Al's Book Reviews

I have to be very grateful for one thing right now… that it wasn’t 10pm at night when I started reading this book… If it had of been, I would more than likely have stayed up until I was very tired indeed and then most of my day would involve feeding an already life-dominating caffeine dependency. I just couldn’t stop reading.

From the moment I opened up Permission to Speak Freely, I sensed that this book wasn’t written in the usual sense of the word, but this book was more likely CURATED… that it was very carefully put together and the mix of imagery, text and heart-shattering truth was something that was greater than each individual component on it’s own. This book is not a book… it comes across as a “Museum of Souls” that have struggled to find their voice in a church culture that doesn’t cope when REAL HONESTY walks through it’s doors…

What I like about this book more than the FEELING of reading it though, is the fact that there are some very cutting HOME TRUTHS for the Church within it’s pages, but never does Anne bring Cynicism or Despair into the situation. It is more than time that we lost the glossy veneer that many of us have adopted in order that we might look inoffensive to our communities… Life in this world is filled with pain, with unanswered, and even unanswerable questions, and that the simple responsibility of God’s Church in this time is to LOVE and LOVE unconditionally… It helps nobody to pretend that we are all FINE all the time (and particularly on a Sunday).

Thank you Anne for putting into words and images what has been tugging upon my heart for so long!

(This review has been written as part of the Thomas Nelson Publishing BookSneeze blog programme.)

In terms of totally blowing my mind and stereotypes – Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas has been absolutely a God-send! Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one of those names that is thrown around, and quoted until the cows come home… so much so that I will often back away slightly when names like Bonhoeffer and Chesterton start being thrown about… There is something purely fantastic about understanding the context that these great men lived in, that enables you to appreciate their writing with a whole new perspective.

I have gained a new understanding through the dis-satisfaction of Bonhoeffer with the Nazi regime when all other religious groups and people of such fine moral calibre were turning their blind eyes to the plight of the Jews. It is not ok to do nothing and it is not ok to conform our faith and religious practices with whatever culture deems valuable on any given day.

It is a shame when we become complete consumers of ideas and methodologies that are such cultural phenomena when we can aim to re-live a faith that is simple, unwavering and absolutely sound in it’s doctrine. Who cares about how fancy our services look with the latest 10000000000+ Youtube hits on our notices video… when we can get back to serving and loving the people around us, showing them the love of a creator rather than just preaching from our moral soapboxes! I wanna be like Dietrich!

I have to admit – a big part of wanting to review this book was to check out the stunning artwork of the uber-talented Scott Erickson whom I met last year at NYWC in Los Angeles. I ALSO have to confess that I am in no way a fan of the Lost TV series. I never really watched it when it started, and it is not something that you can just jump into half-way through! I AM however, a LOST widower. My darling wife is a huge fan and every Wednesday that it is on, I have some non-negotiable “alone” time.

One thing that I am most definitely a fan of, is making cultural phenomena connect with a Christian worldview and I think that this book hits the nail directly on the head! I found the book insightful and in a pastoral sense, I know I am better equipped to connect with those I come in contact with that are fans! Chris obviously displays an intensely accurate understanding of what is going on with each character and looks beyond the surface of each one to find some juicy tidbits! It is this challenge to jump well beyond the prevailing narrative and dissect your own life that I believe is the real beauty of this book. You will definitely not regret adding this one to your bookshelf!

This book review has been written as part of the BookSneeze programme through Thomas Nelson Publishing.

Cover Art

The Search for God and Guinness leads us on a journey that is not so much about BEER, as about how over history, some amazing people have sought to bring the hope of the Gospel in some very creative ways. As we consider how we interact with the crazy culture that we are surrounded by, we can definitely learn some lessons from the founders of Guinness. If we are to tangibly make a difference in the world, we need to firstly be concerned with serving the practical needs of the people we hope to reach. In Dublin, clean water was a concern, and many people were into VERY hard liquor, so the responsible path to take was to brew a beer that had healthy benefits and also addressed the social problems of drinking.

I think we will truly be able to make a difference when we cease trying to be the morality police in our communities, and start radically meeting needs and showing people that they have a saviour that loves them no matter what stage of the journey they are on! Meeting people where they are AT, rather than where we want them to be is a pretty radical road for us to walk eh?

This book review has been written as part of the Book Review Blogger programme through Thomas Nelson Publishing.

The Expanded Bible is something that I was a little hesitant to check out – but thought It might be worth a look… I wasn’t sure how it would work, or how user-friendly it would prove to be…

Since spending a few hours checking out how it might enhance the work I am doing with the ministries I am involved with, I have been more than pleasantly surprised! I brought this Bible along with me recently to a Training session and the real benefit was in helping people understand some of the bits and pieces I was sharing “on the fly”.

The ability to save some time is helpful, but should never replace some solid research and study when you are preaching or teaching… so this is a fantastic place to START your research, and I see great advantages of this Bible in complimenting the resources I already use… I am sure that many of us could value ANY additional resources in the work we do, and I don’t think you would miss out by purchasing this Bible. The layout is clean and the instructions for how to get the most of the resource are very easy to understand. I can’t handle a resource that “gets in the way”, and The Expanded Bible is thankfully not one of these!

What are you waiting for!?

Life is a wrestling match between how we KNOW we should live, and what we have slowly settled into in our search for the familiar and comfortable. We have household devices that provide us with instant results and unfortunately, a lot of this has trickled down into our lives as followers of Jesus. The Hole in our Gospel challenges us to make the most of our time on Earth, taking opportunities to merge our life with the things that Jesus was passionate about – issues of Justice, Poverty and loving those around us.

If I am truly honest with you, I like to read books that make me squirm… books that when you pick them up, you can’t just put them down again without it tugging away at your insides. I had hoped beyond ALL hope that “The Hole in our Gospel” would be such a book as this, and THANKFULLY, it delivered big-time! I can’t wait to be a part of a community that places more value on LOVING PEOPLE than in having a great time on a Sunday. I can’t wait for the church in the West, to match the excitement, passion and sense of urgency that we see being lived out in less “spoiled” circumstances. I highly recommend this book and hope that you will race out and grab your copy today – but don’t expect your life to stay the same!!!

I have reviewed this book as part of the Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger Programme – http://brb.thomasnelson.com/

I would love to hear your comments on this, especially if you have read the book as well! See below!