Religion Books

This isn't your Grandpa's theology book. Mark Driscoll & Gerry Breshears bring a fresh approach to timeless Christian doctrines about Jesus in a way that is sure to resonate with those (especially non-Christians and new Christians) in their twenties and thirties. Driscoll's engaging, but sometimes shocking style is on display at various points throughout this work. Even if you're amongst those who have criticized Driscoll in the past for his sometimes raw and edgy language, I'd ask that you give him the benefit of the doubt and give this book a chance.

This work is divided into twelve chapters. Each of these chapters answers an important question about the life and work of Jesus. The questions are as follows:

* Chapter 1: Is Jesus the Only God?
* Chapter 2: How Human Was Jesus?
* Chapter 3: How Did People Know Jesus Was Coming?
* Chapter 4: Why Did Jesus Come to Earth?
* Chapter 5: Why Did Jesus' Mom Need to Be a Virgin?
* Chapter 6: What Did Jesus Accomplish on the Cross?
* Chapter 7: Did Jesus Rise from Death?
* Chapter 8: Where Is Jesus Today?
* Chapter 9: Why Should We Worship Jesus?
* Chapter 10: What Makes Jesus Superior to Other Saviors?
* Chapter 11: What Differences Has Jesus Made in History?
* Chapter 12: What Will Jesus Do upon His Return?

In each chapter, Driscoll unpacks one of the twelve questions. He engages them in several ways. First of all, he explores how culture (modern & historic) has responded to these questions. Second, he presents a Christian response to each question, utilizing the Bible, church history, and sound Christian doctrine and theology. Gerry Breshears' contribution to this work shines through in the "Answers to common questions" found at the end of each chapter. Here Dr. Breshears offers solid Biblical and historical answers to additional questions that are commonly asked about the subject matter discussed in the chapter. Additionally, I appreciated the subject index, scripture index, and notes found at the end of this book. It's nice to see well devised references and indexing in a work of this size.

I highly recommend this recent work from Mark Driscoll & Gerry Breshears. They've done a great job of presenting the timeless truths about the person and work of Jesus Christ in a way that will make sense to those entrenched in our modern culture, whose view of Jesus is often confused at best. In addition to this book, I'd also recommend another recent book by Mark Driscoll & Gerry Breshears titled: Death by Love: Letters from the Cross. This new work has a unique format in which Mark Driscoll responds to a member of his church in a pastoral letter that explains how Jesus' work on the cross is sufficient for the sin or issue they're struggling with.


Mark Driscoll is the founding pastor of Mars Hill church [www.marshillchurch.org] in Seattle. He is also co-founder and president of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network [www.acts29network.org]. Mark has penned an ever-growing list of books including: A book you'll actually read series, Vintage Jesus, Death by Love, and Vintage Church (January 31, 2009). Mark is married to his high school sweetheart Grace. They have been blessed with 5 children.

Gerry Breshears is Professor of theology and chairman of the division of biblical and theological studies at Western Seminary. Other books by Dr. Breshears include Death by Love: Letters from the Cross, Vintage Church: Timeless Truths and Timely Methods (January 31, 2009), and Personal Doctrinal Statements.

This is a great book to use with a college small group. It is easy to read,entertaining,informative, and funny yet very orthodox. We're using it to train new leaders and get to know where students are with their basic beliefs. Driscoll can be caustic and over the line at times as he is want to do, but i think the way he confronts common misconceptions and ideas in the world of christendom more than makes up for the burned bridges. He is logical, upfront, and honest . . . with a few glimpses of compassion! :-)

This book is very well written. It's got everything a bible-believing Christian would want in a book- theology, sarcasm, humor, facts, stories, and JESUS! I love Driscoll because he holds fast to the Bible and to Jesus yet is able to hold culture in an open hand. So much of the American Christian culture now blends with the secular culture around it. The result is truth is relative, in order to be an "educated" Christian we need to engage in "conversations" about Christian beliefs and allow room to change what the bible says about God and what the culture says about Jesus. Well, Driscoll does not let that happen, amen!!

