Frank Viola’s new book, From Eternity to Here has a clean, sharp look (i.e. not as ugly as the earlier books ) but I don’t feel it provided the same fodder for discussion as some of his other books do.  Before I say anymore, I asked Frank these two questions about his newest book:

Questions for the Author

1) Who did you write this book for?

FV: So that God’s people would gain an understanding of God’s eternal purpose – which is His grand mission and the grand narrative of Scripture – and be changed by it. From all the letters I’m receiving from readers so far, a great many are saying that they never heard this message before and it is changing their lives. This merely confirms that the time was right to release this book. At least it seems to me that way.

2) What do you hope to accomplish through this book?

FV: That those who read it would fall in love with their Lord deeply, would be set free from religious bondage and obligation, would live with a sense of purpose and vision for their lives, would begin the journey of learning how to live by Christ with others, and would adjust their lives to stand for and fulfill God’s ageless purpose which is by Him, through Him, and to Him.

A Short Review

I have read the book and I will give a very short review of it here.  First, I want to applaud Frank for looking at the whole Bible as a book that offers a story (or stories) within which we can place ourselves.  It is easy to miss the narrative of the Bible and not “see the forest for the trees” when we look at a few scattered verses or chapters.  This book looks at the entire testimony of Scripture and lays out three interwoven stories that give us a well-rounded picture of the church.

However, I remain less than convinced by Frank’s storytelling in the first part about the bride of Christ and Eve as a shadow of the church, ekklesia.  When I got to the second story I saw some of the Frank Viola I saw in the earlier books I had read.  When he writes about the blind spots of Christianity or the trappings of organized religion, he is speaking of things to which most of us can relate. “

“3 out of 5 Stars”

I would not say this is one of his best books to date and I cannot agree with many comparisons he makes.  I do, however, appreciate his emphasis on the church and his critique of religion.  If I were rating the book, I would give this one 3 out of 5 stars.

Thank you very much for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the blog circuit today.  Please consider subscribing.  If you don’t know how to subscribe, the easiest way would be to sign up for an email subscription here or by entering your email address in the sidebar on the right.  You will be notified when there is a new post here by email so you don’t need to keep checking back to see if anything has changed since your last visit.

Below you will find the list of other participating blogs and I would like to draw your attention two of those blogs that I have really been enjoying lately:

The first is Jon Reid – http://jonreid.blogs.com/oneanother/welcome-pilgrim.html

And the second one is Chad at Captain’s Blog – http://www.captainestes.blogspot.com/

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Technorati Profile
OTHER BLOGS PARTICIPATING IN THE “FROM ETERNITY TO HERE” BLOG CIRCUIT

Today (June 9^th), the following blogs are discussing Frank Viola’s new bestselling book “From Eternity to Here” (David C. Cook, 2009). The book just hit the May CBA Bestseller List. Some are posting Q & A with Frank; others are posting full reviews of the book. To read more reviews and order a copy at a 33% discount, go to Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Eternity-Here-Rediscovering-Ageless-Purpose/dp/1434768708/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233609867&sr=1-4

For more resources, such as downloadable audios, the free Discussion Guide, the Facebook Group page, etc. go to the official website: http://www.FromEternitytoHere.org

Enjoy the reviews and the Q and A:

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Out of Ur – http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2009/05/viola.html

Shapevine – www.Shapevine.com (June newsletter)

Brian Eberly – http://www.brianeberly.com

DashHouse.com – http://www.DashHouse.com/

Greg Boyd – http://www.gregboyd.org/blog/

Vision Advance – http://vision2advance.blogspot.com/

David Flowers – http://ddflowers.wordpress.com

Kingdom Grace – http://kingdomgrace.wordpress.com

Captain’s Blog – http://www.captainestes.blogspot.com/

Christine Sine – http://godspace.wordpress.com

Darin Hufford – The Free Believers Network – www.freebelievers.com

Zoecarnate – http://zoecarnate.wordpress.com

Church Planting Novice – www.churchplantingnovice.wordpress.com

Staying Focused – http://kimmartinezstayingfocused.wordpress.com/

Take Your Vitamin Z – www.takeyourvitaminz.blogspot.com

Jeff Goins – http://jeffgoins.myadventures.org

Bunny Trails – http://bunny-trails.blogspot.com

Matt Cleaver – http://mattcleaver.com

Jason T. Berggren – http://blog.jasonberggren.com/

Simple Church – http://www.simplechurchjournal.com/

Emerging from Montana – http://wordofmouthministries.blogspot.com/

Parable Life – http://www.theparablelife.blogspot.com

Oikos Australia – http://www.oikos.org.au/blog/

West Coast Witness – www.WestCoastWitness.com

Keith Giles – http://www.Keith.Giles.com

Consuming Worship — http://www.consumingworship.org

Tasha Via – www.tashavia.blogspot.com

Andrew Courtright – www.andrewcourtright.blogspot.com

ShowMeTheMooneys! – http://www.showmethemooneys.com/

Leaving Salem, Blog of Ronnie McBrayer – http://leavingsalem.wordpress.com/

Jason Coker – pastoralia.missionaltribe.org

From Knowledge to Wisdom – http://isthistheway.typepad.com/

Home Brewed Christianity – http://www.homebrewedchristianity.com

Dispossessed – http://kblog.kevinjbowman.com

Dandelion Seeds – http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dandelionseeds

