I finally got around to reading my second BookSneeze book. If you didn't read my other review (or my husband's), you can find them all here. We love BookSneeze because it lets us pick the books we want to review, take as much or as little time as we want with them, say what we want about them, and then repeat the process as often as we like. And we get to keep the books.
For this review, I read Donald Miller's Searching for God Knows What. I read another one of his books, Blue Like Jazz, a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. I figured I'd want to take my time with this one, so I waited until school was out to read it.
At first I thought I was going to be disappointed. The book started out kind of slow with Miller explaining that "religion" can become a form of idolatry. Fed up with the rules of religion, Miller told God that he (Miller) didn't think that He (God) existed at the age of 18. However, Miller then began his own search because telling God that He didn't exist made him uncomfortable.
The rest of the book picked up from there as Miller explained that belief in God should be about a relationship with him-- not a set of rules. Morals are great, Miller won't argue that. However, he does point out that in our fallen, materialistic world, we are driven to competitiveness. It's about who can one-up who. Christians secure in their relationships with God are less likely to play the comparison game...sometimes. There is a trap in Christians trying to one-up each other with who is the more moral person. And that is a dangerous trap to be in as it turns others off to Christianity entirely. In fact, one of my favorite quotes is: "I...plead with evangelicals to return to the sort of call Christ has given us, to obey Him and experience intimacy with Him through sharing our faith, loving our enemies, and serving and feeding the poor and hungry directly, and to stop showing off about how moral we are and how that makes us better than other people," (Miller 194).
I love Miller's call to action. To simply live the life God intended us to live in relation with Him and with others. No, we shouldn't throw morals out the window. Miller is quick to point out that there are rules outlined for Christians in the Bible and that we should be obedient to God. But...we as Christians should be careful not to cast stones at others. When Christians focus more on how they are "good" and others who don't know Christ are not, they aren't winning people to Christ.
It's what I love about our church too. Our church is very much about meeting people where they are...whatever their thoughts on God, faith, Christianity, etc. Then, hopefully and prayerfully, those people fall into a love relationship with God too.
In the end, it's well-worth the read. Miller has some interesting theories about human behavior-- Christians and non-Christians alike. He is a fabulous story-teller, with anecdotes for every point he makes. While he started his search not really knowing what he was going after-- in the end it led him to God and to a true, pure, loving relationship with his Heavenly Father.
Enjoy!
~Melody :-)
For this review, I read Donald Miller's Searching for God Knows What. I read another one of his books, Blue Like Jazz, a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. I figured I'd want to take my time with this one, so I waited until school was out to read it.
At first I thought I was going to be disappointed. The book started out kind of slow with Miller explaining that "religion" can become a form of idolatry. Fed up with the rules of religion, Miller told God that he (Miller) didn't think that He (God) existed at the age of 18. However, Miller then began his own search because telling God that He didn't exist made him uncomfortable.
The rest of the book picked up from there as Miller explained that belief in God should be about a relationship with him-- not a set of rules. Morals are great, Miller won't argue that. However, he does point out that in our fallen, materialistic world, we are driven to competitiveness. It's about who can one-up who. Christians secure in their relationships with God are less likely to play the comparison game...sometimes. There is a trap in Christians trying to one-up each other with who is the more moral person. And that is a dangerous trap to be in as it turns others off to Christianity entirely. In fact, one of my favorite quotes is: "I...plead with evangelicals to return to the sort of call Christ has given us, to obey Him and experience intimacy with Him through sharing our faith, loving our enemies, and serving and feeding the poor and hungry directly, and to stop showing off about how moral we are and how that makes us better than other people," (Miller 194).
I love Miller's call to action. To simply live the life God intended us to live in relation with Him and with others. No, we shouldn't throw morals out the window. Miller is quick to point out that there are rules outlined for Christians in the Bible and that we should be obedient to God. But...we as Christians should be careful not to cast stones at others. When Christians focus more on how they are "good" and others who don't know Christ are not, they aren't winning people to Christ.
It's what I love about our church too. Our church is very much about meeting people where they are...whatever their thoughts on God, faith, Christianity, etc. Then, hopefully and prayerfully, those people fall into a love relationship with God too.
In the end, it's well-worth the read. Miller has some interesting theories about human behavior-- Christians and non-Christians alike. He is a fabulous story-teller, with anecdotes for every point he makes. While he started his search not really knowing what he was going after-- in the end it led him to God and to a true, pure, loving relationship with his Heavenly Father.
Enjoy!
~Melody :-)
1 comment:
You absolutely HAVE to read his latest book "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years." I loved it and Jenny has read it. He relates our lives to elements of a story...so you'll like it since you are an English geek ;-)
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