This book is a great hermaneutic about the life of Jesus and answers so many questions that both non-christians and christians have about Jesus and his life. Driscoll really keeps Jesus at the center of the book and then lets culture come from the outside. In this book Jesus influences culture. So much of the Christian church today lets culture be in the center and Jesus sits on the outside.

This book benefits everyone, both for the non-christian who knows peanuts about Jesus, to the new christian who needs a foundation for his life, and to the pastor who preaches to hundreds and thousands of people every week about Jesus. I think that this book will have the same influence on the church 50 years from now that C.S. Lewis's books now have.

This book does a good job of describing the necessity of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ

If you only can read one other book in your life, other than the Holy Bible, this is it. The authors meet you head-on, no sugar coatings, no fluff or beating around the issues. This book is substanciated by scripture and after reading many books about the Bible, Jesus and other outside the Bible publications, this book nails it. I have ordered other books by Mark Driscoll and have preordered several that are due out soon. I have purchased 10 books to give to my children and friends and will probably purchase another 10 in the near future. They all agree with my enthusiam about this publication. It's a must. It may step on some toes, but it will open your eyes. It also doesn't hurt that Mark Driscoll has a sense of humor that I can relate to.
I highly recommend this for anyone struggling with their christian existance, as well as ones who think they are already saved. A must.

I am a big Chopra fan, I would recommend any of his books out there. This was the first fiction work I read of his and I thought it was great. I read it in a day and half. The character Mickey goes through the heavy stuff like you and I do in life and he has the ah ha moment thanks to Francisco. This book really shows you there is more to life than what you see and it is time to start living the real way.

Deepak does it again......this time with a lot of humor.
Life is supposed to be fun and easy.....we just forgot and made it complicated. Curl up with this book for a few good belly laughs and learn how to bring more joy and ease into your life. Enjoy!

What do you get when you put Deepak Chopra and Mike Meyers in the same room? A book full of laughs, gags, and punch lines that's punctuated with meaning and direction. While the character story for the first part of the book is interesting, it is Mr. Chopra's ability to show you the path of joy and optimism in clear understandable language that really shines. It's so enjoyable I re-read that section three times! In good times or bad this is worth the time and effort to read and enjoy!

I picked up this book with high hopes. I generally like Chopra's work, although I am not a hard-core fan, and I love to laugh. I also believe humour is a key companion to spiritual growth - when you can laugh at yourself, you probably have hit on some self-truth. And Mike Myer's Foreword seemed to be heading in the right direction, quoting Lenny Bruce's equation for comedy as "laughter = pain + time", and noting that Chopra would call the 'plus time' detachment. Enlightenment and comedy share that in common.

Unfortunately Why is God Laughing? doesn't quite follow-through on its promise, although it has some nice moments. The main problem for me is that the book seems more like an outline, and a derivative one at that. It doesn't evoke any powerful emotions, because we don't have enough time with the main character, Mickey, to feel invested in him. The entire book feels rushed, more like a premise for hitting certain spiritual points, chapter by chapter. These points, or lessons, drive the book's progression more than the character's inner growth. This is often a problem when non-fiction writers cross over to fiction, but I thought Chopra had solved it after his last fiction effort, Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment (recently released in paperback, and which I highly recommend.)

Chopra's epilogue is interesting, as he lays out his own ideas on how to embrace joy and optimism while living in a scary, fear-based culture. If the story doesn't grab you, you can always jump straight to the epilogue for a good Chopra fix. The bottom line is, the themes of this book are true to his usual message, and clearly presented - it just doesn't work as a novel. So you probably won't be deeply disappointed, but you won't be deeply moved either. If you don't want to risk it, just buy Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment instead.

For my full review, go to [...]

Product was received in great condition. Book is a very insightful, quick read for Deepak Chopra.

