Experiencing the Spirit

I haven't had a chance to review this book, but here is the most recent work by Henry Blackaby

The first Christians “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6) shaking the gates of hell even in the face of severe persecution. The result: People all around “were filled with wonder and amazement” (Acts 3:10).Why don't Christians today have the same impact?

God’s Holy Spirit is ready to answer that for us in an awesome way, as Henry Blackaby and his son Mel Blackaby make clear in Experiencing the Spirit. You’ll see how the proof of the Spirit’s presence is our awareness of God’s personal assignments for us, plus our supernatural enablement to carry out those assignments. You’ll find essential clarification on the difference between natural talents and spiritual gifts. You’ll explore the dynamics of being filled with the Spirit through intimate relationship with Him, committed obedience, and radical departure from sin.

Instead of considering what you can do for God with your abilities and talents, you’ll be encouraged here to seek what God wants to do through you supernaturally by His Spirit, empowering you beyond your personal competence and capacities. Release the Holy Spirit’s work at the very core of your experience of the Christian life.

Drop me an email if you would like a copy.

Two Reviews

Thursdays are for Reviews

In a previous post, I mentioned the difficulty that readers face in filling in the gaps of biblical texts. One of the great benefits of gaps is that it leaves a narrative space for creative reflection on the rest of the text itself. The artist is invited to dialogue with the text by carefully reading and noting these narrative gaps.

I recently received one artist’s attempts to creatively interact with biblical texts. After a recent review in which I noted the paucity of pink books on my bookshelf, Benjamin Potter graciously sent me two works which fill in some of the literary gaps in the infancy narratives of the gospel accounts of Matthew and Luke.

Something Special at Leonard’s Inn (Loom and Wheel Publishing, 1999) is the story of the birth of Jesus told through the eyes of the innkeeper in Bethlehem who let Joseph and Mary use a stable and the manger.

Just a Simple Carpenter: the Story of Joseph (Loom and Wheel Publishing, 2000) retells the same story from a different vantage point: the perspective of Joseph. In this work, Potter casts a wider net as he begins months before the birth of Christ and ends his story right after Mary and Joseph lose Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem.

I enjoyed each of these works a great deal and would recommend hem highly. I was reminded as I read them about the great challenge that we have as Christians to retell the Story to others and to ourselves. As we read the Christmas story year after year, it can become repetitive and comfortable. Potter resists the comfortable reading by engaging each text from the first person perspective. He fleshes out the characters of the inn-keeper and of Joseph with much care.

One consequence of Potter’s telling of these tales is that they are darker than the sunny Christmas story we set out on our lawns every December. As Potter rightly (writely?) notes, the splendor of the visit of the Magi is shortly followed by the (no doubt) desperate flight of the first family to Egypt before the murderous edict of King Herod.

And in Leonard, Potter reminds us that each of the peripheral characters in these narratives bring their attendant hurts and sorrows to these stories. The shepherds, the inn keepers, the wives, and the Magi were all genuine people with actual thoughts and feelings. Far from the two dimensional images we meet in Christmas pageants throughout December, they were real, actual people.

Each of these books remind us that the people surrounding Jesus shared sorrows and rages, pleasures and joys. Just like us.

Valentine's Book Review (I)

A three pack, yea a four pack of valentine reading pleasure for you. I’ve divided these four reviews into two posts. Just read the second post if you’ve not got much time.

First up is a devotional version of the well reviewed book from last year Love as a Way of Life. This devotional takes the five categories of love in Chapman’s book and breaks them down into 90 devotionals, with stories added for illustrative purposes. Frankly, the entire enterprise reeks of repackaging. Chapman had an assistant work on this and I could never tell how much Chapman wrote and how much his assistant contributed as both writers speak in first person throughout the text. Regrettably, this has the feel of a repackaged text, aimed at a literary marketing microniche. Skip this book and read the original.

Two books I had not encountered before are entitled For Men Only and For Women Only by Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn. These two books have just been released as a boxed set entitled For Couples Only. They each contain a great deal of useful information for members of the opposite sex. Based upon interviews and surveys of thousands, the Feldhahn’s make numerous conclusions about each gender. They then summarize their findings in this work.

Each of these books reads like a wildlife handbook for examining strange species. Now I understand that Men are from Mars while women sojourn from Venus. I am further willing to concede, that after living in close proximity with not only a wife, but two daughters, for almost a decade and a half, I know less about women than I did while I was single. But I do think we need to be careful in the broad stereotyping that goes on in some of these books.

For example, For Men Only comes with a fold out cheat sheet on women (I’m not making this up). It’s called a “Quick Start Guide.” Again, let me emphasize, I’m being serious. This is a sheet (not unlike what you would find accompanying a box of software or a new stereo system) that allows you quick knowledge without having to read the entire manual. This guide is subdivided into several different areas (reassurance, beauty, emotions, etc) that contains questions like “Why does she ask ‘Do these pants make me look fat?’” Answer “When she asks you how she looks, she’s not asking whether or not she’s presentable for the party. She wants to know that she still rocks your world.” I think that there is a lot of valuable information here, but packaging it as a quick start guide is offensive and dehumanizing. She’s your wife, not your new Kubota Tractor.

But aside from the packaging, I would recommend each of these books. For Women Only offers an accurate, though stereotypical, exploration through the male mind. And a quick check with Kadie confirms the accuracy of For Men Only as well.

A Review: Twilight

Summary

Twilight tells the first person story of Bella Swan, a 17 year old from sunny Phoenix who has to move to the damp, dark town of Forks, Washington to be with her Dad. (Oddly, Forks is embracing its newfound fame, though the picture painted of the town in the book is far from ideal.) Her mom is following her stepfather to Florida and Bella doesn’t want to go. So Bella moves to a town where she knows her father and no one else. The story follows Bella as she moves into the new community and struggles to fit in to its closed society.

At the local high school she wrestles with the typical challenges of the new kid as she tries to carve out her own self identity while trying as best she can to “fit in”. In her first few days of school, she notes one group of teens who stay off by themselves, away from the regular students. They are members of the Cullen family, whose pater familias is a prominent local doctor. One of them in particular catches the eye of young Bella, another 17 year old named Edward.

