Serious Times: Making Your Life Matter in an Urgent Day [Paperback]

James Emery White (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 9, 2005

A 2005 Evangelical Christian Publishing Association Gold Medallion finalist. How can we make our lives matter? John Adams and Thomas Jefferson lived in serious times. And, because they chose to live serious lives, they turned the course of history. As the modern era transitions into postmodern turbulence, we, too, find ourselves in serious times. How can we make a difference in the world around us? How can we be an influence for Christ? Most important, how can we make our lives matter? There is a a great movement of God set loose in the world. In this book, James Emery White explores what it means to be at the front lines of what God is doing. When serious times are met with serious lives, the kingdom of God is advanced. Come and discover a life of significance.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This book by pastor and professor White (Embracing the Mysterious God) is an antidote to complacency in the face of epochal change. Echoing church historian Christopher Dawson, White argues that we live "at the beginning of the seventh age" for the Christian church, a time of crisis that requires an innovative and determined response. After a brief survey of previous turning points, including the beginnings of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, White examines our "disenchanted world," which he characterizes as secularized, privatized and relentlessly pluralistic, mired in narcissism, relativism and hedonism. Yet even given this bleak picture, White sees hope in a renewed practice of Christianity that could still reshape and revitalize Western culture. The second half of the book, very different from the first, is devoted to exploring the essence of "serious lives." White draws on a commendably deep field of previous writers, from Teresa of Ávila to Parker Palmer, offering a concise survey of topics from prayer to vocation. Of particular value are his thoughts on developing a "rule" of life, and his two-page portraits of Christians like St. Benedict, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Mother Teresa. While White's cultural analysis is neither new nor particularly encouraging, the wisdom and clarity of these latter chapters make this book a valuable, and hopeful, starting point for Christians who want their lives to matter.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"My soul is quaking under the impact of this book. Rather than another yawning treatise on cultural demise, Jim White calls us to `kick at the darkness till it bleeds light.' And the way we kick, he rightly assesses, is with "deepened souls and developed minds.' Fill our churches, Lord, with such illumined saints, and start with me." -- Lon Allison, Director, Billy Graham Center, Wheaton College --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: IVP Books (November 9, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830833803
• ISBN-13: 978-0830833801
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #356,163 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Personal favorite - great read, makes a great gift, too!, June 12, 2006

By 

Dan Panetti "Worldview Director" (Plano, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Serious Times: Making Your Life Matter in an Urgent Day (Hardcover)

An absolutely outstanding book based on the statement from a letter written from John Adams to his good friend and colleague Thomas Jefferson near the end of both of their lives - Adams wrote, "My friend, you and I have lived in serious times." White begins with the premise that serious times call for serious lives and expands to the concept that the Christian life is a serious and devout journey with the Lord. Every believer, according to White, has an opportunity to live a meaningful and profound life that could impact all of human history for the glory of God - and, of course, the reader is supposed to wonder why they would settle for anything less!

White then turns to a brief examination of our current cultural crisis and makes that case that Christians must and should be engaged in the great debate of the day. He turns to history to demonstrate how followers of Christ have consistently been cultural agents of transformation - literally allowing the God of the Universe to work in and through their lives to transform others around them. And then finally, White gives some practical guidelines to produce a life worthy of our calling - to deepen our souls with a compassion for humanity and develop our minds with the sound reasoning from Scripture which combined can be a culturally-relevant tool for believers to use to engage others for the cause of Christ.

Of course, White stresses the importance of reading as well as having an awareness of history as we seek to prepare ourselves for the calling of God on our lives. He also emphasizes the importance of the church as the body of Christ and our role within that institution. Finally, he concludes with the warning against apathy, against the sin of slothfulness and the lie that the problems of the world are on someone's shoulders. White challenges the follower of Christ to step up, even in the face of adversity or apathy, and take their rightful place as the sons or daughters of the King in this enemy-occupied territory to claim victory for our Lord and Savior against the false ideas and principles of this world.

Serious Times is an excellent book which also does an incredible job of introducing the reader to a host of great men and women of the faith who comprise that "great cloud of witnesses" of Hebrews 12. The book would be an ideal read for any young person to encourage them to live a life of significance and purpose as well as to any person more seasoned in years to challenge their comfortable lifestyle which has made them ignorance and apathetic to the great issues of life surrounding them everyday.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Serious reading for serious times, December 30, 2004

By 

G. Woodard "Serious Amazon buyer!" (MCAS Yuma, AZ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Serious Times: Making Your Life Matter in an Urgent Day (Hardcover)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I picked up the book just a few days prior to Christmas and completed it last evening. It is book that any serious minded Christian will want to read. I was impressed by the review of history and how it has impacted on our the philosophy of our current culture which covers the first half of the book.
The second half of the book was worth the price of the book alone. White divides this half of the book into four parts: deepening our souls; developing our minds, answering the call and aligning with the church. For me personally, the chapters on the soul and our minds were particularly helpful. White reminds us that our spiritual self is key to rest of our lives. We are to radically seek the face of God by developing in ourselves a "rule" of spiritual devotion that will form a foundation in our souls. The chapter on the mind was a reminder that the life of the mind is also important to our spiritual development. White challenges us with the idea that Christians need to be able to dialogue intelligently with our culture. An encouragement to hearty reading and serious reflection form the foundation of this chapter.
I found this book by James Emery White to be well worth the time investment and plan to make this book one that I return to often. It may be helpful for some of you to hear the author speak about this book. Check out this interview at http://www.strradio.org/current/111404.m3u.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Serious times: Making Your Life Matter in an Urgent Day, October 19, 2004

By 

A. Lee (Little Suamico, WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Serious Times: Making Your Life Matter in an Urgent Day (Hardcover)

This is a must read book for any christian living in this present age, longing for more, longing to reach out and make a difference. Knowing all the while time is short and something is wrong. Indeed very very wrong with a culture that seeks to ignore and ultimately abolish God. I highly recommend.