I Want to Believe by Mel Lawrenz
Thanks to the author, Dr. Mel Lawrenz, for the review copy of I Want To Believe!
The scoop on the book from Amazon:
Product Details
- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Regal Books (January 2, 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0830744525
- ISBN-13: 978-0830744527
- Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1 inches
About the Author
MEL LAWRENZ (M. Div., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Ph.D., historical theology, Marquette University) has been a pastor at Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin for the past twenty-five years and is currently the senior pastor, succeeding Stuart Briscoe. Mel has a passion for the ministry of the Word in writing for effective outreach both nationally and internationally, is author or coauthor of seven books and has been developing a multidimensional media ministry network, which includes his radio interview program, Faith Conversations, through which he has had contact with many well-known Christian authors today.
If you want to get this book to use in a discussion group, there is a discussion guide available for download.
This book is reminiscent of Ravi Zacharias’s Jesus Among the Other gods – but just reminiscent. Dr. Zacharias’s goal was to tell us about other religions and how Jesus as the Savior provided a difference in stark comparison. In I Want to Believe, Dr. Lawrenz touches on other religions in some chapters, but not in great detail. That touch is cursory and perhaps enough if the goal is to know Jesus and not understand in detail how He is different. That Jesus is necessary is clear.
The fifteen chapters in this small book do examine some world religions, but mainly the book addresses why we should believe in Jesus. Specific topics range from human longing to believe to doubt to how we know for certain that belief is real.
I Want to Believe is very conversational and begins with reasons why people seek God and ends with the plan of salvation clearly laid out. That the plan of salvation runs through the book and is explicit in places is this book’s major strength. Lawrenz makes good use of Scripture and anecdotes. The anecdotes are at least an enjoyable part of the book. Jesus, Paul, C.S. Lewis, Polycarp and Johnny Cash are among the many, many central to each chapter. Some stories I’d heard and some I’d not.
I wanted to like this book because of it’s emphasis, but I found it too busy with too many detours and too many stories. I kept wanting Lawrenz to clearly lay out what he had to say. I wanted it to be deeper than one anecdote after another. I can recommend this work because it is sound theologically even if too wordy and slow to get to the point.
I, too, received a copy of this book. I read the first few pages to get a feel of it, but never finished the opening story. From your review it sounds like this will be a recurring theme!
Jason
Well, that was certainly a recurring theme for me! This sized book should have been read in an afternoon – two at the most. Took me weeks!
If I hadn’t been reading it for review, I probably wouldn’t have finished it.
Huh? It’s on my pile to read for review, too. Thanks for the heads up.
I weary of books that illustrate too much–I hope that’s not the case! I am curious about your statement about the book being “very controversial”–how so?
Jason, I had to go back and read the post again because I didn’t remember saying that. Sure enough I said it was “very conversational” – not controversial. The author is chatty Cathy!
Peter, I’m not sure knowing in advance is going to help you get through it any better