Book Description
For Hannah, marriage has never meant happily ever after. Having fled an abusive husband when her daughters were young, she's never had reason to marry again...until now. Her business partner, Max, has proposed because he doesn't want her to be taxed on his estate. Hannah is initially reluctant to enter such an arrangement but logic dictates that she accept. Then, after the wedding, she finds herself spending more time over at Max's and is shocked to discover that she loves him -- wildly and passionately! A part of her wants the marriage to become real, but she's scared of losing herself again -- and more scared, still, that Max doesn't feel the same.
Right when she desperately needs the counsel of her two closest friends, Grace is wrapped up with her partner, Bob, and Amelia is away in New York, being tempted by the glamorous life. Will Hannah find the courage to pursue a real marriage? And what will happen to her relationships with Grace and Amelia if she does?
Customer Reviews:
Two Days After the Wedding.......2007-09-24
This is one in a series about three mature women who choose to live together. The story deals with the wedding of one of the women and her desire to live in two places: with the man she has married, and with the two women who have become so integral to her life. Her solution, with the consent of her new husband, is to do both.
I can't believe this is the same author..........2007-07-12
I absolutely loved the first two Covington novels and adored the three ladies. It's hard to imagine that the same author wrote this one; the language is stilted, the dialogue is unnatural, new characters aren't well developed and the whole book feels as though it was just thrown together. Bad enough for her readers, but Grace, Hannah and Amelia certainly deserved better!
2 Days After the Wedding is a good read........2007-04-09
I have all the other Covington books, so when I realized this one was available I had to have it. I think the story is very much on par with all the other books in this series. Readers will not be disappointed.
Slightly Disappointed.......2007-02-06
I am sorry to say that I was disappointed in the latest Covington ladies book. To me it lacked some reality, a woman marrying a man and falling madly in love but still insisting that the two other Covington ladies were really her family and deciding to move back in with them to see her new husband on whim only. There was something lacking in this storyline, and this book was not as riveting to me as the previous Covington books.
Two Days After the Wedding (Ladies of Covington).......2007-01-09
Received the book quickly. I loved the book and have passed it among my friends to enjoy as well.
Product Description
Boubleday Large Print
Average customer rating:
- Emotionally Abusive
- Wonderful!
- Hate to admit I liked this
- Horrible, childish, and insufferably protracted
- I laughed and cried
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Whitney, My Love
Judith McNaught
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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( M ) | Authors, A-Z | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books | MacOmber, Debbie | Macomber, Debbie | Martin, Kat | Mason, Connie | Michaels, Fern | Miller, Linda Lael
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ASIN: 0671776096 |
Amazon.com
Setting: Regency England
Sensuality: 7
Whitney Stone's teenage crush on a neighbor has her cold, unfeeling father banishing her to Paris into the care of her aunt and uncle. Under their loving guidance, the young woman blossoms into a ravishing beauty and becomes the darling of glittering Parisian society--a fact not lost on the handsome and equally powerful Duke of Claymore, who determines to make her his wife. Despite the duke's fervent interest, Whitney remains fixed on her childhood love. That is, until she finds herself tempted by the Duke--an attraction that both delights and baffles Whitney, causing her to be increasingly wary of what her heart may lead her to do. The Duke suffers no such confusion. He wants Whitney. And he plans to have her, despite a number of obstacles, including the infatuation Whitney seems to have for another; her aunt's growing concerns; and her greedy father's bungling efforts to control his beautiful daughter. But before the Duke and Whitney's plans can reach fruition, they'll have to work their way through a morass of misunderstandings that threaten any hope of a happy ending.
