"Surprised by Grace" (Kevin P. Joyce)

TITLE: Surprised By Grace: A Spiritual Journey from West to East and Back
AUTHOR: Kevin Patrick Joyce
PUBLISHER: New York, NY: Crossroad Publishing, 2024, (240 pages).
 

This book is about the author's spiritual memoir of his journey from faith to commitment; theological education to ordination; and his engagement with spiritual experiences from both East and West. Since he was 11, Kevin Joyce has strong calling for the priesthood, so strong that he chose it over romance, a career in medicine, and other youthful endeavors. He grappled with various emotions and contexts throughout his youth. He left the seminary for a time to pursue other goals instead of the priesthood. He nearly committed to a long-term relationship with Antonia, only to realize he was not ready. Ultimately, together with his family background, prominent spiritual influence from his maternal grandmother, his positive impressions of Church Mass, and realizing the reality of Jesus' Resurrection, he returned to his religious vocation. He has two purposes in this book. First, to share his learning from spiritual masters. Second, to compare the spiritual paths and traditions of both East (Vedic) and West (Christian). This is Kevin Joyce's conversion, confession, exploration, redemption, and re-commitment story.

"Reviving Mission" (Linson Daniel, Jon Hietbrink, and Eric Rafferty)

TITLE: Reviving Mission: Awakening to the Everyday Movement of God
AUTHOR: Linson Daniel, Jon Hietbrink, and Eric Rafferty
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2024, (240 pages).
 

Are missions outdated? Does God still speak today with signs and wonders? Is there any similar outpouring of the Spirit like the 20th-century Azuza Street revival? Are revivals a thing of the past? Are revivals in general considered anomalies? Inspired by the Asbury revival of 2023 which spread to several campuses in America, the authors of this book excitedly proclaimed that mission can be revived. This book is about reviving: a) our conceptions of mission; b) the impact of mission on the people we are sent to; and c) the impact of mission on the people who are sent. Instead of jettisoning the old ways of mission, the authors urge us to renew our old ways in terms of re-contextualization. Go back to Jesus as the root of all missions. Follow the ways of Jesus in everyday living. Be Christlike to all. Claiming that "The Old Way is an Everyday Way," they encourage us to follow Jesus' ordinary life in an ordinary society. Once we recognize the many similarities of first-century culture and our modern society, we can breathe new life into the ordinary. 

"Sacred Attachment" (Michael John Cusick)

TITLE: Sacred Attachment: Escaping Spiritual Exhaustion and Trusting in Divine Love
AUTHOR: Michael John Cusick
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2025, (192 pages).

Embodied living by faith is better than explanations about faith. The experience transcends knowledge. Feeling loved is far better than talking about love. Information does not necessarily lead to spiritual formation. We can try hard to grow spiritually but become frustrated at the lack of progress. The key thesis of this book is that divine growth comes from a combination of feeling loved and trusting God. The former comes from being seen, soothed, feeling safe and secure. The latter flows out from the results of the 4S paradigm. This 4S sequence is the essence of the author's "Sacred Attachment." Beginning with being SEEN, we are reminded that God sees us, either directly or via the communities we are in. Being seen virtually means we are understood as we hear the words "I get you." This stage lays the foundation of being SOOTHED where God or our carer(s) say to us: "I've got you." The third stage is SAFE (I've got this) and the final stage is SECURE (Love has me). Author Michael John Cusick believes that these 4S encapsulate our emotional needs and human longings. It sets out for us the path toward Sacred Attachment. Using attachment theory, Cusick believes that spiritual growth is best cultivated when our "immature infant brain" gets attached to a "mature adult brain," so that we can better organize and regulate the way we learn and grow. Our limitations stem from a false paradigm that as long as we do the right things, we will naturally grow. We often believe lies about ourselves or our capabilities. We trust ourselves more than God. Our self-dependence leads us toward the perfectionism trap while Cusick reminds us about the superiority of Hebrew wisdom over Greek philosophy. Using Brain McLaren's words, he affirms that "Hebrew good is better than Greek perfect." Once we recognize our human limitations, that we are broken but not bad, we are ready to turn the page toward confession. Here, Cusick gives us the 5Ws to show us how these affect the way we attach to God. These 5Ws are:

"Preaching in a New Key" (Mark R. Glanville)

TITLE: Preaching in a New Key: Crafting Expository Sermons in Post-Christian Communities
AUTHOR: Mark R. Glanville
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2025, (240 pages)
 

Our audiences are changing. Culture is shifting. So too are people's expectations. While we should not follow worldly ways, preachers must be aware of new cultural attitudes and changing paradigms. Expository preaching is needed but it needs to be adjusted in a manner that connects with modern listeners. Australian-Canadian pastor and author Mark Glanville helps us contextualize our message sensitively to changing cultural movements. Trained in Haddon Robinson's Big-Idea Preaching and updated with Graham Johnson and Tim Keller's apologetic approaches, Glanville feels that expository preaching needs to move with changing times. A paradigm shift is needed for a post-Christian culture. Our preaching strategies need to change simply because our audiences are changing. This itself is not a new idea. This book casts fresh light on expository preaching for a new post-Christian generation. Glanville intends this book to be an introductory textbook for new preachers and a "recalibration" for experienced ones. His thesis is this: Expository preaching needs to form communities that will participate in God's big redemption plan to bring healing and hope to the communities we are in.

"Evangelical Idolatry" (Jeff Mikels)

TITLE: Evangelical Idolatry: How Pastors Like Me Have Failed the People of God
AUTHOR: Jeff Mikels
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2025, (256 pages).
 

Why are there so many people who were baptized but not growing as Christians in daily life? Why are Church people ready to discuss love but not demonstrate it on social media? Why do people trust Fox News more than the words of Jesus? If Christians preach love thy neighbour, why is it not seen more frequently in daily interactions? From social media to politics, pastor Jeff Mikels shares three events that led to personal changes from hope to disappointment:  Donald Trump's impeachment trial, the pandemic, and the murder of George Floyd. All three events touch on the sensitivities surrounding politics, race, and religion. He encounters deeper discouragement and disillusion as he tries to change his messaging to adapt to the changing environment. Dealing with cultures, and increasingly subcultures are damaging to Church health. As a pastor, and now an ex-pastor, Mikels feels he failed at several levels. Even as he tries to find out the reasons behind the disappointments, he attempts to expose false teachings and presumptions both personal and external. This book is about that journey of exposing personal weaknesses and worldly idolatry. Beginning with "Evangelicalism has idols," Mikels attempts to uncover false beliefs happening within the Church, especially the American evangelical Church. His main target: Idolatry within evangelicalism. Writing as a former pastor, he begins with his personal disillusionment and disappointment with the Church.