Book Review: Churchless, with General Editors George Barna and David Kinnaman

Have you ever thought that America is not as “Christian” as it used to be? Or that fewer Christians in thsi country seem to have a church home? Churchless takes a look at the exodus that Americans have taken from churches over the last several decades. Powered by research from the Barna Group, which has been conducting research on churchgoing and spiritual opinions and habits of Americans for the last thirty years, the authors take a look at recent trends in an attempt to understand the reasons and motivations for church attendance, or the lack thereof.

Although it was full of survey results, I found the book to be an easy read, and quite eye-opening. Through the research, many shifts in culture become apparent in relation to the reasons church attendance is down. Churchless would be a great resource for church leaders, specifically those in charge of outreach. It doesn’t give simple step-by-step solutions to bring people back to the Church and to Christ, but there really is no simple answer. Instead, the reader is provided with awareness and general areas to target. Getting to know one’s local community is encouraged.

I did feel as though the book put too much emphasis on church attendance itself instead of evangelism. Since most non-church attendees are not born again Christians, it strikes me that the target needs to be more along the lines of evangelism. However, they do examine how churches are viewed by non-believers and can better structure outreach to target current cultural trends.

The information presented in Churchless is something that Christians today need to be aware of, particularly church leaders. I recommend this book to anyone seeking to reach the churchless for Christ!

I received this book for free from the publisher through the Tyndale House Publishers blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions and thoughts I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

Book Review: The Global War on Christians by John L. Allen Jr.

When I picked up The Global War on Christians, I expected to hear a good bit about persecution in various parts of the world, but I’m not sure I was prepared for the intensity of atrocities lined out in the book. The author successfully paints a picture of persecution aimed at Christians, and other religions as a major human rights concern affecting many areas of the globe. The first half of the book is packed with example upon example of Christians being tortured or killed for their faith or while doing the Lord’s work.  I won’t lie; it was a difficult read. I kept stopping to take a break from it because it was getting monotonous after awhile and I kept thinking “OK I get it!”, but Mr. Allen makes his point well. His collection of stories is merely a taste of what is going on.

Mr. Allen is careful to define what he means by a global war on Christians, and he states that in truth, Christians are not the only persecuted religion in the world and at times are the perpetrators and not only the victims. However, Christianity seems to be the most persecuted religion in the world, even in areas where Christians make up the majority.

However, this is not merely a collection of stories and facts, as the author takes the second half of the book to explore myths about this War, showing that this crisis is not a political issue, nor is it “all about Islam” (as many might assume these days). He gives examples of Muslims risking their lives to help their Christian neighbors and people from all political walks becoming victims.

I think that The Global War on Christians does a good job making the reader aware of the real issues – not political causes or other such issues we deal with in America. I had a hard time getting through it but I’m glad I did, because it made me think in a more global perspective. It’s a book I would recommend, but if you have a hard time getting through the first half with all the stories, skip to part two and at least continue reading there.

I received this book for free from the publisher through the Blogging for Books blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions and thoughts I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

A Little Update and Five Things I Love the Most About the New Kitchen

It's been way too long since I updated my blog, and I am sure I have quite a few things to catch up on. For now I'll just give a brief update.

First of all, we moved back in to the house in early November! We wanted to be out of the trailer before winter set in, as the trailer doesn't heat efficiently. The kitchen is in working order, although we still have some trim work to finish. We are living in the two front bedrooms and bathroom. We use one room for sleeping and have the other set up as a living room. It's been quite comfortable compared to the trailer, but of course we are looking forward to getting everything else finished.

As I mentioned in a previous post, we put carpet down in the two front room as a temporary floor. Once we get a little further we will put real floors down (either hardwood or engineered).

In the meantime, I am enjoying my kitchen and ability to spread out a little! Here are a few pictures of what I'm really enjoying about the kitchen.

The sink: I cannot properly express how much I LOVE this sink! It's nice and deep, so water doesn't easily splash out of it, and it's one big compartment that I can fit just about anything in! All inconveniences of prior sinks are gone with this one! My daughter's little bathtub fits perfectly inside it too!

The awesome six burner plus grill range: I haven't run out of burner space yet, and the grill makes it easy to do delicious steaks inside in the winter... as long as I turn on the downdraft so my smoke detectors don't do off!!!

My amazing warming drawer: I've never had one of these before, but let me tell you it has been a lifesaver! Have you ever tried to cook breakfast, including eggs to order for more than just yourself only to discover that in order for everyone to sit down at eat together something ends up cold? Turn this baby on and put the bacon in it while you finish the eggs. Everything goes in here once it's done so it's all nice and warm when it's time to eat!

My not-so-empty pantry: When I emptied the trailer pantry, everything spread out to make this one look full! It still has plenty of room, but everything is accessible now instead of buried! (And no, it's not particularly organized right now!)

The spacious prep-space that is the island: I love it! We have plenty of other counter space too, but I love all this prep space! When it's time to fix dinner, I clear it off and fill it with whatever I am making. Something about islands just makes cooking easier, and I have so much room on this one I don't have to spill on to other areas while cooking!

So that's it for now. I'm sure I will have plenty to blog about soon enough now that the baby is more or less on a nap schedule so I can structure my time better! My goal is to post once a week about the house, so we'll see if I can keep up with it! 

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