Book Review: The Party Crasher by Joshua Ryan Butler

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review: The Party Crasher by Joshua Ryan ButlerThe Party Crasher by Joshua Ryan Butler
Published by Crown Publishing Group on March 5, 2024
Genres: Religion / Christian Living / Social Issues
Pages: 224
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
four-half-stars

In this insightful, nonpartisan roadmap toward faithful political engagement and ultimate allegiance to Jesus, pastor Joshua Ryan Butler diagnoses the roots of political conflict tearing apart the church and prescribes a practical and prophetic way forward.

“A must-read for any and all who seek the way of Jesus.”—Jay Kim, pastor and author of Analog Christian

Have you noticed a deeper level of political division in your community or church? If so, you’re not alone. This powerful, accessible book exposes the religious nature of modern political movements and how they compete with faithfulness to Christ.

Rather than retreat from the political realm, The Party Crasher will help you understand the politics of our age and equip you with the wisdom to faithfully navigate them. Key takeaways include:

• How to develop a Christian posture for political life and promote unity in the church.
• When to be bold.
• How to identify and repent from our political idols.
• How the way we worship can help us avoid division.

This is not a book about putting politics aside, it’s a book about putting politics in their place so that we might be better disciples of Jesus in whichever party or place we find ourselves.

If there’s one thing I don’t generally talk about, it is politics. I have very strong opinions on certain candidates and I’m not overly fond of our two-party political system. Joshua Ryan Butler has a different take on our political system. He admits to its corruption and issues. He also admits to the fact that even in Christian circles, we belong to different political “religions”.

He defines four political religions into which people fall. He shows how these political religions shape us and how we react and respond when it comes to church, secular politics, and more. He reminds us that we shouldn’t be making our political leanings our idols. Because unfortunately, that’s something we do, even if we don’t realize it.

But he doesn’t just tell us what is wrong and what we may be doing wrong. No, he gives us solutions. He gives us ideas. He even states that we don’t have to follow these ideas to the letter – they’re there for us to take inspiration from and get creative with.

I sincerely thought that I would end up intensely disliking this book because of the political content. I thought it would “step on my toes” and convict me. But I found this book to be very informative and interesting, not at all convicting, because he admits that most people do these things without actually realizing they’re doing it. It gives solid options for how to stop ourselves from compromising our Christianity or even forgoing it in favor of our political religions and idols.

I gave this book 4.5 stars because it was an excellent book for those who are Christians trying to navigate a political world.

four-half-stars

Read the Bible in a Year – Good or Bad?

open bible with a pair of glasses on it, with a candle behind it.

I’m sure by now we’ve all seen at least one “Read the Bible in a Year” thing. It might be a Bible designed to help you finish it in a year. Maybe you’ve seen a website offering a downloadable reading plan that lets you read it over the course of a year(I follow the one from Sweet Blessings.). Or maybe it was a challenge given by your pastor at the end of last year. However you’ve seen it, I’m sure you’ve seen at least one of them. But I’ve noticed a lot of discussion about them on YouTube.

The Bad

Some people are saying that “read the Bible in a year” plans aren’t necessarily a good thing. They say that although these plans get you to read God’s Word, you aren’t taking anything in that you’re reading. In other words, you’re just reading the words, but not soaking them in. You aren’t getting any meaning out of them when you do these plans.

I do agree that in some cases, you might find that you aren’t retaining any knowledge. It is in entirely possible that you aren’t even really reading the Bible, just skimming it. But the fact of the matter is, even if you aren’t retaining knowledge or you are just skimming the Bible, you’re still in God’s Word.

The Good

So if we aren’t retaining anything and we aren’t really reading the Bible, what would be good about these plans?

Structure

Well, for starters, they provide structure. You know what to read or what to study that day because you’ve got it laid out for you. Some people, when they don’t know what to read in the Bible, will just open it up and read wherever they opened it to. That’s not the greatest way to handle it, especially if they don’t at least go to the beginning of the chapter they opened it to. But with a Bible reading plan, they know what to read on any given day.

