Category Archives: Book Reviews

Living the Kingdom Life

The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation is a book written by several different theologians/authors/professors who belong to a group called TACT (Theological and Cultural Thinkers). This group came together, several years ago, to discuss how to encourage and strengthen the American church, especially in light of the discouraging statistics from Barna and Gallup research.

This book was a really encouraging and fun read for me because it has brought together many of the things I’ve learned and worked through over this past year in my classes. In the first half of the book, the authors discussed various parts of spiritual formation, exploring issues like what is the gospel? What does community look like for us? What role does suffering play in our formation? What is mission and why are we on it? How do we form spiritually? In the second half, the authors discuss the theology behind spiritual formation- trinitarian theology, the role of the Spirit, and the role of Scripture.

There are a lot of different parts that I could highlight in this review, but I’m making myself choose just one for sake of time and space. The aspect of the book that I liked best was its emphasis on real life transformation, and how it not only CAN happen, but it should happen. For many American Christians, we see the conversion, re-birth experience as the most important part of our spiritual life. We look back at a moment that we “accepted Jesus Christ as Savior” and that’s enough. Maybe most of us want something more, but we are willing to settle for the insurance and assurance of salvation. These authors emphasized that this conversion-centered gospel that many preach and emphasis is incomplete, unhealthy, and results in the research that Barna and Gallup reported.

Instead, we need to learn and model for one another what it looks like to be on the road of discipleship- following Jesus, practicing disciplines that help us to hear and understand God better, learning to say n0 to the flesh, living in open communities of grace, etc. For these authors, they seemed to be wanting to challenge church and lay leaders to first apply these principles to their own life, and then to re-structure, if necessary, the church in order to make sure that they are truly making disciples (and not just converts).

This is a five star book and one that I will certainly be re-rereading during parts of this semester (especially for my Equipping the Laity class). I would highly suggest this to any leader in the American church, and to anyone who thinks that spiritual formation will “just happen.”

As Dallas Willard said, “God is not opposed to effort, but to earning.” – The Divine Conspiracy

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

A Fun Way to Pray with Kids

I was unsure about this book (100 Prayers God Loves to Hear) when requesting it from Booksneeze. Sometimes the “religious and spiritual” genre for kids can be pretty lame.

Basically, this book contains 100 devotional type pages that a parent can read with their child, all centered around prayer. It’s pretty cool because it features prayers from some of our spiritual fathers and mothers (Mother Teresa, St. Francis, Cecil Francis Alexander, etc.) that you can pray with your child.

One of my favorite entries is one that tells how God made peanuts and grapes, and how we can eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches- and how we can thank God for that! Many of the devotions surround the idea of thankfulness, which is a real important (and difficult) one for kids to learn.

The book includes 2 CDs with a song that goes along with each devotion. The songs aren’t ones that adults would choose to listen to if they were by themselves, but they’re not too annoying if one doesn’t mind VBS-style music. Asante and Aly both really really liked both the book and music– Asante even asked me to put some music on while we ate lunch!

Of course, there are a couple, okay, well, one, devotion that I wasn’t too fond of (hint: the song that goes with it is America the Beautiful), BUT out of 100 devotions, I can easily skip over the one I don’t like and the kids will never know. Overall, this is a really good book. I like the idea and it seems to be really appropriate for young children (probably ages 2-5). I think this would be a good gift to give!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Grow Together in Faith as a Family

For those of you who are raising families, or are dreaming of doing so one day, this may be a good book to put on your future-books-to-buy list. Amazing Adventures, Creative Connections and Daring Deeds is a book dedicated to the grow of a family’s faith together. Way too many times in American church life today, we leave the growing and fostering of our children’s faith to the local church down the street, while ignoring the HUGE responsibility that starts for us parents at Day 1 of child’s life. While this book is probably not for kids that young, this would be a great one to start when the children hit around the age of 3 or 4. Not only does it focus on reflection, Scripture and serving the community around you, but I think it will bring the family together by pushing everyone out of their comfort zone.