Initially, Edward seems to go out of his way to either avoid, or torment young Bella. Despite his frigid attitude toward her, she is hopelessly drawn in by his good looks. After he saves her life in a near car accident, she discovers that he has reciprocal feelings for her and their relationship begins in earnest.

As most everyone knows by this point, Edward is a vampire, part of a unique family of vampires who have foresworn human blood so that they might continue to live among humans. They hunt and consume animals, and are thus able to satiate their bloodthirst and coexist with humans.

The story unfolds as Bella learns more and more about Edward’s clan, as well as the other vampires who roam the earth and still pursue humans. She is threatened by these other vampires, but ultimately is saved by Edward and his family.

Most of the problems I had with this work were sytlistic and are explained by the simple fact that I’m not its intended audience. Twilight is clearly aimed at the Young Adult (and specifically female) market. For example, it describes Edward as he and Bella were resting in a country field:

“He lay perfectly still in the grass, his shirt open over his sculpted, incandescent chest, his scintillating arms bare. His glistening, pale lavender lids were shut, though of course he didn’t sleep. A perfect statue, carved in some unknown stone, smooth like marble, glittering like crystal.”

I had to take an insulin shot before typing that quote.

But more interesting that the literary dimension of the text is the theological.

A Theological Reading

The text is laden with theological meaning. There are some clues that Meyer has in mind a theological reading of this text. (And regardless of her intent, as a Believer, I can’t really read it any other way.) The cover of the text depicts two female hands offering a delicious red apple. There’s quite a track record with women bearing apples of course (never mind the more recent incarnations of Disney movies and one particular ABC television show, complete with apparel).

This cover calls to the mind of the reader another fruit borne of a woman, the famous fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Yes, Genesis 2 and 3 makes no mention of the word apple. Which makes it a gap of course. The reason that so many have thought it was an apple has to do with the Latin, which...sorry, off topic. Go here if interested.)

So the very cover leads the reader to conclude that there might be some element of forbidden knowledge, or forbidden fruit involved in the narrative. And when you open the cover and read the frontspiece, that suspicion is confirmed as the first text of the book that appears is the scriptural citation Genesis 2:17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” So Meyer clearly reads this forbidden fruit into the background of the story.

The story rightly emphasizes the importance of blood. Blood is what the vampires must have if they are to live. As Leviticus 17:14reminds us “ because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, ‘You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.’” The vampire story gets this element right. There is no life without the blood.

Meyer also portrays immortality as coming with a significant cost. The vampires are immortal, but without a soul. They can only find a meaningful existence by interacting with humans and ummm, playing baseball. The vampires strive for divinity but fall far short in their attempt to reach it on their own. They gain the entire world, but in the process lose their souls.

And lastly, I think that Meyer skillfully constructs a narrative in which blood is a metaphor for sex. In the story’s account of vampires, each vampire is particularly sensistive to a specific human’s scent. Naturally, Edward is highly attuned to Bella’s scent. It makes her particulary enticing for him and he is tempted throughout the book to feast upon her blood and turn her into a vampire. Consequently, there is a tension throughout the book as Edward and Bella fall in love. Does he really love her, or is he after her only for her body blood?

Edward’s bloodlust becomes a stand in for actual lust. Edward is animalistic and primal in his lust for blood. He desires Bella and the reader anxiously awaits alongside her to find out if Edward will simply use her for his own desires and get what he wants. And will Bella lose a vital part of herself in the process?

After Scooter and I read Twilight, we went out for lunch and talked about each of these theological themes in the book. Approaching these issues using a story from her world was unusual for us and I think we both enjoyed the talk. I hope that in the end, it will help her develop as a critical reader of popular texts.

After we talked, a friend of mine from church asked me if I was glad that I let her read it. I replied “She just read a story which compares hormone ridden teen-age boys to blood-sucking vampires. Of course I’m glad she read it!”

A Review: Christian Writers’ Market Guide 2009

The Christian Writers’ Market Guide 2009 by Sally Stuart is a powerful resource for all authors interested in the Christian market. It contains a burgeoning amount of information identifying literary outlets for Christian writers. It is a reference work, not a “how to” book. It can help the writer to identify which books or periodicals might be the best outlets for its works.

After an initial chapter explaining how the book is best used, chapter 2 covers Book publishers. This chapter divides into three parts. Part one is a topical list of book publishers (e.g. Bereavement, homiletics, Marriage, Women’s books, etc). Thus the prospective published writer can use the list to guide her or him to the publisher most likely interested in that particular topic. The second list is a simple alphabetical listing of all Christian publishers. The third list is a list of “subsidy publishers.” A subsidy is when the publisher requires you to pay all or part of the costs associated with publishing a book. (The term I am more familiar with is “subvention”). The fourth section is a list of book distributors (e.g. Campus Crusade, Christian Book Distributors). The final section is what Stuart calls a “marketing analysis” where she lists publishers by the numbers of books published, most popular book topics, etc.

Section (chapter?) Three covers much of the same ground, except with periodicals. The first section is a topical listing of Christian magazines. It includes topics like book reviews, African-American Markets, Grandparenting, Poetry, etc. A second (sub)section then lists the Christian periodicals alphabetically. This is followed by a final “market analysis” of periodicals. The fourth section of this tome explores the world of Christian greeting cards, gifts, and specialty markets. It also includes Christian software, DVDs and music CDs.

The fifth section is entitled “Helps for Writers” and focuses upon subjects like writer’s conferences, editorial services, literary agents, and writing contests. The sixth (and final) section of the book includes an index and glossary as well as a break down of publishers by both corporate ownership and denominational affiliation. Included with the book is a CD which contains an additional three sections covering additional resources for writers, additional writing and marketing resources, and a final section of a glossary of terms.

This lengthy work (547 pages + a CD) provides a blizzering array of information categorized in a very logical way about all elements of the Christian writing market. In its collection of data, it is more of a resource4 than a how-to of getting into the Christian writing market. The Christian Writers’ Market Guide is an invaluable resource for any writer who is interested in writing their way into this market.

It’s also sad and depressing.


