A charismatic, thought-provoking look at millennial Christianity.
In this debut, a religious millennial offers a wakeup call to members of his demographic.
King, a pastor who was born in 1992 and raised in an American Baptist family, immediately stakes out his main theme in this brief, nonfiction debut. Millennials, he says, should not only seize opportunities and take more responsibility for their lives—they should also consider embracing Christianity as a way to help them do it. But although he has a serious purpose, he adopts a wry, jocular tone throughout this book. He opens by defining what a millennial is and warning that he won’t be offering a vague, “psycho-babble apologetic.” Instead, he says, he’ll be addressing some of the real problems and shortcomings of the “snowflakes” among members of his generation. He believes that millennials have been coddled by society, which he says has low expectations of them; this, in turn, has made millennials have low expectations for themselves. King goes on to deliver a fast-paced, engagingly written blend of frank assessments of millennial attitudes and specific calls to fellowship for millennial, fundamentalist Christians like himself. He offers a refutation of what he characterizes as millennials’ disdain for traditional rules and structure: “Rules do matter. Rules set a standard. Rules remind us of a right and a wrong way,” King writes. Other sections focus on checking what he sees as millennial influences on contemporary Christianity; for instance, he advocates firm structure and hierarchy in church services. He also addresses other alleged shortcomings of his generation—a lazy, derivative vocabulary; a proud ignorance of history; disdain for authority—in bracingly direct, and bracingly Christian terms. As a result, even some non-Christians may read this work for its moral clarity, while many Christians may nod their heads in agreement.
A charismatic, thought-provoking look at millennial Christianity.Pub Date: April 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4582-2158-2
Page Count: 110
Publisher: AbbottPress
Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
McElroy (Animals as Teachers and Healers, not reviewed) celebrates “the lessons learned at the four-footed threshold,” where animals point to “a particularly rich and rewarding track to personal awareness and to a more genuine and soul-filled life.” Here McElroy explores five stations on the shared path of animals and human spirituality, communication, service, forgiveness, and transformation—through stories (“When I had cancer, I learned quickly that stories were far more healing to me than statistics or information”) told by herself and “other animal-oriented souls.” Pretty much from the get-go, McElroy’s soul, “the inner guardian of our lives,” had spoken to her about her affinity to animals: “Could I have chosen my passion, I would not have chosen animals . . . But I did not choose, I was chosen.” And so, on this note of surrender, she listens to animals closely, she observes their body language, she endeavors to tap their enchanting and graceful presence, to be on the lookout for signs and messages—using the ancient language of empathy and intuition—with which to create a shared world. Much of what she learns is straightforward: how animals teach humans about service (the sheep dog, the shepherd), how they live in the moment, are (almost) always ready to give a second chance to a malefactor, demonstrate dignity in death. She doesn’t claim to know “the inner life of an animal with any degree of certainty,” but she stands squarely behind the validity of fantastical human-animal experiences, including the conversation an animal communicator had with an elephant, said pachyderm speaking at length on planetary transformation, the suffering of Mother Earth, and “the bass note in the symphony of life.” Little new ground is turned—with the exception of that elephant. As a result, McElroy and her fellow testamentarians’ souls can get wearying, as can the mild epiphanies that allow them to become ever worthier and more intimate with the animals.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-345-42403-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1998
“One of the best ways to change,” announces Siegel, “is to act as if you are the person you want to become.” His newest book from the author of Love, Medicine, and Healing offers a series of brief, avuncular, often witty suggestions about how to alter one’s life and find happiness. While the prescriptions themselves offer little to quibble with (“Learn what you can and can’t control”), there’s also little enough of substance in his breezy narrative to provide detailed help for someone in real pain. Still, given the success of Siegel’s previous works, it’s likely that his audience, which made those books bestsellers, will turn once again to Siegel for another dose of effervescent good feelings—and for suggestions about what to do when, as he says, “the merry drops out of the merry-go-round.” (Author tour; television and radio satellite tour)
Pub Date: Oct. 16, 1998
ISBN: 0-06-019196-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1998
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
