Book Reviews
Awhile back I read/skimmed Pastor Mark Chanski's (Holland Reformed Baptist) book about Manliness and dominion. The subtitle was something about not being a passive purple pool ball.
Here's a brainstorm on what I recall...
While it was good on diligence, it was very strong on 'your efforts can fix everything if you take charge.'
A key point was that each side of an argument only presents testimony that strengthens their side. He then proceeded to do just that. Stories were presented where guys got up and fixed their own problems.
I started skimming at that point. I would have liked to have seen discussion of the other side.
... rabbit trail... One illustration that I reacted to was how good genetically engineered plants were to feed the global poor. To me, it's a problem to genetically engineer seed when the real problems are social and political. Fixing symptoms, not causes, I say. The flip side is having to develop nuclear weapons to deter evil empires with their nukes. Having to work as a servant since we aren't independently wealthy. Using genetics to manipulate seeds is only slightly better than using genetics to manipulate humans in my book. We do not understand the side effects. Are we saying God doesn't know what He's doing? It's more fun to eat dessert than vegetables. Better to have 2 day surgery than eat right for decades. We like to play in the lab, not work with compost and manure. It's better to fight lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life directly. Take India for instance. Take out Hinduism (sacred cows, castes, widow sacrifice, etc.), put in Jesus Christ and watch what happens. Same for Africa. ... Sorry for the rabbit trail, but I'll leave it in :)...
If all Christians could fix their economic/ family/ spiritual circumstances by working/ loving/ praying harder, there would be very few Christians with problems. If the Israelites could have gotten out of Egyptian slavery by themselves, they would have.
Good exhortation to work harder. I think there's more to it, but am not smart enough to define it. Good for middle & upper class Americans, would need re-writing for poorer countries. Maybe written for a need in his church/denomination.
Scott
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