UnFinished by Richard Sterns

Richard Stearns, president of Christian relief organization World Vision, has spoken to countless people worldwide from all walks of life, and found that many express a common concern. In Unfinished: Believing is Only the Beginning(9780849948510, $24.99, Thomas Nelson/HarperCollins Christian Publishing), Stearns observes that believers want to be sure they are living out God’s calling for their lives.

The April 30 release is a book about “what it means to be a follower of Christ in the 21st century,” Stearns told Christian Retailing. 

The book’s title has a dual meaning, he said. It refers to the unfinished mission Jesus gave His disciples: to preach the gospel to the whole world. But it also refers to how many Christians “feel incomplete in our faith, that’s something’s missing.” 

More than evangelism, Stearns said the Great Commission is “really what Jesus always called the kingdom of God … going into the world and showing the world a different way to live, a different way to relate to one another, a different way to relate to God, caring for the poor and the vulnerable and the widow and the orphan, being people of integrity, people of compassion, people of justice.”

However, Stearns writes, with the endless details of everyday life, many believers have lost sight of God’s larger narrative. To help them recover what that is, Unfinished begins by investigating a big question, “What is Truth?” and then summarizes God’s grand story. 

Stearns describes what he calls the clash between “the magic kingdom”—the affluent Christian life—and “the tragic kingdom”—the Christian life shaped by poverty. He says neither reflects the true kingdom of God, which requires individuals submitting to God’s rule, communities governed by His values and people going into the world as His ambassadors. 

Among the examples he cites are Steve Reynolds, who introduced U2 frontman Bono to Ethiopia’s famine, and the Stu and Robin Phillips family, who sold their Wyoming ranch to build God’s kingdom. 

Stearns’ previous book, The Hole in Our Gospel, also from Thomas Nelson, won the 2010 Christian Book Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. 

Cross Roads by Wm. Paul Young: a 5 star Book!

Rarely do I read a work of Fiction that changes my life, one that impacts me and helps me to deepen my faith.  I have read some great fiction, C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, Jon Henderson, James Byron Huggins, Ted Deckker and many others; yet none of those impacted my way of life, or my thinking in the way that one author has.

            Classic literature is filled with controversy and topics that made people think.  “Oliver Twist”; “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”; “War and Peace” these are just some titles that not only were good reads but led to a revolution of thought.

            Back in 2008 a book came out by Wm. Paul Young called the Shack.  This single book went on to be on every Best Seller list and sell millions of copies.  The book wasn’t without it’s controversies yet when one set down and read it in its entirety and in the concept of a fiction titles they could understand it so much better.

            Wm. Paul Young is back.  This November 2012 his second work is coming out entitled “Cross Roads”.  I received a free preview copy from Hachette Book Group to review.  

            In this story Young takes on the concept of the Soul.  What is it?  What does it look like?  We follow a man who had it all, wealth, fame, etc… but used his family as a stepping stone as well as anyone else who got in his way.  When his life is suddenly traumatized and he finds him self in coma we begin to see what takes place.

            Follow Tony as he journeys through the hear and now visiting in minds of those surrounding him.  And what happens when Jesus himself tells Tony that he could heal one person?  Will the selfish man win, or will Tony experience a change in heart?

            As always, since this book deals with the Trinity, and deals with the Soul and the topic of what happens when a body is not dead but not full of life, there will be controversy.  Expect it, and embrace it.  Learn from it!

            There is a line at the end of the book that I feels sums it up the best:

“Imagery,” added Grandmother, “has never been able to define God, but it is our intention to be known, and each whisper and breath of imagery is a little window into a facet of our nature.  Pretty cool, eh?”

If you look for Truth you may find comfort in the end.

If you look for comfort you will not get neither comfort nor truth,

Only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin and in the end, despair.   

~C.S. Lewis

This is a must read.  Put all other fiction aside and read this book as soon as it comes out!

You will not be disappointed and you will be led to THINK!

What the Lord Requires by James C. Howell

I recently received a small booklet entitled “What the Lord Requires” by James C. Howell.  I received it free from the publisher in order to read and post a review.

This was a very short and simple read.  It was theological yet practical in it’s look at who was the Prophet Micah and what is behind his statement to “Do Justice, love Mercy and Walk humbly with your God.”

The Author did a decent job of detailing the time and scope of the original message and then went into the thoughts behind the three things mentioned in the verse.

Here is what the publisher had to say:

Veteran pastor and scholar James C. Howell skillfully unpacks one of the most powerful verses in the Old Testament, Micah 6:8: "What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" In a concise yet engaging manner, Howell illuminates the original context in which this verse was written, asking questions such as:

• Who was Micah?
• What was going on when he spoke?
• How did his listeners receive what he said—and how do we?
• Who is this God who requires?
• What might justice, kindness, and humility look like for us today?

Howell draws his readers into the original experience of the prophet's audience, and demonstrates how Micah's message can still guide us in our lives today.
A Leader's Guide is also included in this book, making it a wonderful resource for both group and individual use.
James C. Howell is Senior Pastor of Myers Park United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is the author of a number of books including The Will of God: Answering the Hard Questions; The Beatitudes for Today; and 40 Treasured Bible Verses: A Devotional, all published by Westminster John Knox Press.

So in summary: If you want a detailed book on Justice, check out a different title.  If you want a brief look at an obscure prophet of the Bible, then you found the right book.