A Passionate Life
Evangelical "seeker-sensitive" churches have frequently come under fire for extending an enthusiastic welcome to nonbelievers and then failing to effectively disciple them in the Christian faith. Breen and Kallestad offer to remedy this shortcoming with this book that builds upon Rick Warren's bestsellingThe Purpose-Driven Life. The authors provide fresh converts with the next step—eight of them, to be exact—to intentional Christian growth after they have found their "purpose." Within this eager yet clumsily presented text, Breen and Kallestad use geometric shapes as visual guideposts to achieving a more passionate spiritual journey. Followers will expected to engage themselves in a circle of repentance/faith, pattern their lives into a semicircle of rest/work, form a triangle of relationships and use a square of leadership tools, etc. While the bulk of the material offered is biblically conservative, the authors risk alienating their more traditional Christian reader base by retelling the story of a college student who believes he hears from God, thus confirming he has the gift of "prophecy." Likewise, a woman speaks of her desire to become a pastor, a definite no-no with many biblically conservative audiences, though other readers will find this refreshing. Other than these minor variances from the center of camp, this resource offers much in the way of practical advice for those readers who can get past its choppy, hodge-podge presentation.(May)