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According to Barna in Revolution, a new group of Revolutionaries is changing the landscape of Christianity in America. "They are not willing to play religious games and aren't interested in being part of a religious community that is not intentionally and aggressively advancing God's Kingdom." This group is faithfully serving God, but many of them are giving up on congregational expressions of church.

Barna describes the trend and its implications. This book is excellent for leaders in traditional churches who are trying to figure out why the old model seems to be losing effectiveness. It's also helpful for those whose initial reaction is to chide this group as being unfaithful. Every church and seminary leader needs to recognize and understand the trends outlined in this book. Barna includes some suggestions on how a local church can appropriately respond to the Revolution.

It's also useful in thinking about fresh expressions of Church. One size no longer fits all, if it ever did. Barna is careful to distinguish between the capital C Church (Church universal) and the small c church (its congregational expression). "The Revolution is designed to advance the Church and to redefine the church." The Bible, Barna writes, never describes "church" the way we have configured it. There are other options beside the congregational model. "Now it's virtually impossible to craft a 'typical' spiritual pattern, especially among people under the age of forty."

The real issue for many clergy is that the Revolution is potentially career-threatening. "A declining number of professional clergy will receive a livable salary from their churches...To some, this will sound like the Great Fall of the Church. To Revolutionaries, it will be the Great Reawakening of the Church." It will be disruptive, but Barna hopes it will be "a new day in which the Church can truly be the Church - different from what we know today, but more responsive to and reflective of God."

For many of us, it's not exactly news. If you fall in this category, this book might help you explain what's happening to others. It will especially help those who question the commitment of those who are abandoning the congregational church.

Some small quibbles:

• I wish this book had given more statistical data for what Barna calls the Revolution. No doubt Barna has it; it's almost like a chapter was left out.
• It's sometimes hard to understand what Barna means by a Revolutionary. Although Barna says you can be a Revolutionary and remain within traditional church structures, this isn't always clear in the book.
• Barna doesn't reference a lot of other material out there, such as A Churchless Faith by Alan Jamieson.
• It's predominantly American. I'm from Canada, and I wish he had taken a more global view, since what he's describing is arguably more pronounced here and in Europe.
• Barna also needs to reflect on the dangers of being Revolutionary. One of them is being reactive and dismissing what God may be doing in traditional church structures.

That being said, this book is a good introduction to a growing trend, and comes from a respected voice in American evangelicalism. As Barna says, we don't have to like what's happening, but we can't afford to ignore it.

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I haven't done much with the book section of the website in a while. That's unfortunate, because I love books, and I really do need to keep track of books that have meant a lot to me - and write about the ones that weren't as good as I had hoped.

So, I'm starting a book blog. I'll be updating this section of the site regularly with reviews and notes about books.

One book that has inspired me to feed my appetite for books is Steve Leveen's The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life.

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The cover promises, "Spend just three hours with this Little Guide and add years of fulfillment to your reading life." Well, maybe. This book is a little like a recipe book for food lovers: you may not love food more after reading it, but you will have experienced some joy in the process.

This quote summarizes one of the main messages of the book:

Never force yourself to read a book that you do not enjoy. There are so many good books in the world that it is foolish to waste time on one that does not give you pleasure. (Atwood H. Townsend)

Leveen writes on rediscovering the joy of books, building a list of books you want to read (a List of Candidates), how to read well, when to give up on a book, the joy of writing to authors, sharing books with others, and listening to audio books.

The Little Guide is a short read but a satisfying one if you are a book-lover.