Review: SEARCH AND RESCUE

Here's my review of the new book, SEARCH AND RESCUE, by Michael Thompson:

Disorientation is rampant among contemporary Christians [and it’s not their fault.]  Our attempts to become biblically-centered, faithful students of Scripture who can drill down deep, exegete, analyze and dissect, have often left us with a hodge-podge of beliefs, sermon sound-bytes, and scriptural fragments—much like dissected and disembodied specimens in a biology lab that clutter the work bench, but no longer form a body that’s whole. 

We've lost the story-line.

We need a Story to help us make sense of the scriptural shards and spiritual sound-bytes. What we have now is a random page torn from its context:  What we need is the whole story.   We are bloated with information but starving for an interpretation that binds the random scraps together.

A loss of situational awareness can get a hiker killed:  Like Christopher McCandless [Into the Wild] venturing with youthful hubris and naivete’ into the unforgiving Alaskan wilderness, we’re woefully unprepared for this journey.  The unprepared quickly become the unconscious.  [McCandless’ body was finally found inside an abandoned school bus deep in the Alaskan wilderness.  He died alone, stranded in a wilderness he underestimated.] 

If you know the Story you’ve been dropped into, certain things will become clear to you.  The Story gives you your bearings and restores a significant degree of situational awareness.  Certain things can’t be revealed on this side of the Story, but if you know where the narrative has been and is going, you need not live at the whim of randomness.  Randomness will kill your heart.  The opposite of randomness is Story.  What we need to see is a glimpse of what the Director sees.  Pan back; see what we’re up against. 

Search and Rescue gets beyond the canned religious formulas, bullet-points and “should’s” [be a more faithful church attender, get more serious about spiritual growth, or fad programs] to offer a seasoned perspective you’ll seldom hear in church.  Michael Thompson is a trail guide who knows the terrain and how to help others use a truer map and a more accurate compass.

Search and Rescue, the inaugural book from Heart and Life Publishers, will serve as a refreshing introduction to the Story we’ve been missing, yet find ourselves faced with at every turn.  It exposes the real world we can't see, and desperately need to.   ~ Jim Robbins



Book recommendations

There are two books that I received as Christmas gifts that I want to recommend to you:

The first is The C.S. Lewis Bible.  [I never go after Bibles being marketed around a particular personality or demographic, but this one was worth it.]  This version, the NRSV, prized for its accuracy, is sprinkled throughout with quotes and snippets from a wide variety of Lewis' writings.  The editors must have spent months, if not years, culling through his work and painstakingly pairing various insights from C.S. Lewis' work with their appropriate counterparts throughout Scripture. 

For example, pared with a passage from I Timothy, there is a quote from C.S. Lewis' "Letter to Miss Breckenridge, April, 1951" which reads:

I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves.  Otherwise it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him.

Or, another nugget, paired with a passage in I Peter:

At present, we are on the outside of the world [the coming fully-restored Kingdom], the wrong side of the door.  We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure.  We cannot mingle with the splendors we see.  But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that is will not always be so.  -- from The Weight of Glory

The other book I can recommend to you is, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus - How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith, by Spangler and Tverberg.  What if the Jewishness of Jesus could help us who live on the edge of 2011 make sense of some of the things Jesus did and said? For example:

Do you know why Jesus came as a rabbi and not a shepherd or Essene or or Zealot?
 
Do you know why you smell good, like freshly annointed royalty?

Do you know that Jesus was not the first to use parables as transformational story-telling?

Do you know why Jesus' invitation, "Follow me" wasn't all that surprising for the role he took on in the Jewish culture of the time?

These two books should prove helpful for the hungry apprentice of the master Teacher.

Book review - "Spiritual Abuse Recovery"

Book Review:  Spiritual Abuse Recovery - Dynamic Research on Finding a Place of Wholeness, by Barbara M. Orlowski
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From the book:

I have always believed that conflicts between Christians can be worked through when both parties submit their will to God.  Intentional, malicious action against me by a church leader blew me away.  The unwillingness of others involved to challenge the leader's actions, but instead look the other way in denial, preserving their positions, shattered my trust in church leadership.  [Quoted in Spiritual Abuse Recovery. Taken from the website, Kingdom Grace, 'Shattered Illusions.']

Spiritual abuse is likely to be minimized by those in Christian leadership.  However, it is affecting more Christians and churches than people want to admit.  Spiritual abuse is causing many very committed followers of Christ to leave abusing churches to seek out other options for Christian community.  Barb Orlowski provides a research-based, serious and needed look into the abusive dynamic occurring in many churches. 

