"Faith Beyond Youth Group" (Kara Powell, Jen Bradbury, and Brad M. Griffin)

TITLE: Faith Beyond Youth Group: Five Ways to Form Character and Cultivate Lifelong Discipleship
AUTHOR: Kara Powell, Jen Bradbury, and Brad M. Griffin
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2023, (224 pages).
 

What about the rest of the week? Is there more the faith than the weekly meetings? In recent times, there have been questions about what Church-goers do beyond Sundays. In marketplace ministries, this concern comes in the form of Faith beyond Sundays. Paul Stevens coins this as "The Other Six Days." Laura Nash and Scott McLellan write about this in "Work on Monday, Church on Sunday." Several other authors such as Wayne Jacobsen, Maurice Johnson, and Tony Carvalho word prefer to describe such emphases as "Beyond Sundays." All of these authors want to encourage believers to practice their faith not just on Sundays but every day of the week. What these authors have done, Kara Powell, Jen Bradbury, and Brad M. Griffin want to do the same for youths. Faith should not be limited to a mere once-every-weekend or regular once-a-week youth group meetings. It should be daily, or as often as possible. When interviewing youth ministry leaders, Powell et al note a common occurrence, that after a while, the enthusiasm loses steam. The "We agree it's not working" feedback is sending alarm bells across churches with conventional youth program models. Factor in the high burn-out rate of youth workers, perhaps, it is a good time for leaders to look at some of the more specific areas of concern beyond the mere rest of the week question. Questions such as:

• Are the lives of teenagers improved because of their time at youth groups?
• How is their faith strengthened?
• Are they becoming a positive force for the gospel? 
• Have they become more engaged in the spiritual disciplines in their personal time?
• How do we engage kids in such a way to form their faith in Jesus?
• ........

"Wake Up to Wonder" (Karen Wright Marsh)

TITLE: Wake Up to Wonder - 22 Invitations to Amazement in the Everyday
AUTHOR: Karen Wright Marsh
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2023, (208 pages).
 

There is a joke that talks about the three types of people in this world. The first type waits for things to happen. The second type makes things happen. The third type wonders what happened. The first type is the slacker. The second type is the planner. The third type is the ignorant. From a project management perspective, the joke is a fun way to inject urgency into the team. This book does not deal with project management per se. It is about discerning the exercise of faith, the relevance of hope, and the power of love. It might even encourage us to be the fourth type of person, a wakeful person in discernment about a time to wait, a time to work, and also a time to wonder. Instead of going it alone, author Karen Wright Marsh collects wisdom from 22 different sources of spiritual leaders on discernment. From Henri Nouwen, we learn how a man trapped in the cycle of busyness was able to discern his own identity through writing and conscientious reflection. Martin Luther reminds us of the gift of music to learn to sing our faith out loud. Thomas Merton's life of contemplation teaches us about cultivating prayer to become as natural as breathing. Hildegard Von Bingen points us toward personal healthcare to bring the body and soul to be in harmony. That involves deliberate food choices and health awareness. Margery Kempe shows us the simplicity of journeying spiritually by walking and thinking.

"Practicing Presence" (Joy Prouty)

TITLE: Practicing Presence: A Mother's Guide to Savoring Life through the Photos You're Already Taking
AUTHOR: Joy Prouty
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2023, (pages).
 

It is a familiar sight. At a restaurant, prior to eating the food on the plate, people would bring out their phones to snap a picture. They would then post it on social media to tell the world about what they are eating. Almost everybody has a smartphone these days. Many have more than one due to the rapid technology upgrades and device depreciation. Instead of snapping the picture, posting it, and forgetting it, how about learning to take time to let the photos help us appreciate the little things in life? Not only can that provide a sense of relief in an emotionally fast-paced world, but it also offers some rest and respite for the body to heal. Using the camera as the main tool to capture meaningful moments, author Joy Prouty shares her journey of photography and how the photos enable her to savor life and affirm relationships. She shows us that we do not need to photoshop, crop, or manipulate faces just to appear perfect instead of real. She applies this orientation to herself by taking pictures as they are instead of posed. Take pictures without judgment. Any picture taken would then be considered one that contains something worth remembering. Authentic vs. artificial. Real vs. Posed. Actual vs. Perfect.

