However, my mom read it.  She really liked it and said it was a book that my dad would have enjoyed.  My dad was Baptist preacher who joined the Army during the Vietnam war.  After retiring from the Army he ran a small college for a few years before finishing his career as a Hospice chaplain.  I’m not sure how conservative my dad was when he first became a preacher.  But he would tell me that after spending time in Vietnam, working as a hospital Chaplain, and finally helping people die in peace with Hospice that he probably would not make it in a Baptist church.

In any case, since my mom talked so enthusiastically about the book I figured I should read it.  I needed to figure out for myself if it was a good as the Christian media says or as bad as some conservative Christian leaders warned.

For those that do not know the story here is a quick summary…

Willie (the Author) is telling a story about his friend Mack.  Mack’s youngest daughter is abducted and after a extensive search the police believe she has been killed by a known serial killer.  A Great Sadness comes over Mack and his life lose all joy.

God sends Mack a note in his mailbox asking him to meet Him at the shack where they found his daughters red dress when she was abducted.  Mack can’t imagine anything worse than visiting that shack again but he can’t resist finding out who wrote the note.  Was it someone playing a cruel joke?  Was it the killer luring him there to kill him as well?  Was it really God?

Mack’s wife and kids leave for the weekend so Mack borrows his friend jeep (and gun) and decides to check it out.  It turns out that the note really is from God and the rest of the book is Mack experiences hanging out and getting to know God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

As mentioned above, God the Father manifest himself as an African American woman named Papa.  The reason God gives for this manifestation is that because Mack had such a hurtful relationship with his own father, God knew Mack would never be reached by a father figure.  Later in the book God does show himself as a man when he says that Mack needs a father for the next lesson.  He has silver white hair, pulled back in a ponytail, a mustache and a goatee.

Jesus is a 30-something Jewish carpenter looking man.  His description is probably how you would picture Jesus if he had been born in 1979 rather than 2000 years ago in Palestine.  When I think of Jesus today I think more of a King persona than a average working Joe but it was much easier to take than Papa.

The Holy Spirit is portrayed as an Asian woman named Sarayu.  She is kind of between human looking and spirit looking.  Mack finds it hard to focus on her.

I think right away you can see where many conservative Christians are going to have a problem with this book.  Honestly, it kind of bothered me as I read it.  I understand why God was manifested this way in the story.  The idea was for Mack to get to know the Godhead in a personal and intimate way and these manifestations helped with this part of the story.  However, it seemed to take away much of who God is in the bible.

There is no doubt that Mack was living in a Great Sadness.  I actually skimmed very quickly through the first part of the book because I did not want to spend to much time reading about him losing his little girl.  I don’t even want my mind to go there.

The dialog he has with the different persons of the Trinity does a great job of showing Mack his sadness and convincing him that only God can take it away.  In fact, there are many truths in the story that do a great job portraying God’s love for us.

There were quite a few references and insinuations that I was not comfortable with at all.  It was never stated directly but I got the impression that there was a message of Universalism.  However, the author never took it that far.  There was no mention of spiritual Satan and his demons.  I’ve experienced Great Sadness both personally and with a loved one and I know when you’re down Satan attacks.  The spiritual warfare can’t really just be ignored but it is ignored in the book and I’m not sure why.

The story ends with Mack learning to forgive his daughter’s killer,confessing to his wife that he did not share the note from God with her when he should have, and helping his older daughter heal from her own Great Sadness.

When I first talked to my mom about this book I told her I had heard some criticism about how the Trinity was portrayed.  But I said I did not give too much credence to that because this was just a novel and not meant to be a theological book.  However, after reading The Shack it is quite clear that the author has every intention of telling his theological perspective through this story.  It really is a theological book.

So what’s my final verdict?  I enjoyed the book.  I disagree with where the author was taking some of his views about God.  However, he did do a great job portraying God’s love for us and God’s love within the Trinity.  The biggest benefit for me with reading this book is that it has made me want to get into the bible and into prayer to get to know God more.  I want to know that love he expressed in the book that God has for all of us, especially since I know that love is more than any man inspired book could adequately explain.

On the negative side, there is a real danger for Christians and non-Christians to read this book and use it as their basis for knowing God.  The Shack is just William Young’s theological perspective on God.  You have to find God in the bible, not The Shack.

