(e)mergent Voyageurs

The Ooze Select Blogger Book Review:

“The Shack”
by William P. Young (Windblown Media, May 2007)

When I received “The Shack” to review, the timing made me a little nervous for William Young. While I had heard many great things about the novel, my recent reading has been almost entirely Pulitzer Prize winners. As Christian fiction is not widely known for its literary quality, this book would have a hard act to follow. With that in mind, I was pleasantly surprised with the book.

“The Shack” tells the story (completely fictional, despite some people being confused) about Mack, a man wounded by a life of loss and suffering who receives an invitation from God to spend the weekend with Him. What follows is a creative conversation between Mack and a uniquely imagined Triune God. I do not want to give away any details (at the request of the publisher), so I will simply say that the conversation is thought provoking, humorous and at times, touching. This book is likely to be on the radar for a while.

It is always tricky (even dangerous) to write a work of fiction where words are being put into the mouth of God. It can only be more complicated when those words center around complex theological discussions about some of the hardest questions that people face. It is not a task I would undertake. While Young does an excellent job in sharing God’s heart, his own ideas, experiences and cultural context inevitably colour the content. At times the dialogue becomes syrupy sweet. As the book deals with some foundational aspects of the faith, I was also concerned by the often individualistic perspective that “God” (aka the author) reveals.

Finally, and this is less critical than the above, the book would clearly have benefited from a quality, experienced literary editor. The quality of writing is excellent, but so much can be said for the skills and experience a seasoned editor brings to a story. As this book launched the success of a small, new publishing house, this is clearly lacking. This in NO way undermines the work that the editors he had contributed to the work. It is better than the vast majority of Christian fiction I’ve come across.

This book will be an inspiration and challenge to many people, pushing me deeper into God and His Word, even when I found myself disagreeing. It would make an excellent gift for fiction readers young and old. It is a very good book.

Any questions?

The Ooze Select Blogger Book Review:

“Butterfly In Brazil: How Your Life Can Make A World Of Difference”
by Glenn Packiam (Tyndale House Publishers, 2007)

As part of our ministry, we spend a lot of time and energy in spiritual formation with college age Christians from many walks of life.  Typically, there are a number of young people who come to us so filled with passion to change the world, that we fear to burst the bubble of their sweeping vision to see the greatest miracles in history occur in a matter of months (and I am only slightly overstating their enthusiasm).  It is not that we do not believe that God can move with power, as we have seen Him do so many times before, but rather that despite their best intentions, these Christians are easily discouraged at how much hard work and sacrafice Christ calls us to for even the smallest change.  How can we temper their enthusiasm without destroying their passion.

In this book, “Butterfly In Brazil”, Packiam offers an encouraging and Biblical foundation for how to live our lives with perseverance, recognizing that there are no small acts when those acts are done in obedience to God.  He shows through engaging stories from Scripture and throughout history that the smallest acts can be the seeds of amazing change.  A timely and important message in an age where it can be fashionable to want to change the world, but where few truly make the choices in their lives to see that happen.

The book seems to be written with young adult/college age in mind, which would make sense, as this is the group that Packiam works with in his ministry at New Life Church.  I also appreciated that a portion of every book sale goes to World Relief.  I have already made a list of a few people I hope to pass on this title to.

At times, the book can be somewhat overstated.  In an attempt to counter some extremes in our culture, I sometimes felt that Packiam went to the opposite extreme.  For example, in chapter 10, “Mono-purpose Halls”, in his attempt to caution against the dangers of being distracted by failing to focus on one goal/project/etc. his overstates his point to a dangerous degree.  What this chapter fails to engage is that, through the diversity of giftings and vocations, some are called to broader focuses (Loren Cunningham is perhaps the best example of how this chapter isn’t always right).

And perhaps more importantly, while he cites example of great people who had global impacts because of their singular focus, it fails to recognize that most people who have achieved such success came into their focus in mid/later life, having spent years of very diverse exploration that essentially shaped who they would later become (see “Making Of A Leader” by Robert Clinton for a powerful exploration of this idea).  I believe that our culture demands specialization too soon for young adults, making this chapter (and other lesser examples) troubling.

However, Packiam quickly redeemed himself (in my books) with the next chapter that explored the importance of doing things together as a community.  In this excellent chapter, he presents an excellent challenge to communities of mutuality (not hierarchy) and diversity (not uniformity).  Many sentences in this chapter could have been lifted from some of my own writing and preaching.

So this book gets my thumbs up.

