Tuesday, May 6, 2014

"The Greener Grass Conspiracy" by Stephen Altrogge

The Greener Grass Conspiracy: Finding Contentment on Your Side of the Fence

With humor and honesty, Stephen Altrogge helps us do battle with discontentment by steering us back to the central truths of the gospel. He addresses issues such as complaining and idolatry, reminding us of all that we have, and will have, in Christ.

MY THOUGHTS:
This is the best book I've read on seeking contentment. I love the comic drama Stephen Altrogge uses to explain the general human condition of discontentment. It's a conspiracy theory between the world, our hearts and Satan to steal our happiness. They do it by deceiving us into thinking we can find happiness somewhere other than in God. He has a wonderful way of creating word pictures to help us get it. A lot of this book is written with that terrific sort of humour that convicts us in a highly entertaining way.

I loved the description of his coffee shop meeting with King Solomon, who he describes as a combination of Albert Einstein, John Lennon, Donald Trump, Billy Graham, the president and Bill Gates. And it's hard to resist his imagery of idolatry. We hold a baseball-sized diamond in one hand and a mud-encrusted rock in the other. Being forced to choose between the two, we shockingly toss the diamond aside. In future moments of misery, I'll definitely take time to figure out which muddy rock I'm chasing after now. There is a whole chapter on all the reasons we have to be cheerful and grateful which I'm sure will be an instant bad mood buster too.

I was hoping Altrogge would take readers even further. People at many stages of their Christian walk will read this book. He convinces us that we must focus our worship on God alone, then leaves us to ourselves when it comes to figuring out how to love this being who may seem like thin air to many, as He can't be sensed with the five physical senses. Although he touches on this, someone with Stephen Altrogge's writing ability might have done a wonderful job in convincing readers why God is so worthy as a person. Even though this may be the subject of another book, an extra chapter focusing on His names and character may have really rounded this book out.

4 stars

  The Greener Grass Conspiracy available at Amazon

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