I’ve read and posted reviews on a couple of books by what many would call “emergent” church leaders.  You can find reviews for The Secret Message of Jesus by Brian McLaren and Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell on this blog.  Dan Kimball is also mentioned in Why We’re Not Emergent and an”emergent” leader and I have also reviewed his book They Like Jesus But Not the Church.

Kevin DeYoung is a pastor of a church while Ted Kluck is a writer but a lay person as opposed to a pastor or theologian.  They have split the book literally in two as they alternate writing each chapter.  This could have been confusing if you did not read the Introduction first but with the strategy understood up front it worked out ok.

I enjoyed the book.  It addressed many of the questions I asked myself after reading McLaren’s and Bell’s book.  I enjoyed these latter books as well but as I mention in my reviews, certain aspects did not sit quite right with me.  DeYoung and Kluck point out many of these same questions so at least I know I’m not alone.

That said, what I appreciated about this book is that it addressed this questions and concerns with grace.  I’ve read other critics of the emergent movement whose words lacked love and respect which really made hearing their reasonable concerns difficult and impossible if you felt personally attacked.

Probably the main issue that has bothered me with the books I read from McLaren and Bell is that the gospel is only half-way presented.  I admit that I may not be cool enough to read between the lines in their books so I may just be missing some of it.  However, it appears to me that they want to skirt by issues of sin in order to not offend anyone.  So what you have is a gospel of salvation from the injustices of this world but nothing about needing to be saved from your own sin nature.

Why We’re Not Emergent addresses this same primary topic as well as many other concerns.

In my opinion, the emergent church movement has a valuable message that more conservative evangelical Christians need to remember.  However, I get the impression that eh emergent movement is throwing out the baby with the bath water.  DeYoung and Kluck draw these same conclusions.

I the last chapter, DeYoung does a great job of explaining this problem by looking at the churches addressed by Jesus in the first three chapters of Revelation.

The church of Ephesus can be seen as the loveless, fundamentalist church (Rev 2:1-7).  They are orthodox, moral, and hardworking, but lacked love and compassion.  To them Jesus says “Return to your first love.”

The church of Smyrna can be seen as the persecuted church like we might find today in communist or Islamic countries (Rev 2:8-11). These Christians are persecuted, slandered, and impoverished.  To them Jesus says “be faithful.”

The church in Pergamum can be seen as the underground, youth-movement church (Rev 2:12-17).  They are faithful and passionate witnesses but they have also compromised righteousness for worldly culture.  To them Jesus says “discern.”

The church in Thyatira can be seen as the warmhearted liberal church (Rev 2:18-29).  They are strong in love, faith, and perseverance but they under value doctrinal authority and moral purity.  To them Jesus says “think.”

The church in Sardis can be seen as the flashy and wealthy mega-church or the bible belt church full of nominal Christians (Rev 3:1-6).  They have great reputations but are spiritually dead.  To them Jesus says, “wake up.”

The church in Philadelphia can be seen as the small, storefront, urban ghetto church (Rev 3:7-13).  They can feel weak and unimpressive but in reality they are strong in their struggles.  To them Jesus says, “press on.”

The church in Laodicea can be seen as your ritzy, influential church in the rich part of town (Rev 3:14-22).  They may think they have it all together but they are as spiritually poor as they are materially rich.  To them Jesus say, “be earnest.”

Just like personality testing, I don’t think any particular church falls in just one particular category.  All churches are made up of sinners so all churches will tend to have multiple characteristics, both good and bad, as these seven churches addressed by Jesus in Revelations.  The point is that when we swing too far to one tendency, even a good tendency, the church suffers when we leave behind other attributes we are called to follow.

I recommend Why We’re Not Emergent” but I also recommend that you also make yourself familiar with some of the books of those in the emergent movement.  Weigh it all against the only infallible writings on the subject, the bible.  ESV of course

Scared is a story of two different people from two different worlds whose lives cross.  God works in both of their lives to lift them from the pit of hopelessness to a new found peace in him.

Both the hero and the heroin are in desperate times.  Adanna is a young girl in Swaziland that lives in a village where many of the adults have died or they are dying of AIDS.  She often goes days without anything to eat.  Life is desperate.

Stuart is a free-lance photographer.  His pictures of the massacre in the Congo earned him honors in his field but the images in his mind have left his personal life and career quickly spiraling downward and out of control.  Life is desperate.

