The Barbarian Way - chapter 1

The Barbarian Way is a small, four-chapter book by Erwin Raphael McManus. Here are quotes from the first chapter:

Barbarians are guided by the wind of God and ignited by the fire of God (13).

Every devout believer - in fact, any person of faith from any religious persuasion, whether Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, or whatever - believes in prayer, but we all know prayer is supposed to be us talking to God. We get a little nervous when someone starts hearing from God (14).

...Those who are most religious will be most offended and indignant (15).

Jesus did not suffer and die so we could build ourselves havens (16).

The irony, of course, is that barbarians are driven away in times of peace - they only disrupt our communities, traditions, and sensibilities. It is only in the most desperate of times - times of war or conflict - that these outcasts are welcomed or even invited to return (16).

Christianity has become our Shawshank... the prison we have created for ourselves (17).

Jesus is being lost in a religion bearing His name (17).