Homo Homini Lupus

2012-02-29T11:14:00.002-05:00

What's wrong with art today?
I normally refrain from reblogging all the tidbits from around the internet that strike me, but this piece of literary criticism from Vox Day is to brutally honest to pass by unremarked. There is a reason most of the books reviewed around here are nonfiction. This is that reason:

As Camille Paglia anticipated, the removal of religion from art has all but destroyed it. Although this is more visible in the visual arts, such as painting and sculpture, the disease of secularism has absolutely ravaged literature. Even the viciously anti-religious artist at least had something against which to posture. The philosophers may have foreseen the ghastly, soulless consequences of secular meaninglessness, but it has taken the artists to truly drive the ugly point home.

Vox manages to hit the mark on what is missing not just from the literary world but the visual as well. Why this is not a well known painting:

But this one is:

Can you guess which one is garbage and which a masterpiece?

Taken further, let one compare modern composers al a John Cage to Bach. Modern sculptures like Alexander Calder to Jean Leon Gerome. The comparisons could go on ad infinitum.

Propter Sanguinem Agni,

Learning and Living Scripture: An Introduction to the Participatory Study Method

2012-02-28T00:35:00.001-05:00

What are we learning about today?
Learning and Living Scripture is an introduction to the Participatory Study Method of Bible study. Energion Press founder Henry Neufeld and Geoffrey Lentz come together to give a comprehensive and demanding outline for personal and corporate study of the Bible.

The book is divided into two major sections. The first section, Learning, is the comprehensive overview of the Participatory Method proper. This covers the basic from overview reading to the more in depth central loop. The basic layout for the design is read, study, reflection, question, share: rinse and repeat. The approach is in itself a simple one but it is not without rigors.

The second half of the book takes everything that comes before it and applies this to the varieties of literary types in the bible. In this way the authors manage to provide a bible study method that drastic customization can be applied to the bible in its entirety.

The Good
The participatory method strikes at the heart of a sore lack for many contemporary churches in that it proposes that bible study should entail the actual study of the bible. Too often small groups and bible studies focus on programming much of which includes DVD's and set questions which are design to maybe-kinda challenge but certainly not to offend or upset anyone sensibilities. There are the occasional gems in the bunch but one must slog through endless hours of vapidity to find them. The participatory method is refreshing in that it skips all the flash and flowery words to put the word of God before God's people. It assumes not only that anyone can study the bible and be greatly edified, but that one should study the bible and share that study with the fold around them.

Learning and Living does not set the Word before the reader and say, "Go at it and good luck." Rather the work slowly add the pieces of the method together with each of the first chapters adding to those that proceed. In addition each chapter is laden with advice for personal and corporate study, sample questions and examples, and exercises at the end of each chapter to integrate the lesson into ones bible study. Normally when I read through a book like this I will read through the exercises but not actually do them. In this case I was taken up with the material and couldn't help myself. It may be that the participatory method was created with me in mind.

The final half of the book is not only helpful but is itself a resource that can be kept at hand for tackling whatever literary form the bible throws one's way. This portion is not comprehensive in the sense that one will need no other reference materials. Instead it expects more work on the student's part guiding the pupil's mind to the best modes of understanding and study.

The Caveat
The book has a number of small typographical errors. It was produced by a small independent press and is in first edition still. This fact makes the typos understandable but it does not take away from their distraction. That these irritants are there is a disappointment but they hardly detract from the better part of the book which is what it has to say.

The Final Word
For anyone wishing to know more about the Bible, interested in studying the Word of God, or tired of the same humdrum DVD pop Christianity variety bible study Learning and Living will provide the anodyne to your bible woes. Not only does it facilitate individual study but the method herein improves with sharing as more minds come to join in the conversation.

4/5

Propter Sanguinem Agni,
RS

PS. The exercise for Chapter 14 on Poetry suggests that the reader rewrite a passage as their own poetic. As it turns out Henry Neufeld is a talented poet as well: All water's safe where God his help can lend. / His city glows with joy as streams there fare. . . the rest here.

This book was provided to me free of charge by the publisher. They asked only for my honest opinion. Nothing weird or anything like that. I am only disclosing this information because it is illegal if I don't. I'm pretty sure that I would go to prison, probably for life, seeing how reviewing a product you are given for free under the guise of having purchased it yourself is similar to murder. O laws, like whitewashed tombs!