Jesus is eluded to as the illuminated man that comforts Adanna, a voice that tells Stuart to feed his sheep, and a blue-eyed dark skinned man that helps save a child from a flooding river.  However, you won’t find the explicit gospel about sin, death on the cross, resurrection, and salvation.

This is a novel about redemption as a story.  I believe it is intended to wake up in the reader a realization of injustice in the world and a self-reflection on their own desperate life.  The story could come across rather emergent theologically but I have no idea if that is Davis’ intent. If you’re a compassionate Calvinist like myself, enjoy the story and assume that Stuart and Adanna have heard the gospel and the story we are reading is God’s quickening of their hearts to the truth and a regenerated life.

I had a terrible cold while I finished the last half of this book.  This was actually quite beneficial to my manhood.  The story of Adanna and even Stuart’s awakening, brought me to tears at times.  Fortunately, since I had a head cold anyway, I could just grab a Kleenex, blow my nose, and my wife was none the wiser.

Finally, I did notice cynicism from Tom Davis about some Christians and some charitable organizations.  Tom Davis has spent years on the ground in the mission field with orphans and the poor so I have to give him the benefit of the doubt that the stereo-typed characters he displayed are realistic occurrences in Africa.  Shame on those he describes if it is so.

The examples I noticed was a loud mouth lady in the airport blurting out to everyone that she was there to save the heathens from hell.  The second example is a state supported charity organization that brings food just long enough for a photo shoot for some wealthy people to hand out small lunch bags (with tracts).  They then leave without meeting the village’s needs once the photo session is over.

The lady in the airport seemed more like a missionary spoof-type scene and the charity trucks episode seemed too unrealistic.  I got the point but the points seemed contrived.  Of course, it is a novel, which by nature is supposed to be contrived.  Even more likely, I’m probably just too naive.

I highly recommend this book.  But, if it moves you, don’t just put it back on the shelf and forget about it. Do something about it.

Mark 13:37

And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”

A friend of mine recommended Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God to me.  Prior to that I had not heard of Francis Chan.  My friend let me down in a way.  Before you recommend this book to anyone, you need to provide a warning.  If you’re comfortable in your Christian life, good family, good church, good job, all in all life is good – then do not read this book.  Unless of course, you’re brave enough to challenge your comfortable status quo.

Chan has a unique way of starting a book.  In chapter one he asks you to stop and watch a couple of videos on the book’s website, “Just Stop and Think” and “The Awe Factor of God”.  The reason that he wants you to watch these videos is that the purpose of the first three chapters is to make sure you have an understanding of who God is in the bible.

Chapter one discusses God being holy, eternal, all knowing, all powerful, and fair and just.  Chan brings home the point that many Christians today have learned this at some point but that we suffer from spiritual amnesia.  We start to take the awesomeness of God for granted.

Chapter two reminds us that life is short (James 4:13-14).  In this chapter, you are challenged that worry and stress are sins where you are making your problems greater than God.  He then ends the chapter asking if you’re ready to face God today.

In chapter three Chan really set me up.  He talks about God being this awesome Father, how He loves me, and how I need to love and fear him like a child does their own loving Dad – safe, secure, loved, but with respect and awe.  After these three chapters you’re feeling good about God and who you are with Him.  You might even be more encouraged to get back on track with your quiet time and bible reading.  Then comes the next chapter.

Some might say that Chapter four and five are the crux of the this book.  I don’t know about that.  In fact, Chan gives that title to the last chapter.  If these Chapters were all the book was about then this would be a discouraging book, but it’s meant to encourage.  The last half of the book picks you back up off the mat after chapter four hits you in the gut and then chapter five delivers the knock-out to your glass jaw.

Chapter four is about lukewarm Christians.  Francis Chan goes through verse after verse in describing lukewarm Christians.  It reminded me of Jeff Foxworthy and his famous routine, “You know you’re a redneck when…”.  The chapter reads like, “You know you’re a lukewarm Christian when…”.

I didn’t fail all of the lukewarm Christian tests but I saw myself in enough of them that I was humbled and broken.  I know lots of people that I would point to and think, “lukewarm Christian”.  However, when I read all the passages on how Christians are called to live, I saw the large log in my own eye.

Chapter four was harsh.  Chapter five starts by Chan stating, “Of all the chapters in this book, this one was the hardest for me to write.”  What?  Maybe I should should close the book now.  However, I took a deep breadth and continued.

The key passage in chapter five is Revelation 3:15-18.

