Nice Book

As an ADD subscriber I find it difficult to finish books that aren't spellbinding, can't put them down, such as Tom Clancy or Robert Ludlam put out. Often I read them all the way through but it may be chapters at a time over a long period. And it often involves rereading. But there are a number of books that have directed me in my thinking. Those by Tom Peters, David Allen, John McArthur, Robert Schuler, Dave Ramsey, and others.

One book that really set me thinking, partly because it confirmed some thoughts and because it provided others, is The Secret Message of Jesus by Brian Mclaren. Read it for yourself to see what he really thought.

Christianity is a mix of some 30,000 denominations, cults, groups, congregations, fellowships, and organizations. From figures I have read, about 1/2 of the membership is Roman or Orthodox Catholic. The rest are Protestant. There are varying degrees of agreement on issues. Even what should be "basic" is disputed. But anyone calling themselves "Christian" sees Jesus of Nazareth as a central character - most considering him of divine origin - and his teachings as life guiding all the way through to salvation.

In determining the message of Jesus one should look at what he said and did. The more he said or did it, the more weight one would have to place on how important he thought it was. And yet much of the fighting and disagreement we see among his followers relates to issues he dealt with seldom or not at all.

I'll spoil the surprise ending. The message of Christ is not really secret, just well distorted. It is actually quite plain. People just have a knack for hiding the obvious in plain sight and then forgetting where it is.