Book Reviews

Last year I reviewed From Eternity To Hear by Frank Viola. As a result, I was asked to review his most recent book Jesus Manifesto: Reclaiming The Supremacy And Sovereignty Of Jesus Christ co-authored with church futurist Leonard Sweet.

When something like this happens I always wrestle with the tension of what to do. How honest should I be? If I’m too honest, will I perhaps offend people who are much more well-known than I? Will I miss out on future opportunities or connections as a result? Or if I’m not honest enough, am I compromising my integrity and the high value I have on healthy, open, and honest dialogue (what I believe to be the most productive and constructive)?  Will I be true to my Unauthorized Approach To Christianity? I couldn’t decide. I never can. So here I go.

Let me be brutally honest right up front: I didn’t want to like the Jesus Manifesto book.

Why?

It’s not because I thought it would resemble the Communist Manifesto (review forthcoming). It’s because I gave 5 years of the best years of my life helping to start and build a church. It was one of the best experiences of my life. But it was also one of the most difficult–and one of the reasons I’m not still part of that effort today. I have a great deal of respect for people who stick with it. Sure, there are lots of ministers, priests, and pastors caught up in scandals. The media loves that stuff because it gives them juicy material and devalues the role of faith in our society. But overall, most of these individuals (not the jerks in the news) are just good sacrificial souls who live with less and live on less in order to share with their communities how much God loves them.

So why does this matter?

To me, Frank Viola and Leonard Sweet often seem to position themselves as curmudgeons of the modern church at large in America. Don’t get me wrong, it deserves much of the criticism. And I know this may seem humorous coming from a guy who wrote a book called 10 Things I Hate About Christianity: Working Through the Frustrations of Faith. But there is a difference between being a skeptic and a cynic–there is a difference between being recklessly critical and a healthy skepticism. Although my book is brutally honest, it is very positive (which always surprises people) and why the sub-title is the key.

That being said, I really liked this book. It was also very positive. It was not cynical. It was not critical. Although it brought out key issues in the modern church and the personal devotion (and character) of ‘Christians’, it did so in a way that was polite, respectful, and occasionally humorous. These factors are the key, and difference, between stepping over that cynical and critical line. As a writer, that is the tension to manage to prevent yourself from entering that unhealthy territory on your prose. If you do slide to the other side, your words seem like complaining, elitism, and contempt. But the Jesus Manifesto was none of these things. Specifically, I really started to like this book at about half-way point.

Overall, the Jesus Manifesto was a refreshing and simple look at the importance of Jesus (his teachings, life, and sacrifice) over all else. Sometimes our strategies and practices and become routine, which dulls our love and devotion. However, there were a couple of times that I got a little lost. Some areas seemed to try hard to sound spiritual and intellectual–which always tickles the reader–but actually said very little. For example the writers commented:

Both of us have developed the habit of counting the number of times the preachers we hear mention the Lord Jesus. Sadly, in many cases, contemporary preachers and teachers who spend an hour speaking on a subject, mention the Lord just once or twice… (p. 14)

This begs the question, isn’t making sure you mention the name of Jesus enough times just the kind of dull routine that doesn’t necessarily mean anything or help your devotion? That’s what happened when I was in the band Strongarm. I would often get criticism for not saying ‘Jesus Christ’ or ‘God’ enough times in the lyrics. Other than a few things like that (that I didn’t care for), I though this was a good book. It is devotional in style and fairly short. It would make or a good stocking-stuffer around Christmas (or something like that).

Some of my favorite lines in the book:

…if God were to write your biography, it would be a fifth gospel, so to speak. (p.43)

Jesus Christ has never been a social activist or a moral philosopher. To pitch Him that way is to drain his glory and dilute His excellence. (p. 105)

A careful reading of the Scriptures reveals that the kingdom [of God] is not something that we bring, or build, or cause, or create. The kingdom is a presence that we enter, a gem-like gift that we receive and treasure, a new creation that engulfs and embraces us. (p. 110)

Caesar sought to change the hearts of men by laws and institutions. Jesus changes the hearts of women and men and brings them into a new society, the church, the firstfruits of a new creation. (p. 111)

We’re not sure that Rousseau was right when he said that the more you think, the less you feel. But we are sure that the more you judge, the less you love. (p. 112)

Too many Christians want to change the world not because they love the world but because they hate the world. (p. 118)

We do not suggest as some do that the church’s “justice mantras” are little more than socialist nuggets honeyed with Christian sweetness. (p. 118)

Christianity is not fundamentally about following a book… It’s about following a person and living out of His life. The library of divinely inspired books we call the Holy Bible best helps us to follow that person, for they testify of him. (p. 137)

The Jesus Manifesto brought critical attention to Jesus in way that his followers can learn from.

I was recently contacted and asked to review One Millions Arrows tells Papa’s story. It also tells the story of other people, particularly parents, and what they do to accomplish similar positive goals (both practical and spiritual) in the heart’s and lives of their own children. The author sets out to communicate a high value on how we treat and raise our children, all they while laying out the potentially bright future if we do.

