LITERARY SPIRIT \ Religion in the media

Saturday, August 26, 2006 "More Than a Purpose" by Marshall Davis (Pleasant Word Publishers, 223 pages, $17.99): Rick Warren is pastor of the largest Baptist church in the United States and author of the international best sellers "The Purpose-Driven Life" and "The Purpose-Driven Church." Marshall Davis is pastor of a small Baptist church near Pittsburgh and this is his first book, setting up a "Davis vs. Goliath" confrontation. Davis contends that the Gospel presented by Warren is deficient. "In Warrenism there is no genuine commitment to Christ because the genuine Christ has not been preached and the way of salvation has not been explained." The teaching of Rick Warren, Marshall asserts, is "Gospel lite: tastes great, less filling." Such assertions might draw a debate, especially from the millions worldwide who testify to the positive effect of reading the Warren books, but this next observation will be met with a chorus of amens: "The American Christian has gone from being a disciple to being a customer, from being a follower of the Lord Jesus to being a consumer of a spiritual commodity." "Listen" by Keri Wyatt Kent (Jossey-Bass, 185 pages, $19.95): It may seem hard to believe that God actually talks to us if we take the time to pay attention. But that's exactly the case, Kent says in this thought-provoking, readable book. When trying to listen to your life so you're more open to God's voice, it's important to first identify the things you love, your gifts and accomplishments, she says: It is in the things you love that you can best hear God's voice amid competing distractions, because his is always the voice of love. It's also necessary to face what you've struggled with in life, she says. God often speaks through the trials and questions in life, the author says, and it's important to invite him into that pain. Only by zeroing in on our struggles can we hear God's offer of healing. Listening to God, Kent says, also involves figuring out what you really want in life and acting on those desires, as hard as that might be. Only then will you find your meaning and purpose, she believes. Kent details three ways to help people listen better for God: silence, Scripture and prayer. All three, she says, open space in people's hearts for God, so he can make his desires known. "On the Other Side of Oddville" by Dwight A. Moody (Mercer University Press, 254 pages, paperback, $20): Dwight A. Moody uses his experience to traverse topics such as religion, family, culture and Islam. The brilliant artwork of his talented son, Ike, is dispersed throughout the book and is no small bonus to the writings. Moody's essays are more impressive when his words reveal his vulnerability than when he is expressing his opinion, for example, on style of worship or science and religion. He is a columnist among other trades, and columnists give their opinions on relevant issues. This is an enjoyable and easy read refreshingly absent of heavy moralizing. In one of Moody's more creative and funny essays, he recounts in the style of a lament or woeful psalm his experience in a Kentucky jail. Moody's finest offerings are more evident in the stories that are more personal to him. The essay "Hope and Healing in the Land of Oz," which comments on his son's incarceration, and "Autism and Easter," which remarks on a friend's autistic daughter, are good examples of vignettes packed with intense honesty and deep insight. "The Case of Terri Schiavo" by Arthur L. Caplan, James J. McCartney and Dominic A. Sisti, editors (Prometheus Books, 377 pages, paperback, $21): The case of Teresa Marie Schiavo will long stand as an iconic moment (albeit a "moment" that lasted 15 years) in the history of the "right to die" in this country. This book — assembled by three bioethicists at the University of Pennsylvania, including the ubiquitous Art Caplan — gives us what thousands of pages and hours of pathos-soaked reporting largely ignored: key documents, judicial opinions, state and federal laws, timeline and representative commentary that explain and clarify exactly what the Schiavo case was and wasn't about. Scholars, politicians, academics and citizens will debate the lessons learned from the Schiavo case for many years to come. That debate will be thin stuff, indeed, if the participants ignore the material in this important and definitive treatment of Terri Schiavo's case. — McClatchy Newspapers