The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher is a fictional account of non-Christian realtor, who through a most curious set of events, decides to plant a church in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. This caught my attention immediately, seeing that I am a church planter that is from just outside of Bartlesville, OK. That alone would have been enough for me to have at least checked out the book; but it is content of the book itself that has warranted writing this review.The book is extremely clever and Stennett's satire is both brilliant and dangerously accurate. The book pokes fun at many elements of American "Churchianity" as only an insider can; however, it is not biting or malicious in its criticisms, as has become the trend among so many angry children of Evangelicalism, who have realized that irreverently beating up on the Bride of Christ can be pretty lucrative business. Stennett is an incredible developer of characters, and though parts of the book are verging on "over the top," the plot felt natural and eerily believable. Which, I think, leads into one of the main take aways from the book...it is possible to plant, and even grow, a church with absolutely no depth of relationship with Jesus; which incidentally, is something almost all of us suspect after five minutes of watching Christian TV, and wondering why the Pastor on his golden throne telling little old ladies to trade their life savings for prosperity prayer cloths seems so different from the Jesus we find so beautifully portrayed in the Gospels. Somehow in the midst of this novel filled with belly laughing humor, a very somber message rings out reminding those of us, whose task it is to plant and pastor God's church, to take a long hard look in the mirror and deal with the Ryan Fisherism in our hearts.
I think every potential church planter and pastor would benefit greatly from this book, and I am even offering extra credit for students in my undergraduate church planting class to read and review it. I had an opportunity to spend a few minutes with the author last week. He is a great guy and a brilliant writer. He told me that he has another book coming out pretty soon, and from what he told me, it is going to be great as well. This book is one of my new favorites and I highly recommend it.
3 comments:
Well put my friend. I have a question. If I read it can I get extra credit too?
Very well put...hey when is your book going to come out. By the way, you have got to read Search and Rescue by Neil Cole. Very entertaining and inspirational. His book reflects what has taken place in my life over th elast few years. I agree with him...I NEED A TRANSFORMATION TRIO. Oh and by the way, I am still waiting for the best podcasts you know of. Matt Helland
Matt, I am planning to start writing late fall this year, depending on my level of discipline with the other many facets of my life. So it may be spring before I get to devote adequate time to it. As far as podcasts that I would recommend, Matt Chandler's podcast from the Village Church in Dallas is great. I am a big fan of his. The Acts 29 network podcast has a lot of church planting teaching that would be well worth your time. And Mark Driscoll's sermon audio podcast from Mars Hill Church in Seattle is also great stuff. He has done a bunch of great series lately.
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