Good News for Anxious Christians: Ten Practical Things You Don't Have to Do

"Evangelicals worry about lots of things, including the state of our spiritual health. Phil Cary is worried too: worried that evangelicals are suffering needlessly because they have imbibed a consumerist spirituality that offers much but provides little. Phil's prescription for spiritual indigestion? A turning away from the self to the one who continually speaks a healing, saving word to us, Christ Himself. This is, quite frankly, one of the best books I've read on the spiritual life over the past twenty-five years. I heartily recommend it." --Christopher A. Hall, chancellor, Eastern University

"Phillip Cary has clearly and convincingly explained why so many evangelicals are anxious and believe they may be failing at faith. I highly recommend this book to my fellow Christian counselors and self-doubting Christians because Cary richly explains the comforting good news for our identity in Christ. He thus provides a solid theological basis for correcting many deeply distorted beliefs about the self that propagate anxiety. This book provides the best treatment of this subject that I have ever read." --Christopher Doriani, licensed clinical social worker

With this premise in mind, Cary goes on to attack ten "sacred cows" of the new evangelicalism. As a college professor he constantly sees these faulty ways of Christian living and thinking in his students. These young people have grown up in an evangelical environment that has perpetuated these myths for the entirety of their lives. They are unaware that the matters Cary discusses are recent distortions of the truth and not part of historical Christianity. Cary is writing primarily for these students and his writing style reflects that. It is colloquial, repetitive, and relatively simple. Such a writing style might be irritating to older or more astute readers, but the content of the book is excellent.

The sacred cows of the new evangelicalism include:

God is speaking in your heart Your intuitions are the voice of the Holy Spirit Finding God’s individual will for your life You must examine your motivations Heart and head are different You have to be transformed all the time You always have to experience joy Sermons must be practical Experience is foundational to the Christian life

As can be seen, each of these challenges to evangelical thought would elicit much discussion. But Cary handles each topic well with clearly thought-out reasoning and biblical understanding. This is a helpful book and would be a great study for a high school or college Bible study. – Gary Gilley, www.ChristianBookPreviews.com