"Reading For the Love of God" (Jessica Hooten Wilson)

TITLE: Reading for the Love of God: How to Read as a Spiritual Practice
AUTHOR: Jessica Hooten Wilson
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2023, (208 pages).
 

Why do we read? Some read for mere information. Others read for leisure. A few might read for spiritual formation. The latter reason is what this book is about. Spirituality, spiritual disciplines, or spiritual practice all come under spiritual formation. A key question that asks of us is this: Are we reading for the purpose of utility or for enjoyment? With this theme, author Jessica Hooten Wilson takes us through several different ways in which people read before showing us the way forward to better reading. By comparing and contrasting the various forms of readings, she helps us deal with the whys of reading rather than settling merely for the whats. This calls for some paradigm changes in the way we read. Gradually, she turns our attention toward the art of reading well. There are lots of gems in this book that merit not just reading this book, but also reading in general. First, we learn about ourselves and our reading attitude. She invites us to question ourselves on what kind of reader we are, pointing out the many varied reasons people read in the first place. Her hope is that once we recognize what kind of readers we are, we can then see the difference between where we are and Wilson's proposal about where we ought to go.

"Exit the Cave" (Blaine Hogan)

TITLE: Exit the Cave: Embracing a Life of Courage, Creativity, and Radical Imagination
AUTHOR: Blaine Hogan
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2023, (256 pages).
 

Each of us has our own cave. It is a place where we could feel comfortable, relaxed, and honest with ourselves. For author Blaine Hogan, his cave is more than that. It is about him boldly taking a step out of the cave of addiction, depression, self-pity, and encountering health issues among his loved ones. He shares about past broken relationships, broken marriages, and emotional struggles.  As an actor, he toggles from the highs of success to the lows of addiction. He shares his ups and downs through personal stories told with brutal honesty. Some of his most painful episodes were about the hurts he had inflicted on others and the resultant turmoil that tormented him emotionally and spiritually. He thought singing can help him feel better but any positive vibes didn't last. He shares about his constant travels because of his gigs. His search for peace continues with his foray into theological education in Seattle. While disappointed with the city and the school for various reasons, he soon finds inspiration in the stories of Hagar and Sarah. He would be challenged by two simple questions:

1. Where have you come from?
2. Where are you going?

These two questions would gradually help sprout other questions that not only probe his inner self and relationships but also his purpose in life. The bulk of this book deals with the way he answers these two questions. On the question of where he came from, Hogan shares honestly about his past, celebrating the highs as well as admitting the lows. The second question about where he is going deals with his desire to move forward from his checkered past. His journey in search of healing does not come easy. He summarizes his life with "four straight lines" or more specifically, our imperfect efforts to draw four perfectly straight lines. In a throwback to life in general, he shows us that we ought not be chained by our imperfections. Spirituality is essentially about not giving up in spite of our imperfect drawings of life. This is such a liberating thing to learn. 

"Inner Healing and Deliverance" (Jennifer Eivaz)

TITLE: Inner Healing and Deliverance Handbook
AUTHOR: Jennifer Eivaz
PUBLISHER: Minneapolis, MN: Chosen Books, 2022, (224 pages).
 

