C. J. MahaneyRecensioni

Excellent popular treatment on humility. Fun and convicting chock full of great quotes.

Essential reading for everybody. He does an excellent job of explaining the danger of pride, the benefit and importance of humility, and he suggests several good methods for weakening pride and cultivating humility. excellent, excellent, excellent.

This is a short but convicting book. It was required reading for one of my husband's seminary courses this last semester. When he was finished he left it on my desk to read. I wish I had read it 14 years ago when we first entered the ministry - or at least 8 years ago when he surrendered to full time Pastorate. But then God's timing is perfect and maybe at that time I was not ready for such a sincere and convicting book. This is one that will truly make you stop and take a look at your life, your motives, your thoughts, and your Christian walk. Paired with a powerful sermon that was preached at a conference recently this message has been hard to forget!

Be Transformed by Christ’s Example “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” —1 Peter 5:5 A battle rages within every one of us every day. It’s the clash between our sense of stubborn self-sufficiency and God’s call to recognize that we’re really nothing without Him. It’s pride versus humility. And it’s a fight we can’t win without looking repeatedly to Christ and the cross. C. J. Mahaney raises a battle cry to daily, diligently, and deliberately weaken our greatest enemy (pride) and cultivate our greatest friend (humility). His thorough examination clarifies misconceptions, revealing the truth about why God detests pride and turns His active attention to the humble. Because pride is never passive, defeating it demands an intentional attack. The blessing that follows is God’s abundant favor. “This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit.” —Isaiah 66:2, ESV God clearly states that He is drawn to the humble. He’s also clear that He opposes the proud. These two, humility and pride, cannot coexist. Where one is fostered, the other is defeated. Which will you pursue? C. J. Mahaney paints a striking picture of the daily battle quietly raging within every Christian and asks whether you will passively accommodate the enemy of your soul, pride, or actively cultivate your best friend, humility. When you acknowledge the deception of pride and intentionally humble yourself, you become free to savor abundant mercies and unlikely graces. You will find a new life is yours—a life God richly favors. A God-glorifying life you don’t want to miss. “C. J. Mahaney is not humble. At least, that’s what he’ll tell you. And that’s one reason he’s so well qualified to write this book.” -Mark E. Dever, Senior pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Author, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church “A much-needed wake-up call on this important subject. I highly recommend this book.” -Jerry Bridges, Author of The Pursuit of Holiness “This is the right book from the right man at the right time.” -R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Story Behind the Book“Given pride’s pervasive presence in my life, I come to this book in holy fear, yet inspired by God’s promises to be humble and sobered by his warnings to the proud (Isaiah 66:2b, 1 Peter 5:5b). Scripture reveals to us that, while pride was the first and most serious sin, God is decisively drawn to humility and is specifically supportive of the humble. Only Christ has fully obeyed Isaiah 66:2b (“This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word”), yet He did so as our representative! How marvelous that in our daily battle against pride we can rely on God’s grace, through the gospel, and thus bring honor and glory to God.” —C. J. Mahaney

8/10

The concept is simple. The book is even more simple. Nothing too fantastic to report but I would suggest this book to a new believer, or even a seasoned believer for a reminder

The market isn't flooded with books on humility, but this is the best I've read on the subject. Very practical suggestions for cultivating humility litter the book. Given the universality of the problem Mahaney addresses (pride), the book is immediately relevant to every reader.

Very balanced book dealing with our hearts and our love for the things of the world, especially around media, music, stuff and clothes. The final chapter is on the proper way to love the world. This is not a list of rules but rather a biblical viewpoint on how to evaluate your own choices. We read this as a morning devotion with our kids aged 8-18. Very Helpful!

Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God: Now, there's a book title that piqued my interest!

C.J. Mahaney writes from a man's perspective to husbands on how to improve their romantic life. His seminal thought is, "You must touch the heart and mind of your wife before you touch her body" (28). This thought is echoed in every chapter. Mahaney covers the Song of Solomon to make his case. A quick aside on Mahaney's use of Solomon: I appreciate that he doesn't twist this love letter into some mystical explanation. Too many pastors and theologians perform hermeneutical gymnastics with this book. As Mahaney notes, Song of Songs "is exactly what it appears to be: a celebration of marital intimacy" (11).