A Goal

For some of us, myself included, if I don’t have a goal or a deadline, I’m not going to do it. Sure, I’ll commit to reading the Bible, studying the Bible, etc.. But if I don’t have a plan to follow, you can forget the idea of me actually following up on the commitment. But using a “read the Bible in a year” plan helps get me to open the Bible and read. Before someone says “but you aren’t retaining anything”, I may not retain everything, but things do jump out at me. I have paused on multiple occasions to highlight or make a note in the margins of my Bible about something I’ve read.

A Way to Share Reading the Bible with Others

When I find a new “read the Bible in a year” plan, I share it with my friends. I give my friends an opportunity to come with me on the journey. We can then discuss that day’s readings. It makes it more fun that just doing the plans by myself.

The Truth

You don’t have to read the Bible in a year. If it takes you a year and a half, two years, four years, ten years, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are in the Word. I’ve done these plans on more than one occasion. Sure, the first time I did one, I just read and nothing jumped out at me. I didn’t highlight much, if anything. I didn’t make notes. I just read. But the second time? Things started jumping out at me.

Even if you take five years or more to read the Bible, it still might take a second or third read-through before you starting noticing things. Before things start jumping out at you. It might take you until your third or fourth read through to start actually studying some of the passages. Or you could start on your very first time through the Bible.

Read the Bible in a Year plans are great – but we shouldn’t look down on someone else because they read the Bible slower. We also shouldn’t condemn someone else because they used one of these plans. They have their reasons for doing so, just like you have your reasons for not doing so.

Eternal Life – No Strings Attached?

This past Sunday, as I was watching Elevation Church Online, we sang a song during worship that contained the following lyrics:

“As simple as that
Don’t overthink it
Don’t complicate it
No strings attached
He loves you, He loves you, oh-oh”
YOU WILL BE SAVED, ELEVATION RHYTHM/WORSHIP

These lyrics got me thinking. When we read the Bible, Christ doesn’t put any “strings” on His love and salvation. All we are to do is to believe in Him to receive our everlasting life and salvation. But there are strings and they aren’t put there by Christ. Allow me to explain…

What Jesus Said About Receiving Eternal Life

In John 3:14-18 we read:
14 – And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
15 – so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.
16 – For this is how God loved the world: He gave is one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
17 – God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.
18 – There is no judgement against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.
John 3: 14 – 18, NLT

In my Bible, these words are in red, meaning that Jesus is speaking them. Where in these words are we asked to do more than believe? Nowhere, because Christ does not have strings attached to His love and our salvation/eternal life.

New Believers Don’t Need Strings

When I see a new believer come to Christ, I love it. But then I realize that the strings are coming. You see, when we encourage our friends and family to come to Christ, there are things we don’t tell them. We don’t tell them that there are a ton of changes they “need” to make in their lives. We just encourage them to come to the freedom and love of Christ. To receive salvation and “know where they are going” when they pass away.

But as soon as they commit their lives to Christ, we drop a ton of rules on them1Obviously figuratively. We don’t actually hand them a document with a bunch of rules on it. These rules are things they need to change in their lives to be a “True Christian”. A few of the ones I see:

  • Change the way they dress
  • Change the books they read
  • Change the movies/tv shows they watch
  • Change the music they listen to
  • Change the language they use
  • Change the things they do for fun (no clubs, etc)
  • Stop celebrating Halloween
  • Change eating/drinking habits (not all churches do this)

This is where I see a lot of new believers turn tail and run for their lives. They aren’t ready to make these changes yet. But here we are, shoving these changes in their faces.

The “True Christian” Myth

There is this myth of what a “True Christian”2I have written “True Christian” this way to convey that it is a bit over the top and ridiculous. does. It says that a “True Christian” must adhere to the rules above or else they are not a “True Christian”. The problem is that men decided what makes you a “True Christian”. If you do not adhere to those things, you’re not a “True Christian”. But none of these rules are in the Bible. Christ doesn’t say that you have to follow these rules to be a “True Christian”.

Yes, we are to be in the world, not of the world. That does not mean we don’t have permission to like things that are in the world. We are, we just aren’t allowed to make those things our idols. We can enjoy secular music, movies/tv shows, and books. But we need to be careful not to make them our idols. But being a “True Christian” doesn’t guarantee eternal life. Many people who aren’t Christians adhere to the rules of a “True Christian”.