My mind reels at the micro-niches found throughout the Christian subculture. Do we need two magazines separated only by punctuation? Good News or Good News! (As opposed to the regional website Good News of South Florida or the Good News Connection). Maybe they’ll even come up with a Good News, etc. (Oh…. they did). How would the motorcycling needs of a Christian motorcyclist differ from a pagan motorcyclist. Plus, doesn’t another religion already have the motorcycling market down?

I understand the need for marketing analyses and micro-niches. I think that there is an important role for Christian publishing houses with their attendant books and magazines. I simply think that we get into trouble when we speak only to ourselves. What we need (as others have said) is fewer good “Christian writers” and more good writers who happen to be Christians.

But that is more a critique of the culture that provides the need for this book rather than a critique of this books itself. Which is exceptionally good and thorough.

Only Nuns Change Habits Overnight: A Review

Karen Scalf Linamen has written a fun and helpful book on how women should initiate positive changes in their lives.

She argues that every woman longs for change in some area of her life. Unfortunately, fear, fatigue, adversity, heartbreak, past failures, and even the choices of other people get in the way and make lasting change seem out of reach. Having been there herself, Karen Linamen knows exactly how to take readers from where they are to where they want to be.

In Only Nuns Change Habits Overnight, she examines 52 powerful readers can apply to any change they long to embrace. Her insights apply to career, finances, personal health and fitness, relationships, faith—in fact, every facet of a woman’s life.

Blending humor with sage advice, Linamen shows readers the link between dissatisfaction and transformation, how to remodel habits, the little-known truth about procrastination, how to generate the energy they need to pursue the life they desire, how to benefit from options and resources they never dreamed they had, and more!

Linamen combines humor and wisdom in an entertaining read that doesn’t take itself too seriously. I only have a couple of drawbacks about this book. First, it is completely aimed at the female population. Almost all of the examples pertain to women and, let’s be frank, it’s the only pink covered book on my bookshelf. Second, some of the information is rather trite. “Watch an uplifting movie” is among the more pedestrian pieces of advice. But despite those minor points, I recommend it.

Book Review: Living Rich For Less (and a chance for free books!)

Readers will recall that personal finance greatly impacted our family a few years ago. Because of the financial peace of mind that came out of that experience, I remain interested in culling good ideas from other financial guides who may be out there. I’m reaching the conclusion that there are just a few excellent ideas of building and maintaining wealth. The only difference in many of these books is the packaging. Or to put it another way, we all know that we should save more and spend less, the question is how do we do it?

Recently I was asked to write a review of another personal finance book entitled Living Rich for Less: Create the Lifestyle you Want by Saving and Spending Smart by Ellie Kay. In this work, she shares a personal narrative of her and her family of seven going from $40,000 in debt to a surplus of savings in just a few years. She then offers you the reader the opportunity to do the same.

Kay’s work divides into three parts:

Part One: Giving Ten Percent

Part Two: Saving Ten Percent

Part Three: Spending Smart the Other 80 Percent (Yes, it should be smartly)

In Part One she addresses the concept of giving 10% of your income away. Giving is a tough sell in contemporary society. And although this book is from a Christian publisher, she (rightly I think) addresses the larger society as a whole. So while she mentions the tithe, she doesn’t end the discussion by simply saying “It’s in the Bible, so do it.” She takes a careful look at the value and benefits of giving away. She ends the section with a “Green” chapter in which she argues that green living (changing incandescent lights for CFL bulbs, recycling, etc)

In the second part of her work, Kay addresses the issue of saving 10% of your income. She looks at the various saving and investing options and includes chapters on debt, FICO score. She concludes this chapter with advice on how to put together a simple budget. There is some good advice here, but there is some tension I think between decrying debt and arguing that we should increase our FICO score.

In part three, Kay explores how we should spend 80% of the income. This is the strongest section of the book. In it, she offers practical guidance on how to save a great deal of money on insurance, shopping, vacations, and home ownership. Kay claims that if you follow her advice you could save $30,000.00 a year. (Which I suppose is technically true, though you'd have to be painfully clueless to be overspending in so many different ways).

Overall this is a helpful book. It hits the high notes of personal finance, but doesn’t offer much beyond the basic advice. For Kay (or anyone else) it is important to spend less than what you make, get out of debt, and save for emergencies, college, etc. Kay is a fun writer who includes in her advice numerous perconal anecdotes that flesh out her concepts.

The greatest strength is in its practical tips. She provides numerous websites, helpful hints on how to shave costs for gifts and many other examples of practical advice. This section alone makes the book well worth its cost. The college savings material is incredibly helpful. (Biggest hint: College savings starts in high school with good grades, AP classes, and dual enrollment).
If I could only buy one book on personal finance, I would still go with Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover . But Kay’s Living Rich for Less would be my number two purchase.

The biggest drawback for this book was the subtitle. It should be “create the lifestyle you want by giving, saving, and spending smartly”. There should be an adverb at the end. (Insert Kadie eyeroll right here.)

I tell you what. In these uncertain times, I would like to offer a couple of free copies of this book. The first person who posts to the comments the critical event that triggered our decision to begin Dave Ramsey’s plan will get a copy of this book. (I narrate our financial struggles here).

Then the next person who posts the last debt we paid off in our debt snowball will get the other book.

I’ll try to get it in the mail immediately and perhaps it will be at your doorstep by Christmas.

How Would Jesus Vote?: A Review

Politics and religion tend to form a witches brew of toxic commentary, often bringing out the worst from both fields. But as a devoted Christian, you may wonder “How would Jesus vote on the issues in this year’s elections? I’m glad you asked.

The 2008 election is shaping up to be one of the most important political contests in American history. In fact, Dr. D. James Kennedy believes it will be a watershed moment that could impact our very survival as a nation under God.

Values voters—people whose political views and votes are based on their faith in God—are being targeted as never before. As the campaign season moves forward, the significant players will debate terrorism, radical Islam, nuclear threats, global warming, social issues, gay marriage, immigration, education, health care, and many other essential issues that can create sharp ideological divisions.

Into this overwhelmingly complex political situation, Dr. Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe bring an application of what God’s Word has to say on these critical matters. How Would Jesus Vote? isn’t intended to tell readers which candidates to support, in fact it mentions no specific political figures. But the way it evaluates issues let’s people know precisely where the author’s stand.
And so Kennedy offers straightforward views on a variety of issues and how Jesus would vote.