Included in the strengths of this book is the idea that language is sexual. In a world where email, text, and social media flirtations abound, the church needs to emphasize the necessity of protecting our hearts and our words.

I enjoyed this book. However, I felt like many things were left unsaid. While short books are the rage, I would have liked to see what Mahaney would have written in 250 pages. As it was, what he wrote was helpful. This book is definitely worth the read.½

Our world is obsessed with sports.

My son plays competitive soccer. That means that we are on the road a lot!!! The various teams he pays for have afforded us the opportunity to build relationships with a number of young men and their families. By God's grace, we've seen a number of people trust Christ through those relationships. Still, we wrestle with priorities. "Should we go to this tournament? It will mean missing another Sunday?" "What about this training camp? It will mean missing Wednesday youth programming?"

I wish I had clear cut answers to those difficult priority questions. I don't. But C. J. Mahaney's book, Don't Waste Your Sports helps. This short booklet helps athletes think through how sports can feed the flesh and how Christians should respond to that temptation. Mahaney makes much of the idea that we should do everything to the glory of God.

Included in this booklet are helpful questions for both athletes and their parents.

We have been giving away copies of this booklet like breath mints. I don't think there is a student in our youth group that plays a sport that I haven't given a copy to. Our local FCAs are going to be using this book in the fall to disciple student athletes.

All in all, this is a necessary read for young (and old) athletes and their parents.

Few books have impacted me this year like Adopted For Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches. Russell Moore writes in a clear, Gospel-centered manner. He elevates the issue of adoption above merely social concern and roots it is the very heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Moore's transparency brings a gravity to his writing. The pain of infertility and the insensitivity of others are a few of the emotional valleys through which the author takes the reader. I HIGHLY recommend this book to every pastor and any person who wants to better understand what it means to be adopted into God's family.

"Our adoption is about more than just belonging. Our adoption is about the day when the graves of this planet will be emptied, when the great assembly of Christ's church will be gathered before the Judgment Seat. On that day, the accusing principalities and powers will probably look once more at us - former murderers and fornicators and idolaters, formerly uncircumcised in flesh and heart - and they may ask one more time, 'So are they brothers?' The hope of adopted children like my sons - and like me - is that the voice that once thundered over the Jordan will respond, one last time, 'They are now.'" (p. 57)

This little book on what the cross of Christ means and what its implications are for believers (and unbelievers) is outstanding. Mahaney belongs to a dying breed of authors who understand the very heart of the gospel--Christ's death:

What we face is the righteous threat of furious wrath from a holy God. That is the threat faced by all who have gone astray, by each one who has turned to his own way.... We are indeed guilty of sin and deserving punishment.
      But the innocent One, the holy One--God the Son--stepped forward to die for the rest of us. On that cross the Servant suffered for sinners like you and me, because of sinners like you and me--and as the substitute for sinners like you and me.
      He takes the punishment that you and I richly deserve... [T]hose who have been granted new eyes perceive that He was indeed smitten by God and afflicted--not for His sin, but for ours.

Be Persuaded of His Love
The motivation of God the Father in sacrificing His Son as our substitute is uniquely revealed--shockingly and startlingly exposed--in verse 10 of Isaiah 53: "It was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief." The death of the Servant was not the fruit of human initiative and design; it was God's plan, God's purpose, God's will.
....................................
      Who killed Jesus?
      God did. God the Father was ultimately responsible for the death of His Son. God is telling us, "I purposefully determined to crush My Son with My wrath--for your sins, as your substitute."
      Why?
      "Because I love you." (pp. 55-56, emphasis his)

That is the gospel! I do, however, think Mahaney should've added Proverbs 17:15--"He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD" (NASB)--and Genesis 18:25--"Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?"--to further elaborate "The Divine Dilemma" chapter.

And while Mahaney thinks that 1 Timothy 2:5-6--"For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time"--"succinctly captures the main theme and essence of the entirety of holy Scripture" (p. 70), I think Romans 3:25-26--"God displayed [Jesus] publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus"--better fits the description.

