The Voice Bible: A Review

My latest BookSneeze offering was The Voice Bible from Thomas Nelson.  After previously only releasing a New Testament version and one of the Psalms, the Ecclesia Bible Society has finally released a version of the whole scripture.  If you are unfamiliar with the translation of The Voice, it presents scripture in a narrative form like a play.  It is super easy to read and the translators add words and phrases to keep the story clear and moving along.  I have often used The Voice Bible in public readings and in personal study.  I would highly recommend it for anyone looking for a new and fresh perspective on scripture.

Hometown Prophet: A Review

My latest Speakeasy title was Hometown Prophet by Jeff Fulmer.  It is a novel set in Tennessee about a man who begins to have dreams about upcoming events.  Upon announcing his second dream in church and it subsequently coming true, the lead character finds himself neck deep in chaos from the local media and former friends wanting a piece of the new prophet.  I did find it interesting that Fulmer made the lead character out to be a normal guy.  He is not religious by many standards and would be the last person that most would consider to be the voice of God, but I guess that's the point.  It seems that Fulmer is really out to force the reader to reconsider whom God might use and how.  The story is good and kept my attention, but I think that was mostly due to knowing the geography and some of the news headlines from the past few years.  All in all it is a good read and I would recommend it.

Love Does: A Review

My latest selection from BookSneeze is "Love Does" by Bob Goff.  This book is a memoirs of sorts in how love has taken root and played itself out in the life of the author.  For Goff, the purpose of love in our life is to spring us to action, and in the pages of this book there is plenty of action.  From cross continent trips with his family to meet heads of state, trips to Uganda for the purpose of fighting childhood slavery and 10 year old adventures with his children are just a taste of the many ways in which love has manifested itself in Goff's life.  This book is essentially a collection of stories with a scriptural tie in at the end of each chapter.  But through reading this book I believe that Goff is more than just a good storyteller, he is a disciple of Christ and he is simply sharing what that looks like in his life.  The author is not simply sharing his stories for our amusement, but to help inspire what love might do in and through our lives.  Goff is trying to help ignite our imaginations to where the Spirit might lead those who are actually willing to go to the ends of the earth.  I would highly recommend this book.  Read it and be inspired to open up your life to what love will do in your life.

The Jesus We Missed: A Review

Let me first say that I received this book for free in exchange for a review from Booksneeze.  In this book the author seeks to paint a picture of the humanity of Jesus through the stories that are found in scripture.  Upon reading the title of this book I half expected to get a dense theological work on the historical Jesus, but instead this book is an easy to read and well written look at what scripture has to say about the humanity of Jesus.  I did not feel as if any of the information in the book was new, it seemed to be as if a magnifying glass was placed to certain aspects of the story of Jesus found in the gospels.  I do think that what is presented here does force the reader to look through the theological lens of what it means to say that Jesus was human, and in turn how that speaks to our own humanness.  I would recommend this book especially if it were read in a small or study group setting because it would seem to lend itself to good discussions.

Viral: A Review

Leonard Sweet's lastest book is an attempt to understand the current cultural phenomena that is found in social media.  This is essentially a look at the modern and postmodern mindsets and lifestyles, but Sweet refers to them as Gutenbergers and Googlers respectively.  I felt that Sweet did a fair job of defining them both and did not take a side with one being right over the other.  Instead Sweet goes into this with the understanding that in order for the church to survive it will have to take the Googlers culture very seriously.  The meat of the book is centered around dissecting the Google culture which he does using the acronym TGIF (Twitter, Google, Iphone, Facebook).  It seems that this book is targeted to those in the Gutenberg culture in order to become more familiar with the Google culture and in addition to understand how the church can use the tools available to minister within the culture.  I felt it was very well written and easy to understand.  I would recommend this book very highly.  

Click here to download and read Chapter 1.  

I received this book for free for review from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.  

I Am a Follower: A Review

My latest offering from the Booksneeze bloggers program is "I Am A Follower" by Leonard Sweet.  In this book Sweet is taking on the leadership culture that is dominating the culture of the church and asking if this is what the church is to be about.  As you might can guess from the title he is seeking to call us away from leadership models and into what he terms followership.  Instead of seeing ourselves as leaders he claims that we are to become first followers.  The reason being that much of the leadership culture that is present within the church can lead us away from following after our own whims instead of listening to the Spirit and following after Jesus.  After an opening section that makes the case for followership, the book is then broken up into three subsequent sections that take a deeper look at Jesus being the way, the truth and the life for those that follow after him.

