Sub-Par Reviews: Ten Dumbest Things Christians Do

In what I hope to be the first of many reviews on all forms of media. I'll be looking at the book I just finished a month ago. Why do I call this "Sub-Par Reviews"? Well, you'll just have to read it to figure that out. Take the leap to read my review of Mark Atteberry's book.

I loaned my copy of the book out a few days ago, so I have nothing that I can reference with. Except, my mind. What I do remember of the book is that it seemed to say, "Maybe I'm proof-texting, maybe I'm speaking too much from experience, but you're being stupid. Stop it." 10DTCD is a book that seems to be focused at the laity as well as the ministry staff of churches. It lays the conviction on pretty thick at times by pointing out pretty easy to understand shortcomings of the Bride of Christ in America in the last 20, or so, years.

For instance the first big finger wag belongs to us slinging mud on the Bride of Christ. Talking bad about the body of believers. Tearing down the Universal Church before people ever even get a chance to meet the local church. Seems simple enough right. Well, Mark had some alliteration that helped you remember the big ideas from the chapter. In fact, alliteration is all over this book. Sometimes, it seems unnecessary and forced.

The book continues with winners like "Speaking above the level of your knowledge" and "Winning people to the Church instead of Christ." There are other quite good chapters like, "Allowing the wolves to live amongst the sheep" and "Accepting the Unacceptable" which really get confrontational. The book does make you check yourself. It's a pretty good mirror to see if you're making any of the mistakes. I saw myself in the mirror a few times.

There's a study guide at the back with about three questions for each chapter. Sometimes the questions are directly pulled from the chapter and sometimes they are kind of a stretch.


Final Thought:______________________________________________

All in all, I give the book 4 out of 5 "Sub-Par Stars". I think you should check it out, but if you're Reformed you need to go into it with the understanding that this is not and will not ever be held up there with Calvin's "Institutes" or other tenets of literature. Though, it is a nice look at a pastor's 30 years of ministry and some practical pointers that he has garnered. This is definitely not a Sub-Par book.