Hurt people, hurt people. Healed people, help people. Being human, we often need to be helped first before we could help others. It has been said that Christ came to earth not to make people good, but to make dead people live. The Bible says that because of sin, we died, but because of Christ, we live. Some Christians claim belief but still live superficially. We need to change from the inside out. One way or another, we all need to be healed and to be delivered from the different impediments that prevent us from growing spiritually. Sometimes, there are deeper issues of the soul that need particular attention. This is where this book comes in. Written by one whose life has been changed from the inside out, this book represents the work and experience of an author whose conviction is that Christ heals and there is demonstrable power of the Holy Spirit that we need. Author Jennifer Eivaz asserts that every believer is a minister. Known also as the "Praying Prophet," Eivaz has spent her life teaching the need for inner healing and deliverance. Inner healing is "the healing of the inner [person]: the mind, the emotions, the painful memories, the dreams. It is the process through prayer whereby we are set free from resentment, rejection, self-pity,  repression, guilt, fear, sorrow, hatred, inferiority, condemnation, or worthlessness, etc." Deliverance is "from God and is part of the blessing of being in covenant with Him. It only destroys what is of the devil; it never destroys what is of the Holy Spirit. Since deliverance is a work of the Holy Spirit, it builds up the saints and edifies the Church. It tears down the strongholds of the enemy but builds up the work of God." Both are needed together. 

"Why You Matter" (Michael Sherrard)

TITLE: Why You Matter (Perspectives: A Summit Ministries Series): How Your Quest for Meaning Is Meaningless without God
AUTHOR: Michael Sherrard
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2021, (194 pages).

For every "what" there needs to be a "why." For some of us, we need more than simply an answer to the latter. For many of us, this is essentially a quest for meaning and significance of our lives. What makes life meaningful? How are we part of the grand plan of significance? The key thesis in this book is that God exists, and that is why we matter. With the ongoing pandemic, many people are dealing with disruptions, loneliness, deaths, sicknesses, health issues, in particular mental and spiritual well-being. These might lead them to question the meaning of life. Then comes racial issues which led to the rise of the "Black Lives Matter" as well as an "All Lives Matter" reaction by some quarters. Even in societies that pride on equality and freedom of expression, many people still go through crises of various types. Author and pastor Michael Sherrard focus on a "crisis of meaning" to probe behind the reasons why people insist their lives matter in the first place. Once we can understand that, the rest will come into place. He helps us go beyond mere feelings as a judge of our worth. For feelings are often too subjective to be reliable. Rather than letting our feelings, our skills, or our subjectivity determine our life's meaning and identity, why not go back to our Creator? How is that meaningful? In the quest for such answers, we start by observing the culture and society we are living in. Can our present situation of secularism and godless society bring everlasting meaning? What are the promises of atheism? What about morality? The author helps us take a critical look at the society we are in, on the emptiness of the "good life" we often assume we are in. Gradually, he switches gear to help us envision a world with God. Sherrard essentially says the following:  

"Where Prayer Becomes Real" (Kyle Strobel and John Coe)

TITLE: Where Prayer Becomes Real
AUTHOR: Kyle Strobel and John Coe
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2021, (224 pages).

The human heart can be one of the most, if not the most difficult thing to change. That is why there are many change specialists who show us different strategies to change the systemic environment that we live in. For instance, top change management specialist, Kurt Lewin popularized the change management paradigm called the "Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze" model. In simple terms, in order to make change more permanent, we need to undo the old, to inject the new, and then freeze it. Just like using super-glue. We clean the surface, apply the adhesive, and then wait for the glue to set. In the same way, if we need to change our own habits, we can learn a thing or two from such change paradigms. As the saying goes, old habits die hard. When it comes to prayer, there are many old habits that simply are hard to change. In this book about learning to pray more authentically, we learn about several habits that could become impediments to prayer. Habits like wandering minds; avoiding truth when it hurts; learning to embrace Gods expectations instead of ours; and how our prayers could be impeded by sin and pain; and others. So authors Kyle Strobel and John Coe give us tips on how to unlearn (unfreeze) our prayers. In fact, the desire to want to "pray correctly" might in itself make our prayers less real than intended. When prayers become performance, it would entail focusing on aesthetics and synthetics more than our organic self. When prayers become a place where we try to hide our vulnerability, we will not be able to present all of ourselves to God. When our prayers are filled with doubts about whether God can really answer us, we limit our faith and as a result, limit God. When we anticipate God only to be a God of good news and nice feelings, we would refrain from presenting our fears, concerns, pain, and heartaches to God. Thankfully, Strobel and Coe didn't stop there. They help us along with a way to pray honestly without ceasing. With guidance from the Lord's Prayer and many other teachings from Scripture, they show us a path forward. Their starting point for us is critical. For any prayer to be real, we need to deal with two temptations:

"A Habit Called Faith" (Jen Pollock Michel)

TITLE: A Habit Called Faith: 40 Days in the Bible to Find and Follow Jesus
AUTHOR: Jen Pollock Michel
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2021, (256 pages).

Don't just think your way to faith. Practice it. This is the crux of this book about spiritual formation via the practice of faith. Practice it regularly enough until it becomes a habit. This is the way of faith. For repetition is one of the most proven ways to cultivate memory. What better way than to use 40-days as a memory forming benchmark. The use of "40 days" has been well-documented in both Scriptures as well as popular literature. Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness. Stephen the first martyr told the story of Moses in three 40-year segments. Rick Warren's famous book about purpose-driven was based on 40 days on intentional purpose forming. Written like a devotional, there are 40 days of exercises with daily readings, Bible verses, the author's reflections, and two questions. Designed more for individual and to some extent for group use, the key advice the author gives to any reader is to simply finish the book. The fruit is sweetest if this is practiced to the fullest. Michel divides the book into two parts. The first 20 days are based on the book of Deuteronomy while the other 20 days are reflections on the gospel of John. Interspersed every five days are testimonies of faith from different people. Mark Lawrence talks about his habits of church attendance and Sunday School. Ian Cusson's experience of Church is very much liturgical. In spite of his indigenous background of the pains of residential schools, he aims to be a bridge between "indigeneity and Christianity."

"Keeping Christmas" (Allison Pittman)

TITLE: Keeping Christmas: 25 Advent Reflections on A Christmas Carol
AUTHOR: Allison Pittman
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2020, (128 pages).

Come each Christmas, modern people would associate the event with shopping and year-end festivities. Many would also go back to watching classic movies like "It's a Wonderful Life," "Miracle on 34th Street," "A Charlie Brown Christmas," or "A Christmas Carol." Why do we enjoy old classics? Is there any reason for celebrating Christmas the old traditional way? Perhaps, the answer ought to be another question: "Why not?" CS Lewis has warned us about "chronological snobbery" to remind us not to let the everything-new jettison the everything-old. Not all new stuff is great. Not all old stuff is outdated. There are many things that are timeless and helps us appreciate life. Great stories are always worth telling and retelling from generation to generation. The lessons of old are essential for guiding learners, both old and new. More importantly, the lessons are reminders of how we are the old made new. Based on 2 Corinthians 5:17-19, the 25 devotionals remind us of how Scrooge was a life that was transformed, one day at a time, until that eventful Christmas Eve. This book is an Advent devotional to highlight such timeless principles daily for 25 days prior to Christmas. 

"The Negativity Remedy" (Nicole J. Phillips)

TITLE: The Negativity Remedy: Unlocking More Joy, Less Stress, and Better Relationships Through Kindness
AUTHOR: Nicole J. Phillips
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2020, (176 pages).

In a broken world, how can we create more joy, less stress, and better relationships? How can we identify the negativity in us that threatens to create more negativity outside? Beginning with a confession of her own tendency toward meanness, author Nicole Phillips invites us to battle own own "inner meanie" and to put on kindness. Avoid the trap of thinking that the world is against us when it is simply this means deception within us that is saying that. Essentially, this book is about turning over a new leaf in terms of our own behavior. We might not be able to change other people but we can definitely change our own selves, especially on how to respond to any circumstances. We can curtail any tendency to be mean and to cultivate our ability to be kind. How do we do that? That is the main purpose of this book.

