Unexpected Love by Julie Colemen

The attitude toward women at the time of Christ was one of subjection. They were thought inferior, fickle, contentious, and indecisive. They had no legal rights and lived under the control of their father and then husband.

“God did not originally intend this for women,” Julie writes. God created Adam and Eve as an equal partnership. The idea of authority and dominion would come after the fall.

“But Jesus came to set them free.” His redemption sets us free from the condemnation of sin. “We are also delivered from the consequences of sin.” Christ removed the curse. “He intended to restore women to the glory they had at creation.”

Julie looks at nine women who had interactions with Jesus. They all needed Jesus. And Jesus was interested in them. In a culture that devalued women, Jesus showed intentional interest in them. He gave them significance.

Julie covers each of the interactions within its cultural context, revealing a purposeful Jesus. “He wanted to transform their lives.”

I was impressed with how Julie dealt with the biblical stories. She first gives the Scripture passage then retells the story in her own words, adding lots of interesting details. She has a section on “digging deeper.” I could tell Julie has done lots of research. She brought out facts about the time period I had never seen before. She then includes a section applying the story's lessons to women today.

Each chapter ends with questions and suggestions for journaling. These could be used for personal or group discussions. This book would make a fine study for a woman's Bible study group.

Free resources, including handouts and lesson plan suggestions, are available for groups using Unexpected Love at www.unecpectedlove.org.

Julie Coleman earned an MA in biblical studies after twenty years teaching children. She now writes and speaks full time, and, with her husband Steve, spends time with family including six grandchildren. They live in the Annapolis, Maryland area.

You can find out more about Julie and her ministry at www.juliecoleman.org.

Thomas Nelson, 256 pages. This book releases February 5, 2013.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.

Etched . . . Upon My Heart by Jill Kelly

What would you want your children to remember about you, should you die today? Jill writes, "This book is everything I hope my daughters eventually learn, always remember, and never forget.” (x)

Jill records moments in her life and what she has learned from them. She has grouped her experiences into chapters, each one covering a topic. At the end of each chapter Jill has included a list of what to remember and never forget, a prayer, and Scripture related to the chapter's topic.

For example, she writes about a birthmark she tried to hide, likening it to a relentless longing that echoed through her soul – a longing she was able to hide from everyone but herself. She shares other experiences from which she learned lessons on love, significance, forgiveness, suffering, giving, prayer, faithfulness, and death.

Many of her lessons came from painful situations. Probably the most painful was the death of their toddler son from a rare genetic disease. Jill honestly shares her complete collapse under the weight of the grief too intense to bear. She writes, “The temptation to reject the Word of God and buy into the lie that God had abandoned me was overwhelming.” (172) She came out of the experience with a deeper understanding of the power of the gospel.

Through all of these experiences, Jill concludes, “God is more concerned with who we are than what we do, more concerned with our character than our achievements. Godly character will necessarily lead to loving obedience, while its lack can still produce all kinds of good works with proud and self-righteous motives.” (160)

Jill is very honest as she shares her experiences. This book is certainly an encouragement to anyone facing painful circumstances in life. Jill relates her encouragement because she has gone through similar situations herself. We'll be thankful someday for those hurts, she writes. “It may not be today, and it may not be tomorrow – but someday... For it's your sorrow that will lead you to His love, and your suffering that will bring you to His grace.” (191) Wise words indeed.

Jill Kelly is the wife of former Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly. In September 1997, months after their infant son was diagnosed with a fatal disease called Krabbe Leukodystrophy, Jim and Jill founded Hunter's Hope Foundation. Jill and her husband live in Buffalo, NY, with their two daughters. Jill is also the author of Without a Word. Find out more about the Foundation at www.HuntersHope.org.

FaithWords (Hachette Book Group), 224 pages.

I received a complimentary galley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.

Who Do You Think You Are? by Mark Driscoll

We Christians have a condition, Driscoll writes. “We're continually forgetting who we are in Christ and filling that void by placing our identity in pretty much anything else.” (3)

Knowing our identity is important. It is underlying our struggles. We don't understand who we truly are in Christ.