Mahaney also interprets 1 Timothy 2:4--"[God our Savior] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth"--out of context, for "the LORD has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil" (Proverbs 16:4). The verse really means that God desires all kinds of men to be saved.

Additionally, He thinks that Christians still remain sinners to some extent (pp. 29, 117, 129-30) and, ironically, argues that the prostitute who visited Jesus in Luke 7:36-50 was already a Christian, though the Bible says that she was a sinner and that Jesus forgave her.

Overall, this book is an excellent presentation and explanation of the gospel. If Mahaney had included a chapter on how sinful man is compared to God's perfect law, this would be a nearly perfect book to give to an unbeliever. It is nevertheless a must-read for all Christians, especially new Christians, and for backsliders and false converts.

This little book is easy to read, and a great reminder to keep the main thing the main thing. It's particularly useful for Christians who rarely read books, or for those struggling to find the time to read anything more substantial.

A really helpful manual on the theme of humility.

This book may be small in size, but it has had a big impact on me as I read it. If I could I would buy a copy for all my friends and give it to them to read. As the subtitle states, it is all about keeping the gospel the main thing in our lives. This author did a good job of defining legalism in his book, of explaining the difference between justification and sanctification, and of giving practical ways we can all keep the cross the center in our everyday lives. This is one I will be reading again, and hopefully sharing with others. I highly recommend everyone read this book.

Humility True Greatness, C.J. Mahaney, Multnomah, 2005, 174 pages.

C.J. Mahaney wrote a deceptively small book that is packed with a fantastic amount of truth in it. Truth that will cut to the bone and to the heart, every page confronts the reader with the reality that humility is not a heart beat that any of us have in ourselves naturally.

Despite this reality, Mahaney writes a book that first creates a desire in the readers heart to grow in humility, and to put to death pride. The entire first section of the book is all about that very issue: Humility vs. Pride. On page 29 a wonderful quote from John Stott does a great job of describing this battle; “At every stage of our Christian development and in every sphere of our Christian discipleship, pride is the greatest enemy and humility our greatest friend.”

The book continues into a study on Jesus Christ and the example of perfect humility that he was and is for us. From there Mahaney heads for the heart. The final section of the book is a chapter by chapter run through a variety of steps and practises we can take in our lives to develop humility. Not that developing it can be a pursuit that we can take pride in, that would defeat the purpose of humility all together!

This is a book I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND to everyone and anyone!

I'm always a little wary starting books like this one because of all of the really bad theology that seems to be filling the shelves of Christian bookstores these days. Normally, if a book calls Christians to good works, it is either under a false Gospel or just a long guilt trip. This is really unfortunate, because the true Gospel is the greatest motivation of all to do good works.

From the first section, I realized right away that Russell Moore understood that. His love for adoption does not stem from guilt or trying to earn his way to heaven, but in the understanding that he too was adopted, not because of anything good within himself, but because of the love and goodness of God alone, who calls adopted children to himself from all nations and tribes to be coheirs of the kingdom with Christ.

With the Gospel as his constant theme, Moore lays out a theology of adoption that is God-honoring and Christ-centered. I would be much less concerned with the state of Evangelicalism today if I saw more books like this at Christian bookstores.

Probably the most well rounded book with regards to the love of this world, that I have ever read.

Comparing the Christian's adoption by God to the modern practice of adoption, Moore argues that the gospel and adoption are integrally related. Moore walks through the issue of 'why adopt?' - he doesn't deal with all the 'how' questions, but instead focuses on how a biblical theology of adoption is worked out in practice. This book is a compelling read and one that we recommend to people in our church. Its not necessary for you to have adopted, or even be considering adoption, in order to benefit from what he writes.

Any book entitled Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World promises not to be your average book on the shelf of today's Christian bookstore. The subject of worldliness, or love for the values of this fallen world, is not a popular theme.

