Tag Archives: book reviews

What I’m Reading {September 2018}

What I'm Reading_ September 2018

It’s back to school, which means new rhythms and fresh starts.

Back in January when it was cold and I couldn’t imagine ever wanting to be outside again, I made ambitious reading goals. But then the Wisconsin winter thawed (it’s magic every time!), and our little family rushed outside every chance we got.

All of this means my reading goals have fallen a bit behind. You’d think I’d get used to it since it happens EVERY YEAR. Life is tricky like that.

But alas– no need to fret! I made some good headway in September. Not quite on pace yet, but the goal is still in sight.

BeartownBeartown

Frederik Backman

Rating: 5/5

I wasn’t sure what to expect. Small town drama with a thick theme of hockey? Normally not the kind of book I’d think twice about picking up. But after hearing about how great it was by THREE different people whose reading tastes I respect, I gave it a whirl. The first half of the book was enjoyable enough; a bit of a slow start. However, I gulped the last half of the book in one day. While the book is about hockey on the surface, it’s NOT about hockey. It’s about people, relationships, loyalty, community, leadership, and family. I also found this book to be strangely applicable to our current national conversation of #boyswillbeboys.  If you liked A Man Called Ove, you might like this one too.

 

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Thinking in Shades of Gray

When I worked in college ministry, one of the most stressful issues that I had to deal with (with students) was the issue of drinking alcohol. The policy for our student leadership on this issue changed each year- at one point, we asked all student leaders to abstain. At another point, we said it was fine, as long as they were 20 miles outside of Columbia and didn’t put it on facebook. And I think there was also awhile when we said it was okay, just to use wise judgment when doing it. Each policy brought it’s own issues of conflict and discussion.

So when I saw that NavPress had the book, Chasing Elephants: Wrestling with the Gray Areas of Life, I was curious to see what author Brent Crowe had to say about how to deal with this gray area. What I liked about this book was how Crowe used the first half of the book discussing what freedom in Christ is and what it is not. After establishing this base, he turns to 5 issues: homosexuality, the cyber world, social drinking, entertainment and humanitarian issues, and walks the reader through some helpful questions when approaching these issues. Crowe does come to some conclusions on these topics, but he is clear to point out that some of his conclusions are not the “right” conclusions. Right for him, but maybe not right for someone else. The role of the Spirit, circumstances, and whether one is a “strong” or “weak” believer in certain areas affects some of the conclusions (but not all of them). I think this is a must read for people who are working with college students and are having trouble communicating how freedom is not license to just do whatever one wants. It’s some good stuff. This is a book that offers a very biblically sound and wise teaching on freedom, responsibility, and discernment.

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.”

Living in a Post-Christian World

At the Catalyst Conference in October, Gabe Lyons, co-founder of Catalyst and co-author of UnChristian, spoke about the kind of Christians that are making a difference for Christ in the post-Christian culture that we are living in. Most of what he spoke about at the conference is found in his new book, The Next Christians: How a New Generation is Restoring the Faith. While UnChristian highlighted the negative perceptions that people have of Christians, The Next Christians features the kind of Christians who are helping people to change their perceptions.

Gabe gives six characteristics of Christians who are restorers. Restorers are focused on bringing about restoration to the world because they believe that not only does the gospel bring good news about life after death, but it offers good news in the here and now. The Gospel provides hope today, as well as tomorrow. He has observed that these types of Christians are:

– provoked, not offended

– creators, not critics

– called, not employed

– grounded, not distracted

– in community, not alone

– countercultural, not “relevant”

I think the most important emphasis that Lyons makes is that “the next Christians are offering a new way forward- a way to act, live, and bring others along with them into the new reality of how things ought to be” (203). When he was discussing this observation, I kept on thinking of Shane Claiborne and his “Another World Is Possible” video series. Instead of focusing on how things are, he encourages us to imagine how things ought to be (as inspired by Scripture). In the same way, Lyons gives examples of people who are living that out.

While this book did not provide new information to me, it did provide encouragement to me to continue to pursue living a life of restoration instead of separation. Lyons did a great job of communicating the need for Christians to care about and live well in a post-Christian world out of a love for Jesus and a deep hope in the gospel message. Many college students and young adults that I interact with do care about social justice issues and caring for those around them, however, all too often it comes out of something besides a deep love for the Gospel message found in Scripture. Lyons says it beautifully:

“The first thing for the Christian is to recover the Gospel- to relearn and fall in love again with that historic, beautiful, redemptive, faithful, demanding, reconciling, all-powerful, restorative, atoning, grace-abounding, soul-quenching, spiritually fulfilling good news of God’s love” (192).

What about the Gospel is most impacting to you right now?

p.s. I received this book, The Next Christians, free from Waterbrook Multnomah’s Blogging for Books program.

Real-Life Discipleship

Real-life Discipleship by Jim Putnam provides an overview of Real Life Ministries in Post Falls, Idaho. Their whole church centers around making disciples…moving people from spiritually dead to spiritual infants to spiritual young adults to spiritual parents. Each category of people has specific needs. This paradigm helps them to be intentional and thorough in their disciple-making. The book explains each category and gives some ideas of what that group may need in terms of teaching. The pastor is adament that gaining knowledge is only a small part of growing as a disciple. Real growth will happen through real life experiences. In their small groups (this church has over 700 of them), all of them use Bible story-telling as the curriculum for their small groups.

Overall this book was a good overview. I think for churches who are looking for a really basic schema to get them started, this may be something to get them started. This overview leaves lots of the details out, which is great, because those details would be ones that specific church leadership should come up with on their own. The chapter I liked best was the one that discussed the characteristics and needs of spiritual young adults. I think that’s where most “leaders” are in the church, especially ones my age, and it was helpful in pointing out some weaknesses that we may have.

p.s. I received this book free from NavPress through their book bloggers program- thank you!

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!