Briefly, Jesus would vote as follows:
Abortion: Jesus is Prolife
Death Penalty: Jesus supports the Death Penalty
Warfare: Jesus would (on occasion) support a Just War
Education: Jesus supports prayer in schools, and would oppose taxes on parents whose kids go to private schools.
Economics: Jesus supports private property, would be opposed to governmental welfare programs
Healthcare: Jesus would favor care for the uninsured, but would not support eh government mandating a universal health care policy.
Environment: Jesus loves the environment, but would spend money on sewage plants, increased sanitation, and clean water for the poor of the world, rather than cap and trade emissions policies
Immigration: Jesus would oppose racism in all forms, vote for enforcement of immigration laws, but also respect and care for the strangers among us
Marriage: Jesus favors heterosexual marriage. He would oppose same-sex marriage, pornography, and no-fault divorce
Judges: Kennedy doesn’t promise that Jesus opposes judicial activism, but does remind judges that they too will be judged by God for their actions.

There is a final section of a collection of thoughts on religious liberty and the dangers of political compromise.

Some thoughts:

Kennedy helpfully offers some biblical perspectives on these issues. None of his conclusions are without problems however. Which leads me to my concerns about this book.

The primary problem I have with Kennedy’s work is not only its self-confidence in declaring Jesus’ position on numerous political issues, but how unfailingly they fall along the traditional Republican perspective. Repackage this book and you could have the Republican platform in place. Putting the Divine imprimatur on our political perspectives cheapens our faith. When the kingdom of God conforms itself to the political instincts of Man, we trade silver and gold for straw and chaff.

Second, there is a tension in this work on the relationship between the church and state. Although he works hard to insist that church and state be separate, Kennedy admires such reformers as Calvin (p. 42) who as a magisterial reformer, operated in the context of a theocratic state in Geneva. But on the other hand (when arguing that the individual, not the government needs to be accommodating to immigrants) wrote “We should make sure that we distinguish between personal ethics and national policy.” (159) So which is it?

Finally, I would suspect that Jesus would have a perspective both more radical and more conservative than our own. I agree, for instance, that Jesus would be pro-life in his outlook. But I suspect he would travel with those who oppose abortion, but also those who oppose the death penalty and war. Jesus might vote for candidates who are radically egalitarian, to the point that they not only reach out to the poor, but move into low income neighborhoods and live incarnationally with the poor and downtrodden, instead of visiting them for a short term mission trip.

The church has much work to do.

The more election cycles I live through, the more I see that the government will continue to be ineffective. That is the main reason for my passion for the church. It is up to the church, not to the government, to reach the dispossessed who have fallen through the cracks of society. But the government makes for a poor tool in the hands of the church.

Kennedy offers little help in that direction.

Unchurched: A Review and Interview

(Note, at the end of this review is an interview with the author and a chance to win a free copy of Unchurched)

The word “churched” has at least two meanings: First it is an archaic religious term usually used in the negative which refers to someone who has either not accepted the gospel or is not going to church. “Well, this basketball league is primarily for the unchurched.” A second meaning refers to the act of church discipline, primarily the expulsion of someone form the community as in “He was churched from the congregation”. (See usage 17 here).

In his book Churched: One Man’s Journey Toward God Despite a Holy Mess, Matthew Paul Turner walks the edges of each of these meanings. In this memoir, he narrates what life was like for him to be raised in a fundamentalist church. Matthew Paul Turner is a blogger, speaker and author of The Coffeehouse Gospel, Provocative Faith, Beatitude: Relearning Jesus, the What You Didn’t Learn from Your Parents About… series, and several other popular books. He has written for Relevant, HomeLife, Christian Single magazines and was the former editor of CCM magazine. Matthew and his wife, Jessica, live in Nashville, Tennessee. He can be found online at http://www.matthewpaulturner.com/.

Turner's memoir contains story after story about growing up in an environment where the unusual was the norm. For example, a typical Sunday morning might contain: the pastor getting into a boxing match with Satan, the worship service being hijacked by a Christian Pirate, a Barbie doll incinerated in Sunday school (as an example of the perils of hell) and getting baptized multiple (5 maybe?) times. Turner is an entertaining writer who does an excellent job of either reminding the reader of, or introducing the reader to, life in fundamentalist churches.
And he’s funny. The book is a series of disconnected, humorous stories. His sense of humor reminds me of David Sedaris and he has Garrison Keillor’s talent for drawing portraits of people with his words. I every much enjoyed this work. In an age when most memoirists take a tire iron to the kneecaps of their childhood, Turner is always respectful of his influences. As he depicts it, his church seems more a collection of strange religious eccentrics than of judgmental and angry legalists that I tend to associate with fundamentalist upbringings.

While I liked reading a memoir that wasn’t too critical of the influences on the author’s life, I found myself wondering what stories were omitted. There are hints of some scars he’s carried from his childhood (he mentions for example, that he has trouble talking alone with a pastor). (Note: See interview below). Regardless, that is more a criticism of what the book is not rather than what it is. And what it is, is a funny, funny book that offers a non-judgmental look at fundamentalism.

Since I've had ummmm unplanned interviews with authors before, I decided to be proactive and sent an email to Turner asking if he would consent to an interview. He graciously agreed to answer a few questions about his most recent work.

Taran: I've always thought it took a healthy ego to write a memoir ;). Why did you decide to write Churched?

Turner: Well, I certainly have an ego--not sure it's a healthy one--but I certainly try to keep it in check. :) I wrote Churched because I thought it was a good story that for some, may be an introduction to fundamentalism, and for others may offer a little bit of healing from the spiritual abuse they endured. And while I hope it's an entertaining and hopeful read, I certainly wrote it for me and for anybody else who has been hurt by other Christians.

Taran: In your book, you describe your upbringing in a fundamentalist Independent Baptist Church. How would you describe fundamentalism?

Turner: I think that "Independent Baptist" is CHRISTIAN for scary beyond all reason. Whenever leadership of any church, mosque, or temple takes on the role of God and uses it to control, manipulate, indoctrinate--that is a fundamentalism. Of course, there are varying levels of Christian fundamentalism out there.

