The Book and its Topic

Velvet Elvis is like a painting. See, Rob Bell says that he is repainting the Christian faith. It’s the book’s slogan. And Rob painted a beautiful painting. One worth looking at.

I enjoyed looking at Rob’s painting. At times he had me laughing so hard that my wife just had to know what it was all about. At other times I was close to tears. But most of all, Velvet Elvis had me thinking. Long and hard my friend.

Christians are prone to accepting everything offered to them, as long as it is “Christian”. Rob tells us that we should be careful to not just accept everything “Christian” because it is “Christian”. People have been pushed away from God and badly hurt, just because of “Christians” being “Christian”. He says “Christian” is a great noun, but not such a nice adjective.

I think this might be easier for Rob than for the rest of us. See, Velvet Elvis illustrates that this man has a marvelous gift to think creatively. I think he has a gift to take a subject that has been taken apart many times over in the history of the church and think and argue about it in a new and original way.

The Book and its Topic

Flashbang by Mark Steele is a funny book. Mark is a comedian. But... he doesn’t think of himself as one. He prefers to think of himself as a comic. The subject of the laughter rather than the creator of the humor.

My wife likes jokes and likes to laugh. This caused me endless problems while reading Flashbang. See, there I would be reading and minding my own business when a funny part would come along. The result was spontaneous laughter, and then an explanation.

Everytime I laughed, I needed to explain what was so funny... This is no problem with most books where you laugh once or twice if at all, but with Flashbang I constantly had to share. It is really, hilariously funny!

Mark’s book deals with the Flashbang. Something that does not do much except cause a big noise and a bright light for a very short time. He says that he felt his impact as a Christian was much like that. Lots of noise, little impact. Real, lasting, positive impact.

He then goes on to explain (while you laugh) how to leave teethmarks on the world. Something messy, but visible. He shares how we can get back to loving the world in a way that leaves a crater. The impact that I referred to in the previous paragraph.

The Book and its Topic

In Chasing Daylight, Erwin McManus looks at the story of how Jonathan (son of King Saul) and his armor-bearer took on the Philistines and changed the course of Israel’s history. When everyone else, including Saul, chose to be passive, these two heroes were brave enough to trust God and act on his instructions. God saw what they did, and He came through for them. He helped them because they decided to seize a divine moment.

That is exactly what this book will encourage you to do. Chasing Daylight encourages you to seize the power of every moment! Divine moments are opportunities. We should not take them lightly or let them slip past.

In Psalm 37:4 the Psalmist said “Delight yourselves in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Erwin uses this verse to illustrate that you will not necessarily get what you desire when you delight in God, but rather that God will give you new desires. He says “When we are passionate about God, we can trust our passions.”

Isn’t that awesome? Go back and read it again. We no longer have to sit back and be careful. We tend to always be worried that our heart’s desires are in contrast to God’s heart. When we were still sinners, it surely was. But now, as long as we are absolutely passionate about God and have an intimate relationship with Him, we can trust our passions and act on them.

In fact, that is exactly what God is waiting for...

In Philippians 4 Paul encourages us to think about and act on anything noble, anything good. This is what we should do. Unless we get a clear no from God, we have free reign. We can advance!

The Book and its Topic

Reviewing Erwin’s books is hard work. The Barbarian Way is no exception. I mean, this guy is being used by God. God works so hard through him, it amazes me. And that leaves me with a dilemma. As I write reviews of his books, how do I stay objective?

The truth is The Barbarian Way deserves a high recommendation. It shouts the message that I have in my heart about our modern, civilized Christianity so hard, that reading it was an absolute revelation to me. I couldn't believe that someone as influential as Erwin actually agrees with me.

Sometimes when you read a book that is very good, it is a challenge not to jump on the bandwagon and go around telling people that they need to read only one book on top of their Bible, and that is the one you have just read. That's not good. It is all just part of a necessary ongoing conversation. However, when coming across such a critical message it is important is that we sit up and listen. Then we need to go and apply what we have learned.

In The Barbarian Way, Erwin says that the modern Christian faith is smooth, trouble-free and that there is not much risk involved. Lots of opportunities, little risk. However, people that are close to God’s heart, like John the Baptist, could be described as barbarians. Such people embrace risk and refuse to be civilized. They have only one passion – that each of us might have a relationship with Jesus.

The Book and its Topic

The Revolution has started. Welcome to God’s Revolution!

What a book! And what an event. I am involved in a full-scale, world-wide revolt and I didn’t know about it. Here I am feeling guilty for not getting much out of old-school church – and meanwhile it is all part of God’s design.