Meticulously researched and set against the background of Regency England's country charms and London society, this classic historical romance boasts a hero and heroine who possess deep passion and strong, independent character, as well as a heartfelt story line that will keep readers turning the pages. Author Judith McNaught has endeared herself to readers with the quality of her writing and Whitney My Love--McNaught's first bestseller--is a not-to-be-missed example of just why her stories are so eagerly awaited by fans everywhere. --Lois Faye Dyer
Book Description
One of today's best-loved authors, Judith McNaught launched her stellar career with this dazzling bestseller. Now in a special edition that features a brand-new, enhanced ending and endows familiar characters with new depth, Whitney, My Love lives on as "the ultimate love story, one you can dream about forever" (Romantic Times).
Under the dark, languorous eyes of Clayton Westmoreland, the Duke of Claymore, Whitney Stone grew from a saucy hoyden into a ravishingly sensual woman. Fresh from her triumphs in Paris society, she returned to England to win the heart of Paul, her childhood love...only to be bargained away by her bankrupt father to the handsome, arrogant Duke. Outraged, she defies her new lord. But even as his smoldering passion seduces her into a gathering storm of desire, Whitney cannot -- will not -- relinquish her dream of perfect love.
Rich with emotion, brimming with laughter and tears, Whitney, My Love confirms once more why "Judith McNaught is truly one of the spellbinding storytellers of our times" (Affaire de Coeur).
Customer Reviews:
Emotionally Abusive.......2007-08-30
This book was published 22 years ago in 1985, when readers accepted this kind of story uncritically. Reading it for the first time in 2007, it was a story of a raging alcoholic with multiple personality disorder who was constantly emotionally abusing a much younger girl who became his bride and then she was falsely accused and further subjected to torment, torture and insane rants by this egotistical, abusive man. The "hero" is Lord Westmoreland, Duke of Claymore, and he is repulsive. The bride by name of Whitney, is presented as a high spirited young woman who has faced constant rejection and ridicule for her daredevil personality and unyielding crush on a man, Paul, who is basically a user and loser. Her father is a spendthrift, gambler who rejects her for no solid reason apart from the fact that he can. The dialog is stiff at times, yet is occasionally humorous. There are a lot of plot problems and
story inconsistencies and incompletions that frustrated this reader who has come to expect much more from this otherwise fine author.
Wonderful!.......2007-08-29
I thouroughly enjoyed this book. Couldn't put it down. Read it in 2 days. Only one irritating thing about the characters...the constant misunderstanding's. I wanted to scream sometimes. LOL
Hate to admit I liked this.......2007-08-12
In modern sesibilities this is a story about an abusive relationship. Claymore would make O.J.Simpson proud. He never trusts his fiance/wife and consequently subjects her to humiliating insults and degradations. He inevitably then learns the truth and is absolutely mortified at his behaviour and will do anything to make amends; a classic case of spousal abuse. It is interesting that the rape scene is never called 'rape' in the book, as if that takes the stigma from it. We are supposed to accept that his love is so savage and strong that a simple comment from one of her enemies drives him insane - yet again. Rape is rape - a rose by any other name.
But, you know I really got into this book and loved it. What does that say about me? Looks like I'm the type that wants to hear the dirt, and so I do.
It did disturb me that she constantly begs his forgiveness and takes him back. She has an abusive father though so this poor girl's goose is cooked from the get go.
She certainly gets some dandy emeralds though.
Horrible, childish, and insufferably protracted.......2007-07-31
I find that Judith McNaught's WHITNEY, MY LOVE caters to adolescent, immature sensibilities for the most part. The 577-page hardcover special edition attempts a grand, epic scale but I thought the book sorely needed an editor and it was vastly overinflated. Notorious libertine 34 year-old Duke of Claymore, Clayton Westmoreland, and spirited 19 year-old virgin Whitney Stone both act like spoiled children and I couldn't stomach the huge age difference. Clayton is 5 years away from being twice Whitney's age for heaven's sake! Like most regency novels, there isn't a veritable historical backdrop, the prose and writing is below average, the pacing lolls, the story was dumb and puerile, and lord almighty the lead characters are both childish. The first half of the story comprises mostly of juvenile kissing, balls, picnics and girlish plots. I lost track of who is using whom to make who jealous or who is coming out on top. The second half consisted mostly of Clayton and Whitney hurting each other over misunderstandings and confusions. Clayton's retaliation is usually more destructive, both to himself and Whitney. A huge thumbs down on Clayton Westmoreland by the way, he's neither a likable nor an interesting hero.
