By the way, the book has a really good trailer video on YouTube:

The first chapters were excellent: making the case for theological studies. The beginning is two thumbs up, five stars, A+++ will buy again.

The following chapters form a mini-systematic theology study. These chapters are good for those who have never undertaken a systematic theology — and I suspect this is the target audience of the book. If you have more than a base familiarity with theology, you’ll find these chapters a little bit unfulfilling.

I’d like to see a book like this used in a high school or early college setting with young people discussing these theological issues.  I wish the first part of the book were longer, and the last part of the book were shorter — with pointers to other, more detailed and in-depth study materials.

Overall — I’d recommend for young and growing Christians, or for anyone who hasn’t considered a systematic theology. Harris and I disagree on several points — his Calvinism runs a little too strong for this church of Christ preacher, but you’ll enjoy the process nonetheless.

I reviewed Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris as part of Waterbrook/Multnomah Press’s “Blogging for Books Promotion.” I did receive a review copy free of charge.

Guilt, anger, greed, and jealousy are the four horsemen of the apocalypse of our hearts. They all are signatures of debts and imbalances in our relationships and thinking.

Guilt means that “I owe you.” There is no happiness in guilt. No joyful service, no smile.

Anger means that “you owe me.” You didn’t give me what I deserve! (Whatever exactly that might be!) Herein lies the heart of a grudge.

Greed means that “I owe me.” What’s mine is mine—because I’ve earned it—and this is only the beginning. Greedy people worry, don’t share, and don’t give. But Greed isn’t a financial issue; it is a heart issue. Greed demands security.

Jealousy means that “God owes me.” How dare you have what I can’t? It isn’t “fair” that you’re smarter, better equipped, or more successful than I am, because God owes me just as good or better!

When our hearts are held captive by these feelings, we are hurt. Stanley nails it: “Hurt people hurt people. And we could add who hurt other people, who hurt still other people…. On and on it goes.”

But there is a cure! Confession, forgiveness, giving, and celebration are medicine for the soul, if we’re willing to make a habit of them.

Stanley’s book is an excellent treatment of the underlying issues most of us share. He is blunt, honest, and helpful, much like the cardiologist who can help save our physical body. I’d recommend this for small groups or personal reading. It’s cheaper than marriage counseling!

(Multnomah’s Blogging for Books provided me a free review copy of this book.)

This book makes a great introduction to “Christian mythbusting.” It tackles the ideas that are fed to us—and that so many of us swallow whole. Do these sound familiar?

• God is an impersonal force
• Jesus was a white plastic wimp
• All roads lead to Heaven
• The body of Jesus was really stolen
• As long as I’m better than Hitler, I must be alright in God’s eyes. (God grades on a curve!)
• Christians are idiots
• Christianity is easy
• Manhood is about sex, strength, and money
• Sex is dirty and bad
• Mankind can save itself

These are just a few of the 42 myths tackled by McDowell and Hostetler. The chapters are 2-5 pages each making for a quick and easy read. The authors include great illustrations and anecdotes that help the book relate. I’d recommend the book on this count alone.

Another great feature is the inclusion of questions in each chapter. These aren’t typical discussion questions; they are “brain food” with scriptures to look up and evaluate. The form has some variation from chapter to chapter to help maintain interest.

I enjoyed the book thoroughly. If you’re looking to work with young people, I’d consider it a great resource on the basics of intentional Christian thought and living.

I thought that Unsinkable was going to be the story of a young woman sailing around the world. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t. A full two thirds of the book details her preparation and her life before and after her attempt.

You come away from the book impressed with this young lady, and that’s about it.

Here’s what was good:

• Her story is pretty cool. I’ve never spent more than a couple of hours on a boat, much less attempting to solo around the world as a teenager.
• The editors were wise: some parts of the story are told by Abby, other parts are told by the narrator. Considering her age, her writing is good, and it gives you a great insight into this young lady. Having said that, I’m thankful for the polish and style of a professional writer in the narrative sections.
• If you’re a teenager who needs to dream big again, this book speaks directly to you.