I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

The message in chapter five is, true Christians, Christ followers, cannot be lukewarm.  If you are a lukewarm Christian, the bible says that Jesus “spits you out”.  Basically, Chan is saying that the bible is teaching that lukewarm Christians are not Christians.  After reading chapter four and realizing how much of my life is a lukewarm Christian life, chapter five delivered the blow and challenged my faith.  If I am a lukewarm Christian, am I a Christian at all?

For such a controversial and tough topic, Chan again does what more Christian authors should do.  He tells the reader to stop and read the gospels, all the way through and see for themselves what God says about those that claim to follow Jesus but don’t lead the life that follows Jesus.

I don’t want to scare anyone from reading this book.  Chan makes it clear that he is not wanting us to doubt our salvation.  He reaffirms that God’s grace covers our failures to follow Jesus how the bible tells us to follow him.  The point at which you need to think about your salvation is if your not 100% sold out for Jesus, and you’re ok with that.

As I mentioned, the rest of the book picks you back off the mat and encourages on how to live a life that is on fire for Jesus as opposed to the lukewarm life that has become too comfortable to us.

Chapter six is about what it means to truly love God.  What does that look like?  He quotes John Piper’s challenge from “God is the Gospel”.

The critical question for our generation—and for every generation— is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there?

Chan’s point is this chapter is to encourage the reader to seek a true love relationship with Jesus.  If we try to pursue obedience to Jesus out of fear and guilt, we will fail.  We must be in love with Jesus.  If you’re not there, ask God to get you there.

Chapter seven encourages you to live for your next life and not this one.  We all know the verses about storing up treasures in heaven, but yet we still all live pursuing perishable treasures here on earth.

Chapter eight sort of reads like the antithesis of chapter four.  This chapter examples of what it is like to be obsessed for living for Jesus.  “You might be obsessed if…”.

Chapter nine follows up the theory of chapter eight with some real-life examples of people living radical lives for Jesus.  It includes well-known Christians from history like George Mueller to an everyday family that delivers food to the homeless every Christmas.

Chapter ten is titled, “The Crux of the Matter.”  Basically, now that you’ve read this book, if it cut to your heart and has convicted you to start living all out of Jesus, what next?

I highly recommend “Crazy Love” to everyone.  However, don’t forget the warning: This book may challenge you more than you want to be challenged if you think your life is comfortable and comfort is what you want.

I’m actually going through it again with a group of guys I meet with each week.  It was one of these guys that recommended the book to me but I later found out, he’d never read it yet himself.  Well, he’s going to read it now, and I’ve fully warned them all.

I read this book on the way to Liberia last summer.  If you read or listen to much of John Piper you know that he has a passion for people to understand the joy that comes from the glory of Jesus.  For him, everything is about the cross, the price Jesus paid for our sins even though we deserve no mercy, and the glory and joy of God’s forgiveness anyway.

Piper believes we are created to be full of joy and the joy comes from the glory of God.  Chapter 3 includes some resolutions from Jonathan Edwards, including Resolution #22: “Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.”

This is a powerful quote that can easily be misunderstood.  In our PC world it is not good to talk about violence but as Piper explains, Edwards is expressing what Jesus meant when he said if your eye is causing you to sin, gouge it out.  Basically, do whatever is necessary to live in this world for the next.

Living for the next life is probably the best way to describe the theme for this book, “Don’t Waste Your Life”.  The point Piper makes is that everything we do needs to be to magnify Christ.  To magnify Christ is not to make him bigger, because you can’t, but to live your life so that others can see the glory of Christ – magnify him to others.

Chapter four starts to take you into what it means to live a life that magnifies Jesus.  It means a life of suffering and pain but full of joy.  Quite a paradox but right from the gospels and Paul’s letters.

After chapter four makes it clear that you can expect suffering when you don’t waste your life, chapter five urges you forward to take action, take risks.  We certainly crave the good life in our country.  The American dream is to be financially independent and successful.  Risk taking is ok in business but not when the reward you can expect is pain and suffering.  We don’t call that a risk, we call that stupid.

I heard a great point by Francis Chan the other day.  When we are at God’s throne and making an account for our lives, who will feel stupid?  The one that was sold out for Jesus and risking it all, or the one that played it safe, built up a great retirement plan and financial security for his children.  When everything in this world burns away, which life is stupid?

