22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Refreshing and Life Changing Read!, July 20, 2009
This review is from: The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows (The Apprentice Series) (Hardcover)
I was very interested in reading this book after hearing James Bryan Smith speak at the Divine Conspiracy Conference. Upon reading the first few pages, I learned that his mentors were none other than Richard Foster and Dallas Willard! I was even more interested and fortunately I was not disappointed.
If you are familiar with Dallas Willard and Richard Foster, this book has similar imprints of these writing, but Smith has his own distinct style.
His style of writing draws you in, entices you to let down defenses, and shares his life experiences with you.
The book is laden with stories about his life and others. How real people are being conformed to the image of God. He talks about trust, by comparing the trust his son has in him. He affirms the Goodness of God even while talking about how he suffered through the loss of his daughter. The book is good, not only because it content, but because it is utterly realistic.
The book has 229 pgs, which consists of 9 Chapters. Each chapter has an addition with a spiritual discipline that should be practiced that week. Furthermore the book has questions associated with each chapter at the back.Which is very useful seeing that one of the purposes of the book is to be used in a group!
How is the content of the book? Here is an excerpt below:
"God loves us so much that he longs for us to be pure and works tirelessly to make us pure. MacDonald points out how God is against sin and thus for humans: 'He is always against sin; in so far as, and while, they and sin are one, he is against them-- against their desires, their aims, their fears, and their hopes; and thus he is altogether for them.'
God is against my sin because he is for me. And if I am for sin, God stands against those desires, MacDonald is saying, because they cause my destruction. I would not have it any other way. To be sure, I am prone to excusing my sin or rationalizing my weaknesses, but God is not in that business. Though we are now reconciled through Christ, God is not indifferent to my sin. It hurts me, and therefore it hurts God--because God loves me."
There are many other ah ha moments, which gives you a new perspective on certain things such as the will, or your identity in Christ, or even the nature of God. To Smith's credit, the book was never dull or boring. At the end the book just left me longing for the next book in the series: The Good and Beautiful Life.
I recommend this book and I think it would work well with other excellent books on spiritual formation such as renovation of the heart, longing for God, the spirit of the disciplines or even celebration of discipline. Buy the book and like me, you will be awaiting the next book of the series!
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Table of Contents
Introduction
How to Get the Most Out of This Book
1. What Are You Seeking?
Soul Training: Sleep
2. God is Good
Soul Training:Silence and Awareness of Creation
3. God is Trustworthy
Soul Training: Counting Your Blessings
4. God is Generous
Soul Training: Praying Psalm 23
5. God is Love
Soul Training: Lectio Divina
6. God is Holy
Soul Training: Margin
7. God is Self-Sacrificing
Soul Training; Reading the Gospel of John
8. God Transforms
Soul Training: Solitude
9. How to Make a Pickle
Soul Training: Slowing Down
Appendix: Small Group Discussion Guide
Notes
Acknowledgments
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Reviews & Endorsements
"The Apprentice Series is the best practice I have seen in Christian spiritual formation."
--Dallas Willard, author of The Divine Conspiracy
"I know from our long relationship that Jim Smith is a fine and trustworthy man, who authentically knows 'the good and beautiful God.' I can think of no higher compliment than this: I would happily trust the care of my soul to Jim and the good and beautiful God he commends to us."
--Todd Hunter, author of Christianity Beyond Belief and pastor of Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Costa Mesa
"This first book in The Apprentice Series, The Good and Beautiful God, is a treasure. Dr. Smith has thought long and hard about the process of human transformation into the likeness of Jesus. I urge you to buy this book immediately! Read it and apply it. Then live it out in the context of a loving community. You will not regret doing so."
--Richard J. Foster, author of Celebration of Discipline and coauthor of Longing for God
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
How True Narratives about God Aid Spiritual Formation, February 5, 2010
This review is from: The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows (The Apprentice Series) (Hardcover)
With The Good and Beautiful God, James Bryan Smith inaugurates a three-volume "curriculum for Christlikeness. Volume 2, The Good and Beautiful Life, will focus on "inward character, dealing specifically with the vices that cause ruin." Volume 3, The Good and Beautiful Community, will focus on learning "how to live as apprentices of Jesus in our ordinary, everyday lives." Volume 1, reviewed here, focuses on "the character of God and how we move into a life of intimacy with God."
The nexus between who God is, how we live, and to whom we relate lies at the heart of what Smith believes is "a reliable method for changing our hearts." All of us--whether Christians or not--desire to become better people. But we rely on willpower to do this, when the real problem lies in our hearts. If change is to happen, our hearts must change, but we cannot do this directly. Rather, as Bryan puts it, "we change by indirection." Or, put another way: "We do what we can in order to enable us to do what we can't do directly."
But even this way of stating the matter places too much emphasis on what "we can do." In reality, as Bryan points out, is the Holy Spirit who is at work in us, directing our changed narratives, practices and relationships. "Everything that happens to us in our Christian lives," he writes, "is the work of the Holy Spirit." The fruit of the Spirit in our lives is becoming what God created us to be and what Jesus re-created us to be.
The Good and Beautiful God examines the stories we tell about God, contrasting them with the stories Jesus told about him. It turns out that our narratives about God lie at the root of our soul-sickness and inability to change.
For example, with heartbreaking honesty, Smith tells the story of Madeline, his first child, who was born with a rare chromosomal disorder that eventually took her life at age two. During that time, Christian friends "said some outrageously ignorant and tactless things to us [Smith and his wife]." Some of them revolved around the notion that Madeline's disorder must have been caused by some sin in the life of Bryan or his wife.
This narrative of "the angry God"--"God is an angry judge. If you do well, you will be blessed; if you sin, you will be punished"--is prevalent among Christians. But it is directly contradicted by the narrative Jesus tells about God, namely, that he is good (Matthew 19:17), and that sickness is not the result of sin (John 9:2-3). The false narrative "allows us to live in the illusion that we can control our world, which is very appealing in our chaotic existence." Jesus' narrative requires us to trust in God, even though the world is not always good, although sometimes--of course--it is. Smith concludes, "My own experiences of disappointment with God say more about me and my expectations than they do about God." And, "I have grown much more through my trials than I have through my successes." Only faith in God's essential goodness can sustain that hopefulness in the face of tragedy over a lifetime.
In addition to God's goodness, Smith talks about God being trustworthy, generous, loving, holy, self-sacrificing, and transformative. Each chapter exposes a false narrative about God that distorts some aspect of his character, and offers a "soul-training exercise to help imbed the narrative of Jesus more deeply into our minds, bodies and souls."
I read The Good and Beautiful God in solitude, but it is designed to be read in community. In addition to the soul-training exercises, the book includes a discussion guide. The book is ideal for use in Sunday school classes, small groups, and book clubs. Because it contrasts false and true narratives about God, I think it would even be useful in small groups that have an evangelistic purpose.
In conclusion, I have described the book, but let me briefly describe its effect on me. Like many other Christians, I have mental narratives about God that don't jibe with the God and Father of Jesus Christ. This book patiently, biblically, theologically, and spiritually showed me once again that God is good and beautiful. It left me wanting to know that God better and to live more for him.
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