Taran: In many memoirs, the author's work out a great deal of antagonism toward their childhood. But one thing that appears different in this work is that you don't seem particularly hostile to fundamentalism. As your portray it, fundamentalism seems to be primarily an eccentricity Is that how you view your church's brand of fundamentalism?

Turner: In some ways, yes. But that doesn't make it "innocent." It was my hope to present my childhood story to reflect on the "Christian issues" of today. The 17 essays serve as a mirror to some degree, one that all of us as Christians need to look at so we can see how we are presenting Jesus to the community of people around us. In order to do that effectively, I didn't want to be guilty of what I am pointing out. Does that make sense? If you're angry and mean-spirited, I don't believe you can effectively paint a good picture of the experience. And that was my goal... to paint a picture of what I experienced and let people come to their own conclusions.

Taran: You share at one point that fundamentalism doesn't take a high view of imagination. Were there any parts of being fundamentalist that helped you to develop your skills as a writer?

Turner: Well, it certainly gave me something to write about, I guess. But I inhereted my creativity from my mother and my grandmother.

Taran: From looking across your website, I see that you have a new son. Congratulations! Every parent wants to raise their child in a better way than they were raised. In the area of faith, how will Elias' childhood differ from yours?

Turner: It's my hope that Elias will learn about God in a hope-filled manner, that God will always be apart of his life's solutions and not apart of his problem. I'm gonna make mistakes along the way, but I hope he will experience the hope that comes from engaging the story of God and to not be overrun with fear.

Taran: You close with a story indicating that you have difficulty sitting down one on one with pastors. Do you see a bit of Pastor Nolan (the pastor of his church growing up) in a lot of ministers that you meet?

Turner: I do to some degree. They may not yell and scream and boast about the number of souls their churches are "winning," but the pastoral ego is often there. And it's the ego that made Pastor Nolan dangerous. He was just interesting and talented enough to make him dangerous. A pastor should never use scripture as way to manipulate or control--the truth should always set us free. And that's the kind of truth that pastors should be presenting. Pastors don't have to make us think they're perfect. Because we know they're not. Just tell us God's story with hope, that's something Pastor Nolan rarely did.

Taran: Reading your work I thought of people as diverse as David Sederis and Garrison Keillor. Who are some of the writers (aside from Matthew Mark, Luke and John) who have influenced you?

Turner: I love David Sederis, Elizabeth Gilbert, Chuck Klosterman, Augusten Burroughs, Brennan Manning, Phillip Yancey, GK Chesterton, Donald Miller, Anne Lamott--all of these writers have influenced to some degree or encouraged me to tell my story with passion and zeal.

Taran: Thanks for giving your time and may the sales of this book fully fund Elias' college of choice.

Turner: Thanks so much for this interview!

I have two free copies of Unchurched. My favorite Christian music artist was greatly influenced by Brennan Manning, one of the writers that Turner mentions above. In fact, the title of Manning's most popular book appears in the title of the musician's best CD.

The first two readers who can tell me which musician gets a free copy of the book!

The Encore Effect: A Review

I have a few criteria on a good book for self help books. I like them to be short, and they need to have a few helpful tips on productivity. So I looked forward to reading Mark Sanborn's work The Encore Effect: How to Achieve Remarkable Performance in Anything You Do .

According to Sanborn, everyone wants to make a difference in the world, but most have no idea how to maximize their impact. In The Encore Effect, best-selling author and leadership expert Sanborn purports to provide the answer. He leads readers in six practices that will move them beyond excellence to distinction and from mundane to memorable. These principles guide readers to draw on their passion and devote themselves to preparation, practice, presentation, polishing, and finally, avoiding pitfalls. When readers follow these principles they will find that people are attracted to them. More importantly, they'll find that they now have an influence over others that can impact lives for eternity.

The "Encore" in the title of the book refers to the idea that you will do such a great job in your work that you will be asked by your coworkers/bosses/friends to keep doing it. The image is one of a performance. I do like the idea that when we work on something, we are performing. I don't think it should sound artificial and fake that I describe my teaching or preaching, as a performance.

Essentially, he takes common sense for increasing performance and packages it in an attractive hardcover book. But do we really need another book the spends time repackaging the common sense items that most people already know. You could summarize much of what he says in an aphorism or two "Practice makes perfect", etc.

One other concern is that the copy I received has special additions that make it more useful to Christians. It comes with verses and thoughtful Christian questions and verse quotations that are meant to probe the material from a Christian perspective. But I usually feel a bit queasy when target marketed. If the Christian material was integral to the book, then Sanborn should've included it in the generally released copy. If not, then it should've been omitted. I'm not fond of books that are printed one way for Christians and another way for everyone else.

Not a big fan of the book. (I have no extra copies, but after that review would you want one??)

The Road to Lost Innocence: A Review

There is a depth of moral depravity that I have been blessed not to experience.

There are things going on in my community, my nation, and my world that would devastate me if I only knew of them. Most of the time, I live in a hermetically sealed environment that is of a completely different world from the rest of the planet. From time to time a newspaper report or a personal experience may pick up the rock of society so that I catch of the glimpse of the seething, disgusting filth that lives underneath it.

One such recent experience accompanied my reading of a recent book The Road to Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam. Mam was born in Cambodia and orphaned at an early age. She grew up never knowing her real name or birthday. As a teenager, Somaly Mam was sold into prostitution and spent years in the brothels of Cambodia where she witnessed and experienced the full-blown horrors of the human sex trade – rape, torture, and nearly unfathomable abuse. It is almost impossible to believe some of the stories she tells about the lives of the girls in these brothels. In Cambodia, it is a societal belief that having sex with virgins protects the male against the AIDS virus and can even extend the lives of men. As a result, little girls are sold into the sex trade by their families. And by little girls I mean 6, 7, and 8 year olds.

The disregard for human life is unfathomable. On one occasion Mam witnessed a police officer who was also a client in the brothel pull out a gun and shoot one of the young girls because she was fighting him. The woman running the brothel simply cleaned up the remains and threw them into the city dump. Then she used the experience to warn the other girls to be compliant with the customers.