Phillips learned personally the power of kindness and how the capacity for kindness will never be exhausted. For those who finds that incredible or hard to believe, Phillips recommends that we learn to do some soul searching to discover the inner meanie in us. Nip that in the bud and we should be on our way to kindness. She gives scientific evidence on the benefits of showing kindness, how it releases feel-good chemicals in our body: Endorphins, Serotonin, Dopamine, and Oxytocin.

"Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling" (Robert W. Kellemen)

TITLE: Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling
AUTHOR: Robert W. Kellemen
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2020, (272 pages).

For many people, marriage is about love between two persons. For Christians, marriage is indeed about love, but with an additional belief, that marriage is about being united before God. What is marriage from God's perspective? Why must we treat marriage counseling as based on the gospel of grace? Theologically and practically, what does it mean? Unlike books that dish out advice for married couples, this book is about equipping marriage counselors to help married couples. For author and pastor Robert Kellemen, marriage counseling is about helping couples "see their marriage from a larger set of eyes." In fact, he insists that for Christians, it is a no-brainer that marriages are essentially meant to be gospel-centered. So, the author gives us 22 "counseling relational competencies." He suggests that the book be used in a "small group lab setting." For couples, focus not on "solutions" but on "soul-utions." The emphasis is about forming the inner soul. A marriage with transformed inner selves will be gospel-centered. Kellemen tells us the three common approaches to marriage counseling: Family systems; narrative therapy; and solution-focused therapy. All of them have in common the need to understand people; to diagnose the problem; and then to identify the solution needed. Kellemen aims to go a step further than all of these by pointing us to "gospel connection." This is done through facilitating "gospel conversations." 

"The Mr Rogers Effect" (Dr. Anita Knight Kuhnley)

TITLE: The Mister Rogers Effect: 7 Secrets to Bringing Out the Best in Yourself and Others from America's Beloved Neighbor
AUTHOR: Dr. Anita Knight Kuhnley
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2020, (208 pages).

He has been called "America's Hero." Others call him a brilliant educator. In this book, he is called "America's Beloved Neighbour." He is best known for his children's TV program called "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." His life has also inspired the making of a 2019 movie played by Tom Hanks, "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood." What spurred the author to write this book was Rogers's ability to connect with people. She marvels at how Rogers minister to an inner-city kid dealing with anger issues, and lamenting about how they need a Mr Rogers in their neighbourhood. She examines Rogers's careful words to reach out to a young boy on a wheelchair extending care beyond the boy to the doctors and nurses who cared for him. What was more amazing was that 18 years later, they still reconnected with much warmth and love. This and many more are highlights of Mr Rogers amazing life. There is much to learn from Rogers's life. Author Anita Kuhnley contributes to this by going on a quest to discover how to translate Mr Roger's positive influence into some helpful tools and strategies that we can use in our daily lives. Thanks to her training in psychology and qualitative research skills, she combs the resources about the legendary Fred McFeely Rogers, and how his influence had impacted lives both young and old. The key trademark is how Mr Rogers spoke to those of us feeling neglected and lonely. That is because he cares. Using television as a way to reach out to people, Rogers also learns from psychologists and relational experts to hone his skills in communicating care. Rogers credits Dr McFarland for that. Kuhnley gives us an overview of the four types of relational approaches: Secure; Preoccupied; Dismissive; and Unresolved. Apart from the secure child-parent relationship, the other three categories would produce different levels of insecurity in a child. Learning to connect with children and people in these categories is the purpose of Mr Rogers's ministry. Kuhnley does the hard work of digging through the materials and available resources about Mr Rogers and offers up seven "secrets" of Mr Rogers's unique ability to connect with people. The seven secrets mentioned are seven characteristics of what a good neighbour ought to be. These are:

"See-Through Marriage" (Ryan and Selena Frederick)

TITLE: See-Through Marriage
AUTHOR: Ryan and Selena Frederick
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2020, (256 pages).

