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I read this book so slowly, not because it was hard to read (in fact, it was easy to read, well-written, and made of soul-salve that helped make all the life that surrounded my reading time easier), but because I didn't want to close the book eventually without another chapter of it to hold onto.

This book tops my list. It's a box of letters handed me by a dear friend I've never met and who's never met me but somehow knows the contents of my brain and heart and feels all that jumbled mess too, and wants to care for me despite not knowing who I am in particular.

It's written with a masterful pen and a frank authentic honesty that would evoke Flannery O'Connor, if only Flannery O'Connor left you feeling renewed instead of depressed.

If I can get you to read just one book at my recommendation...read the Bible. But if I can get you to read two, then read this one with it.

I've flipped and read in this volume a lot now looking for poetry that is Christian rather than just employing language that sounds vaguely spiritual — there are maybe a handful or fewer in the whole volume. For every three poems by William Baer responding to Scripture, there are countless that pray to Eve as if she were divine instead of to God, or that try to reshape God into the image of the Native American "Great Spirit" and ascribe sin and failure to Him in the process, or that elevate human behaviors (even sinful ones) to the status of being holy somehow rather than signs of sin's curse.

There is in most of this less meter or form or skill or semblance of Christianity and more streams-of-consciousness new-age syncretism and pantheism and straight-up secularism.

This reads a bit like what an unbelieving academic who's never encountered Christianity might think is Christian, just by virtue of vague familiarity with some words that TV preachers might have mentioned before.

Which is all to say, it's not worth a space on the shelf, sadly. And I don't feel like I could donate it, since it could give an absolutely false impression of what Christianity is (and for fear that someone younger might pick it up and read the poems that — with no forewarning from this collection's editors — linger on rape and graphically describe lynchings).

The author is too much in love with his own cleverness of style, I think, as the structure of the book often becomes incoherent streams of consciousness that muddy the waters of the stories he tells.

At other times, he makes some truly puzzling snap judgments, ironically while describing how well he learned to love this inner-city body of Christ.

In the end, it seems that he's not learned that much except how to blend in to a different community from the one where he grew up, and then how to become fiercely and harshly dismissive of those outside in the name supposedly of defending those whom he thinks need him as their shield.

He revels in threatening the city council with a hostile newspaper column, and weeps in repentance of preaching Jesus's unconditional redeeming love too...fiercely, I suppose, to a woman on her deathbed who in the end, doubted Christ's love for her because of several hard turns of life. Instead, he sees her as having been better than him, because she "never depended on anyone for anything" and "imposed her will everywhere she went", while he'd just been trying to prove to himself that he was a good pastor by telling her that Jesus's love is not absent during hardship or death.

Mixed in here somewhere is a story of a young man learning to love an all-but-abandoned church and community. Unfortunately, rather than sourcing that love from Christ and striving to be Christ to and among them - and to teach them to do the same to a lost world - he instead became a jealous and angry avenger on their behalf, deeply suspicious of the outside world and anything that could be perceived as a slight.

For Scazzero, the highest marks of spiritual maturity are getting in touch with your passions and emotions, letting them guide you, and throwing off the awfulness that must inevitably exist in your family upbringing and anyone who might not affirm you you wholeheartedly as you follow your dreams.

The worst things you could do conversely, are to turn out like your parents in any way, to question whether your emotions at any point are in line with the truth of Scripture, or to get too attached to other people to the point that you care what they think. Or to work in a job that you sometimes don't find enjoyable or rewarding (because, in Scazzero's view, that isn't God's will for your life, since otherwise it would line up with the "seeds of goodness" -- things you enjoy -- that God put in you).

After all, as Scazzero says, "Jesus was not selfless", so neither should we feel obligated to be selfless. "Find the door of your heart", he quotes, likely out of context, "you will discover it is the door to the kingdom of God."

The full quote from Scazzero doesn't paint a better picture:

"Living your God-given life involves remaining faithful to your true self. It entails distinguishing your true self from the demands and voices around you and discerning the unique vision, calling, and mission the Father has given to you.11 It requires listening to God from within yourself and understanding how he has uniquely made you. Knowing your personality, temperament, likes and dislikes, thoughts, and feelings all contribute to your discovery. John Chrysostom, the golden-mouthed preacher and archbishop of Constantinople, described our work as follows: “Find the door of your heart, you will discover it is the door of the kingdom of God.”"

