The Return

Insightful, Illuminating and readable are the words that I think best describe this book. Jethani has focused on five tiny words---under, over, from, for, and with---to illustrate the different ways most of us relate to God. Brilliant idea, I think. The writing is clear, thoughtful, and even touching from time to time. He does not leaving you hanging with no recommendations for change and does go on in an appendix to give the reader a few ideas that he found helpful. Nothing new there; we know what needs to happen, but a reminder certainly isn’t out of order. You will find yourself identifying people you know, stages that you may have gone through, or even find yourself in the midst of now. This book explains one of the major reasons for burn-out and disillusionment among Christians. I liked the inclusion of Loyola’s examen and the brief explanation of that practice. Made much more sense and is doable in Jethani’s version. There is also a study guide for private or gro...

DeYoung and Gilbert have authored a thoughtful look at the mission of the church. The first task they undertook was to sort through the different ideas and definitions of mission. They do arrive at what seems a reasonable definition, which means I generally agree with it. Much of the book is devoted to developing their theme that mission and ministries can be distinctly different, even to the place of losing sight of one another altogether. Another point they make later is that the church, a Christian, and a bunch of Christians do not necessarily have the same focus, mission, or ministry. That is a very important point and I think needs to revisited and expanded. The confusion that these authors see about the mission of the church is based in that area, I think. But, as well written as this book is, the crowning glory for it is the epilogue, a fictitious conversation between a young church starter and a mature pastor. If for no other reason than this epilogue, this bo...

Review: Upside: Surprising Good News about the State of Our World. Bradley R.E. Wright, PhD Bethany House Publishers 2011 What a nice change of pace! Looking at the upside of major trends like finances, education, crime, marriage, environment and other big topics that are in constant conversation lately it seems. His approach to the material could not have been handled any better from a layman’s point of view. Wright’s area of expertise is sociology and he teaches at the university level. A textbook this is not. And I for one am very glad. So, when you flip through the book, don’t let the graphs scare you. His explanations are user friendly. The graphs are self explanatory and make nice summations of the discussion. I was surprised by some of the results of his work, in that they did show positive trends. I was just sure what I had seen and heard elsewhere was more the case. Worldwide educational levels were one such area. The trend is upward. And that is the key ...