One of the paradoxes of our age seems to be that although we place a great emphasis on authenticity (“just be yourself”), we’ve also created endless opportunities to hyper-manage our own image through the likes of social media, etc. This state of affairs makes a resource like Faker really valuable. It’s a very readable little book offering a refreshing and practical invitation to reject a life of “faking it,” for the ‘real reality’ that knowing Jesus brings. Author Nicholas McDonald, the man behind the website Scribblepreach.com, begins like this:

“Have you ever felt a faker? I have. I’ve felt like no one in the world knew who I was. I’ve felt like I had to be someone I’m not. I’ve felt like, no matter who I was, no one would care… I’ve felt like I was living with a mask. Maybe you’ve looked around your work or school and thought: ‘What are we all doing? Why are we all trying to impress each other? Why can’t anyone accept me for who I am?’

Faker is humorously laced with McDonald’s own story, including typically teenage struggles (as well as present battles), but the heart of his book sees him explain and apply the short parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, which Jesus tells in Luke 18:9-14. His conviction is that much ‘faking it’ is rooted in both fear and self-righteousness, and it is only an encounter with Jesus that confronts these.

Every chapter begins with a quotation from a contemporary film or book, from Tony Stark in Iron Man through to Gaga and The Hunger Games, with McDonald illustrating how the issues the parable raises are weaved into our culture and world. The clean font and blog-style paragraphing, along with quirky little line drawings by André Parker all mean Faker is a pleasant and easy read. The style and tone means McDonald is definitely writing for a ‘youthful’ reader, but that could feasibly be anyone from 14-30, and even beyond that.

However, don’t read any of that as suggesting Faker is ‘light’. McDonald isn’t afraid to unpack concepts that he considers critical to understanding Jesus’ parable, even when they aren’t necessarily everyday concepts. He shows why the tax collector’s cry for “mercy” is actually a plea for propitiation, and what that word means anyway (and why it matters)! He reflects on why a God of love is not at odds with a God of holiness, and how that can be. He’s a clear and engaging teacher who can tell a good yarn, and evidently he has a real passion for seeing young people engage with the gospel in such a way that its embedded into everyday issues and currents.

If you’re looking for a short but stimulating summer read, something to give to a young friend or relative, or even something for a camp bookstall, Faker is a worthy choice. It’s published by the Good Book Company, and available from their website, as well as most book retailers.

Full disclosure: The author sent me a copy of the book for free, but I hope this is still a fair and honest review!

Here are a few lines that stood out:

– “It’s pretty tough to love God or anyone when you’re afraid they won’t approve of you.”

– “Being a faker is ugly. Not only does it cause us to live on an emotional roller-coaster, it also causes us to look down on others when their masks aren’t as pretty as ours.”

– “Let me ask you: is your religion making you real, or fake.”

– “According to Scripture, simply looking in the mirror and saying ‘I’m great’ isn’t going to work. We don’t need more of our opinion – we need less of it!”

– “See, the God of the Bible is a God I wouldn’t have made up. He’s a God who’s over me, not a god who’s under my thumb. He’s a God who confronts me about my claim to the throne of my life.”

– “If we want to give up our masks, we need to swap stories. We need to forget the silly story about our fame, and soak ourselves in the true story of Jesus.”

– “Self-righteousness is never satisfying righteousness.”

– “It’s a bit like the Pharisee stepped into God’s throne room to build an altar to himself.”

Water of the Word is a collection of nearly 250 prayers, weaved from Scripture, put together to be prayed specifically by a husband concerning his wife. And if you’re someone who has been given the particular privilege and responsibility of being a husband, then I don’t know why you wouldn’t want it by your side. It’s a gem.

Reviewing a book like this is, on the one hand, a little strange. That’s because essentially it’s a book rammed-full of Scripture. As the author (or should that be editor) Andrew Case says, “if you like the Bible, you’ll like this book”. Fill it with the word of God and you can’t really go wrong!

On the other hand, I still want to publicly ‘review’ this book because it’s so excellent and so helpful. Case knows that it is easy to be a sleepy and lazy pray-er, and thus a sleepy and lazy pray-er for one’s wife. But he was inspired by George Mueller’s commendation to “pray Scripture” and so began to read the Bible seeking to pray it back to his heavenly Father about his wife. As a result, each page consists of one prayer, perhaps six or seven sentences long, and each rooted in a passage of the Bible. Case’s wording is deep and fresh, but the result is simple and brilliant.

Case writes in his preface that husbands have a model for such prayer in Jesus’ constant intercession for his bride, his people. So for husbands to love their wives “as Christ loved the church” (Ephesians 5:25) will involve praying for them. The title then comes from Ephesians 5:26, where Jesus is described as making his bride holy by “the washing of water with the Word”. Scripture is part of our God-given means by which we seek our wives’ spiritual well-being. And Scripture + Prayer = this book.

I’ve by no means used every page yet, but I’ve found Water of the Word to be a great aid to my own faltering prayer. Like the popular book, Valley of Vision, it’s just very helpful to be given good words to pray. And in this case all these ‘good’ words are essentially lifted straight from Scripture. So, very good! In particular, I’ve appreciated both the call of this book to not neglect praying for my own wife, but also its support in actually giving those prayers some substance.