The contributors of this book, start off by asking if 1 John 2:15 ["Do not love the world or anything in the world":], is really in most Christian's Bibles. All of us are guilty of worldliness. But how do we go about avoiding this sin? C.J. Mahaney explains:

"Some people try to define worldliness as living outside a specific set of rules or conservative standards. If you listen to music with a certain beat, dress in fashionable clothes, watch movies with a certain rating...surely you must be worldly.

"Others, irritated and repulsed by rules that seem arbitrary, react to definitions of worldliness, assuming it's impossible to define. Or they think legalism will inevitably be the result, so we shouldn't even try.

"...Both views are wrong. For by focusing exclusively on externals or dismissing the importance of externals, we've missed the point.... the real location of worldliness is internal. It resides in our hearts."

The book goes on to try to navigate between these two extremes and call today's church to a healthy carefulness about how we interact with the world at large. With chapters on movies, music, money and modesty, the book aims to guide believers as they think critically about the myriad of choices facing us in today's culture.

As one who came out of a very strict fundamentalist background, this book especially interested me. I was encouraged to see contemporary evangelical Christians warning about the social dangers that abound. And I noted that the book did not offer a list of rules which I should follow more closely than Scripture. Instead the authors were careful to encourage discernment and teach general guiding principles.

To some the book will seem quite strict. Think "radical", instead. The authors aim to glorify God in everything they do. That will come across as totally radical, and will require a unique focus on the temptations and opportunities that surround us.

While the discussion on media (movies) and music was quite good, the chapter on money and modesty wasn't quite as captivating for me. I'd heard a lot of Mahaney's stuff on modesty before, so maybe that's why. But any lull in those chapters was more than made up by Mahaney's opening chapter and the closing one by Jeff Purswell.

That final chapter focused on how to love the world. We are to love God's creation and the people He has made. We are placed within His world and called to serve for its good. Perhaps since externals were over emphasized in my fundamentalist roots, this chapter on healthy interaction with the world resonated with me so well. In any case, Purswell paints a glorious picture of God's covenant dealings with all the earth.

Moving from God's overarching redemption plan, he elevates our mundane day-to-day duties as part of that plan. He closes his section on work with this appeal:

"So don't just "go to work" and "do your job"--see your job as a way to imitate God, serve God, and love others. This doesn't mean work will never be difficult or frustrating or tedious; the curse ensures that it will be at times. But God's creational purposes and Christ's redeeming work infuse our work with meaning, and promise God-glorifying fruit as a result."

Purswell calls us to enjoy, engage and evangelize the world. "We receive God's earthly gifts, pursue God's purposes in earthly life, and work for the salvation of people made in God's image. All of life lived for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31)".

The final chapter exposes the tension once again. While we are to be in the world and working for its good, we are also not to love what it loves and prize what it prizes. Once again, the book stresses two bents which typify Christians:

"Some have strictly spiritual preoccupations. For them the present is of little consequence, pleasures are periolous, spirituality means self-denial...

"Others relish life in this world. Their delight in God's temporal gifts is unrestrained, their enjoyment of their physical existence untempered, their hope in earthly endeavors absolute...."

The answer finally is the cross of Christ. The cross tells us who we are, interprets the world we live in, transforms our view of people and gives our lives purpose. Finding our place in God's story of redemption is the ultimate cure for a love of this world's desires.

This book has the potential to transform your view of the Christian life. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by Crossway Books for review. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

An expanded version of this review is available at CrossFocusedReviews.com, where you can find book excerpts, giveaways, promotional offers, audio reviews and more.

Books on sex and romance, written by godly pastors are rare. C.J. Mahaney is no sexpert, and this is no sex manual. But this may be the best book on sex you’ll ever read.

Sex, Romance and the Glory of God presents a theology of marriage that serves as just the right backdrop to look at how Solomon, in his famous Song, deals with sex. The book sets sex in the proper context for which God intended it. And it calls men—Christian men—to love and romance their wife.

Mahaney explains that marriage then is intended to be a picture of how Christ relates to his Church. Let me quote Mahaney at this point, since his words are much more adequate than mine:

"Please don’t think of this as merely a helpful illustration or an interesting perspective. It’s much more than that. This is the essence of marriage. This is the divine purpose for your marriage….