Here’s what wasn’t my cup of tea:

• The book almost felt like a PR defense of her family for sending her around the world alone. The defensiveness turned me off a bit.
• The book was written by a teen. That’s probably great for a teenaged audience, but it wasn’t for me.
• I picked it up to read the story of a woman sailing around the world—and by and large, the book wasn’t about that.

I reviewed this for Book Sneeze, and got a free copy, FYI. If you’ve got a teenager who would enjoy this book, great—find it at a used book store. Other than that, don’t pay full market for the hardback. I wish I could recommend it – but it’s just kind of there. Sorry, Abby.

Lucado doesn’t write this to be a feel-good piece. Instead, it’s designed to confront the apathetic Christian with the blessings and responsibility he has. He points out that there are more than twice as many people who claim to be Christians in the United States as there are orphans in the world. Doesn’t it seem like we should be able to make more progress in helping the hurting in the world if that’s the case?

The book is compelling and well-written. Better than any other Lucado book I’ve read, he balances grace and the drive it creates in us to act. He emphasizes doctrine and life—two things that should never be divorced in the life of Christianity.

He tells a few stories of how Christianity is “done right” and really helps to inspire and encourage his readers to not settle for pew warming and 2-hour-per-week Christianity. God wants you to do something that will outlast you. Overall, this book is well written and would make a great study piece for a class or discussion group.

(I received a complimentary copy of this book from BookSneeze, but it doesn’t affect my review, I promise!)

The biggest strength of this book is that it recognizes the innate value of the rural church. These congregations are not second-class citizens of God’s kingdom. They deserve attention, respect, and energy. It’s time not to think of them as second-best.

O’Dell tells how he learned to love and care for the rural church. Like many country churches, his congregation had its share of problems–people mired in the past, a shoestring church budget, and a building that wasn’t up-to-date (or codes!) when it was built 8 presidential administrations ago.  O’Dell helped lead his congregation into a more vibrant church community. The story is well-told and will resonate with anyone in ministry.

O’Dell has a strong view of pastoral leadership. I’d prefer that he would allow more for a group of elders to guide, but he does make the point well that sometimes progress in the church depends on you, and you alone. Sometimes you have to make tough decisions, stand alone, and stand for what is right.

I wish that I could offer a more positive review, but the weaknesses in this book were pretty strong. O’Dell is clearly frustrated with the status quo of rural churches, and perhaps rightly so. I don’t think he means to, but he comes across as kind of condescending in the online videos laughing at the old ugly building. It seems that his vision was basically to create a megachurch in a farm community. While he is right that sometimes people do actually intentionally stand in the way of change, he kind of paints those who disagreed with him as adversaries, and that part of the book makes me a little bit nervous. I wish a bit more humility had shown through the story.

All in all, I don’t strongly recommend that you go out and buy a copy, but if one makes it to your desk, go ahead and read through it. It will cause you to think about what you could be doing different to help transform lives–and if the book accomplishes that, it will have been well worth it.

(By the way, I’m part of the BookSneeze reviewer program. I got a free copy of this book…and as you can tell, I’m not telling you to buy it…so, they’re not making me say nice things!)

That’s really all there is to it. This book is 176 pages of full-color beauty. Each page is filled with images from the deepest regions of space. You see the planets like you’ve never seen them before. You see representations of stars being born, decaying, and erupting into supernovae. Visually you will be impressed. The photos and the print quality are stellar (pun intended).

The images are paired with quotations, song lyrics, and passages of scripture designed to foster a sense of worship, humility, and awe. The universe is big; her creator, bigger. There is a sense of security in that thought depicted.

This is a great gift book for someone who needs some encouragement. It would be a great addition to a coffee table as a daily reminder of the scale of the universe. I have seen Hubble images before, but never a collection this stunning. I encourage you to spend some time enjoying this book!

(I received a complementary copy from BookSneeze, but they don’t care if I burn the books–I can write whatever  I want…)

I was fortunate enough to win a signed copy of this book from Michal Hyatt’s blog. I was especially excited about getting this book because I was in the middle of an independent study on preaching. This communication volume would be a little bit outside of the realm of traditional homiletics, but it would definitely speak to some common issues.

