Filling Our Father's House

by Shaun McAfee

The Church is hurting for enthusiastic voices to proclaim her teachings on truth and morals. In these pages, Shaun McAfee, a convert from Evangelical Protestantism shows how we can take the best tools of evangelization and use them to reach countless souls with the fullness of the Christian Faith.

Genres: Catholic, Theology, Nonfiction

129 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 5, 2015

Reviews

[Nancy]

We read this in book club at my church, which I am thrilled to be a part of. However, I felt like in the beginning of the book, the author was very argumentative about everything. I think I described him as being dramatic. After that, I was hesitant to speak, because of the views of gays and annulments and married couples not being married in a church. In the end, I was truly feeling judged, and that judgement and guilt is what I feel has driven people away and doesn't encourage them to return.

[Gil Michelini]

FTC REQUIRED DISCLOSURE: The FTC requires me to tell you that I was provided a review copy of this book at no cost.

Reading Filling Our Father’s House by Shaun McAfee reminds me of the conversations I have had with Protestant friends.

McAfee does an excellent job in laying out an Evangelical perspective on the truths of the Church. As many others have written, this is a wonderful introduction for those of us called to be New Evangelists.

McAfee presents a compelling case — along with actionable tips — for how we to be living the faith following the example of the early Christians. This includes Evangelism, Bible study, at least weekly Mass attendance, at least quarterly confession, and being an active member of the parish. These are the things we know we should be doing, what we promised to do, but unfortunately we are not always faithfully in doing.

Protestant Things

In addition to all these basics, McAfee encourages us to develop what many would call “Protestant Things” beginning with developing a personal testimony.

Growing up Protestant and spending many years with Pentecostals and other Evangelicals, I have seen first hand the value of having a personal testimony at the ready. We see in later half of the Christian Scriptures and the stories of the saints the value of telling personal stories of what Jesus had done to help others become a Christian. As New Evangelist, we will — by the grace of the Holy Spirit — help lead people back to the Church by our stories. McAfee has an entire chapter on how to craft a testimony.

The other protestant thing McAfee covers in detail is having a personal relationship with Jesus. He explains that this concept did not begin in 1517 but is clearly shown in the Gospels. Within the Church, we strive to have a personal relationship with Jesus but we don’t use that term. McAfee has an actionable list of how to start or improve this critical relationship with Jesus.

As a student of Vatican II, I enjoyed McAfee’s extensive references to the documents. At the end of most chapters he also includes lists of resources to help with our understanding of the topic.

The only negative I found with the book is the price. As of this writing, the Kindle version is $9.99 and the list price for the paperback is $14.95. This seem high for just over 100 pages of text; however, there are several nuggets in this book that could help you on your relationship with Jesus. Hard to put a price on that.

Recommendation

I give Filling Our Father’s House by Shaun McAfee 4 stars on the Amazon scale.

This is a good book for personal study as well as for groups. It is helpful for those new to their walk with Jesus and as a re-introduction to the basics of the faith for one who has been away from the Church for a while. For those who have already have a strong relationship with Jesus, this book is a good reminder of why we first fell in love with Him.

[David Kudlinski]

I received this book for free when I ordered from the Catholic bookstore. Most unexpectedly, I learned about the Blue Letter Bible, which has the original Greek translation. This book is about the importance of evangelism, which many Christians dread and have embarrassment about. Catholics may lag behind the Mega Church Evangelicals, who use sophisticated social media, Christian “rock” music, and art graphics at church. But it is interesting that the church is about de-evolution and non-innovation, it is more about going back to the true meaning of Christ’s Word is a less flashy way. Everyone worries that if they speak about Christianity, critics will say “You’re pompously wearing your religion on your sleeve”, “Religion and politics don’t belong on Facebook, in the public discourse, or at dinner”, or “religion is intensely private”. This is nonsense, and I want to hear about people’s religion, no matter what the venue. There is an appropriate division of church and state as a matter of law and government. It is hard in the modern age to focus on religion with everything pulling for your time in every direction. But ironically, it is the most important thing in your life as our physical lives are short. Being part of the Catholic Church means having a direct historic path back to Jesus. Being part of the Church does not mean giving up when the chips are down, it means getting involved and making the Church better. You need the Church, but equally so, the Church needs you!

[Miranda Spear]

This was a great quick read. McAfee brings up a bunch of great suggestions for everything from how to deepen your prayer life to tips on reading Scripture to suggestions for parishes to help welcome newcomers. There are Bible verses and Church documents cited throughout, and McAfee includes more reading/resources in nearly every chapter and in his conclusion. Would definitely recommend, and will reference again!

[David Szatkowski]

This is a good book to encourage you to share your faith. While nothing is earth shattering, I do think the clear suggestions and basis in church teaching and theology is well done.

[Louise]

louise.stg@gmail.com

[Richard Grebenc]

A fine little book for the relatively uninitiated. This is not a "Rebuilt" or "Forming Intentional Disciples" so the subtitle could be misleading. It is mainly focused on personal conversion and coming closer to the Lord as a means to draw others in. I agree with the message, and it can serve as a helpful reminder about actions and attitudes to take, but if you have done anything with (new) evangelization there is nothing new here. A decent book for someone new to all of this but even there would not necessarily be my first choice.

The good news is that it is a quick read that one could skim to just be reminded of some good things to do for personal spiritual growth.

[Greg Ellis]

Lots of ideas that can be put into practice.