Thank you Energion Publications for the chance to review this work. Please support their work and buy this book.

Poesy's Possibilities, Week 3

2012-02-24T11:39:00.004-05:00

This Weeks Take
(From The Literary Gazette and Journal of Archaeology, Science, and Art, for the year 1857, p. 247)

O! 'tis wondrous much

(Though nothing prized) that the right virtuous touch

Of a well-written soul, to virtue moves,

Nor have we souls to purpose, if their loves

Of fitting objects be not so inflam'd:

How much then were this kingdom's main soul maim'd

To want this great inflamer of all powers

That move in human souls? All realms but yours

Are honoured with him; and hold blest that state

That have his works to read and contemplate;

In which Humanity to her height is rais'd;

Which all the world (yet none enough) hath prais'd.

Seas, earth and heaven, he did in verse comprise,

Outsing the Muses and did equalize

Their king Apollo; being so far from cause

Of princes' light thoughts, that their gravest laws

May find stuff to be fashion'd by his lines;

Through all the pomp of kingdowms still he shines

And graceth all his gracers.

-George Chapman
(From the introductory epistle to Homer's The Iliad Translated by George Chapman)

The Epic from the View of the 19th Century Literati: The Literary Gazette 1857

"Mrs. Barret Browning says that there is no lack of subject for an epic poem in modern society. Perhaps so, as the marble from which might be carved a Venus or a gladiator in the quarry. But the poet to write a modern epic, and the public to feel it, are not the products of the nineteenth century. Our feelings and lives are too complicated to admit of the simple treatment essential to epic vigour. This is the age of budgets and joint-stock banks. Modern society taboos all strong convictions. We should be ashamed of those violent bursts of passion which gave rise to heroic scenes. If Lord Palmerston and Mr. Disraeli were to call each other names, as Achilles and Agememnon did, they would be given in charge to a policeman.

It was the simple state of society, combined with the elegant pantheism of Greece, its hand-to-hand battles, its public games, its naked wrestlers, that gave birth to the Parthenon, the Venus, the Centaurs and Lapithae, and the Dying Gladiator. And it would be as impossible for the life and mind of the nineteenth century to produce an epic poem, as it is for our religion to create a statue or a temple. Imagination and real life are with us divorced from one another. The poet or our age must therefore seek his inspiration rather from the depth of his own consciousnces than from external things; and if we would have objective poetry, we must go back to simpler times, when heroic thought led to heroic action.

We must admire the Iliad and the mediaeval ballads as we do a statue or a cathedral; but we must not expect to see them reproduced. Our convictions and perceptions are not strong enough for that. Even to appreciate them requires the simplicity of mind and the strong belief which are found either in the very highly cultivated or in the very ignorant. The epic feeling lingered longest among the wild and impulsive peasantry of half-civilized countries, like Scotland, Ireland, and Spain. And only those of the highest mental culture, who are willing and able voluntarily to put off the complicated feelings of civilization, and to become in fancy barbarians or children, can thoroughly enter into the spirit of the epic."

Irony Articulated
The irony in the article comes from the popular cultures conception now of the 19th century. For the 21th century can't help but view the 19th century as though it were as far removed and simple as this 19th century reviewer found 8th century BC Greece. Of course in the humorous appraisal is also a tinge of sadness. For in the 19th century it was not a far-fetched hope that one would wish and attempt to write an epic like the old poets, only his success in trying appeared far-fetched. Today though who would find a person, not equal the task, but equal to the desire for it.

The Iliad as Translated by George Chapman

Propter Sanguinem Agni
RS

The Line Through the Heart: J. Budziszewski

2012-02-20T23:42:00.003-05:00

This Book Is Not a Romance
The Line Through the Heart: Natural Law as Fact, Theory, and Sign of Contradiction spans the philosophical and theological underpinnings that hold together every individual's worldview. It is in a word (or two) a work concerning Natural Law. It is not an introduction to Natural Law or a full and complete apology for it.