What is "spiritual abuse?"  One definition the author uses is:  "Spiritual abuse takes place when leaders to whom people look for guidance and spiritual nurture use their positions of authority to manipulate, control and dominate."  Spiritual abuse often occurs when there is a distorted and unbiblical view of leadership authority. 

Barb Orlowski outlines distortions and belief systems that contribute to spiritual abuse:

1.  Legalism:  "When Christians struggle with feelings of shame, of never measuring up, and of feeling like they have to constantly try to earn God's approval, they often do not grasp why their Christian life is so spiritually draining." 

2.  A Faulty Hermeneutic [a faulty way of interpreting Scripture]:  "...makes a person vulnerable to erroneous teachings and the malpractices of controlling leaders."

3. Fully Understanding Healthy Church Leadership:  "Developing a biblically-sound understanding of Christian leadership based on Christ's teaching and the New Testament example will create a renewed appreciation  for godly leadership expressed in healthy communities."

4.  Personal Spiritual and Emotional Injury:  "A person's spiritual life has been severly marred by personal injury inflicted by church leadership."  Those injured can experience healing and restoration despite the trauma.

Spiritual Abuse Recovery includes the research results of the author's study on the topic.  A representative population of actual persons who suffered spiritual abuse were interviewed.  Some of the participants' comments read like these:

There was a tremendous dichotomy between what was said by leadership, and the message they actually conveyed.  They often spoke of the freedom we have as believers, as well as our individual value in God's eyes.  But any attempt to think or act with any degree of freedom was quickly and firmly labeled as unsubmissive to leadership.  An overarching theme in most of the subtle messages was that only a few were actually spiritual enough to hear and follow God for themselves, and that everyone else must follow them.

He [the pastor]  had left such a trail of hurting and damaged people, and I felt that I could no longer be a part of that type of destruction.

A toxic view of spiritual authority:  Orlowski outlines the flaws of bad, unbiblical leadership and delves into the restorative and biblical model of leadership hinted at in the Old Covenant and revealed in Jesus and the New Covenant.  This is particularly helpful for those who haven't given the issue much thought.  Assumptions can kill, and this book challenges faulty leadership assumptions.

Commenting on her own experience with leadership that wounds, the author says, "Those who had raised concerns were seen as agitators..."  Those who have also experienced wounding leadership will agree with her sentiments.

As Barbara Orlowski suggests, even the concept of spiritual abuse can be minimized by those who have never experienced it, or not even on the radar of many Christian leaders.  The issue of spiritual abuse needs to be exposed and addressed; and her book capably exposes this critical issue, giving the research results of her study into spiritual abuse.

Those who would most benefit from this book: 
.Pastors, church leaders, counselors, and seminary students - who want to know the research behind spiritual abuse and how it affects those who are marred by it.  The book also would serve to provide them with a deeper look into biblical authority.

.  Anyone interested in a more research-based look at spiritual abuse, that backs up claims of abuse with real data into the victims' of spiritual abuse traumatic experiences.

Author's website:  Church Exiters

Amazon link:  Spiritual Abuse Recovery - Dynamic Research on Finding a Place of Wholeness

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Reviewed by Jim Robbins, author of Recover Your Good Heart - Living Free From Religious Guilt and the Shame of Not Good-Enough

Know your story - shape your future

I'm reading a great book by Dan Allender called, To Be Told -  God invites you to co-author your future.  Discover how your tradegies to this point have shaped your story and "unnamed you," sabotaging your identity.

And then learn how God wants to work with you to shape the rest of your story; so that you can live in your true and glorious name.  What does God want to say to the world through you, your unique story?

'MISLEADING OURSELVES' - listen now- with guest Andrew Farley

Andrew Farley, author of The Naked Gospel, joined me again to talk about the misleading catch-phrases Christians use that end up leading them away from their new and good hearts. 

We also address that sticky passage in the Lord's Prayer that says, "If you don't forgive others...neither will your Father forgive you."  But wait a minute, aren't we already and fully forgiven?  How do we reconcile other passages on our completed forgiveness with this passage that follows the Lord's Prayer?

www.thenakedgospel.com

LISTEN NOW: 'The Naked Gospel' interview with Andrew Farley

Andrew and I talked about his fantastic new book, The Naked Gospel - the truth you may never hear in church.  Find out what Andrew says about our new identity and freedom.  It really is a lot better than we've been told.

