Monday, October 29, 2012

The Fantasy Fallacy by Shannon Ethridge

In the craze of Fifty Shades of Grey we get a book detailing how people's fantasies stem from mom & dad issues.




Okay, so it's a little more complicated than that but most of the issues covered in this book come back to childhood experiences and how the brain is trying to protect you from pain.

Ethridge has plenty of education in this topic. She has a Masters from Liberty University in Counseling/Human Relations. She uses this book to help us understand the underlying root of these fantasies and how we can bring them under God's rule.

Ethridge unpacks topics that include:
distorted fascination with porn, the mental pursuit of multiple partners, the lure of gay and lesbian desires and the BDSM craze.

There are nine chapters that cover much more than those topics and they all include sections after each chapter that brings us into a little more detail from a counseling point of view.

Ethridge talks about things that many Christians are too embarrassed to talk about. She does it in a way that is nonjudgmental and that seeks to get to the root or childhood experience and then offers advice as to how best to gain control of the mental images.

Some Fundamentalist may criticize her apparent "acceptance" of certain practices and fantasies but this book isn't written as a do/don't so much as it's a book to help us understand and take steps that expose the deeper meaning behind the thoughts.

She is not afraid to talk about pretty much anything in regards to sexual thoughts. This is a very upfront and honest book for those asking questions about this bondage/domination fad.

It may work as a group reading possibility; maybe even as a small group book for a church. I see this book being the commonplace Christian "reaction" resource to anything that gains a following. (Think Matrix, Harry Potter, Star Wars)




This book was provided for review, at no cost, by Thomas Nelson Publishing.

I review for BookSneeze®

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Sinner's Creed by Scott Stapp

The lead singer for the rock and roll band Creed is an alcoholic.




Do you even remember that band? They were big in the late 90s. Stapp has decided to write a tell-all that explains his faith in God and his destructive habits following the success of the band.

Stapp had a pretty rough childhood. His birth father didn't play much of a role in his life. His step-father seemed to be the kind of man he needed in his life. He was a dentist, he had a strong belief in God and church, he believed in honesty and integrity. Stapp's step-dad was going to turn the little Stapp-ruffian away from his rebellious ways.

Then his dad got a little too physical in his punishments. He was a bit extreme in his views of God, sin, punishment and fatherhood. The man was abusive to everyone in the home.

Stapp ran away.

After hooking up with a highschool classmate in college, they formed the band now known as Creed. Success was in the future with a label that knew how to promote and basically destroy their hit band on tour after tour.

Enter the drugs, jealousy, abuse and you have a split band with hard feelings.

As I finished this book, I couldn't help but think it seems like Stapp plays the victim card. Every once in a while he'll admit his shortcomings with drugs and alcohol, but really it's everyone else's fault for what happened to him.

Now granted, some horrible things happened between him and his family and his bandmates. But I'd think there would be admittance to your own ego errors besides, "yes I drank a few times too many".

Stapp still believes in God and that Jesus is his Son. He has a beautiful family that is his entire world now. I hope to see things continue to get better for him while he battles his demons.

He's a great rock singer who has been incredibly blessed with a forgiving wife and God's grace.




This book was provided for review, at no cost, by Tyndale Publishing.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Made in Heaven by Ray Comfort & Jeffrey Seto


Made in Heaven feels like it belongs in a school library.




An evangelist and aerospace engineer combine forces to look at thirty-two ways we are stealing for God's creative juices.

Did you know the Kingfisher helped people break the sound barrier and invent better trains? How about looking at how your bones heal and how that connects with the Eiffel Tower? Inside this picture-heavy book you'll learn about:

swimmers who wear suits made with fabric that mimics sharkskin and how that helps them swim faster,
body armor that is designed based on fish scales,
kevlar based on spider webs,
pine cones helping clothes manufacturers design shirts that whisk away moisture,
how the lotus leaf inspires clothes to stay dry,
how squids assist in jet propulsion,
shrimp eyes improving DVDs,
butterflies preventing counterfeits,
how our eyes improve a camera lens,

and much more.

This book seems made for a homeschool situation and it was very intriguing to read. You will discover amazing facts about the creation and how brilliant God is.

Some of the discoveries are ones you'd think make perfect sense. Others, like how the sunflower is perfect for creating solar panel technology, will have you searching the internet for more information.




This book was provided for review, at no cost, by New Leaf Publishing.

Accidental Pharisees by Larry Osborne

This book would make an excellent Sunday Night Service series. (If only shared in the correct spirit)




Larry Osborne asks the question: is it possible to be too zealous for God? The answer, found in this book, is obviously.

