Book Review #2

I’ve finished my third book of the year already. You may have noticed that this is only the 2nd book review, and to that I would say… uh… yeah, so.

Actually I’ll probably only write reviews for the books that I feel have some sort of value to people who would read this blog. Doesn’t everyone read books that are guilty pleasure books? It’s like watching VH1 Celebreality shows. You love doing it, you’ll set your DVR to make sure you don’t miss them, but there’s no way you would want other people knowing you’re doing it. Yeah… those books I won’t be reviewing here.

Ok… now onto Soul Cravings by Erwin McManus.

I picked this up when I was in Fort Wayne last October. I have heard him speak at a few conferences and really enjoyed what he’s had to say. He’s always been very insightful in ways that are uncommon for the “mega-church” scene. Because of those conferences I make it a point to try and check out what he’s writing about. I have enjoyed his books written to church leaders but have not really enjoyed the things that he has written for “everyone” (ie. Uprising & The Barbarian Way), but I still wanted to give this one a chance.

McManus wrote this book in a very different way. The basic concept is that each of us has similar soul cravings that cry out to be fulfilled. So McManus broke the book into 3 different categories; Intimacy, Destiny & Meaning. He then wrote about 20 “journal entries” for each topic that basically build off each other.

I read through this book with my buddy Nate and we decided to read through the first 7 entries of the Intimacy section and I must admit that I was real disappointed with what was there. It was really light and fluffy, not really saying a whole lot. We decided that since we both paid good money for the book we were going to read it anyway, so we decided to try and finish the section for the next time we met. That’s when I realized that the sections build from “light” to “heavy”. Essentially McManus takes you on a conversational journey in each of the 3 areas that goes from a very basic understanding of the idea and walks with you to the depths of your soul’s cravings.

McManus is a master of pop culture references. I would guess that no less than 20 movies were referenced as well as 20 pop songs or bands. In the Destiny section he explores other religions and to be honest pretty much blows them up. Throughout the book he weves personal stories that illustrate what he’s trying to say, even though at times they seem to extend the journey.

This book succeeds where McManus’ other books have failed in this. I truly believe this book could be read by anyone and be provoked to examine their lives. Obviously the person would need to be open to this idea, but I think that someone who is just trying to figure out what’s going on in the world around them and someone who has been following Jesus for decades could read through this book and gain insight. Not only would they gain insight, but I think there would be movement on their spiritual journey as well. The book ends with a “Seek” section that pretty much talks about what it means to respond to these soul cravings we all experience. Here McManus basically walks us through his journey and then invites others along.

I was more than pleasently suprised by how much I like this book and how much I got out of it personally. If you’re looking for an “easy-ish” read that could push you along on your spiritual journey I would highly recomend reading this (especially with a friend).

So… I’m guess that means this book would get my Sikora Seal of Approval.