Throughout the busy schedule of the last few months, I have been meaning to get back into reviewing some of the great books I have been reading. Top of that list is “Jim & Casper Go To Church” by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper. Here is the Amazon.com description:

Jim Henderson pays people to go to church. In fact, he made national news when he “rented” a soul for $504 on E-Bay after its owner offered an “open mind” to the highest bidder. In Jim & Casper Go to Church, Hendrson hires another atheist–Matt Casper–to visit ten leading churches with him and give the “first impression” perspective of a non-believer. What follows is a startling dialogue between an atheist and a believer seeing church anew through the eyes of a skeptic, and the development of an amazing relationship between two men with diametrically opposing views of the world who agree to respect each others’ space.

This is a tough book for me to review. While there is a significant amount of good that the book has to offer, I was frequently frustrated by other aspects of it. I am glad that I read it, however, so despite the critiques, I think it would be a worthwhile read (though perhaps worth waiting for a less expensive paperback version).

The book is a quick and enjoyable read, not only for it’s size (it’s a smaller book with about 170 pages of generously spaced large print), but also for it’s engaging, conversational tone. Most of the book is a the dynamic back and forth dialogue between Jim & Casper, allowing the reader to feel like the were sitting in on both the conversation and their experiences at each church. These guys are obviously friends who respect each other enough to be able to discuss and disagree on important issues without every becoming combatant.

Provocative without being offensive, the questions and observations surfaced in the book are healthy ones for all Christians to consider, especially those in leadership. Even where I felt they were not entirely fair (which happened now and then throughout the book), I never had the sense of them being intentionally underhanded or condescending in their critiques.

Perhaps most valuable was being able to hear the input of someone like Casper. It will take some readers a little time to mentally adjust to reacting to those things they disagree with, remembering that, fair or not, they were his genuine reactions and reflect what many others have, do or will experience in our churches. The book is not attempting to say that Casper is right, but rather that what he says is important regardless. Frankly, he is right more often than might be comfortable for some.

However, there are many aspects of the book that I found frustrating. The very conversational tone that made it so enjoyable to read also meant that only a very quick exploration of the ideas was possible. The book might have benefited from some more detailed conversation about the content, even if it had been after the fact.

Of the 12 churches visited I had heard of 10 of them. If this book was seeking to give a fair look at Chrisitian/church culture in America, it would be been better to mix in a few churches that represented the vast majority of the congregations around the country. Coming from a small town originally, I believe at least one rural church would have been helpful. Much of the critiques offered as though they were relevant to churches in general were largely pertinent only to these “famous” churches. More than half of the churches were megachurches, which seemed to distract from the main thesis of the book. (In their defense, I am sure that the marketability of the book was hinged on the locations chosen.) I was also somewhat put out that they didn’t always even stay for the entire service. One visit is hardly enough to make a fair critique, but at the very least they should have committed to experiencing the whole thing (including the pre- and post- church culture that is often as important to the church as the service itself).

I believe that Jim & Casper offer something valuable to the church despite these short-comings. While I am not a fan of church rating, at least not as Matt has developed it, aspects of it are very creative and helpful- even necessary. This book will be beneficial to anyone who is involved in church ministry, raising important question if not providing all the answers. While, I might hesitate recommending this book to young Christians who are disillusioned and wounded by the church, as it could unintentionally add fuel to that fire, it is nothing that some conversation and understand couldn’t over come.

Anyone else read this and want to weigh in?

A few years ago my brother gave me a copy of Neil Gaiman’s novel “American Gods”. I promptly forgot about it, leaving it on a shelf to collect dust. Months later, desperate for some fiction to read I pulled it off the shelf. I couldn’t put it down. Now, before I go any further, I need to make something clear. Gaiman is not a Christian author, nor are his books what one might call “Evangelical friendly”. However, he is a brilliant storyteller, character builder and insightful thinker. This book is a prime example of this combination.

American Gods is a creative blend of mythology and Americana, following the mysterious character Shadow as he travels throughout America serving as a bodyguard for the equally mysterious Mr. Wednesday as he visits other- you guessed it- mysterious characters. We soon learn that these characters of the gods of mythology whose powers are slowly disappearing as their believers forget them. Instead, the new American Gods, such as internet or the media, are taking over. Thus the battle field is set.

Beyond being a very readable book, it is also a fascinating look at beliefs and how our own ideas about God sometimes represent more of ourselves and our cultures than they do of God’s actual nature. While the book is not written to explore the nature of belief, it inevitably raises such questions to the thoughtful reader. It is not a book for all readers, but it is certainly worth reading for the more daring.

Anyone else read it and want to share their thoughts?

The Ooze Select Blogger Book Review:

“Static: Tune Out The ‘Christian” Noise And Experience The Real Message Of Jesus”
by Ron Martoia (Tyndale House Publishers, 2007)

I’ll be honest with you. When I first saw the cover of “Static”, with its neon green splash and overly numerous font choices, I was reminded of my days in youth ministry. It caused me a moment of hesitation before cracking the cover, but I am glad I got past it. Havin spent the last several years teaching within YWAM on the topic of the Gospel, the Kingdom and salvation- about rediscovering their core meanings- this book was a brilliant find.

