Book Review and Give Away – The Jesus Paradigm – David Alan Black

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to win a copy of The Jesus Paradigm from Energion Publications. I’ve been a reader of ‘Brother Dave’s’ blog for a while now, as was definitely interested when the publisher offered to give a few copies away!

The core of the book is essentially this. ‘Christianity’ and ‘Church’ have become more and more removed from Jesus. Rather than becoming followers of Jesus, we are becoming at times followers of the church, or followers of a certain preacher, or followers of a certain political party – not followers of Jesus. Many organizations and people want to claim Jesus as their own – and so create their own followers, rather than direct people back to Jesus!

Sounds simple doesn’t it?

Dr Black (yes, he is a New Testament Greek scholar) then takes on various aspects of our lives, and even of what we consider Christianity, and measures it against the Gospel. As you would expect, the result is challenging to our daily lives – to live as followers of Jesus, not ‘members of the church’.

The good – Dr Black speaks from personal experience, as well as drawing from many historical groups to make his point. In many cases drawing form the early Anabaptist traditions, showing how they came to believe what they did and how that is focussed on the Gospel. This is not an Anabaptist book however by any means, as even by the title we can see that Dr Blacks primary goal is to draw us back to focussing on Jesus – not another church or denomination!

The average – There is a lot of very specific criticism of the American political environment right now. Not that this area isn’t due for some honest criticism, but as someone who lives outside of America, it is significantly less relevant. Fortunately however this doesn’t  make the whole book inaccessible, it was for me just less relevant than the rest of the message.

The very good – you might think from my comments above that the book is primarily one of criticism and negativity – not so! In fact I would dare say it is one of the most positive treatments of the issues in the church that I have read of late. Rather than be negative and browbeat the reader into depression over the state of the church (I read a book like that recently), and Christianity as a whole, Dr Black spends a short time focussing on the issue – but then more time going back to Jesus for the solution. This was an entirely positive experience, and one many writers could learn from!

To conclude? Though you might not agree with absolutely everything, and though all of it may not be applicable to you, this was still a good book, not only challenging you to grow closer to Jesus, but providing solid answers on how you might respond. Highly recommended.

Want a free copy of this book? (I’m giving away 2)

Well, though I was sent a hard copy of The Jesus Paradigm, I read the book on Kindle, so my copy is perfect. And this book is challenging enough I would love for someone else to read it as well – so I’m giving away the print book and a Kindle edition.

Leave a comment below, using the form to enter your name and email (so I can contact you!). And let me know whether you would prefer the print book, Kindle edition, or either (meaning you don’t mind and are in both opportunities). On the 19th of August I will be drawing the winner from the comments below. Easy!

Book Review – The Bone House, Stephen Lawhead

Summary? A frustrating first half leads to an exceptional second half of the book. Recommended.

The Bone House, part 2 of the Bright Empires series. I had read part one a few months ago, and decided to give part 2 a run. You can read my review of part one, The Skin Map.

Again, a quick part of the blurb from the Stephen Lawhead’s site. -

One piece of the skin map has been found. Now the race to unravel the future of the future turns deadly.

An avenue of Egyptian sphinxes, an Etruscan tufa tomb, a Bohemian coffee shop, and a Stone Age landscape where universes collide …

 The Bone House is a definite continuation from The Skin Map. Without reading part 1, part 2 will not make a whole lot of sense, I don’t think this is the kind of series you can start where you want!

The first half of the book is frankly frustrating. There are at least 5 story lines going on, and some you just have no idea why. And not just 5 story lines all happening around each other (though in many senses they are). One minute you are with someone in London, next with that persons great grandfather but in Ancient Egypt, next with someone else altogether in 18th century Egypt, And next again somewhere in Bohemia. It was interesting, intriguing, but a little messy at the same time.

But somewhere around half way all the story lines start to converge. Once I past this point the book was a page turner – I struggled to put it down, because it utterly caught my imagination. The other thing is that book 2 resolves a lot of the ‘unifinished’ business of book 1, bringing together what was a good story line with lots of lose ends, into something much more coherent.

What to say again without giving much away? Persevere through the first half, take your time to work out who is who and where and when they are, and it will all come together in the end, and it will be rewarding. Stephen Lawhead has already made his intention clear to publish book 3 – The Spirit Well – in September 2012. But unlike book 1, you are not left wondering ‘what??’. There is much to happen and much to be resolved, but this is a much clearer break at the end of the book, which left me feeling good about the story I read, and yet, interested in the next book.

