Going Deep is a fictional story that uses real life preacher Gordon MacDonald and his wife in a story of fellowship and church growth. The two come to the realization that their church should be filled with deep people and set out to create a program to train deep people. After setting up their program, they take several years to impliment the program and grow depth within a number of select individuals.
The idea is great - a church of deep people will glorify God by their Christlikeness more than a church of shallow people who don't know much about their beliefs and don't live fully committed lives that produce spiritual fruit: joy, kindness, faithfulness, patience, etc. This idea probably would have made a good "how-to" instructional non-fiction book. I think the fiction format could have worked if the story had been well-thought and more realistic.
When I pick up a book about "deep people", I expect to find something deep within its pages. Instead of giving readers an "Ah-ha" moment, this book is dragged across 400 pages in a painful diary format: Pastor woke up, ate breakfast, talked to Joe, went home, ate dinner. Next day, pastor called Pete, went home, talked to wife. The book drags on like this and by the time you are 50% through the book, they still haven't even decided how to impliment the learning program. The last part of the book is rushed through 2 years of "implimenting the program" by skipping weeks at a time between meetings. Prayer is described as "a one sentence "I'm thankful for..."." When there is a cultivating depth meeting, it's all that unrealistic corny dialogue that Christian books and movies are notorious for and there is no depth to the meetings or dialogue.
Example of rushing through growth meetings without any details: "AS THE WEEK SPASSED [Yes, that's an error in Kindle ebook], WE STUDIED THE LIVES OF OTHER biblical heroes...AFTER WE’D FINISHED STUDYING TEMPERAMENT, THE GROUP began studying the so-called spiritual disciplines. Gail and I outlined some of the ways the Bible called people to a life of devotion... We spent time talking about how to read various parts of the Bible and internalize what we were reading. We even looked at the structure of the Bible, its division into Older and New Testaments. One night we reviewed the sections of the New Testament and talked about the purpose of each of the small letters that Paul and the other apostles had written. Then there was the subject of meditation, or reflection, something more easily understood by the introverts and harder for the extroverts."
After completing the book, (without any disrespect towards the author) I must wonder if Gordon MacDonald took the time to sit down and actually think about what a real life successful program would look like. If he did, all those details that would create a successful program in real life, are left out of this book. This book has the feel of the author coming up with a good idea, not wanting to put much thought into how the idea would be carried out in real life, and just banging out a warm fuzzy fictional story, while he left out all the "deep" details.
I would not recommend spending your precious time reading this book. If you are looking for any good ideas on becoming deeper, you won't find it here. This isn't a bad book, but it isn't especially good either - long, drawn out, boring, slow to accomplish anything. By the end, I'm left going "that could have been so much better."
I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for this review but I did really give my honest opinion
Not Recommend: Heaven Is For Real by Todd Burpo
This book is written by Penecostal preacher Todd Burpo. He re-tells and describes his own son's journey to heaven in a near-death-experience. I would give this book 0 stars because this book doesn't come close to matching the true heaven in the Bible. Read these quotes from the book itself and decide for yourself if this matches the version of heaven from the Bible.
- Angels sang to Colton: “angels sang to me” “Well, they sang ‘Jesus Loves Me’ and ‘Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho,’” he said earnestly. “I asked them to sing ‘We Will, We Will Rock You,’ but they wouldn’t sing that.”
- Angels look like: “one of them looked like Grandpa Dennis, but it wasn’t him, ’cause Grandpa Dennis has glasses.
- “I was sitting in Jesus’ lap.”
- [Man who died] “He had to have Jesus in his heart! He had to know Jesus or he can’t get into heaven!”
- “Did you know that Jesus has a cousin? Jesus told me his cousin baptized him.”
- “Hey, Dad, did you know Jesus has a horse?” “A horse?” “Yeah, a rainbow horse. I got to pet him.”
- “What did Jesus look like?” “he has brown hair and he has hair on his face,” he said, running his tiny palm around on his chin. I guessed that he didn’t yet know the word beard. “And his eyes . . . oh, Dad, his eyes are so pretty!” “What about his clothes?” “His clothes were white, but it was purple from here to here.” Another word he didn’t know: sash. “Jesus was the only one in heaven who had purple on, Dad. Did you know that?” In Scripture, purple is the color of kings.
- “And he had this gold thing on his head . . . a crown, and it had this . . . this diamond thing in the middle of it and it was kind of pink.”
- “Colton, where are Jesus’ markers?” Without hesitation, he stood to his feet. He held out his right hand, palm up and pointed to the center of it with his left. Then he held out his left palm and pointed with his right hand. Finally, Colton bent over and pointed to the tops of both his feet. “That’s where Jesus’ markers are, Daddy,” he said.