There is a warning here however.  God is always interested in our hearts.  Are you wanting to risk it all so you feel exalted?  Do you look down on others whom you perceive to be wasting their lives and see yourself as a better Christian?  Self-righteousness is not an acceptable heart for God.  Everything is for his glory, and his glory alone.

Chapter seven asks a great question that every follower of Jesus should ask themselves.  It is based on 1 Peter 3:15.

1 Peter 3:15 (ESV)
¹⁵ but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you;

Do people ask you about “the hope that is in you” or is your hope the same as theirs?  Does your life look so radically different that your neighbors know that your live for a different purpose?  Or does your life look like your goal are like theirs, a comfortable suburban life, kids in college, and a comfortable retirement?

I think whenever I’ve read this verse in the past, my thought was that this meant how people see me handle adversity.  How do I handle the death of a loved one?  How do I handle the loss of a job?  However, it is much more than that.

Peter is talking about the suffering that comes from a zeal for living for Christ.  To the early Christians reading Peter’s letter this mean real persecution like many of our brothers and sisters face in other countries today.  For us in America, it means others, including my neighbor, are more important to me than me.  If my neighbor cannot tell from my everyday life that I live for the glory of Christ, I’m not giving him any reason to ask about the hope that is in me.

While the preceding chapters are convicting and cause you to think about how your living your life, many of us may think that this “sold out” life-style is reserved for preachers and missionaries.  However, chapter 8, “Making Much of Christ from 8 to 5”, brings it back to you, wherever you are at.

1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV)
³¹ So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Chapter nine is for those that are reading the book and know they are being pulled by God beyond their 8 to 5 job.  Missionaries and preachers are called and Piper winds down his book encouraging those that feel the pull to not resist, give it all up, and do it.  However, even if you are not called (at least yet) to join the front lines in reaching the unreached, Piper makes the point.  In war, even the civilians need to have a heart for the battle and for the people in the far corners of the world that have not yet heard the good news.  The new that there is a God and he loves them and wants to draw them to himself.

Piper has a great analogy – don’t be content to just be a bat boy that thinks the great point of the World Series is to hand the players a bat.  If you are a “sender” then show your love and mercy to those in need at home.  There is no reason for any of us to just sit on the sidelines and waste our life.

I read this book on my own and again as I used it in a Sunday morning bible study and with my men’s accountability group.  Piper draws you to God’s word and challenges you to live it out.

The only criticism that I have received from those that have read the book along with me is that Piper is super intelligent and uses words sometimes that may require a dictionary.  I’m too lazy for that and usually just went with the context so it never really bothered me too much.  The overall intent of his words were always crystal clear.

One final note, as I know John Piper would agree, this book is just the words of a man.  It’s meant only as a supplement to challenge you based on what you read for yourself in God’s word.

I’ll give it a shot anyway.

If I had to pick out one of the themes of this book it is that the Christian faith is always “reforming”. Rob Bell is clear that he does not believe that biblical truths change but our understanding of those truths change – or reform. He cites the Reformation and Martin Luther as an example of this type of ongoing reforming.

I’m not sure what to think about this concept. There is some validity here but it is also an idea that could be abused. Many cults probably started by the leader changing the explanation of  the truth behind the scriptures to meet their own means.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think for a second that Rob Bell is doing this. It just makes me nervous – not that nervous is a bad thing. I think what Bell is saying is that we should not be afraid to study doctrine and question doctrine in light of scripture. A quote he likes to use is, “God has spoken and the rest is commentary.”

I do think he made a poor choice of the virgin birth as an example of this questioning of doctrine. The scenario he used was far fetched so this example only serves to have mainstream evangelicals get up in arms. Bell affirms that he believes in the virgin birth. However, I think using this extreme example gets people side tracked on an otherwise valid point.

In chapter six, “New”, Bell talks about our sin and the necessity for a new birth. He does not talk about it in terms one may have learned in Sunday school so this too may make more conservative evangelicals raise their eyebrows. However, I do like the point he makes that eternal life is not just about life after death. Jesus says that eternal life is to know God. Christians too often focus on heaven and neglect God’s Kingdom now.

Overall I enjoyed Velvet Elvis and it was spiritually edifying to me. It really made me think. Am I just doing the church thing, or am I really living as Jesus calls me to live? Am I impacting the Kingdom in my life?

The controversial piece I had heard about Kimball’s book was a story in it where Kimball had ripped out pages of a Bible because he was giving it to a new believer.  Supposedly, Kimball was concerned that the new believer might be offended by some of the passages that discussed sexual sin (this new believer was still living with a girlfriend).