In any marriage, honesty is a given. Couples are expected to be truthful to each other in all things. Put it another way, good marriages have transparency as the key attribute. No secrets. No lies. No hidden agendas. According to marriage counselors Ryan and Selena Frederick, "unfettered transparency rescues relationships, glorifies God, and multiplies joy." Transparency means vulnerability. Vulnerability involves openness and humility. It invites trust. Why is this critical? One major reason is the widespread show-off culture driven by the popularity of social media. This tempts one to pretend one is well by putting forth photos and pictures of what people wanted to see. The authors believe that we live in a culture of what we see is what we expect to get. Marriages too can fall into such falsehood. The challenge is to take meaningful risk by being vulnerable and transparent. Avoid false vulnerability which essentially hides what is important and only displays what is less important. With the central thesis of cultivating a "see-through marriage," the authors lead us through different ways to accomplish that. Using Bible teachings as the key guide, they remind us that we do not need to hide in darkness but to boldly live in the light. Living in the light according to 1 John 1:6-8 contains two promises when we do that: Purification and fellowship. Transparency means not only we not hide from God, we learn not to hide from each other. There is no fear in love. A healthy marriage means we learn to be open with each other instead of hiding things from each other. That means we learn to know ourselves and the identity God has given us. If we are secured in knowing our identity in God, we will not easily compare ourselves with others. They expand on this topic of identity through the physiological self as well as the psychological self. Experiencing oneness is one of the deepest experiences transparency can provide. 

"Loving Your Community" (Stephen Viars)

TITLE: Loving Your Community
AUTHOR: Stephen Viars
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2020, (240 pages).

The greatest commandment according to Jesus is simply this: Love the Lord our God with all our heart, our mind, and our soul. The second is to love our neighbour as ourselves. Saying it is easy. Doing it is hard. That is why love is easier said than done. Many churches budget for outreach programs as part of the Great Commission. Such outreach generally comprises evangelism, mission, social concerns, and community outreach. If I can use one word to summarize all of the above, outreach would be quite appropriate. Whether local or foreign, near or distant, the reason churches exist must be for the sake of proclaiming God's kingdom far and wide. The moment churches become inward-looking, that would not only compromise their calling as the Bride of Christ, that marks the beginning of the end for their existence. Author and pastor Stephen Viars shares his over thirty years of experience serving the community both inside and outside of his Church community. He shares his work and ministry in this book driven by one objective: Helping us to default from "Saying NO unless you have to say YES" to "Saying YES unless you have to say NO."  He knows the appalling rate of outreach among many churches that choose to play it safe and to keep their resources to themselves.

"Courageous" (Dr Robert Jeffress)

TITLE: Courageous: 10 Strategies for Thriving in a Hostile World
AUTHOR: Dr. Robert Jeffress
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2020, (272 pages).

What are we afraid of? What do we do when our faith is under attack? What strategies can we adopt when living in a hostile world? Can we live beyond simply surviving toward thriving? In this book, author and pastor Robert Jeffress gives us ten practical "survival tips" which are actually a disguise for helping us to thrive instead. These ten tips are:

1. Don't panic
2. Gain situational awareness
3. Take inventory
4. Develop a victor, not a victim mindset
5. Trust your training
6. Bend, don't break
7. Beware of celebrating the summit
8. Learn from the past
9. Help others
10. Do the next right thing.

"Christianity for People Who Aren't Christians" (James Emery White)

TITLE: Christianity for People Who Aren’t Christians
AUTHOR: James Emery White
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2019, (240 pages).

What does it mean to share the gospel? What about those who don't understand the Christian language or common lingos? Is there are way to share the gospel simply without expecting pre-requisite knowledge from the hearers? Yes there is a way. Author and pastor James Emery White shows us the way to answer common questions that non-Christians ask, and how we could answer them.

