missional God,
missional Church:
Hope for re-evangelizing
the west
author: ross
Hastings
InterVarsity, 2012.
346 pages. $25.99
This book by Re- gent College’s associate pro-
fessor of pastoral theology is a
clarion call for churches to re-
discover their missional identity
in the missional God. Hastings
writes compellingly and pas-
sionately, engaging the reader
with the concept of mission as
“participation of the church and
its members in the missional
God.”
Complementing the work
of other missiologists, Hast-
ings presents a Trinitarian
theology of the Church and its
mission that is both deep and
wide. Such an approach allows
for “openness to the world and
integrity of the church, cultural
relevance and confessional
rootedness in the grand narra-
tive of the Christian tradition
and historic orthodoxy, open-
ness to the surprising new
works of the Spirit and a cath-
olicity that reflects the depth
of a liturgical and sacramental
tradition.”
The burden of Missional
God, Missional Church is an
incisive exposition of John
20: 19-23, which depicts the
factors that transformed the
early Church. Hastings focus-
es on the Church discovering
and disseminating shalom.
He offers a fivefold perspec-
tive on how to break the fear
and despair surrounding mis-
sion and bring shalom to the
senders and the sent – the
presence and influence of the
risen Jesus, the redemptive na-
ture of the once-crucified One,
the Trinitarian and participa-
tory nature of the
commission, the
impartation of
the Spirit, and the
privileged task of
pronouncing for-
giveness.
Hastings is full
of “hope for re-
evangelizing the
West.” Indeed, he says, the
Church’s “deep and wide mis-
sional identity is the only hope.”
Missional God, Missional
Church will resonate with all
those who care about the role
and mission of the Church in
the 21st century.
–Burton K. Janes
The Good Girl’s
Guide to Great
Sex (and you
Thought bad
Girls Have
all the Fun)
author: Sheila
wray Gregoire
Zondervan, 2012.
224 pages. $16.49
It was awkward when my 12-year-old son discovered The Good Girl’s
Guide to Great Sex on my bedside table – and asked me why
I was reading it. But I recovered
quickly and told him I was reviewing it for Faith Today, and
that it was mostly aimed at unmarried young women. That
solved an uncomfortable moment, but it’s not quite true.
Sheila Wray Gregoire’s
latest boundary-busting book
can inform, equip, and shatter stereotypes for a woman
of any age and length of marriage. And I dare say there’s a
lot here for a man to learn too.
Gregoire, a prolific Christian author and speaker based
in Belleville, Ont., spends just
the right amount of time unpacking the term “good girl.”
There’s no assumption here all
“good girls” have always been
that way, but lots of straight
talk about how life – and sex
– get better, faster, if married
couples don’t have a lot of baggage they are piling onto the
foot of their bed.
Gregoire reclaims the word
“fun” for sex between husband
and wife, and one of the great
strengths of this book (besides
all the clear information about
topics like oral sex, anatomy,
sex toys, porn, orgasms and
boundaries) is Gregoire’s
shame-free perspective on
making love with your spouse.
With chapter titles like
“From Fizzle to Sizzle for Her,”
Gregoire gives advice and direction as if talking to
her slightly younger best friend, and
the entire book
gives permission to
Christian women
to relax, loosen
up and enjoy the
amazing possibilities of a healthy
– and fun! – sex life with your
husband. –Karen Stiller
alert to Glory
author: Sally Ito
Turnstone Press, 2011.
92 pages. $17
The title of this poetry collection says much about the way Sally Ito
looks at the world. She is Alert
to Glory, alert to the way God
shows Himself in our world.
She sees Him in the sparrows
on her back fence that “bear
the burden / of the cold, light
as the cross / of their hollow
bones.” She sees His handi-
work in the clouds: “Who
knew the sky
contained so
much of Him?”
Hers is an in-
carnational ap-
proach to faith
– an approach
Luci Shaw once
explained by
saying: “I am
learning to recognize pointers to
transcendent realities in almost
anything I see.” (Shaw, born in
1928, is a well-known writer-in-
residence at Regent College.)
