A Practical Walk

I believe every book we as believers read, must be compared to the truths of Scripture. Any book I recommend does not necessarily mean I agree with 100% of it. All reading we do, should be done with the Bible truths in the forefront of our minds.

I finished one book this month. I’m working my way through a couple others, but didn’t get them completed yet.

No Quick Fix – Where Higher Life Theology Came From, What It Is, & Why It’s Harmful

By Andrew David Naselli

The premise of this book resonated with me and put to words things I have seen in churches that felt off, but didn’t quite know how to put it.

As I read the book, a memory kept floating in my head. Us teens were sitting around a fire, while the youth leader spoke. I don’t remember his exact words, but he said something to the effect of, if we wanted to decide to completely follow Jesus from here on out, to stand up. I remember the conflict I felt. I was “the good girl”, what would people think if I didn’t stand up? The pressure was great. On the the other hand, I knew deep in me that I couldn’t honestly say I was going to completely follow God…after all, so far in my life, I had continued to have sins, so if I did stand up, I was lying, or committing myself to something I didn’t think I was capable of fully following through on. I felt like I was being asked to commit to never sin again.

The author discusses this concept of recommitment, dedicating ourselves to God, or whatever terminology you want to use for after salvation when you take the next step of getting more serious.

The problem is…where is that in Scripture? Do we see the disciples get saved at one point, but then later in life rededicate themselves to Christ? What seems more Biblical is a steady growth instead of a one time answer to an altar call.

In the book, I learned about the Keswick Convention, something I knew nothing about previously, and how it affected theology.

Even though I appreciated the main concept of this book, as I read I saw differences in the author’s and my theology.

One last thing to note: some of the nitty-gritty details, were more than this global thinker really wanted. I know, however that some people eat that kind of thing up.

What did you read in January?