- “What do people look like in heaven?” “Everybody’s got wings, but mine weren’t very big.”
- “Okay . . . did you walk places or did you fly?” “We flew. Well, all except for Jesus. He was the only one in heaven who didn’t have wings. Jesus just went up and down like an elevator.” The book of Acts flashed into my head, the scene of Jesus’ ascension, when Jesus told the disciples that they would be his witnesses, that they would tell people all over the world about him. After he said this, the Scripture says, Jesus “was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’”1 Jesus went up. And will come down. Without wings. To a kid, that could look like an elevator.
- “Everyone kind of looks like angels in heaven, Dad. All the people have a light above their head.” I couldn’t remember angels having lights over their heads specifically—or halos, as some would call them—but I also knew that Colton’s experience of angels in storybooks and Scripture did not include lights over angels’ heads. And he didn’t even know the word halo.
- “Well, what did God’s throne look like?” “It was big, Dad . . . really, really big, because God is the biggest one there is.”
- “And do you know that Jesus sits right next to God?” Colton went on excitedly. “Jesus’ chair is right next to his Dad’s!” “Colton, which side of God’s throne was Jesus sitting on?” I asked. Colton climbed up on the bed and faced me on his knees. “Well, pretend like you’re in God’s throne. Jesus sat right there,” he said, pointing to my right side.
- “Well, who sits on the other side of God’s throne?” I said. “Oh, that’s easy, Dad. That’s where the angel Gabriel is. He’s really nice.” Gabriel. That makes sense. I remembered the story of John the Baptist and the moment when Gabriel arrived to deliver the news of John the Baptist’s coming birth. The angel told Zechariah, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.”
- He saw the gates of heaven, he said: “They were made of gold and there were pearls on them.” The heavenly city itself was made of something shiny, “like gold or silver.”
- The flowers and trees in heaven were “beautiful,” and there were animals of every kind.
- “What does God look like?” I said. “God the Holy Spirit?” Colton furrowed his brow. “Hmm, that’s kind of a hard one . . . he’s kind of blue.”
- “Jesus shoots down power for Daddy when he’s talking.” Sonja shifted on the bed so that she could look directly into Colton’s eyes. “Okay . . . when? Like when Daddy talks at church?” Colton nodded. “Yeah, at church. When he’s telling Bible stories to people.”
- The book claims Colton met his sister in heaven and she was old enough to give him a hug and talk to him. But in real life, Sonja had a miscarriage and they never knew if the baby was a boy or girl. So the claim is the miscarried baby is now approximately 4-7 years old.
- The book claims Colton met his grandfather but the grandfather was not old. He was in the prime of his life. Colton says "No one is old in heaven."
I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for this review but I did really give my honest opinion
- Angels sang to Colton: “angels sang to me” “Well, they sang ‘Jesus Loves Me’ and ‘Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho,’” he said earnestly. “I asked them to sing ‘We Will, We Will Rock You,’ but they wouldn’t sing that.”
- Angels look like: “one of them looked like Grandpa Dennis, but it wasn’t him, ’cause Grandpa Dennis has glasses.
- “I was sitting in Jesus’ lap.”
- [Man who died] “He had to have Jesus in his heart! He had to know Jesus or he can’t get into heaven!”
- “Did you know that Jesus has a cousin? Jesus told me his cousin baptized him.”
- “Hey, Dad, did you know Jesus has a horse?” “A horse?” “Yeah, a rainbow horse. I got to pet him.”
- “What did Jesus look like?” “he has brown hair and he has hair on his face,” he said, running his tiny palm around on his chin. I guessed that he didn’t yet know the word beard. “And his eyes . . . oh, Dad, his eyes are so pretty!” “What about his clothes?” “His clothes were white, but it was purple from here to here.” Another word he didn’t know: sash. “Jesus was the only one in heaven who had purple on, Dad. Did you know that?” In Scripture, purple is the color of kings.
- “And he had this gold thing on his head . . . a crown, and it had this . . . this diamond thing in the middle of it and it was kind of pink.”
- “Colton, where are Jesus’ markers?” Without hesitation, he stood to his feet. He held out his right hand, palm up and pointed to the center of it with his left. Then he held out his left palm and pointed with his right hand. Finally, Colton bent over and pointed to the tops of both his feet. “That’s where Jesus’ markers are, Daddy,” he said.
- “What do people look like in heaven?” “Everybody’s got wings, but mine weren’t very big.”
- “Okay . . . did you walk places or did you fly?” “We flew. Well, all except for Jesus. He was the only one in heaven who didn’t have wings. Jesus just went up and down like an elevator.” The book of Acts flashed into my head, the scene of Jesus’ ascension, when Jesus told the disciples that they would be his witnesses, that they would tell people all over the world about him. After he said this, the Scripture says, Jesus “was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’”1 Jesus went up. And will come down. Without wings. To a kid, that could look like an elevator.