Driscoll hopes that this book, by the grace of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, will help us know our identity so we can live as we should.

After a great introduction, Driscoll takes us through the book of Ephesians. He covers the book paragraph by paragraph. He introduces the topic with a story of someone living out the truth. Then he goes through the passage explaining it, adding other relevant Bible passages. The topics: Saints. Blessed. Appreciated. Saved. Reconciled. Afflicted. Heard. Gifted. New. Forgiven. Adopted. Loved. Rewarded. Victorious.

His exposition on each section of Ephesians is well thought out and very encouraging. For example, he writes about the reality of suffering. Rather than a simple look at it, he addresses fourteen kinds of affliction found in Scripture. He reminds us that Paul opened Ephesians indicating he was a prisoner yet ends chapter one telling the Ephesians to not lose heart. Driscoll also gives the results of suffering: growth, credibility.

Driscoll has an excellent section on spiritual gifts with a good way of identifying one's own gift. He has a very good teaching on spiritual warfare.

Driscoll has done an excellent job in reminding us who we are in Christ. And we do need to be reminded from time to time as we frequently forget. I do wish discussion questions would have been included in this book. It would make a good book for a small group or Sunday School class, but with no discussion questions, its use is limited.

You can find out more about the book, with sample discussion questions and videos of corresponding curriculum, at http://pastormark.tv/books/who-do-you-think-you-are. You can access sermons on Ephesians and other information at marshill.com and pastormark.tv.

Mark Driscoll is pastor at Mars Hill Church, Seattle, Washington. He is widely recognized as influential and innovative in his ministry. He is the author of more than twelve books. He and his wife have five children.

Thomas Nelson, 256 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.

Les Miserables Radio Theatre

Les Miserables is a classic that has been enjoyed by generations. The characters are unforgettable: the selfless Jean Valjean, obsessed Inspector Javert, and deceitful Thenardier. The themes Hugo portrayed through the characters are timeless: the savage injustice of the law, the lavish grace of God.

But at 1,000 pages, you may be wondering how you could introduce this masterpiece to your family. This Focus on the Family Radio Theatre® presentation is the answer. Dramatized, with the voices of some of Britain's finest actors, and appropriate sound effects, this book comes alive.

Granted, this audio production is less than three hours long, so you know you are going to miss the majority of the written book. The essential pieces of the plot are included and one can easily follow the story. The historical background for the story has been left out, however.

It is great for family listening. You will be so intrigued by this production you will want to read the entire book yourself.

If you are going to listen to this production with your family, you may want to do some preparatory work. Some research on the era would help explain many of the actions in the story. Your children may ask about the revolution, the living conditions of the time, etc. You should also consider that this audio production is not recommended for children under eight years old.

I really enjoyed this production. I'd read an abridged version of the book and found it interesting. But this audio presentation really brought the story alive. It has inspired me to patiently tackle the whole book.

You can find out more about this presentation and listen to sound clips at RadioTheatre.org.

Tyndale, Focus on the Family, 169 minutes, 3 CDs.

I received a complimentary copy of this production from Tyndale for the purpose of this review.

The Heart of Religion by Lee, Poloma & Post

Is religion in America a positive force for good? The authors' research has shown that millions of Americans are striving to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Their Christian faith is generally the motivating factor.

The authors' interest is in people who have had a spiritual awakening resulting in spiritual empowerment. They write about how Americans experience the reality of divine love in a Christian context and then attempt to express that love to others through benevolent acts. “This is the heart of religion.” (6)

Their study, GLNS (Godly Love National Survey), sampled 1,208 Americans (plus hundreds more targeted surveys and responses). They interviewed over 120 Christian men and women from all walks of life to better understand the patterns their study revealed.