This book provides a fresh and powerful approach to prayer for the seasoned prayer warrior and for beginners. It is well-written, easy to understand, and deep.

Absolutely fabulous study with absolutely fabulous biblical advice! I recommend it highly! You will truly learn how to pray God's Word!

Beth Moore's Bible Studies are always great. No matter which one you choose, it will be good. They are meaty, easy to do and make you think more than just a fill-in-the-blank study.

I have this and have bought it for others. I have actually written down prayers on index cards. When I am struggling with an area, like forgiveness, I carry the card with me to read / pray throughout the day. It is effective and helps me put my focus where it should be.

I have bought and recommended this incredible book to
my disciples, friends and relatives (as well as myself).
It enables people to pray Scripture prayers...and we
know they will always be answered.

I picked up this title as one it was a woman's spiritual journey and two I like the author for her other two books - secret life of bees and mermaid chair. I am not a christian woman, and my religion does have a feminine version of God. But no woman is really spared the overwhelming experience of patriarchy in one form or the other. Sue's experience seems to come from an authentic place of pain and genuine need to explore, quite unlike Liz Gilbert or other self pitying women. She is obviously well read in theology of her own religion and has put great effort into understanding the 'song' as she calls it, the spiritual calling behind the practice of the religion. She is lucky to have had the resources to explore the pain she experienced and kind and generous to share it with the world. Some reviewers have written that being from an orthodox background she feels discrimination more than they do. Regardless of how you feel it it is very much present and will take centuries to go away. Sue's story is an inspiring call to women to reexamine the roots of their faith and their history in various forms, and simply put to be inspired to do our own dance, as opposed to dancing to others tunes.

I have read many of the reviews of this book, and I noticed the variety of opinions Dance of the Dissident Daughter has inspired.

Each of us has an opinion of this story based on our personal experiences, and my spiritual experience is quite similar to Kidd's.

I can relate to the phases she had to go through in order to find peace with her path; I honor and respect her journey.

Read this book with an open heart. I did not believe that she was bashing men or Christianity; she had to set the programming of the church aside and find her own truth. This is what she inspires all women to do for themselves.

We all search for our individual spirituality...our meaning...and I feel that this book gives a beautiful example of one woman's search for her truth.

May you find yours as well.

Sue Monk Kidd captures the reader with her openness about how she became a feminist, almost by accident. This is a very personal account describing her experience of moving from accepted Christianity to feminism. I found the story fascinating and finished it in only 3 days. For the most part, the author simply told her story and how she interpreted the events she faced along the way. However, at various places in the book she began to generalize her experiences to all women, which made me agree with the reviewer who said her journey is not my journey.

What I found a bit disconcerting is that the author states that she made a living as a writer for Christian and inspirational magazines and yet on page 83 says that she suddenly realized that the Bible focuses primarily on masculine rather than feminine attributes of God. Actually, the primary message throughout the Bible is that the God who created the universe wants to have a personal relationship with his creatures, both female and male, and how that is achieved. Even the author would classify relationships as a domain which is more in the feminine rather than mascuine realm. Likewise, the majority of the 10 Commandments deal with relationships and in Matthew 22:36-39 Jesus said the 2 most important commands were loving God and loving your neighbor. I don't see how anyone can miss these more feminine qualities of God.

Maybe the fact that America is a much more egalitarian society than when the book was written in 1996, and maybe some of the recent books that I've read, like The Female Brain, which highlights some of the hormonal and internal changes that women undergo explain why I disagree with the author and don't view the elements of patriarchy in society as something that needs to be attacked. Also, Kidd identifies many identity issues as struggles for girls and women, which I believe are universal struggles regardless of one's gender.

However, even with these complaints I believe the book is important to read if one wants to understand and interact knowledgably with a feminist.

Sue Monk Kidd expertly and openly shares her most intimate experience in finding the Divine in this well written and referenced personal account.

