Sierra Reads Things

I'm awful with these reviews. Lo siento, Booksneeze.

I read this in my pool, on a nice little raft. I also read this in the middle of my on-going agnostic phase. I picked this book because it wasn't exploiting Amish people or written by Max Lucado, like most stuff in this program. (Just being honest!)  I also thought it would make me think.

Not so much.

I thought this was going to be something about apologetics against Atheism or something along those lines. It's really just McGrath talking about how he hates the New Atheist movement. It's a one-sided argument with no insight from the New Atheists. It got to the point where it was pretty predictable, just because these are basically the same things that are thrown at Christians by the New Atheists. It's a total role reversal. I'm kind of sad about it, to be honest. You'd think we, as a Church, could do better than the same kind of crap Dawkins and the like have to say. You would also think that we could be a bit more loving. Jesus loves the New Atheists just as much as he loves me. We should be respectful to them, even if they aren't to us.

I can't even.

I got this book because I originally thought it was going to be satirical. No one can really like Palin enough to want a whole book of quotes from her, right? I mean, come on.

Well, I was wrong. Someone really does think Palin is fit to run a country. I'm not so sure she's fit to own a goldfish.

The entire book is just one contradiction after another. For example, she's all for "traditional marriage," gosh darn it, but who's tradition is she talking about? In the bible, most of the leading men had several wives. Jesus said not to get divorced -- ever. Is Sarah Palin a-okay with divorce? You betcha. She probably even watches Sister Wives.

I can't decide whether to give this five stars for being hilarious or one star for how sad it is that someone thinks she's smart and this is proving anything.

My head is numb.

I've had this one sitting on my massive stack of to-review books for a couple of months now. It's a shame, too, because I really enjoyed it. It took me a long time to get into reading it, but once I started, it only took me two days to finish.

The very first line in the book is "Everything in this book has been written with a specific group of people in mind: friends and fellow Christians who have abandoned the chruch for various reasons."

This is the first time I'm in a book's Acknowledgments!

I have vague recollections of reading his blog about six years ago when I worked as a nighttime receptionist at a nursing home. Nearly every site was blocked but his. Even though I was still mega-Pentecostal, I was drawn to The Internet Monk. When I requested this book, I had no idea this was the same person.

I also had no idea that Michael died just two short years after my initial discovery of his blog. I wish I could have had the chance to interview him about this book.

So, anyway. The actual review:

The subtitle of the book is "Jesus-Shaped Spirituality." Spencer sums this idea up as, "I'm looking for a spiritual experience that looks like, feels like, sounds like, lives like, loves like, and acts like Jesus of Nazareth. It's that simple."

The rest of the book is about finding out what these things mean.

As someone completely fed up with American Christianity, I found this book to be absolutely fantastic and one of those "Are you reading my mind, you big creep?" kind of books. He describes what Jesus is like according to the Gospels, how to follow him, how not to follow him, and also has a few musings about why Christians tend to prefer Paul over Jesus.

If you aren't someone who hasn't ever had the "I GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE" feeling about the Church, then you probably aren't going to appreciate this book nearly as much as those of us who have made the exodus have.

Am I still rating things with stars or whatever? I don't even know. It's been awhile. Whatever I'm rating with, I'm giving this the maximum amount of points possible. I just wish he was still around to write more books.

Legal stuff: I was given this book to review it from Waterbrook. They didn't force me to say wonderful things. I said the wonderful things on my own.

It's true. Someone stole my copy of *Radical.* Right out of my car. Thankfully, I had JUST finished it. I have no idea where the thing went, but I certainly am glad I got to read it.

I wish I had my copy on me so I could talk about specific quotes and things that I responded to. I hope the guy or gal who stole it gets as much out of it as I do.

Basics? Platt believes that we can't follow Christ and go after the elusive American Dream. I'm right here with him. I've never understood how pastors and religious teachers can preach on getting ahead in society but still say they believe the teachings of someone who taught the opposite. It's all really silly.

I'm very thankful that someone put out this book. I think more people need to read it. There were a few points that I totally disagreed with, but since I don't have my copy, I can't point them out. They must not have been important.

This book has been sitting on my nightstand since spring. I've tried to read it several times but never managed to get too far into it until today. I just started section two and I had to put it down.

One of the main reasons I'm no longer a big fan of Christianity is the arrogance posessed by Christians. This book seems to be a bunch of "I'm right and you're wrong so suck it!" garbage that I hear a lot from the Religious Right. I normally don't mind Ravi Zacharias and decided to give this one a go just because he wrote it.

He only wrote two chapters.

I know nothing about these other people other than he thinks they should have their opinions published. The section about explaining Jesus to youth was downright offensive. It wasn't too long ago that I was a teenager. And you know what? I wasn't stupid. It's a shame that books like this try to talk down to younger people in order for them to see just how silly they are and how much they need Jesus.

The section on other religions and, particularly, Islam was also pretty offensive. Talking down to someone is not a good way to make people see that G-d loves them.

Ugh. I can't even write any more about this because it's just making me agitated.

0/5.

Whoa. It's been awhile.

I received this book from ViralBloggers sometime over the summer (and then I got another autographed copy for winning a Honorable Mention in Matt's Imaginary Jesus contest. ha.) and I had a bit of trouble getting into it at first. I'm not one for fiction, in any capacity. (And I have a degree in English. Go figure.) However..

This turned out to be one of my favorite books of 2010. Not only is it set in my favorite city that I've never visited, but he does what I've always wanted to do: Punch fake-Jesus in the face. Granted, the Jesus that gets decked is one of the many Jesuses (Jesii?) that I've taken a liking to over time, but that's fine.

Matt's book really got me thinking about who I'm following. Anne Lamott has said that we know that we've made Jesus in our own image when he hates all the same people we do. That is one of the truest statements I've ever read. This book made me realize that my "I love being poor!" Jesus is no better than Pat Robertson's "I hate Haiti!" Jesus.

I forget exactly how I'm rating books on this blog, but if we're going with the usual 5 stars type thing, I'm giving this one 5. Thanks, Matt.