Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus Review

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(More customer reviews)If you are looking for a book that preaches a comfortable, easy, complacent version of Christianity, then this isn't the book for you. This book will hit you between the eyes. Kyle Idleman pulls no punches. If you are open to it, this book is like a giant mirror. It will help you take an honest look at yourself and realize what is truly in your heart. Jesus was never interested in drawing a crowd. He was interesting in gaining followers. Not of religion or legalism, but followers of Him. Idleman goes to great lengths to help the reader understand what it means to truly follow Christ. We live in an age where the Gospel and cost of following Christ are often softened and watered down. I think there are many people in American churches who have chosen to "follow Christ" with little or no consideration of the cost. Following Christ is about much more than just a "Get Out of Hell Free" card. It involves sacrifice, dying to self, and surrendering everything to Him. He may not ask us to give up everything, but a true follower is willing to do so if He does ask.
I think we all know someone who is obsessed with a particular celebrity. For example, say someone is obsessed with Britney Spears. A true fan probably is a fan on Facebook, has every CD she has ever made, and possibly even a scrape book of every magazine article ever written about her. If something new comes out, they will go to great lengths to attain it. But Jesus has never been interesting in having a fan club. He wants all of us. If you read this book with an open heart and mind, and are willing to be honest with yourself, this book will help you know if you are really a follower of Christ or if you are merely a fan of His. It is one thing to CLAIM to be a follower, it is an altogether different thing to actually LIVE like a follower of Christ. Jesus is not interested in mere lip service.
I have to ademit, that I spent a lot of years as a fan of Jesus. I knew all the right lingo, all the rules (don't drink, don't swear, don't have sex before marriage) and I knew a lot of knowledge about Jesus and the Bible. But what I didn't realize is that Jesus is interested in the heart. It is entirely possible to look great on the outside and be rotten on the inside. After awhile, I started going through the motions of prayer, worshiping God, and reading in the Word, but my heart wasn't really in it. I cared more about looking good on the outside than the state of my heart. I claimed to love Jesus, but in reality, it was all about me. I realized I wasn't following the Jesus of Scripture, I was following a false version of my own creation. A version that didn't demand too much, expect too much out of me, or expect total, unconditional surrender. I honestly believed that I could have Christ and my own way. Looking back, I can see now how completely self-centered I was. Even when a close friend cared enough to point this out to me, I didn't listen. Instead, I got angry and defensive. I claimed that Jesus was Lord of my life, but when it came right down to it, I was Lord of my life. But no more. Now, I can honestly say "I am not a fan of Jesus."

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Are you a follower of Jesus?Don't answer too quickly. In fact, you may want to read this book before you answer at all. Consider it a 'Define the Relationship' conversation to determine exactly where you stand. You may indeed be a passionate, fully devoted follower of Jesus. Or, you may be just a fan who admires Jesus but isn't ready to let him cramp your style. Then again, maybe you're not into Jesus, period.In any case, don't take the question---Are you a follower of Jesus?---lightly. Some people don't know what they've said yes to and other people don't realize what they've said no to, says Pastor Kyle Idleman. But Jesus is ready to clearly define the relationship he wants with his followers.Not a Fan calls you to consider the demands and rewards of being a true disciple. With frankness sprinkled with humor, Idleman invites you to live the way Jesus lived, love the way he loved, pray the way he prayed, and never give up living for the One who gave his all for you.

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Ten Lies the Church Tells Women: How the Bible Has Been Misused to Keep Women in Spiritual Bondage Review

