How to Be a Perfect Christian - Review

This book is Satire!

I just had to get that out of the way. Many of you have probably seen posts from The Babylon Bee, a satire "news" site similar to The Onion (spoiler alert if you didn't know they were satire too), but from a Christian perspective. It fills the hole that Stuff Christians Like left in me when Jon Acuff stopped posting there. The Bee recently published a book called How to Be a Perfect Christian: Your Comprehensive Guide to Flawless Spiritual Living. It's a step-by-step guide of how to be the best Christian possible by making sure you maintain a me-centered attitude in regards to spirituality. Remember...satire.

This book definitely had some funny parts, and I found myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion. And if you're willing, the satire will even challenge you on what you think Christianity is all about. The Western culture tries to make everything about the individual, and unfortunately, Christians are also affected. From the prominence of impersonal megachurches to the need to post every spiritual act on social media, Christianity in America is often not to far from the caricature presented in the book. My sarcastic self loves the use of satire to point out the ridiculous things we see in our culture and also cringes when I see some of those things in myself.

Unfortunately, while satire can open our eyes to the hypocrisy of the world around us, it doesn't do a lot to really direct us towards doing better. The last chapter stated the gospel, but it needed to do more towards showing a better way. A lot of people can't appreciate sarcasm, especially when it's directed their way, but for those who can, I would definitely pick up this book.

Some people may read this book or something else by The Babylon Bee and think the church is too broken. I've seen people comment on their articles with things like, "this is why I don't go to church anymore." That's the wrong response. Because the church is filled with sinners, it's inherently imperfect. Instead of shaking our finger at the problems with the church, we should be working to fix it from the inside with the help of the Holy Spirit. I wrote a post on the Church a while back so if you'd like to know more check it out.

I received a free copy of this book from WaterBrook & Multnomah and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Some of the links in the post above are Amazon referral links. I may receive money or products from them, but it's at no cost to you.

A Defense of Honor - Christian Fiction Review

A Defense of Honor was the first book I've read by Kristi Ann Hunter, but it won't be my last. I very much enjoyed the first book of the Haven Manor series.

Kit FitzGilbert is in trouble. But there's nothing new there. She runs into Graham, Lord Wharton, at a London ball and he assists her in escaping the predicament she's found herself in. Graham is intrigued by Kit, but he can tell she's trouble. Kit can't help but be drawn to Graham, but she has people counting on her, and she can't allow her own desires to hurt the people she cares for...again. Between Graham's friend's missing sister and the enigmatic Kit, he doesn't think he'll be struggling with boredom anymore.

Kit has been hurt by past mistakes, both hers and those of others. Even worse, her best friend was caught in the cross-hairs. They now live outside of society and try to help others who have been hurt by the same social injustices that hurt them. She see's it as penance for her past mistakes. Kit has grown up a lot over the past decade, but she still has a lot to learn, especially about God's grace.

Graham has spent most of the past decade in one adventure after another. Knowing it's time to settle down, he returns home. But his restless spirit keeps him from being able to enjoy the London society around him. He is drawn into adventure once again when he meets Kit. He starts to care for her, but when certain truths come to light, he has a hard time showing grace. He also begins to see that even with his current discontent, not everyone has had the many advantages he's been afforded.

It was good to see both characters grow and mature through A Defense of Honor. The chemistry was there between them, but they had some of their own issues that needed to be dealt with before they could be together.

Honestly, some of the secondary characters were my favorite parts of this book. Hunter did a good job of giving you just the right amount of details that you couldn't help but be excited for the other books of the series. I could have used a few more details on the pasts of the main characters, but overall, Hunter did a great job.

This is a sweet story, but it doesn't shy away from some of the harder details of life in the Regency era. I'm definitely looking forward to the next book to read the stories of the characters I met in A Defense of Honor.


I received this book for free from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.

Some of the links in the post above are Amazon referral links. I may receive money or products from them, but it's at no cost to you.