Emerging Conservative

Free Book by Brian Tome

One topic I am passionate about is freedom in Christ through a relationship with him so I was eager to get my hands on this book by an author with a similar passion. The reason the books stood out to me when I first saw it is not its bright orange cover (though that helped) but the bold statements on the front cover from Mr. Tome that promised intensity in this area. He was going to address the bondage of law living that puts so many under man’s thumb and show the joy of a relationship with Christ. Did he accomplish this goal? In many ways yes but he violated the one thing that drives me as nuts as bondage, he didn’t keep a balance in his conversation.

The main challenge for me was the first few chapters. I have read some other’s reviews where they were discouraged with the book and couldn’t read the whole thing. I understand this statement though I wish they pressed on to the good stuff. I think the author was trying to punch thought the wall that many have that Christians are uptight, rule givers who don’t have any fun. However, I think some of his examples were weak (you are not more spiritualy mature just because you don’t wear a helmet when riding your motorcycle) and some examples were incomplete scripture wise.

For example, Mr. Tome refered to the principles in Romans 14 in talking about someone at the church being bothered that there was beer at a church tailgate party. He quotes how we are free from law and the impression I left with is the person needs to get with the program. They need to stop being the weak and bringing down the freedom of the mature. However, the complete text of that Scripture would challenge Mr. Tome that this response would not be acting in love and being a stumbling block for one who is “weak” which is a sin. Let’s get the whole picture if we could.

Not that said, once I got through the first few chapters, I found that most of the books was beneficial. I loved that the Scripture being referenced was both natural in the conversation and referenced at the bottom of the page. The principles were solid and the suggestions to break bondage, deal with the spiritual, and enjoy freedom were presented much better as the pages turned. I tweeted a couple quotes and got strong reaction that they were encouraging to others. So final thought? The book is worth the read if you take the first few chapters with a grain of salt.

Thomas Nelson provided this complimentary copy to me for review.