A Review Of A Challenge...

To start off, this won't as long as the other spiritual posts. It will short, but to the point where it ends in the middle of this sentence....

I've been waiting for an opportune moment to write this. Seen as a few people have read the following book, I decided to write up my thoughts on it...

"Blue Like Jazz" is quite frankly a masterpiece of theological writings. But that statement there is in itself something. Donald Miller has done something quite extraordinary, taking many of the common aspects of the Christian faith, and writing on them as if they were...well...weren't aspects at all. The tag-line for the book is quite true;

"Non-religious thoughts, on Christian Spirituality..."

Books like this come very seldom, but whenever they do, I have great joy in reading them. Every night, before I would lay my head down to sleep, I would reach for my copy of the book, and read until the chapter head breathed its last. It is marvelous.

And what is more astounding, is that, unlike other books that I've read (aside from the Bible) this book challenged my faith in a huge way, forcing me to come face to face with many ideals and aspects of Christian faith that had simply sauntered on by. Those of you who have followed this blog will know just how challenging this book was. For those of you who haven't, check some of the previous posts.

And unlike "Velvet Elvis" where I found large portions that I would disagree on, "Blue Like Jazz" has managed to escape the same effect on the same scale. That is not to say that there aren't parts that I disagree on, but that many of these parts made sense, but that I would not succumb to them. Disagree is a very harsh word for this, and I would be more inclined to say that if I one day meet Donald Miller (and I hope I do), that I would be happy to discuss where our differences in opinions lie.

But one thing strikes me, and this is not just for "Blue Like Jazz." Many of these new-age Christian faith books all share something in common. Books from the hands such as Shane Claybourne, Rob Bell and Brian D. McLaren, lack Biblical context. OK, I haven't read much of "A New Kind of Christian" by McLaren, but books from Rob Bell and Shane Claybourne have a woeful amount of anything linking back to Scripture. Some people say that's the whole point, but in a world which solely focuses on itself, it is a great comfort to me to open my Bible and bring whatever is being talked about back to the Gospel. I think the Christian faith needs to take a new step. I admire what these writers are trying to achieve, but isn't there a way to present Christian Spirituality to the masses in a new and invigorating way, while leaving one of the foundations of our faith as a centre piece?

"Blue Like Jazz" is a book which must be read, not because it will give you advice, or because its a really good read, but because it is a challenge. Get a copy, and read it. Having been challenged while reading it, there is great satisfaction in saying that challenges come for a reason, and if you're looking for a challenge, this book is what you're looking for...







Next week, my account of GAP.






.....I think I'll do a Metal Gear Solid post sometime....


Yes, that's a good idea.