Missions Resources - Bibliography
Deep-Rooted in Christ: The Way of Transformation
Authors: Joshua Choonmin Kang
ISBN: 978-0830835119
Publisher: IVP Books
Number of pages: 173
Type of cover: Soft Cover
Summary:
Fresh resolutions are sometimes paired with a new book to prod along the progress. But the book—like the resolution—is often found to be too much to handle and left unfinished. Deep-Rooted in Christ by Joshua Choonmin Kang is no such book.
Divided into eight parts for easy devotional reading and written in short, theme-based chapters, Deep-Rooted is a welcoming companion for growth in faith. With chapters on just about every necessary topic for basic Christian growth, Kang offers a gentle challenge to build faith from the ground up, and to precede spiritual filling with self-emptying.
While fulfilling the purpose of spiritual maturity, Deep-Rooted is not organized in the typical Western fashion of concisely numbered “how-to” steps or ordered disciplines. To the average North American looking for faith answers, the book may appear to lack a particular agenda. Yet this is a feature which adds to Kang’s inviting approach. As a Korean-American, it is also a feature Kang is aware of. “While living in two worlds that are often at odds with each other,” Kang writes in the preface, “I’ve learned to bring harmony out of conflict.” This spirit of harmony is evident in his writing. Without step-by-step instructions, Deep-Rooted holds the warmth of an inspirational read, while maintaining its credible foundation in Scripture.
The author’s references include his Korean culture, Richard J. Foster’s Celebration of Discipline, and the Apostle Paul’s wisdom. He also uses Old Testament figures as examples for lessons in waiting (Abraham) and hearing (Moses).
Kang’s devotional is set apart from others by his particular, repeated insistence on the power of meeting with God “in the early morning.” In his chapter “Soul Enrichment,” Kang calls the early morning a sacred time “when we wake to hear nature in silence, [and] grasp the deeper meaning of our lives.”
The author makes some assumptions that the reader has read the Bible and is familiar with some “Christianese” phrasing like "bearing fruit” and “living water.” It isn’t until Part Five that the author begins to address issues of “soul caring” which pertain more to the Christian who is a little farther along in his faith. Yet the first four parts should not be skipped over by the more mature Christian. Though basic, they are solid reminders of the Christian foundation or “root system" of faith.
Thanks to its foundational writing and gentle tone, Deep-Rooted in Christ is a book that can minister to every spiritual age in Christianity, and will help each of its readers to “become a person who pursues character before success, integrity before popularity, maturity before growth and service to others before accomplishment in your own life.”
by Shannon Whiting
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