No comments about The Methodist Church in Michigan.

No comments about Evangelical from the Beginning.

1 comments about Selina: Countess of Huntingdon: Her Pivotal Role in the 18th Century Evangelical Awakening.

1. Faith Cook has done an incredible job on Selina, the Countess of Huntingdon, and weaving the characters of the 18th C revival into an understandable history. In doing so, she has not only allowed the realism of each character to be displayed (graces & faults!) but has provided the reader with a real exciting read! In presenting the life of the Countess she has provided a tremendous story of inspiration as we see that even one who experienced deep hardships, was on fire for the gospel, and undivided in her zeal to see men and women come to know Christ through the preaching of his Word. I recommend it highly!!

No comments about A Controversial Spirit: Evangelical Awakenings in the South (Religion in America).

1 comments about The Methodists and Revolutionary America, 1760-1800: The Shaping of an Evangelical Culture.

1. This book elucidates the early Methodist association in the American Revolutionary era and describes its growth and impact on American society. Ms. Andrews acknowledges that although fissures occurred within the Methodist religion, cohesiveness existed among its followers. In fact, an interesting chapter explains that Methodism precipitated opportunity for freedom and advancement for African-Americans. Paradoxically, Methodism advocated the separation of church and state. The narrative illustrates how Methodism differed from other religions in one aspect: Methodism inculcated the members into the faith prior to churchgoers learning the tenets. Additionally, Ms. Andrews argues that the American Revolution galvanized the Methodist association; by 1800, Methodism influenced a large part of the United States. Overall, the author uses useful documentation and appendices, but sometimes quotes to an excessive extent.

No comments about How Great a Flame!: Contemporary Lessons from the Wesleyan Revival.

1 comments about Evangelical and Methodist: A Popular History.

1. Pastor Riley Case's "Evangelical & Methodist" (2004, paperback) is a book that is long over due. His history of the Good News movement within United Methodism is well documented (with 28 pages of endnotes) and poignant (I've penned dozens of remarks on every page).
   
   For those who have worried about the dwindling numbers in the United Methodist Church (UMC), Case presents hope as well as a history of the denomination's growing evangelical reform movement. He persuasively argues that much of the UMC's demise results form the 20th century progressive (liberal) elites' strangle hold on Methodism's highest offices, general agencies and seminaries. He plainly explains that the Church's Wesleyan spirit calls for renewal.
   
   The book's most poignant portion is chapter 11- "The Struggle for Doctrinal Integrity". Here Case considers evangelical theological and Christological components from the Scriptural and Wesleyan positions (noting that these perspectives are frequently missing from contemporary United Methodism). His quiet pronouncement is deafening! One wonders if the Church will ever hear such prophets.
   
   Case provides considerable discussion about how to reinvigorate the UMC. He proclaims that United Methodism should be a home in the Wesleyan tradition for liberals, progressives, conservatives and evangelicals. He has little patience for "the far left" as those who only "except [the Church's] name and money" (page 202) and for "pluralism" with its legitimizing "of all sorts of deviant ideologies" (page 208). Pastor Case doesn't mince words as he calls for Church renovation.
   
   This book is recommendable to all United Methodists, student of American religion, church history buffs and those wishing to renew their denomination. Order your copy soon.

No comments about Catholic Spirit: Wesley, Whitefield, and the Quest for Evangelical Unity in Eighteenth-Century British Methodism (Pietist and Wesleyan Studies).

No comments about The Wesleyan Quadrilateral: Scripture, Tradition, Reason, & Experience as a Model of Evangelical Theology.

5 comments about A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I Am a Missional, Evangelical, Post/Protestant, Liberal/Conservative, Mystical/Poetic, Biblical, Charismatic/Contemplative, Fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican, Methodist, Catholic, Green, Incarnational, Depressed-yet-Hopeful, Emergent, Unfinished CHRISTIAN.

1. The one thing I most appreciate about this book is how clearly MacLaren shares his own ambivalence and his own internal struggle over theological issues. His candor is something not always seen in members of the clergy, much less in people who are publishing about their faith.
   
   If you don't like long, convoluted sentence structure (see Faulkner here), you'll likely have trouble taking much away from this book. I think it's unfortunate that his writing style does manage to make his ideas so much less accessible for some people.



2. Can a Catholic find meaning in Baptist traditions?
   Can one find meaning in Protestant or Calvinistic interpretations?
   Can Protestants learn something about God by the way Catholics do things?
   
   If you have every thought these thoughts, you probably need to look at this book. Even if you haven't, it's worth the read. I don't know if I agree with everything he says in this book, but it has also been my experience that one gains understanding about one's own beliefs when he looks at the beliefs of others and converses with believers of different denominations or even different religions. Even if you disagree with someone, it can also make you look at things a bit differently. Sometimes it can cement your belief in something.
   
   McLaren's journey into orthodoxy of many Christian denominations is such a conversation. Do any of these Christian denominations have the sole claim to absolute truth? Could we gain some insight into our relationship with God by looking how other look at God?
   
   Read the book and see what you think.....



3. I found this book purely by accident(maybe) while searching for another. The title caught my eye first and upon closer inspection I decided this would be an interesting "read" given the place I was at in my own spiritual search. I found this book very educational and it is written as if I were listening to him personally. Brian did a great job of giving me insight into different religious beliefs(dogmas) and practices. This in turn helped me immensely by validating many of my own feelings on the practical ways of "living" my beliefs. He spent a little too much time apologizing at the beginning of the book but after finishing it I could understand the reasoning.



4. The book of Jude says, "...I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entusted to the saints", (1:3, NIV).
   
   There is nothing orthodox about this book. It misses the mark of truth and borders on outright heresy. Proceed with caution with this author.
   
   For a review of this author which exposes his errors, read "The Truth War: Fighting for Certinaity in an Age of Deception" by John MacArthur.



5. I was highly disappointed by the title of this book. McLarin says a lot without saying anything. If you want to get on the fast track to universalism, grab a hold of this book. While none of the "conversational" emergents will outright deny core Christian doctrines (e.g.the substitutionary atonement of Christ), they don't outright say anything - if you follow their path of logic you will arrive at a place that is anything but Orthodox.