The Top Five Teachings: An Asian Exploration of the Mysteries of Christ by Randy Loubier

The Top Five Teachings: An Asian Exploration of the Mysteries of Christ Reviews

• 
  Mariel

  The Top Five Teachings: An Asian Exploration of the Mysteries of Christ (The Tea Room Scrolls Book 1) by Randy Loubier
  
  I received a copy of the book and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
  
  The Tea Room Scrolls is written after the authors previous book, “ Slow Brewing Tea “, which basically introduces the reader to Biblical teaching within a fictional context.
  The Tea Room Scrolls is a calm, safe, peaceful Asian perspective in which to explore the mysteries of Christ, stretching yourself beyond your familiar boundary. It is a study and an overview of the top five most important teachings of the Bible, a coming together with the intent on growth, aimed at group or self-study. The author offers the opportunity to take a spiritual path consciously, deliberately, with a concise explanation that culture does not define our spiritual beliefs and vice-versa.
  
  This is a beautifully unique look at faith and the Bible, merging the east and the west in a manner that makes total sense but is something that admittedly I have never come across or even considered before. It took the author years of spiritual wandering to come to the realisation of what “ fits “ for him and made the decision to share his discovery as it must be similar for others.
  The book contains not only a story but also an explanation of faith including points to study in the Bible over a number of weeks but also at the readers own pace with the author accompanying you at each step.
• 
  Grymm Gevierre

  
  The last book I read by Loubier was Slow Brewing Tea. I remember commending the book for balancing religion and character/plot development in a way that didn’t come off as preachy or overly religious. The story was realistic and relatable.
  
  I find the Tea Room Scrolls in quite a different feel. The writing is a bit tighter and more focused in this book, but you can tell that Loubier has grown as a writer and cares deeply about sharing his stories. The approach here is a personal one for Loubier, and though the concept is similar (anti/non-Christian finding their path in faith), one was meant for relatability and bridging a gap. The other is more directly Christian and focuses on finding faith.
  
  The Tea Room Scrolls acts more like a spiritual journey guide than anything else. It is formatted like a self-help book. Loubier takes a lot of ownership in the material, explaining his stance and how it changed, but he also includes the reader in the positive lines. It’s cleverly written this way to secure investment. Loubier’s candidness here is the draw. If you’re curious or questioning your faith this book is for you. Although I am not a person of faith, there are quite a few moral and spiritual guidelines here that I found neat and useful. I recommend this if you fall into the target audience bracket.
  
• 
  Randy Loubier

  You will never see "religion" the same after reading this book. You've never seen Jesus like this--throw everything you've every heard or read about Christianity away, and start over with this book. Loubier distills religion down to the essentials, uniquely Jesus, uniquely loving, fabulously enticing. If you were going to take a fresh start at "spirituality," this is where to start! If you were going to strip religion/dogma/protocol away, you would get to the top five things Jesus taught. Discover for yourself what Jesus really said, and you will be surprised at how far we have strayed in the west, and how close we could be in the east.
• 
  Pegboard

  The Tea Room Scrolls by Randy Loubier takes his readers on a spiritual journey that combines Eastern culture with Christianity. Living in Japan for two years, showed Loubier a people that had biblical standards woven in their lifestyle. The love, genuine care, and the peace they show towards those around them emphasize the Bible teachings. I enjoyed the layout of this book and how it is written and the added bold type and boxes helped to keep the focus on the main points.
  
  As I was reading The Tea Room Scrolls, I found many things that Randy Loubier brought to light in an interesting way. His chapter on Doubt is Normal was intriguing as he encourages us to doubt so we will ask questions and dig for the answer ourselves. Don't just leave it at doubt, act on it and find the solution within the pages of the Bible. Never let doubt or fear rule your mind.
• 
  Grady

  A mindful and spiritual adventure – ‘Walk toward the mystery, rather than away’
  
  New Hampshire author Randy Loubier is the pastor of a church who has lived in Japan for a time, soaking up the culture and atmosphere he incorporates so well in his novel SLOW BREWING TEA. He has experienced both Eastern and Western spirituality and blends these two approaches beautifully in his new book, THE TOP FIVE TEACHINGS - Book 1 of a projected series he calls The Tea Room Scrolls.
  
  The honesty with which Randy communicates makes this testimony about revisiting Christian beliefs as comfortable as an intimate conversation. ‘I have a theory. I believe that if a person can get past their misunderstandings of Jesus, they will like Him. And once they start to like Him, and they read and hear more, they will come to LOVE Him. And once they love Jesus, their whole life is going to change in a radically joyful way. But that first step is a big one. With my fifty years of spiritual wanderings, I am an expert at misunderstanding Jesus. During those fifty years, I didn��t know I misunderstood Jesus. Looking back I can see it was a blindness I picked up in my teens…What do we do about a blindness that we are blind to? ‘ The answer follows in this little guide.
  
