Ha- in writing that title, I can visualize the disbelief on the faces of some of my more doctrinally minded friends. Before I read Blue Like Jazz, it occupied the same space in my mind as books like The Shack, Your Best Life Now, and anything by Joyce Meyer (by the way, I haven’t read Osteen or Meyer. I’m not making a claim about the books per se, but about my preconceived notions of those books. Please don’t be angry with me).

But I just finished Blue Like Jazz a few days ago, and I do think it’s worth reading. Don Miller has a very heartfelt and loving way of pointing out some weaknesses he has seen in American Evangelical churches, and he tries to correct these weaknesses with humility.

I think there are some questions Blue Like Jazz doesn’t answer, but I’m not sure Don Miller was intending to answer questions as much as cast a vision. And I think he did a pretty good job of that. I was edified and challenged through the book (and I didn’t even have to take off my theologian’s hat to do it, although sometimes I had to raise my eyebrows dangerously), and I honestly can recommend it to anyone who has grown up in the church and sometimes feels like the 10-dollar words don’t carry the same weight they used to.

-Daniel