"…there is a purpose in marriage that goes beyond personal fulfillment. Something of the selfless love, care, and sacrifice that Jesus shows toward the Church is supposed to be evident in you as you relate to your wife. Something of the respect, submission, and devotion that the Church shows toward Jesus is supposed to be evident in your wife as she relates to you. That’s the purpose for your marriage. That is why God has given her to you, and you to her. " (pg. 23-25)

Particularly helpful and challenging is Mahaney’s call for men to romance their wives. Mahaney encourages us to plan and work at delighting our wife in any number of small yet meaningful ways. He provides practical pointers and suggestions and strongly encourages a weekly date of some kind.

The truth he wants us to remember, if nothing else from this book is this: “In order for romance to deepen, you must touch the heart and mind of your wife before you touch her body.“ (emphasis his, page 28)

An example of Mahaney’s practical yet unsettling wisdom is his must-ask question: “Do you feel more like a mother or a wife?” (pg. 29)

Concerning this point he continues:

"There can be a selfish, sinful tendency among husbands to view their wives as a goal that, once achieved, is then taken for granted. That is how a wife with children comes to feel primarily like a mother. And that is why the very idea of asking a question like this can cause many husbands to swallow hard and consider going off to watch a little TV. But please don’t—I want this to be an encouragement to you.

"…A variety of legitimate activities may consume huge quantities of your wife’s time….But whatever your situation, if you make it a priority to love and care for your wife as Christ does the Church…God will touch her heart so that, even when surrounded by diapers, dishes, and diseases, she can answer that question with joy: “I feel more like a wife.”

"…Motherhood is exceptionally important. It calls for immense sacrifices and deserves great honor. But I can say with full conviction that according to Scripture, motherhood is never to be a wife’s primary role. In fact, I think the most effective mothers are wives who are being continually, biblically romanced by their husbands." (pg. 30)

The book is helped by several personal stories that Mahaney shares. The following story was a challenge and encouragement for me to remember that I am to love and serve my wife and family as Christ serves and loves the Church.

"When our first two children were still quite young, I realized that my commute home in the evening was functioning as little more than a review of my day. As far as I was concerned, by the time I got in that car, my responsibilities were pretty much over until the next morning. I saw my home as a refuge, a place where the emphasis, for me, was on being served rather than on leading and serving with Christlike love.

"In God’s mercy, he showed me the selfish motivation I was bringing home each evening. I saw that my commute could be best utilized as a time of transition, so that I might be prepared to finish the day by loving and serving my family well.

"So I made a practice of pulling the car over a few blocks from my home so I could take a couple of minutes to make an effective transition in my soul. There on the side of the road, I meditated on Ephesians 5 as well as on some other passages. I confessed to God my sinful tendency to be selfish and sought to prepare my heart to serve my wife and children when I arrived home. In this way I learned to see my home as the context where I have my greatest privilege and opportunity to serve…." (pp. 50-51)

I found Mahaney’s chapter on “The Language of Romance” to be very interesting. I was challenged to be more intentional in how I communicate with my wife, and to stop neglecting poetry as a means of arousing her love. Listen to Mahaney on this point:

"…[Song of Solomon shows us] a category of communication set apart from the stuff of daily life….It is highly intentional, creative, provocative, erotic language. It’s purpose is to arouse romantic passion—to inflame slowly and intentionally, all the while honoring and delighting one’s spouse….Long before they begin to enjoy one another’s bodies, they excite one another’s minds with tender, creative speech. They model for us what it means to feel sexual passion and to articulate that passion. The language is highly poetic, romantically expressed, and exceptionally creative and imaginative. It is also unmistakably sexual.

"The best sex begins with romance, and the best romance begins with the kind of speech we read in the Song of Solomon. It begins with carefully composed words….

"Far from scorning carefully composed words, I should accept the lesson of Solomon’s Song and learn how to use them. Poetic language is a gift from God that can help me promote godly romance with my wife!