Here’s how I’d summarize the book: Maxwell writes this book on communication in the same style that Covey writes about being effective. Effective communication begins with my integrity. If I want people to hear my message, they need to feel that I am concerned about their best interest. If I want people to think that I’m concerned about their best interest, I need to be concerned about their best interest. Simple? Yes. Easy? Not always.

Maxwell is brutally honest: connecting with others takes work. Sometimes we have to investigate and dig to find ways to build a bridge. It takes energy and time. The result, though, is that when a real connection is formed, the potential we have to help each other skyrockets.

A neat feature of this book is that Maxwell posted it online for several weeks prior to its printing. During that time, he allowed people to comment on each chapter. The final edition of the book comes with the anecdotes, suggestions, and the thoughts of literally hundreds of people. Their contribution alone is worth reading the book.

This isn’t a ground-breaking, earth-shattering sort of book. It’s more like good fundamentals for a team, rather than advice on coaching a star player, and I appreciate that about it. I think you will, too.

Miano entered the academy as a nominal Christian. His faith was surface-level, at best. It didn’t take long until someone taught him more about Jesus and everything began to change.

The book parallels the uniform of a peace officer and the armor of Christ in Ephesians 6. It is filled with scripture and anecdotes about those tools and is an easy read. The ideal reader would be any young person interested in law enforcement. Miano keeps his head on straight and is a straight shooter. You’ll enjoy this work.

Harriett came back from their trip without a voice—because she was so engrossed in the book, that she read it aloud to James. That was endorsement enough for me!

The chapters alternate, telling the story of two different lives. What could a loaded art dealer have in common with a homeless sharecropper? Everything and nothing.

The story read quickly and well. It is an emotional telling of two men seeking God from different places and having different struggles. It will challenge your thoughts about service, wealth, relationships, and the homeless.

Just watch out, guys. You might, um…end up with something in your eye near the end…

He commanded the tax collectors not to over—reach and collect more  than they ought.

He commanded the soldiers to be content with their wages and resist the temptation to extort the poor.

He commanded all men to share their possessions with those in need.

All people were instructed to show evidence of their penitent hearts based on their stewardship. Stewardship reveals values. Values reveal hearts. Where your treasure is, Jesus said, there your heart will be also.

Would John the Baptist see fruit of repentance in my check register? How about yours?

Background: Rob Bell was founding pastor of Mars Hill Church (now led by Mark Driscoll) and is the main guy in the first several Nooma videos, if you’re familiar with them.

All in all, Bell and I wouldn’t share the exact same page theologically, though I doubt he would want to label this as a book of theology. I think his goal would be to get people to think about the state of their faith. Is it borrowed? Is it old? Is it really in touch with the word of God and the world of today? Can those two worlds coincide?

Here are the gems I think are worth your consideration and discussion:

• “If your Bible study doesn’t leave you in awe and filled with wonder, you haven’t really studied the Bible.” I love this sentiment! If the word is really still living and active, this statement must have merit. He scoffs at the modernistic tendency to view the Bible as a collection of data to be analyzed. He would say it takes the living book and murders it—taking the spirit away from the body, to use the language of James. Bible study should be transformative.
• Bell talks about the traditions of first century Jewish teaching and leadership. I’m not in a position to evaluate the accuracy of his information or research, (though the book is well foot-noted), so I will assume these references are solid. He says that a rabbi’s understanding and interpretation of Torah, of what is binding and what is permitted, of the rules for the life of his disciple is called his yoke. He then refers to a rabbi who proclaimed that his yoke was easy, and his burden was light. Neat connection!
• The Jerusalem conference of Acts 15 to determine what to do about Gentile converts used the phrase, “It seemed good to us and the Spirit…” Bell makes much of this—if the apostle-driven leadership that was attested to by the miraculous measure of the Spirit could only say “It seemed good…” in something as central as salvation, we might ought to approach our understanding of scripture with the humility of the word “seems.” The phrase “the Bible clearly says” is bandied about by a lot of different people teaching a lot of different things, and at some point, its continued usage is demeaning to the Word of God because it hides (or denies) my fallible role in reading, hearing, understanding, and living it.
• Bell argued that “all truth is ultimately God’s truth” regardless of source.
• Christian makes a great noun, but a lousy adjective. When people begin to label things as “Christian” – the label invariably gets applied to things it shouldn’t (lousy music, institutions, businesses, nights at the Preds game, etc) and not applied to things it should (helping those in need, etc.)
• Here’s a controversial conversation starter: Bell says that he does not want us to be the church of the New Testament, because that implies that the authority is within the church, rather than the one who owns the church. What say ye?
• My personal favorite of the book: Bell tells the story of the explosion of the Mars Hill church. They had 1,000 their first Sunday, and had grown to 4,000 in a few months. Members were told to bring  chairs if they wanted to bring visitors, because there were literally not enough seats. As the church grew, the parking lot became a nightmare, and tempers flared. When Bell got word of the not-so-nice words and waves being exchanged in the parking lot, he preached the next Sunday: “If you’re not a Christian, and you’re here, you are always welcome. If you are a Christian, and you can’t even act like one in the parking lot, please do us a favor and stop calling yourself one, because it really screws it up for the rest of us. And by the way, someone else could really use your chair.” He said the audience started applauding—I know I would have.