Some of their findings: Over eighty percent said they “feel God's love increasing their compassion for others.” (15) “...[T]he clear majority of contemporary Americans tend to consider themselves to be highly religious and spiritual.” (28)

They report, “Godly love does appear to be alive and well in America.” (30)

They investigate specific types of spiritual experience and the roles they play in the unfolding of godly love. They categorize the expression of benevolence as Servers (engaging in community service), Renewers (working to revive the church), and Changers (advocating peace and justice).

They note the importance of the pentecostal worldview in predicting the experience of divine love. They investigate the role of prayer in energizing godly love. They found that knowing God's allows for seeing beyond pain and suffering, an important by-product of divine love that affects benevolent service. They revealed the debt their interviewees owed collaborators and beneficiaries.

“Our finding that religious people are more benevolent than nonreligious is not new; what is new is that we trace this benevolence, at least in part, to experiencing God's love.” (190)

Their work is statistical and they note the difficulty of statistics capturing the movement of spiritual activity. They have taken the survey results and used it as a skeletal form, then clothed it with narratives of case studies based on their interviews. Some of the interviewees include Heidi Baker, Tony Campolo, Anne Beiler, and C. Peter Wagner.

“Perhaps the greatest importance of the survey,” they write, “is that it provides solid empirical evidence demonstrating that spiritual experiences are alive and well, transforming individual lives and communities in American society.” (73)

The authors cover just about anything you would like to know about religious experience in America related to benevolent acts (ethnicity, denominations, prayer, collaboration, social filters, tribalism, etc.). The book is academic in style although the authors have tried to make it as readable as possible for the general public.

If you are interested at all in what motivates people to make a positive difference in the lives of others, this book will certainly add insight to your understanding.

Find out more at www.heartofreligion.net.

Matthew T. Lee is Professor and Chair of Sociology at the University of Akron. He is co-author, with Margaret Poloma, of A Sociological Study of the Great Commandment in Pentecostalism.

Margaret M. Poloma is Research Professor of Sociology, University of Akron. She is the author of Main Street Mystics, among other books.

Stephen G. Post is the President of the Institute of Research on Unlimited Love (www.unlimitedloveinstitute.com), the author of The Hidden Gifts of Helping, and a Professor of Medical Humanities at Stony Brook University.

Oxford University Press, 301 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from The B&B Media Group for the purpose of this review.

Questions of Life by Nicky Gumbel

For years, Gumbel thought Christianity was dreary, untrue and irrelevant to his life. He really didn't know much about the Christian faith at all. But then he read the New Testament for himself and became a Christian.

He pioneered the Alpha Course and Questions of Life is the basis for the Alpha Course in book form. It is an introduction to Christianity that was first printed sixteen years ago. Since then, over fourteen million people have taken the course.

In this book Gumbel answers some of the key questions at the heart of Christian faith.

He looks at the historical evidence for Jesus, explores why Jesus had to die, what it means to become a Christian with faith, the how and why of prayer (including a good meditation on the Lord's Prayer), why and how to read the Bible, how God guides us, how to be filled with the Spirit (including speaking in tongues), the devil and spiritual warfare, telling others about your faith, God healing today and how to pray for it, why and how to be part of a church, and making the best of the rest of your life.

This is a very readable introduction to Christianity with answers to many questions inquirers have. Gumbel tells lots of stories about himself and others to illustrate his answers.

You can find out more about Alpha USA at www.alphausa.org.

Nicky Gumbel is the pioneer of the Alpha course. He studied law at Cambridge and theology at Oxford, practiced as a lawyer, and is now senior pastor of Holy Trinity Brompton church in London, one of England's fastest growing churches. He has written a number of books associated with Alpha.

Alpha, 213 pages.

You can order this book at www.alpharesources.org.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from The B&B Media Group, Inc., for the purpose of this review.

