Free on Kindle - The Naked Gospel

koland · 10-06-2009, 10:19 AM

The Naked Gospel: Truth You May Never Hear in Church, by Andrew Farley

Book Description
I found myself lying on the floor of my apartment, sobbing for hours on end: "God, I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do, and I still don't feel closer to you. In fact, I feel worse than ever! How could this have gone wrong? I can't see any way out. Help me."

As a university student, Andrew Farley found himself physically and emotionally addicted to street evangelism and Bible study. Yet despite his fervid behavior, he knew something was missing. That something was an understanding of the gospel that is stripped of the compromises and clichés of the modern church.

The Naked Gospel finds friends among those who are burned out on experience-chasing, ceremonialism, or legalism. It attacks churchy jargon and powerless ideas and puts forth a message that is simple but life-changing. With a fresh take on Scripture and unapologetic style, The Naked Gospel will challenge you and stir you to re-examine everything you thought you already knew.

drew00149 · 10-06-2009, 11:10 AM

Well I've never heard about this book and I'm unfamiliar with this author but it's free so why not.

I wish I could say I trust books from Zondervan to be somewhere within the realm of orthodoxy though - but I can't.

Edit: Uh oh, praise from Leonard Sweet on the first page - not looking good. Perhaps I'll post my full thoughts if I ever get around to reading the book in a few days.

koland · 10-06-2009, 01:20 PM

So far, I can say with complete confidence that I trust Zondervan to give me free books. Other than that, though.....

I must say, I haven't read any of the freebies that they have had. But I know that others have and the reviews are not always bad. With religion, often reviews are criticisms of other's viewpoints, not of writing style, so they tend to be quite polar in their comments.

For those without a Kindle, this book is also free on the book's website, thru the 15th, I think.

drew00149 · 10-06-2009, 02:35 PM

Well I would expect the objections to be of doctrine and not writing style necessarily. That's what my objection would stem from regarding a book of this nature.

Anyway, I read the forward and was encouraged I thought it might be interesting and then starting with the first chapter the book becomes strangely formatted.

Is it just me or does the type become monstrously big and the justification centered?

drew00149 · 10-06-2009, 03:05 PM

Well while I'm waiting on a reply to that I will just go ahead and say through reading the free pdf (well more like through browsing the free pdf to find a particular section) fears of bad theology confirmed.

But more interesting is this very strange mobi file. Try stripping the drm and see what you find.

drew00149 · 10-06-2009, 03:41 PM

Ahh why is this book so weird.

Eventually through flipping pages the book decides to fix its formatting but when I get to a new chapter it's messed up again until I reach that point that fixes it.

koland · 10-06-2009, 10:32 PM

Yeah, looks pretty bad on the DX as well (then again, maybe they think only the old and infirm of eyesight will be reading it....?)

drew00149 · 10-06-2009, 10:53 PM

I just think it's really weird because if you go far enough into the chapter it appears to fix itself and you can go back to pages that were displayed improperly but then magically they are now fixed. But once you enter a new chapter all bets are off.

But if you strip the drm and open it in some other mobi reader these sections appear blacked out. What I mean is the first section of the book that displayed fine on my kindle is great - but beginning with chapter 1 the text is set on a black background. This appears to make this file pretty useless without some editing. I've never seen this before.

All that to say perhaps the weird formatting problems on the kindle are somehow connected with this umm I dunno would it be an anti piracy method or something?

koland · 10-07-2009, 10:42 AM

More likely, it's just an incredibly bad job of conversion, by a publisher that wants the publicity from offering a free book, but doesn't really care what it looks like (and maybe wants it to be bad, so that you'll buy the paper book instead).

10-06-2009, 10:19 AM	#1
koland Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,560 Karma: 8033155 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: TN, USA Device: kindle(all), nook, nookcolor, Sony, Kobo, epic, iphone, iPad, pc	Free on Kindle - The Naked Gospel The Naked Gospel: Truth You May Never Hear in Church, by Andrew Farley Book Description I found myself lying on the floor of my apartment, sobbing for hours on end: "God, I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do, and I still don't feel closer to you. In fact, I feel worse than ever! How could this have gone wrong? I can't see any way out. Help me." As a university student, Andrew Farley found himself physically and emotionally addicted to street evangelism and Bible study. Yet despite his fervid behavior, he knew something was missing. That something was an understanding of the gospel that is stripped of the compromises and clichés of the modern church. The Naked Gospel finds friends among those who are burned out on experience-chasing, ceremonialism, or legalism. It attacks churchy jargon and powerless ideas and puts forth a message that is simple but life-changing. With a fresh take on Scripture and unapologetic style, The Naked Gospel will challenge you and stir you to re-examine everything you thought you already knew.

