"FINDING OUR WAY AGAIN" by Brian McLaren

Cover via Amazon

Good Evening to All!

A while back, I received a complementary copy of "Finding Our Way Again" by Brian McLaren from Booksneeze.com at Thomas Nelson Books. After reading a few pages from several chapters, I found that it was way above my head. I could not understand it. Therefore, to be fair to the author, I asked a good friend of mine from church, a very learned man to do this book review so that justice could be done for this book, as I feel you have to understand what you are reading to be able to give an honest review.

Take it away Brother Ford!
Book review:
Title: Finding Our Way Again
Sub Title: The return of the ancient practices
Author: Brian McLaren

I found this to be an intriguing and interesting read…simply because I have not heard of this approach to life previously. The author seems to be an open minded, objective thinker. The book is very well written and laced with dry, witty humor – much to my liking. The authors ability to communicate his ideas is exceptional, however; his use of many nonconventional words requiring a dictionary in hand could be somewhat of a burden for the average reader.

Finding Our Way Again is book number one in a series of eight books of returning to the ancient practices. I discovered that to effectively understand what Mr. McLaren is attempting to communicate one needs to have read his previous books. References throughout Finding Our Way Again point to these writing, and it would have been to my advantage to have read these books. I had never read any of Mr. McLaren’s books or heard of him, and some research into his background would have been helpful prior to reading Finding Our Way Again. Mr. McLaren’s writing leads to his belief and ideas of a global religion acceptance, a communal life and an ecumenical religion. I do not agree or accept this idea, and reject it.

Mr. McLaren’s advancement of the idea that religion needs to be a life style rather than a definition of beliefs struck a chord with me, and is something that I have been attempting to proliferate for some time among those that I am able to influence. The idea that a person’s life must include purging, light and living in light is the basic principles of a Christian’s life (repentance, baptism, and the Holy Spirit). Three chapters in this book do a good job, yet in a strange way, of conveying this principle.

This book was a difficult read…a hard book to follow, perhaps for the reasons I cited in paragraphs one and two. I disagreed with much of the author’s theology. I found myself taking issue with the author frequently, but at other times having to search my soul. As I read the authors projections in this book I would compare them to my beliefs, my life style, and my experience with God. I came away with a stronger persuasion for what I believe and in who I am in this world and to God.

Brother Ford originally had a "rating system" of 2 stars out of 5, but they wouldn't come out on this program. To get his review to work on this format, I had to copy and paste to Works Word Processor, then copy and paste to my blog, and in the process it would not allow the image of the stars to come up. I apologize for that Brother Ford.

Carl Ford

Thank you Brother Ford, for your well-written and honest review of this book. I admire people who are well educated because I feel a person can always learn something from others be it academic or otherwise. I also feel that a person is never too old to learn. My belief is that as a highly educated person it should be their responsibility to make sure that "all " can understand them, and you do that. You know that to get a point across and especially to get God's Word out, a person needs to speak in a "language" that all understand, not just the HIGHLY EDUCATED, so thank you and Sister Ford for taking the time to do this review. (I have to give credit where credit is due, and Sister Ford is precious for helping you in this endeavor. I would be remiss if I didn't thank her also).

As for my own small opinion, it was not at all what I expected and was way over my head, to the point of having to spend as much time in the dictionary as I did in Mr. McLaren's book. I couldn't seem to make heads or tails of his topic.

I thought Carl and his wife Jana (who did his proofing) did an exceptional job on this review. I love the way they worked as a team. Brother Ford writes a blog titled In Step with Carl. I hope that you will take time to visit his blog as it is very interesting. He brings the word of God to us in a very enlightening manner. It seems strange calling them by their first names as I usually call them Brother and Sister Ford because they are an intricate part of our church. He assists our Pastor in preaching and teaching and his wife assists our Pastor's wife by playing the piano and singing when the Pastor's family is away. She is a "wonder" on the piano and in singing.

Good Night to All and May God Bless!