Eventually, through her interactions with some foreign aid workers (first as a prostitute, then by marrying one) Mam managed to escape this dreadful life and move to France. But her experiences refused to let her stay away and she has moved back to try to help others escape from this awful life. The book, The Road of Lost Innocence" is Mam’s newest means of advocacy.

This is a Christian book, thought Jesus is never mentioned and Mam never makes any kind of a religious statement. She mentions on one occasion that she is still not sure that she understands the concept of love, perhaps because she has experienced so little of it in her life.

I call this a Christian book because it depicts in precise details a world in which sin reigns and people are used as objects rather than as creatures made in the image of God. The wages of sin are certainly death and this book reminds me that for many, the death Paul talks about starts in this life. The world in which Mam lives is the world that so desperately needs to be saved.

Unfortunately I have no copies of the book, but I absolutely recommend it. It is powerful.

Book Review: Wild Goose Chase

I’ve never heard of Mark Batterson. He’s the lead pastor of Washington, DC’s National Community Church an innovative church that has a lot of Washington movers and shakers in its membership. NCC meets in movie theaters at metro stops throughout the city, as well as in a church-owned coffee house near Union Station. More than seventy percent of NCC’ers are single twentysomethings who live or work on Capitol Hill. Mark is the author of the best-selling book In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day.

In the sequel to that book, Wild Goose Chase: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God, Batterson develops the idea that there is an unpredictability to the movement and actions of God. The title of the book comes from the fact that among Celtic Christians, they often referred to the Holy Spirit as An Geadh-Glas or, the Wild Goose. He says that “Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger, an air of unpredictability surrounds Him.”

Batterson explores the barriers that prevent us from accepting God’s unpredictability in six areas, which he calls cages and explores in individual chapters. First, is the cage of responsibilities. He argues that our passions are often submerged beneath our day to day responsibilities. Second is the cage of the routine, being shackled by comfort and predictability. Third is the cage of assumptions (I’m too old, too young, too inexperienced, too set in my ways) where we assume that God cannot use us. The fourth cage is the cage of guilt in which we assume that God cannot use us because of past actions and choices. The fifth cage is the cage of failure, where we believe that we cannot overcome the mistakes of our past. The final cage is the cage of fear, being terrified of taking a step of faith.

I think this focus on the elusive presence of God is exactly right. So much of contemporary Evangelicalism consists in putting God into a particular box that is neat and orderly. But the Spirit blows where it will, and as believers we’d best stop pretending otherwise. As Lucy was told when she first entered Narnia “Aslan isn’t a tame lion!”

I will add that I think the association of the Holy Spirit as a Wild Goose is pretty weak. A wild goose chase is a metaphor for chasing something insubstantial, not the best description of God (a point he acknowledges). But look past the title of the book and you will find encouragement to allow God to move you in directions you might not have otherwise sought. I recommend this book.

I also have one free copy! Since Batterson pastors in D.C. and we are in an election season let’s make this a presidential question. One of my prized possessions is a autobiography of one of our presidents, with his autograph inscribed inside. His 100th birthday would’ve been celebrated this week. Who is he? Post it here and I’ll send you a copy of this book.

3 Kid Book Reviews

Now for something completely different. I was asked to review three children's books. They are aimed at the toddler years, so its approximately equivalent to my maturity level. But in order to be objective, I figured that I would just read these with Squealer, and then report on his reactions. But he didn't really like any of them, so I'm somewhat at a loss. I think his five year old self is moving beyond toddler interests.

Of the three, God Gave us Heaven is the best. It narrates the wintery world of Little Cub. Little Cub awakens one morning with some important questions on her mind: What is heaven like? How do we get there? Will we eat in heaven? Will we be angels? During a cold day spent wandering their arctic world, Papa gently answers each question, assuring Little Cub that heaven is a wonderful place, "a million times better" than she can imagine. He explains how God has made a way for those who love him to enter their heavenly home forever after their lives on earth are over.

I think the best thing about this book is that it generated a great conversation between Kadie and Squealer when she read it to him. She mentioned that she will see her mom when she gets to heaven and (for the first time), Squealer inquired about his grandmother, whom we lost almost twenty years ago.

In When God Made My Toes, kids are drawn into the wonder of their creation by God. Their masterful artist who fashioned them just right for amazing and delightful adventures, such as roller skating, finger-painting, doing flips, and drinking cocoa. Imaginative rhymes and I did like the connection between the fact that we are a unique part of God's Creation. It nicely brings the idea that the same God who created the natural world, took time and effort to create us as well.

In God Loves Me More Than That, children learn that God loves them deeper than a wishing well, wider than a semi-truck, louder than thunder, and softer than a kitten's sneeze. Each question, presented with charming child-like faith will help young ones grasp the great love of God through comparisons and descriptions they can easily understand. In short, they'll discover that His love is bigger, wider, higher, and deeper than anything they could imagine! This one was our least favorite of the three.

The Healing Choice Blog Review

How do you survive marital infidelity? How does a woman rebuild trust in her husband after he’s confessed some emotional and physical affairs, and lied about others?

Is there a way forward?

The Healing Choice: How to Move Beyond Betrayal by Brenda Stoeker and Susan Allen address these questions and many others. It is a very personal book, divided in half as each of these women tell their stories. They offer the reader a detailed prescription for dealing with these issues. First, realize that God is present even during the darkest days of our lives and second, there is a community of women who have had similar (and even identical) experiences and have survived these problems.

Stoeker and Allen each draw upon their own experiences with these issues and offer step-by-step advice for rediscovering intimacy with God and finding the support you need to move toward genuine spiritual and emotional restoration.

Strengths:

It’s a book written by and for women, particularly women who have experienced tremendous emotional pain. The stories told are told from a woman’s perspective. It makes for an unusual (though not unhelpful) read for a man.

It does provide helpful spiritual advice for women that includes a strong dose of community as well.

Weaknesses:
Most obviously is that men will not feel addressed in the book. (But, we've got enough alternate choices). I’m uncertain that it is much of a weakness, but simply a decision made by the authors to narrow their focus to a particular target market.

Overall, I think the strongest feature of the book is that it let’s hurting women know that they are not alone and offers a prescription of both Christ and community.

