Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by jdparker9
Faith for This Moment: Navigating a Polarized World as the People of God by Rick McKinley
4.0
Rick McKinley published a very helpful book in Faith for This Moment: Navigating a Polarized World as the People of God, and I recommend it especially for those struggling to conceive of the church's place and purpose today. I have felt out of step with the broader evangelical movement for some time, despite being firmly entrenched within it, and no small reason for my alienation is the shark-jumping that took place in 2016. In The Most Important Election of Our Lifetimes™, depending on who you asked, the choice was literally between the Antichrist and King David Come Again; the "more circumspect" had the wherewithal to call the president-elect Cyrus rather than David. Nevertheless, staging this election as a cosmic, nigh apocalyptic battle, wherein one candidate is blessed and another cursed, screams of special pleading (since, let's get real, most presidents are at best indifferent to the absolute claim of the kingdom of god).
All that to say, 2016 and the subsequent bending-over-backwards to justify, sanctify, and glorify every little thing the president has done as a post facto justification of their tainted vote (because, again, the antichrist) has left me entirely disillusioned with the evangelical perception of the church's space--not to mention greater allegiance--in today's world.
McKinley's Faith for This Moment is a balm in this culture. McKinley gently reminds the reader that the Christ-follower has a citizenship in heaven that wars with the nationalism and earthly citizenship. Further, and more helpfully, the author sketches practical and principled ways in which such citizenship is lived out. Whereas we have drunk so deeply of American culture that we don't recognize "this is water," we need to read the Scripture--and therefore our "water"--with fresh eyes, eyes attuned to the anti-real reality in which we move and seeking the real reality breaking into our world, the blazing sun piercing the night.
<><><>
Disclosure: I received this book free from Baker Books through the Baker Books Bloggers http://www.bakerbooks.com/bakerbooksbloggers program. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html.
All that to say, 2016 and the subsequent bending-over-backwards to justify, sanctify, and glorify every little thing the president has done as a post facto justification of their tainted vote (because, again, the antichrist) has left me entirely disillusioned with the evangelical perception of the church's space--not to mention greater allegiance--in today's world.
McKinley's Faith for This Moment is a balm in this culture. McKinley gently reminds the reader that the Christ-follower has a citizenship in heaven that wars with the nationalism and earthly citizenship. Further, and more helpfully, the author sketches practical and principled ways in which such citizenship is lived out. Whereas we have drunk so deeply of American culture that we don't recognize "this is water," we need to read the Scripture--and therefore our "water"--with fresh eyes, eyes attuned to the anti-real reality in which we move and seeking the real reality breaking into our world, the blazing sun piercing the night.
<><><>
Disclosure: I received this book free from Baker Books through the Baker Books Bloggers http://www.bakerbooks.com/bakerbooksbloggers program. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html.