- “Everyone kind of looks like angels in heaven, Dad. All the people have a light above their head.” I couldn’t remember angels having lights over their heads specifically—or halos, as some would call them—but I also knew that Colton’s experience of angels in storybooks and Scripture did not include lights over angels’ heads. And he didn’t even know the word halo.
- “Well, what did God’s throne look like?” “It was big, Dad . . . really, really big, because God is the biggest one there is.”
- “And do you know that Jesus sits right next to God?” Colton went on excitedly. “Jesus’ chair is right next to his Dad’s!” “Colton, which side of God’s throne was Jesus sitting on?” I asked. Colton climbed up on the bed and faced me on his knees. “Well, pretend like you’re in God’s throne. Jesus sat right there,” he said, pointing to my right side.
- “Well, who sits on the other side of God’s throne?” I said. “Oh, that’s easy, Dad. That’s where the angel Gabriel is. He’s really nice.” Gabriel. That makes sense. I remembered the story of John the Baptist and the moment when Gabriel arrived to deliver the news of John the Baptist’s coming birth. The angel told Zechariah, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.”
- He saw the gates of heaven, he said: “They were made of gold and there were pearls on them.” The heavenly city itself was made of something shiny, “like gold or silver.”
- The flowers and trees in heaven were “beautiful,” and there were animals of every kind.
- “What does God look like?” I said. “God the Holy Spirit?” Colton furrowed his brow. “Hmm, that’s kind of a hard one . . . he’s kind of blue.”
- “Jesus shoots down power for Daddy when he’s talking.” Sonja shifted on the bed so that she could look directly into Colton’s eyes. “Okay . . . when? Like when Daddy talks at church?” Colton nodded. “Yeah, at church. When he’s telling Bible stories to people.”
- The book claims Colton met his sister in heaven and she was old enough to give him a hug and talk to him. But in real life, Sonja had a miscarriage and they never knew if the baby was a boy or girl. So the claim is the miscarried baby is now approximately 4-7 years old.
- The book claims Colton met his grandfather but the grandfather was not old. He was in the prime of his life. Colton says "No one is old in heaven."
I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for this review but I did really give my honest opinion
Not Recommended: The Book of Man by William J Bennett
This book is supposed to be about "What it means to be a man" by giving examples of men for our boys to look up to as heroes. The author gives us about 500 different stories of men from ancient history to modern day politicians, athletes, celebrities, etc. He says, these men present an ideal of manhood. He tells us that our boys should follow these examples of "real men" and learn how they should live and the things to which our boys should aspire. The author lists these men as examples worth emulating - as heroes to be honored by our boys. I was SICK and DISGUSTED when I read the list of men William Bennet holds up as heroes. What is Bennett's standard for picking these men as heroes? "Every community, even Sodom and Gomorrah, has one individual in it who might be identified as worth admiring." No wonder this author picked non-Christians and unethical men to represent the "heroes" in this book. This is the LAST book anyone should hold up as an example for their sons.
Bennett's heroes include Shakespeare, Colin Powell, Alexander the Great, Winston Churchill, Navy Seal Creed, William the Conqueror, Ronald Regan, Plato, Homer, Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, Thomas Carlyle, "Pistol" Pete Maravich, A.G. Spalding, Leo Tolstoy, Buster Douglas, Davy Crockett, Aristotle, John Locke, John F. Kennedy, Charles Dickens, Robert Morris (current day pentecostal megachurch pastor), Abraham Lincoln, Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, George H. W. Bush, George Washington, and more.
I found much of what the author had to say as mindless ramblings, lacking logic and any conclusive purpose. Example: The author starts the introduction by giving us a statistic: "In 1954, 90% of American men worked. Today, that number is 80%". Instead of considering the many possibilities for this decline, such as unemployment, immigration, retirement, and other factors; the author immediately jumps to the conclusion this decline is due to laziness and men leaching off the government. While laziness is certainly a factor, the author doesn't even consider that it might not be the only factor. He portrays this as a direct correlation.
Next, Bennett takes an even bigger leap - "In 1970, 80% of men 25-29 were marriaged, but in 2007, only 40%". He immediately blames what he calls a decline in marriage on the fact that there are too many aimless men! When we all know that men and women are getting married later and later in life these days due to educational and career-oriented goals! This author is SOOOO far off base, it's ridiculous! I feel like this author misses the point time after time.