The first half of the novel introduces our typically spirited, headstrong heroine Miss Whitney Stone at 15 years of age. She has a crush on neighbor Paul Sevarin and after being ridiculed for chasing after Paul and not excelling in ladylike activities like knitting, singing, and playing the pianoforte, she vows to get Paul to marry her at some point. Nothing new in the characterization here. Whitney's father believes her daughter too unruly and has her Aunt and Uncle take her to Paris for her debut and coming-out. Over the next 4 years, Whitney transforms into a beauty and shines in Paris with a whole host of nameless, faceless suitors. She rejects all of them, still vying for Paul's affections when she returns home.
The Duke of Claymore Clayton Westmoreland takes notice and falls for Whitney's charms and beauty. He pursues a thorough investigation into her background and discovers her father deeply in debt. He pays off her father's debt in return for Whitney's betrothal, completely unbeknownst to Whitney. There's some chance encounters between Whitney and Clayton at this point in Paris, but nothing Whitney recalls vividly. Clayton has his own mistress anyway. After the arrangement with Whitney's father, Clayton has her father send for Whitney to return home. Clayton secretly bankrolls all of Whitney's finances including her expensive clothing and jewels. Whitney thinks her father is doing extremely well. There's some parties and picnics after Whitney returns home and while Whitney continues her quest to win over Paul, Clayton introduces himself as Clayton Westland and plays his own game to win over Whitney. The plotting continues for 250-300 pages without anything happening except for insipid, gossipy conversations and childish pursuits in a game of marriage.
Just when Whitney gets Paul to marry her, she learns the truth behind Clayton, that he's the duke and that she's already betrothed for 2-3 months. She still resists Clayton of course. Finally, Paul doesn't turn out to be the guy Whitney wants (he doesn't have a spine), and the second half of the book painfully slugs along in a series of misunderstandings and confusions which incite both Clayton and Whitney to hurt each other. Clayton is at his patrician, autocratic worst here, brutally punishing Whitney for perceived betrayals.
A lot of romance novelists tend to have their hero ruthlessly incarcerate the heroine in some way. Freedom simply isn't an option for the heroine, and the hero tyrannically won't let go. When you have a powerful, arrogant duke used to getting his own way, the results of the childish games can be severe. All the while, the hero bears the brunt of his heroine's seething bravado. Supposedly, this shows a stubborn spirit linking the two, the experienced libertine answering the spirited virgin's profane cursing by igniting her passion. You know the rest.
I found it hilarious when Whitney's Aunt Anne thinks to reveal the Duke's identity and his notoriously lascivious reputation to Whitney if Whitney shows signs of falling for the Duke's charms. Ha, that's the whole point, that's the entire attraction from the girl's point-of-view! How flattering for a girl to find herself the center of a handsome womanizer's attentions. In fact, in spite of Whitney's professed hatred for Clayton, she refers to him as "elegantly dissolute," at one point watching him shuffling cards.
Both are childish. In some rare moments of friendly conversation, Clayton recounts for Whitney every moment he's seen her back in France and everything she says or does. Yes, that's a bit of an obsession and yet after learning of the deceptive betrothal, she asks why he offers for her. Isn't it blatantly obvious? He wants you, he's obsessed by your innocent, virgin charms and enjoys a good expletive drubbing at every meeting. I mean Clayton laughs and chuckles at every single one of Whitney's insipid remarks and stories. Isn't it clear why he offered for you, Whitney, or are you that dumb?!
Anyway, the book is dumb, the characters behave like infantile children, the plotting and pacing is painful, and the writing: just ok.