I will have to admit that I loved this book.  As someone who has worked in the church for the past ten years and has been indoctrinated in the leadership culture, although with a great measure of discomfort, I am happy that someone is finally speaking up.  I only wish that this book had been written ten years ago to save me so much heartache and to help put some of my own thoughts into a more coherent form.  I felt that this book was a very easy read and was clear and understandable.  I think that this book is accessible to all audiences, but I think its biggest impact would be had on pastors and lay people who are in charge of ministries.  There will be a measure of controversy surrounding this book as I know of many a pastor who have sold out to the leadership paradigm to the point where they would turn a deaf ear to Sweet's message in this book.  But there is an important message here for the church and those who have been called by God to be the first followers that help to point others to the way, the truth and the life that Jesus is calling us to live.  Thank you Leonard Sweet for reminding me.

December 1941: A Review

My latest BookSneeze title was December 1941 by Craig Shirley.  In this book Shirley seeks to paint a picture of what was going on in America during this pivotal month of World War II.  He does this by researching any and all resources that he could get his hands on from local newspapers to memos straight from the oval office.  I can only imagine how long and tedious of a process that was but it worked.  Aside from the occasional overabundance of information, this book was well written and very informative.  The book is split up by the days of the month with Shirley doing his best to paint the overarching view of the country on that particular day.  I highly recommend this book, especially for any history buffs or those interested in a glimpse at the past.  Get this book!

The Silent Years: A Review

My latest Speak Easy selection was the little novel "The Silent Years."  It is essentially the story of Jesus from before birth through the beginning of his ministry as told by his uncle, who was Mary's brother and a Pharisee.  It is also important to note that the story is told through the progressive Christianity theological lens as well.  I have been finished with this book for a few weeks now, but am still struggling with some of its content.  The story does follow the narrative of the gospel accounts, but their interpretation is where I am having the most difficulty.  Let me explain a little.  I consider myself to be a fairly open minded person, even about things where Christianity is concerned, but I do believe that there are a few things that are crucial to our faith.  One that I feel this book, and progressive Christianity, take that always makes me pause is the divinity of Christ.  This book seems to deny the full divinity of Christ and in turn make him out to be a regular guy who was full of the light of God.  Now I can maybe go there if the book was solely from the perspective of the uncle speaking about Jesus, but the book included many pages of dialogue between Jesus and the uncle both in child/teenage years and as adults.  Through my reading of scripture I just believe that Jesus had an understanding of his identity as he began his earthly ministry.  Another thing that I had a problem with is the portrayal of how Jesus called the fishermen to be disciples.  In scripture we read that Jesus asked them to follow and the dropped their nets and did so.  In this novel Jesus first sets up a trade union to improve their work conditions and profits.  I very seldom speak aloud when I read, but this made me do so.  I felt this was a ploy to insert a certain political agenda into Jesus' story, but I guess you get that license when you write a book.  

Overall I felt the book was well written.  The story flowed well and was engaging.  My biggest issues were with the interpretation of scripture but I guess I am not a progressive Christian in this sense.

Church Outside the Walls: A Review

In Church Outside the Walls, Raj Samuel seeks to help the reader to break free from what could be considered the traditional conception of church within the evangelical circle.  That being that the church exists to be the center of our world and the end of our identity as Christians.  Instead Samuel is making the case that Christians are called to be faithful in all aspects of our lives and not just when we show up on Sunday and/or Wednesday.  I found this book to be a very easy read as it is, I believe, targeted towards the regular Joe and Sally in the church pew.  The concepts are not academic in nature but he does build his ecclesiology in a sound way.  By that I mean that he uses Scriptural support as well as early church context and thinking in his formulation.  Because of this his conception of church is more in line with a pre-Christendom view than what most churches exemplify in todays world, especially in the West.  One that does not put an emphasis on things such as a building or formal structures in organization.  Instead to a member of the church is to have your identity found in God's kingdom which extends to all areas of one's life.

I thought this was a pretty good book.  I did not learn anything new or find anything that I have not previously read before, but I think that Samuel would be a little more accessible than some other authors who write about the church in similar ways.

Decision Points: A Review

I have recently finished George W. Bush's book, "Decision Points."  I was very intrigued to read this book and find out a little more about this very controversial, love him or hate him figure from recent American politics.  Instead of this being a day by by or month by month journal or memoir of his presidency, this book follows some of the main decisions that he had to make during his time in office.  The format that follows is to present the problem or situation that arose and how Bush and his team came to their decision and ultimately how it played out after the decision was made.  I found this to be a very candid look at how Bush came to make many of the decisions that he was both praised and persecuted for making.  While I don't agree with every decision that he made, I would have to say that my admiration for anyone who is elected president grew through reading this book.  One cannot fully imagine the full scope of what it means to be the president until you are in those shoes, although you could argue that this Bush would have a good idea since his father was also president.  Be it resolve or just plain stubbornness, Bush was definitely willing to stay that course of his decisions no matter what political fallout was sure to come.

