I have both.
I did a review on my blog for
Fresh Air by Chris Hodges. I have not yet finished Perry Noble's
Unleash! but I read a good bit of it; I still will publish a review. They are both excellent books and written from a very common-language perspective that I think is fresh. If the hypothetical scenario came up to where I could only get one, I would choose
Fresh Air simply because it will make you think. Please don't take that as discrediting Perry's book, though, because either is good.
The absolute strength of both of these men is that they break it down in the common language. Chris will hit you hard sometimes with his theology, yet the vehicle that contains it is so incisive that you might not notice it. I listen to a number of podcasts all the way from the Reformed perspective to guys like the above down to local preachers. With the Reformed guys I often need to research terms or arguments, but with Pastor Hodges its just simple, yet often as profound.
One quote that I blogged about is this one:
“This isn’t just a twenty-first century American phenomenon. In every nation of the world and in every period of time you’ll find people practicing liturgies, reciting prayers, and obeying traditions while their hearts are far from God. They desperately try to know God by doing the right things externally. Perhaps the problem is more prevalent in our world today, though. In our technologically advanced age, where every problem has a solution, every bad habit can be changed, and every flaw can be corrected, we still cannot reduce our relationship with God to a formula.”
He builds his book around an illustration of the doldrums, which I believe to be solid.
Both books have the same message, essentially. It's about getting to a better life in Jesus - and it builds on taking an introspective look at our lives and realizing that there is better when we put it all in Jesus. It's about getting outside of that just living for the day mindset, but its not done in a self-helpy way.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am a member of the Tyndale Blog Network, so I received a complimentary copy of
Fresh Air to review. I also received
Unleash! directly from Perry's church in the form of a complimentary ebook - the church is Newspring Church. I'll try to finish it up soon and get back to you on it, but the last chapter I read was when it started getting good.
I guess what makes Perry's book a little less unique for me is that I attended the Unleash conference and several other conferences on the main Newspring campus, and his podcasts (both Newspring Church and his Leadership Podcast) are something I listen to regularly.