I have two copies of the book and one group study guide that goes along with it. Rather than having a contest on this one, I’d rather pass them along to people who need them. If you or someone you know would benefit from this book, I’ll send you a copy. Email me at the address listed above.

A Review of Love as a Way of Life

I’m not sure that there is a greater marketing gimmick in the world than romantic love. Music, films, books, paintings, all depict love in various forms and glorify, if not deify, the concept of romantic love. As a consequence of this ongoing glorification, I’ve tended to view books on love with a certain amount of suspicion. And so it was when I was contacted to put together a blog review on Gary Chapman’s newest book, Love as a Way of Life: Seven Keys to Transforming Every Aspect of your Life (Waterbrook Press, 2008). I'm also notoriously skeptical of subtitles like this one.

I knew of Chapman’s The Five Love Languages, and he has written his first study of love since that famous work. Love as a Way of Life is his attempt to reframe the reader’s view of love from romantic concepts to realistic ones. He breaks down the concept of love into seven constituent parts, and provides a definition of each one.

Kindness: The joy of meeting someone else’s needs before your own simply for the sake of the relationship

Patience: Allowing someone to be imperfect

Forgiveness: Using honesty, compassion, and self awareness to reconcile with someone who hurt you

Courtesy: The act of treating everyone as a personal friend

Humility: a peacefulness of heart that allows you to stand aside in order to affirm the value of someone else

Generosity: giving your attention, time, abilities, money, and compassion freely to others

Honesty: a loving consistency in speech thought and action

In each chapter he defines that aspect of love. He usually relates a narrative from his counseling experience that illustrates how the individual was either practicing or not practicing that particular trait.

Take his definition of courtesy. It eschews the common concept of the word (saying Thank you and Yes Ma'am) and provides it with a much greater depth. It only takes a minute to see how our lives might be transformed by characteristic of love. How might your day be changed if you treated everyone you encountered as a personal friend? Would it affect the way you interact with the cashier at Wal-Mart? Would it affect the hostile student complaining about a grade? How would it affect the long-suffering secretary in the doctor’s office who is trying to work your sick child into an unscheduled appointment? Would it affect your response to your wife at the end of a busy week when you are both exhausted and the kids are fighting?

Chapman defines the terms and then offers practical suggestions for implementing them. He includes the competitor of each of these characteristics of love (e.g. busyness is the competitor of courtesy) and offers specific suggestions for cultivating these selfless acts.

Chapman rejects the common view that one falls into and out of love as though it were a disease alternately caught and overcome. He argues that anyone who claims to love must translate those words into concrete actions. As he writes, “Love is an attitude that leads to a change in behavior.” Specifically, love bears scant resemblance to popular conditions of romantic love that fades over time in the face of the demands of work, kids, relatives, and even due to high school reunions.

For Chapman, authentic love is not an ethereal feeling, but a concrete series of specific tasks and this book is about equipping the reader for these tasks.

As a joke, sometimes I steal the line from As Good as it Gets and say to Kadie (with appropriate Nicholson inflection) “You make me wanna be a better man!”

Chapman reminds me that wanting to do something is not the same thing as equipping me to do so. This work equips the reader for a life-transforming task. It is probably the best book on personal development I’ve read in the 20 years since I read since Scott Peck’s A Road Less Travelled.

In closing, I told Kadie about the book and she had noticed me trying to work on some of the traits he discusses. Stealing one of Chapman's questions from his section on marriage, I asked her “Kadie, how can I be a better husband to you?” Without missing a beat she replied “Keep reading books like that one.”

High praise indeed!

Now for a little contest. I also received two extra copies of this book! The first two readers to email me the languages of love (all five) from Capman's previous book will get a free copy of Love as a Way of Life.

A Love That's Stronger Than our Fears (II)

With the words of Bartolot ringing in my ears, I accepted the invitation and addressed the Gay/Straight group this last Tuesday. I started off with a brief review of the book, UnChristian. (For background on the book and a formal review, see Benjie here and here.) I started off by sharing with them that I normally don’t speak about my own personal faith on campus and briefly explained why. Several of the group (about 20 students and faculty) had taken my courses before and I asked them to confirm that I normally don’t speak of such things. I then identified myself as a Baptist and an evangelical (not in a political sense, but in the Bebbington sense).

UnChristian is not an earth-shattering work. It is a fairly straightforward book, including numerous anecdotes, that provides a context for how outsiders view the evangelical subculture. I shared with the group that there are six areas where Kinnemann takes us evangelicals to task. One of these views that Outsiders (nonChristians) have is that they believe that Christians are anti-homosexual. Kinnamann then produces evidence to support this viewpoint (directly quoted from UnChristian) :

1. Born-again Christians are more likely to disapprove of homosexuality than divorce. The vast majority of Christians say that homosexuality should not be considered a legitimate lifestyle and strongly reject church-sanctioned weddings for same-sex unions. However, a minority of born-again believers (39 percent) embrace Jesus's teaching that divorce is a sin except in cases of adultery (see Matt. 5:32). Even among evangelicals, just three out of five describe
divorce as a sin, well below their opposition to gay marriage.

2. Most born-again Christians have a hard time knowing how they
should respond to the lifestyles of homosexuals as well as how to respond to the political efforts of gay and lesbian activists. For instance, many believers advocate legal restrictions on homosexual behavior. A majority of born-again Christians, including more than four out of five evangelicals, say that homosexual relations between two consenting adults should be illegal.'

3. Millions of Americans, including two out of every five churchgoers, say that school boards ought to have the right to fire teachers who are known homosexuals. Of course the issues are complicated, but Christians are fueling the idea that gays and lesbians should not be allowed to work in public schools.

4. Many Christians continue to be very skeptical about donating to HIV/AIDS causes, even overseas, despite Christians' generosity in many other arenas. In one poll we found that just 14 percent of born-again Christians say they would be highly motivated to help HIV/AIDS orphans overseas. In another study we discovered that two out of every five born-again Christians, including the same proportion of evangelicals, admitted they have more sympathy for people who have cancer than they do for people with HIV/AIDS. In probing people’s attitudes, we find this perspective typically springs from the idea that the disease is deserved. They believe God is punishing these people—or that their decisions and lifestyle deserve this outcome.