I laughed and cried.......2007-07-30
This book took me on a ride through its rampage of emotions as I felt everything that the characters were going through. There were heart shattering moments that made me cry. And there were moments when I couldn't help but laugh out loud.
The author gave her characters both strong strengths and weaknesses. There were times when I hated the characters and then times when I loved them. No matter what happens, the scorching passion and love between these two characters is undeniable.
I recommend reading 'Kingdom of Dreams' first followed by 'Whitney, My Love' with the new ending.
Average customer rating:
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Whitney Houston: My Love Is Your Love
Manufacturer: Warner Brothers Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0769277349 |
Book Description
Album-matching folio to multi-platinum set from one of the best-selling artists of all time. Titles are: Get It Back * Heartbreal Hotel * I Bow Out * I Learned from the Best * If I Told You That * In My Business * It's Not Right but It's Okay * My Love Is Your Love * Oh Yes * Until You Come Back * When You Believe * You'll Never Stand Alone, plus the bonus song I Was Made to Love Him.
Average customer rating:
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Whitney My Love
Judith McNaught
Manufacturer: Pocket Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: 0770112587 |
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Multiple books shipped as one item for your convenience. Save on Shipping/Handling charges.
Product Description
three massmarket paperbacks.
Average customer rating:
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Whitney, My Love
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HT7JOE |
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The Return of Kavin
David Mason
Manufacturer: New York: Lancer Books, 1972
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NX23CM |
Average customer rating:
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The Return of Kavin
David Mason
Manufacturer: Wildside Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1587150662 |
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The Return of Kavin
David Mason
Manufacturer: Lancer Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000DELZGQ |
Average customer rating:
- Essential Reading on the Journey
- Loved it!
- Why I liked this book, and why I also have some concerns.
- Missing the point
- The Conversation Begins...
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A New Kind of Christian: A Tale of Two Friends on a Spiritual Journey
Brian D. McLaren
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 078795599X |
Book Description
A Leadership Network Publication
A New Kind of Christian's conversation between a pastor and his daughter's high school science teacher reveals that wisdom for life's most pressing spiritual questions can come from the most unlikely sources. This stirring fable captures a new spirit of Christianity--where personal, daily interaction with God is more important than institutional church structures, where faith is more about a way of life than a system of belief, where being authentically good is more important than being doctrinally "right," and where one's direction is more important than one's present location. Brian McLaren's delightful account offers a wise and wondrous approach for revitalizing Christian spiritual life and Christian congregations.
If you are interested in joining a discussion group devoted to a A New Kind of Christian please visit
groups.yahoo.com/group/NKOC.
Customer Reviews:
Essential Reading on the Journey.......2007-10-03
Everyone seems to come to their spiritual beliefs in a "journey" of sorts. The books seems to be marketed primarily to those either trying to move along on the path, or those questioning where they are presently. I guess I fell in the former group when I read this about a year ago.
Anyone truly seeking God will have questions that those on other parts of the path sometimes do not understand and even riducule at times. The first thing I will say about this book (and I have since read the second volume and The Secret Message of Jesus by McClaren...currently reading the third volume, as well as several other spiritually-based books) is that is makes you feel better about questioning some things. In some ways, it even makes you realize that maybe we were meant to do so.
You will agree with some things, disagree with others, but at least it will make you think about what you believe and why. Hopefully it will further spur you to expand your reading, put that reading in context with the teachings of your church, discussions with friends, etc. to further your journey.
My personal thought is that you should have at least at a point of belief in a monotheistic God before reading McClaren. Anywhere beyond that and I think you will find this helpful, and a quick read in a style that is also entertaining and interesting.
Loved it!.......2007-09-17
This is obviously a polarizing book. Great books usually have that effect. I personally found it fascinating. I didn't perceive this book as a threat to present-day Christianity at all. It was quite refreshing to read, and I'm very glad that I read this book. If you're often disappointed with the status quo, take a chance and read this book!