Removing the Strings from Eternal Life

So what can we do to remove the strings? Well, understand that every believer’s journey is personal to them. Things happen in God’s timing. He will send the Holy Spirit to prompt a believer to stop doing things that are not beneficial or productive. But He does it in His timing and if He determines that thing is a problem for that person. So if you see someone committing their life to Christ, don’t harp on them for things they do. It isn’t for you to judge them or tell them to stop.

We don’t need to hand every new believer a list of things they need to do or change. Let God and Christ work in them. Don’t act like you were the one sent by God to tell them what changes to make. You aren’t any better than they are – you have sin too. And God can tell them what changes they need to make on His own, He doesn’t need you to step in for Him.

Trust in God. Trust in Christ. Allow them to do the work in a person’s life. They will make the changes God and Christ want them to make. It will happen in God’s timing. Don’t worry about them. Just love them as they are now. That’s how Jesus does it.

Doing God’s Will = Not Happy?

The "do what makes you happy" culture is so toxic for Christians. 

We are NOT called to do what makes us happy. We're called to do what glorifies God.

Christianity isn't always sunshine & happiness. It's hard work & dedication to Him, not us.

Do. What. Glorifies. God.

Why God's Will and doing what makes us happy can be the same thing.

Did you know that doing God’s Will doesn’t make you happy? Let me explain. I saw the image to your left on Facebook a few days ago. Now, if you know me, you know I’m not a fan of Facebook. I only go on there once, maybe twice a week because I really, intensely, dislike a lot of what people say on there.

But the image to the left really burned me up. Because it just goes to show how much oppression Christians face from their own people. This image clearly states that we aren’t allowed to be happy because we aren’t called to that. But we actually are called to do what makes us happy and here’s why.

Doing God’s Will Makes Us Happy

When we do God’s Will, we are happy. God wants us to be happy. When we do His Will, we will turn out happy. We might grumble about it at first, especially when we can’t see exactly what lies ahead for us on the road down which God is having us travel. But in the end, we’ll end up happy.

In fact, if we do God’s Will and we aren’t happy, it is probably because it wasn’t God’s Will to begin with…

Satan Doesn’t Want Us Happy

Satan is miserable. He was cast out of Heaven and has lost his connection to God. He’s lost his chance at eternal life, all because he wanted God’s Glory for himself. So he spends all his time here on earth making sure that we are miserable as well. He isn’t going to entice you to do something that makes you happy because that’s the last thing Satan wants. What he entices you to do are things that you think will make you happy. What he tells you will make you happy. But they don’t actually make you happy. Once you do them, you’re miserable because it isn’t what God wanted you to do.

Again, if you do something and you aren’t happy, it’s probably because it wasn’t God’s Will, it was something Satan enticed you to do.

God Gave Us Emotions For A Reason

God didn’t give us emotions for us to not be able to feel any of them without it being considered wrong or a sin.

I saw an Instagram reel where a woman was talking about driving in her car, listening to the radio, and feeling sad because of the song that was playing. She said she turned the station and immediately felt better. Because a song made her feel sad, it was Satan working in the music industry. It wasn’t that she is human, has emotions, and the song she’d been listening to might have reminded her of a break-up, death of a loved one, or a rough patch in her life. Oh no, it was Satan working through the music industry. She said that sadness isn’t the only emotion Satan uses the music industry to make us feel – we also feel anger through music.

So… we can’t feel sadness or anger because that’s Satan’s influence. We can’t do things that make us happy because if we do something and feel happy, that’s clearly Satan’s influence as well – because if we do something that makes us feel happy, we aren’t glorifying God.

How Do YOU Know Whether or Not What I Do Glorifies God?

Every person is different. We all have different journeys through life. We all have different ways of looking at things. Everyone goes to different churches, listens to different pastors, reads different translations of the Bible, reads different books by different Christian authors.

I attend Elevation Church online, read the NIV Bible, and love books by Joyce Meyer and Sarah Young. My best friend, LaShawn, attends Friendship Assembly of God in person, reads the Amplified Classic Bible, and loves books by Joyce Meyer and Sarah Young. My friend Sarah attends The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in person, reads the King James Bible, The Book of Mormon, the Doctrine & Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price for scriptures, and reads mostly authors who are members of the same church she is.

We all have different journeys and that’s OK. But what I do to glorify God may not be what Sarah or LaShawn believes is proper. I might not agree with what Sarah does to glorify God. Because we aren’t the same people…we aren’t called to do things exactly the same!