Sue Monk Kidd's journey resonates for me as I have long struggled with the way we tend to ignore or excuse the masculine priority that surrounds women's lives. Ms. Monk explores and ennunciates the "stacked deck" of everything from language and religion to the ingrained assumptions of women's secondary status in the world. True the balance has shifted somewhat, but as long as there are places where men have a "right" to beat their wives, where it is against the law for women to be educated, where it's a BIG DEAL to have a woman run for president, where we criticize a woman for being today's connotation of the word FEMINIST for speaking simple truths; we have a problem. Not one to be trivialized or ignored. Can you imagine the hue and cry that would erupt were we to refer to all humanity as "whitekind"? Ms. Monk is shining a light on the endemic prejudice women live with every day of their lives by sharing her journey, her questions, her fears, and confusion with us. I am grateful to her. I don't feel so alone.

I just finished this book and I must say I was surprised. It was very good. My initial worry was that it would be fluffy, but the portrait of Jesus struck the right balance between his being compassionate and winsome on the one hand, but far from passive or a push-over on the other. It was enjoyable to the end. If I have friends who wonder what a conversation with Jesus would be like or are seeking to find out more about Christianity in a non-threatening way; Dinner with a Perfect Stranger will be at the top of the list!

Welcome to College: A Christ-Follower's Guide for the Journey

This book is an easy read! The book basically takes place during a 4-course meal in a restaurant. The over-ambitious husband feeling failure in his marriage and life gets invited to dinner by Jesus. The dialogue is very simple and easy to get. It's a story of hope and inspiration! Excellent book for non-believers & believers!! I recommend it as a MUST READ. A+++++++++++

I have the honor of keeping up with college students and military in our church. Our pastor recommended this book and loaned me his own copy to read. It was easy reading and so interesting that I purchased 10 copies to send to my college students along with their Easter package. From choosing the nicest restaurant (wouldn't he want the best for his followers?) to giving good advice to his guest and taking a moment to notice those serving Him, this writer managed to give the reader a nice warm feeling about what it might be like to have dinner with Jesus.

Trite, predictable, uninteresting, unchallenging, and more. A peculiar little book that did nothing for my faith. I want something that stretches or even challenges. This appeared to be narrow, party propaganda. Perhaps, however, this is for someone who has never heard of Christianity. I am also troubled at the numbers who raved about this book. That fact, to me, is a sorry commentary on the depth of Christianity in America. St. Paul indicated that, "When I was a child, I thought like a child." Now that I am a man, I need something more.

Simplistic and poorly constructed. This book is offensive to other religions and those who question the narrow confines of a twisted version of Christianity that is worryingly popular at this time. I was actually shocked at the weakness of the arguments and very surprised that the author did not see their obvious faults. I was expecting a book that would offer a refreshing take on Christianity, with factual and honest information. I think this would turn many away from Christianity. It is sad how the basic truths of this religion have been distorted.

This book will begin to open your eyes. if your are not fully saved as i was when a friend gave me this book, your life will change forever.
i was given this book at a time when heavy issues came into my marriage.it showed me what kind of relationship i could have with my husband and mostly with GOD. it brought out a new woman, wife and mother. it showed me how to pray over my issues and my husband.which in turn, my feelings for him grew stronger and i fell in love all over again. we are still having issues but it released me into a woman of GOD and i have seen changes in my husband and my self. this book is one of the best things that i have in my possesion.

The Power of a Praying Wife - Book of Prayers by Stormie Omartian is an excellent book for wives. I believe that when a woman prays for her husband, the marriage will be blessed and so shall the two of them.

If you find yourself praying redundant prayers and want to expand your prayers to be specific to your marriage, husband, and self...then this is a must have book for you.

The author stays consistent to the outline of her other books by including awesome prayers, scripture to support the prayers, and space for personal prayer notes. I like the design of the book. It is one that you will be able to use over again and also encourage others by being able to minister on temptations, health, fears, finances, priorities, jobs, forgiveness, and love language for spouses.