Osborne begins by giving a little love to the group of fellas known as the Pharisees. Many Christians view them with disdain because they were the brunt of Jesus' verbal attacks. What we may not realize is these Pharisees had a passion for God. They were people who wanted to better their lives and live as close to God's law as possible. If they were alive today, we might consider them the best leaders in the church.

Osborne continues through seven sections explaining how modern day Christians can more resemble Pharisees than Jesus - accidentally.

Part one sets the stage. We see that there is a dangerous side to religious zeal; that it can lead to an "us versus them" mindset that infected the Pharisees. Osborne gives us an example of Joseph of Arimathea. He was a Pharisee yet he's a hero is God's sight. While the Pharisees were calling for Jesus' head, Joseph was silent. Yet after Jesus' death, Joseph (not one of the twelve disciples) was there to collect the body.

Part two deals with pride. This is when our comparisons become arrogance. Pharisees were arrogant based on their comparisons with others not like them.

Part three deals with exclusivity. Not only do I have trouble pronouncing that word, but it seems that Christians look to "thin the herd" out of Church once they get in. Pharisees were all about raising the bar and "keeping the riffraff out". When you look at Jesus' ministry, he sought out the riffraff. In this section, Osborne defends "Consumer Christians" with an excellent analogy using the Green Bay Packers. (You'll get it by reading it)

I liked how Osborne focused on Jesus claiming that his burden was light and his yoke was easy. Jesus simply spoke to the crowds. He allowed them to choose.

Part four deals with Legalism and how Pharisees make litmus tests for those who are "serious about following God". We tend to add fences to commands of God and in so doing, we forget all about mercy.

Time and against Osborne focuses on how Jesus was trying to make it easy to follow God.

Part five deals with idolizing the past. I enjoyed his points about how the church of Acts really wasn't as put together as some Christians tend to make it. It was racist and poor. I really liked his critiques of people who constantly complain about churches and church leaders. (Does this make me a Pharisee?)

Part six deals with unity versus uniformity. Osborne takes issue with Red Letter Christians. He doesn't like how some only value Christ's words. He believes we should sometimes, agree to disagree for the sake of unity and not uniformity.

Part seven deals with thinking our giftings are the best. This section was a great read for pastors, evangelists and Bible teacher and how sometimes it's easy to make others feel guilty if they don't have the same passion as we do.

After each section are questions for group study. I appreciated that the spirit in which this book was written was not condescending but with grace and mercy. It felt similar to Paul's letters to the different churches. Osborne tells it like he sees it but he doesn't bruise your head with too many hard swings.




This book was provided for review, at no cost, by Zondervan Publishing.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Greater by Steven Furtick

This book is for people who are wasting their lives and may not even know it.




When I began reading this book I thought, "Oh great, another Christian author trying to pass off motivational speeches as Christ-like." As I got further into the readings, I came to appreciate what Furtick wanted to say.

By using the life and stories of Elisha, we see what it means by living a greater life. In the end, this felt like reading 12 sermons by Pastor Furtick. But that isn't so bad. The stories are fun to relive and some of his personal anecdotes are entertaining.

This book is divided into twelve chapters. Each one builds on the previous chapter and on the stories of Elisha found in 2 Kings. Just when you think he's going to drop into the "In-it-to-win-it" cheap pep talk, Furtick takes a turn and delivers quite the pastoral advice.

Furtick convinced seven families to sell their houses, quit their jobs, and move to North Carolina with him to start a church. In six years the church has grown from eight families to more than ten thousand people.

This is how the book begins and right away I was skeptical. I loathe Christian authors that claim how they took such grand risks and now look at them now! "And if you do exactly what I say in this book, you too can be this successful!!" Thank God Steven Furtick does not come close to saying this in his book.

This was a fun book to read as well as a fresh relook at Elisha.




This book was provided for review, at no cost, by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Opening Moves by Steven James

When the author says he had nightmares writing the book, you know you're in for some disturbing reading.




Opening Moves was very hard for me to read. I enjoyed the other books in James' Patrick Bowers series, but this prequel has content that made me put the book down so often simply because the villains are beyond the epitome of evil.

Before Patrick Bowers joined the FBI he was a detective for the Milwaukee PD. In this story, there's a copycat from notorious killers (think Jeffery Dahmer and other vicious serial killers) and Bowers is tasked with finding the killer while preventing the next murder.

Typical to James' writing, this book is full of adrenaline-laced plotting and a who-dun-it climax.

In the introduction Steven James explains that he's not trying to glamorize evil but to explain the evil in our world and why good is so important. But I had to convince myself throughout reading this book that he wasn't glamorizing evil. The events he chose to detail were disturbing to the max for me. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to finish reading it. What made it worse was these details were based on real-life people and events. James, himself, is personally connected to two of the "baddies".