"…How many times in the past week or month have you spoken to your wife in ways that she found to be romantically and perhaps erotically arousing?" (pg. 60, 69-70)

When Mahaney gets to the sex part in the book, he doesn’t disappoint. He stresses that the sexual aspect of marriage should not be considered “a fundamentally spiritual activity”. He even goes so far as to say:

"Is there a case to be made from Scripture that lovemaking is any less important to a marriage than praying together, studying the Bible together, or even attending church together? I don’t think so….

"…let’s not see sex as merely a permissible part of marriage or something to be tolerated. Sex in marriage is mandatory and something to be celebrated! (See 1 Corinthians 7:35; Ephesians 5:31) Sex was created for marriage, and marriage was created in part for the enjoyment of sex." (pg. 74-75)

Mahaney pointed out something about Song of Solomon that I had never considered. He stressed that Song of Solomon, while highly erotic, is a book about marital love. And he draws some important conclusions from that seemingly inconsequential point.

"It’s remarkable how Solomon’s language, while obvious in its intent, is never biologically specific in a way that could be considered vulgar or clinical….that fact is itself full of meaning. Although sexual intercourse is certainly an ultimate expression of a married couple’s erotic encounter, it is not the outstanding central feature of this book. What is dominant in the Song is not any particular physical act. The book is not about sexual intercourse. Rather, it is about the remarkable nature of the couple’s overall relationship—in all its romance, yearning, desire, sensuality, passion, and eroticism….they do not desire to be together simply so they can experience sexual gratification. They want to be together because they are in love, albeit a powerful one…." (pg. 88-89)

A valuable inclusion is the great “word to wives” section written by C.J’s wife Carolyn. It is for the most part a reproduction of chapter 7 in her book Feminine Appeal. I read that section, too, and was impressed by Carolyn Mahaney’s wisdom. Like the entire book, this section was not so much a manual on how to make love, as it is an encouragement to have a deep and lasting joyful relationship with your mate which includes a proper valueing and enjoyment of sex.

In Mahaney’s eagerness to use Song of Solomon as a Biblical description and instruction of marital intimacy, however, he falls prey to what I consider to be a wrong approach to interpreting that book. He pits an allegorical interpretation, which sees Christ and his Church as the key players in that song, against a “literal” interpretation, which sees Solomon talking about the joys of marital love. I am aware that there have been extreme allegorical interpretations that go so far as to negate any application of what the song teaches about marital love. But in Mahaney’s approach, which is very typical and widespread today, the error is made to the opposite extreme. He denies any typographical use of the book.

I see an alternative approach which can both affirm that the book clearly praises the joys of marital love yet also recognize that Solomon’s Song is written within the framework of a redemptive history that the Bible records for us. And just as other Biblical stories foreshadow and describe the redemption Christ accomplished for His people, thereby enhancing our understanding of and appreciation of the Gospel, so too the Song of Solomon may rightly be seen to describe the anti-type of which marriage is only a picture. Indeed all marriages are a picture of the abiding covenant love and joyful relationship between Christ and His Bride, the Church (Eph. 5:31-32); and hence it would be proper to see Christ and His Church as ultimately referred to in this beautiful love poem.

My quibble over interpreting Song of Solomon aside, you need to get this book. And if you’re a husband, you especially need to read it, and even more so if you have already been married for some time. I recommend it highly.

An expanded version of this review is available at CrossFocusedReviews.com, where you can find book excerpts, giveaways, promotional offers, audio reviews and more.

A worthwhile read, even for those husbands already being intentional about romancing their wives. Mahaney discusses practical ideas for romancing our wives within a biblical framework, primarily from the Song of Solomon. Mahaney interprets Song of Solomon as related to a romantic and sexual relationship and applies segments of the biblical book to modern marriage.

It's heavier on philosophical framework than the "just tell me what to do" crowd would probably like but manages to keep that to the minimum necessary to give proper context for the numerous practical helps.

Good book on the gospel. I especially enjoyed his narration of the gospel with the events leading up to it as well as the penultimate chapter which gave some good practical suggestions.

