Book Review: Chasing Daylight, by Erwin Raphael McManus

This book was loaned to me by my youth pastor, and it has served to explain to me the impetus behind his very effective youth ministry, a ministry that my walk with God is an alumni of.

Chasing Daylight is a must read for anyone who wants to be heavily involved in Christian activism. It's not so much a book on what to do, but on why to do it. And it is described as any God-idea that you have floating in your brain. Whatever God thought you have, whatever ministry idea you feel tucked away under the "someday" category in the back of your mind, that is it. McManus doesn't seek to define what it is (he lets you do that), instead he gives you motivation as to why and in some ways how you can go about making that ideal of yours into an entelechy.

The book was much like a sermon. The entire teaching hinged on the story of Jonathan and his armor-bearer fighting the Philistines in 1st Samuel 14:1-14. He noticed that Jonathan acted not out of an absolute knowledge that God would bless him, keep him, and protect him, but out of a knowledge of God's overall character. "Perhaps the Lord will help us," is what he says in the HCSB. Jonathan didn't have all of the story figured out, but he did know the character of God. Because he knew the character of God, he was able to say "Nothing can keep the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few" in the next sentence.

In knowing the character of God, you are able to discern what is pleasing to him and what isn't pleasing to him. When you learn the things that are pleasing to him, life and calling and ministry become so much more definable. This book has helped me loose the chains holding back my effectiveness for the Kingdom. It isn't merely a "go-until-he-says-no" kind of book, it's a freeing read that grabs you by the shoulders and says, "Jarred, it's okay! Just do what you know is pleasing to God!" (it probably won't call you Jarred).

Hence the importance of daily devotionals. Through the Bible, we know the character of God, and his character is summarized by the image and life of Christ. Know Christ, know what he did, and you will know what to do.

McManus' imaginative vernacular by which he tells the tale of his faith journey was quite elating. In some ways, it read more like a story than a character development book. He, being a seasoned pastor, had many stories to tell. It was these stories that pulled you along through the pages as apposed to leaving you to wade through mere opinions and exegesis on your own strength. I never read a McManus book before, but if all of his books are like this, then he's got one more fan under his belt.

Here's a question: Could it be that God's will isn't so much a list of events as much as a standard of conduct he wants you to practice irrespective of your circumstances?