Daring to Think Again: Restoring Jesus' Original Challenge to the Faith We Think We Know

by David Brisbin

When was the last time you really thought about your faith? The last time you chewed on what you believe, why you believe it, and what keeps you believing? Western Christianity often shies away from this sort of questioning, fearing it as a mark of faithlessness. But what if Jesus were telling you it’s exactly what you need? What if he were inviting you to join him on a journey of shedding what is unnecessary for the sake of embracing a fuller, deeper, and healthier faith? Dave Brisbin believes this is exactly what Jesus is challenging us to engage. In Daring to Think Again, Brisbin challenges us to rethink the often toothless spiritual traditions we have accepted, in favor of discovering the real Jesus—one who offers an approach to thought and growth that stands opposed to our common formulas of faith. Rather than wrestling others into our frames of knowledge in an attempt to cement our hold on truth, Jesus suggests the greatest spiritual truths are held only when we have finally released our grasp on the way we have been trained to see our world, our faith, and our God. This powerfully fresh and deconstructive look at twelve foundational aspects of Christian tradition dares us to relinquish what hinders us for the sake of gaining back what is vital. We must “sell the filter” through which we read the scriptures in order to fully see them; we must abandon our traditional frames of thought concerning Jesus to truly know Him. Dave Brisbin’s Daring to Think Again falls into the depths with us as we surrender our death grip on Western understanding and choose to seek renewed faith, radiant life, and the real Jesus.

250 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 3, 2019

About the author

DAVID BRISBIN is a pastor, teacher, and musician with a BA in English Lit/Creative Writing and a Masters in Divinity. A published writer and songwriter, he is the teaching pastor at theeffect faith community and recovery ministry in San Juan Capistrano, CA. He is also executive director of Encompass Recovery, an adolescent and family treatment center also located in South Orange County, CA.

Reviews

[Pearl Loewen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reviewed this book for Speakeasy. "Daring to Think Again" is David Brisbin's third book, the second in a series called "The Fifth Way." I start with the "Cliff Notes" version:

Even the introduction captivated me, in which Brisbin speaks of every moment as infinitely significant, and invites the reader to immerse themselves and participate in all moments. He calls a moment of awakening as a "Calvary moment," and defines it as "the moment our distractions die." Brisbin writes, truthfully I believe, that distractions don't tend to look like distractions, but as life itself, beautiful and necessary. It's when we identify with them, cling to them, and use them as a filter that they become a problem.

Brisbin likens the spiritual journey of following Jesus (Yeshua) as a rite of passage, and takes twelve issues: love, law, engagement, interpretation, inspiration, vulnerability, fear, trust, presence, contentment, destiny, and release as twelve opportunities to accept Yeshua's original challenge to sell all we possess and follow him as a way of life. Each chapter fleshes out one one of those issues, weaving together metaphors, personal experience, scriptural narratives, and a myriad of fiction and nonfiction stories.

Brisbin ends with a call to a walkabout, linked to the theme of a rite of passage. Just as the Australian Aborigines carried with them the sayings, songs, and rhythms of all the generations before them, so Yeshua carried his Father’s words and songs, which he then used to call people to a different way of being and doing life. We too are called to find our own way, the way of life, death, and resurrection, the Way of Jesus. If all our theories and theology don’t lead us to engage with the messiness of life and relationships, they are of no value. "We’ll never know if what we say we believe is true, is true enough to make us free from our fears, until we use it all up in the mess of seeing for ourselves."

All in all, a delightful read, and highly recommended. Challenging at times to the status quo, but inspiring always, and just enough of a unique take on certain words or concepts to keep me captivated and engaged. A book not to be merely read, but lived.

See my extended review (by chapter) here: https://winsomewomen.blogspot.com/202...