One chapter talked about giving generously, and I suspected that the “action” challenge would be something generic like give a few boxes of mac and cheese to your local food shelter. But, the authors (Tim and Alison Simpson) surprised me by challenging the family to pack up EVERY SINGLE PIECE of unopened non-perishable in the house and take it to a food bank or shelter.

Pick this one up. This isn’t for the family who wants to do a little fuzzy devotional together, but for a family who wants to be challenged in growing outside of their comfort zones, with the hope of these kind of things becoming an everyday part of life.

Here’s free excerpt to check out.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Can Men and Women Be “Just Friends”?

I’ve just started in on Sacred Unions, Sacred Passions by Dan Brennan. And I think it’s going to shift a paradigm of mine about intimate friendships. Brennan is an evangelical Christian who believes that men and women can, and should, be intimate friends. He and his wife have been married for 28 years, and both have dear, close, intimate friends of the opposite sex. They spend time with those friends in the company of one another and alone. I know, I know- their pastors have warned them that they are playing with fire.

BUT, I mean, what if they’re on to something? I am and/or have been VERY close with a few male friends (several that read this blog) and have found true intimacy with them without feeling like I wanted to make out with them. So, in some ways, I really get what this author is saying. I love having the ability to go out with one of my male friends to eat dinner or go do an errand or pray about something significant– and not having to worry about Jake getting mad or jealous or the other person’s spouse feeling the same way.

But, I digress. I’m only one chapter into this but already have lots of questions, hesitations and excitement about the possibilites that the author is presenting.

How do you feel about cross-sex intimate friendships?

For more about the book, check out this video:

Interview with author of Sacred Unions, Sacred Passions

Laughing with Sarah review

One of the most recent books I received from The Ooze Viral Bloggers is an independently published book called Laughing with Sarah, written by Gene Jennings. The cover looks pretty contemporary and it seemed like a good idea to write a book about stories from the Bible, applying them devotionally to one’s life. I thought maybe I could use it as a devotional…you know, a little food for thought everyday along with reading the Scripture from which it is drawn.

Sadly, it just wasn’t for me. Each chapter was a sermon that he had delivered. And while I’m SURE the sermons were great, they didn’t translate to book form well. I felt … preached at. The author seems like a great guy and all, but this just wasn’t my cup of tea. However, if anyone wants this book, let me know and I’ll get it to you!

Community as a Way to Wholeness

While not a life changing book, Eve’s Revenge ended on a very encouraging and inspiring note. Over the last 10 years or so, the Lord has lovingly guided me through a lot of what the author, Lillian Calles Barger, walked us through. By facing my eating disorder, I had to deal with a lot of issues of body, spirituality, beauty, cultural and societal expectations, etc. And, as I’ve come through on the other side of this, I have found a lot of healing and have worked through many of these issues that Barger brings up. I thank God for her ability to communicate well and her commitment to The Way.

HOWEVER, the last chapter took me kind of by surprise, and in a really good way. I hadn’t really thought about how community is intimately related to spirituality and the body. But, you know, it has been the times when I have felt like a valued member of a community that I have been able to best be myself and be okay with who I am. I think the healing of my eating disorder and the victory over my obsession with clothes and outward appearances has really been aided by a strong community. It’s been the times when I haven’t felt a part of an authentic community when I begin to struggle with some of issues of identity.

Barger gives some great suggestions on how to move more towards this wholeness as a person and living in true community through the help of the Holy Spirit. One that Jake and I have been really longing for lately has been the idea of settling into a community. We’ve moved countless times, and each time we move it gets harder and harder. We are re-examining our dreams and aspirations in light of the value of building deep friendships that are lasting. We are dreaming up ways to live a life that values people and where we have families that are as close to us as our biological family members.

Barger also raises the value of physical touch for her- hugs, etc. really bring people together. In college, my community of friends were eager to give hugs, wrestle, tickle one another, etc. in really fun, brother/sister like ways. I think this is a key aspect to deep relationships that many in our society overlook.

