A Call to Resurgence: Will Christianity have a Funeral or a Future?

I am always hesitant to recommend Driscoll's books because I do not agree with everything he believes. That being said, it was interesting to read his perspective on Christendom since he lives in Seattle and has never had the Midwestern feel that Christianity is alive and well. He talks to the different tribes of Christianity and realizes there are differences.

"[M]any of those presumed to be Christians do not possess true faith. Rather, in the world of post-Christendom, true Christian belief has been replaced with a borrowed faith, a lost faith, or no faith at all" (kindle location 229). I found this section to be very interesting since I have worked for churches and experienced people with all three "false faiths".

One third of the book is appendixes. I'm not sure why appendix A was not a part of the book since it dealt with church history and would have been better than having two post script-type add-ons to a book. Appendix B was suggested reading based on the different tribes mentioned in the book.

I thought it was an ok book. Not outstanding but interesting to read.

Want to find more of Driscoll's books? You can find them here.

I received a free copy of this book from Tyndale in exchange for this book review.

Empty Shelf Challenge Book #2.

Waging Heavy Peace

I only know a few songs by Neil Young. I am by no means an expert in his music or life. However, I found his book (the first one he has ever written) interesting. I am sure that if we crossed paths today, we could be friends. We both value time alone, taking walks in nature, great music (acoustic and electric), and red-winged blackbirds.

Neil is a dreamer. You can tell as you go through the book that he has his hands full of a lot of different projects. He has a genuine love for bringing back quality sound to the music industry. He names his cars and guitars. Like LOTR, it's sometimes hard to differentiate between objects and places when you come across a name. 

"Just as there is no way to change the past, there is no way to predict the future" (222).

"I think a lot about the music business and how it is reinventing itself.... The convenience is fantastic... but you can't feel it like you used to.... [C]omplaining without a solution is a waste of time" (259). Young's solution is Pono (formerly called PureTone). Information about it was scattered throughout his book. It sounds like it would be great!

In this book you will discover what tradition he has with his wife and the neighbors, his most embarrassing moment and who he actually wrote "Old Man" about (not his dad)!

This book contains language, which is expected from a rock and roll musician. Just warning you in case you are not expecting it.

Empty Shelf Challenge Book #1.

Rest of God

As part of my required reading for the program I am in, I read The Rest of God. It took me longer to get through this because I wanted to put into practice what I was reading and REST! It is one of the best books I have read about the Sabbath. It is written in an easy to understand way. 

"I don't know how many books I've read or sermons I'e heard (and too many I've preached) that have helped me think better but not live better" (10).

"... simple tasks -- preparing sermons, cooking soup, cutting grass, growing corn -- when done in the same spirit, are holy. It is all the Lord's work. Virtually any job no matter how grueling or tedious -- any job that is not criminal or sinful -- can be a gift from God, through God, and to God" (24-25).

"Busyness makes us stop caring about the things we care about" (48-49).

"[S]ome facets of God we glimpse only through motion.... But other facets of God we discover only through stillness" (49). I like the idea that we have to be people of action, but we also have to slow down enough to learn new things about God.

"Sabbath is camping out in one place long enough for God to wound us and heal us" (99).

"Some of the most gifted people I've met are also some of the most broken" (118).

One of the hardest chapters for me was entitled: "Play: Stopping Just to Waste Time". I'm a pretty serious person most of the time and am thankful for the people who remind me to have fun. "Play and Sabbath are joined at the hip, and sometimes we rest best when we play hardest" (142).

I appreciated Buchanan's honesty with his own struggle in keeping the Sabbath. As he wrote, he shared personal stories of how being too busy would cause him to miss out on Sabbath. At the end of every chapter is a liturgy, a suggestion of what to put into action.

LOTR triology

I never wrote a post about these books because what can you say?! This is such a must-read! It's quite the journey and is not for the faint of heart. From February-August this year, I made my way through these books. Tolkien is clever in his writing style. My former college professor, Charlie Starr, is teaching a class this spring and wanted to have an online discussion.

It was my first time through the series and I am hoping to read them again -- which shows how much I liked them since I rarely re-read books.

I found it interesting and sometimes confusing that so many things had names (like swords, people having multiple names, and places). It was hard for me to distinguish sometimes what they were talking about. Luckily, my roommate at the time, Krysten, knew a lot about LOTR and would explain things to me.