The first half of the book covers Natural Law proper as it relates to morality. These first pages read as an expose and apology as Budziszewski sets up the inseparability of the moral aspect and the theological aspect of natural law as outlined in the Decalogue. He turns first to the nature of man. He looks both at what we can't help but know about ourselves and at the implication of nature on revelation and vice versa. Next Budziszewski focuses on the idea of second nature, connaturality, or more simply he considers not the nature of Man but focuses on the what of any given individual in a situation. He shows just how unnatural man can make himself when he seeks to build his edifice from his own image. From here he delves into nature herself looking at different metaphysical presumptions of materialistic and evolutionary theories and what implications can be derived from them. His focus remains intently on morality which leaves contending theories wanting to such a degree that the reader may be left to wonder how he had missed it all before. In the closing chapter of the first half the author deftly tackles what might be called psuedo-natural law; these are the imitation laws like utilitarianism.

The second half of the book takes everything that has come before it and applies it to political law. First he examines the changing definition of a person and the implications; next he consider capitol punishment, but this chapter almost reads as an apology of justice guised under the hot bed of capitol punishment. Next he covers the constitutional government; first in looking at the difference between constitutions and constitutionalism, and second examining the metaphysical beliefs which lay under our understanding of the constitution proper. Finally he closes the political portion with a discussion and criticism of modern liberalism, political correctness, and toleration.

The Good
Line Through the Heart continues a long standing belief in Natural Law which the author defines and defends with an astute pen. Budziszewski is able to take a subject that can be technical and overwrought with difficulties and makes the reading an enjoyment. Such is the enjoyment that he convinces the reader along the way that he knew already what he is preparing to read.

I have long been a proponent of Natural Law since first reading Lysander Spooner's treatise on the subject some eleven years ago yet I have not found a work on the subject that covers so much ground and with such ease and concision. There is not a chapter within this work that could not be further expounded into its own tome. However, the work is so polished that one would be remiss to expect its improvement by expansion. As with sculpture quality does not increase with size, so with Line Through the Heart.

The Caveat
As enthused as I am for Line Through the Heart I could not recommend this without warning to the reader. Without bringing some understanding of what Natural Law is there is a chance that one would be found lost before ever setting out. This work is not introductory and presumes some level of understanding to be brought to the table. This does not mean that Budziszewski fails to explain those things which he discusses but that from the start he does not hold the hand of the reader and gently guide him along the way. Budziszewsi's approach is more akin to a rappel down a building, with a little foreknowledge he will get you to the very bottom of the issue with speed, ease and grace. Without it one might find himself face-down on the street.

The Final Word
All things considered this book is truly for all readers. Those who lack the foreknowledge require for the trek would do well to read some of the man's other works to gain an understanding of the issue at hand before coming back to this one. Those who have a handle on the subject will find nothing but pleasures.

5/5

Propter Sanguinem Agni,
RS

This book was provided to me free of charge by the publisher. They asked only for my honest opinion. Nothing weird or anything like that. I am only disclosing this information because it is illegal if I don't. I'm pretty sure that I would go to prison, probably for life, seeing how reviewing a product you are given for free under the guise of having purchased it yourself is similar to murder. O laws, like whitewashed tombs!

Thank you Intercollegiate Studies Institute for the chance to review this work. Please support their work and buy this book.

Blue Collar Intellectuals: Daniel J Flynn

2012-02-19T22:03:00.001-05:00

One Book, Two Books, or Five?
Blue Collar Intellectuals: When the Enlightened and the Everyman Elevated America is primarily a book covering the intellectual history of America. It is also a criticism of the current state of affairs. While been both this and that it is also a collection of five biographical vignettes of the eponymous blue collar intellectual. That the book succeeds in being all these things without overwrought affectations and without exceeding two hundred pages is a testament to the concision and narrative prowess of the author.

The introduction cuts right to the matter. Here in a mere fifteen pages the author tears down the sand-founded edifice of American pulp culture. Flynn's critique is astute and precise. His short description of the maladaptive society strikes the reader by its sheer obviousness, the sort that begs a cliche mention of noses and whats under them: "One can reference The Simpsons or Anchorman or an Eminem lyric with the understanding that an educated audience will know what one is talking about. Try doing that with The Odyssey or Moby Dick even. What is means to be an educated person has changed for the worse." That such statements are equal part condemnation and observation only adds to the power of introduction.

The book is more than its introductory remarks--they are strong enough to earn such a lengthy mention, but there is more. The book moves directly into the biographies of intellectuals who the author describes as being both blue collar and intellectuals. But what sets them apart is not either blue-collarness or intellectualism but their egalitarian take on knowledge, and more than this their evangelism of higher things for the very cut of society more often viewed as bereft of intelligence. These are not Will Hunting savants but intellectual Saint Paul's, not apostle to the gentile, nor to the genteel, but to the docksman, the farmer, the factory worker and the everyman.