So again, recommended to teenagers and above. For those younger, read and exercise your own discretion! There is nothing untoward in any language or relationships, but there are mature aspects of the book younger readers may or will have difficulty with. An interesting mix of fantasy, science fiction, philosophy and religion.

Book Review – The Skin Map, Stephen Lawhead

Summary? A good read, if not a little confusing at the start. Book 2 even better. Recommended.

I was intrigued by the description of The Skin Map, by Stephen R. Lawhead.

The ultimate quest for ultimate treasure. Kit Livingstone gets caught up in an Omniverse of intersecting realities as he chases the secret of a map tattooed on human skin. It’s time to walk the lines.

I have read books from this author before, and they had been interesting, so it was time to give it a go. I will be honest, there are some reviews out there that portray this book as poor, and I was nearly dissuaded, but glad I did take the time to read.

The book begins with our main characters – Kit and Wilhelmina, living unremarkable if not utterly dreary lives in modern day England. But things change when Kit meets his grandfather and namesake (Cosimo) and finds himself travelling through the multiverse to new places and times.

Unfortunately this makes him late to a date with his girlfriend, and so in an attempt to get himself out of trouble he tries to prove to her that it is real. And so begins the adventure. With settings ranging from modern day London, late middle ages Prague, Ancient Egypt and a few in between, it has an entertaining breadth and interesting story line.

The book travels at a leisurely pace, and to be honest, by the end of it you are not quite sure why some of the chapters were even there (though having read the second book already, it is becoming clearer). The only occasional difficulty is in working out what the chapter represents – who is the focus on, and what place and time period they are in. It is not too bad in the book, but you do need to take a second to think at every turn!

Being a fiction book, I don’t want to say too much and give things away. So what I will say is it was a ‘good’ book – not great, but not bad. An enjoyable read. For those expecting a ‘Christian Epic’, you will be disappointed. To me it certainly appears that Lawhead has a ‘Christian Worldview’, and maybe he will make more of this in the future, and he certainly poses poignant questions at opportune times, but this is not a strictly ‘Christian’ book. I just note as some previous reviewers this was their main complaint…

But having read the second book (which gets in all senses better), it is a great, and required, introduction to what appears will be a series of reasonable length. In short, recommended to teenagers and adults alike. For those with younger children, read it yourself and use your own discernment.

You can also like to read my review of The Bone House (book 2 in Bright Empires).

Great Books?

I love to read. I love to sit down with a great book and become engrossed in the story. For me reading is often restful and entertaining at the same time – I can lose hours and days in a good book, and come out refreshed and ready for anything.

So this year, I would like to read some more great books. Any suggestions?

Biographies and Testimonies.

I love these kind of books. I am almost finished re-reading Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy again. It is without doubt a great book (I reviewed it here).

Some other books like this I have read and remain in my memory are Mover of Men and Mountains – the story of RG Le Tourneau. It was at least 10 years ago but this still remains a powerful memory. Another very long time ago was ‘Vanya‘ – the story of a Soviet Christian in 1970 who was also a Red Army soldier. Lastly, I still remember Shadow of the Almighty being a very powerful book – the story of Jim Elliot. It might be time to find and read that one again!

I know I have read plenty more, but those ones remain even despite years intervening – I am sure It was about 1991 when I read Vanya!

So knowing there is many more out there, any suggestions?

Fiction

I love a good fiction book. Lord of the Rings is without question my favourite series. There is a problem with this though – it sets such an impossibly high standard that sometimes I read books and just shake my head, wishing authors would continue to take 20 years to write 3 books, rather than 3.

But I know there are other good books out there. I also love Perelandra by CS Lewis, not to mention Narnia.

The problem with fiction is finding good, clean fiction! You know what I mean. Books don’t need swearing. They don’t need illicit relationships, and even less, intimate descriptions of them. They don’t need a lot of the things people put in for ‘excitement’. The other problem these days (and now I am just ranting) is the use of an authors name but the book is written by someone else. I used to read Clive Cussler all the time, but now, they all have his name in big, bold letters, but are written by someone else, and the quality has drained away. They were never ‘great’ books, but they were at least a good read (if not unfortunately having undesirable elements), but now they aren’t even that. And he isn’t the only author whose name is being used for profit…

So help me out – rather than read Lord of the Rings 3 times this year, what can you recommend?