As a husband learns to pray for his wife, he is acknowledging that ultimately his wife’s needs are bigger than anything he can meet, and vice-versa. What every person needs most is God, and so what better thing is there than to pray to God for someone. As such I’ll finish off with these words from Case:

Of what good is it to do everything for your wife but the best thing? To bring all kinds of earthly goods before her for substance and honour is commendable, but to what end if you do not bring her before God? Will lifting up her by words of kindness and compliment suffice if you fail to lift her up before her Creator with supplications and thanksgivings? Why should you praise her for her beauty when you omit to exalt her Father for such matchless handiwork? You are not enough for her. Your strength is not strong enough for her. You are powerless to change her heart. Therefore pray.

You can pick up a copy of Water of the Word from its publisher 10ofthose, here, for only £6.99, with free postage. And before you ask, yes, there is a wife’s version now available too.

Full disclosure: The publisher sent me a copy of the book for free, but I hope this is still a fair and honest review!

The irony about reviewing this particular book on productivity is that I received my copy from the author nearly 200 days ago. Oops.

Now that could mean one of two things: either I really needed to read the book, because I’ve got serious organisational issues.

Alternatively, it could mean I read the book but it was so effective, that in my reorientated-organisational-self I simply prioritised not writing the review until this point. 

I’ll leave you hanging on that one.

Suffice to say, that having now finished What’s Best Next, I’m convinced it is an excellent book and will get you well on your way to both thinking biblically about your approach to ‘getting things done’, as well as helping you act wisely as you seek to be more effective. Perman states that his aim is to “reshape the way you think about productivity and then present a practical approach to help you become more effective in your life with less stress and frustration, whatever you are doing”. Boy, does he achieve it.

The sharp rise of knowledge-based industries has meant productivity has increasingly become an in-demand subject. At the heart of the abundance of ‘productivity lit’ has been David Allen’s hugely influential Getting Things Done (GTD), and it is this work that is referenced in What’s Best Next ‘s subtitle: “How the gospel transforms the way you get things done”. However, although the GTD methodology and its variants have their fanboys, there’s also a fair few sceptics of the movement. And so, despite Taylor Swift’s observation that “the haters gonna hate,” a cynic might remark that it was only a matter of time before someone jumped on the bandwagon with a ‘Christian approach’ to productivity. Is this book just going to be a few Bible verses wrenched out of context to support some quasi-Christian self-management tips?

It’s a valid concern, but happily author Matt Perman isn’t guilty of this, and it’s partly the book’s foundational sections that make it so strong. As the former Director of Strategy for Desiring God, Perman is well placed to write such a book. His popular blog regularly reflects on productivity, leadership, theology, and culture, and he’s particularly given a lot of time to thinking about the recent productivity movement through a biblical lens.  

For starters, Perman is clear from the outset that productivity is not about efficiency, but about effectiveness. And the minute you bring in a biblical worldview, then this is not a vague effectiveness but becoming effective specifically in the realm of fruitfulness in doing good works, as labours of love prompted by a gospel motivation. This is not about getting lots of the things-I-want-to-do done more quickly, as if it were just for my sake. Neither is Perman oblivious to the messy reality of life and the need to be flexible. Ultimately he is arguing for serving and loving others in all of life; it is about people, not things or tasks.

Even if you agree with Perman up to this point, you might still dismiss the need to examine your own productivity. But Perman perceptively notes that whether we like or not, we all have some sort of approach to getting things done, even if that approach is the absence of any real strategy. And if we’re Christians who are called to be stewards of our lives, gifts, hours, etc, for God and for others, then it’s right that we seek to ‘manage our time well’.

And so, having made his case for effectiveness in serving others, Perman then argues that this needs to translate into personal leadership (knowing what’s most important) and personal management (putting it first and actually doing it). Of course, this idea won’t be groundbreaking to anyone who’s familiar with the likes of David Allen, Peter Drucker or Stephen Covey, and Perman is the first to acknowledge that. In fact he suggests these ‘what’s best next’ approaches are a gift of common grace. The difference lies in that fact that Perman has already spent a third of his book building up a biblical approach to redefining the category of ‘best’, as well as examining our motivations for doing it.

Perman then spends the rest of the book unpacking four key steps for actually becoming more effective, using the acronym D.A.R.E. These stand for Define (knowing what’s most important); Architect (creating a flexible structure); Reduce (freeing up your time for what’s most important); and Execute (doing what’s most important). Throughout these I found myself underlining again and again. Perman writes with the aim of his work being useful for any work situation, but as someone who is in a situation where I am responsible for ordering most of my time it was gold-dust. He argues convincingly for the likes of personal mission statements; setting up your week and creating the right routines; harnessing multitasking, interruptions and procrastination; managing email and workflow; as well as managing larger projects in the midst of the everyday.

What’s Best Next is a treasure trove of general wisdom for working effectively, whilst all the way through compellingly directing one’s overall aim to that of using our lives to serve others, with the gospel as our motivation. It is very easy to read, and Perman’s use of chapter abstracts, summary boxes, and headings ensure one processes the headlines. I can’t think why someone would not benefit from much of this book. I plan on re-reading regularly, confident that each time will gradually sharpen my approach to my ‘getting things done’.

Go get yourself a copy. That’s what’s best next.

Full disclosure: The author sent me a copy of the book for free, but I hope this is still a fair and honest review!