David Brodsky’s Blog- “Flip the tape Deck” – http://flipthetapedeck.blogspot.com/

Chaordic Journey – http://jeffrhodes.wordpress.com

Renee Martin – http://www.reneemartinmusic.com/profiles/blog/list

Bob Kuhn – http://organicchurchnola.wordpress.com/

Living with Freaks: www.livingwithfreaks.com

Real Worship – http://therealworshipleader.com

Fervent Worship – http://ferventworship.blogspot.com

Julie Ferwerda Blog – www.JulieFerwerda.com / www.OneMillionArrows.com

What’s With Christina?! – http://w2christina.blogspot.com

Irreligious Canuck – http://www.irreligiouscanuck.com

This day on the journey – http://guychmieleski.blogspot.com

Live and Move: Thoughts on Authentic Christianity – http://liveandmove.blogspot.com/

Spiritual Journey With God – http://www.elvineve.blogspot.com/

Dries Conje – http://www.echurch.co.za / http://www.thejesusfeed.com / http://www.bookdisciple.com.

Journey with Others – http://journeywithothers.blogspot.com

On Now to the Third Level – www.080808onnowto.blogspot.com

Christine Moers – www.welcometomybrain.net

Breaking Point – http://marybethstockdale.wordpress.com

Hand to the Plough – http://www.handtotheplough.com.au

Jon Reid – http://jonreid.blogs.com/oneanother/welcome-pilgrim.html

Weblight – www.blog.worldwidewebservices.se

D. L. Webster – http://gzmproductions.com/dlwebster

Searching for the Whole-Hearted Life – wholeheartedlife.blogspot.com

I recently met with Rad Zdero at a training session for house church leaders in Hamilton, Ontario.  Rad gradauted from McMaster University and later earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Queens’ University, has been involved in cell and house church planting for many years, and is the co-founder of House Church Canada.

I have learned that there are house churches in many places throughout southern Ontario (Hamilton, Mississauga, Barrie, Toronto, Kitchener, etc. and even Rochester!)  As someone who has looked for information on house churches in Canada, I know this will be useful for some of you and wanted to let you know.  I also found out through Rad that there is a house church near my home.  So, I contacted the leader of the church (who happens to know my father – cue the music . . . “it’s a small world after all!”)  and then he told me about another house church near here as well.  (I wonder how many more there are around here? – here, meaning Niagara.)

As well, Rad has recently edited a very helpful resource: Nexus: The World House Church Movement Reader.  You can see some of the introduction and the table of contents here.

Quitting Church

Julia Duin is the religion editor for The Washington Times and a self-described born-again Christian (is that possible even possible? . . . ha ha).

Here is the product description from Amazon:

Duin brings two kinds of experiences to bear in this engaging little jeremiad: as religion editor for the Washington Times, she is in her element marshaling statistics, interviewing authors and clergy, and commenting on the trend of faithful evangelicals who increasingly vote with their feet by leaving their churches. But she’s also a self-described born-again evangelical herself, coping with the personal pain of not having a viable and permanent church home. Drawing heavily on research by pollster George Barna, Duin diagnoses a widespread dissatisfaction among evangelicals, who feel their churches do a decent job with new Christians but fall far short with mature believers. In particular, Duin shows, women and singles are leaving churches in ever-greater numbers. (As a single woman herself, she discusses her own experiences with being marginalized while successfully evoking a larger context through research and polls.) Duin has some prescriptions to help with these problems, including meatier sermons that address real issues; house churches and micro-churches that foster more genuine community; and even in-church matchmaking services to help singles who want to find a mate.

At the Wall Street Journal, Terry Eastland has written a review where he comments that Julia Duin calls church quitting an epidemic among evangelicals. He also writes:

She reports, among other things: a lack of a feeling of community among church members, inducing loneliness and boredom; church teaching that fails to go beyond the basics of the faith or to reach members grappling with suffering or unanswered prayer; pastors who are either out of touch with their parishioners or themselves unhappy, or who fail to shepherd their flocks, or who are caught up in scandal, or who try to control the lives of church members in a high-handed way. She claims that many churches have “inefficient leadership models” and that many, preoccupied with the care of families, neglect single people.

A “lack of feeling of community?” . . . “loneliness?”. . .  “boredom?” . . .  “out of touch?” . . .  “scandal?” . . . “inefficient leadership models?”  Really?  Come on now, not in OUR churches . . . really?  (sarcasm intended)

Apparently, Julia writes about “a best-selling evangelical author quitting his church and arguing that leaving the institutional church is something that “mature Christians” should do.”  Who is that?  Does anyone know? I really want to know who this “best-selling evangelical author” who quit his church was.  If you know, tell me.   (Of course, I can always wait to read the book but if you tell me that I don’t have to wait.)  (OK, since posting this originally, I believe I have found the answer to that question.  See here.)

My wife and I are church planters working in Japan, but currently residing in Canada until we go back to Japan in 2009.  And so, I am totally excited to read this book – not because I want more ammo to bash the institutional but because books like these are valuable resources for us.

Can’t wait for the next Amazon box to arrive on my porch!