A Kingdom Called Desire - Review

"We will know that we are getting close to Jesus' kingdom when our deepest joy is confronted by our greatest fears." 

This is an easy to read book that would be great for a Bible study or small group. The author, Rick McKinley, addresses many questions that face the church today. The book always points back to the central question of desire. The "how" becomes irrelevant once we realize that we are really motivated by our deepest desires and don't need to go through a list of checkboxes or elaborate rituals in order to follow Christ. Once our deepest desire reflects that love for Christ, everything else will fall into place.

Two of the themes that stood out to me include the importance of honesty and the harmony of evangelism and service. Honesty is the only way to have true freedom. Once we are honest with ourselves and our underlying desires, we can catch a true glimpse of the future heaven and try and prevent our lives from falling apart in the here and now. Honesty destroys illusions, and once someone is honest then they are exposed in a way that allows for true growth. The other theme that I thought the author covered well was the false dichotomy of service versus evangelism. He shows how the gospel encompasses both, and the only way to live out a biblical gospel is to be motivated by a deep desire to evangelize and serve the world at the same time.

While this is a good book for groups, it would not be the first book I would recommend on these subjects to an individual. I think that it has been covered by other authors before and there is nothing really new in these pages. The real value of this book is its easy readability and the follow up questions at the end of each chapter. Recommended.