Why I liked this book, and why I also have some concerns........2007-09-04
I really enjoyed and benefited from reading McLaren's book. I have some concerns, but first let me explain why I like it.
I am an Evangelical who has been studying theology for the last couple of years at University, particularly looking at the New Testament from a 1st century perspective. I have been loving it, and feeling almost like I have been discovering for the first time what Jesus was really on about. But at the same time I have been feeling increasingly isolated in my Church, where the bible is largely understood through a pre-critical (McLaren would say `modern') lens, which at times results in interpretations of the bible that are totally foreign to how people most likely understood Jesus in the 1st century. I have realised that my `isolation' is just going to keep growing, and a few weeks ago I could see only two options. Either, I was going to have to live a lie and keep most of this stuff to myself, or stop believing and leave the church.
Most of the book resonated with my experiences. In it McLaren gives an imaginary dialogue between a struggling pastor and a post-evangelical, and through this he outlines some of the ways the modern church has 'framed' the biblical material by briefly reflecting on how some things would be understood in the first century. This book (as I understand it) suggests that someone like me should continue to deconstruct my `modern' way of thinking about things, but at the same time construct a new `post-modern' framework that is big enough to contain my beliefs, questions, doubts etc. Perhaps the biggest help for me was sensing the importance of not doing this alone, that I need others with me for the ride. In a way I think the main message of this book is that if your worldview no longer makes sense of things you can either give it up, or you can entrench yourself in it and become increasingly isolated and closed minded, or you can deconstruct it, discover what is worth keeping, and build a new world view that is big enough to make sense of life's complexities.
To give an example from the book, McLaren critiques the `gospel' and He suggests I think correctly that the gospel needs to be reframed around the 'kingdom of God/heaven' (the rule or kingship of God). As I understand it `Repent and believe' in Mark 1:15 means giving up our own agenda, and accepting the agenda of God's kingdom or rule. The gospel is not meant to be an individualistic ticket into heaven; the good news is that God's rule through Jesus has broken into the world, and it is growing (like a mustard seed - see Mark 4:31) we can now join what God is doing in the world, with a future hope in the resurrection and a restored world. So what about the crucifixion? The crucifixion is central to this. The crucifixion is not so much about God forgiving our past sins (in the OT God forgave Israel's sins over and over again), it is the means by which kingdom people are somehow released from the power of sin over our lives and are being made 'righteous.' It is central to our participation in God's kingdom. I am aware this is quite different from how alot of Evangelical's might understand things, but I'd recommend (if you feel this way) that you read books by some respected mainstream critical scholars like NT Wright. Try one of his less technical books like `The Challenge of Jesus.'
My only concern is one of methodology. I have not read anything else by McLaren, so I accept that some of my concerns may have been answered by him elsewhere. In my study we have been taught the historical-critical method, which provides a good basis for examining 1st century thought and critiquing subsequent developments. McLaren doesn't seem to strongly advocate any method in this book, which I fear leaves `a new kind of Christian' open to a pick and choose method of critiquing `modern' understandings of the bible. I feel that in a post-modern church perhaps we all need to learn to think critically about our faith and be actively engaged with critical scholars. An example in the book of a non-critical approach is that he occasionally justifies a position based on (for example) some speculative ideas of C.S. Lewis. I find C.S. Lewis' ideas interesting, but I think we need to be more rigorous than this in our approach and first examine what the bible has to say through the lens of it's own 1st century context (as McLaren seems to do most of the time).
Missing the point.......2007-08-30
This is a very well written and compelling book.It was a joy to read it and all the sequels very quickly.
I will put this briefly. The problem is the same thinking that the world that does not know God uses.
If God will not show Himself clearly, if He will not work miraculously in our daily lives, then we can manufacture a worldview, events, rituals, community and experiences that will show a form of spirituality that will help to slake some of the spiritual thirst modern believers have.
Since God is not not here, we should expect that, and learn to "find" Him in other ways.
