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Reallivepreacher.com by Gordon Atkinson
165 pages :: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (October 2004)
Growing up in the holiness tradition and a good Free Methodist household, I was taught from a young age that people of God “don’t smoke, chew, or go with girls who do.” Along with that almost everything else that was fun was banned, especially alcohol, smoking, dancing and shopping on Sundays (just dry goods of course as going to a restaurant after church was perfectly fine). It gave me a framework for how God fearing folks should behave and that was legalistic.
A lot has changed since those days of growing up in Canada’s Bible belt, including my theology of holiness. That change was reinforced while reading Gordon Atkinson’s book, Reallivepreacher.com. For those of you who have been hiding under a rock and haven’t heard of Atkinson’s weblog, Real Live Preacher, this book both uses previously published materials from it and some original essays just for the book.
The essays vary in length and are written from the perspective of Atkinson as he looks at life, church, and faith from his perspective as the pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in San Antonio. The same things that drew me to the book are the same that draws thousands to his weblog, his writing, authenticity, and ability to tell a story.
So many of the books that I and others have reviewed for TheOoze.com and other websites are looks at the church from the perspective of an observer. Here is what is right, here is what is wrong and this is what we need to do to fix it. Atkinson (or Preacher as he is known on his blog) gives a compelling vision of what the church can be by telling his stories as a pastor and the stories of people in his church. Stories that make you laugh, stories that make you weep, stories of hope, and even some of sorrow. His decision to include all of them in there give credibility to the others. It also reminds me of my church, my life, my own hopes, and failings. After a while it feels that not only is he telling his stories but mine as well which is one of the reasons that I love to read the book over and over again.
He also remind my Free Methodist past that people of God can and do swear once a while (even in print) and that we will be known by our love. If the essays of Reallivepreacher.com are anything, they are stories of love and grace in action, not just theory. Maybe that is why I love the book so much, it is proof that at least some of us can actually live what sites like TheOoze.com and others have been talking about. In that I find a lot of hope.
Unlike most books, you can try the writings of Gordon Atkinson out before you purchase the book at www.reallivepreacher.com. If you like the weblog, you will love the book.
Purchase Reallivepreacher.com
Jordon Cooper is a founding member of Resonate and publishes jordoncooper.com. He lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and is married to Wendy. He is a part of the alternative worship community called the Worship Freehouse.
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You say that people of God can and do swear even in print. Well, no not everyone. And perosnally I believe anything in print that is a swear word can be replace with other words.
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You say that people of God can and do swear even in print. Well, no not everyone. And perosnally I believe anything in print that is a swear word can be replace with other words. Posted by 4WheelDrive | Posted at 06/08/2006 7:06 PM