Resources
Below you will find habits, resources, and tools to keep growing.
5 habits For Following Jesus
We are learning to practice 5 habits that will allow us to follow Jesus and have a lives that sound like a church "BELL," a ringing invitation to others.
BLESS
Bless 3 people per week, including one who is not yet a believer. We'll bless through acts of kindness, phone calls, and the meeting of needs. The key is to be intentional and make a plan. Always begin with prayer.
Bless 3 people per week, including one who is not yet a believer. We'll bless through acts of kindness, phone calls, and the meeting of needs. The key is to be intentional and make a plan. Always begin with prayer.
EAT
Eat (or share a coffee or sit-down conversation) with 3 people per week, including one who is not a believer. Jesus was always sharing meals with people. Meals help us break through to better listening and loving.
Eat (or share a coffee or sit-down conversation) with 3 people per week, including one who is not a believer. Jesus was always sharing meals with people. Meals help us break through to better listening and loving.
LISTEN
Spend one period of time per week being quiet and listening to God. God often speaks to our hearts in these quiet times. It's a noisy world. Let's practice silent listening.
Spend one period of time per week being quiet and listening to God. God often speaks to our hearts in these quiet times. It's a noisy world. Let's practice silent listening.
LEARN FROM JESUS
Spend one period of time per week to learn from Jesus by reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.
Spend one period of time per week to learn from Jesus by reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.
SENT - JOURNALING
Spend one period of time per week writing down how God is sending you to be a missionary servant in your world. How are you learning from Jesus, hearing from God, connecting with others?
Spend one period of time per week writing down how God is sending you to be a missionary servant in your world. How are you learning from Jesus, hearing from God, connecting with others?
Diversity Resources
The Bible teaches us to be ministers of reconciliation - vertically (helping people find peace with God) and horizontally (helping people find peace with one another). We accept God's call to be ministers of reconciliation in our beautiful, diverse community.
- Under Our Skin: Getting Real about Race. Getting Free from the Fears and Frustrations that Divide Us by Benjamin Watson
- Intensional: Kingdom Ethnicity in a Divided World by DA Horton
- The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby
- I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
- Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical's Inside View of White Christianity by Edward Gilbreath.
- Let Justice Roll Down by Perkins, Dr. John (named by Christianity Today as one of the top fifty books that have shaped evangelicals).
- Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stoe. (It changed the hearts of millions. It might change yours too.)
- Building a Healthy Multi-ethnic Church by Mark DeYmaz (especially helpful for church leaders).
- Woke Church by Eric Mason (exceptional book with lots of solid Biblical teaching)
Prayer for Healing
The Highland Park staff prays for healing in our broken world. Please watch for a meditative time of worship and prayer.
Justice Resources
- Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate by Jenny Yang and Matthew Soerens (If you want to learn about immigration, start here.)
- Whose Justice? Which Rationality? by Alasdair MacIntyre
- When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert (foundational book for our Food Pantry)
- Deep Justice in a Broken World by Chap Clark and Kara Powell (Biblically rich book designed for student ministries)
- Let Justice Roll Down by John Perkins
- Good News About Injustice by Gary Haugen (founder of International Justice Mission)
- Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (And How to Reverse It) by Robert D. Lupton
- Prophetic Lament: A Call for Justice in Troubled Times by Soong-Chan Rah
- I leaned heavily on Tim Keller’s research. I was pleased to hear so many trusted friends in the justice world recommend it to me.
- https://quarterly.gospelinlife.com/a-biblical-critique-of-secular-justice-and-critical-theory/
- I highly recommend “The New Activist” podcast, produced by International Justice Mission. They’ve become faithful partners with Blackbox International.
Science Resources
- The Late Great Ape Debate by Bayard Taylor
- The Lost World of Genesis One by John Walton
- The Works of His Hands: A Scientist’s Journey from Atheism to Faith by Sy Garte (and you can find his recent article in Christianity Today and an interview on the Quick to Listen podcast)
- American Scientific Affiliation - https://network.asa3.org/
- Biblical Archaeology - biblicalarchaeology.org
Political Resources
- Five Views on Church & Politics by Benestad, Black & Stanley
- Compassion (&) Conviction: The AND Campaign's Guide to Faithful Civic Engagement by Justin Giboney, Michael Wear, and Chris Butler
- How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels by NT Wright