I felt the book was well written and it captured my attention all the way through.  I enjoyed the candid look at his presidency that covered both the good and bad decisions that he made, in his own words even. It will be interesting to see how history will remember George W in the long term.  One can definitely say that he endured some tough decisions throughout his 8 years in office and I personally do not envy the responsibility that comes with making such decisions.  I would definitely recommend this book.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Expanded Bible NKJV: A Review

I just received an ebook copy of "The Expanded Bible" from the BookSneeze bloggers program and I will admit that I am fairly impressed.  I was intrigued to find out how they would incorporate some of the alternate translations and more in depth notes differently than a normal study Bible, which is ultimately what sets this Bible apart.  As you probably know, most study Bibles will put those things in a footnote where you have the option to glance down if you choose.  The difference with "The Expanded Bible" is that those notes are embedded in the text.  The translation team has come up with a few ways to denote the differences between what they are embedding.  It is fairly confusing at first, but the more I read the more I got used to it.  I would recommend reading the introduction to find out more about this.

I do not foresee The Expanded Bible as being my main Bible to read, instead I think this will be a study reference.  While the embedded information is very helpful, it is a little too cumbersome for simply doing a reading and not a study.  The main translation that is used is NKJV which I do not use regularly, but I appreciate the alternative translations listed.  I would recommend The Expanded Bible for those looking to do a more in depth look at scripture, especially in the area of how words are translated.

Kissing Fish: A Review

Have you heard of the new movement within Christianity that is seeking to break free from the chains of modernity?  No, I'm not talking about the emergent/-ing church, but instead I'm speaking of Progressive Christianity.  If you are unfamiliar with this movement I would recommend "Kissing Fish" by Roger Wolsey as a starting point.  In this book Wolsey lays out the view of Progressive Christianity vs that of Traditional Christianity.  It is written in a very non-condescending style and should be easily accessible.  The biggest hang up I think that readers would have with this book depends on their view of traditional Christianity and how open they are to new ways of thinking.  Wolsey uses some of his own personal life experiences from growing up, being in school and in ministry to show how each phase has led to the shaping of his theology.  Progressive Christianity takes seriously postmodern thinking and therefore calls into question many of the widely held beliefs of Traditional Christianity.  I enjoyed this book very much even though I did not agree with the author on every point.  Make sure that you come to this book with an open mind and if you do I think that you will be challenged to think about Christianity in new ways.

Thanks to the Speak Easy bloggers group for a copy to review.  Keep 'em coming guys.

The King Jesus Gospel: A Review

Scot McKnight in "The King Jesus Gospel" dares to ask if we have somehow managed to misinterpret the full meaning of the gospel, and I for one am glad that he did.  McKnight claims that we have shrunk down our understanding of the gospel to include only the plan of salvation and have thus missed out on the full understanding of the gospel in our lives.  I don't know about you, but this seems like a risky proposition.  We in the church do not handle people who come along and claim that we have missed the point to well.  In fact, we usually call them heretics and create smear campaigns across all forms of media about them.  But I hope that those who would first throw stones will give the message of McKnight's book a chance.  For his desire is not to throw out our previous assumptions of the gospel, but to reframe them in light of apostolic teachings.

The meat of this book is centered around looking at what a fuller understanding of the gospel is and where it is found in the teachings of the apostles and even Jesus himself.  Central to McKnight's definition of the gospel is that Jesus is the fulfillment of the story of Israel.  The incarnation was not a random event that occurred in a vacuum, instead it was a continuation of the work that God had already been doing in the world that began with His calling of Israel.  It is through this lens that we begin to understand that the gospel is not just a saving story, but a calling story.  The story of Jesus as the fulfillment of the story of Israel gives us insight as to this calling that God has for us.  As McKnight says at the end of the book, "The gospel propels us into mission, into the holistic mission of loving God, loving self, loving others, and loving the world." (pg 160)

I highly recommend this book as it is both well written and thought provoking.  Allow its message to reframe what we proclaim the gospel to be and in turn how we are shaped by it.

I received this book from Zondervan in exchange for a review on this blog.

