by Phillip Gulley

Avon Books, 2002

In March I read Phillip Gulley’s If The Church Were Christian. That book had a huge impact on me and my thought processes. I wanted to read more books by him. I certainly had plenty to choose from. I decided to start on his Harmony Series. Home To Harmony is Book One.

This book is fiction but it seems based on the author’s experience. It’s as if someone asked Phillip Gulley, “What’s it like to be a pastor in a small midwestern town?” He tells us, through the voice of Sam Gardner.

Sam, along with his wife and two young boys, have moved back to his hometown. Only a few things have changed in the years he’s been away. Most of the buildings are the same. There is still the same newspaper, library and the coffee shop. His boys go to the same school and the same doctor he went to.

Sam still knows most of the people in town and he introduces them to us. Here’s a few I liked:

• I loved Dr. Neely. He’s getting older now and he and his wife want to move to a smaller house. The problem is they won’t sell to someone who will paint over the children’s names, height measurements and dates that are behind the curtains in the dining room.
• I also liked Miriam Hodge. She was appointed head elder at church and then tried to get the meetings to run according to an agenda.
• Dale Hinshaw is one of those guys who pushes himself into places he’s not wanted. We all know people like that. One of his most hilarious “pushes” was when he decided the church needed to advertise to get more members. He erected a bunch of Burma Shave style signs on the outskirts of town. Here’s one I liked:

If you cheat and drink and lie

turn to God before you die.

Harmony Friends Meeting

And another one:

Go to church and learn to pray

or when you die there’s Hell to pay.

Harmony Friends Meeting

Phillip Gulley writes in an easy, humorous, and often self-deprecating manner. But, he also shares his thoughts, via Sam Gardner, on life in general and how it relates to his faith. In one chapter he was talking about buying gifts for his wife on their tenth anniversary. He’s never exactly gotten giving gifts right, but he keeps trying.

The tenth is the year you are supposed to buy either aluminum or diamonds. So he bought his wife ten cans of diet coke and wrapped them individually. She was sure he had goofed again but on the tenth can he had taped a diamond ring. Sam then reflected on his wife and how glad he was to have her. She wasn’t perfect but he’s never been drawn to perfection. He’s seen how that can spoil a person’s outlook.

“Acquainted . . . with failure, I’m pleasantly surprised when life goes well. It is easy in these aluminum years, to believe in a loving God. It’s the only thing that makes sense. It isn’t skill and pluck and hard work that get us where we are. It’s grace, nothing else.

To learn more about Phillip Gully, visit here.

For more about the town of Harmony, go here.

]]> http://joyfullyretired.com/2010/05/11/book-review-home-to-harmony/feed/ 7 http://joyfullyretired.com/2010/03/22/if-the-church-were-christian/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=if-the-church-were-christian http://joyfullyretired.com/2010/03/22/if-the-church-were-christian/#comments Mon, 22 Mar 2010 07:05:32 +0000 Margot http://joyfullyretired.com/?p=6694 Rediscovering the Values of Jesus

by Phillip Gulley

Harper One, 2010

My Rating: A

Before I tell you about this book, you should know that I am a Christian. Except for the past decade, I’ve been an active church member. I’ve served as a church elder and in other leadership positions. I come to this book with a solid background of faith. This book hasn’t shaken my internal faith but it has shaken my thinking about many of the basic practices of the church. I suspect the author would like that reaction.

To some people this book is going to appear sacrilegious and subversive. I’m sure it’s causing controversy in many circles. I think that’s a very good thing. If this book is successful, it will have people talking and arguing and questioning the concepts Phillip Gulley is setting forth here.

Phillip Gulley is a Quaker minister (and author with an interactive website) who is questioning the major activities within the Christian church, primarily in America. Using the title of his book he organized his chapters around “if – then” arguments. Let me show you what I mean. Here are a few of the chapter titles:

If The Church Were Christian . . .

• Jesus would be a model for living rather than an object of worship.
• Gracious behavior would be more important than right belief.
• Inviting questions would be valued more than supplying answers.
• Meeting needs would be more important than maintaining institutions.
• Peace would be more important than power.
• This life would be more important than the afterlife.

All of this is a powerful message for the 39,000 denominations and independent churches in America. These are serious questions. It’s a powerful message for individual Christians as well. As I see it, an important question for myself and others who call ourselves believers is this: What is the correlation between Jesus’ example and how I live my life? Is my church helping me with those questions? As Phillip Gulley said, I don’t want the church to give me the right answer. I want it to help me ask more questions.

Some churches claim they are growing, but what’s really growing are the large numbers of people who no longer attend. They keep their membership for purposes of weddings, funerals, and baptisms but, except for special occasions, they are no longer present. I don’t believe these people have lost their faith. They just don’t see the church as a help in their spiritual journey. If the church were really modeling the behavior and teachings of Jesus, wouldn’t they still be there?

This book has not shaken my faith. Just the opposite has happened. This book has caused me to think, think out-loud, talk with others, and now, eagerly, re-read the Scriptures. (I started in Matthew 5.) I’m more excited than ever to be a Christian. I want to look again at the life of Jesus. As the subtitle of this book says, I want to Rediscover the Values of Jesus. I’d love it if the church were able to do that too.

This would make an excellent study for a Christian discussion group or adult Sunday School class or the staff and leadership group within a church. In the back of the book the author has added a list of questions for each chapter.

It’s been my pleasure to participate in today’s stop on the TLC tour of If The Church Were Christian. I’d like to thank Trish of TLC for allowing me to read and review this book. Please visit other bloggers who are participating in this tour. You are sure to get other opinions of the book. The list is here.