Book Review: Evolving in Monkey Town

This is not technically a book review since those are supposed to be objective and I've never read a book that I didn't like. If I don't like a book, I stop reading it as soon as I decide that I don't like it. Doesn't everyone? It would be strange to me to hear of someone deciding they didn't like a book on page 25 but they read all 400 pages anyway...unless they're getting paid to read it. Which I am not. So this is not really a book review but more of a, "hey, I loved this book, it really put into words a lot of the things I've been feeling lately and it really made me think." But that's a little wordy for a blog post title, even for me.   

The aforementioned book is Evolving in Monkey Town by Rachel Held Evans. It caught my eye at the library in the 'new release' section. I had no idea what the book was about but I picked it up off the shelf because it had "Monkey Town" in the title. How could I not pick it up? I was surprised to find that it's a Christian book. The author is from Dayton, Tennessee, home of the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925 where creationists and evolutionists duked it out in a mock trial. From then on, Dayton was known as Monkey Town. The "evolving" part of the title refers to Rachel's evolving faith.

The book describes Rachel's spiritual journey (so far anyway, she's young) from her fundamentalist Christian childhood, through her years at an ultra conservative Christian college where she began to have serious doubts about her beliefs, and finally to the place where she is now which is still spotted with doubt and unanswered questions. Rachel asks some hard questions and for most of them she doesn't get any answers. There's no neat and tidy resolution at the end. The best part about it is that instead of letting her doubts destroy her faith, she learned how to see them as a necessary and vital part of it. As a result, her faith and her love for Jesus is now deeper and more solid than ever before.

If you choose to read this book (and I hope you will) you should be aware of a couple of things. First, Rachel uses quite a few $10 words that I will admit I had to look up. At first I thought she was trying to sound very educated or maybe impress the publisher since this was her first book. But after reading for a while, I realized that she probably really uses these words in everyday conversations. The good news is you really don't have to know the definitions of Rachel's uber Christian words in order to understand what she's saying and enjoy the book. They're just scattered throughout the pages here and there. Here are a few that I'm willing to admit I had to look up: apologetics, eschatology, dispensationalism, hermeneutics, religious plurality, secular humanism, and Anabaptist.

Another thing you should be aware of is that you will probably not agree with everything the author says. She was raised a very conservative Christian fundamentalist/apologetics junky (do I get $20 for combining 2 big words with a slash??) but she has recently discovered that she might be an evolutionist and, even worse, a democrat! :)  She wrestles with how to have a biblical worldview in a world that is constantly changing. She is also learning to embrace the notion that faith changes as well.

The turning point for Rachel came while she was in college and saw footage from "Behind the Veil" on CNN. She watched a muslim woman named Zarmina being executed by the Taliban. This caused Rachel to face some of her questions and doubts head-on. She struggled with what she calls the "cosmic lottery" that allowed her to be born into a Christian home in the U.S. while Zarmina was born to a muslim family in Afghanistan, severely hindering if not completely preventing her exposure to the gospel. Why would God do that? Why would he allow Zarmina's  life on earth to be filled with pain and torture from the Taliban only to continue it after death since she surely would not be going to heaven? Rachel was no longer willing to accept platitudes such as "God's ways are higher than our ways"; platitudes she herself had used so many times when she didn't have an answer to some else's hard questions.

As Rachel grapples with some hard questions, she discovers that she doesn't have all the answers like she thought she did. She writes, "With the best of intentions, the generation before mine worked diligently to prepare their children to make an intelligent case for Christianity...As a result, many of us entered the world with both an unparalleled level of conviction and a crippling lack of curiosity. So ready with the answers, we didn't know what the questions were anymore. So prepared to defend the faith, we missed the thrill of discovering it for ourselves."

The death of muslim woman half a world away brought a Christian woman into the arms of Jesus, who she calls "God in sandals". She learned that "healthy doubt (questioning one's beliefs) is perhaps the best defense against unhealthy doubt (questioning God). When we know how to make a distinction between our ideas about God and God himself, our faith remains safe when one of those ideas is seriously challenged."

If you like Donald Miller or Anne Lamott, you will probably like Rachel Held Evans. She says out loud what a lot of us think from time to time but would never dream of voicing. She's controversial yet comforting, and evidently she's not too discerning because she's my new Facebook friend.

Football Season is Almost Here!

This is too fun not to post! Only 11 days until college football season starts . . . Perfect Hors d’oeuvre For Football Season!

Women’s Bible Studies Fall 2010

Thursday Mornings Beginning September 2

9:00 – 11:30 am

Contact Donna Bulliard, donnab@cox.net, 417-0603

Marti Thomas, marti@trinitybible.org, 406-2801 x104

Ephesians - The Church: Rooted in Love, Walking in Power (Precept Study)

Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, targeted by grace, children of God united in a single family, inheritors, holy, redeemed, forgiven, raised from the dead and seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenlies! How can you not study Ephesians!? Before Paul even hints at how believers should live, he lays a rock-solid foundation: who we are in Christ! If you think you're just a cog in a machine, if you don't know your true identity, then this study is for you.

Cost: $25 or order at www.precept.org after 8/22/10

Duration: 11 weeks

Format: 1+ hours of daily individual study, weekly group discussion

Leader: LaDonna Sprayberry, 235-7669

Teach Me Your Ways – Genesis (Precept New Inductive Study Series)

Begin at the beginning - Creation, marriage, sin, civilization. Then learn about God's continuing lovingkindness and faithfulness to His covenant people, even when they let Him down. This study spans all 5 books of the Pentateuch.  We’ll do Genesis in the fall; you can continue with Exodus starting in the spring.

