"Emerging" from "The Shack" to become a "Radical" with a "Crazy Love" for the "Sovereign" God

Have you noticed the rising proliferation of Christianity's interest in Christian books over  the last few years? Boy I have. It seems that a month doesn't go by without someone coming up to me saying: "YOU HAVE GOT TO READ THIS BOOK!" As a matter of fact I had been watching this realization with great interest, when my heart Doctor of all people asked me about it. Periodically I have a stress  test due to my family's history of heart disease, and while  I was walking on the treadmill, he brought up the subject.  As we chatted, we both came to the conclusion that it seems evident that present day Christianity seems to have a dangerous obsession with Christian books! Now let me clarify. I read many Christian books, and believe that there is great value as well as insight that can be gained by the study of Christian authors who are grounded in the faith. A few years ago, I read a book by an author that changed the way I look at the wonderful grace that God has given us. However there are a few trends that I think we should handle with caution.

The trend of (40 Days of "Porpoise" Programming)  -This is not a slam on Rick Warren. Of all the men that inspire me to live the Christian life, he is at the top. However this name  often accurately describes the manner in which many of our Conventions, Associations, and Churches program their mission. Its like a porpoise jumping from one warm section of water to the next. Let me explain. For 15 years I served as a Student Pastor to several different Churches both in South Carolina  as well as Texas. Each year the mission of the nation, state and Church seemed to be programmed by the next "Hot" Christian book that came out that year. We would come in, read the book, begin to put it into action. By the time I would get everything in place, a new book would come out with a new program that totally contradicts everything I just put into place!  This happened over and over and very few people ever take notice. I see this all over Christianity today. People and Churches seem to be motivated more by the opinions of men instead of the inspiration of God.

The trend of Studying the book instead of Studying the Word.  I recently called a friend who told me that she was on the way to her Bible Study, so I inquired about what they were studying. Her answer was we are studying "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. Now I am going to point our here that I have nothing against Francis Chan, Jackie Chan, or Charlie Chan, but his book is not the Bible.  And just so you know that we aren't just talking about semantics, I have seen many Churches that have Bible studies that abandon the study of Bible, for the hot Christian book of the month. I had a seminary professor that used to caution us about Bibles that contained commentaries. He said "remember this: above  the line is inspiration, and below the line is opinion."  Call me silly, but I just think Bible Study should actually study the Bible.

The trend of counseling from the book instead of the Word. It seems to me like many Christians today want me to  know that they are reading the "In" books. I can tell by the phrases they use. For instance in the last month I have been told numerous times that  I need to forsake the American dream and take back my faith, which I know comes from David Platt's book. Over the years Ive also been told to "Look what God is doing and Join Him", " To have Jesus as my treasure",  "Don't waste my life", "It's not about me", and to be in a "Simple church" that is "Emergent". All of these are great quotes from great books, but whose content can all be found in the Word of God.

So in conclusion, I want you to know that I am not advocating the abandonment of all Christian books, but a return to the primary book. A realization that there is really only one that " I HAVE GOT TO READ". I'll sum it up this way:

I hope that "The Simple Church" will "Emerge" from the "The Shack" to become "Radical" with a "Crazy Love" for the "Sovereign God" and to ultimately realize " For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ( Hebrews 4:12)