Re: What are you reading currently?
 

I'll bet they did!!!!

Re: What are you reading currently?
 

I haven't gotten them yet, but there are 2 books I want to get very soon--
the first one is by my pastor, Martin Schmaltz, called "Apostolic Authority- Every Believer's Privilege". It can be found here, http://apostolicmissions.org/

The other is "Five-fold Ministry and Spiritual Insights" by Lee Stoneking, which can be found here- http://www.leestoneking.com/st/de.asp

I am really looking forward to Lee Stoneking preaching at the South Georgia Fall X-Treme 2008 in October (which this year, is at the church I attend) :hanky

Re: What are you reading currently?
 

recent reads:

Are We Confused About Revival? by Richard W. DeHaan, copyright 1965
Fast Food Christianity by J.Scott Starling, copyright 2008

Scott Starling's mom (Jane) was married to my wife's father. I guess that would make Scott and my wife step brother and step sister but that marriage happened years after my wife and I were married and she never considered Jane to be a step mother but to be her father's wife. By the way, Scott has a brother named Bruce Starling and some of you may know him from when he went to Bible School in MS. I'm not sure if it was called TBC or JCM when he was there.

Re: What are you reading currently?
 

"Alternative Worship - Resources from and for the Emerging Church" by Jonny Baker & Doug Gay. Sally Morgenthaler wrote an illuminating and helpful foreward to the book that is worth reading in and of itself.

Re: What are you reading currently?
 

Received and read my pastor's book ("Apostolic Authority- Every Believer's Privilege". It can be found here, http://apostolicmissions.org/). It was excellent. Very helpful to me.

Still waiting on Bro Stoneking's books to arrive in the mail.

Reading The Oneness of God by David K. Bernard at the moment. Excellent....also listening to his 2008 audio files from the church he pastors (New Life United Pentecostal Church in Austin TX). Spent a couple hours yesterday downloading all of them. Concentrating on the Wed night Bible studies on the doctrines of the New Testament church right now....also excellent (believe he has many books that cover this material, but the audios will do for now lol).

Re: What are you reading currently?
 

The Shack, by William P. Young.

Re: What are you reading currently?
 

Let us know what you think of that book.
I've heard both good and bad about that book.
The good came from a Roman Catholic.
The bad came from someone who thought it was too "New Age" and synchrenistic.

Re: What are you reading currently?
 

I finished it yesterday. I have mixed reactions, myself. Will go into more detail in a few days (I'm still on the road now, heading home), but briefly, I thought the story, as a vehicle for his message, was fairly creative and suited the author's purposes well. And it's a pretty good, engaging story. A little wordy and redundant, awkwardly written here and there, but overall, not a bad first novel.

On the downside, I found the buzz and the hype to be overly optimistic. It is trumpeted as providing answers to difficult questions. Why does God allow pain and suffering? Why is there evil? Well, its non-answer boils down to this: we don't know. "God" even admits this explicitly in the book. I don't have it in front of me, so can't quote it, but we hear God say something like "I didn't stop the bad guy from doing that horrible thing" (don't want to give too much away, for those who haven't read it yet) "for reasons you can't possibly understand yet" to the protagonist. And God, the creator of the universe, all-powerful, all-wise, all-loving, could think of only two ways to have prevented that bad thing: 1. not create in the first place (no world, no human race, no nothin'), or 2. interfere with the bad guy's free will. Huh? I'm not all-wise or any of that, but even I could have thought of lots of other ways!

OK, there's more to it than that, but nothing that satisfies very well. And some of it is self-contradictory. Can't think of an example now, but maybe later.

And the author has the protagonist play into his theology in ways that very few normal humans would. He wants us to learn that man is nothing without God. We can't do anything right, without God's help. We're dumb. God asks him to define good and evil. He dumbly says that good is whatever makes him feel good, and evil is whatever hurts him. How many ordinary humans would answer in such a self-centered way?

Is the book "deep"? Oh, it's wrapped in a whole bunch of pop theology and counter-intuitive non-logic (sometimes, just being counter-intuitive adds credibility, for some reason!) to make it seem like it's so very deep. And yes, many of the ideas expressed are thought-provoking. But answers? Few and far between, I'm afraid. And very little, if any, that haven't been expressed before, when you boil it down.

Oh, one line stood out especially. God says "Maybe your understanding of God is wrong!" Dripping with irony, I thought. Yes, maybe Mack's (the protagonist's) understanding of God is wrong. But maybe the author's understanding is wrong! Maybe mine is! Maybe yours is! But the uncertainty doesn't stop some people from making a lot of statements of fact, with no way of knowing if they're true or not. Even if you accept the Bible's infallibility, there will be several contradictory interpretations flying around for almost any scripture. People simply repeat what they've been taught, after deciding which of those things they like best. That's what we all do, I suppose, myself included.

Did I say "briefly"? :toofunny Guess I got carried away. But I do have some more to say. If I get around to it. ;)

Re: What are you reading currently?
 

I should add a positive comment before I sign off.

A comment about forgiveness was good: "God" says it is primarily for the benefit of the forgiver. That's very true, IMO. It doesn't help me any to hold a grudge, and it doesn't even hurt the other guy (if that's my intention). In fact, if I let it, it can destroy me. Why give the guy that satisfaction?

Re: What are you reading currently?
 

I recently finished a book entitled The Timeless Age of God by Russell Redden. It deals with an approach to Oneness theology from the perspective of Christ entering the timeless abode of God, and from there being able (post resurrection glorified body) to step back into time at any place he desires, past or present. The book is filled with historical documentation that supports this idea as being a mainstay of thought in ancient Israel throughout the centuries. Without ever mentioning disparate views of the godhead it presents a very concise argument for Oneness beliefs. He culled information from every conceivable area of history. The level and quality of research is very impressive.

The book can be downloaded or purchased in paperback or hard cover at Lulu.com. I think it's going to be available on Amazon soon.

Full disclosure. I know the author very well, but my recommendation stands on the merits of the book and not on the length of our friendship.

Steve H