Book Review: The Prodigal

Brennan Manning died last year. Writer extraordinaire and grace addict. For those who love the message of grace, his books have been a rich source of sustenance. The Prodigal: A Ragamuffin Story (2013) co-authored by Greg Garrett was the last book of Brennan's before he died.

The authors tell the story of Jack, a megachurch pastor, who has built a church and a huge following on a message of door more, try harder. At the beginning of the book, we discover that he has been caught in a moral failure. The rest of the book tells the story of his ailing father bringing him back home to small town Texas. 

Although I suspect the text itself was largely constructed by Garrett, the story has the unmistakable fingerprints of Brennan, particularly in the character of Father Frank, the aging Catholic priest. If you have enjoyed Brennan's works, this book is for you. If you have lost hope in the church, this book is for you. 

Book Review: Jesus Continued

In Jesus Continued: Why the Spirit Inside You is Better Than Jesus Beside You (2014), JD Greear tackles an important issue: the neglect of the Holy Spirit in the modern, presumably American, church. Although we are often sincere, we weary because we rely not upon the promised Spirit, but upon our own efforts.

Early in the book, Greear draws out an important distinction between the two extremes (p. 22) that Christians tend to gravitate towards. On the one hand, there are Christians who seem to regard experiences of the Spirit, apart from the Word of God as the normal Christian life. On the other hand, there are those who operate as though there is no current involvement of the Holy Spirit (i.e., hard cessationism). Greear argues that neither extreme represents biblical Christianity. As someone who probably tends toward the second extreme, I appreciated his view of the ongoing work of the Spirit. I want to hope in His continued work on a bigger scale than I do. In chapter 15, Greear quotes AW Tozer, who wrote, "if the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference." Is the Spirit still active as he was with the New Testament church? Greear says yes and I am inclined to agree with him.

Jesus Continued is divided into three sections. The first section is entitled "The Missing Spirit" and deals with our feeble pneumatology in the church today. In many regards, this book is good companion piece to Francis Chan's excellent Forgotten God, another book about the Holy Spirit. Part two is "Experiencing the Holy Spirit." Here, Greear demonstrates the different ways in which the Spirit manifests, not only through the Gospel and through his word, but through our giftings, in the church, in our circumstances, and in our Spirits. Too often, we tend to limit the movement of the Spirit. Part three is "Seeking the Holy Spirit," which deals with prayer, revival, and the Spirit's ongoing movement.

I really appreciated this book.  I share Greear's concern that too many Christians have a anemic view of the Spirit. May He use this book to stir people to be sensitive to the movement of the Spirit. 

I was provided a complementary copy of this book from Zondervan through the Book Look Bloggers Program.  I was not required to write a positive review of this book. 

Flying kites in a whirlwind

Adoption is not for the faint of heart. Rather, you are called to it. It is no mere weekend adventure. Instead, it is flying a kite in a whirlwind. You throw your sail into the air and hang on for dear life.

Yesterday, my wife and I were talking about our first adoption five years ago when our Tessa came home to us. I was reminding her of how out of control things felt near the end of the process. Heather was going through chemotherapy and we were hoping Tessa would be home by Christmas. In fact, we were specifically praying that she would get a December 17th embassy date, but even a week before she came home, we were told by our social worker that she just didn't see how it could happen. But God...I love those two words...but God moved mountains and we received a December 16th date, almost as if He were saying, "I'll do you one better." As whirlwinds go, that one felt like a subtle breeze compared to this time around.

Adopting from Haiti has brought with it every emotion--fear, joy, anger, sadness, bitterness--the list goes on. This has been a much longer process too, years versus months. Each trip to Haiti makes it harder to leave. Heather, Grace, and Tessa have now been living down there with Jasmine and Calvin for about 3 weeks in the home of a dear friend. Even in that brief period of time, our emotions have blown in a thousand directions, though yesterday was hardest.

