Everything must change

Everything must change is not a book for you if your theology is comfortable and settled.

Brian McLaren writes disturbing books, and if you are very settled in your Christianity, and do not want the boat rocked, then may I suggest you go else where for your reading material. He starts asking questions that will certainly take you out of your comfort zone.

He suggests that being saved and having your place in heaven assured is only the very first step of the Christian faith. God then expects us to go on and make a difference in his world; or, as Jesus put it, bear fruit.

Jesus' message is not actually about escaping this troubled world for cloud nine's blissful shores, as is popular assumed, but instead is ensuring that God's will is being done on this troubled earth as it is in heaven.

This page was last updated by Bernard Preston on 1st January, 2020.

How does one summarise a complex 300-page  book in one blog?

Not easily, and in fact I am not going to try. What I will do is describe is what this book has meant for me personally.

Firstly, McLaren has challenged the notion in me that the world's problems are so big that there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. So I will not even try. And that is a disturbing thought. Could I really make a difference?

Whilst men and women of great intellect have made profound changes to this world, men like St Paul and CS Lewis, there have been very ordinary Believers of little education, people like St Peter and Brother Andrew, and John Newton, and George Muller who through living close to God have made a vital difference.

Now, in my retirement there has been little thought of making a difference in our world. It is very comfortable making a compost pile and learning how to start beekeeping and such things. That has to change, and I am waiting on Him for direction. Sealed orders are waiting to be opened.

The suicide machine

Secondly, I have gained a far better perspective on how greed is driving the late, great planet Earth on a suicidal path. It is not sustainable either in terms of energy, resources, water or pollution. We are leaving our grandchildren a heritage that will be hopelessly flawed.

Brian McLaren drives home the point. We have not been saved simply for pie in the sky. He rescued us from the powers of darkness so we can make a difference in the world. Starting with believers, everything must change.

Everything, he says. And the sad fact is that Christians are proving just as resistant to change as the world is. The prosperity gospel has convinced so many of us that God wants us to have more than we can possibly need. Greed is insidious. Less is more is a relic; a pagan and mystic philosophy.

Christians should be leading the way in using solar powered generators and wind turbines, designing new technologies that makes cars more efficient, and for that matter driving smaller vehicles. Have you considered one that is powered entirely by batteries, and generally leaves a much smaller carbon footprint?

Christians should be at the forefront of recycling, using less resources and being the creative people in God's world who are making it all happen; you and me.

Everything must change, starting with me.

An aside

Does it eat you too when you look in the kitchen drawer and find about 15 chargers, 14 of which are derelict. Each time you upgrade your mobile you find they have change the plug fitting, so you are forced to buy yet another charger. Greed is the name of the game.

Newsletter

Our newsletter is entitled "create a cyan zone" at your home, preserving both yourself and Mother Earth for future generations; and the family too, of course. We promise not to spam you with daily emails promoting various products. You may get an occasional nudge to buy one of my books.

Here are the back issues.

And that new Sony of mine. They  have changed not only the size of the battery, but also the charger,and the jack.

So you have to buy Sony, and you have to buy yet another battery size, and yet another charger. I like their cameras but I will not buy another. The greed of the company has got to me. That is assuming that Canon, Nikon and Olympus are different. They probably are not.

Joining the Peace insurgency

Perhaps one of the most difficult chapters is the one looking into how religion has under-girded the war machine.

Muslims blow themselves and innocent bystanders up, crying out, God is great. Some Christian leaders are encouraging US presidents to vanquish our enemies away in the name of the Lord. Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan come to mind. Violent extremists are increasingly deranged by their own religious certainty.

Religious communities edit their versions of Jesus to fit their narrative.

Rather, conversion is about Jesus editing us to fit his narrative. So many Christians today have the boot on the wrong foot.

Brian McLaren asks embarrassing questions; why is the value of arms sales by Christian USA to Africa exceeding the aid given?

Watching the insurgents in Damascus, or Dafur, or the Congo one is increasingly impressed by the sophistication of the rocket launchers and fire power of the trouble makers, yet no one asks, where are these arms manufactured, and who sells them to the rebels? There appears to be a conspiracy of silence of the part of the super powers who are profiting from these agents of death.

Why is Christian America still not a signitary to the ban the landmine treaty? It is the ultimate terrorist weapon.

To sum up

Everything must change by Brian Mclaren is a profoundly interesting, disturbing, very spiritual book that every educated Christian should read. But beware, the Spirit might just grab you by the jacket lapel, shake you violently, and call you into something entirely new. Something that will enable God's will to be done on Earth, as it is in heaven.

Something difficult. Like persuading Christian America to stop killing innocent civilians with their drones.

Well, done, Brian. A wonderful book.

Oh, one last thing; do you too quite often have difficulty finishing Christian books? This one I enjoyed to the last drop.

Enjoyed? Mm, the wrong word. Felt challenged, am enriched, thought about starting again at page 1, occasionally wished I had never heard of Brian McLaren. I do not know about everything, but I am a different person, and some things have certainly already begun to change.

Now to Brian McLaren's next book.

Kindle

Brian McLaren

There are quite a lot of second hand books available too, for a song. But do Brian McLaren a favour. Buy the new everything must change. He can use your support, this is a profound tome that took a huge amount of time and study.

Study book

Oh, Everything must change would make a great group-study book. At the end of each chapter are a numerous provocative questions for discussion and thought. Expect the sessions to be disturbing, rowdy and boisterous rather than the a solemn cloistered assembly.

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