Phillip Yancey and Discernment

I am (or was) a big fan of Phillip Yancey, but after reading a review on each of a couple of his books ("What's So Amazing About Grace" and "The Christ I Never Knew") on 9 Marks ministry website. I have to agree with the reviews, remembering the nags in my head about some of what I was reading at the time. In fact, I liked reading "What's So Amazing About Grace", and was going to re-read it because I but felt it was largely unresolved in what Yancey was trying to achieve. Now, I am thinking that my discernment button is broken, under-exercised or maybe even untrustworthy. Grrrr... I know I am not suppose to figure it all out, being part of the journey... I just wish I knew what I was doing once in a while.



I am currently reading Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz. It has a lot of nuggets (things to think about). I especially like the repeated thoughts concerning the some of the more 'got it together' (I know - a subjective term) Christians who act like they talk to God everyday and in fact, sounded (confident in their understanding) like they just got off the phone with Him.



In an email conversation with a friend, he writes I have a few of Yancy's books but I've never been a "fan", because 1) he is definitely Arminian [or Pelagian!] but in my mind in a disconcerting way that fails to wrestle through the issues, such as the one book he did on suffering, where he really failed to address the issues of Job's suffering from a robust theological interaction [which some Arminians do try to do & I respect even if I disagree], 2) he seems to mostly tell stories & often argues from them instead of any exegesis of biblical texts [the case of the homosexual friend comes to mind (Amazing Grace?), although its been a long time since I read that book too] 3) in kindness I'd say, he doesn't seem "for me anyway" to come across with anything profound, not that everything has to be profound, but like many "popular writers" at this point in my Christian walk, too much of it comes across as "fluff". I read a couple of Lucado's books & frankly I wasn't impressed. Consequently I've steered clear of a lot of the popular guys although I read & enjoy much of what MacArthur writes. I also appreciate Colson's Breakpoint not so much for his theology but for keeping me aware of current events touching on church & theolgoical issues. We are defintely working with a "Christianity for Dummies" version in a lot that is written today tragically.



The "Dummie" books can be quite comphrehensive, at least the two I have (one is on Diabete II)... Maybe it is time for a Dummie like book on Arminianism and Reformed thinking or on Worldviews and how they seem to affect theology for the bad.