He tackles the question of God by asking: "What kind of God do you believe in?" Going into the sciences and the question of origins, White raises question after question from the perception of the seeker. How do life begin? What made it come together? Is the idea of supernaturalism realistic? White approaches the topic from a scientific angle, asking probing questions to show readers that all of the human race begin with significantly common ground. Things happen from something. We are more than simply a body of DNA. He makes a strong case that without God, explaining life does not make sense. He asks questions about morality, about family, and things which society at large are concerned about. Science is great but it can only cover limited ground.

"Don't Give Up" (Kyle Idleman)

TITLE: Don't Give Up: Faith That Gives You the Confidence to Keep Believing and the Courage to Keep Going
AUTHOR: Kyle Idleman
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2019, (240 pages).

How do we encourage someone? Do we use the soft gentle approach like Mr Rogers? That might tempt one toward self-pity or worse, a sense of depression. Or do we use the William Wallace approach to usher in courage? That might move us beyond our comfort zones. In this book by bestselling author and senior pastor of one of the largest mega churches in America, we are told not only to never give up but to press on with the exhortation from the Bible book of Hebrews 12:1-3. After showing us the powerful examples of faith in the long list of people in Hebrews 11, we receive a “battle cry” to press ahead to finish the race of faith. There is a time for sympathy and a time to spring into action. Idleman’s key thesis has to deal with the latter. His three-part strategy is based on the Hebrews 12:1-3 text, especially verse 1.

1. Listen to the Crowd
2. Throw off the Weight
3. Run Your Race

"Upside-Down Spirituality" (Chad Bird)

TITLE: Upside-Down Spirituality
AUTHOR: Chad Bird
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2019, (208 pages).

The early disciples turned the Roman civilization upside down. In spite of ostracization from the Jews and persecution by the Romans, the early Christians maintained their faith and religious practices. They were considered outcasts and failures by society. Yet, the faith they hold on to are very much alive and kicking. The use of false witnesses, smear campaigns, vicious persecutions, and other obstacles could not stop the gospel from spreading. All these happens exactly according to what Jesus had said. We save our lives by losing it; we who are the least would become the greatest; and the way to be first is to come from being last. The counter-cultural spirituality is something that author Chad Bird tries to highlight in this book of "9 essential failures" of the Christian life. Nobody likes to hear about failures. Yet, the very nature of success is that it is the fruit of multiple failings. Failures in things we accumulate about ourselves will save us from ourselves. After all, a good life according to the world is to have everything going right for our selfish selves. A life with Christ however would entail the same manner in which Christ was treated, we too would be treated. This reminds me of the last beatitude of Jesus in Matthew 5:11 that disciples of Christ will be persecuted for his sake. Briefly, the kind of "good" failures Bird talks about are:

"Faith is For Weak People" (Ray Comfort)

TITLE: Faith Is for Weak People: Responding to the Top 20 Objections to the Gospel
AUTHOR: Ray Comfort
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2019, (224 pages).

Not many Christians actively share the gospel. Some hide behind good works while others succumb to a climate of fear and intimidation. The Bible urges believers to be strong and courageous for if God is for us, who can be against us? Plus, there is no fear in love for perfect love casts out all fear. Why then are people afraid to speak up for God's Word and the salvation of the world? Perhaps, it is due to the hostility surrounding Christianity in society. It might also be linked to people feeling ill equipped to deal with objections, especially those questions that even Christians find it hard to answer. Bible teacher and apologist, Ray Comfort knows it from experience. He makes his point very clear. Some Christians roar like lions on social issues such as corruption, violence, poverty, drug abuse, and so on, but when it comes to the gospel, they squeak like mice. The way of salvation is not through good works but through the gospel of Jesus Christ. More importantly, love overcomes all manner of fear. After making a passionate plea for all believers to advance the gospel, Comfort challenges all to have a ready answer for 20 top objections. I have paraphrased most of them.