The Search is Over

Joseph Loconte's book The Searchers is not a theological examination of Luke's account of the disciples on the road to Emmaus.  If that type of book is what you want, continue your search.

Quite frankly, when I started reading his book, I skipped the introduction to save time -- something I never do.  Loconte frustrated me by not delving more into an exegetical understanding of the passage.  It was only after completing the read that I perused the introduction and he captured me.  On page xx of the introduction, he shares his personal journey along his "Emmaus road" when he was there as his mom was diagnosed, fought, and succumbed to cancer.  Why did he capture me?  Simply, my own search has begun due to my mom being diagnosed with cancer and she is in the fight for her life.  With this unorthodox read of the book, I get it -- completely.

Loconte does not offer an exegetical analysis because he is not a trained theologian (yet, he reveals his angst in multiple places for Calvinistic beliefs).  He is a history professor - a man after my own heart - that opens up this story in a unique manner.  Clearly, Loconte is well-read and knowledgeable as he cites numerous historical works, movies, modern literature, and mythology to more fully develop the components of the story.  The end result is a refreshing read with some solid thoughts along this road.  My fear rests in a simple statement -- if God's Word is authoritative enough for us to entrust our eternal destiny, then we should be cautious in works about Scripture that do not study Scripture.

His struggle with his mother has certainly helped me as I try to make sense of what is happening with my mother; however, I do have a slight criticism.  My main critique is the somewhat open-ended conclusions at each chapter.  Some of the more modern works used to further his explanation dove-tailed nicely with his analysis of the road to Emmaus story, but others certainly did not.  Chapter 4 - The End of Illusions - is the one that stands out to me as needing a much better tie in to the Emmaus road story. 

At times, he skates on the thin ice of elevating God's love over His righteousness, which some may interpret as a relativistic bent of faith.  I do not perceive it that way and hope that the author was not suggesting a sacrifice of God's truth for man's gain.

A worthy read?  Yes.  Page 177 provides an absolutely delightful and pleasing summary to his entire work.  In less than 3 paragraphs, he draws it all together for you and I as searchers on our own personal roads to Emmaus.  If we look and listen, it may be that we find Jesus right there with us through His Word.  He may be there for purposes of comfort, revitalization, and commission.  The key is to never stop searching.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Tender Warrior but A Real Man

I had not heard of this book until I read Eric Blehm's Fearless which details the life of Adam Brown -- a Navy Seal who gave his life to Christ and, ultimately, gave up his life for the cause of freedom.  In that book, Adam mentions the book Tender Warrior; so when given the chance to read and review Stu Weber's classic work, I jumped on it.  If that Adam Brown, who was a rugged and inspirational soldier, could speak so highly of it, then I just had to explore its thoughts as well.

Normally, when I blog for books, I read through books quickly, underline them, and then blog about them.  For this book, however, I took a different approach.  I slowed down, read it thoroughly one chapter a day, answered all of the study questions, pondered its thoughts, studied other parts of Scripture, and gleaned as much as possible from this first read.

Weber challenges the cultural norms of manhood and says that real men follow the pattern revealed in Scripture.  When men are no longer godly men, the entire culture suffers.  In Scripture, the man is to lead the home but that does not elevate  him above a woman.  Weber says it well:  "function does not equate value."  Men are to head themselves first before they can ever expect to lead in the home.  Therein, though, lies the problem with our culture -- men have stopped leading themselves.  When a man acts like an adolescent, then why would a woman want to follow his leadership?  They would not.

Again, the Biblical version of manhood is not a tyrant but one that exudes a Christlike existence.  Lest we gloss over that fact, let's dig just a little and truly challenge your ideal of a man.  Jesus did the following:  lived a perfect life, loved others without a returned love, stood for the truth by rebuking error, acted sympathetically to those in need, poured His life into a small group, and surrendered His life to gain His bride (the church which consists of you and I).  As a man, do you live that way?  No, I don't either.  The power of this book is the Weber hammers away at you through the example of Christ and others in the Bible.

Simply, this book should be required reading for any man going through counseling in preparation for marriage.  It provides cogent insight for being a husband and a father.  Yet, the application does much deeper.  My son, when he becomes a teenager, will be given a copy of this book; and we will do a father/son book study to prepare him for the role that he will need to fulfill in God's world.

Men, get it and read it.  What a tremendous Father's Day present this would be to yourself!

 

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.  For additional details, please visit http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/bloggingforbooks.  I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 25:  “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.