All in all, while I wouldn’t take Bell as my primer to scripture, he raised some great points and opens the door to some great discussion of scripture. I’d recommend it as a dollar bin read for established Christians.

The Systems Bible by John Gall is a tongue-in-cheek analysis and critique of the capital-S Systems that we all know and love. It is written with an eye towards those of us with a “technical persuasion” but it accessible to almost everyone.

The book is written around a series of principles and axioms about Systems — always set apart by capital letters. For everyone who has been frustrated by a System (of any type) gone awry, this book is like the Office — it hits a little close to home, but it’s funny anyway!

For example — a small town has a problem: people need to do something with their trash. They have a garbage problem. The town council in their sub-infinite wisdom, implement a garbage collection system. Instead of one problem (garbage) — the problem has multiplied further: the town must deal with problems with garbage trucks, routes, collecting fees, dealing with employees, maintaining contracts with dumps, etc. etc. The System that was designed to solve one problem brings with it dozens more–and it is rare that many (if any) of the new problems are forseen by the System’s designers. (That, by the way, is the Fundamental Theorem of Systems: NEW SYSTEMS CREATE NEW PROBLEMS!)

Gall works through somewhere near one hundred such theorems. A few of my favorites:

• Le Chatelier’s Principle: THE SYSTEM ALWAYS KICKS BACK, or alternatively, SYSTEMS TEND TO OPPOSE THEIR OWN PROPER FUNCTIONS.
• The Fundamental Law of Administrative Workings (FLAW): THINGS ARE WHAT THEY ARE REPORTED TO BE or IF IT ISN’T OFFICIAL, IT HASN’T HAPPENED; IF IT DIDN’T HAPPEN ON CAMERA, IT DIDN’T HAPPEN, and IF THE SYSTEM SAYS IT HAPPENED, IT HAPPENED.
• The Principle of Unexpected Interactions: IN SETTING UP A NEW SYSTEM, TREAD SOFTLY; YOU MAY BE DISTRUBING ANOTHER SYSTEM THAT IS ACTUALLY WORKING!
• LARGE AMOUNTS OF POOR DATA TEND TO PRE-EMPT ANY AMOUNT OF GOOD DATA

There are many more — but these give you a flavor of the book’s tone.

As a software developer this book was a fun read (despite the sheer horror that came with learning about just how broken almost every system is!) — but as a minister, it was even more striking.

As churches have become more institutional than organic, there has been a strong emphasis on the program (and as I call it, the Kiwanis Church — nothing but a bunch of programs good for the community!) Programs aren’t evil — just like Systems aren’t evil — or at least, they don’t start that way.

How many times have we started church programs, ministries, or events without thinking through the entire system — its inputs and outputs? Certainly we are bound by and to Scripture, but we can’t assume that we have it down perfectly. Have we thought about what problems we create and encounter. Before long, we spend more time maintaining broken congregations, dysfunctional elderships, and sick programs than actually doing what it is that those bodies are [divinely?]designed to do!

Gall suggests one particular irony: students who want to become leaders in business are forced to follow instructions for the first thirty years of their lives being told what leadership looks like–rather than ever actually leading. Ironic, huh?

There are plenty of applications for you, your job, and your ministry. Definitely worth a read!