I just finished reading Rumors of God by Darren Whitehead (Willow Creek) and Jon Tyson (Trinity Grace Church: NYC). More than anything else, this is Whitehead and Tyson’s attempt at describing what the Christian life looks like in 2011. They cover a range of topics including: abundant life, God’s dream for humanity, generosity, love, grace, freedom, commitment, community, justice, and hope.

For me, the strength of the book comes in two areas.  FIrst, they do an excellent job of describing our modern context. For instance:

Ironically, the culture grows increasingly more “spiritual” while the church grows increasingly more practical.

In another passage they guess the dreams of many modern Americans,

You would like to have more money – financial stability. A comfortable living environment would be nice, perhaps a newer car. You’d have a progressing career, be respected in your field. You’d like to have emotionally healthy friends, who are energetic, encouraging, spontaneous, and fun. Maybe you’d wish to change something about your appearance – lose a few pounds, be taller, more athletic. If you’re single, you might desire to find a life partner, someone supportive, kind, and attractive (not just on the inside. Maybe you want to have kids. Or maybe you already have kids, and you want them to be well-educated, high-functioning, successful, well-mannered children who do better in school than your friends’ kids.

They then helpfully compare this with God’s dream for our lives.

The second thing they do very well is tell stories of grace and transformation from their communities. In several places they describe people whose lives have been utterly reshaped by the Gospel.

Overall, the book is well-written and clearly communicates their central concept that the Christian faith is remarkable and thriving even in a world where people are more skeptical than ever about the Christian faith. I’d recommend this book most to people who are trying to teach the gospel to a modern audience in ways that are engaging and simple.

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

I just finished reading, The Simple Life: Time, Relationships, Money, God by Thom S. and Art Rainer.  You may know Thom from books like Simple Church: Returning to God’s Process for Making Disciples and Essential Church?: Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts.

Based on a survey of 1,077 individuals, Thom and Art saw that an overwhelming number of people from all walks of life said they need greater simplicity in their lives in order to be more fulfilled.  Specifically, they wanted more simplicity in the areas of time, relationships, money, and God.

So, in a nutshell, the authors applied the concepts from Simple Church to these four areas.  These concepts are:

• Clarity: knowing where you’re going
• Movement: intentional, incremental steps
• Alignment: making sure your life lines up with your goals
• Focus: eliminating things outside of your goals, even if they are good things.

For whatever reason, it wasn’t simple for me to read this book.  I think after I saw the basic concepts, I pretty much knew where everything was heading.  Basically, the idea of the book is applying the concepts of clarity, movement, alignment, and focus to one’s personal life.  So, no big surprises here.

As a pastor, I think focus is the hardest thing for me.  It’s easy, for the most part, to say no to bad things.  It’s difficult when you have to choose between two, or more, good things.  A little clarity and alignment goes a long way in making those decisions in our lives.

So, in the end, cool cover, good ideas, borrow a copy from a friend or read Simple Church and apply those ideas to your life.  However, if you’re a layperson who doesn’t want to read Simple Church, then Simple Life might be just what you’re looking for.

I just finished reading Warren Cole Smith’s A Lover’s Quarrel with the Evangelical Church.  You can find the official website here.  You could probably more accurately call this book, Smith’s Quarrel with the Republican-Evangelical Alliance, Historical Amnesia, Megachurches, Christian Consumerism, Pragmatic Evangelism, and the Uncritical Embrace of Technology.  If you’re in the camp that equates the Evangelical Church with these six characteristics, then you’ll likely be on board with Smith’s critiques.  However, I don’t tend to lump these together uncritically.  

For instance, in the chapter on Megachurches, Willow Creek and Joel Osteen’s congregation are both included as examples of the triumph of sentimentality.  I, however, wouldn’t lump these two in any category outside of sheer size.  It is also hard to see the hard and fast link between technology and megachurch growth while I’m serving in a megachurch that doesn’t use video screens during Sunday morning services.  

All in all, Smith’s critiques aren’t critiques the average seminary student hasn’t heard by their second or third year. Smith’s audience is likely laypeople who already have an issue with any of the things listed above.

Strangely enough, Smith’s conclusions seem to come from a different planet than his critiques.  While reading the first six chapters, I thought it would be impossible for me to recommend this book to anyone.  Chapters seven and eight softened my stance.  Strangely enough, Smith’s prescription for fixing what he describes in the first six chapters is a movement of strategic church planting movements and strong biblical communities.  In fact, I find it hard to see the connections between what he describes and what he prescribes.  However, in the end, I would say I agree with the prescription even if I don’t totally agree with the diagnosis.  

Even with the sharp turn at the end, I would have a hard time recommending this book.  If you know me you can borrow mine, since I won’t be reading it again.

Kevin Watson over at Deeply Committed has a post about the first five books he’ll read in 2008. So, I thought I’d share my first five for 2008 too. I’m a book geek too, so my family got me either books or Amazon gift cards! Some of these are for my upcoming D.Min. class (the last three), but the other two are just things I’m interested in.

• If You Want to Write: A Book About Art, Independence, and Spirit by Brenda Ueland
• They Like Jesus, but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations by Dan Kimball
• Post-Modern Pilgrims: First Century Passion for the 21st Century Church by Leonard Sweet
• The Art of the Long View: Planning for the Future in an Uncertain World by Peter Schwartz
• The Truth about the Truth: De-Confusing and Re-Constructing the Postmodern World by Walter Truett Anderson

There are more on the shelf waiting to be read! I saw where Trevin Wax has some suggestions for meeting his goal of reading 100 books a year. I can see reading two books a week, but I think the cost would be outrageous unless you had a really good library nearby.

Happy reading!