I was further encouraged to read the book on the endorsement of Scot McKnight, who was significant teacher and mentor in Martoia’s life. Scot’s back cover blurb says, “Ron takes biblical terms such as salvation and kingdom, dusts off the cobwebs of routine, and finds under them fresh expressions for a new day.” The books publisher, Tyndale House, summarizes it:

“Words communicate. Christians often use words to communicate to others; however, these words aren’t understood by many of those outside the church. We can be so absorbed in our ‘christianese’ that we don’t realize others don’t understand the jargon and cannot figure out what it is we mean by what we are saying. Static readers will become aware of what we are saying so we can re-focus our thinking to communicate clearly to those outside the church.”

Both of these quotes aptly lay out the core message and purpose of the book. What you discover when you read the book is a highly readable, engaging and generous approach to an important and sensitive reality facing the church today. From what I heard in The Ooze Podcast interview with Martoia recently, this book is the first in a series. If the first book is any indication, it promises to be a great set to read.

Reminisent of McLaren’s dialogical approach in his “New Kind Of Christian” trilogy, Martoia intersperses (what I assume are) real life conversations he has with his friends, Jess & Phil, as they come to terms with the new ideas. This clever mix of explanation and story allows Martoia to slowly and carefully explore each issue without being condescending or tedious, but personally and compellingly. Further, by rooting the discussions in the real life situations, it pulls the content out of abstraction into the praxis of our lives.

Challenging the dearest held ideas and assumptions of the many Christians is not always a popular thing to do. Martoia, however, does not ruthlessly reject the beliefs of the church, but with generosity and understanding, gently guides readers to ask important questions. These questions, while demanding often painful possibilities, are filled with hope in their promise of something more, something truer.

If I had any criticism of the book it is that it could be, at times, somewhat redundant, going over similar content from different angles many times. However, I also realize that this book is written for people who are unfamiliar or new to these important idea. What for me might have seemed redundant would be for them an essentially thorough treatment of something that was asking them a costly paradigm shift. On this note, my initial surprise that this was a Tyndale title has lessened, seeing them as an ideal house given their regular readership.

In addition to those new to the idea, those of us more familiar with these ideas will also benefit from Martoia’s generous approach at walking people through the material. Too often, in our excitement about our convictions we can forget how impacting such shifts can have on people’s faith. We would do well to give Ron Martoia’s approach some serious consideration.

Other Tyndale Titles At A Glance:

“Does This Dress Make Me Look Fat? A Man’s Guide To The Loaded Questions Women Ask”

“Yup. Nope. Maybe: A Woman’s Guide To Getting More Out Of The Language Of Men”

by Stephen James & David Thomas (Tyndale House Publishers, 2007)

Emerging Church, Missional

I had heard a great deal of buzz surrounding Pete Rollins’ book “How (Not) To Speak Of God”, but intentionally steered away from other reviews until I had a chance to read it myself.  Unfortunately, the book came in the busiest time of my year, and given the thorough and “meaty” content of the book, I am still wrestling through it (I say that fully as a positive remark).  Having finished “Part 1 – Heretical Orthodoxy: From Right Belief To Believing In The Right Way”, I thought I had better review in two parts, as I wanted the material fresh in my mind.

I should start by saying that I am no theologian.  Beyond my high school diploma, my education has been through my own reading, which has been excellent, but not at the same level as I might have had with further education.  As a result, reading Rollins’ book was a true labour and education in and of itself.  I learned so much through reading it, for which I am very grateful.  However, given the lack of prior engagement with some of the theological and philosophical material in the book, it is quite possible I have missed aspects of it.  I say this, not to be self-depracting, but to encourage you to read the book yourself.

That being said, I believe that Pete Rollins offers most thorough formational a/theologies (you’ll have to read the book to know what that means) for the emerging church I have ever read.  While I might disagree on aspects, usually only by small degrees, I was challenged, excited and inspired to hope as I read.  He artfully allows postmodernism to inform his engagement with theology and praxis without allowing orthodoxy to be co-opted by it (thus the teasingly “controversial” phrase ‘heretical orthodoxy’).

The next section of the book, which represents about 2/3′s of the book, is entitled “Part 2 – Towards Orthopraxis: Bringing Theory To Church” reflects on how this a/theology plays itself out in the context of Pete’s community Ikon.  I am really look forward to getting into it.

P.S. Don’t forget to keep voting for me this week.  Thanks!

Emerging Church, Missional, Books, Peter Rollns