When you see me doing something that makes me happy, you don’t know that I’m not glorifying God with it. You assume that I’m not glorifying God because I’m happy to be doing it. Just because God didn’t tell you to do the same thing I’m doing doesn’t mean it isn’t glorifying God. It means that what I’m doing is what He wants me to do.

If someone is doing God’s Will, they are glorifying God. It doesn’t mean they can’t be happy to be doing it. It doesn’t mean that doing what makes them happy is wrong. You don’t know what God’s Will is for other people. You only know what God’s Will is for you. It’s time to stop being judgmental of how other people live, because you’re not privy to their lives or God’s Will for them.

Why I Left the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

When I was twelve, I was baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When I was 46, I was finally permitted to go through the temple to receive my endowment. And now, at 47, just over a year later, I’ve decided to leave the church.

My decision to leave the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did not come easy. For a long time, despite being inactive for most of it, I still believed in what the church taught. I just didn’t want to actually go to church. This was mostly due to the obnoxiously judgmental people I found there. So let me give you a few reasons why I chose to leave the church.

Hold on to your hats, because these should be some fairly interesting reasons…or not. Who knows?

Prophet Worship

One of the reasons I’m annoyed with the church and want to leave is that there is almost a worship of Joseph Smith and whoever the current president/prophet of the church at the time is1As of this writing, Russell M. Nelson is the president/prophet of the church..

Joseph Smith, in particular, is treated as though he is some kind of infallible deity. If you don’t believe me, consider the fact that the church still insists that God told Joseph Smith that the members of the church were to practice polygyny2The practice of one man marrying many wives at the same time. This is what the church actually practiced.. They love to state that Jacob 2:29-30 states:

Wherefore, this people shall keep my commandments, saith the Lord of Hosts, or cursed be the land for their sakes. For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things.

Jacob 2:29-30, Book of Mormon, Church of jesus christ of latter-day saints

The church takes these verses to mean that when God tells us to raise up seed unto Him, He will command His people to marry multiple wives. Otherwise, they are not to take multiple wives.

How does this compare with our unchanging God? Clearly this means God can, and will, change His mind about things. One moment King David. having multiple wives and concubines is an abomination, but the next God wants men to have multiple wives to produce as many children as possible? I highly doubt it. God does not change. God does not change His mind and decide that what He believed was an abomination for King David is OK for the Mormons3Yeah, yeah, proper name of the church and all that. I don’t have time for that..

Joseph Smith and the church chose to misinterpret what they considered to be scripture and ignore completely that Jesus Himself defined marriage in Matthew 19:9, stating that it was between a man and a woman, not a man and many women, or women plural. A man and a woman. Singular.

So why do I say they practically worship the prophets? Besides the fact the church basically teaches you the prophet is infallible? Let us go to the next section of this post, shall we?

Your Testimony is of the Church, Not God and Christ

Go to a Mormon church on the first Sunday of the month and you’ll be right in the middle of what they call fast and testimony Sunday. Now at first glance, you might think this is awesome – all these people baring their testimonies. And it is, until you start really listening.

Pretty much everyone’s testimony says something along the lines of the following, whether at the beginning, middle, or end… “I’d like to bare my testimony that I know this church is true, I know the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that [current prophet name here] is a prophet.

Note what is not present – a single mention of Jesus dying on the cross for us. Not a single mention of God being our supreme Father. Nothing. Because your testimony isn’t about God or Christ. It is about the church itself.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints positions itself as the “one true church”. That Jesus Himself told Joseph Smith that none of the other churches were true and that all were abominations in His sight. And they feel the need to state in their testimonies that Joseph Smith and whoever the current prophet is4Again, I know it is Russell M. Nelson, but if you read this in the future after he has passed away, it won’t be. are really prophets. No one does that for any of the Biblical prophets… no one speaks of them as prophets. But they have to cement their claims in their members’ minds.

Once in a while someone will tell a story with their testimony that will include God and Christ, but for the most part, it’s the same old story about knowing the church is true, etc.. They even coach small children who want to bare their testimonies – standing behind little Johnny or Jane and telling them what to say. Basically training them what they’re supposed to say.