Enemies of the Heart: A Review

"Enemies of the Heart," by Andy Stanley, a book about the four emotions that control us.  Through this book Stanley seeks to examine what these four emotions are, how they affect us and ultimately propose habits that we can incorporate into our lives to help break free from these emotions.  He identifies the four emotions as being: Guilt, Anger, Greed and Jealousy.  These particular four emotions become controlling in our lives because they all are connected to a certain indebtedness in our heart.  Guilt leads to the thinking of "I owe you."  Anger leads to the thinking of "You owe me."  Greed leads to the thinking of "I owe me." And finally, jealously lead to the thinking of "God owes me."

After the author unpacks the four emotions and the control they have in our lives, he moves to a section that focuses on a habit that will lead to freedom from that particular bondage.  Freedom from guilt comes through confession, not just to God but also to others.  Freedom from anger comes through practicing forgiveness.  Freedom from greed comes through practicing generosity. Freedom from jealously comes through celebrating others.  Being habits that need to be formed, each one of these freedom-giving practices is to be exercised regularly.  They are not just one time events, instead they are to become who we are.

I found this book to be very well written and easy to understand.  I thought the content was very appropriate for the subject matter and that this would be a useful book for those who are looking for reasons why they are not maturing in their faith or able to move past certain attitudes or habits.  I found this to be a very good and practical Christian living book and would recommend it.  There are discussion questions in the back for use in groups and I feel that the material presented does lend itself to further discussion if one chooses.  All in all, this is another solid book by Stanley.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.  

With: A Review

My latest BookSneeze title is "With" by Skye Jethani.  In this book Jethani seeks to call attention to how we as Christians view the role of God in our lives.  At first glance this sounds like it could lead to a fruitless outcome, but I believe that Jethani does a pretty good job of laying out the major ways that Christians view the role of God in their lives.  He offers different ways that are as follows:

• Life Under God: which holds to the belief that as we follow God faithfully, God will in turn reward us with the blessings we need or desire in our lives.  
• Life Over God: seeks to figure out how the world works with God and implement those principles in their lives. 
• Life From God: God exists to give me my heart's desire.
• Life For God: Any worthwhile life has to be lived in a predetermined "ministry" paradigm, in others words we are wasting our life if not working full time in the church or on the mission field.  
• Life With God: Life is spent in relationship with God because God's eternal nature is relationship which is found in our understanding of the Trinity.  

As you can probably tell by the title of this book, Jethani is making the claim that the last view is the one we should be striving to embody.  I appreciated his connecting point within the life of the Trinity and the understanding that we were created to exist within that relationship.  The author does press on and talk about issues such as letting go of the fear that drove the other four scenarios to action and in turn to learn what it means to live by faith.  In addition the author makes the claim that our full understanding of living life with God is found in how our lives are formed by prayer.

I found this to be a very well written and easy to understand book that has challenged me to think about which role I try to allow God to do in my own life.  I would highly recommend this work to any and everyone with no hesitation.  May we carefully consider the material being presented and be open to being honest about the place that we allow God to have in our lives.  

The Seraph Seal: A Review

My lastest Book Sneeze selection was The Seraph Seal by Leonard Sweet and Lori Wagner.  This is a fictional look at the end times that is radically different from previous books in this genre.  The book is set in the year 2048 and the main cast of characters are on a journey to put together a variety of clues that they have recently discovered.  Little do they know but they are the ones who have been chosen to help humanity follow after God at the end of times.  They are of course opposed by a man who is looking to dominate and rule over humanity.  What unfolds is an adventure that brings together history, religion, philosophy, biology, chemistry, economics, technology, philanthropy and so much more.   I felt that Sweet and Wagner told a good story, but it was a little slow in the beginning and also was a tad bit on the complex side.  But I think that was necessary to fully explain how the world of 2048 is different from 2011.  In order to fully grasp it you almost need to be thinking in terms of science fiction, or just fully engage your imagination.  Overall I enjoyed this book and it only took around a week to finish.  I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars and would recommend it.  Just remember to push out your own preconceptions about the end times while reading this book and I'll think you'll enjoy it for what it is.

The Next Story: Review

The Next Story, by Tim Challies, is a look into the impact that technology has on our lives.  Challies looks at how technology has evolved over the course of time, especially in the last century, and how it has become an integral part of our lives both for the positive and negative.  Specifically he focuses on how we communicate, how our identity is formed by technology, how much distraction we have because of technology, the result of having so much information at our fingertips, how truth is seen and shaped through technology, and how much more visible our lives are with more advanced technology.  In each one of these areas Challies is careful to think critically about how our spiritual lives have been affected.  I appreciated that each chapter is closed with a few questions to think through in reference to the given topic that it covered.

