Customer Reviews

Just Courage: God's Great Expedition for the Restless Christian

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I've read all of Gary Haugen's books, The Good News About Injustice, Terrify No More, and now Just Courage. Out of all three Just Courage is the most introductory and basic. It's well written and a very easy read at 130 simple pages. He does a good job of bringing in stories and talking about the call to live a life of adventure and that as Christians we are called to enter the adventure of bringing justice to this planet.

If you or someone you know is feeling unfulfilled in their Christian experience this book will challenge them to re-examine their faith and encourage them to get involved in justice.

Haugen has written an excellent, readable book that should resonate with anyone who has a desire to have a missional life. I personally felt he extended some passages of Scriptures to his position unnecessarily, but it is no secret the least and those who suffer injustice merit significant attention in the Bible. If injustice is an issue that is on the heart of God as reflected in the Bible, then we who are called followers of the way should have a desire to be engaged in taking the gospel to every corner of the human experience.

"Courage - the power to do the right thing even when it is scary and hard - resonates deeply with the original shape of our soul" (p103) How often do we have the opportunity to consider how we might live courageously in today's world. This book provides a gentle nudge for those who desire to be gripped by the big issues of life but really don't know where or how to begin. As other various voices call us to action in this area of thought and lifestyle, often with a call that is both idealistic and unrealistic for most people, Just Courage takes a different tack. This would be good reading for anyone on a evening when you just want to knock out a book and it just might change your life.

This is one of the best books I've read this year. It is concise, well written, and challenging.

I bought multiple copies to help stir conversations about the 27 million in human tracking today.

I read the book in two days (literally)-- it was that good.

I was concerned "Just Courage" would be a book about how the government or quasi-governmental organizations should step in and solve the problems of injustice. This book wisely sidesteps that problem by analogy - we can disagree what the perfect marriage looks like, but we all agree adultury is wrong. He discusses fighting slavery and oppression that we all agree is wrong, and argues that Christians should be doing so - NOW. There are many Christians already at it, and the rest of us need to get to work. Beware that this book will make you confront whether you want comfort or courage. I recommend it for all, especially those of us in America who often forget the injustice throughout the rest of the world.

Haugen targets a part of us that lies dormant and neglected all too often, slips the needle in and injects some of God's best "wake-up" medicine. A stirring read you won't easily be able to put down or get away from. This one really could change your life.

This book is so inspiring and challenging - I think it's just what American Christians need. The author is right that it's so easy, here in the prosperous West, to choose to do the easy thing and be comfortable in our lives and in our faith, but in the end that is "lethal to the soul." This book is realistic and encouraging at the same time. I love it and have already recommended it to many of my friends. What a beautiful, exciting book!

Just Courage is in many ways the workbook format of Mark Labberton's Dangerous Worship, Living God's Call to Justice. While Labberton lays out the theological precedent for why justice is imperative to worship and the Christian faith, Haugen's book lays the framework for what that looks like. I've long been impressed with IJM's mission, faithfulness, and integrity. He inspires his readers to get beyond the comforts of their safe middleclass American existence and begin to love and live dangerously for God. His is a battle cry for us all and one that reorders my thoughts and my prayers.

If you want to stay safe and just be a church attendee, this book is probably not for you. But if you want to go on an adventure and make a difference with your life as you follow Christ, you will devour this book. I did. It spoke to my soul and gave me great encouragement as it refreshed my resolve to be brave and follow Christ in what I call "point of need ministry."

I love when Haugen talks about the great commandment of loving God and people. How can we love God who we can not see when we don't love our neighbor who we do see? If we love our neighbor who we do see, we will follow Jesus and seek justice for them. This will cost us something. It will require action from us as we do something with our life to make a difference for those who are oppressed.

My favorite chapter in the book is titled "Would You Rather be Safe or Brave?" You can be a Christian and be safe, but you can not be safe and follow Christ. To follow Christ you must be brave because it may cost you your life. It just takes courage.

Anyone who has ever wondered whether there is more to the Christian life than the sorts of things offered by a normal church experience in a typical Western country will find much to think about in Gary Haugen's challenging book. It is only a short book, but it does not take many pages for the author to issue a comprehensive challenge to the way in which most Christians live their lives.

Most of us are going on the journey but missing the adventure. 150 years ago, John Stuart Mill observed that Christians seem to have the ability to say the most wonderful things without actually believing them, things like "blessed are the poor and humble", "it's better to give than receive", "judge not, lest you be judged", and "love your neighbour as yourself". How different would life be if we acted on these words, rather than just repeating them?

Haugen's book tells some of the story of his International Justice Mission organisation, and the challenges which he has faced in confronting the powers of evil in the world. But more than just being the story of the author and other courageous individiuals, the book is a challenge to every reader who yearns "for liberation from small and trivial things, to experience the passion and the power of God on the more jagged edges of faith". According to the book, the call to be a follower of Jesus is a call to join the struggle for justice in the world, something which requires bravery rather than safety, and something which cannot be done without relying on God. I highly recommend this book.

This is a fantastic book - I am working to get a copy into the hands of everyone I know! You will be educated and exhorted regarding the world of social justice and why it is so imperative that we "get in the game". I cant recommend it enough!