As you will see, our criticism of gays and lesbians is not only ineffective, but also it repels many 16 to 30 year olds. As one survey respondent put it, "I cannot imagine Jesus actually treating gays and lesbians like Christians do today." (end quote)

I then offered a few criticisms of the book. First, I think Kinnaman needs to address the fact that many in the evangelical church are uninterested in being popular. He understands that, but I think he could’ve headed off that particular criticism by addressing it in the book. UnChristian isn’t trying to make the case that the church should be concerned about its popularity, but I am concerned that some will dismiss its criticisms by simply calling it Emergent and focused only on worldly popularity.

Second, although the book is addressed to Christians, he doesn’t illustrate what we can do to directly engage these perceptions. I then turned to my own suggestions for how Evangelicals and Homosexuals could talk to one another.

A Worthwhile Journey

Warning: High Geek level Alert (But, read to the bottom for a free book offer!)

A good part of my adolescent years were spent on distant shores. I traveled extensively throughout junior high and high school years. I enjoyed several of my trips and some of them...I've never quite been able to return from completely. One of my first trips abroad was spent treading after the dawn with the noble Reepicheep the courageous Peavensie brood and the mighty Aslan throughout Narnia. I journeyed alongside Frodo and Bilbo across the Shire. And I hid in awe from the great Druid Allanon in the land of Shannara. I too felt a sense of homesickness whenever I heard the words Caer Dallben in the land of Prydain. And for almost a decade I journeyed with King Trent and his friends throughout the world of Xanth.

So it was with a sense of excitement that I agreed to provide a blog review for Andrew Peterson’s new book On the Edge of The Dark Sea of Darkness (Edge). Andrew Peterson (AP), as you may recall, is one of my favorite contemporary Christian artists. He’s in the mold of Rich Mullins and is one of the few artists whose CD’s I will purchase sight unseen unheard.

So when I first heard that AP was writing a novel, I was filled with some trepidation. I knew he could carry a tune, but could he carry a story?

I’m pleased to report that the answer is yes.

Edge spins the tale of a small family in a small village. Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby are the three youngest members of the Igby family who live with their Mom and Grandfather in the township of Glipwood in the land of Skree.

Glipwood had been, in a happier times, a gentle village along the coast of the Dark Sea of Darkness. But in recent decades, things had taken a more ominous turn. Coming across the Dark Sea, from the land of Dang, were hordes of Fangs, vicious lizard-like animals. They followed the bidding of Gnag the Nameless whose thirst for land and power are unquenchable.

After years of an uneasy occupation, the situation in Glipwood begins to change. The Igby children attract the unwelcome attention of the local Fang garrison. Edge then details a series of adventures as the three children (plus their relatives) try to stay alive in the midst of the ensuing calamities.

Three things I liked:

1) After a gradual start (and these narratives must always start slow) the novel flows well. The numerous brief chapters (51!) stretched across 284 pages make for a tightly paced novel that is ideal for the ten minute attention span of this YouTube generation. Or to a bed time story that (I suspect) was the genesis for this narrative.

2) The world is complete. Peterson has given much thought to the development of the backstory to the land of Skree. The work is filled with appendices, footnotes, and illustrations that guide the reader (often humorously) through the text. Since the subtitle for this work is The Wingfeather Saga Book One, I suspect that AP has only shared a bit of what he has up his sleeve.

3) The spiritual dimension is not overdone. One must indeed walk a fine line here, but the best Christian fantasy writers never preach or browbeat the reader. Aside from a few explicit references to a Maker and a brief myth of Dwayne and Gladys (Adam and Eve figures) the religious element is only hinted at. God is seen in this story, but never explicitly and never completely. (Of course, since this is exactly how God operates in our own lives, it is an excellent choice for an engaging narrative.)

Three things I didn’t like:

1) The evil is not terrifyingly portrayed. Ralph Wood, an English/Theology professor from Baylor is an expert in the works of the Catholic authors J.R.R. Tolkien and Flannery O’Conner. He has said that one reason why contemporary Christian writing is inferior to that of prior generations is because we no longer have the ability to adequately depict Evil. We have sentimentalized Evil. And if the danger and the evil is not severe and powerful enough, then the salvation (or euchatastrophe to use Tolkien's word) cannot be as powerfully seen. At their worst, the Fangs reminded me of the Sleestaks from the land of the Lost, or the Gorns from Star Trek. Dangerous enemies to be sure, but not terrifying.

2) The names were pretty simplistic. This is a hard criticism, but a necessary one. The author of a fantasy genre must use names that sound ancient and authentic, but may not actually be so. The Fangs of Dang, though alliterative, doesn’t pack enough punch. (By contrast, for example, the reader shudders when Gandolph first mentions the Mountains of Moria. And the informed reader might be aware that Moriah is intimately connected with the idea of sacrifice.

3) An inconsistent narrative tone. AP breaks up some of the tensions in the book by making references that are aimed at the teen level. He mentions the favorite meals of the Fangs are maggotloaf and booger gruel (for which he provides a recipe) and that the ratbadger’s greatest defense is its “eggish flatulence.” With numerous winks to the reader, AP breaks up any rising tension with these humorous asides. I suspect that the reason these are included is to hit a targeted tween/teen audience. But when the characters are in jeopardy, these silly asides serve to undercut the narrative tension. I must point out that these factors are what make this book so enjoyable to my 12 year old.

Overall, the likes outweigh the dislikes. Andrew Peterson demonstrates that his remarkable creative abilities transcend the musical and enters the narrative as well.

I’m glad I read On the Edge of The Dark Sea of Darkness. Kadie and Scooter are also reading it. We’ve had a few enjoyable conversations about the book, and it is a rare thing for us to be reading the same works. It has brought us together for some fun conversations and introduced some inside jokes to our little family.



Now for the contest. One of the nicknames of my family (found above) was taken directly from one of the fantasy series I mentioned in my first paragraph. In the comment section below, the first reader who can tell me which nickname and which series the name appears, I will send a free copy of Andrew Peterson’s book On the Edge of The Dark Sea of Darkness.