Needless to say, I went into this book with a bias, much like the bias I had starting McLaren’s book.  However, unlike McLaren’s book, Dan Kimball’s book won me over.

If you’re a pastor reading this book, it might be hard not to take offense at times.  Dan Kimball is brutally honest about how as a church, we have failed to keep up with the culture.  We have not failed in the message, for the message never changes, but we are failing with the method.  We’ve created a Christian sub-culture that can repel rather than attract those that need to learn about God’s saving grace.

As I mentioned, I went into this book with a bias.  However, as I read it, I noticed I kept shaking my head in agreement.  Even though I am in the Christian sub-culture he describes, I can see the problems and understand how this can cause barriers to others.

A list of non-Christian perceptions of the church addressed in this book are as follows (taken directly from the table of contents):

• The church is an organized religion with a political agenda
• The church is judgmental and negative
• The church is dominated by males and oppresses females
• The church is homophobic
• The church arrogantly claims all other religions are wrong
• The church is full of fundamentalists who take the whole Bible literally

Kimball points out that many of these perceptions are misperceptions and exaggerations.  His main point of the book is that we Christians need to step out of our sub-culture and engage our culture around us so that people can see Jesus’ love through us in their lives.  Most of what they see today is what they see in the news, which is rarely going to be accurate or reflect the true heart of the church.

What about tearing out offending pages of the Bible?  That turned out not to be an accurate portrayal of the story.

What really happened, was that Dan Kimball had been sharing his faith with a young man for some time.  One day, the young man said he’d really like to read the Bible for himself.  Kimball excitedly drove to the church and grabbed one of the new believer New Testaments fresh out of a box and rushed back to the coffee shop.

Before he went in, he flipped through the pages and noticed that throughout this version of the New Testament there were commentaries on what you could no longer do as a Christian.  He started to try to tear these commentaries out but there were too many. So he went back and got an non-editorialized version of the New Testament and gave that to the young man instead.

I totally understand Kimball’s concern with giving a seeking non-believer a Bible full of commentary on what you must now give up as a Christian.  I’ve had this discussion with my brother in the past over his concerns about Christianity.  It’s hard for non-Christians to graspbelieve that Christianity is not about rules.  Everything that needs to be done for you to be saved has already been done by Jesus on the cross.

We should share the good news that there’s a better way.  However, let God’s Word speak to the heart about one’s sins.  Let the Holy Spirit do the convicting.  This does not mean condoning any life style or actions that are contrary to God’s Word.  The point is, as Christians we need to be able to point out the need for salvation without making is sound like holy living is a prerequisite.

Jesus died for us, while we were still sinners.  The transforming of the heart comes afterwards.  It comes not through rules but through the miracle of grace.

I highly recommend They Like Jesus But Not the Church. It’s not flawless and you may not agree with all of Kimball’s points.  However, if you follow each point to it’s conclusion, you’ll find that he keeps his doctrine sound.  As with any Christian book, weigh what you read against scripture.

We scored high as a church on basic church doctrine. We clearly understand salvation through faith alone. We clearly believe that the bible is God’s inerrant and infallible word. The test showed we stated that we believed it was our responsibility to share the gospel and care for the poor and the oppressed.

The test also revealed that as a church we fail miserably in living out what we believe. The good news was that as a church we were honest in answering questions about our actions (or lack thereof) when it comes to our beliefs. The bad news was that as a church, we are not living out our faith.

One of the lowest scoring areas was in compassion. This was also my lowest score personally. I don’t know if I should be encouraged or discouraged that I’m not alone in this weakness. I remember when I took the test that I was giving myself low scores on the questions that related to living with compassion. I was rating myself low because I knew that on a day to day basis, I was not thinking much about those in need, not to mention actively working to help the needy.

Fields of the Fatherless, by Tom Davis, speaks directly to this weakness in the Christian walk for many of us.

This book was recommended to my wife by one of our close friends. This friend has a heart for orphans so I figured this to be a book that encourages readers to become involved in international adoptions. I started reading it with this expectation. I was already wondering what God was trying to say to our family about adoptions (see posts labeled under “Moses“), so this this seemed to fit with what I was already seeking.