  As Randy states, that if the Asian could see Jesus in a familiar context, we would see Him as more approachable. He leads us through his tenets in weekly steps – Understanding each other, An introduction to the Tea Room Scrolls, and reexamining the scriptures. As he outlines the book’s content - ‘The mysteries of Christ are meant to be explored by everyone. Every background, every race, every spiritual heritage is invited. Yet, it might not seem that way; Christianity can often seem foreign and awkward, even to Christians. The Tea Room Scrolls is a bridge in the Asian garden. At the height of the bridge, two groups of people will meet in this study: those familiar with Asian spiritual traditions, and Christians wanting to explore Jesus’ teachings from a new vantage point. From the safety of the bridge, and with no pressure to step off the bridge, you will explore the mysteries of Jesus Christ in a fascinating format. Mankind has questions—about the purpose of life, the path of blessed living, the way to live in peace, the pursuit of abundant joy. You will never forget as you ponder Jesus’ answers to the most important questions of life.’
  
  Easy to read and understand, Randy’s words offer valuable insights for all who question the viability of the Christianity, especially now as so many belief systems falter. An interesting concept and one to follow in the subsequent books of this series.
• 
  Nature Vallie

  This book was given to me by a friend and I didn’t read it right away as I didn’t think it would be my thing. But I was wrong, very wrong! The Tea Room Scrolls took me on a spiritual journey and I have to be honest and admit that after reading it has made me rethink and revisit my christian beliefs, and offered valuable new insight and understanding that I too, like the author, appear to have been blinded to until now. This is a spiritual book that invites everyone to read, no matter their religious beliefs. Well worth a read in my opinion.
• 
  Christina F

  The Tea Room Scrolls, written by Randy Loubier, is a book of five teachings to help facilitate people in exploring the mysteries of Christ. The author provides a safe, calm and peaceful Asian context in which to do so. He believes that people of all backgrounds can benefit from exploring the mysteries of Christ. He states he has been doing the same for 50 plus years and admits he was not a fan of Christianity for a very long time but knew he believed in God and wanted to go on a quest to find out exactly what God would look like to him. The author moved to Japan for a few years on his spiritual journey to explore his faith and he found himself intrigued by the Asian faiths (i.e. Buddhism, Taoism, Shinto and Hindu).
  
  The teachings in the Tea Room scrolls give an Asian context to the Bible. The author calls the Tea Room Scrolls a “bridge in the Asian garden” and shows the reader that there are many Asian concepts in the Bible. The author encourages us all to explore our faiths deeper and go on our own spiritual journeys at our own pace. To be open to mystery, learning, growing and loving others. The book is laid out so one can easily go through the lessons with charts, grids, Bible versus to focus on and more.
  
• 
  Robin Red

  Author Randy Loubier spent 50 years of his life as an anti-Christian, and in his words “ so I know all the arguments and excuses for disbelieving, doubting, being frustrated with church and Christians in general.” During this time, he studied and practiced many Asian spiritual pursuits, and at the age of 50 he finally read the Bible and was born again by the Word of God. Now, as an author and pastor, his aim is to reach two groups of people—curious non-believers and fringe Christians—to ignite or re-ignite their love for Jesus. An ambitious task, but one in my opinion he is excelling at.
  
  The Tea Room Scrolls is a portal that leads to both the above groups in a unique way of learning and studying scripture, using an ancient Eastern context. It is a study and an overview of the top five most important teachings of the Bible. I’m not a particularly religious person myself, but I found this to be a fascinating read.
  
  I found The Tea Room Scrolls to be unique in its way of teachings by incorporating different faiths and looking at the similarities. It took me on a journey that made me look at religion in a different way to that which I’m familiar with, which I guess was the purpose of Loubier writing this book. After contemplating what I’d read I found a greater understanding and vision from reading this spiritual book and I would recommend to anyone even remotely curious about this sort of thing. Wether someone looking to read a different perspective, or maybe even someone doubting their own faith.
• 
  Peaches

  The Top Five Teachings: An Asian Exploration of the Mysteries of Christ by Randy Loubier builds on his experience as a preacher and pulls in an Asian mindset to explore Christ and all of His mystery. This is a rather straightforward book, almost textbook-like, but still disseminates helpful information for your own spiritual journey. Having lived in Japan for several years, the author expands on his knowledge of Eastern thought and combines it beautifully with a Christian perspective. This is more than just a book to pursue and know Christ, there are actionable steps to take, a weekly study guide, and more. Immersive and helpfully written, Loubier encourages Christians to explore their relationship with Christ, and get to know Him on a deeper level. Highly recommend.
  
• 
  Rose

  This book has a lot of practical advice for exploring your spirituality.
  What I liked:
  1.Good weekly layout of weekly study
  2. Scrolls and charts
  The author lays out weekly lessons for you to follow, and to view your relationship with Jesus in different ways.
  The scrolls he included are really beautiful.
  The charts are easy to follow, and could be used in a Bible study group. This is a unique and different approach to a scripture study.
  The author refers to a previous title that he wrote on numerous occasions, so while it is not necessary to read that first, it might be helpful.