John Bevere

Review by Steven King, MBA, MEd

When I receive a book that makes bold proclamations on its back cover, such as this book will provide a “…fresh new mindset—a paradigm shift” about Christianity, I delve in looking for inspiration and insight. Sadly, Relentless provided neither inspiration nor insight.

Bevere’s original intent seems plausible: the Christian life is to be lived relentlessly, or with a dogged determination to live as Christ did. The initial preamble seems a little off show more as Bevere provides his pivotal verse from Romans 5:17 (TEV):
All who receive God’s abundant grace and are freely put right with him will rule in life through Christ.
From the phrase “rule in life,” Bevere builds a straw man argument that this implies our God vested right to govern our lives on earth. All allusions back to this premise are dovetailed with convenient scriptural allegory to our “being in charge,” or “ruling” over things.

Before delving into what really bothers me about the way this book is written, it is important to clarify a brief context of Romans 5:17. Quite simply, the distinction appears to be a contrast of death’s reign in our lives and subjugation to sin due to Adam’s original sin—and the ability of the believer to live above sin, or reign as a king, through the accomplished work of Christ. Bevere’s insistence that this verse implies a type of lordship over the quality of our lives is patently wrong and sets an amazing precedent for the eisogesis which informs his writing. [Eisogesis is reading something into a biblical text that does not exist in context as contrasted with exegesis, which means to draw meaning “out of” a biblical text.]

A little later in the book, Bevere turns to Daniel’s faithfulness as a proof text of living relentlessly. As quick reminder of the context of Daniel 6, King Darius was quite impressed with Daniel’s abilities. Daniel was the epitome of faithfulness and Darius was going to promote him to a position over his entire kingdom. Most certainly this disappointed the other officials who decided the only way they would be able to bring any charge against Daniel would be if they could do it in such a way to violate his religious devotion. As the story goes, they cajole Darius to make an irrefutable law prohibiting prayer to anyone but him. When Daniel remains faithful to his religious conviction, he becomes lunch for a pit of lions.

Bevere implies that Daniel was ten times more knowledgeable, innovative, or creative than any of the other officials and the fact of Daniel’s excellence spurned envy in their hearts. Such is the author’s speculation that this is the only reason why they would make a law not allowing prayer to anyone but the king. The context only divulges that Daniel had an extraordinary spirit and does not go into detail about his innovation or creativity. Were the officials envious? Absolutely! Perhaps they feared being left behind. Reading anything more into the text is blatant eisogesis.

While you will not find exegesis of the biblical texts used to “support” the ongoing thesis, you will find:

Hubris: Just because someone has written a number of books does not mean they should remind their readers every few chapters. Apparently, living a relentless Christian life means that you should vaunt your accomplishments to all those around you? I was offended when I read the author share a dream to “…go back to his high school English teachers and show them the 15 books he’s written (by God’s grace, of course), watch them faint, then revive them and lead them to Christ.”

Eisogesis: Reference to many different scriptures are made but their meanings seem to be twisted to suit the message. For the uninitiated, watch how frequently a writer will change the version of Scripture they use. The author quotes from multiple different versions of Scripture—the reason for this is to “demonstrate” that what is written is aligned with Scripture. If you look hard enough, you can find a version that has the precise word order, or word choice, that allegedly “proves” your point.

Authoritarianism: Bevere indicates that those who would differ with him are motivated by ill motive. Although this is precisely what the Bible commends as diligent reading in Acts 17:11: “And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.” (NLT)

Exclusivity: Whenever an author implies that 98% of Christians simply “do not get it,” a red cautionary flag should be raised. I do not recall the source, but one of my undergraduate professors in biblical studies said something akin to, “When someone finds something in Scripture that no one has ever seen before, nine times out of ten they’re absolutely wrong.”