I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for this review but I did really give my honest opinion
Bennett's heroes include Shakespeare, Colin Powell, Alexander the Great, Winston Churchill, Navy Seal Creed, William the Conqueror, Ronald Regan, Plato, Homer, Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, Thomas Carlyle, "Pistol" Pete Maravich, A.G. Spalding, Leo Tolstoy, Buster Douglas, Davy Crockett, Aristotle, John Locke, John F. Kennedy, Charles Dickens, Robert Morris (current day pentecostal megachurch pastor), Abraham Lincoln, Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, George H. W. Bush, George Washington, and more.
I found much of what the author had to say as mindless ramblings, lacking logic and any conclusive purpose. Example: The author starts the introduction by giving us a statistic: "In 1954, 90% of American men worked. Today, that number is 80%". Instead of considering the many possibilities for this decline, such as unemployment, immigration, retirement, and other factors; the author immediately jumps to the conclusion this decline is due to laziness and men leaching off the government. While laziness is certainly a factor, the author doesn't even consider that it might not be the only factor. He portrays this as a direct correlation.
Next, Bennett takes an even bigger leap - "In 1970, 80% of men 25-29 were marriaged, but in 2007, only 40%". He immediately blames what he calls a decline in marriage on the fact that there are too many aimless men! When we all know that men and women are getting married later and later in life these days due to educational and career-oriented goals! This author is SOOOO far off base, it's ridiculous! I feel like this author misses the point time after time.
I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for this review but I did really give my honest opinion
Highly Recommend: Radical Together
David Platt's Radical together is about living the Christian life and putting your faith before the world's culture. In a day and age where we are all pursuing the American Dream, Platt urges readers to return to Christ and put Jesus back into the place of most important in our lives. Platt outlines 6 ways we can live in obedience and serve God - creating radical amazing lives.
I found this book an easy read and very inspirational. It was deep enough to get me thinking but not too difficult to understand. I think the great part about this book is that it is motivating and makes you excited to be a Christian again. For me, this book returned me to the days of me youth when I wanted to run out there and be a missionary and live for God!
Platt follows in line with some of my other favorite authors (like Francis Chan, Frank Viola): calling Christians back to being REAL Christians and living the life and not a shallow Christianity. This is the Christianity that the 18-35ers have been seeking and missing in mainstream church! This is the reason we all left the churches. We couldn't find others who really wanted to LIVE Christianity. I highly recommend this book.
I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for this review but I did really give my honest opinion
I found this book an easy read and very inspirational. It was deep enough to get me thinking but not too difficult to understand. I think the great part about this book is that it is motivating and makes you excited to be a Christian again. For me, this book returned me to the days of me youth when I wanted to run out there and be a missionary and live for God!
Platt follows in line with some of my other favorite authors (like Francis Chan, Frank Viola): calling Christians back to being REAL Christians and living the life and not a shallow Christianity. This is the Christianity that the 18-35ers have been seeking and missing in mainstream church! This is the reason we all left the churches. We couldn't find others who really wanted to LIVE Christianity. I highly recommend this book.
I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for this review but I did really give my honest opinion
Not Recommended: Absolute Love by By R. I. Willroth
We all want to be loved and be loving people. This book is about what love is. Is it that human love inside of us or is it something more? This book teaches the general Christian believe that GOD IS LOVE. Love is GOD.
I was very excited to be reading another book on love, except instead of a psychology book, this one was a Christian perspective. Problem is, this book is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO painful to read, I barely (and I really mean barely) got through it. I had to force myself. My eyes went buggy and my brain died and I had to re-read many sentences and some paragraphs over. The book is boring, drags on, is redundant and is written in a PHD language. Yikes... God should be simple, not clinical or in-comprehendable! This book is terrible in that it is very difficult to comprehend. Given, I am only a Straight-A Bachelor's degree student, this book is very difficult for a lay person to read! Ugh... unpleasant to the max.
I got this ebook on 09/16/11 and it I didn't finish it until 10/01/11. And normally, I go through 3-4 books a week. Even though the subject of love is interesting, this book certainly was not.
I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for this review but I did really give my honest opinion
I was very excited to be reading another book on love, except instead of a psychology book, this one was a Christian perspective. Problem is, this book is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO painful to read, I barely (and I really mean barely) got through it. I had to force myself. My eyes went buggy and my brain died and I had to re-read many sentences and some paragraphs over. The book is boring, drags on, is redundant and is written in a PHD language. Yikes... God should be simple, not clinical or in-comprehendable! This book is terrible in that it is very difficult to comprehend. Given, I am only a Straight-A Bachelor's degree student, this book is very difficult for a lay person to read! Ugh... unpleasant to the max.
I got this ebook on 09/16/11 and it I didn't finish it until 10/01/11. And normally, I go through 3-4 books a week. Even though the subject of love is interesting, this book certainly was not.
I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for this review but I did really give my honest opinion
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