What Was I Thinking?: Things I've Learned Since I Knew It All [Hardcover]

Steve Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 18, 2006

Seminary professor, radio broadcaster, and former pastor Steve Brown is tired. He confesses, "I'm tired of glib answers to hard questions, irrelevant 'God words' and stark, cold foundations on which no house has ever been built." So he set out to revitalize his faith by reexamining his thoughts and his faith. And he shares his invigorating discoveries with readers. A potent tonic for those whose faith feels flat, What Was I Thinking? fully engages the heart, mind, and soul.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr. Steve Brown is a broadcaster, seminary professor, author, and founder and president of Key Life Network.  He previously served as a pastor for over twenty-five years and now devotes much of his time to the radio broadcasts, Key Life and Steve Brown Etc. Dr. Brown serves as Professor Emeritus of Preaching at Reformed Theological Seminary teaching at the campuses in Atlanta, Orlando and Washington, D.C. He sits on the board of the National Religious Broadcasters and Harvest USA. Steve is the author of numerous books, and his articles appear in such magazines and journals as Christianity Today, Leadership, Relevant, Leadership, Decision, Plain Truth and Today's Christian Woman. Traveling extensively, he is a much-in-demand speaker. Steve and his wife Anna have two daughters and three granddaughters.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Howard Books; 1St Edition edition (July 18, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582295700
• ISBN-13: 978-1582295701
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #169,908 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Of all things, you're thanking your captor, June 5, 2007

By 

FaithfulReader.com (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Was I Thinking?: Things I've Learned Since I Knew It All (Hardcover)

If you've ever heard the "Key Life" radio program, then you've probably heard the rich, authoritative, made-for-radio voice of Steve Brown, who is also a professor at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, where his rich, authoritative, made-for-seminary voice has dispensed wisdom and knowledge to students for a number of years now --- and to his own congregation and countless audiences at seminars and conferences

Or has it? Well, yes and no. Yes, a great deal of what his voice has dispensed could be described as "wisdom and knowledge." But a lot of what he dispensed was, as he puts it, "irrelevant God words." An older and wiser Brown admits: "I was wrong. I got the words right, but I missed the tune...if we get the words right but can't sing the tune, we miss the grandeur of the song." He's singing a new song these days, one based on a faith that is "far more radical and far less cerebral" than he once thought it was.

That's good news for the reading public, because Brown felt compelled to set the record straight about his skewed way of thinking in print. Ever the entertaining author, Brown is at his best when he's vulnerable and self-deprecating, and with a title like WHAT WAS I THINKING? you can be assured that he is, indeed, at his best here.

Each chapter title betrays Brown's former faulty way of thinking. In "The Holy Spirit Is Working in a Lot More Places Than I Thought He Was," for example, he encourages Christians to quit limiting their lives to involvement in "religious" activities and entertainment and to instead engage the wider culture around them. The activity of the Holy Spirit, he writes, is not limited to Christians and the church. "It isn't where we go, what we see, and what we hear that determines what is appropriate and right for the believer. It's what we bring to where we go, to what we see, and to what we hear that determines what is appropriate and right for us as believers," Brown believes.

Individual chapters address Brown's once-misguided views of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, supernatural warfare, people ("a lot worse than I thought they were"), people again ("a lot better than I thought they were"), self-righteousness, obedience, love and the world; the chapter on self-righteousness alone is worth the price of the book, and then you get all those other wonderful chapters as a bonus. He concludes with this chapter: "Things Will Work Out a Lot Better Than I Thought They Would."

Throughout, Brown reveals his special brand of humor. This is a guy with a doctorate who teaches seminarians things like "how to develop a Christian mean streak" and "how not to be a weenie"; who obsesses over his hybrid Honda Accord and whether it's symbolic of his judgmentalism; who comes right out and says he likes to sin; and who admits that Monday morning is depressing because that's when he has to pray. You just have to keep reading when a well-known, well-respected Christian leader writes stuff like that.

"Keep reading" is what you'll likely do once you start, because Brown has this charming way of captivating his readers and holding them hostage. Before you realize what just happened to you, you've finished reading --- and of all things, you're thanking your captor.

--- Reviewed by Marcia Ford.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible teaching!, November 6, 2006

By 

Daniel Britt "http://www.danielbritt.com" (Atlanta, Georgia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What Was I Thinking?: Things I've Learned Since I Knew It All (Hardcover)

I loved this book. This author is so authentic, he will blow you away. He proves, even as a "professional Christian," that it's not about his goodness or purity, but about the Grace of God.

You looking for condemnation or a set of religious rules and rites? Don't read this book.

Daniel Britt

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read, February 6, 2007

By 

David E. Hart "Weekly Reader" (Cincinnati,OH USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What Was I Thinking?: Things I've Learned Since I Knew It All (Hardcover)

I have read several of Steve Brown's books and have always enjoyed them. This one though really exceeded my expectations. He asks himself many of the same questions I have found myself asking after I passed the AARP age. His forthrightness and honesty was like a fresh drink of water. I have since purchased and given away several more copies to my friends and family.