We had been searching for the children's birth mother, following whatever leads we could and eventually, they just seemed to dry up. We had no clue where to find her and in a country of millions of people, where do you go next when your leads have led nowhere? Friday morning, Heather purchased plane tickets to come home on Saturday and began packing while trying attend to a sobbing Jasmine and a Grace refusing to come home. I wished I was there with her to help pick up the pieces. After crying for hours, Jasmine went out on the porch to pray. Fifteen minutes later, Heather received a call that the kid's birth mother had heard on the radio that we were looking for her and had come to the orphanage, the one thing we needed to happen. Our mourning turned to dancing in a very literal sense.

Heather and I made the decision to cancel the Saturday return trip, eating the $1600 tickets if need be. It was more important to stay and see this through. Amazingly, I was able to cancel the tickets with only a $75.00 service charge.

So, what does that mean over the next few weeks? God only knows. For us, it means hanging tight to the kite string, knowing that our God lives in the whirlwind.

Postscript: If you want to read more stuff about our adoptions, you can click here.

Book Review: Vanishing Grace

According to the dustjacket, Philip Yancey is a successful Christian author. He has written 13 Gold Medallion Awards, won the ECPAs book of the year twice, and 4 of his books have sold over 1 million copies. I've had the pleasure of reading several of his books and his reputation is well earned. Vanishing Grace: What Ever Happened to the Good News (2014, Zondervan) is his latest offering.

In the introduction, Yancey pointed out that this is actually a volume of 4 mini-books around a central theme: a world athirst, grace dispensers, is it really good news?, and Faith and culture. In the first section, he explores questions about why evangelicals have increasingly been viewed with derision in society. It seems to me he rightly points out that too often Christians want to propose answers before listening for questions. He writes, "to communicate to post-Christians, I must first listen to their stories for clues to how they view the world and how they view people like me" (p. 21). He showed that Christians are viewed as judgmental, confusing, guilt dispensers and he calls us back to love, grace, and humility. People are thirsty. We must dispense living water.

In the second section he explores three specific groups whom he identifies as grace dispensers--pilgrims, activists, and artists--those he appears to identify as having the most potential impact upon secular culture. He calls us to walk with others on their journeys, to be agents of change in our culture, and to show the world the beauty of Christ through creative, artistic means.

In the third section, perhaps my favorite, Yancey explores the influences that Christians have had on human flourishing and the culture at large. As he notes, "the way of life set out in the Bible is intended for our own good" (p. 163). Christian missionaries have had a greater influence upon societies than anything. I appreciated Yancey's insight into the common rebuttal about European countries like Denmark where Christian commitment is low but society seems to work well. He writes, "to be fair, let's admit that the region was populated by warring and pillaging Vikings until the Christian gospel came along. The gospel transforms culture by permeating it like yeast, and long after the people abandon belief, the tend to live by habits of the soul. Once salted and yeasted, society is difficult to un-salt and un-yeast" (p. 169).

In the final section, Faith and Culture, he dives more deeply into how Christians may be involved in the surrounding culture. He offers suggestions about how Christians may engage with politics and other cultural influences. In the final chapter, Holy Subversion, he revisits the concepts of pilgrim, activist, and artist.

I really liked this book. As a certified Centurion, I frequently enjoy books about how we can influence the culture around us and this book is no different. As I read, there were whispers of Abraham Kuyper, Francis Schaeffer, and Chuck Colson and reflections of books from the Centurion program including Glenn Sunshine's Why You Think the Way You Do, Neal Plantinga's Not the Way Things Are Supposed to Be, Rodney Stark's The Victory of Reason, and most notably Colson's How Now Shall We Live? Yet, for those familiar with these authors, Yancey approaches these issues from a different vantage. It is as though he is looking at the same issues, twenty degrees to the left.

In sum, I would happily recommend this book. Yancey is an engaging, thoughtful writer and consistent with his typical style, he winsomely takes on issues that matter.

I received a complementary copy of this book free from the Book Look Bloggers program and Zondervan publishers. I was not required to write a positive review of this book.