All in all I found this to be a very well written book and would recommend it highly.  In fact, I wish this book had been written a few years earlier when I was still a youth pastor as I feel there is good material to talk to both teens and parents about in the area of technology and what impact it has on our spiritual growth and development.  I appreciated the candid confessions that Challies makes of his own technology consumption and how he has begun to change some of his own personal habits through his research and the writing of this book.  Reading this book has caused me to look at my own personal habits and take inventory of the role that technology has in life.  Here's to trying to break the cycle!

Read this book!!

Revise Us Again: A Review

My latest offering from the Speak Easy bloggers network was "Revise Us Again" by Frank Viola.  In this book Viola is seeking to look at a few thoughts and behaviors of those in the church and encourage us to put them under revision.  I do not feel that this is written in a malicious way or in a way that seeks to prop Viola up as holier than thou.  Instead I feel that through this work Viola is wanting the church to fully examine all that they do and ask how what we do and think brings glory to Christ and supports our mission.  Here are the issues that he brings up in this book.

• Revising our awareness of the Divine
• Revising Christian code language
• Revising the Holy Spirit's Ministry
• Revising Christianeze
• Revising the Lord's voice
• Revising Our Spiritual Expectations
• Revising Our Attitudes
• Revising Our Chief Pursuit
• Revising Our Message
• Revising Our Semantics

Most of these issues are approached in a tongue in cheek manner that reminded me a little of reading a post from "Stuff Christians Like."  But Viola moves past the humor and gets to an honest look at what harm or damage is produced from these areas that need revising.  If you have read any of Viola's work recently, you know that he is very concerned about how we are lifting up Jesus and many of these revisions will lead to the church lifting up Jesus in a more complete way than before.  One of the strengths of this work is the personal experience that Viola has had in being a part of many different denominations and Christian groups.  He does not discount the work that God is doing in each group in light of these needed revisions, but still celebrates the things that he learned from each group.

All in all I found this to be a very easy read that also challenged me to rethink some of my own thoughts and behaviors around those in church.  I think this book would best be digested in a small group setting as it definitely lends itself toward good dialogue.  What would be more interesting is to read this in an interdenominational setting as different backgrounds would take the revisions in their own unique way.

Lastly, I want to give credit to the graphics department for the design of the cover of this book.  I know it is simple but for some reason I love the idea of having a yellow legal pad as the design for this book.  I guess that comes from one too many meetings at church where ideas are made and then revised or scrapped based on the collaboration from those in the meeting.  Anyways, for what it is worth I love the cover.

A faith that needs to be Unleashed

My latest BookSneeze offering is "Unleashed" by Erwin McManus.  In this book McManus is spreading the message that God desires for his people to live with an untamed faith.  By this he means a faith that is not civilized and scared but instead one that is bold and willing to take risks.  Throughout the book he weaves in personal stories of his family and how they have set out on what he calls the barbarian way.  He mostly takes cues from his daughter and wife, but throws in stories about his son and himself as well.  His main point is that too often we have been bound to what is supposedly the "correct" way to live a Christian life, but in truth trying to follow this way has caused many people to lose their ability to recognize the promptings of the Spirit.  Here's a sample quote on this thought.  "Perhaps the tragedy of our time is that such an overwhelming number of us who declare Jesus as Lord have become domesticated - or, if you will, civilized.  We have lost the simplicity of our early faith.  Beyond that, we have lost the passion and power of that raw, untamed, and primal faith."

All in all I think this is a great book and would recommend it to anyone.  The writing is very engaging and accessible.  In fact I almost felt like the four chapters were four sermons in a series.  You can tell that McManus is that type of communicator and it works well.

Radical Together: A Review

Radical Together, by David Platt, is a continuation of his previous work titled Radical. The message of both books is very similar with the difference being in to whom the message is intended. Radical was intended to shake up the faith of the individual in light of what the gospel says to the American Dream. Radical Together is intended to shake up the faith of the church and to encourage them to live out this radical faith in community together. I believe that the strength of Platt's message is found in the stories of those from his church who are living this out. Platt is not just talking in ideas and dreams but in how real lives have embodied these ideas and dreams. I believe that this is a very inspirational book that also asks very important questions to the church in America today. I admire the courage that it takes to go against the flow of American Christianity and be a "voice in the wilderness," but there is a certain level of credibility that comes from pastoring a large church that is faithfully living out this message.

I would definitely recommend this book for everyone. The writing is very engaging and the message is one that needs to be pondered by all Christians. I would encourage everyone to read Radical first in order to fully grasp the totality of the message. There are six sessions of small group discussion questions at the end of the book that would prove to be very helpful for such a group to talk through the message of the book. I pray that the church in America could become radical together for the gospel in the world.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.