Jesus Wants to Save Christians – Rob Bell

Rob Bell seems to have a knack for provocative titles. You know, the kind of titles that offend certain people without even knowing what the book is about. I will start by saying I’ve never been a huge fan of Rob’s writing. I feel like he can be a little over the top at times. But with all that said, Jesus Wants to Save Christians is definitely my favorite of his books.

Bell tells the reader immediately what the purpose of the book is. He says it is a book about New Exodus theology. I must say that from Bell’s book, which is my only introduction to New Exodus theology, I found nothing particularly exciting about this lane of thought. He basically took you through the entire Old Testament and then talked about the parallels in the life of Jesus. Some of them seemed like good thoughts, while others seemed to be stretching it a bit. One of Bell’s parallels is the fact that Jesus’ transfiguration and the delivery of the ten commandments both occurred on mountains. Right…

Bell, on a couple of occasions, seems to pull off one of my biggest pet peeves of preachers. In analyzing a part of Scripture, he ventures so far into the background and culture that he possibly loses sight of what the verse actually says. Don’t get me wrong, I feel like these things are important. Without knowing the context, we can make a verse mean anything. And I applaud Bell for wanting to know the way of the culture in Jesus’ day and how that affects his teachings. But I feel the greatest problem in our study of the Bible is we have a tendency to over analyze things a little. Let me suggest to you that when Jesus said we should love one another, what he really meant by that is we should love one another.

Of course, with all of that said, the book was entertaining. Bell is humorous at times, writes very clearly, and is easy to understand. The way the text is set up you can almost hear Rob reading it to you. If you have ever seen any of the Nooma teaching videos, and you know how he pauses between words and emphasizes certain phrases you will know what I mean. The format of the text does the exact same thing.

By the end of the book, somewhere along the way, Bell has turned it into a book about social activism. The transition is rather beautiful, in that I didn’t even realize it had happened until I was reading about war, poverty, and things like that. These couple of chapters were easily my favorite of the book, as Bell makes some very relevant points.

All in all, it was just a so-so book for me. Nothing terrible about it, but nothing spectacular either. I would compare it to a Max Lucado book, but not as well written. Bell makes some good points and you will come away enjoying the read, but he isn’t going to blow you away with some new thought. Of course, I’m sure there are many who will disagree with me. I don’t mind.

A Million Miles In A Thousand Years – Donald Miller

Donald Miller is my favorite author and in his new book he doesn’t disappoint. A Million Miles In A Thousand Years is another memoir style book. Basically, the premise is this. After Blue Like Jazz did real well, Don had trouble figuring out what to do next. His goal in life was to be able to the pay the rent with his writing. Now that he was able to that, he wasn’t sure what happens next. As a result he lost motivation to write and spent the next couple years dodging phone calls from his publisher.

Miller’s saving grace came in the form of a movie company who wanted to turn Blue Like Jazz into a movie. However, in order to do this, changes had to be made to the Don in the book, essentially because his real life wasn’t interesting enough to make a movie about. While writing the screenplay, Don attended a seminar to learn the basics of story. It was then that Don learned what it is that makes a story interesting. What it is that makes people care what happens to the main character in a movie. And he wonders if we can apply those same basics into our real lives.

So the rest of the book is Don trying to live out the basics of story within his life. It really is another brilliantly written book. Don is always a funny read, and at the same time, always says a few things that really make you think. Everyone tells a story with their lives, Don says, and the story you tell is contagious. This is a book about inspiring people to live better stories. Another great read from Donald Miller.

Same Kind Of Different As Me – Ron Hall and Denver Moore

So here’s the deal. I’m a member of Thomas Nelson Publishing’s blogger review team. This is something new I’m doing, and basically, I write reviews of books on my blog, and after I have written my review Thomas Nelson sends me another book for free. Well, the first book they sent me was a book called What Difference Do It Make, by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. After doing a little research, I found out this book is a sequel to a book written a couple years back called, The Same Kind of Different as Me. I decided it would be best if I read this first book to give me a better understanding of what is going on in the second one. Luckily, my roommate had a copy that I was able to read.

Same Kind of Different as Me was a fantastic book. It is the true story of two men. The authors, Ron Hall and Denver Moore, tell the story of how their lives were intertwined in ways they could have never imagined. Denver grew up, essentially, as a modern day slave. The grandson of sharecroppers he knew nothing different. Meanwhile, Ron Hall was a millionaire art dealer. Not to give too much away, Denver ended up as a homeless man in Dallas, where Ron and his wife Deborah lived. Even though Ron and Denver are the authors, the story is really about Deborah. Drawn to work with the homeless, she insisted that Ron try to make friends with Denver.

The book is fascinating. Opening your eyes to some of the problems that still exist in America that no one tells you about. It is also a fun story about a friendship that no one expects, and what can happen to people when they allow God to run their lives. To me, it is a must read. If you would like a copy of it, you can get it right here.

As soon as I have finished reading, What Difference Do It Make, I’ll be putting the review up on here. But first things first, Donald Miller’s new book. Miller has turned into my favorite author, so I’m gonna read his new one, A Million Miles In A Thousand Years. So you can look forward to that review coming up, too.

Messy Spirituality – Mike Yaconelli

I finished reading Messy Spirituality by Mike Yaconelli yesterday in between classes at school. Honestly, I thought it was one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. The book was a pretty easy read as it only took me about three hours of reading to finish it. Yaconelli is an entertaining writer. I found him very funny and laid back.

The book is about spirituality in a sense that no one lives up to their own expectations for their spiritual lives, and how that in turn negatively effects the way we see God. The idea of “I don’t pray enough for God to love me,” and things like that. But instead of listing all these fool proof methods to strengthen your spiritual life, Yaconelli does something I love. He lets the reader know they are not alone. Everyone struggles with guilt and shame. The whole point is what are you striving for, not what have you done.

Overall, I thought it was a great book. Not much of a thought line or process, just mostly stories about Christians who struggle. And it is effective. I say this is a book that I will read a few more times in the future.