussion. Israel Houghton, Paul Baloche, Sally Morganthaler, Morris Chapman, Tom Brooks and others chime in with extended sections relating to the topics presented in the book. Not all of the opinions and feedback even agree with all of Guerrero’s points (though some of them do), which make the interviews a valuable part of this work.

Overall “Attracting Quality Musicians” is, as its subtitle suggests, “a guidebook and discussion” not a hard-line text for Tony Guerrero’s opinion. It is well-paced and invitational in its approach, leaving you feeling like you sat down and had a chat with Tony (ok, maybe several chats) about the topics covered. He clearly leaves you to make your own conclusions on how to approach church music, while presenting a fairly concise manual for the proven method they are employing in the ministry at Saddleback church. It is an important, well-thought, contribution to church music leaders everywhere.

Product Link  http://amzn.to/ogKNDq

Review by Kim Gentes

Revelation is something that must not only be received by the mind, but lived in the present reality of our bodies and spirits. In "The Worship God Is Seeking", pastor, worship leader and songwriter, David Ruis takes this difficult road of attempting to connect theology and passionate service. He succeeds wonderfully! This is a book that should be read by everyone, not just pastors and worship leaders and musicians. This is a prophetic message for all of us in the Body of Christ.

In the first 3 chapters, Ruis examines God-centered devotion in which the centrality of the Cross, the foundation of God's love, the necessity of the power of the Spirit, and the essential gathering of the community of Christ are the basis of "The Worship God is Seeking". As the chapters continue, David argues convincingly that true worship will be a journey not only marked by discovering God more fully as the fuel of all things "spirit and truth", but the center of creativity itself, as initiated by His actions at the creation of the universe. He goes on to link our relational connection to God as "Abba Father" as an important truth in unlocking authenticity and freedom in worship, not just in our culture, but around the globe.

But do not think the book aspires to some unreachable utopia. Ruis takes careful aim to ground his theological outline (which is heavily influenced by theologians N.T. Wright and Don Williams) in a lifetime of personal experience. Ruis's constant call in this book is for the church to focus on God, remember the community of Christ and show the fruit of worship through the fragrance of justice.

On the whole, this book is substantially more challenging to pastors and leaders than a simple book on worship. On practical terms, he covers everything from the place of artists and musicians in our churches to the importance of expectation in our gatherings. But this book is not really a practitioners guide as much as it is a prophetic challenge to the church. It is a distinct call to complete surrender to Christ, who has done all that is needed for worship, and an ongoing welcome to those who would walk in step with the advancing kingdom of God as we become participants that "let justice roll".

Product Link  http://amzn.to/omCmRp

Review by Kim Gentes