Finished Reading “Heretics”

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  "G. K. Chesterton, the "Prince of Paradox," is at his witty best in this collection of twenty essays and articles from the turn of the twentieth century. Focusing on  "heretics" - those who pride themselves on their superiority to Christian views - Chesterton appraises prominent figures who fall into that category from the literary and art worlds... those who hold incomplete and inadequate views about "life, the universe, and everything." He is, in short, criticizing all that host of non-Christian views of reality, as he demonstrated in his follow-up book Orthodoxy. The book is both an easy read and a difficult read. But he manages to demonstrate, among other things, that our new 21st century heresies are really not new because he himself deals with most of them." (Goodreads)

Book Review: "INsourcing" by Randy Pope

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Randy Pope states the focus of his book is to share lessons learned that changed the ministry of his church (Introduction, page 16). Pope spends the twelve chapters and four appendices (with notes) introducing and developing a hybrid-model of church that addresses the individual, providing context and elements for necessary equipping and maturity to express and apply the gospel globally. 

Pope communicates a person-centered approach to being and doing church with no discussion or explanation of what constitutes the foundation of the church (for example 1 Corinthians 3:10 is offered with no explanation or teaching) nor does he point to the head of the church, who is Christ. The purpose of the church is mentioned only in passing in preference for assuming a different purpose, which becomes an elusive target to be discovered the developed by experience. Once identified, business and marketing strategy integrated with theology becomes the modus operandi.


While it is clear this book is for a Christian audience, one can easily misunderstand and subsequently misapply the minimized doctrine, which leads to misdirection and misrepresentation.

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