Cost: $12 (all 5 studies) or order at www.precept.org after 8/22/2010

Duration: 9 weeks (Genesis)

Format: 15 minutes of daily individual study, weekly group discussion

Leader: Verna Guidry, 981-2275

A Woman's Heart: God's Dwelling Place (Beth Moore)  

Why did God choose to dwell in a wilderness tabernacle and what does that mean to your life today? Explore the fascinating account of the building of the Old Testament tabernacle, the significance of its intricate design and its pivotal role in God's eternal plan, the grand fulfillment of its purpose by Jesus Christ, and its variety of meanings for your walk with God today. In this 10-week in-depth Bible study you will be challenged to prepare your heart, like the holy of holies, to become a home for His love and glory — a dwelling place for the Most High God.

Cost: $20 or order at www.lifeway.com or Lifeway Stores after 8/22/2010

Duration: 11 weeks

Format: 45 minutes of daily individual study, weekly group discussion & video

Leaders: Beth Bee, Sarah Loftin & Donna Bulliard, 417-0603

Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl

by Lysa Terkeurst, President of Proverbs 31 Ministries

How might our lives look if we were so filled with God's truths we could let go of the pain of our past, not get tripped up by the troubles of today, or consumed by worries about tomorrow?  It's impossible when we try to make it happen on our own by doing more good Bible study girl things like praying, reading the Bible or going to church. But going through the motions of these activities will not fill our souls. True fulfillment is never found in seeking to do enough, be enough, have enough, know enough or accomplish enough.  We will be setting our hearts and minds on God and letting Him change us, rearrange us and redirect us to live out the message of Christ.

Cost: $20 or order at www.christianbook.com after 8/22/2010

Duration: 7 weeks

Format: 20-30 minutes of daily study, weekly group discussion & video

Leader: Lisa Delahoussaye, 839-1747

Thursday Evenings Beginning September 2

6:30 – 8:30 pm

Contact Marti Thomas, marti@trinitybible.org, 406-2801 x104

2 Peter: How To Be Kept From Falling (Precept In & Out Study)

In a day when false teachers are leading countless people astray, to live effectively for Christ we need to know the truth. Learn to live effectively and grow in spiritual discernment.

Cost: $16 or order at precept.com after 8/22

Duration: 9 weeks

Format: 30 minutes of daily study, weekly group discussion

Leader: Michelle Lafleur, 983-7053

James

James, a “bondservant” of Jesus Christ, sets out to instruct us about how faith should “look” in real life. In this epistle, he gives us many wise words of useful instruction. Yet the truths of his words are still so powerful that they will wake and shake believers from all backgrounds and cultures who have “ears to hear” them carefully. This book gives Christians practical guidance on how we can live for Him.

Cost: $7 or order after 8/22/2010 at www.explorerbiblestudy.org

Duration: 6 weeks

Format: 20-30 minutes of daily study, weekly group discussion

Leader: Susan Comeaux, 230-2913

Eat Pray Love

I really want to see "Eat Pray Love" because I really like to eat, pray, love . . . and travel.  But this post at Redeemed Girl Blog gives us 3-D glasses for viewing the movie: Redeemed Girl's Response to Eat Pray Love | Redeemed Girl Ministries

Leadership Growth

Check out this webinar for women: Women Leading Women Webinar featuring Elisa Morgan, author and publisher of Fulfill Magazine & former CEO of MOPS, on Wednesday, August 25 at 3 pm central.  Elisa will speak to the challenge of leading other women and how to lead with your real self, holding back nothing.  It's free but you have to register: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/344388355

The Land Between

One of the best Leadership Summit talks I heard was entitled "The Land Between: Finding God in Difficult Transitions."  The biblical reference is the desert wilderness the Israelites crossed to get from Egypt to the Promised Land, but it goes by many names: illness, divorce, unemployment, rebellious teen, loneliness. 
What grows in the desert? Actually a lot.  It is fertile ground for complaining, bitterness, resentment and, ultimately, for God's discipline.  But it is also fertile ground for hope, trust, perseverance and, ultimately, for God's provision. Your heart is in danger in the land between; it can be a place of transformational growth or a place where faith goes to die.  Your choice.

Leaders Are Learners

42 of us spent the last two days at the Leadership Summit, which I consider to be the most challenging & encouraging Christian conference on the planet.  (If this weren't a church blog, I would say it is the best butt-kicking any Christ-follower can get.)    I'll blog some of the most interesting insights in future posts but for now, here's a link to summaries of all of the talks: http://bit.ly/d7TkEL. It may be one of those "you had to be there" things but it's worth a look. 


 And lest you say, "Me?  I'm not a leader, " consider this definition: a leader is someone who has influence with others.  


And leaders are always learning. 

Anne Rice's Christianity Crisis

This column by a young conservative Christian political writer highlights the struggles that young Christians have with the church.  How do we offer both grace AND truth? Anne Rice's Christianity Crisis 

Real Housewives of the Church

Here's one woman's struggle with how God views her.  I like her conclusion: We are all equal in the eyes of God: equally loved, sinful, and redeemed.  And I like her advice: instead of running from God when his word makes you feel uncomfortable, dig deeper to get to know him.  As Folly | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction