I Don't Like Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

I've been getting into a lot more reading nowadays than I have been in the past couple of years. And while I'm ahead, I'm trying to read through books one at a time, in the order that I receive them. It sounds like a small nit-picky thing, and it kinda is, but I want to hold out on some semblance of structure for this quasi-leisure activity as long as I can.

Before I left Kansas, a good friend gave me the book "Decisions, Decisions, Decisions: Facing Crossroads" by O.D. (eye doctor slang for "Mr.") Phillip Adams. I've read some good books in my time, and this book... was not one of them. It did, however, lead to some constructive thought which I'll try to explain further down.

However let me first rant about the things that bugged me. It'll make me feel better. There were two big things that bugged me about the book.

Primarily, and most obviously, the writing style was pretty poor. I will admit that I was given a fair warning beforehand about it, and the warning proved reliable even in the first few pages of the book. The good doctor is much better at rambling than at writing. It's definitely hard sometimes to follow authors when they try to explain complicated concepts, but this guy was all over the place. I could go into detail (I actually did, but deleted it on review), but since he's an optical doctor and not a literature doctor, I'll cut it short. I will say that I finally figured out what the book was about on page 129. It was about motivating Christians to run hard after Christ. Go figure. 

I don't think it was just the literary shortcomings that prevented me from grasping the book's thesis, though. The doctor and I also have some theological differences, which made it pretty hard to translate at times. I wish Christians (specifically me) weren't hindered by how other Christians understand God, but then again we are all quite incapable of understanding a limitless God with our limited minds. Unfortunately for me, I get pretty passionate about my perceptions of God's sovereignty as well as His grace. O.D. Adams talks about 'kairos moments', which represents points of time where we turn closer or further away from God. At first, I thought he was doing a pretty good job of trying to explain God's omniscience in light of free will, but the more he talked about 'kairos moments,' the more convoluted (if not contradictory) the concept became, and the more frustrated I got. I also had a really hard time understanding that telling one or two lies doesn't make one a 'liar' (I can see it now..."But your honor, I only stole a car once! I don't normally do that--I'm not a thief!").

I'll also say I found the last chapter to be a bit...unusual. This chapter was subtitled "The Post Rapture Chapter," with the target audience being the unfortunate 'left behind' humans made commonly known from the Tim LaHaye novels (see Premillennialism). My thoughts on this: I don't believe in the 'final judgement' being two final judgements, but if I did, I could think of better books the 'left behind' should bother themselves with instead of this one. The first would most certainly be a Bible. The second should probably be a wilderness survival guide... or maybe they should just skip that one too and be the first to break into their conservative Christian neighbor's house and raid the gun closet.

Okay, I had more negative stuff to say, but I don't think it would do any good. I'm not here to totally destroy this guy's effort. As I said earlier, the point of the book was to turn the eyes of Christians evermore to God. And that, by far, is an awesome goal (I'll even encourage Dr. Adams to write another book about it, seriously). I just disagree with the motivation. What I did agree with (and definitely like) about the book was his ninth chapter, "The Rewards." Regardless of our crude concepts about the totality of God, I think we can agree that a relationship with the God of everything is possible, and absolutely the best thing ever. Nothing compares with understanding that there is a God, that He is good and just, that He wants you to know who He is, and that He loves you so much He would die for you (He did). Sometimes (as in daily, if not hourly), us Christians take that for granted. I'm sure if we didn't, we'd all act a heck of a lot more like Jesus. But we get so self-absorbed, we don't always get it--and still God pursues us, like a man pursues the one he loves. No words, no matter how skillful, could capture the 'amazing-ness' of this reality.

As for Dr. Adams, I may not like his book, but I like his earnest passion for God, and I can definitely be encouraged by that.