All Due Respect by Vicki Hinze

I have read many of Hinze's later novels, especially those released in the Christian genre. Having really liked what I'd read, I wanted to see how she did in the "secular" romance and suspense areas.
I did enjoy the book. This is definitely a character driven novel, even though there is plenty of action, especially at the end. The heroine has experienced abuse from her husband and the hero witnessed the abuse his father dealt to his mother. There is also a first grader who plays a part in this book and he is being roughed up by his father. Part of the character development is the growth of each of them through the scars left by the abuse to the ability to love again.
The suspense is decent, although not Hinze's best, I think. We are introduced to work  being done to prevent the U.S. being attacked with WMD. There are parts of the plot that did seem a little unreasonable to me, but given this is an early work from Hinze, not bad at all.
I was surprised to find that this is a re-release of the book from October of 2000. 

For those who have read Hinze in the Christian genre, there is some language and immorality in this book. It is suitable to the general public, in rather good taste, and the immorality is certainly not descriptive.


Vicki Hinze has been writing since 1987 and is the author of more than thirty novels. You can find out more about her at www.vickihinze.com. 

Bell Bridge Books, 258 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.

The Idolatry of God by Peter Rollins

Rollins thinks that Christianity today is making God an Idol. “In a basic sense, an Idol can be understood as that object which we believe is the answer to all our problems, that thing we believe can fill the fundamental gap we experience festering in the very depths of our human experience.” (26) Christianity is being sold to us as that which can fulfill our desire rather than that which transforms the very way we desire. (2)

Rather than the freedom to pursue what we think will satisfy us, the Gospels hint at a different freedom, “the freedom from the pursuit of what we believe will satisfy us.” (80) The Good News is the reality that total fulfillment and certainty are not possible. Joyfully embracing this insight takes away the oppressive sting. We are free from the drive that prevents us from embracing life and taking joy in it.

Rollins has written this book because he wanted to “show how the idea of God today preached within much of the church is nothing more than an impotent Idol. Simply stated, this boils down to the claim that God is treated as nothing more than a product, a product that promises certainty and satisfaction while delivering nothing but deception and dissatisfaction.” He argues “that the modern church engages in a host of material practices designed to act as a security blanket for life. It does this by offering preaching, prayers and songs that solidify our tribal identities and promise fulfillment.” He argues for “collectives.” “In other words, a church where the liturgical structure does not treat God as a product that would make us whole but as the mystery that enables us to live abundantly in the midst of life's difficulties.” He is “inviting people to engage in a type of archaeological dig aimed at discovering if their beliefs are protecting them from the embrace of unknowing and suffering, and if so, what ought to be done about it.” (From A Conversation with Peter Rollins at the end of the book.)

Perhaps this reflects the message of Rollins' book: “There are countless churches that sell us a false promise of certainty and satisfaction... In contrast, there are a few insurrectionary groups that are seriously attempting to explore what it might mean to give up the idea of God as a product, dissident voices calling us to live fully in this world with an embrace of our unknowing.” (201)

Rollins is such a voice.

Rollins is a philosopher and writes like one. At times his writing, his use of words and concepts, were beyond my lay, non-philosophically trained brain.

Rollins is also associated with the emerging church movement and postmodern Christianity. Much of the anxiety and dissatisfaction he wrote about has not been a part of my Christian experience. I am of the boomer generation and I think Rollins is speaking to a much younger and certainly more agitated community of Christians.

I just could not identify with most of Rollins' work. I do believe God is the answer to all of my problems, in one way or another. I do believe that God fills whatever that is festering in the very depths of my being. And I do find certainty and satisfaction in God.

Peter Rollins is a widely sought after writer, lecturer, storyteller and public speaker. He is also the founder of ikon, a faith group that has gained an international reputation for blending live music, visual imagery, soundscapes, theatre, ritual and reflection to create what they call ‘transformance art’.

Peter gained his higher education from Queens University, Belfast and has earned degrees (with distinction) in Scholastic Philosophy (BA Hons), Political Theory (MA) and Post-Structural thought (PhD). He is currently a research associate with the Irish School of Ecumenics in Trinity College, Dublin and is the author of the much talked about How (Not) to Speak of God. His most recent work is entitled Insurrection. He was born in Belfast but currently resides in Greenwich, CT and is employed by The Olson Foundation.

Find out more at http://peterrollins.net/.  

Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster, 240 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.