OUTLAW CHRISTIAN

Friday, August 26, 2016

OUTLAW CHRISTIAN
Finding Authentic Faith
by Breaking The Rules
By Jacqueline A. Bussie

OVERVIEW: Drawing from Scripture and real-life experience, Outlaw Christian is Bussie's rallying cry to believers who care too much to let suffering go unquestioned and doubts unanswered. She calls for a faith that laments, loves, laughs, longs, and lives, but never dies.

AUTHOR: Jacqueline A. Bussie is director of the Forum on Faith and Life and professor of religion at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. A graduate of Davidson College and Yale University. She holds a PhD in Theology, Ethics, and Culture from the University of Virginia.

MY REVIEW: Because I review so many excellent books in a year, I can't say this is the best book I have read so far this year. But I can say, without hesitation that this is ONE of the best books I have read this year. It is outstanding in so many ways. This is a life changing book.

Bussie's writing is clear, honest and written in a way that keeps you turning the pages. You really do not know what she is going to say next. This is a challenging book because it takes the average reader to places he/she has never been before. I spent forty-seven years in the Christian ministry and yet Bussie introduced me to thoughts on suffering that I had never even thought of before.

I like what author, Shane Claiborne said, "There's nothing fluffy about this book. It is raw, sassy, and from the heart. Bussie reminds us that God is not scared of our doubters, fears, and darkness—God even experienced them in Jesus. This is a fresh invitation to the faith for skeptics, doubters, seekers, and even folks who like that old-time-religion."

However, as much as I like this book, I can not recommend it to all of my friends. I have a few who will just not be able to handle it. They already have a ready answer for every suffering person and they don't want to be challenged. But I am happy to know there is a multitude of sufferers, questioners, and thinkers who will be blessed by this splendid book.

(I received this book from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for a fair and honest review.)

THE BRIDE(ZILLA) OF CHRIST

Friday, August 19, 2016

THE BRIDE(ZILLA) OF CHRIST
What To Do When God's People
Hurt God's People
By Ted Kluck & Ronnie Martin

OVERVIEW: The Bride(Zilla) of Christ is a verbal IV dripping with the mercy found only in Christ. Though you've been wronged, or perhaps you've wronged another, there is cause for great hope. The hurt is not the deepest thing. Grace is deeper still.

AUTHORS: Ted Kluck has authored or coauthored over a dozen books, including the bestselling Whey We're Not Emergent. Kluck's work has appeared in ESPN the Magazine, Sports Spectrum Magazine, and at ESPN.com. He is an assistant professor at Union University and lives in Jackson, Tennessee, with his wife and sons. Ronnie Martin is an internationally known Dove Award-nominated recording artist with more than twenty album credits spanning three decades. He is lead pastor of Substance Church in Ashland, Ohio, where he lives with his wife and daughter.

MY REVIEW: Funny, serious, revealing—scary. This book is all of that and more. Most of all, it is a much needed book. It will be helpful to many. I am glad to have it now because I can share it with other Christians, especially young ministers. I personally had a great need for it about thirty-five years ago.

You may be a little puzzled about the sub-title: What To Do When God's People Hurt God's People. Hopefully you have never experienced this kind of hurting in your own life. Therefore you might think it strange that Christians would be involved in hurting one another. IT HAPPENS! I'm sorry it happens. And it's a shame it happens. But it does.

"What do you do with that reality, a reality that sometimes hurts?" Ted Kluck and Ronnie Martin aren't interested in 140 characters of tweetable comfort. They'd rather share their own stories of being both the wounded and the wounder. Plus they offer practical, yes-you-can-do-this steps to moving forward in those times when the Church hurts.

(I received this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for a fair and honest review.)