Guys, nice try. You're missing it. It's happening in other parts of the world, like in China. Read Jackie Pullinger's Chasing the Dragon, or Brother Andrew's God's Smuggler, and compare them to this book.
There is a huge difference here. Both of these people are alive and running active ministries, so this isn't something for another time, and you can go talk to these people yourself.They are adressing real modern problems in a real way that the world can't do. Ask yourself, what is wrong in America if the rest of the world is reliving the book of Acts, while we find ourselves trying to reinvent Christianity so that we don't feel dead and unanswered, and so that people outside the church might feel interested in attending a service.
The church in America is a car without gas trying to re-read the owner's manual trying to figure out how metaphorically it is supposed to run 75 mph. You gotta put gas (The Holy Spirit) in the car, otherwise it won't run. Doesn't matter how we dress it up so it looks like it's running, it still won't run, and the unbelievers are walking faster than a car without gas can go.Read the manual again if you have to.It's all in there.
The Conversation Begins..........2007-08-17
It is interesting to me how so many of the people who review this book speak of "theology" as something that can be captured and pinned down like some specimen of insect.
Yes...much as been revealed of God. But there is so much more that is mystery...so much more that is legitimately left open to interpretation. We are in the midst of God's story. How dare we treat him as a specimen to be dissected and defined in some narrow scientific way.
That said, I find the value of this book to be that it is a fictional conversation between two characters dealing with the truly real questions of this story, this life, that we find ourselves in.
It reminds me of the kind of all night bull sessions that we too infrequently get to have after our college days are done.
There are many ideas worth pondering in this book. A couple that caught my imagination were the importance of conversation rather than conversion and the idea that maybe God's mercy is his judgement--in other words, what will be left of some people if he truly removes all that is born of sin someday?--as he promises to do in scripture.
To those who say unkind things of Mr. McLaren, who judge without reading, or who read without allowing themselves to think...please find something better to with your time. No one--NO ONE--has been able to put God in a box. No one has the knowldege of God or of his way for us to live down to a science. God transcends science.
(and that is one of the main points of this book...)
So please stop slamming a man who is trying to stir a conversation about how to better reach people with the love of God. What an awful way to waste the breath & energy that God is giving you.
Average customer rating:
- A taste of living water in the drought of modern-day Christianity
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A New Kind of Christian: A Tale of Two Friends on a Spiritual Journey
Brian D. McLaren
Manufacturer: Hovel Audio
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Binding: Audio CD
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Church on the Other Side, The
ASIN: 1596443162 |
Book Description
A New Kind of Christian's conversation between a pastor and his daughter's high school science teacher reveals that wisdom for life's most pressing spiritual questions can come from the most unlikely sources. This stirring fable captures a new spirit of Christianity--where personal, daily interaction with God is more important than institutional church structures, where faith is more about a way of life than a system of belief, where being authentically good is more important than being doctrinally "right," and where one's direction is more important than one's present location. Brian McLaren's delightful account offers a wise and wondrous approach for revitalizing Christian spiritual life and Christian congregations.
Customer Reviews:
A taste of living water in the drought of modern-day Christianity.......2007-01-28
My hairdresser recommended this book to me. The relationship one has with one's hairdresser means that you often end up talking about quite deep things and my hairdresser and I, both Christians, have done a lot of talking over the last ten years. He was obviously pretty much in tune with where my thoughts were as he told me about a book I had to read, told me its name and I went out and bought it.