Those seeking a “…fresh new mindset” or “…a paradigm shift” about Christianity should look elsewhere. show less

Pastor Alan Rockaway is on a couples retreat with his church, accompanied by his beautiful young (and new) wife and his teenaged son Jeff. The couples attending the teaching cruise from Pastor Rockaway’s mega-church in Colorado are ready to set their marriages aflame by way of the teachings they receive. Jeff, a reluctant attendee due to a difficult relationship with his father and the perceived hypocrisy within the church, is there as a videographer, recording the retreat for posterity.

A show more bright Sunday morning ushers in an unusual treat for the couples, as well as their home church. With his technical knowledge, Jeff has arranged for a live feed of the retreat attendees touching base with their church before they board a tourist submarine for an underwater exploration just off of Barbados. While Jeff is on deck filming the submarine’s descent – beaming the images back to Colorado – the unthinkable occurs. A rapid-fire collision occurs, with the damaged submarine dropping to the bottom of the ocean floor. People are trapped, hurting, and running out of air while a frantic church body drops to the floor in desperate intercession after viewing the accident live during their Sunday morning service.

Rescued is, in short, the most surprising book I’ve read this year. I am still astounded at what co-authors Bevere and Olsen have accomplished with this novel. I was so entirely taken in by their strong point-of-view writing that I felt they’d jumped up behind me and smacked a chair over my head. I was taken in completely unawares by their plan, to the extent that I would almost call them deceptive or sneaky, luring readers in before springing their trap. However, this is a trap you’ll want to be caught up in; a trap that will lead you to your knees in repentance before a holy God.

I found Rescued an extremely difficult book to read, and it certainly wasn’t due to the easy reading prose. If I hadn’t been obligated to review it I would have thrown it across the room in disgust and left it lying on the floor. I couldn’t believe that a respected Christian publishing house had allowed this title to be published under their imprint. How far had Christian fiction fallen? My stomach literally churned and I became queasy as I came to know Alan Rockaway. Alan is not a likeable character for a Christian who takes the Bible literally.

Watching him twist the word of God to justify his sins, watching his church support him in those sins, watching him revel in them, declaring these sins as God’s will for his life - it was just too much for me. I could barely handle the flashbacks as he reflected upon his decisions, justifying them once again in the face of possible death. I kept going, only because I had to, and if you find yourself reading Rescued, I recommend that you do the same. Persevere and you will receive a rich reward; read the story until it’s end - after all, it’s only 288 pages long.

I cannot think of one person who would not benefit from reading this title; God has, and will continue to use this work for His glory and purposes. Are you ready to be challenged and driven to self-examination? Are you ready to become humbled, contrite and driven into the arms of the Father? John Bevere and Mark Andrew Olsen spent hundreds of hours in prayer and study of the scriptures in order to write this novel. In retrospect it’s apparent that they must have. Only under the Lord’s guidance and inspiration could they have pulled this one off. If you’re able to withstand an emotional roller coaster ride through the extremes of emotion, I highly recommend you pick up Rescued, then share it with your friends, your relatives and others within your church. Are you ready to experience the ultimate rescue mission?

Reviewed at http://quiverfullfamily.com show less

Engineer and former Roman Catholic, now born again, Bevere gives many personal, Biblical, and hypothetical examples of intentional and oblivious lack of awareness of forgiveness. This christian understanding of the need of forgiveness is crucial to stop people from falling out of trust in the Lord's promise of greater graces. Without trust in the Lord, all that is left is the dead end of spiritual resentment. A fast read but this book is worth picking up while sifting through some of the show more Protestant sentiments that might not apply to you. show less

John Bevere doesn’t mince words. In “Good, or God?“, he shares the hard truth that what we consider to be “good” is often vastly different from what God would say is “good”.

John touches on topics such as God’s best for us, the devil’s strategies, focus, the lordship of Jesus, obedience, desires, our defaults, holiness, and so much more.

Some of John’s theology I disagree with (eg. it seems he believes you can still end up in hell due to your actions, even if you’ve show more already accepted God’s gift of salvation). However, overall, this book had a lot of excellent points, and very important reminders. I definitely recommend it. show less