Something Needs to Change – David Platt

©2019  Multnomah, Colorado Springs

In 2010, David Platt stormed the Christian publishing world with a radical book with radical ideas about how average Christians and the typical church could move beyond mediocrity and into, well, radical living for Jesus. The book was called Radical (I reviewed it here) and called for us to step up our faith to include looking outside ourselves—and even to the world—in order to live more like Jesus. It was Platt’s leadership through the ideas in Radical and starting a movement known as “Secret Church” that led the Southern Baptist Convention to call him to serve as president of the International Mission Board (a position he held for a couple of years before moving on to be Lead Pastor of McLean Bible Church in the Washington D.C. metro area.

Something Needs to Change is the logical progression for this pastor who likes to challenge us into the uncomfortable places in life. On the surface, this book is an invitation for the reader to virtually join the author and a group of others as they spend a week hiking in the mountainous region of the Himalayas. Along the way readers encounter starvation, disease, sex trafficking, and abuse all resulting from abject poverty. Then we are faced with the deep questions of our faith—what is God doing when He allows me to live in relative comfort and ease, while atrocities occur in this other part of the world? Is it right for me to feel faithful in the comfort of my weekly visit to a multi-million-dollar, air conditioned, audio-visual spectacular of a worship service, when people are living entire lives without ever having heard of the Savior that I follow? Is my attempt at living faith really living faith if I am only willing to “sacrifice” as long as the sacrifice costs me only a little?

In the midst of this journey, Platt throws in some pretty heavy Bible study from the book of Luke that spurred him on along the way.

The good news is that you can join in this visioning trip without leaving the comfort of your own home. The more difficult news is that, like any encounter with Jesus, you will meet with some serious soul-searching along the way. The subtitle tells much about the intent of the book: “A Call to Make Your Life Count in a World of Urgent Need.”

Can you read this book and walk away as if nothing has transpired? Certainly. And many readers will. Will you feel called out to do something more with your faith-walk? Of course, if you read with a heart for Christ’s best in the world that He created.

The book itself is a fairly easy read—which one might expect from a talented communicator such as Platt—and at the same time one that requires much chewing before you try to digest it. I do not recommend this book for the satisfied Christian (although it would be worth their time because it is among the satisfied community that something most needs to change). I suspect that those who are thirsty for a more meaningful life this side of Glory will gravitate toward this book. As for me, I was challenged to be more meaningful in my living out of the faith that I claim and that my daily devotional reading leads me into. If you read this book, I pray that you will be as well. I give Platt four reading glasses for this book: it is well worth your time.

—Benjamin Potter October 10, 2019

[Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.]

Firsthand – Ryan & Josh Shook

[Update! My video endorsement of Firsthand by Ryan & Josh Shook can be viewed at my YouTube channel.]

©2013  WaterBrook Press, Colorado Springs

Brothers Ryan and Josh Shook grew up in church. In fact their parents planted a vibrant, exciting church in Houston. Now they are actively seeking careers far away from Houston. Ryan is a filmmaker living on the west coast, while Josh is a musician living in Nashville. And though they seem to be far removed from their roots in Texas, they write a book about how their faith roots are stronger than ever.

In a day when more and more people in the younger generation (in this case an age range of 16-26) are growing disillusioned with the faith of their parents, the Shook brothers have found the secret to faith that is lasting and real: stop playing at religion that is at best a hand-me-down from your parents and replace it with a firsthand, no-holds-barred relationship with Jesus Christ.

This book is less of a “how-to” book and more of a “what could happen” vision. Starting with their own wandering away from their parents’ faith and building on that with interviews and candid remarks from a number of people who had discovered the difference between plastic religion and real relationship, the authors weave a story that is at both challenging and a bit unnerving. There is no sugar coating here, just real admission of attempts and failures followed by struggle and success. Bottom-line advice from these two young men who have “been there” is to stop trying to be a Christian (based on what was handed down to you from your parents), and just build a relationship with Jesus.

This short 8-chapter book deals with all the things that church-goers try to do to get in good with God, and gives testimony and example of how one might stop going through motions and let their relationship grow. Their term, as the title suggests, for this authentic experience is “firsthand faith.”

This book is a good starting point when someone has grown disappointed in the church experience of their roots. While believers are encouraged to do the things that our church society has done as a sign of their relationship with Christ, the motivation is moved from marking your checklist of being a good Christian, to letting the actions flow from who you are.

Even so, because the book is focused on the generation of younger adults, those who are approaching or have even passed middle age who are dealing with the same questions about faith are neglected. This is not necessarily a fault of the authors or the publisher but a drawback built into focusing on a particular audience, limiting further (with age) an already limited audience (Christians or Christ-seekers). That said the book has value when someone (of any age) is struggling with whether what they’ve always believed is really real—especially when it is believed because that’s what they (or their family) has always believed.

Each chapter includes a sampling of quotes from a handful of the people interviewed in the researching of the book, some questions for deeper thought, and some practical application suggestions to put what the preceding chapter has discussed into action.

I would suggest that pastors and youth pastors, as well as collegiate ministry workers, would want to have a copy or two of this book handy to help young people who are dealing with questions of whether the faith they espoused at the age of 8 or 9 is real or not. The struggle of authentic faith is one that has been around for ages and will continue to haunt the church. In Firsthand the church has a resource to address this struggle head-on. I give the book 4 out of 5 reading glasses.

—Benjamin Potter April 19, 2013

[Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.]

The Humming of Numbers – Joni Sensel

© 2008 Henry Holt and Co., New York

Being one of those who is always on the prowl for cheap books to introduce me to new authors, I must admit I don’t just lap up books because they are free or nearly so—something has to appeal to get me to give it a try. The Humming of Numbers had several of those qualities: I found it at a dollar store (you know, those stores where “everything’s a dollar”), it was young adult fiction which has a certain appeal because it usually reads quickly and there is less need to turn on the inner censer at language or graphic descriptions, and it was set in an ancient English abbey (promising a faith element that appeals to my preachery side). What I found was something that gave me ups and downs in my reading moments.

Aiden, a novice monk who is nearing the time of taking his final vows, wants to join the abbey’s Scriptorium to copy and illuminate scriptures. Lana, the illegitimate daughter of the local Lord, is taken to the abbey to work a penance for attempting to defraud pilgrims with false relics. They are an unlikely pair indeed, but when Viking raiders attack it falls to these two young people to save their community. Aiden hears numbers humming from everyone and everything that has life (a talent he has suppressed all his life because no one believes him, and worse will ridicule him for), and Lana practices wood witchery. These traits will draw them together and help them win the day in the end.

The story is well-written and woven into the fabric of time with great skill. It is a compelling story of mystery, magic, and mayhem that promises to hold the attention most readers. I can applaud Sensel’s use of wordcraft to its fullest. Even in her description of Lana and her birth situation, there is an unquestionable use of language. Her story-building skills and characterization as well as descriptive passages call for the reader to read, read, read. Nothing can be more important for an author than to entrance their reading audience to this point.

Even so, I am disturbed by a couple of things that I encounter in the book. First, as a YA novel, there are some passages that would cause me to hesitate in recommending it to audiences younger than fifteen. While there are no blatant sex scenes, there is an implication toward them. Another, probably more, disturbing thing for me (as a pastor/man of faith reading the book) is the address of Christian faith throughout the book. It seems that (with at least some historical foundation) the established monks of the abbey are seen as stern and given to retribution on behalf of God. On the other hand, the witch of the story is seen as having a more genuine faith.

Because of this I give this book three out of five reading glasses.

—Benjamin Potter, September 28, 2012