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In this 200 page Christian living title from waterbrook press, Joni Lamb, Vice President of Christian television’s Daystar Network, takes a half a cup of scripture, a tablespoon of a classic hymn, and three cups of anecdotes, bakes it at 350 degrees, and produces Surrender All: Your Answer to Living with Peace, Power, and Purpose

Seriously, quick, concise and thought provoking, Surrender All conveys a central point of the Christian faith that is often missed by Christians engulfed in a self-worshiping culture that demands we be independent and in control at all times rather than God-dependent followers of Christ who take up the cross and die to self. And let me be honest: I live here, too. I can personally attest there’s plenty here to challenge as well as inspire, though Lamb would have been wise to acknowledge more that she also lives here. But our culture comes with a pressure for would-be role models to pretend perfection, so that much is to be expected.

Speaking of which, my usual concerns. I would have liked to see this totally biblical concept grounded more in scripture. Meaning, she missed an opportunity to build a case for surrender from the scriptures. We do get taken to the garden of Gethsemane, but very late in the book. It is there, I just would have liked to see a deeper exploration of the words of scripture on this subject. This may shock some, but there’s no anecdote as powerful as the living word. At least I don’t think any of us would claim to have a story we could tell that’s as sharp as a two edged sword to divide bone and marrow.

Likewise, she pulled her punches a tad too much on issues like divorce and homosexuality  and, in an attempt to be compassionate, sent what to me sounded like mixed messages. On women’s roles, especially in terms of career, she clearly sees the pain and confusion we all suffer from in our culture, but like most of us, in unguarded moments, doesn’t appear to realize what most women really want–and if you’d like to know what I think it is, feel free to ask.

Finally, I’m concerned about at least one of the anecdotes being dangerous if misunderstood. She’s clear earlier being surrendered means following the Holy Spirit’s guidance in such situations, but there’s a reason counselors are loathe to tell abuse victims to actually reconcile with the perpetrator and even discourage it. In my opinion, only God has the right to tell someone to put themselves back in a situation where they are almost certainly going to be in physical, spiritual, and/or psychological peril, which the Lord did in one anecdote in the book, which could be taken as an example for all to follow rather than an example of being obedient even when the Lord’s instructions defy all common sense, as they often do.

So in terms of dealing with “hard cases” the book suffers somewhat from disorganization, the rather common lack of a “been there” feel that makes it sound like the authors don’t know what they’re talking about even if they objectively do, and the even more common lack of the ink space the subject really requires. So, if you’re seriously wounded and hurting, I’d address that before tackling this book.

However, save for the last group, who may ironically feel a little like Job did when his friends offered their well-meaning advice if they read this, none of the human flaws takes away from the divine wisdom she does convey and well. Surrender, taking up our cross and following Him, dying to self, being obedient, whatever one calls it, bowing to Christ’s lordship is a critical area most Christians are struggling in today and it’s one that separates us from the Lord–and sadly this could be a permanent condition if never mastered. A chilling thought as we all have times we struggle there, but scripture doesn’t leave much wiggle room. We can’t serve two masters. A routine habit of living for self, of being the one calling the shots of our lives, is a soul killer.

We all want Heaven.  Upwards of 80% of Americans in particular want Jesus as our Savior. But do we really want him as Lord? That’s the question that matters for eternity.

Too many in church on Sundays are just trying to use the Lord:  happy to accept his sacrifice, eager to embrace him as a friend and a brother even, but reluctant, or outright refusing, to accept Him as Lord. When we reconcile without repentance, we perpetuate the lie they can get away with it, too. We’re the bible they believe, and the way we forgive is the way they expect God forgives–with deadly pathologies on both sides of the coin, for certain. Only the Lord can balance us properly.

Regardless, Joni Lamb’s handling of this issue makes this a good book to give to that someone we all know who hasn’t made the all-important decision to Surrender All yet. Or if we’re needing a refresher.

Popularity: 31%

The jacket description for Forsaken, a suspense novel by James David Jordan, tells us:

When Simon Mason, the world’s best-known televangelist, receives threats from Muslim terrorists, he hires Taylor Pasbury, a former Secret Service agent, to take charge of his security. When the terrorists strike, making a demand of the pastor that would shake the most steadfast saint, Taylor draws on all of her training to save Simon’s daughter. Along the way, she discovers that she is not the only one who has done things she would like to forget—and she is not the only one who understands that some things are more important than living.