My favorite sub-plot was Eowyn. I guess I was sympathetic to her situation because she liked Aragorn and experienced unrequited love. I think she liked the IDEA of him, and I am glad she finally found her man. You'll have to actually read to see who she ends up with in the end! (Or you can google it - ha).

At some point, I want to read The Silmarillion.

I highly recommend reading this series. If you need to, use audio books. That's my secret to get through hard-to-read classics. You can find youtube videos of it.

Knowing God by Name

Three generations of women work together to bring us an eight week study on different names of God.

I am convinced that the more we get to know the character of God, the more we will understand Him. Our lives and decisions are effected by how we view God. That makes this book, and studying God's names and character, one of the most important things in our journey with God.

My favorite week was week three based on the names that were in those chapters: All Present, The God Who Sees, My Hope, The Lord Who Heals, The Lord is There. 

I don't like the cover. It really bothers me that her feet are dangling, one splashing while the other is not within reach of the water. Did she lower herself and hoist herself up? No, she has a coffee cup in her hand. Minor detail, but it annoys me.

This is great for women's groups to study, since there are five days and questions and time to reflect for day six.

I reviewed this book for Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers Blogging for Books. I received this book for free in exchange for a review of the book.

Under the Tuscan Sun: Book

When I started reading the book, I imagined the story line would match up with this:

It did not. Other than it had the same name, set in Italy, and about a woman revamping a home. The details are not at all the same. In the book, she is married and comes to Italy with her husband. While they do end up hiring people to help them with the work, she and her husband do a lot of the labor alongside the workers. It was not at all what I expected. Don't get me wrong.... I love the movie -- Diane Lane is one of my favorite actresses. The book was great as well. I don't normally like books that include foreign languages stuck throughout the book, but Mayes does a great job of explaining what each word in Italian means rather than assuming you know the language or want to check Google translate every time a new word shows up.

I love and miss Italy. I could understand a lot of what she was saying in the book based on my own experiences in this fascinating country. "I have known him two summers and this is the first personal information we have exchanged" (65). It takes time to get to know the people of Italy.

I appreciate Mayes' style of writing, and I'm pretty sure we could be great friends. "I spread my books, cards, and notepaper around me and indulge in the rare art of writing letters to friends. A second indulgence goes straight back to high-school days - consuming a plate of brownies and a Coke while copying paragraphs and verses I like into my notebook.... Hours go by without the need to speak" (76).

"The house protects the dreamer; the houses that are important to us are the ones that allow us to dream in peace" (86).

Mayes points out three things that are essential to know if you plan to go to Italy: ferragosto (186), which is the fact that almost everything is closed for a month long vacation for Italians in August, passegiata hour, where you will find "hoards of people mingling, visiting, strolling, running errands" (234-235) and siesta (275), that beautiful part of the afternoon when stores close so people can rest, watch TV, or just enjoy being together.

She spent Christmas in Italy and described it as follows: "Is this much happiness allowed? I secretly asked myself.... Many Christmases in my adult life have been exquisite, especially when my daughter was a child. A few have been lonely. One was very rocky. Either way, the season of joy comes with a primitive urge that runs deep into the psyche" (214).

You can check out her website.

Start with Why

Simon Sinek's purpose in life is to inspire others to do what inspire them. He has challenged me to change my way of thinking about life. Oh, this book... The following are some of my favorite quotes:

"WHY does your company[, church, organization] exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care" (39)?

"People don't buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it. A failure to communicate WHY creates nothing but stress and doubt" (58).

"We do better in cultures in which we are good fits. WE do better in places that reflect our own values and beliefs.... It is beneficial to live and work in a place where you will naturally thrive because your values and beliefs align with the values and beliefs of that culture" (90).

Chapter eight, Start with Why, But Know How, was my favorite, probably because I am more of a HOW person than a WHY person. I did a TED Talk style presentation based on this book and specifically chapter eight. The main point of that is that people who know WHY need people who know HOW (140).

You can check out Simon's START WITH WHY site.
You can check out Simon's new book due out in January, Leaders Eat Last.
You can check out Simon's own TED Talk. The link for the video is on the right column.