Recovering the Full Mission of God: A Biblical Perspective on Being, Doing, and Telling Dean Flemming | IVP Academic Reviewed by Richard Hibbert, director, School of Cross-Cultural Mission, Sydney and Missionary Bible College. Evangelical Christians continue to debate whether proclaiming the gospel or demonstrating it should be given priority. Reacting to the “social gospel” promoted by theological liberals in the early 1900s, and despite calls […]
A Work of Heart (Reggie McNeal) McNeal gleans six themes of the heart from the lives of Moses, David, Paul and Jesus that God appears to frequently use in the development of spiritual leaders. McNeal defines the six themes thusly: Culture: meeting the world Call: figuring out why we are here Community: connecting with others’ hearts Communion: rehearsing for eternity Conflict: learning to die so we […]
Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow (Geiger, Kelley & Nation) Discipleship is neither merely a mastery of biblical information nor merely behavior modification. Discipleship is transformational: resulting in obedience. The transformation of our lives occurs through God’s work; our role is simple but necessary: to place ourselves in the posture where God is able to transform us (echoes of Dallas Willard here). Transformational discipleship will […]
Steve Jobs (Walter Isaacson) This review will probably invoke the wrath of many people. Fanboys will be upset that I haven’t bowed down to the altar of Steve Jobs, while haters will be upset that I haven’t cursed the name of Steve Jobs and everything that he touched. As I read the biography of Jobs, I found myself vacillating between a fanboy and a hater. At […]
Unfortunately, Solomon’s warning that “of the making of books there is no end” remains true (although not all books are of the same weight nor value). A Wind in the House of Islam: How God is Drawing Muslims Around the World to Faith in Jesus Christ (Garrison) The division of this survey into three sections helpfully alerts the reader to key facts of history that frame […]
The Spirit of the Disciplines (Willard) This forms the second book of Willard’s trilogy and is best read after digesting Willard’s text Hearing God. We may tend to see “spiritual disciplines” as activities for super, extra-holy people or hermits holed up in monastries. Willard argues that disciplines are a means to bring us into right relation to the spiritual Kingdom of God. This right relations to […]
The Boys in the Boat (Brown). Nine misfit boys overcame adversity to be forged into an unbeatable rowing team that accomplished the impossible: win the gold medal in the 1936 Berlin Olympic 8-man rowing event. As they learned to implicitly trust each other person in the boat they became a team defined by uncanny power, unison and grace. This team of rowers frequently achieved the oft-elusive […]