Against Nothingness

Cole, Arnie. Ross, Michael. Tempted, Tested, True: A Proven Path to Overcoming Soul-Robbing Choices. Bethany House Publishing, 2013.    Tempted, Tested, True is a book about overcoming temptations. Combining biblical insight with testimonies and stories from multiple sources Cole and Ross explore temptation from a number of different angles. There is a chapter on the life-cycle of temptation, a chapter on men and on women, and topics such as addiction, worry, and confession. Following each chapter is a "nudge." The "nudge" is a set of activities and reading divided into 'tempted' (questions to help you see your own situation), 'tested' (methods of overcoming these temptations), and 'true' (help to "customize a realistic 'change plan' you can apply to your life" [22]). The goal of this book is good. And there is some good content, especially in the 'nudge' sections. Encouraging people to m...

Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson,  On the Verge: A Journey Into the Apostolic Future of the Church (Exponential Series)  Zondervan, 2011. 352 pgs.  The church is 'on the verge' of massive changes. It must be, or so these authors argue. The old ways of 'being church' in the west are failing and so we must strive for something new. Hirsch and Ferguson call this new thing a 'verge church'. That is, the church as 'apostolic movement', reproducible and missional, focused on the 'mDNA' of 'apostolic genius' (a concept from another one of Hirsch's books). In this book Hirsch and Ferguson bring forth a host of best practices, ideas, programs, and so on (one could insert descriptive words in here for quite some time) with the goal of helping church leaders become part of this new apostolic movement.  In terms of structure, On The Verge is divided into four parts: Imagine (which explores the vision of the apostolic movement), Shift (...

Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch .  Faith of Leap, The: Embracing a Theology of Risk, Adventure & Courage (Shapevine) . Baker Books, 2011. 224 pgs.  In The Faith of Leap Frost and Hirsch encourage the reader to leave the idols of security and safety behind and live out our adventure with God. They remind us that faith always involves risk, that God calls us to make a leap for him and, in that leap, to have the "faith of leap". In order to develop these themes, Frost and Hirsch explore the difference between community and communitas, as well as liminality and how these things affect our churches and are lived out in our mission. Their final chapter then points us to our own communities as the places in which we live out this adventure through the "risk of neighborliness."  There is much to be praised in this book.  Chapter five is clearly the highlight, as Hirsch and Frost directly assault our idol of security in an argument and encouragement to get ov...

Douglas Leblanc,  Tithing: Test Me in This (The Ancient Practices Series) . Thomas Nelson, 2010, 176 pages.  Thanks to BookSneeze® for providing a free copy of this book for me to review.  Yet another book in "The Ancient Practices Series." If I could review the entire series and follow with a set review I would.  Sadly, this may be the last one available in E-Book format and with the usual mailing times for hard copies I will be lucky to get one more, let alone the four that I have yet to read. Anyway, on to this book.  What we do not have in this book is a defense, explanation, or teaching on tithing. There is nothing here on how to fast nor why, at least not explicitly and if you tried to draw implicit lessons you would be left wondering which ones to take. In these pages Leblanc has collected the stories of eleven individuals or couples who have made tithing a regular practice in their life. Resisting what may have been a strong urge to dr...

Ian Morgan Cron, Chasing Francis. Navpress, 2006. 208pg novel + 39pg study guide.  Provided for review.   #ChasingFrancisSpeakEasy Here we have the story of Chase Falson.  Chase is an evangelical mega-church pastor who has broken new ground and done what no-one thought he could: successfully created a large evangelical church in New England.  But things are not all roses and butterflies as Chase reaches the climax of a crises of faith in his pulpit .  As his board scrambles and his church threatens to disintegrate, Chase heads to Italy to hang out with his Franciscan uncle and learns how to be a new kind of Christian (recent literary echoes intentional) at the feet of St. Francis the 'first postmodern Christian.' Such is the story... at least, in brief intro and outline.  I fiercely desired this book to be good.  It has received several rounds of ringing endorsements, many from people I respect.  As an evangelical pastor, the story hook was n...