• Should Christians really obey the moral law in the Ten Commandments?
• Do we really have pure and good hearts - the very same that Jesus had?
• Can Christians trust their hearts?

The answers may surprise you!

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Click player below to listen.

As always, feel free to leave your comments below!

TODAY - interview with Andrew Farley ----'THE NAKED GOSPEL'

Listen 'live' today, 11:30 EST, as I talk with Andrew Farley, author of The Naked Gospel - the truth you may never hear in church. 

Go to the Blogtalk Radio page here to get show updates for this podcast. 

Airtime:  11:30 a.m. (EST)  Monday, Nov. 16th

Go to show page.

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As always, feel free to post your comments and thoughts below!

"The Misunderstood God" - review

Our emotional health is directly tied to our view of God.  Faulty assumptions about God will sabotage your heart.  For that reason, I highly recommend Darin Hufford's new book, The Misunderstood God - the lies religion tells us about God, because the book so ably exposes those harmful assumptions and invites the reader into a deeper freedom. 

The book also has staying power.  I found myself reflecting on key portions of the book long after I'd read it.  The chapter exposing the myth of  "The Angry God" reminded me that, "Love is not easily provoked."  And despite what we may have been told, the Holy Spirit is not easily wounded or offended.  Our God's heart remains supple and open without the fragile neurosis that plagues most of us.  We need him to be strong like that.

This book will help you get that heavy pack of religious assumptions and misunderstandings off your back, because you were never meant to carry that.

Here's a link to Darin Hufford's website.

Emotions -- friend or foe? You may be surprised.

Emotions can't be trusted.

Strong emotions will lead you into sin.

Believing the right things is more important than feelings.

Just do your duty, whether you feel something or not.

Love is a 'verb.'

Reason and the intellect are more trustworthy than the heart.

What do you think of these typical typical responses to emotions and their place in the Christian life? Are these statements true? 

I've discovered a book called, Feel -- the power of listening to your heart, by Matthew Elliott.  His claim is that much of what the Christian community has taught about emotions, is in fact, not biblical.  The Church has bought into secular psychology and philosophy rather than a biblical position on the place of emotion in our lives.  It's actually a bit surprising.

The author claims,
I realized this idea [the suspicion and villification of emotion] was the prevailing Christian view of emotions - and this "Christian" view was essentially platonic [from Plato], a secular perspective in line with the view of Descartes, [William ]James, and - if you can believe it - none other than Charles Darwin."  p.20

What have you been told about emotions and their place in the Christian life?

I'll be following up this conversation on emotions in upcoming posts.

The full interview - Steve Brown interviews Jim about his book, Recover Your Good Heart

Full interview - Steve Brown interviews Jim about Recover Your Good Heart.

TODAY - "THE MISUNDERSTOOD GOD" - interview with Darin Hufford

Darin Hufford, author of the upcoming book, THE MISUNDERSTOOD GOD - THE LIES RELIGION TELLS US ABOUT GOD, will join me on the podcast. The book will be published by Windblown Media -- publishers of THE SHACK. Darin is also the creator of The Free Believers Network that is helping church return to its natural habitat.

Episode airs on Monday, July 6th.  1 p.m. Eastern.  Podcast will be available for download following the 'live' episode.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

Book review: SIR DALTON AND THE SHADOW HEART

I didn't get to review the book that Multnomah/Randomhouse sent me as part of their author blog tour, so I want to be sure and give you the book's summary and links for finding out more. 

Category:  Youth Fantasy
Author:  Chuck Black

Summary:
Sir Dalton, a knight in training, seems to have everything going for him. Young, well-liked, and a natural leader, he has earned the respect and admiration of his fellow knights, and especially the beautiful Lady Brynn.

But something is amiss at the training camp. Their new trainer is popular but lacks the passion to inspire them to true service to the King and the Prince. Besides this, the knights are too busy enjoying a season of good times to be concerned with a disturbing report that many of their fellow Knights have mysteriously vanished.

When Sir Dalton is sent on a mission, he encounters strange attacks, especially when he is alone. As his commitment wanes, the attacks grow in intensity until he is captured by Lord Drox, a massive Shadow Warrior. Bruised and beaten, Dalton refuses to submit to evil and initiates a daring escape with only one of two outcomes–life or death. But what will become of the hundreds of knights he’ll leave behind? In a kingdom of peril, Dalton thinks he is on his own, but two faithful friends have not abandoned him, and neither has a strange old hermit who seems to know much about the Prince. But can Dalton face the evil Shadow Warrior again and survive?

To learn more, click here.