Voice of Luke-VC: Not Even Sandals

MacLaren has given us wonderful retelling of the longest, most comprehensive Gospel. When the Christian movement was just beginning, they didn't have a Bible or a collection of 4 Gospels. If a church were lucky, they might have one Gospel like this one to tell the story of Jesus. The commentary too is helpful in drawing you into the story. Not only was the story of Jesus and his first followers, but it is the story of all his followers as well. Well done, Brian and Thomas Nelson.

In THE VOICE OF LUKE, the fourth book in the multi-author The Voice series, emergent church author Brian McLaren tries his hand at retelling the Gospel of Luke while offering background commentary throughout, with interesting results. The Voice series is a scripture project touted by the publisher as "designed for the emerging church culture and those seeking new ways of exploring Scripture." For those not familiar with the term "emerging church," it's often used to describe young Christians dissatisfied with traditional Christianity and looking for alternative ways to pursue community and faith with Christ still at the center. The Voice is an ambitious project, planned to span all books of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. In the series, authors work to present the scriptural text as narrative story --- including emotion, meaning, experience and more holistic communication --- rather than direct translation or paraphrase. The formatting may take readers a while to get used to, with so many things happening on the pages. In McLaren's Gospel of Luke, dialogue is set off and highlighted (avoiding the use of quotation marks) to intentionally give the reading the feel of a screenplay. McLaren uses present tense narration, which he believes helps the reader enter the story imaginatively. This, with McLaren's commentary (or "devotional notes" as the book calls it), gives the book the feel of a contemporary Sunday morning service that features a long skit paired with pastoral teaching. The italic typeface, often used in other books to give emphasis, is used here to indicate words not directly tied to a dynamic translation of the original translation. This creates the biggest hindrance in smooth story flow; I had a hard time not emphasizing those words as I read, and it made the narrative a little choppy. The frequent use of exclamation points also may seem a little overdone (one page alone had eight). But who can fault McLaren for letting the characters be so enthusiastic? (Shepherds: Let's rush down to Bethlehem right now! Let's see what's happening! Let's experience what the Lord has told us about!) Chapters are sometimes referred to as "episodes" within the narrative, and a chapter might open with "As our story continues..." This adds to the screenplay effect. What may work best about THE VOICE OF LUKE is McLaren's short "devotional notes" or personal commentary, given in shadow boxes on the pages. McLaren points out developing themes, looks at gaps in the narrative (such as Jesus's life between birth and age 30) and draws the reader into the text by making relatable comparisons ("Jesus' family was a lot like our own --- full of mishaps and misunderstandings.") McLaren is in full pastoral swing in these sections: warm, engaging and educational. One of my favorites: McLaren explains in Luke 3 how, while genealogies may seem tedious to us (all those names!), they were crucial for the culture of Luke's time. "Luke places Jesus in the mainstr

I really can't recommend enough the Voice project. The material that continues to come out is amazing and from what I hear of what is to come out soon will just add to the great resources already available. This continuing of excellent material continues with Brian McLaren's The Voice of Luke: Not Even Sandals. McLaren explores a narrative retelling of the Gospel story according to Luke. This book really gives the feel, emotion, meaning, and the "experiential" way of communicating the story of Jesus. This project is more then a translation or a paraphrase but more a retelling and the structure and feel is more of a screenplay, which makes for interesting and sometimes more engaging way of reading. The devotional thoughts or basically McLaren's commentary throughout the whole book really is a highlight of the reading and helps with the retelling of the story. McLaren is get with bringing the reader in and really engaging the reader. McLaren ties in the themes going on and even consistently brings you back to the idea of "not even sandals" and develops that as the book goes on (I'll leave it to you to read the book to learn more about what McLaren is talking about). Again, I can't speak enough about the effectiveness of this resource and its ability for retelling the story and engaging a new kind of reader to Scripture. This is a great resource for youth ministry, personal reading, devotional reading, bible studies, and even used in periods of worship. matt wilson www.mattwilson.wordpress.com

"The Voice of Luke" is another of the titles in "the Voice" series, a scripture project to rediscover the story of the Bible, translated for a time of transition in the contemporary church. Holistic in approach the readings take into consideration the heart, soul, and mind of man. The book includes commentary by the author Brian McLarnen, with additional devotional thoughts. These reflections challenge the reader to identify themselves as revolutionary disciples and followers of Christ,in the same measure as those disciples of the first century. The work respects cultural shifts, accuracy, and diversity. Voices and dialog are arranged for easy recognition as in a script for a drama production. This approach draws the reader into the passage. I found a resonance as I begin to interact with the "players" whether, Peter and Jesus, John, Matthew or Luke. The devotional notes throughout the narrative give insight for application, inspiration, and challenge. "The Voice of Luke" is an enjoyable reading experience, stimulating, engaging and transformative. This is relevant orthodoxy for emerging church.

The Voice of Luke: Not Even Sandals (The Voice) by Brian McLaren -- This is absolutely my favorite offering from The Voice so far. Brian McLaren does a masterful job of translating the book of Luke and offering devotional commentary in this stunning volume (Brian worked with a committee of Biblical scholars to ensure the accuracy of the translation, though this is by no means a word-for-word translation). Brian's work here is absolutely beautiful. In this book, he re-captured my imagination and re-invigorated my passion for the story of Jesus. When I finished it, I immediately grabbed The Voice of Acts: The Dust Off Their Feet: Lessons from the First Church (Voice) back off of my shelf because I was so engaged with the story. If you have lost your passion for reading scripture, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Fall in love with the story of Jesus all over again, or even for the first time.The Voice of Luke: Not Even Sandals (The Voice)