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(More customer reviews)I had the privilege of hearing David Yonggi Cho speak at a conference last July, pastor of the largest church in the world, which hails, not 10,000 but 700,000 members. As Grady points out in this book, one of the secrets to the church's success is because women are actively involved in the spiritual leadership of its members. This is a fact with which many other denominations have grappled, as Yonggi Cho states as quoted in Grady's book, (properly footnoted, I might add).
Concerning accusations in earlier reviews that Grady twists the Scripture or uses faulty interpretations: unlike many others who make claims, not only does Grady first admit that his book isn't the Gospel itself and thus is open to debate, he aids his readers by properly citing all of his sources; if you have an issue with an interpretation, by all means, find the source that he, like a true scholar, provided and make up your own mind. You should be doing this even if you do believe what he says.
I'm also somewhat stunned by a previous reader's parallel of the Fall to a thief stealing bread. I'll address this since I'm sure others have the same mentality. Having read the review, I find myself wondering if this reader has a proper grasp of the Christian faith that I assume he follows. Yes, there are consequences as a result of a thief stealing bread. However, the incredibly wonderful aspect of Christianity is that the thief will not have to rot in jail, even after apologizing and returning the bread because someone else (namely Christ) has already served time in his place. I fail to see how Eve's curse of subordination should not be wiped clean by Christ's sacrifice just as ALL other sins were wiped away. By saying otherwise, one is either assuming that the first woman's sin was simply too great for even the Son of God, or that simply dismissing Paul's statement of "...For there is neither male nor female, for all are one in Christ" as only applying to the afterlife.
Grady, on the otherhand is a strong proponent of the fully redemptive qualities of Jesus Christ and thus attempts to unearth long held prejudices against woman by basing his arguments on this foundational premise. If one is willing to admit that Jesus loves woman too, one might see that Grady makes several good arguments. (On a side note, I would also like to add stealing bread when one is starving is no longer a crime. One no longer has to serve 10 years of hard labor as in the case of Jean Valjean in Les Miserable, which the previous writer appears to be referencing.)
I think one of Grady's greatest accomplishment in this book wasn't presenting and attempting to refute 10 Lies (I think he succeeded, by the way) but rather exposing the reader to the multitude of ways in which woman have contributed to the ministry both in the past and in the present. If anyone thinks that woman should be satisfied with baking cookies when she feels the call to ministry, I strongly urge them to take a look at this book and perhaps look at the Yoido Full Gospel Church, 700,000 members and still growing, because a pastor was willing to give women a chance at spiritual leadership.

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Christian women held captive by demeaning patriarchal attitudes?It happens all the time.This fresh and timely book by the editor of "Charisma" magazine takes a no-nonsense look at unscriptural mind-sets within the church--ways of thinking that have made women into "second-class citizens."A powerful expose, it will enlighten and free women to be all that God is calling them to be.

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Fall to Grace: A Revolution of God, Self & Society Review

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Jay Bakker's Fall to Grace: A Revolution of God, Self and Society, is something of a surprise to me. Bakker, as you might guess, or know, is the son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, dis-graced (as Bakker puts it) leaders of the PTL club. Jim Bakker as you recall, went to prison and sadly Tammy Faye died not long ago from cancer.
Jay Bakker, candidly reviews his life, its ups and downs. Predictably he, as a young child, had a ball being in a famous and wealthy family. As the family's fortunes fell, so did his own, and he went the route of many kids in his position: drugs and alcohol. Also, as you might suspect, his hold on faith broke as well.
Like many, Bakker struggled with how he could redeem him life after years of bad choices and bad living. It did not happen over night, but finally he "heard" the words of a friend who patiently stuck with him, repeating again and again, that God's love never wavered. After long arguments, night after night, often in a fog of alcohol, Jay finally fell to Grace.
And grace is what Jay Bakker preaches, and what he believes with all his heart. He carefully explains the concept to those who may be unaware, largely through the voice of Saint Paul in Galatians, his admitted hero.
Jay was undoubtedly brought up in a fundamentalist mind-set, but as regards the bible, he has grown from that limited view, into a more mature and nuanced understanding. He notes that not all of Paul's letters may actually be written by Paul, and he notes the work of Robert Wright's, The Evolution of God, as well as the work of Karen Armstrong, and Henri M. Nouwen.
Those who might shy away from the book on the grounds that it is but another fundamentalist tract, need not worry. I found little in the book that I, as a fairly liberal/progressive Christian, would quarrel with.
What Bakker sets out to do, is to show others how they, steeped in their own screwed up lives, can find a way out of the wilderness through the offering of God's unlimited grace. Grace, as he explains, is God's offering of favor to us, completely unmerited by anything we have done or could do.
It is release from the Law, the Law that Paul spoke of as regards the Torah, but also the Law that we impose today in the manner of morals and accepted behavior in a modern world. We don't have to live up to some mark, God is always offering us the grace of forgiveness and favor.
When one comes to this belief, then and only then, Jay argues, one can by choice begin to see a better way of living, one that is not self destructive and hurtful to others. We can begin to value ourselves as we now realize God values us. And that is the first step. Once we value ourselves we automatically want to do those things that enhance our newfound goodness as humans.
This leads, as we study Jesus' words and Paul's, to a realization that love is the controlling factor in the world. It is the aim of our lives, to love and to continue to grow in love, thereby squeezing out the fears, the angers, the greed, and jealousies we are all too prone to.
When love is freely given, not attached to our hope that it will gain us anything (salvation), then we begin to love the doing of things for others more than any other thing. We embody God's grace, and offer it to others.
This is the way we change hearts and minds, this is the way we build the kingdom.
Perhaps in the most stunning fundamentalist reversal, Bakker has been able to find his way through the ugliness of homosexual bullying that is so prevalent in the fundamentalist world. He has correctly (in my analysis) understood the flimsy "biblical evidence" against homosexuality and come out the other side as a clear and loud voice supporting the gay community.
He, today, preaches to those he calls the freaks and geeks, the unlikely and the unwanted of society. I suspect he brings both comfort and joy to their lives.
While the experienced reading and thinking liberal Christian will not find much new here, those new to faith, or those who are outsiders and wonder if the church has a place for them, will find a welcoming spirit and reason for joy.


