Book Plunge: Lifechange

What do I think of Brad Wright’s soon to be published book? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

Everyone talks about the weather and no one does anything about it. Everyone talks about change they want to make and they don’t do it. I am someone who has written at least one published ebook with another one coming soon, but I have started a number that never saw the light of day.

Your work might not be a book, but you have something. Maybe you want to lose those last ten pounds, or the last hundred pounds. Maybe you want to run a marathon. Maybe you want to learn a language or a musical instrument. Maybe you want to learn to spend less time on your phone and….excuse me. I have to check this app before I get back to this review…

Anyway, we all know about the changes we need to make. The thing is, you can go and read a book on dieting and know you need to do it and gain ten pounds going through the book. You can get some exercise videos and sit on the couch eating oreos while you watch them. You can buy that saxophone so you can learn to play and before too long it’s just gathering dust.

So how do you do it? How do you change your motivation so you can do things? For Brad Wright, the main step to take is self-control. You have to build up your self-control so you can want to follow through.

Per that, Wright gives great advice. Unfortunately, with a draft copy, I’m not at liberty to share things, but I will say I learned a lot about self-control and how important it is. I have seen myself start projects only to have them not finished. I have seen my wife lose passion for dieting super quickly. I have had numerous times where I sat down just to browse Facebook for a few minutes which quickly turns into an hour.

So when are we going to stop talking about change and start doing change?

This book is not about just behaviors to do. It is about how to change your motivation and will and self-control so you can do the behaviors. There are no grandiose promises. There is nothing in here about if you just do what’s in this book you are guaranteed everything, but it will certainly help.

Most of the chapters are short too, so that means you can sit down and read a chapter a day for the most part and get done. About the longest chapter I think was the chapter on the biggest distractions that we have everyday. I will tell you that #2 will make sense to you, but #1 will be a big surprise to many.

Wright is also clear that he is a Christian in the book, but the book can be read easily by a secularist. His Christianity is not “in-your-face” in that style. You could compare it in that sense to the work of Stephen Covey who is a Mormon I understand and would prefer you to be a Mormon, but that doesn’t change his ideas of habits for highly effective people.

So maybe it’s time to get out those walking shoes. Maybe it’s time to dust off the saxophone. Maybe it’s time to turn on those exercise videos. Maybe it’s time to….ooooh….a new notification. Hold on.

So if you want to make lifechange, regardless of your worldview, then I recommend you get this book. There has been enough talk about the weather. Let’s do something about it.

In Christ,
Nick Peters

Book Plunge: Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites And Other Lies You’ve Been Told

What do I think of Bradley Wright’s book published by Bethany House? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

Back when Smallville was on the air (sheds a brief tear that it’s over) there used to be a term when the show started called “Freak of the week.” What this referred to was the villain that Clark would fight that week who had been mutated by Kryptonite. For Christians, you could say we have the crisis of the month or something similar.

Christians always seem to be worried about something saying that the sky is falling and if this happens, it will be the worst possible thing. Yeah. We have that penchant unfortunately. That could be why apocalyptic nonsense like Four Blood Moons sells so well and everyone thinks the end of the world is right around the corner. (Because, you know, every other generation was wrong, but not us! We’re the exception!) You can even check the updated rapture index  every Monday and the more bad news there is, well the closer we are to Jesus coming.

Now to be sure, there usually can be something bad going on. No one is saying we live in utopia. No doubt, there are ways that we can improve in the church, but maybe things aren’t as bad as we think they are. Maybe in some ways we’re in fact doing pretty good.

Bradley Wright is a professor of sociology who knows statistics well. Of course, a lot of us do think statistics often look impressive and carry divine authority. (We say this despite that 62% of statistics are made up on the spot.) Wright looks at the statistics often shared by Christians and shows that the claims really aren’t as bad as they think they are.

In fact, in some cases, they’re pretty good. Consider marriage and sexuality. Evangelical Christians who are regular church attendees do in fact have better marriages and are less prone to divorce. In fact, there are more young people than we realize who are growing up with the same values.

Is this the last Christian generation? Well, maybe, except every generation before has been saying something like that as well. The things your parents say about you if you’re a part of that younger generation, well their parents said about them. In fact, when I see young children today, I’m tempted to think the same kind of thing. History repeats itself.

Are we Christians really living the life we’re meant to live? For the most part, it looks like we are. (Though Wright would say we have a habit of sharing bad statistics that needs to stop.) Wright looks at this by comparing us to several other groups out there. Also, he has a stipulation that the “nones” does not equal atheist, something a lot of atheists need to learn. Many of them in fact hold high views about God, prayer, and the Bible.

He also looks at the claims that the world has a negative view of Christians. In a sense, he’s absolutely right. Isn’t this what we should expect? The church has always been attacked and viewed negatively by the world. Why be surprised? Of course, if there are areas where we are legitimately doing something wrong, we need to improve. (For instance, I understand one claim is that a focus on inerrancy and young-earth creationism leads to apostasy)

The reality is we need to improve anyway. If we’re doing wonderful or if we truly are the last Christian generation in America, our call is the same. It is the Great Commission. We are to be doing that regardless and there’s no excuse for sitting back and saying “Well we’re doing good enough. No need to push harder.”

Wright’s book is a fun and enjoyable read. Reading it will give you hope that things aren’t as bad as you think they are. Still, even if they’re not bad, there’s always room for improvement and as I said earlier, we still have the Great Commission to do. If we’re doing poorly, let’s change that image. If we’re doing great, let’s do even better.

In Christ,
Nick Peters