Anyone that has been married for a number of years and have experienced the highs and lows of married life will benefit from this book. I love the book and give it 5 stars. I highly recommend it. Who would not want to expand on God's wisdom and blessings in their marriage?

Other product recommendations for those that have interest in this genre or book category:

Single Parent Support: A Collection of Inspirational Scriptures

The Power of a Praying® Parent Deluxe Edition

Reviewed by:
Pamela Jarmon-Wade

This is a good book with short chapters that are easy to read and apply. It helps you to focus of praying for your husband in every aspect of his life such as his mind, reputation, safety, health, etc. It has definitely stretched me and help me pray specifically for aspects of my husband's life that I never prayer for in the past. We are using this in a women's small group Bible study in conjunction with the workbook (but not using the videos).

This is a great book! It features several chapters with teaching on each facet of a husband's life and suggested prayers at the end of each chapter. It goes a long way to demystify a man's world for a wife and help her break out of interpreting his behavior in the light of her own context instead of his.

I recently purchased this book finally after being told by several of my friends that it's an awesome book. I have really enjoyed it so much and I especially love the prayers it suggests to pray. It's definitely worth your money because it's a book that you will always have at your bedside.

A cookbook that is not only practical, easy to follow but allows you to prepare a 'gourmet' meal with ingredients usually found in your pantry, cupboard and refrigerator. Highly recommended by a working 'girl' with a husband who has come to expect good food from a wife who loves to cook, but doesn't have time to do to many 'from scratch' fine dinners any more. The biggest plus about the meals featured herein is the low-calorie, low-fat, healthy aspect! And still tasty! (and affordable!) She has it all in one great cookbook!

I can't tell you enough how bad these recipes were. And like the other reviewers was excited to get this cookbook so we'd stop eating on the go so much.
I started trying a new recipe such as the chilli and it was awful! Most of the recipes were bland or mushy.

The book arrived in excellent condition and in a timely manner, as promised. We were pleased and would use this seller again. Thank you.

I like this recipe book and will be using it a lot in the future

I'm a big time calorie counter and fat counter. I have good eating habits do to the fact that I lost 56 lbs. with Weight Watchers about four years ago. So I'm not a stranger to cooking light. I prefer it. And I love to cook with my slow cooker. I bought the original Fix-It cookbook and LOVE it. And I have to say that although I haven't used this one as often it is filled with an abundance of great recipes and their nutritional facts.
Overall, a great cookbook that I will keep next to my other favorite cookbooks.

Friedman is not rehashing old work here. This is a new application of the Bowen Family Systems work as applied to leadership within the culture. I think his insights on anxiety in the culture are right on, and as always there is more hope where there is more understanding.
I recommend this to book to preachers, teachers, writers and analysts because these insights are distinctive and helpful.

After reading this book, I am now clear on why I am so frustrated with corporate and non-profit companies in the US. It's excellent and I plan to use it in my consulting practice - I've ordered copies for my clients!

I found Friedman's work very interesting and insightful. I am a parent and manager, so the concept of leadership is important to me. He puts his sometimes radical concepts into easy to digest sections, without watering in down at all. This is not your average management mumbo-jumbo, step-by-step, how to book.

At times it reads like a textbook, and some of his analogies with scientific discovery and history are long-winded, but all in all this was a book that made me think differently about how I act as a leader. It's very different from the standard stuff I have read before on leadership, managing and parenting. This is a book of well thought theory and examples. There is a lot of meat in this thing and it requires active reading skills.

Not for the weak of mind or self-help junkies.

Rabbi Ed Friedman was a groundbreaking scholar in applying Bowen Family Systems Theory to religious worshiping communities (churches and synagogues). "A Failure of Nerve" was to be the capstone of his lifetime work in leading congregations (as a rabbi), consulting congregations and businesses, community relations, teaching, and writing. Sadly, Ed Friedman died before he could finish "A Failure of Nerve." However, his children and colleagues collaborated in bringing this work to publication anyway--publishing the material Friedman had already written and turning his remaining notes into narrative. The result is a stinging critique of our American leader-crushing culture and a call-to-arms for leaders to transform our culture.