"A New Kind Of Christian" is that book. And my hairdresser was right - I really did have to read this book. Why? Mainly because it has given me fresh hope in Christianity in the 21st century when I had pretty much given up hope. Look around you at the people you work with, you travel on the train with. If you stopped and asked one of them randomly to describe what they thought a Christian was they would probably say something like "a nice person, a good person, but also very judgemental, bigoted, brainwashed and a hyprocrite." And I would agree with them. Most Christians I know - well, almost all of them - are really nice people. They can be very hospitable, wonderfully generous, they give up no end of time and money to the Church, they want to invite non-Christians to as many events as possible to convert them (for their own good, of course) and they want to live a faithful, good, nuclear family kind of life. However, this worldview seems so out of touch with the real world - not because any of those things are necessarily wrong (most of them are very good) but because it misses out on a lot of what else is going on in today's culture. Issues of sexuality, scientific study, congruence with the postmodern society that we live in - these are issues that the secular world has a position on and the church is usually far behind. Christians often seem to have an inability to think for themselves but only seem able to parrot the latest words of the pastor/leader, no matter how unloving it may seem to the modern gay person (for example), let alone often requiring belief in things that really shouldn't matter to be a `real' Christian (such as 7-day creation). Young people are often turned off because they feel the church isn't really connecting with them; others are so `into' the church that they don't actually have any real understanding of life outside it, of culture outside it (yes, there is some!) and of issues that affect people deeply every day that they can blithely categorise as `wrong' or `sin'.
Brian MacLaren's book meets these issues head on. Rather than writing a treatise or theology of what he believes he instead presents his views in the form of a conversation between two people - a Pastor who is beginning to wonder if he should become a school teacher instead as he can no longer preach with the certainty that he used to, and Neo, a school teacher who used to be a pastor. Within the conversations between these two men we read a sermon by Neo, hear of conversations between the pastor and his wife and get a little bit of an idea what it might be like for that pastor who is worried about his calling. And every page of this book just drips wisdom - I found myself constantly thinking "yes, that's exactly it!" and was generally able to only read a couple of chapters at a time as there was so much in them I had to go away and think about what I had read before consuming more.
Brian MacLaren puts his case for a new kind of Christian very strongly. The first half of the book is setting the groundwork to his idea - that the Church is "modern" but the world is "postmodern". So much of what the church does we think is vital to Christianity and yet it's far more of a response to the world we have lived in since mediaeval times. The church needs to respond to the way that the world has moved on in terms of communication, global perspectives on individuals' lives and a right understanding of what Jesus started in his church. The second part of the book looks more at what "a new kind of Christian" would be like - how they might evangelise, how they might live there lives (with a strong focus on generosity of financial giving) and how they might live lives as Jesus commanded rather than turning into the narrow pharisaism of so many Christians.
I was really struck by a small thing in the middle of this book, where Neo quotes from 1 John 1 about heaven, referring to Jesus and saying "We shall be like him". I had been going around for weeks saying to people "if being a Christian means being like these people" - referring to Christians in the media, Christians I have come across in my daily life, who spout bigoted and unloving opinions at the drop of a hat and come across as very judgemental - "I would rather not be a Christian". I found it shockingly easy to say those words because I have become so horrified by the state of Christianity that I have experienced in the UK and US. And yet I was reminded that in heaven we would be like Jesus and I want that, very much. I am very happy to be like Jesus, he is the ultimate model of what a Christian should be like, and this huge difference between thinking about being like Jesus and being like other Christians has highlighted for me where Christianity has gone wrong for me - not in the essence of the faith but in its expression by people around me. It doesn't have to be like that, and Brian MacLaren's book shows a way in which we might become more like Jesus in today's postmodern world - this is a brilliant book and I strongly recommend it to anyone who despairs of modern-day Christianity, who fears they may be losing their faith, who finds it difficult to reconcile their God-given intelligence with the strange stuff being fed to them from the pulpit. It gives hope again to the message of Jesus, as relevant today as it has always been.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Presbyterian Record, published by Presbyterian Record on June 1, 2002. The length of the article is 423 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: A New Kind of Christian: A Tale of Two Friends on a Spiritual Journey. (book review)
Author: John Congram
Publication:
Presbyterian Record (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 2002
Publisher: Presbyterian Record
Volume: 126
Issue: 6
Page: 44(1)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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