He spends a while trying to paint Satan's temptation of Jesus in the desert as trying to get Jesus to buy into a lie that Jesus wasn't good enough or loveable enough, so that he can then apply that to all of his readers, encouraging them that they're already good enough how they are and perfectly loveable. This seems at odds both with the Biblical account of that event (wherein Satan tempted Jesus with the very same pursuit of self-fulfillment and prosperity that Scazzero advocates in this book, trying like Scazzero to lure Jesus away from His redemptive purpose of selfless sacrifice for the lost), and with the rest of that same chapter that tells you to pursue change in your life by listening more to your emotions and shedding off any responsibilities that you don't enjoy (since if they were God's will for you, they'd be enjoyable, so if they're not enjoyable, they're not God's will for you).

He then goes on to advise that you ignore anyone who doesn't agree with your pursuit of enjoyment and self-realization (especially if they're your family), stating that it's necessary that you outgrow those dissenters by way of a process he grabs from pop psychology, unable to find it anywhere in Scripture:

"Murray Bowen, the originator of the term differentiation, emphasizes that in families there is a powerful opposition when one member of that system matures and increases his or her level of differentiation. He argues that even a little growth can cause a reaction in those closest to him or her. In the same way, I have seen repeatedly that when anyone makes a change in themselves (becoming their true self in Christ), a few people around them often get upset. Bowen describes the opposition in three stages: Stage One: “You are wrong for changing and here are the reasons why.” Stage Two: “Change back and we will accept you again.” Stage Three: “If you don’t change back, these are the consequences” (which are then listed).21 At each season of our journey with Christ, whenever Geri and I have taken steps to more clearly define who we are and who we are not in Christ, there has always been a consequence. It will happen with you too. But keep making changes. Be willing to tolerate the discomfort necessary for growth. Pray for the Holy Spirit’s power to continue. You are doing something that has never been done before in your history!"

Finally, most of the way through that chapter, he makes his way at last to reference the Bible a second time (after many appeals to secular psychologists and Jewish rabbis)....but only to take an entire chapter out of context in a way that would make the most chintzy of Philippians 4:13 football jerseys look like sound exegesis:

"Hebrews 11 tells us that some people conquered kingdoms. Others were sawed in two for their faith. Only God knows your future. Yet you can be sure of one thing: your life, like [Chuck] Yeager’s airplane, will shake in the process of you maturing into the person God intends."

Hebrews 11 is a chapter recounting how salvation came to all of the Jewish patriarchs not by their own works, nor by anything within themselves, but by the work of God (who then gave them the faith in God alone to act in obedience to God, even when that required self-sacrifice).

Scazzero instead frames it as "if people tell you no, don't listen to them! After all, Moses and Abraham and Rehab didn't listen to the haters either!"

And that's really a succinct summary of the book: the gospel it preaches is one of following your dreams and your feelings above all else, and salvation through ignoring anyone or anything that would have you do something you don't enjoy. There are no "one-another" commands here aside from "affirm one another's feelings", much to the apostle Paul's chagrin; rather, you shouldn't get too attached to anyone outside yourself, except to agree with them when they tell you "you're doing everything right, keep going!"

Scazzero, like Osteen before him, swaps heaven for happiness, and the cross for "centering" on oneself, and along the way maps out -- and then sells workbooks, DVDs, and speaking gigs for -- a path to that promises you'll gain the whole world, and trains you on how to silence any concerns about losing your soul.

For Scazzero, the highest marks of spiritual maturity are getting in touch with your passions and emotions, letting them guide you, and throwing off the awfulness that must inevitably exist in your family upbringing and anyone who might not affirm you you wholeheartedly as you follow your dreams.

The worst things you could do conversely, are to turn out like your parents in any way, to question whether your emotions at any point are in line with the truth of Scripture, or to get too attached to other people to the point that you care what they think. Or to work in a job that you sometimes don't find enjoyable or rewarding (because, in Scazzero's view, that isn't God's will for your life, since otherwise it would line up with the "seeds of goodness" -- things you enjoy -- that God put in you).