The first part of "A Failure of Nerve" provides an analysis of leadership--how leaders come into being, their mindset, their makeup, and the challenges they face. He heavily emphasizes the leader's thirst for adventure and their high regard for curiosity. He argues that the adventure-and-curiosity values of (primarily) Columbus, along with Luther, Calvin, Copernicus, Shakespeare, and others brought the world from Dark Ages to Renaissance. Were it not for Columbus et. al's leadership, sense of adventure, self-differentiated nature, and willingness to risk failure, the world would not quickly have gone from the highly-anxious leader-poor Dark Ages to the less-anxious leader-rich Renaissance. Unfortunately, Friedman argues, current western culture more resembles the Dark Ages than the Renaissance with regard to leadership.

Friedman argues that Western cultural values (e.g. the propensity to avoid leadership by immersing one's self in a sea of books and data; the fear of offending other people; the societal value of empathy; the fear of strong personalities, calling them narcissistic and autocratic instead of full of integrity and individuality) need to be challenged by some of the boldest of leaders so that more leaders can follow suit. He argues that the very thing that made the people of the Renaissance apt to become adventure-seeking heroes--rapid change--has now created so much instability that societal anxiety and undifferentiated persons run amok. The result is that potential leaders are sabotaged, worn down, and discouraged for ever attempting to lead in bold, new ways.

The solution, Friedman argues in the book's second part, is not simply less-anxious, highly-differentiated, highly-connected leadership...but also the steely backbone necessary to lead. Leaders in these ensuing generations need to stand up to the pressure to conform like no other generation of leaders; they will need to be bold, integrity-rich personalities in the face of opposition; they will have to stand firm and face weak less-differentiated opponents who somehow have claimed the moral high-ground. The result of this Columbus-like leadership may very-well be a new age of highly-differentiated leaders and a transformed American culture.

While this book does present excellent ideas, these ideas remain unrefined. Friedman's groundbreaking work, "Generation to Generation" was characterized by a playfulness and engagement with the reader that is absent in "A Failure of Nerve." The result is a darker, more pessimistic book. Further, the vast majority of this book defines the problem in modern America. The solutions--by far the more important part of the book--was left unfinished at Friedman's death and is thus much shorter and much less-developed. It was as if Friedman was building up to a crescendo...but then died before the apex of his thoughts. The reader is much poorer for this untimely death.

While inferior to "Generation to Generation," Friedman does provide many, many excellent points worthy of reading and digesting. While Friedman writes, "...I will be quite content if all I have succeeded in accomplishing is to supply this century's best candidate for book burning (28)," this book need not be burned. It should be discussed, taken to heart, and turned to often by those who have a strong desire to lead in their communities and countries...by those who have a vision for a possible future and are willing to risk their reputations, their fortunes, and their relationships for the good of others.

Although it is lacking in polish and development, the raw material is well, well worth a thorough read...or two...or three.

A Failure of Nerve presents a unique approach on leadership among the books I have read on the topic. Friedman concentrates on several themes throughout the book that combine lessons learned from decades of experience and research.

The themes include the necessity of a sense of adventure and the possession of courage in leaders, the importance of self-differentiation, focusing on strengths instead of catering to weaknesses, the destructive nature of relationship triangles and the challenges leaders face among followers.

He highlights some negative practices of leaders in our culture, mainly the over-dependence on data and information and the misplaced emphasis on emphathy over action.

In this book, readers will find practical, simple ways to improve leadership. This book will challenge some of the accepted practices of organizational leadership today and should open readers' eyes to necessities of effective leadership.

All of Friedman's themes are applicable to families, congregations, businesses, government, etc. This is an especially useful book for parents and pastors/rabbis.