The Constant Focus on Family

Now I realize most churches focus on the family. But not to the point that if you aren’t married by the age of 30, they pretty much consider you a lost cause. Not to the point that if you are married but don’t have kids, you’re constantly asked when you’ll be having kids or why you don’t have them. Not to the point that your worth as a woman seems to be measured by whether or not you’re married and raising a family.

I’ve been through 5 wards in my time with the church. In every single one of them, once it was clear that I wasn’t married and didn’t have kids, I was ignored. I didn’t exist. I wasn’t a wife, wasn’t a mother, therefore I wasn’t worth bothering with. I had nothing in common with them because there’s no such thing as building a friendship with someone based on common likes and dislikes. No… you can’t make friends with an unmarried, childless woman if you’re married and have kids. You have nothing in common with them.

Pretty much everything teenaged girls are taught in Young Women’s and women are taught in Relief Society are things that will help them be good wives and mothers. Your goal is a temple marriage, children, and to be a stay-at-home mother and housewife.

There are many reasons why I left the church, but these are the three main ones. These are the three I cannot justify and cannot wrap my head around. How can you call yourselves an open, welcoming church when you ignore people who don’t meet your criteria? How can you justify having your members bare testimonies that are of the church not God and Christ? How can you justify what amounts to the worship of Joseph Smith and the current prophet? You can’t. You just can’t. Not in any way that will ever make sense to me.

Losing Our Religion by Russell Moore

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

Losing Our Religion by Russell MooreLosing Our Religion: An Alter Call for Evangelical America by Russell Moore
Published by Penguin Group Sentinel on 07/25/2023
Genres: Christian
Pages: 272
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
four-stars

Former Southern Baptist pastor and Christianity Today editor-in-chief Russell Moore calls for repentance and renewal in American evangelicalism

American evangelical Christianity has lost its way. While the witness of the church before a watching world is diminished beyond recognition, congregations are torn apart over Donald Trump, Christian nationalism, racial injustice, sexual predation, disgraced leaders, and covered-up scandals. Left behind are millions of believers who counted on the church to be a place of belonging and hope. As greater and greater numbers of younger Americans bleed out from the church, even the most rooted evangelicals are wondering, “Can American Christianity survive?”

In Losing Our Religion, Russell Moore calls his fellow evangelical Christians to conversion over culture wars, to truth over tribalism, to the gospel over politics, to integrity over influence, and to renewal over nostalgia. With both prophetic honesty and pastoral love, Moore offers a word of counsel for how a new generation of disillusioned and exhausted believers can find a path forward after the crisis and confusion of the last several years. Believing the gospel is too important to leave it to hucksters and grifters, he shows how a Christian can avoid both cynicism and complicity in order to imagine a different, hopeful vision for the church.

The altar call of the old evangelical revivals was both a call to repentance and the offer of a new start. In the same way, this book invites unmoored and discouraged Christians to step out into an uncertain future, first by letting go of the kind of cultural, politicized, status quo Christianity that led us to this moment of reckoning. Only when we see how lost we are, we can find our way again. Only when we bury what’s dead can we experience life again. Only when we lose our religion can we be amazed by grace again.

I have to say, I am relieved to find someone else who is a Christian, but like me, doesn’t support Donald Trump and is more than a bit unhappy with the current issues of racism and covering-up of sexual abuse going on in the Church. That being said…

Losing Our Religion is a book that tells it like it is. The Church is rife with problems that stem from the fact that we view our faith as a religion rather than what it is – faith. At least that’s how I view it and how I perceived the book to be viewing it as well.

This book tackles the tough issues such as the Church becoming embroiled in politics. It talks about how in many cases, Christian thought leaders will support a candidate who at least claims to support the same causes they do, while completely ignoring the causes they don’t support. It also talks about the way in which Christian thought leaders and churches excuse or ignore un-Christian behaviors exhibited by these political candidates.

There are a ton of examples of how the church is more or less contradicting itself, but Russell Moore doesn’t just tell us the problems, he gives practicable solutions to the issues. He doesn’t just tell us “hey, there’s a problem here”, he actually provides solutions that we can work on.

I gave this book 4 stars because it tells it like it is, provides solutions, and makes you think about how you and your church leaders are viewing faith, patriotism, nationalism, and more. I highly recommend this to anyone who is frustrated at the current state of the Church.

four-stars