10-06-2009, 11:10 AM	#2
drew00149 Connoisseur Posts: 52 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Florida Device: PRS-505, iRex iLiad, HTC Kaiser	Well I've never heard about this book and I'm unfamiliar with this author but it's free so why not. I wish I could say I trust books from Zondervan to be somewhere within the realm of orthodoxy though - but I can't. Edit: Uh oh, praise from Leonard Sweet on the first page - not looking good. Perhaps I'll post my full thoughts if I ever get around to reading the book in a few days. Last edited by drew00149; 10-06-2009 at 11:29 AM.

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10-06-2009, 01:20 PM	#3
koland Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,560 Karma: 8033155 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: TN, USA Device: kindle(all), nook, nookcolor, Sony, Kobo, epic, iphone, iPad, pc	So far, I can say with complete confidence that I trust Zondervan to give me free books. Other than that, though..... I must say, I haven't read any of the freebies that they have had. But I know that others have and the reviews are not always bad. With religion, often reviews are criticisms of other's viewpoints, not of writing style, so they tend to be quite polar in their comments. For those without a Kindle, this book is also free on the book's website, thru the 15th, I think.

10-06-2009, 02:35 PM	#4
drew00149 Connoisseur Posts: 52 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Florida Device: PRS-505, iRex iLiad, HTC Kaiser	Well I would expect the objections to be of doctrine and not writing style necessarily. That's what my objection would stem from regarding a book of this nature. Anyway, I read the forward and was encouraged I thought it might be interesting and then starting with the first chapter the book becomes strangely formatted. Is it just me or does the type become monstrously big and the justification centered?

10-06-2009, 03:05 PM	#5
drew00149 Connoisseur Posts: 52 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Florida Device: PRS-505, iRex iLiad, HTC Kaiser	Well while I'm waiting on a reply to that I will just go ahead and say through reading the free pdf (well more like through browsing the free pdf to find a particular section) fears of bad theology confirmed. But more interesting is this very strange mobi file. Try stripping the drm and see what you find.

10-06-2009, 03:41 PM	#6
drew00149 Connoisseur Posts: 52 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Florida Device: PRS-505, iRex iLiad, HTC Kaiser	Ahh why is this book so weird. Eventually through flipping pages the book decides to fix its formatting but when I get to a new chapter it's messed up again until I reach that point that fixes it.

10-06-2009, 10:32 PM	#7
koland Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,560 Karma: 8033155 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: TN, USA Device: kindle(all), nook, nookcolor, Sony, Kobo, epic, iphone, iPad, pc	Yeah, looks pretty bad on the DX as well (then again, maybe they think only the old and infirm of eyesight will be reading it....?)

10-06-2009, 10:53 PM	#8
drew00149 Connoisseur Posts: 52 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Florida Device: PRS-505, iRex iLiad, HTC Kaiser	I just think it's really weird because if you go far enough into the chapter it appears to fix itself and you can go back to pages that were displayed improperly but then magically they are now fixed. But once you enter a new chapter all bets are off. But if you strip the drm and open it in some other mobi reader these sections appear blacked out. What I mean is the first section of the book that displayed fine on my kindle is great - but beginning with chapter 1 the text is set on a black background. This appears to make this file pretty useless without some editing. I've never seen this before. All that to say perhaps the weird formatting problems on the kindle are somehow connected with this umm I dunno would it be an anti piracy method or something?

10-07-2009, 10:42 AM	#9
koland Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,560 Karma: 8033155 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: TN, USA Device: kindle(all), nook, nookcolor, Sony, Kobo, epic, iphone, iPad, pc	More likely, it's just an incredibly bad job of conversion, by a publisher that wants the publicity from offering a free book, but doesn't really care what it looks like (and maybe wants it to be bad, so that you'll buy the paper book instead).

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