I'm usually wary of pastors writing books. It's not just pastors so much as anyone not designated as a writer per se. It's the reading snob in me. But in my defense, many of the books I tried to read in the past were in dire need of an editor. Listen, editors out there (who for some bizarre reason would be reading this). You won't go to hell for telling a pastor, "You made your point ten pages ago. Move on." At least, I think you won't.
The latest book I read, Velvet Elvis, was written by a pastor. And it's written well. I'm still mulling over a lot of the ideas, but even if I disagreed with them it was an enjoyable read.
Velvet Elvis is one of a few books I've read lately comparable to C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity. It's an attempt to show us all the layers we've added, how we missed the point about what it should really be. It's Mere Christianity 2.0, or something like that.
The advantage to this one is historical background on Bible times. For example, why could hearing about Jesus' resurrection not be a big deal at that time? Because many people had already claimed to have died and risen again. The biggest difference to be seen was in the lives of His followers.
One part that convicted me said having a Christian in the neighborhood should be a good thing for the whole neighborhood. Not a picketer, whiner or complainer, but a positive influence. Ouch.
No comments:
Post a Comment