Book Review – The Next Story by Tim Challies Part 3

(Todays post is a follow on from yesterday, which are personal reflections on technology and Christianity. Please take a read of that post, as this is a direct continuation)

Yesterday we discussed technology in general and the internet. We  then went over the first two personal risks of idolatry and distraction. Today I want to continue with Reliance and Church, remembering that it is not technology, but our application and use of it that we are concerned with here.

Reliance

Our next issue is reliance on technology, rather than God. We can see that technology does all these amazing things for us – why do we need to rely on God? I heard an argument recently that because of ‘Moore’s Law’ (basically describing how fast technology grows), we will be able to create life in our own right within 100 years (heard at podcasts from the White Horse Inn). This person was relying entirely on technology to substitute for God.

Another issue with reliance is relying on technology to service our Christian needs. We rely on Facebook groups to be our community. We rely on blogs and online teaching to give us solid grounding. We rely on Christian music to give us worship. We rely on our technology to bring us closer to God, which leads into my next point.

Church

I am aware this will be a controversial point, but I think in many contexts, we have ‘church’ wrong. In our modern western society, we believe church is a combination of worship songs and preaching. For some people, it may also include some form of sacrament, such as communion and baptism.

I honestly think this perspective is wrong. Church is a gathering of people. People are the church. It might be argued that ‘meeting’ online is the same, but I disagree (and I think the Bible does also). Online I can easily hide my feelings. Indeed, I can be someone entirely different. I can be who I think I am based on my Facebook profile and what people ‘like’ about me. I could be mortally wounded in my soul, but ‘praise God’ online. I can act happy, when I am not. I can be anyone, anywhere, and no one would know any different.

When people gather together, physically, there is a different level of relationship than online. You can see and know in minutes whether someone has an issue if you are physically with them. You can pray for them, cry with them, counsel them, put an arm around them, or even rebuke them if needed. You might be able to ‘virtually’ do some of these things, but I don’t believe it is the same, because the level of relationship online is simply not able to be the same.

Physically we can also perform things like communion and baptism, which the Bible affirms as important. I also think that the task of making disciples can only truly occur in a physical setting, because the teaching, guiding and even rebuking are so much harder when you cannot really see and know the person, but only their online persona.

Based on our faulty assumption that church is ‘just worship and preaching’, we can then easily say we can substitute physical attendance with a group of believers with an online ‘experience’. There are hundreds of online churches now, or internet churches. These places are as a rule not a bad thing. But I firmly believe they cannot replace the physical gathering of believers. Worship is good, but it is not church. Christian songs are good, but they are not church. Preaching and teaching are both good, even essential, but they are not church. I listen to teaching in my car all the time, and sometimes music, but it is not church.

Church is a physical gathering of believers in one place. (If you are looking for a more focussed study on ‘church’, ‘Ekklesia’ and ‘Logos’, I found Mark Roberts post ‘What is a Church’ and ‘Is Online Church Really Church?‘ very helpful, but there are many other resources as well)

The risk then is to the whole church, or Biblical concept of church. We begin to see our technology as a way to save time, and yet go to church. Or we see it as a way to attend a different church, more exciting church, larger church, etc. So we interact in a chat screen with other Christians, or maybe an online Pastor. We post to our Facebook that we are attending, just so all our friends know (or can click ‘like’ to edify us). But I think we miss that key ingredient – that is, the gathering of believers.

Please don’t misunderstand – I think that the online experiences available are in many cases great things. They reach out to the unchurched. In some cases, they fill a need for people who physically cannot attend church for a time and a reason (for example, someone in a hospital bed). But I don’t believe it should ever replace the physical gathering of believers for any length of time.

Conclusions?

I think there are many things we can take away from these thoughts. The key one for me is that technology brings great benefit to many things – but is also brings great risk. We need to continually evaluate not just the technology, but its use and effect in our lives, by the written Word of God. We need to continually ensure that we are not taking the easy, wide path, but are travelling by the narrow road (Matthew 7:13-14). Technology can make many things easier, but that doesn’t mean they are better.

Take some time to evaluate these things in your life, and what effect they have. If you are concerned, seek out answers. A good starting place is Tim Challies book, which is reviewed here. They key though is your life before God – not technology. Don’t let technology take away from God, or what He has for you.

Lord God, thank you for all of the benefits of technology, that you gave us the gift to find out about and use. Guide us in its use, teach us to be discerning stewards, always searching for your will. Show us where we are at fault, and bring us closer to you. In Jesus Name. Amen.