You’ll just have to read it. Even if you don’t read the whole book, I think the last chapter will be a great way to move forward in Barger’s ideas of bringing together the whole person by living lives of sacred community.

I Am Hutterite Review

I am Hutterite is a fantastic book about a young woman who has to transition from being a member of a tight Hutterite community to a part of wider society. It’s a fast read- I was able to finish it in a day and a half, even with being at home with the kiddos! Not only was this book an interesting look at what goes on in close-knit Amish-like communities (although, to be clear, Hutterites are not Amish), but it also helped me better understand the perspective of an outsider. Hopefully this book will not only provide interesting information for the curious, but also will create compassion in those who have never had the experience of adjusting and fitting into a new culture.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Eve’s Revenge, Chapters 1-3

After reading JR.’s book review of Eve’s Revenge, I decided to take a look at it myself to see what I thought. Being a woman, I am obviously interested in what others have to say about women, the body, and spirituality. I’m a woman who is not easily stereotyped– I grew up liking dresses and getting perms, but loved to play “cops and robbers” and climb trees outside with my neighborhood friends. I loved reading ultra-girly books- The Baby-sitter Club (well, this set wasn’t so girly), Sweet Valley Twins, Sweet Valley High and Sweet Valley University. I was incredibly boy crazy from a ridiculously early age and also began my first quest for the ideal body at a ripe age of 10. Dieting and a fairly severe eating disorder plagued my entire high school and early college years. I have had my bouts with make-up wearing and hours in front of the mirror hair-doing, and hundreds of dollars of clothes buying each new “season”. I now wear make-up once a week, rarely spend more than 20 minutes in front of a mirror, and am so out of fashion that it would have made my former self cringe. I love having kids and feel it’s important for me to procreate, but I also have a hard time being a full-time stay-at-home mom for any length of time. So, I feel like I can easily understand women from different variations on several spectrums because I’ve been there or am there now.

All this said, I have been enjoying Eve’s Revenge because I feel like I’m whole-heartedly agreeing with her in one part, while in the next paragraph, rolling my eyes at her. I think the book represents a dialogue that has been going on in me for awhile.

I’m not going to touch on everything she talks about (go pick up the book to find out!) BUT, I’d like to highlight a few ideas:

* Men are not to entirely blame for our bad self-image. Women are very very critical of one another, and of ourselves. Have you called Hilary Clinton frumpy? What standard are you holding her up to? Do you comment on how other women look overweight, too thick of eyebrows, too big (or little) of breasts, etc.? Do you tell yourself that? Do we really need to be jerks to one another? We’re a little over half the population — if we really hated the cultural image of beautiful that is “put upon us”, I think we wouldn’t have to accept it.

* We have to embrace a spirituality that connects our soul with our bodies, but does not reduce us to only a body.

* Our body informs who we are. Many people these days like to say that our physical parts have nothing to do with “who we are”. But, they do. We can let our bodies inform us of who we are and embrace this instead of fighting it (Chapter 3 is a must read in this – she makes a good case).

N.T. Wright’s- After You Believe

I got the privilege of reviewing N.T. Wright’s newest book: After You Believe. In this book, Wright explores the questions- what are we hear for? how does character develop? how does the new testament teach us about who we are and the role of virtue? This book is an easy read (unlike some of his other books) and is immediately applicable to our everyday lives. This is a book about kingdom living- not living by rules and regulations- but the Spirit of God, allowing him to get inside of us and BE the humans that we were originally created to be.

This would be a great book to walk through with a new believer or maybe a college student who is really struggling to figure out how to live life in the new kingdom. Wright leaves the reader with a feeling of freedom, mission, and hope. He uses illustrations that many will be able to identify with — because these are the same questions that we ask in our hearts and in our communities.

This is one to put on your wishlist- check it out at http://www.amazon.com/After-You-Believe-Christian-Character/dp/0061730556

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the product mentioned above for free by The Ooze Viral Bloggers in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”