Book Review: The Bravehearted Gospel

Since it is Christmas break I have had a lot of free time on my hands. Thankfully, I have been able to discipline myself to get a lot of reading done that I have been putting off. I have a handful of books that I still desire to finish before break is over in two weeks, but I have been able to knock out a good amount so far. With that said, I thought it may be beneficial to write book reviews on the books that I finish. Let me put forth a disclaimer though: I am by no means the Ebert and Roeper of the Christian book genre. I just wish to offer my opinion on these books and maybe encourage you to read them if you find it applicable. With that said, here's the first review:

I recently read through Eric Ludy's book The Bravehearted Gospel. Let me preface by saying: I think this is a book that every Christian man living in this generation needs to read. I will get to why in a second. Ludy deals without a ton of pressing issues in this relatively small book. The main premise for this book is that the Body of Christ has been emasculated. Now I may warn you, he takes a long time to warm up. He spends the first couple of chapters of the book preparing you for what he wants to talk about and he does it very carefully, but once he is done with that, he just takes off.

Now this book does not claim to be a scholarly book by any means. Eric Ludy is not a prestigious clergy member, to my knowledge he has not earned a doctorate, but he deals with some heavy issues quite adequately. He talks about how the American church has lost it's masculine side. He goes on to explain that the contemporary church has focused so much on love, hope and tolerance, that it has lost it's view of truth completely. This is definitely a truth that should make our ears ring. Ludy does a great job of dealing with issues like relative interpretation of the Bible, over-tolerance of sin among believers, and what he calls "metrotheism", while at the same time laying a great foundation for Biblical Christianity through ancient believers. It is a great call to go ad fontes as it were. He echos the cries of the martyrs to challenge today's church. I have yet to read anyone that deals with Biblical masculinity better than Eric Ludy. He knows how to touch the heart of man and stir it to action. I challenge you to read this book. I am not an emotional guy when I read, but there were parts where I wanted to cry during this book because I was so moved.

Let me give you an excerpt that I was reading when I was on a plane on my way to Miami.

"Doubt barks, 'This isn't true, this can't be true, this whole Christian thing is a lie!' But the miniature, ever-growing Athanasius within us cries out, 'Here I stand!' Hollywood scoffs, 'Your faith is hollow. It's based upon mythologies and fables!' But the miniature, ever-growing Luther within us cries out, 'Here I stand!' Our friends mock, 'This is just a phase you're going through. One day you will see this whole Christian thing for what it is - a mere psychological elixir!' But the miniature, ever-growing Wilberforce within us cries out, 'Here I stand!' Even the modern church chimes in: 'Now, be careful not to expect too much from God in this life. Otherwise you will end up disappointed and disillusioned and forsake your faith altogether.' But the miniature, ever-growing Jesus Christ within us cries out 'Here I stand!'"

When I read that on the plane. I wanted to jump out of my seat grab all those willing and storm the gates of Hell. This is a powerful book that will challenge the way you live your Christian life.

I dare you to read it.