Fields of the Fatherless, however, is about much more than just an encouragement to adopt orphans. This book is about living out compassion for all those in need. Davis points out that God calls Christians to be compassionate as he is compassionate. This means being active in the lives of all those that are hurting. This includes the orphans and the widows, but it also includes the homeless, the struggling single parents, people struggling with addictions, people that need to experience God’s love and compassion through God’s people.

The most powerful message in this book to me was that compassion equals involvement. Davis says that just looking at this world, tells us that we need to rethink our understanding of compassion. If we are really as compassionate as we think we are, why do we still have so many people suffering all around us? He quotes Henri Nouwen to further define how we should think of compassion:

The word compassion is derived from the Latin words pati and cum, which together mean “to suffer with.” Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears. Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human. – Henri Nouwen, Compassion: A Reflection of the Christian Life (New York:Image Books, 1983), 4.

Our friend that recommend this book to us said that you really need to read this book at least once a year to refuel your desire for compassionate living. It’s strange that the Bible is not enough to fuel this desire. However, as is often the case when we’re not living out God’s Word, sometimes it takes a fellow believer to come along side and help open your eyes, encourage you and inspire you all over again. Tom Davis does a great job of doing just that with Fields of the Fatherless.

On the suggestion of a friend, I picked up one of Pastor McLaren’s books to read rather than base my opinions on Internet blogs and articles. The full title of this book is The Secret Message of Jesus – Uncovering the truth that could change everything.

I have to admit that I started reading the book with a bias based on the information that I had already picked up on the Internet. In addition, the title of this book really bothered me. I like to think that God’s Word is for everyone and there is no need to uncover any hidden messages within it.

In the introduction, Pastor McLaren explains the audience of his book as follows:

Thoughtful critics will realize that I am aiming for a broad, nonscholarly, and in many cases nonreligious audience and sometimes have to take a path that’s not ideal for either the highly knowledgeable or the newly curious.

This purposeful avoidance of “church speak” is apparent throughout the book. Since the audience is nonreligious I suppose this is ok. However, it did cause me to struggle with his wording at times as he seemed to reach for nonreligious wording to explain Christian concepts.

I actually read the book twice. The second time, I more of less just scanned it. However, I am glad I went through it again. I believe my overall impression of this book has changed from the first time I read it.

After my first reading, I felt justified in my original skepticism. I could not determine if Pastor McLaren believed that we are all sinners that need to be saved, or if he was stating that if we try really hard to do the kingdom work taught by Jesus, that we could save ourselves and save the world.

After reviewing the book again for this post, I think I understand what Pastor McLaren is trying to communicate. I believe he is saying that we Christians need to believe that the kingdom of God is here now and start living accordingly. If we do this, we can then impact our world. If this is what Pastor McLaren is trying to express, I think there is merit to his point.

We Christians often sit in our suburban homes, engrossing ourselves in our world through cable TV. We shake our heads in disgust at the nightly news and wonder when Jesus is going to return to pass final judgment on all these sinners in the world. What we should be doing is reaching out to our lost world and showing them the love we have for them through Christ. We should be reaching out to them so that they can hear and believe and enter the kingdom.

The key point that is not clear in this book, is that we are all sinners. We’re all “bad” and need the blood of Jesus to be reconciled to God. Pastor McLaren softens the kingdom message up so much that a non-Christian can read this book and think they can be part of the kingdom by just changing their attitude and being better. The problem is that none of us can just “be better” on our own.

The book does present the Gospel but in a way that was not as clear to me as I would like. A summary of the Gospel as explained in the book’s own terminology is as follows:

- Hear from the heart and think deeply about what you hear – profound rethinking which he calls repentance. (Ok – repentance I understand. However, I’m not sure just deep thinking about something is really repentance).

- Believing in God (He never says believing that Christ is the Son of God who died for our sins and rose again).

- Stay open to receive everything you need to live in the kingdom of God – everything including, forgiveness, acceptance, love, hope, empowerment, strength, encouragement, perseverance, …(I think this is supposed to mean receiving the Holy Spirit).

- Go public with your repentance, faith and receptivity (this one was clear – baptism).

- Learn to follow Jesus everyday for the rest of your life (also pretty clear – discipleship).

I think I would have been more comfortable with this Gospel message if the first two points, repentance and believing, had been more direct.

Overall, I think this book is a worthwhile read if you are already a Christian as it is a good reminder to live for the kingdom and believe we can impact our world today through Christ. It concerns me that it is too vague for a non-Christian to get the whole message. Then again, maybe I’m too religious to understand all of the nonreligious terminology.