Culture Shift: The Battle for the Moral Heart of America

The world keeps changing, and some of those changes are not for the better. It can seem as if we are standing on rapidly shifting sands. Moral issues that were unacceptable a few years ago are commonplace now. Television and the Internet is part of the problem, but an even greater influence is provided through the lax attitude people have toward the difference between right and wrong. Our children are exposed to teachings that undermind our Christian faith, and every day we are faced with questions and decisions previous generations never had o confront. In Culture Shift, Dr. Albert Mohler shines a bright light on the difference between what the world teaches and what God teaches, charting a clear path for the believer who seeks God's will. Recommended

R. Albert offers an incredibly informative examination on many of the most pressing issues that are going on in our country today. I really enjoyed the short-chaptered essay format of this book. They are very concise and get right into the important part of the issue (but I pray they are not incomplete). This book will, indeed, edify the church, in understanding our culture before going out and obeying the first and second greatest commandments. For its cursory examinations, this book does not offer so much a fiery exhortations to Christians, for it does not seek to do so. For more information on that, refer to the subject matter of "revival." This book has done its job of convincing me that it is the only means to turn this country back to Jesus.

Mohler stands in the gap, between the ivory towers of the academic world and the pop-consumer reader. Mohler's unusual gift of information intake and thoughtful processing is fully evident in this book. Mohler processes the writings of cultural taste-makers (assuming that the ideals of the academy eventually trickle out to popular culture) and provides a thoughtful analysis for those who haven't the time to read what is coming out of the different academic disciplines, or even know where to find such material. Mohler also provides an academically clear headed sifting through articles circulating in popular magazines and newspapers. At first glance, the size of the book is surprising. But don't let its conciseness fool you. Mohler is so precise with his wording that depth of thought and analysis are not found wanting. With that said, this book is an easy read. Taking practical cultural issues and addressing them thoughtfully and clearly. Mohler also writes with an `excitement' that makes it hard to put this book down. I would give this book to anyone who enjoys addressing cultural topics. Christians and non-Christians will benefit from reading this work. The non-Christian should be respectful of Mohler's thoughtful and appropriate application of Biblical texts to the issues pertaining. The Christian should consider this read to open up new categories of thought, and ways of addressing the issues that find themselves on the covers of our newspapers, and become the 'political' topics of lunch conversations.

Rarely do I pick up a non-fiction book and cannot put it down. Yet, when I picked up Al Mohler's new book, Culture Shift, I could not put it down until I was done reading it. Granted, the book is really a brief introduction to Christianity's influence on practical cultural issues (only 160 pages) but it was not the low amount of pages that made it a must-read, it was rather the content that was life changing for me. Mohler, one of the greatest minds in the Evangelical church today, is President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY. And while this may be his first book, it is hardly his first foray into writing. Amongst a plethora of articles and chapters for books, Mohler has an almost daily blog that deals with many cultural issues and how Christians are to respond. In fact, many of these chapters in his book, Culture Shift, were originally written for his blog. But, even if you have read these before, you must read them again. We as Christians, Mohler notes, often take two approaches to our involvement with culture. Some take the extreme of non-involvment. For instance, hard lined Classical Dispensationalists may argue that we as Christians have no real responsibility to transform culture at all apart from the proclamation of the Gospel. Whereas, on the other side liberal theology becomes so involved with transforming culture that they neglect the actual mission of the church; evangelism. So, the first thing that Mohler does in his book is articulate issues of culture, engagement, and the Christian's responsibility to culture. The first five chapters then seek to introduce these issues, and defend a Christian's engagement and involvement in culture and to denounce the concept of a purely secular culture. Mohler then begins to engage various issues with logical clarity, an unparalleled knowledge of society's best writers, and an unfailing adherence to the Scriptures. Mohler discusses areas of offence, the role of the Supreme Court on religion, terrorism, public schools, the God gene, parenting, dishonesty, abortion, natural disasters and God's sovereighty, nuclear war, and racism. In each chapter Mohler surveys the writings of some of America's greatest writers, praising them where they are correct, criticizing them where they are wrong. He clearly interacts with the issues and then responds with Scripture where it applies. While these are not in-depth critiques of cultural issues, they are tantalizing surveys of the issues. I found myself many times thinking I needed to read the book Mohler was talking about in a particular chapter. You may not agree with Mohler on every issue. For instance, on the use of torture especially in terrorism cases I am not sure I agree with a blanket ban on the use of torture as in the McCain amendment. But I am willing to be persuaded by further study. On the other hand, I think Mohler is right on with the issues of our coddling of our children, the maintaining of both God's sovereignty

"If you were a fish, would you realize you were wet? Every person is deeply embedded in today's cultural reality. Many are fundamentally unaware of this fact, but Christian faithfulness requires a thoughtful and conscious application of God's truth to everyday situations." So writes Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, in his new book out this month. What is amazing is that this is the first book authored solely by Mohler. He writes a mountain of words on his blog each week to the benefit of the church, and he has contributed individual chapters to numerous books. However, this is his very first book with only his name on the author line. Of course, introducing Mohler to readers of this paper is like introducing you to your own mother, for both have consistently served up nutritious food over the years - spiritual and material. It has now been nearly a decade since Chuck Colson and Nancy Pearcey gave us the influential manifesto How Now Shall We Live?, calling Christians to understand and act upon the knowledge that American culture is "post-Christian." In so doing, Colson and Pearcey taught terms like "Christian worldview" and "postmodern" to an entire generation of Christians. With the theological mind of Jonathan Edwards and the pastoral heart of Charles Spurgeon, Mohler takes up Colson's challenge to apply a consistent biblical worldview to all of life. In a quick-moving book of 178 pages, Mohler tackles grade inflation, Hurricane Katrina, Supreme Court decisions, abortion, tsunami and theodicy, politics, biomedicine, and public school education - just to name a few. As such, Mohler consciously stands in the tradition of his mentor, Carl F. H. Henry, who argued against disengagement from cultural issues in his book The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism. With Schwarzenegger-sized intellectual muscles at his disposal, you have to admire that the first book Mohler put forth is easily-accessible to any thinking Christian. Writing for the Christian in the pew rather than the scholar in the ivory tower, Mohler puts forth his positions with coherence and clarity. Upon reading Mohler's analysis, people in the local church will be better equipped to converse about these thorny cultural and theological issues. I gladly join in with John Piper, C.J. Mahaney, David Dockery, and others in recommending this book for your beginning-of-the-year reading.