The Life You Were Born to Give: Why It's Better to \t\t Live Than to Receive

In this study of the biblical book of Romans, McKinley urges us to \t\t shift our focus away from getting whatever we can out of life to giving our \t\t lives away. "God intends for us to become catalysts for distribution, not \t\t containers for consolidation," he explains. He divides his study into three \t\t sections: our need for God, our need to extend God's grace to others and \t\t practical ways to live the life we "were born to give." McKinley liberally \t\t quotes others and uses historic and current events and positive personal \t\t stories to make his points. However, his chapters feel like a series of \t\t sermonettes ("Are you discouraged today?"), with all the predictable sound \t\t bites. The advice that McKinley, a Southern Baptist pastor, offers is what \t\t you'd expect: he calls for placing God in the center of our lives, practicing \t\t baptism by immersion, putting aside homosexuality, paying a full tithe, living \t\t in love, finding our gifts and using those gifts for others. Some Christians \t\t may find his short discussion on alcohol overly conservative, and the long list \t\t of people he is grateful to belongs in the acknowledgments. Still, many \t\t Christian readers will find his key point compelling: "When you learn to give, \t\t you learn to live." (Feb. 6)