Thursday, August 25, 2011

Dug Down Deep

Author:  Joshua Harris
My recommended age: 12+
Their recommended age: NA
Publisher:  Multnomah Press
Number of pages: 288

Publisher’s description:
Dug Down Deep is systematic theology like you’ve never seen it before. Readable. Relevant. Powerful. As best-selling author Joshua Harris shares his own journey from apathetic church-kid to student with a burning passion to truly know God, you’ll be challenged to dig deep into the truths of God’s word.

With humor, conviction and compelling insight
Dug Down Deep covers the basics of faith—God, scripture, Jesus, the cross, salvation, sanctification, the Holy Spirit and the church. Don’t settle for superficial faith, dig deep.
  

"I can probably count on one hand, the number of books of which I've read every word from cover to cover in one sitting. Dug Down Deep is one of them.” – Adam Young (Owl City)

"If you're looking for ‘that one book’ that will push you farther down the road to faith than you've ever journeyed before, Dug Down Deep is it. I highly recommend it!" —Joni Eareckson Tada"
My thoughts:
·         Characters:  No real Characters to talk about.
·         Plot:  The plot....well...it really hasn't got a true plot.
·         Writing:  MAGNIFICENT!  Mr. Harris is a gifted writer who couldn't write a boring book if he really wanted to, I think. 
·         Cover:  Rock...see?  It is rock!
·         Ending:  By this time, I had gained so much knowledge!  It (meaning the book) was amazing!
·         World building: Not really anything here.


Cons:
 To some ages, Harris' blunt, but truthful and needed, way of putting things could be a little to old for them.  12 and up should be fine, though.
Pros:
Life changing.
Engaging stories to keep you going.
Real life accounts.
Laughable seconds, then solemn moments.
And a funny cartoon about you and your fleshly desires!
Language:
None.
Romance and sexual content:
Joshua Harris is unique in the way that he puts such things as they are.  No covering up, no skirting the issue, sex is a real life thing, and can be a sin.  I thus, do not recommend it for readers who haven't yet 'learned' as the double edged gift and possible sin.  It isn't descriptive, but Harris doesn't shirk either.
Violence:
None.
 Drugs and drink:
It talks about the Amish Rumspringa. 
Random Preview:
But as I watched, I wondered, What are they really going back to? Are they choosing God or just a safe and simple way of life?-
I know what it means to wrestle with questions of faith. I know what it's like for faith to be so mixed up with family tradition that it's hard to distinguish between a genuine knowledge of God and comfort in a familiar way of life.
 
I grew up in an evangelical Christian family. One that was on the more conservative end of the spectrum. I'm the oldest of seven children. Our parents homeschooled us, raised us without television, and believed that oldfashioned courtship was better than modern dating. Friends in our neighborhood probably thought our family was Amish, but that's only because they didn't know some of the really conservative Christian homeschool families. The truth was that our family was more culturally liberal than many homeschoolers. We watched movies, could listen to rock music (as long as it was Christian or the Beatles), and were allowed to have Star Wars and Transformers toys.

But even so, during high school I bucked my parents' restrictions. That's not to say my spiritual waywardness was very shocking. I doubt Amish kids would be impressed by my teenage dabbling in worldly pleasure. I never did drugs. Never got drunk. The worst things I ever did were to steal porn magazines, sneak out of the house at night with a kid from church, and date various girls behind my parents' backs. Although my rebellion was tame in comparison, it was never virtue that held me back from sin. It was lack of opportunity. I shudder to think what I would have done with a parent-sanctioned
season of rumspringa.

The bottom line is that my parents' faith wasn't really my faith. I knew how to work the system, I knew the Christian lingo, but my heart wasn't in it. My heart was set on enjoying the moment.

Recently a friend of mine met someone who knew me in early high school. "What did she remember about me?" I asked.

"She said you were girl crazy, full of yourself, and immature," my friend told me.
 Yeah, she knew me, I thought. It wasn't nice to hear, but I couldn't argue. I didn't know or fear God. I didn't have any driving desire to know him.

For me, the Christian faith was more about a set of moral standards than belief and trust in Jesus Christ.
Ratings:
I am a Harris fan.  I love the truth he gives and translates.  I give this book an avid

*DISCLAIMER* I recieved this book for free to review from Waterbrook Multnolmah Books. All opinions are my own. 


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