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If anyone ever had a reason to leave the Christian faith, Jay Bakker did.At the age of only 11 his parents' global PTL ministry was engulfed by scandal and undermined by Christian backbiting -all of which played out in the 24-hour news media. Disillusioned, Bakker turned to drugs and alcohol and left his childhood beliefs behind. But along the way, an interesting thing happened: Bakker came to understand, through his personal challenges and suffering (as well as the help of some friends), what God's grace was really all about.In this book Bakker explores the true nature of grace--what it means for everyday living and the hot-button issues of our day. With disarming humility, poignant observations, and spot-on theology, Bakker both challenges Christians to reassess their understanding of salvation and encourages non-believers to see Jesus with fresh eyes.

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Lord, Save Us From Your Followers: Why is the Gospel of Love Dividing America? Review

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(More customer reviews)Lord, Save Us From Your Followers will challenge your comfortable Christianity. Dan Merchant and Jeff Martin spent months traveling and interviewing a variety of people from all walks of life to get a picture of what the American culture thinks of Christians and of Jesus. What they found will likely offend many Christian readers...not because its untrue or offensive but because it is painful to see what the secular world's image of us really is.
In one of the most powerful chapters of the book Dan takes a page out of Don Miller's (author of Blue Like Jazz) playbook and sets up a confessional booth at Pride NorthWest...not to hear the confessions of the people there but to confess to them his sins and the sins of the church universal as it pertains to our treatment of the homosexual community. Reading that reminded me how much power honest confession and seeking forgiveness has to heal.
This is something that the church has forgotten. We claim we believe 1 John 1:9 and James 5:16 but we don't live as if we do. We hide behind our stained glass walls and we pretend to the world we have it all together. Its no surprise that one of the most commonly occurring answers to the question Dan poised, "Name something Christians are known for?" was "Hypocrisy."
The book is written as a series of collected experiences, much like an anthology of short stories, I liked that I could jump around and read what caught my attention and not lose the thread of the story. I can't wait to see the full version of the documentary. I hope Dan succeeds in sparking the conversations he hopes to...the Church needs to have them and this book is a great starting point.

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Why is the Gospel of Love dividing America?Fed up with the angry, strident language filling the airwaves that has come to represent the Christian faith, author, director, and follower Dan Merchant set out to explore the collision of faith and culture in America. What is all this fighting really about?The book and upcoming documentary represent a two-year effort to "join the battlefield in hopes of getting a conversation started."The result is a book full of offbeat observations, fun anecdotes, comedic bits and in-depth interviews. From Dan's hilarious bumper-sticker interviews with folks on the street to his unique "Confession Booth" event inspired by his meeting with Tony, the Beat Poet, from Blue Like Jazz, he delves into all the hot button issues with candor, humor and balance.
Includes exclusive interviews with Al Franken, Rick Santorum, Tony Campolo, conservative radio host Michael Reagan, USA Today columnist Tom Krattenmaker, Pastor Rick Warren, and even Sister Mary Timothy of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence as well as many more.

