Every Sunday at Redeemer I recommend a book that is somehow related to our theme and sermon that week. This Sunday I’m preaching on the Goodness of God, and am recommending Christian George’s Godology: Because Knowing God Changes Everything. I was introduced to George’s writing last year when a copy of Sex, Sushi, and Salvation crossed my desk. That was a good read and showed George’s ability to interact with Christian theology, history, pop culture and life in a fun and profitable way. He does it again with Godology.

Godology is George’s “dive into the mysteries of God” focusing on Theology Proper and the gospel. He covers subjects like God’s Power, God’s Holiness, and God’s Patience, but the titles of the chapters that cover these topics (Jesus Ninja, Chocolate for the Soul, and Cardboard Crosses) reveal that George will be talking about things in non-traditional ways. Don’t let the non-traditional expressions lead you to assume that this book light on content, thoughtfulness or good theology. In fact it’s a solid, experiential and practical book covering foundational Christian theology. “Since Christianity is an upward, inward and outward faith, each chapter of this book explores a facet about God, a spiritual discipline, and a practical expression of that truth.” (p. 15)

This is a book that should prove refreshing for those who have read a lot of theology, and encouraging to the uninitiated who might mistakenly think of theology as purely academic, theoretical, and disconnected from real Christian experience. George writes in a way that leads you to reflect seriously about God and life, and often leaves you smiling. Godology manages to be fun to read without being superficial.

When writing on the love of God (Ch. 6 Rhapsody in Red) George writes,

God does not only have love; He does not only demonstrate love. He is love. It’s not just in his bloodstream; it’s in His being. Love is God’s active ingredient. Always has been, always will be. Before humans existed, the love of God burned within the society of the Trinity. It was self-contained and self-satisfying. But then God’s love outwardly exploded. He aimed his affection at His creation. The more He made, the more He loved. And the crazy part about it, the mind-blowing part, is that God loved His creatures unconditionally.

In speaking about the discipline of obedience in the chapter on God’s Power (Ch. 2 Jesus Ninja), George writes,

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who live outside-in and those who live inside-out. The outside-in folks allow the world to saturate their thinking. They are sponges, absorbing the agendas of this world without a filter. Like the Roman Empire, they are destroyed from within. in contrast, those who live inside-out change the world with what’s inside them… It’s the difference bewteen a black hole and a burning star. It’s more beautiful to explode in light than implode in darkness. And we all know that there are enough black holes in this world already.” (p. 33)

Mix up your reading by picking up Godology: Because Knowing God Changes Everything. Chances are, you don’t get enough of this in your spiritual diet.

Came across this in our local paper.

American spirituality has glorified ‘searching’ for spiritual meaning but de-emphasized ‘finding.’ In other words, it is good to be looking for spirituality, but it is intolerant to actually believe you have found a right faith.
- Ed Stetzer, quoted in Kane County Chronicle