A worthwhile read. The essential message is captured in the title and earns high marks. I'm someone who most appreciates books that are so chock full of worthwhile nuggets that they cannot be read quickly. This was not such a book. You could opt to read the whole thing in an extended sitting, if you wished.½

The Cross Centered Life is a small book, the gift-sized kind that you can breeze through in an hour. I read it more slowly over a period of some weeks with my adult Bible fellowship group, and I'm glad that I did. This is a deceptively simple little book; the truths that it treats are anything but obvious. Or rather, they are obvious, but we manage to miss them anyways.

The book's message is summed up in the subtitle: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing. It is amazing how good we Christians are at replacing the Cross with other things. Maybe it's a social cause like stopping abortion or defining marriage, or a denominational creed. It could be all our church activities, all the things we do because we are Christians. What it really boils down to in most cases — and this is the main thrust of the book — is that we have slowly, even unconsciously, become legalistic in our thinking.

Legalism is an insidious thing. A woman in our study commented that she didn't think the legalism chapter applied to her, but as she read it she was astonished to see herself in its pages. Legalism isn't just about following a lot of rules and being uptight. Mahaney talks about legalism as a plate-spinning activity, the plates being all your obligations as a Christian. When you can keep all your plates spinning in the air, you've earned God's favor and He will then show you grace. But if you drop one... oh boy, now you've done it. The woman I mentioned was saying how she would sometimes abstain from participating in the Lord's Table because she was "bad" that week and did not feel worthy. And then she would be proud of her abstention ("I'm so holy for not just taking this lightly!"). Crazy, right? She was basing her right to take Communion on her personal worthiness. But since when have any of us ever been worthy to partake? We are so quick to base our relationship with the Lord on our performance. Those weeks we've been "bad" are when we need most to partake of the Lord's Table.

The inevitable result of legalistic thinking is condemnation, because none of us can keep all our plates spinning perfectly all the time. When we don't measure up to what we think is God's standard, we live with guilt. What really struck me about this was Mahaney's statement that we can't make up for yesterday's failures with today's obedience. Taking this down to a practical level, I don't make up for my unfocused, lazy prayer time yesterday by being all good and disciplined and focused today. My actions don't cancel each other out; I can never get rid of my past guilt by doing the right thing now. I have to accept the fact that yesterday's failure, yesterday's sin, is already paid for. I can't do anything or be good enough to get rid of it; it is already gone. This is such a simple, obvious truth, but truly transforming when applied to everyday life.

I appreciated Mahaney's thoughts in the chapter on subjectivism, in which he argues against the "follow your heart," feelings-oriented message of our culture. What we know always trumps what we feel, because our emotions and experiences can be very deceptive but God and His Word never change. However, I felt that Mahaney's point is weakened by the fact that there isn't a single Scripture quotation in that section. And it's all about trusting what we know, the truths of God's Word, over what we feel! My husband led the discussion on that chapter and supplemented it with some great verses (Jeremiah 17:9 on why we should not trust our feelings; Romans 8:28, specifically the first three words ("And we know..."), and a few others).

Having come from a very experience-driven denomination, I know how dangerous subjectivism can be. My Christian life, though encompassing some good doctrine, was mainly spent seeking mountaintop transfiguration moments with my Lord... instead of walking down into the valley and living for Him there. If I felt spiritual, that meant I was, and my feeling that way was how I pleased God. The good feelings associated with hyped youth rallies and emotional altar times were like a drug, and I had to keep seeking more and more of them for the feelings to come back. I thank God for bringing some maturity into my thinking in this area. Subjectivism just sets us up to fail and is so destructive.

All of these things — legalism, condemnation, subjectivism, etc. — are distractions from the whole point of the Christian life, which is the Cross. We should never get over it, never graduate from it, never "mature" past it. It is the living reality that changes us daily. And yet it is so easy to marginalize. That's why I'm thankful for short, sweet little books like The Cross Centered Life, to aid the Holy Spirit's conviction in me when I am guilty of orienting my life around something else. This may be a very basic, "duh" treatment of the topic, but I'm not above it; the biblical truths it contains apply to me, right here and right now. And for my fellow believers: I bet they apply to you too. Recommended.