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Grace: Quotes & Passages for Heart, Mind, and Soul Review

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(More customer reviews)This is one of those books that you will pick up time and again. It is a collection of passages, all around the theme of "Grace." But it is much more than just a random selection of quotes; considerable thought has been put into grouping them into a series of concepts, such as "Soul," "Heart," "Action." Aronson draws from a very wide ranging set of authors and speakers, from well known historical figures (such as Aesop, Emerson, Dickens) to current day writers and personalities (the Dalai Lama, Arthur Ashe, Leo Buscaglia). This is not at all a set of 'sappy' quotes, but rather a thoughtful compendium of all that 'grace' really is, should be, and can be.
Beautifully laid out, with a simple but very appealing cover, the book will make a great present.

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"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude."—Maya Angelou"Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace."—May SartonThis treasury of quotes and passages on leading a centered, purposeful, and spiritual life offers the advice and observations of leaders from all walks of life. Included are Ghandi, Lao-Tzu, Maya Angelou, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa, and hundreds of other unique and inspiring voices on subjects like compassion, kindness, forgiveness, and purpose.• Beautiful hardcover gift book, affordably priced at $14.95• For readers of all ages

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From Exorcism to Ecstasy: Eight Views of Baptism Review

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(More customer reviews)Especially on hotly-debated issues of baptism, many books claiming to be fair and balanced really aren't. This one really is. Haitch gives a fine overview (scholarly but very readable) of eight positions, from the Eastern Orthodox with its concern for exorcism, to the Pentecostal with its emphasis on ecstatic speech.
Approaching baptism as a window into different theological frames of mind, this book let me see the scriptural reasoning behind denominational differences. Equally important, it gives some reasons why baptism matters for everyday Christian life and ministry.

I found biographical notes on Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Wesley and others interesting as well.
To quote William Placher (from the back cover): "Pastors and students wanting a clear account of the alternatives within the Christian tradition could not turn to a better resource than this one."


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They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations Review

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(More customer reviews)Everyone who takes the Christian faith seriously should read this book and be prepared to do some sober reflection. Whether a pastor, youth worker, elder, deacon, lay leader, or church member - those who take Dan Kimball's book to heart may very well need to make some significant changes in their approach to outreach and evangelism.
In They Like Jesus But Not The Church, Dan Kimball first points out the convicting and humbling truth that the longer one is a Christian, the less likely one is to have significant friendships with those who are not Christian. Instead, most Christians today find their lives consumed with church-related activities - and those whose primary jobs are ministry-related are often the worst offenders. How can anyone know what the needs of the unchurched are unless they are involved in trusting relationships with them?
The church in America has become nearly irrelevant to most 20- and 30-somethings. Yet those who follow Jesus rarely venture outside our cozy Christian comfort zones to learn why. Unless individual Christians are actively engaged in open and trusting relationships with non-Christians (without a conversion agenda), the life-changing gospel message won't effectively be spread merely by changing our worship service structure, format, or atmosphere. Furthermore, most Christians tend to compound the problem by generally taking one of two approaches to evangelism: either we see every non-Christian as a potential target, and if we spend any time with them at all the goal is to "seal the deal;" or we isolate our faith from our everyday lives and generally avoid faith- or church-related conversations with anyone other than our church friends.
One of the biggest strengths of this book are the voices of many people (most in their 20s and 30s) with whom Dan Kimball has spent hours in conversation. He has developed trusting relationships and most importantly has really listened to where they're coming from when they talk about Jesus, the church, and Christians. Dan's goal was not to convert them, but to hear them. And likely, in doing so, he began to remove some of the stereotypes about Christians and the church that they might have held.
It is surprising and refreshing to learn of the positive and often even accurate views many people outside the church have about Jesus. In general, they deeply respect him and his teachings. But they see the church as very un-Christlike, and the church must not ignore their perceptions and feelings. Whether or not their ideas about the church being homophobic, male-dominated, judgmental and negative, or having a political agenda are true of all churches or any single church, the reality is that these perceptions are a significant barrier to trust in the church and acceptance of Christianity.
Dan does not compromise his orthodox beliefs as he interacts and engages with the people and the issues, and neither does he advocate that any church or individual compromise. But he is willing to ask difficult questions - questions that any serious Christian should consider. At the end of each chapter are excellent discussion questions which challenge and provoke thought about specific issues, about the reader's own attitudes and perceptions, and about ways the reader might take action.
This book has deeply challenged me, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is serious about our great commission to make disciples out of all nations. They Like Jesus But Not The Church is a reminder to me that God is indeed working in the world, and that I am called to be in relationship with people at all points in their journey of faith, doing what I can to help point the way to Jesus, yet trusting that each person is ultimately in God's hands.


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