George Barna tells this somewhat risky and unpopular story with excellence. As always, this little book is backed by some serious research and hard work. First of all, it is interesting! Then it is informative, helpful and practical. Oh, and did I mention it is small and easy to get through? My type of book!

It sheds new light on what is going on in the world (yes, George, the revolt is spreading beyond the US borders). Barna starts by explaining this upheaval. Then he takes a look at what God expects of the church (from the Bible) and he states the seven main passions of Revolutionaries (incidentally the seven attributes that made the church of Acts so successful).

The Audio Book and its Topic

Learn to dance the SoulSalsa! Leonard Sweet teaches us how to dance this salsa, by looking at “17 surprising steps for godly living in the 21st century”.

As an avid reader of Christian books, I come across many theories. Theories about how to be a better church, how to evangelize better, what attitude to have to life, and the list goes on. How refreshing to come (stumble?) across an audio book with some very practical advice on how to live a Christian life.

The Zondervan paperback book SoulSalsa (yes, I own that too) starts its summary on the back cover by saying “Getting a Christian worldview is all the rage these days. But how about a Christian worldlife? Got one of those?”

So, what does it say? Do you really want me to spoil your fun, and spill the beans here. I thought not. While not telling you any of the SoulSalsa dance steps, I will share just a few of the aspects addressed by Leonard Sweet.

The Video and its Topic

The Case for Christ was originally published as a book by Lee Strobel, an ex-atheist. I applaud his efforts to make the findings of his investigation and book available to a broader audience by putting it into DVD format. It was launched on September the 11th, 2007. The six year anniversary of one of the biggest tragedies of human history – the attack on the twin towers.

It discusses possibly the biggest miracle of human history – that of God taking on human form, and paying the price for our sins on a Roman cross.

Lee Strobel was an atheist when his wife decided to believe in Jesus and to start following him. He was a journalist at the time, and if I understand correctly, he reported on justice, so he had a fair understanding of evidence and the way a verdict is reached.

He was scared of losing his wife to this “cult” called Christianity, so he decided to attend church with her, journalist’s notebook in his hand, and start proving the folly behind her new-found beliefs.

The Book and its Topic

Jesus Drives Me Crazy! By Leonard Sweet describes a new kind of life. The kind of life that someone will experience if they start seriously following Jesus.

It is a crazy life. A NUTS life.

Dr. Sweet writes, “There is the world according to NUTS… where NUTS is an acronym for Never Underestimate The Spirit. The wisdom of Jesus is a NUTSwisdom.”

So, if this review seems a little crazy, I have a good excuse.

Leonard Sweet takes four words, and claims that they represent the wisdom of Jesus. These four words are Be There With All. Each of these gets some special treatment in the book. A whole chapter to be precise…As you read, and your understanding of this simple phrase increases beyond where you thought possible, you will get a new, enhanced outlook on your mission and the love you need to offer to this broken world. Len shares his unmatched insights, made on some remarkable research and quite literally takes the fire in your heart up a few degrees.

The Book and its Topic

Jim and Casper Go to Church is a different book to what you have become accustomed to. This is a conversation. A conversation between a believer and an atheist.

Jim Henderson (Jim) and Matt Casper (Casper) go on a strange mission. They visit numerous American churches to see how these congregations and their services rate in the eyes of a non-Christian. Casper rates them, and he actually sounds like someone who knows what he is talking about.

Unfortunately, his opinions are the opinions of one person. We have to take the book and the conversation as that. Luckily, the authors never claim that it is anything else, and every book out there (bar the Bible - depending on your beliefs) is someone’s opinion.

I don't want to list here the churches that they visit. That would be taking something away from your reading experience. It also makes you want to go and get the book to soothe your curiosity, doesn’t it? What I can say, is that I thought it was a good all-round mix, and I can’t think of any other churches that I wish they visited, except maybe Rob Bell’s Mars Hill.

The Audio Book and its Topic

SoulTsunami by Leonard Sweet is an abridged version of the (quite thick!) book. It is an excellent example of a good audio book.

It is short. In just over 2 hours Leonard Sweet delivers the prophetic message of postmodernism and its challenges for the church.

It is good. What a message! We all need to hear this. The church really has to sink or swim, but in order to be able to take that decision, we firstly need to be informed. I am keen on swimming... And that has nothing to do with the sweltering South African heat I am experiencing at the moment!

It is artful. Len’s voice is coupled with very relevant and excellently incorporated background sounds and music that helps sketch the picture even better. The message and the way is discussed is no less colorful…

What more do you want from an audio book?