Positive elements:

1) authentic characters. Jordan does well at making his characters come alive. Simon and Taylor especially are “real” people, with real strengths and real weaknesses, with motivations most readers will easily relate to.

2 Jordan clearly knows how to connect with the readers emotions, to engage his readers in the story and make them feel the characters’ emotions. This invites us to put ourselves in the situation and ask ourselves what we would do.

3) in a word: deep. Jordan is unafraid to tackle hard questions that most Americans, to my knowledge, would rather not consider. Martyrdom and Christ’s demands on his disciples need talked about a heck of a lot more. The fact Christ requires His followers to put Him first before everyone else in our lives, including even our own children, is a very unpopular scriptural truth today, so Jordan gets kudos for even bringing the topic up.

Negative elements:

4). Taylor, the first person narrator, frequently goes into Dragnet-style narration that takes several paragraphs to describe actions over a period of time. These passages get a little dull and, especially in a suspense novel, tempt the reader to skip over them.

5) in a word: weak. The novel at times reflects the common failure in the American Church to appreciate the gravity of sin, as betrayed by apparently buying into the common and good-intentioned heresy that a Christian is a sinner saved by grace. A sinner is, by definition, not under grace. A sinner is someone sold out to sin and living to obey the lusts of the flesh. Those of us who get caught by this snare of the enemy have good intentions, namely to be humble. However, to say we’re sinners is not humble, it actually knifes Jesus in the back. The devil deceives us into confessing we’re sinners because in doing so he has tricked us into denying the Lord.

At the point, the reader may be asking, so what is a Christian? A former sinner, in the process of being changed by God’s grace into a saint. We were, not are. We cannot serve two masters, Christ tells us in Mt 6:24. Either we will hate the one and love the other or be loyal to the one and forsake the other. To be a Christian means forsaking our allegiance to Sin and giving ourselves wholly to Christ. As we are by nature slaves sold under sin, this only happens by the grace of God. That is what is so hideous about “a sinner saved by grace.” It has a form of godliness, but denies the power.

The way some folks talk, you’d think the whole cross thing was God playing a sadistic mind game with himself to justify letting sinners into His presence, where they cannot go. The bible, however, teaches the Cross not only made a way for us to not only be forgiven, but cleanses us of sin. The work of the cross is to take sinners and transform them into saints.

Which is why one must be careful of how we sorrow. There is a sorrow that leads to life, and a sorrow that leads to death. For instance, let’s say someone denies Christ in order to save the life of their child, and then, hoping to make up for this, goes overseas and baits terrorists into killing them. This is actually a good way to end up in Hell, because our works are filthy rags. You can’t make it up to Him. You can only be so sorry you would rather your child had died than you had denied your Lord. That is the godly sorrow that leads to repentance and salvation. So long as such a person is glad their child is alive and would do it again in a heart beat, they haven’t repented of anything.

Now, Peter was reinstated after denying the Lord by being asked to declare his love for the lord three times, but this came only after he wept for having denied his Lord. Since it was his own life at stake, his later martyrdom did prove his repentance. But if it’s someone else’s life at issue, then it’s their life you need to be willing to risk, not yours. Otherwise you’re trying to make a deal with God. “You can have my life, but not _____” Sorry, it doesn’t work like that.

Note having characters with flawed views is not a bad thing in itself. The problem comes in when bad theology comes across as correct theology to the undiscerning. But I’m inclined to chalk up most of the novel’s weakness here to timidity. As I said, Jordan has my kudos for even having the guts to broach this topic, and he deserves a hearing.

The truth of God’s word on this topic is politically incorrect and most of us prefer to give Christ a make-over, effectively cutting out of the Bible the demands Christ places on His followers. This is a road that leads to destruction, my friends.

God’s truth doesn’t change because it’s unpopular. If we fail to give people the whole gospel, if we talk only of mercy and grace, we do them great harm, not good. God purchased us back from sin at Calvary, and we absolutely must talk about that mercy. But there’s a catch to being bought. We are not our own. We are bought with a price. (1cor 6:19-20) If Jesus is Savior, He is also Lord, and if He is not Lord, He is also not Savior. The Church must start holding believers accountable to the requirements Jesus laid out for discipleship in Luke 14:25-35, which says:

Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?

“Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

“Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Popularity: 24%

Where we’ve shown ourselves weak in the past, Satan will hit us again–and again. The devil loves to grab us by the ears, turn us around, and rub our noses in the dung of our past sins and failures. Read on for tips on how to keep this sense of shame from interfering with serving the Lord today.