Book Review: The Next Story — Faith, Friends, Family, and the Digital World, by Tim Challies

The following book review was written by a member of our congregation. The views presented here are solely those of the reviewer and may or may not align with the views of other members.

Reviewer

S. A. Owens

Comments

• As Christians, we may not be aware of the effect that technology is taking on many aspects of the practice of our faith. This book clearly address that issue in ways that this reviewer would have never considered to be applicable.
• Tim Challies presents an extremely convincing case as to how we unknowingly might allow the digital world to "use" us — rather than us using the digital world.
• In the Introduction of the book, the author states: “Through it all we will let God’s Word, the Bible, guide, inform, and convince us.” (pg. 18)
• The author discusses in a very understandable way, exactly how our brain itself is influenced by the technology explosion as well as how our relationships might also be influenced.
• One particular section of Chapter 7 in this book is entitled “Knowledge Verses Access.” It seems to thisreviewer that this one application alone might be a part of the reason so many Christians neither have the desire nor feel the need to have a “working knowledge” of God’s Word.

Recommendation

• Very interesting perspective concerning Christians and their use of technology. The book never implies that Christians should not use technology, only that we need to be aware of its pitfalls so that we can steer away from them in our own lives as well as in the lives of our families.