review of Derwin Gray's "The Good Life"

Ask 100 people what the ‘good life’ is, and there’s a good chance that you’ll get 100 different answers.  Pastor Derwin L. Gray (yes, that Derwin Gray, for those of you who recognize the name from NFL), gives us his take on it in his new book The Good Life: What Jesus Teaches about Finding True Happiness (B&H Publishing, 2020).

And it might surprise you to find that the Good Life doesn’t come from fame as a football player, or riches from a multiyear contract. In fact, as Gray points out, the Good Life comes from things that are completely opposite of fame and fortune.

Take a minute right now to turn in your Bible to Matthew 5: 1-12. Go ahead, this can wait.  Spoiler alert, this is what is commonly called the Beatitudes, or the “Blessed Be’s”. You know, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”, and several other things that often don’t seem to make sense.  And then Gray tells us that if we suffer all these things in the beatitudes, that we will be happy, and it makes less sense. But there is one little part that explains his thought process, and it’s easy to miss—mostly because it’s fairly obvious. The word used here is often translated as ‘blessed’, but it also has the senses of ‘being in a state of happiness’. (Trust me, he has done his homework on this one.)

And so he walks us through the Beatitudes, and shows us what the ‘good life’ looks like from Jesus’ viewpoint.  It’s pretty counter-intuitive, but after a bit it starts to sink in, and I learned that true happiness (the good life) doesn’t come from people or riches, or fame, but rather from the posture of being in God's will and living life in a way that brings me closer to him.

Each chapter with a prayer, some reflection questions, and a few things to remember.

He ends the book by inviting the reader to copy his “happiness manifesto”, sign it, put it somewhere where it will be seen often, and then to live it. And then to help it all sink in (some of learn more slowly than others) he asks us to participate in a 30 day ‘happiness challenge’: each day for 30 days read Matt 5:1-12, read it slowly and carefully, and bask in the life style that provided Jesus so much happiness. You might find that happiness means something totally different than what you’ve been looking for.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher as a member of their blogger program. I was asked to provide an honest review

4/5

REBORN by Clayton King

All too often I wish that there was a formula for introducing someone to Jesus. I usually don’t have much of an imagination, so it’s hard for me to make the jump from one place to the gospel. But I have to admit that reading Clayton King’s book Reborn: How Encountering Jesus Changes Everything (Baker Books, 2020) has given me some ideas.

Kings recounts some real life experiences and juxtaposes them with passages of scripture. He points out how the people in the bible were reborn, how their lives changed after an encounter with Jesus, and he does so in a way that makes it fairly obvious that a hurting and broken person today and a hurting and broken person from 2000 years ago have so much in common. 

It was also pretty comforting to see how some people needed more time than others to get to the point where they were willing and ready to change.  Not everyone jumps at the first opportunity, sometimes it takes years of someone saying no before it finally clicks.  Jesus didn’t give up, and neither should we!

Afraid of sharing the Gospel? This book may just give you the confidence that you need.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher as a member of their blogger program. I was asked to provide an honest review

5/5

Monsters. We all know them. Most of us hide from them, or run from them. Some of us still have to look in the closet or under the bed to make sure they’re not waiting for us. But what if there were another way to deal with them?

Pastor Luke Norsworthy suggests that there is, and that’s the premise of his book, Befriending Your Monsters: Facing the Darkness of Your Fears to Experience the Light (Baker Books, 2020)

Even though the monsters usually aren’t real, our fears are, and sometimes those fears are enough to paralyze us. I’m not talking about things like fear of heights or crowds, or walking through a really rough neighborhood, alone, late at night. Sometimes fear is a good thing—like pain, it can be a sign that something is wrong.  But Norsworthy writes about some monsters (fears) that keep us from being the person that each of us was designed to be. Simply put he writes about 3 specific “universal monsters”: ‘Comparison’, ‘More’, and ‘Success’.

For each of these monsters, the author describes the prop, the pull, the point, and the light. This is an easy read as we learn how comparing ourselves to others, thinking we need more, and falling into the trap of thinking that we are what we do hold us back, and make us afraid to move forward.

An enjoyable and helpful book

I received a copy of this book from the publisher as a member of their blogger program. I was asked to provide an honest review

5/5

the Passion of Men on Fire

What does it mean to be a man? It takes more than facial hair and a dose of testosterone. Especially if the goal is to be more than a male, but to grow into the man that you were created to be. A man who lives life to the fullest, and leaves behind a legacy. A man who has a passion for life, and is not afraid to chase after it.

Stephen Mansfield talks about fires of several types in his book Men on Fire: Restoring the Forces that Forge Noble Manhood (Baker Books, 2020). Small fires and larger fires, but they all matter little compared to the fire that he’s really talking about: PASSION.

He describes ‘the seven fires’ that define the passion for manhood that he hopes his readers will embrace: the fires of Heritage, Battle, Destiny, Friendship, Love, Legacy, and God in 7 easy to read chapters. Each chapter is full of examples from his own life and experience, and that of friends or historical figures. Each chapter concludes with a ‘battle plan’, and the starting point for the battle plan is to gather a ‘band of brothers’. Nothing new to those familiar with men’s ministry. But included in these plans are action items and questions that the brothers might want to be asking each other.

Although I hate to admit it, there are several areas where I could stand a lot of improvement. I want to be a better man, husband and father, and Mansfield may have just given me some ideas on how to get started.

If you already have a band of brothers, there may be some great tools in this book for you to use.  

This would work well in a men’s ministry setting, not with the goal of forcing the attendees to become a band of brothers, but encouraging individuals to develop that band (and there are some helpful suggestions included). Or you can read it like I did, on my own, and be nudged into the next level.

I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review based on my perceptions and opinions of the book.

4/5

Agur; The List Maker

Perhaps you’ve prayed what is called the Lord’s Prayer and wondered about the words “Give us this day our daily bread”. This day? Daily bread? It takes me back to the Exodus story and the manna which the people of Israel were to collect each day.  And there’s probably some connection there, and a bit about obedience, but as I read Jay Payleitner’s book The Prayer of Agur: Ancient Wisdom for Discovering Your Sweet Spot in Life (Multnomah, 2020) I gained some new insights.        

The Prayer of Agur is actually found in Proverbs (30:8-9) where Agur asks for only his daily bread. And there are 2 reasons. If he gets too much he might start to think so highly of himself that he forgets about God, and if he has too little, he might resort to stealing and in doing so dishonor the Lord’s name. WOW! Why didn’t I see that before ( I read through the book of Proverbs every month, and have for 20 years.) Payleitner cuts right to the quick and makes it nearly impossible to miss.

He goes through this whole chapter of Proverbs, verse by verse with easy-to-understand, but often profound commentary on the passage. All in all it was a fun read gaining insight into the thoughts of Agur: “the list maker”.  And then thinking about how to use those insights to find my own ‘sweet spot’.

This is a short book that packs a lot of insight into a few pages.  There are questions at the end of each chapter, but I didn’t find them overly helpful. 

I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review based on my perceptions and opinions of the book.

4/5