After all, as Scazzero says, "Jesus was not selfless", so neither should we feel obligated to be selfless. "Find the door of your heart", he quotes, likely out of context, "you will discover it is the door to the kingdom of God."

The full quote from Scazzero doesn't paint a better picture:

"Living your God-given life involves remaining faithful to your true self. It entails distinguishing your true self from the demands and voices around you and discerning the unique vision, calling, and mission the Father has given to you.11 It requires listening to God from within yourself and understanding how he has uniquely made you. Knowing your personality, temperament, likes and dislikes, thoughts, and feelings all contribute to your discovery. John Chrysostom, the golden-mouthed preacher and archbishop of Constantinople, described our work as follows: “Find the door of your heart, you will discover it is the door of the kingdom of God.”"

He spends a while trying to paint Satan's temptation of Jesus in the desert as trying to get Jesus to buy into a lie that Jesus wasn't good enough or loveable enough, so that he can then apply that to all of his readers, encouraging them that they're already good enough how they are and perfectly loveable. This seems at odds both with the Biblical account of that event (wherein Satan tempted Jesus with the very same pursuit of self-fulfillment and prosperity that Scazzero advocates in this book, trying like Scazzero to lure Jesus away from His redemptive purpose of selfless sacrifice for the lost), and with the rest of that same chapter that tells you to pursue change in your life by listening more to your emotions and shedding off any responsibilities that you don't enjoy (since if they were God's will for you, they'd be enjoyable, so if they're not enjoyable, they're not God's will for you).

He then goes on to advise that you ignore anyone who doesn't agree with your pursuit of enjoyment and self-realization (especially if they're your family), stating that it's necessary that you outgrow those dissenters by way of a process he grabs from pop psychology, unable to find it anywhere in Scripture:

"Murray Bowen, the originator of the term differentiation, emphasizes that in families there is a powerful opposition when one member of that system matures and increases his or her level of differentiation. He argues that even a little growth can cause a reaction in those closest to him or her. In the same way, I have seen repeatedly that when anyone makes a change in themselves (becoming their true self in Christ), a few people around them often get upset. Bowen describes the opposition in three stages: Stage One: “You are wrong for changing and here are the reasons why.” Stage Two: “Change back and we will accept you again.” Stage Three: “If you don’t change back, these are the consequences” (which are then listed).21 At each season of our journey with Christ, whenever Geri and I have taken steps to more clearly define who we are and who we are not in Christ, there has always been a consequence. It will happen with you too. But keep making changes. Be willing to tolerate the discomfort necessary for growth. Pray for the Holy Spirit’s power to continue. You are doing something that has never been done before in your history!"

Finally, most of the way through that chapter, he makes his way at last to reference the Bible a second time (after many appeals to secular psychologists and Jewish rabbis)....but only to take an entire chapter out of context in a way that would make the most chintzy of Philippians 4:13 football jerseys look like sound exegesis:

"Hebrews 11 tells us that some people conquered kingdoms. Others were sawed in two for their faith. Only God knows your future. Yet you can be sure of one thing: your life, like [Chuck] Yeager’s airplane, will shake in the process of you maturing into the person God intends."

Hebrews 11 is a chapter recounting how salvation came to all of the Jewish patriarchs not by their own works, nor by anything within themselves, but by the work of God (who then gave them the faith in God alone to act in obedience to God, even when that required self-sacrifice).

Scazzero instead frames it as "if people tell you no, don't listen to them! After all, Moses and Abraham and Rehab didn't listen to the haters either!"

And that's really a succinct summary of the book: the gospel it preaches is one of following your dreams and your feelings above all else, and salvation through ignoring anyone or anything that would have you do something you don't enjoy. There are no "one-another" commands here aside from "affirm one another's feelings", much to the apostle Paul's chagrin; rather, you shouldn't get too attached to anyone outside yourself, except to agree with them when they tell you "you're doing everything right, keep going!"

Scazzero, like Osteen before him, swaps heaven for happiness, and the cross for "centering" on oneself, and along the way maps out -- and then sells workbooks, DVDs, and speaking gigs for -- a path to that promises you'll gain the whole world, and trains you on how to silence any concerns about losing your soul.