The downside of the book is that it was published posthomously, so the last three chapters were collected by colleagues who also edited the book. The effect is that it is not as cogent and concise as it might have been if Friedman had lived long enough to complete the writing himself.

This is a dense book on leadership that is definitely worth the effort of reading, as it will change the way you lead and relate to others.

Craig Stephans, author of Shakespeare On Spirituality: Life-Changing Wisdom from Shakespeare's Plays

my boyfriend and i are reading this book and we are really growing and learning a lot from it. we take the time to talk about each chapter individually and ask what each other thought about it. Also, because its our first relationship, this book definitely helps serve as some guidelines... of course alongside with the bible. =)

I read his first book "I kissed dating goodbye". I finally decided it was about time I read the second book for when/if I decide to date anyone. This book helped me so much and I really think everyone should read it! If you're thinking about getting it, def do.

Great book! Provides a solid alternative to the world's system, and a far better one at that, since it puts Christ first.

This book is more for those in their early 20's, whereas Harris' first book "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" is more for teenagers.

My thoughts where changed after reading IKDG and am wholy convinced that it was God who used this book to do what the bible teaches in Romans 12:2. Needless to say I have had alot of bad relationships that have left alot of scars. I can now say my focus is on Gods plan for my life, a message clearly stated in this book on dating. There are things God wants to do first. He wants you to see His plan first. He may have a Million dollar plan for your life!
Although I have not read this book, yet, I commend Joshua for the efforts he is making to turn the hearts of those God has chosen through Josh's ministry.
My message to anyone who reads these books is to ask God to reveal those things you need to see and teach you based on Josh's courageous ground breaking attempts to turn this big ship around.
Read Josh's books with a open mind in lieu of one that is set upon a tradition.
I challange this same mindset to search what your heart will say so that you to can reach out and touch the hearts of the hurting.

If anyone has read the title "I kiss dating goodbye," then you are aware of Joshua Harris' ungodly and unbiblical stance against Christian relationships, and may know of the damage it has done to members of the church in modern times. Young Christians have been leaving the church in droves after discovering it is "sick and ungodly" to have coffee with friends, go on dates, or pine after someone unless God "magically" steps in.

"Boy meets Girl" is a hypocrits' attempt to defend the relationship that he entered into soon after penning his original blasphemous piece of filth. For those who don't follow modern theology or have no notion of biblical applications, this would be as if Al Gore wrote "Why I trash the world, a polluter's attempt to foul the atmosphere." after "Inconvenient Truth." It really is that much of a turn-around. Unfortunately for him, this brazen attempt by Harris to cover his tracks merely points to how scandalous, misguided and damaging his first attempt at perverting the Bible was.

Shane Claiborne, mostly known for his book The Irresistible Revolution and Jesus for President, has teamed up with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, author of New Monasticism and Free to Be Bound, to explore the nature of prayer as it concerns to "ordinary radicals."

The book explores in depth three major prayers found within the new testament. They focus on the Lord's Prayer, Jesus' prayer for his disciples in John 17, and Pauls prayer to the church in Ephesians(1:15-23). The over running theme, as they look at these three examples of prayer, is that prayer necessitates action.

The book is extremely well written. The two voices of the authors intermingle so well that, without the help of parenthetical notings, one would assume that there is but one voice coming from the pages. Whether this is intentional or not, I can't say. But it does further drive home another major point, that we are to be one in spirit.

The book hits on issues of politics, economics, community, justice, the Holy Spirit, and the intricacies of prayer found within all of these. Anybody who is looking for a book with some girth to it concerning prayer this book would be a beneficial read. It takes no attention away from the art of praying or the church, but pushes for reflection on the prayers of the saints and early christians so that we may see that prayer becomes mere murmering to God when we fail to follow up with appropriate actions. Instead of praying for people's burdens, this book will push you to make others burdens your own, as we are called.