I wrote a review this weekend of Brian McLaren’s book, The Last Word, and the Word After That. You’ll be able to see the whole review in the May/June issue of Modern Reformation, but here are a couple of paragraphs from it.

Finally, it should be noted that The Last Word is conspicuously lacking in any emphasis on, or practically any mention of, the cross of Christ. Perhaps that is unintentional, but whatever the case, it is at least strange that a book which focuses so intently on hell should so assiduously avoid discussion of the means God has given for avoiding it. Maybe the explanation for all this lies in the fact that McLaren’s gospel is so socially oriented, so focused on the present, that it has no obvious place for concepts like atonement, substitution, propitiation, or eschatological salvation. Yet those are the ideas which lie at the very heart of the cross’s meaning. It is therefore not surprising that a gospel which downplays those concepts will also wind up downplaying the cross. Ultimately, McLaren is so careful to avoid the uncomfortable “legal” language of evangelical Christianity, and so intent on making the gospel a matter of the here-and-now rather than the there-and-then, that he ends up leaving the cross itself with nothing better than a tenuous foothold in the Christian gospel.

McLaren set out with his “New Kind of Christian” trilogy to rescue the Gospel from irrelevance. By approaching Scripture from a decidedly this-worldly perspective, by revisiting the teachings of Jesus with postmodern sensibilities, and by stating the gospel in terms of social justice, he hoped to make the Christian faith attractive to a new generation. In the process, however, what McLaren has finally presented is a gospel so nearly emptied of eternity, so tethered to the here-and-now, that it really has no ability at all to offer a full and lasting hope. After all, as Paul wrote, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.”

Brad T. helpfully pointed out I directed everyone to Amazon instead of Common Grounds for my review of Holding Hands, Holding Hearts. Let me try again, here it is . . .

Today at Common Grounds Online, I review Holding Hands, Holding Hearts, a book on dating by Rick and Sharon Phillips. Previously, they led the singles ministry at Tenth Pres. As I mention in the review, I like the book. A few weeks ago, Greg and I talked about dating at Third and I thought much of what we discussed is brought out in this book.