Arrows is a positive and encouraging book that you will find illustrated by story after story of why we should sacrificially love our children: never forgetting that God loves them, that he created them for a reason and with special purpose, and that they have value best communicated in the life, teachings, and example of Jesus Christ.

CHECK OUT MORE HERE
 

“Who is John Galt?”

That’s how Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand starts off. I’ve been hearing about this book over and over for the last year, so I decided I had to read it. I finally finished the book. It was no easy task as it is 1,070 pages long. Hello!

As the book goes on it reveals who John Galt is. Is he a myth or legend? Is he real or an archetype? All are true.

Atlas Shrugged was an amazing book. Should I ever make a list of my top ten books it will definitely make it. The book is set in the late 50’s but it is completely relevant to today. In fact, it scared me as I read on because it was almost prophetic in its fictional depictions and predictions.

It tells the story of a world of countries and leaders that have succombed to the temptation of larger and larger government policies in order to ‘fix’ the problems of society. All under the guise of helping the people, power hungry officials suffocate the creativity, productivity, and individuality of the citizens.

The last outpost and final straw in these world events is America. But in the story, it is barreling toward socialism as hunger, crime, and disease increase.

Rand paints a picture set against the backdrop of a fictional story that projects what may happen should Marxist philosophies prevail on a large worldwide scale. I found it to be very intrguing and terrifying at the same time. The end result is that there are less jobs, less opportunity, and less safety and comfort in the lives of the citizens.

The solution? More government and regulations. It’s a familiar cycle: government makes the problem, and then decides the solution is more government…

As individuals are guaranteed jobs and income not tied to performance, behavior, or creativity it falls apart. In an effort to promote this new enlightenment, the nation’s people actually devolve. And the more this new morality is promoted the less integrity people possess. Productivity, self-worth, and responsibility begin to crumble.

People actually get worse, not better, in an effort to protect individuals from disappointment and failure. As government tries to protect the citizens from themselves, it fails to realize that what the people need is to be protected from the lofty and misguided ideas of government itself.

Sound familiar?

A quote by Thomas Jefferson kept coming to mind as I read. He said something like, “When the people fear the government there is tyranny. When the government fears the people there is liberty.”

I couldn’t believe how relevant this book was for today. And I guess I’m not the only one. There is an Atlas Shrugged movie in the works!

Read it. I highly recommend it. It was incredible.

Don’t shrug it off. Meeting John Galt was quite an experience.

I recently finished reading The Shack by William Young. This book has been blowing up for a while. I’m a little late to the game, but I finally decided I need to read it, to see what all the hype was. It’s a powerful story about a man who loses a child and questions how much God truly loves him. Or if God’s even real, for that matter.

So did I like it?

Not really. I guess I’m falling on the other side of the line with this one. I simply found it a little boring. I think the problem is that I’m not really into fiction all that much. And if I do read fiction, it’s usually a classic. I guess that way I feel smarter for reading it and that gives me the momentum I need to finish the book. Usually I read to learn and grow–some personal growth type of book is what I normally choose. I lean to the practical stuff. So I guess I only read fiction about 10% of the time.

Now let me say, I think it’s a good story and written well. I can certainly appreciate why this book has done so well and understand why it has been so important for so many people. It was very honest.

What was the one thing I liked most?

I really like how Young portrayed God in this book as a chubby Jamaican woman (Matrix anyone?). It took me off guard and forced me to listen more intently to the dialog that was being said. And that’s exactly the reason God appeared in that form to the main character. So I really liked that aspect. That particular thing really drew me in.

The Shack just didn’t find a home in me.

I recently read A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Previously, I had no idea what a recognized author Dickens was. Of course all I new of him was A Christmas Carol. I admit I am not all that informed which is why I am periodically trying to read some classic works. I want to be more informed. And it makes me feel smarter. Who doesn’t like adding to a conversation, “Oh, why yes. That reminds me of something I just read in Dickens work A Tale of Two Cities…”? The good thing about the version I read is that it had all kinds of background in the beginning for common folk like me.

It is a love story set in the sister cities of London and Paris set during the French Revolution. What’s extraordinary about the story is that I never realized how awful the revolution was. Sure it was great for the ruling aristocracy to lose it’s total unfair dominance and for democracy to take it’s place. But at what cost? Every rich person/aristocrat, any of their relatives, and anyone who was even considered remotely friendly with them was put to death. It is estimated that the death toll was over 1,000,000 for the entire revolution. It does seem a strange way to bring freedom and liberty: to kill so much and so many with so little evidence.

Anyway, it was a good read. I had hard time with the language since it was written a couple hundred years ago. It’s written in old English. So when I can sift through the words and
phrases and understand the story and characters, it’s a great book.

For example, it kept using the word ejaculate.
Obviously, in todays language it means something totally different. And
it took me a while to get it. In the context of the book, it was used
to describe how someone spoke (suddenly and forcefully). But I kept
getting hung-up on the word because of how I understood it today.

I liked it and am glad I read it. In the end love won. And even though it is a work of fiction, it was very informative to see what the affects of the French Revolution were like.