Some people get thrills from reading about the brutality of serial killers, child molesters and kidnappers but I am absolutely not one of them. I enjoy reading thrillers while attempting to solve it before the detectives (and James excels in this storytelling) but I almost couldn't stomach the villain's deeds. But here's the thing - I'm pretty sure the other books involved villains just as brutal.

I'm sure there are implications from this book that will come to play in the next Patrick Bowers' book, The King. I can't wait to pick that novel up and dive into it.

This is a great book for Steven James fans as well as serial killer enthusiasts. You may not enjoy it if you don't enjoy reading about sadistic killers.



Friday, October 5, 2012

Red Letter Revolution by Shane Claiborne and Tony Campolo

Whenever you have a book written by Claiborne or Campolo, you know you're in for some against-the-grain feelings. Just imagine if these two man combined forces for a book?




This book is a conversation between the two authors and how they relate to a fairly new movement within Christianity called Red Letter Christians. Claiborne and Campolo go back and forth concerning a multitude of topics and we get to read the conversation as if we're reading their journal or their instant messages.

This book is divided into three parts. Each part is grouped around "Red Letter" - for example: part 1 is Red Letter Theology.

Here Claiborne and Campolo discuss how they interpret Jesus' words when it comes to community, church, how to use liturgy, the saints, if there is a hell, on Islam and economics. With all the hullabaloo around Rob Bell's Love Wins, I'm sure readers will want to skip ahead to the chapter on hell.

That's something nice about this book - you can skip around the chapters. You don't have to read straight through if you don't want to. You won't miss out some important point if you skip a chapter.

Part 2 is Red Letter Living. This is a conversation on family, being pro-life (that includes being anti-death penalty and anti-war), on women and racism, on homosexuality, immigration, and giving. I'm sure this chapter will upset a few Republicans who have been part of the Religious Right.

Just a side note, if you've read Claiborne's Jesus for President you will know the position these men take on political issues. On the surface, you may see some of their views as Liberal or Democrat. So you may agree or disagree initially because of that assumption. But my recommendation is to read through everything and see if they are arguing anything that is contrary to Jesus' words.

Part 3 is Red Letter World. This is where they talk about Empire and how The United States is our generation's Babylon. Again, this may rub people the wrong way until you actually read what they're saying. They discuss politics, war and violence, debt, the Middle East, reconciliation, resurrection and so much more.

There is so much dialogue that happens in this book. It would make for a great small group discussion guide. They do a wonderful job explaining what Red Letter Christians are and why they came to exist.

After reading this book, and I'll admit that I didn't agree with everything Campolo wrote..., you'll be wise to wrestle with how you view Scripture and attempt to answer their question: What if Jesus really meant what he said?




This book was provided for review, at no cost, by Thomas Nelson Publishing.

I review for BookSneeze®

Deep and Wide by Andy Stanley

This is a terrific book for anyone interested in the story of Andy Stanley's rise and the success of North Point Community Church. It's also a great book for anyone interested in keeping your spiritual formation while reaching as many people as possible.




This book is divided into five sections. The first section is basically an autobiography of the relationship between Andy and his father, Charles. Andy, with his dad's permission, describes what took place in Georgia with a fairly successful inner city church that branched out to reach more people.

It is a very painful remembering between the harsh words between church attenders and how Andy's parents went through a divorce to how bitter the father/son relationship descended. That first section alone is worth the read to see how transparent and humble Andy is.

Section two begins exploring how North Point got off the ground and eventually took off like a rocket. And how it remains to be so successful in how it ministers to people.

Section three begins the ministry process for Andy and North Point. He begins by explaining how such a large church is committed to "going deep". This is how they restructured their Spiritual Formation endeavors. I really enjoyed reading how they do things at their church and where they came up with some of their ideas.

For many established church-goers, this part would be offensive and so out of the norm that they wouldn't come back. In fact, Andy explains that they have occasionally told people not to return to their services.

Can you imagine your church telling someone not to come back next week? That just smacks in the face of how so many church people view their church.

In section four, Andy explains why people love going to North Point. He covers three general ideas: they create irresistible environments, he does what's called, "Double Barrel Preaching" and how they handle Rules of Engagement. I was blown away that North Point tries to stay clear of rules and policies. In fact, Andy writes that how they serve others is considered not fair. They don't do a cookie cutter process in community aide.

Again, imagine if your church tossed away their policies and simply did ministry on a case-by-case basis. Imagine how many of your black and white/by the rules people would be so angry with you.

Section five is where Andy offers the challenge to other churches to follow their example. And then he finishes with a "What If" conclusion.

The back of the book includes five Appendices for you to explore and custom for your own environment.

This is truly a great book for ministers and lay leaders.




This book was provided for review, at no cost, by Zondervan Publishing