The first to be studied is Will and Ariel Durant popular intellectuals. Will began, appropriate for this work, writing vignettes of the philosophers but his life was spent writing the history of the world with his wife. Next is Mortimer Adler who wrote the brilliant little book How to Read a Book, but here the focus is on the gargantuan task he took up of popularizing the great books. Next we have Milton Friedman the Chicago school economist whose life work was in popularizing the mysticism that is modern economics for the common. Then Eric Hoffer an autodidact longshoreman and hobo who wrote good sense in a era of senselessness and won the ear of multiple presidents. Finally Flynn closes with Ray Bradbury who was more the example than the evangelist, the Timothy to the Saint Paul of Adler and Durant. Bradbury of course is the brilliant short story and science fiction writer whose writing cannot be capture by a single medium or format.

The Good
The writing throughout is tight and engaging, the subject matter various and yet the same, the narrative swift; the reader is never ready for any one vignette to be completed but paradoxically excited to be starting the next. I am a slow, slow, slow reader. I do not possess the equipment needed to gulp a book; I sip, I savor, I chew. For me Blue Collar is the perfect balance of heft and brevity. There is no doubt that I would gladly read a full biography of any of the persons included, that is if it were written by Flynn; however, the very shortness of each illustration compels the reader forward into the next so that I was hardly able come up from the book to sleep or eat or work.

The Bad
What is bad? That there were not ten vignettes instead of five. Worry not Mr. Flynn has written other works and one can look forward to reading them after this one is over.

5/5

Propter Sanguinem Agni,
RS

This book was provided to me free of charge by the publisher. They asked only for my honest opinion. Nothing weird or anything like that. I am only disclosing this information because it is illegal if I don't. I'm pretty sure that I would go to prison, probably for life, seeing how reviewing a product you are given for free under the guise of having purchased it yourself is similar to murder. O laws, like whitewashed tombs!

Thank you Intercollegiate Studies Institute for the chance to review this work. Please support their work and buy this book.

Poesy's Possibilities, Week 2

2012-02-17T12:00:00.002-05:00

On the plate this week
I have been reading through the poem A Death in the Desert by Robert Browning this week. Our selection comes from a few passages that caught my fancy and my ear.

(From Browning's Death in the Desert, with introduction and notes, written by Rev. G. U. Pope, (Swan Sonnenshein & Co., Ltd., 1904.) pp. 91,93:

[How Age and Experience Teach]
"And how shall I assure them? Can they share
--They, who have flesh, a veil of youth and strength
About each spirit, that needs must bide its time,
Living and leaning still as years assist
Which wear the thickness thin, and let man see--
With me who hardly am withheld at all,
But Shudderingly, scarce a shred between,
Lie bare to the universal prick of light?
Is it for nothing we grow old and weak,
We whom God loves? When pain ends, gain ends too."

[The Lesson of Life]
"Our life, with all it yields of joy and woe,
And hope and fear, --believe the aged fried,--
Is just our chance o' the prize of learning love,
How love might be, hath been indeed, and is;
And that we hold thenceforth to the uttermost
Such prize despite the envy of the world,
And, having gained truth, keep truth; that is all.
But see the double way wherein we are led,
How the soul learns diversely from the flesh!
With flesh, that hath so little time to stay,
And yeilds mere basement for the soul's emprise,
Expect prompt teaching. Helpful was the light,
And warmth was cherishing, and food was choice
To every man's flesh, thousand years ago,
As now to yours and mine; the body sprang
At once to the height, and stayed: but the soul,--no!
Since sages who, this noontide, meditate
In Rome or Athens, may descry some point
Of the eternal power, hid yester-eve:
And, as thereby the power's whole mass extends,
So much extends that aether floating o'er
The love that tops the might, the Christ in God.
Then, as new lessons shall be learned in these
Till earth's work stop and useless time run out,
So duly, daily needs provision be
For keeping the soul's prowess possible,
Building new barriers as the old decay,
Saving us from evasion of life's proof,
Putting the question every, 'Does God love,
And will ye hold that truth against the world?'"

[Answer to Assertion that all Religion is Merely Subjective.]
"Nay, do not give me wine, for I am strong,
But place my gospel where I put my hands.
I say that man was made to grow, not stop;
That help, he needed once, but needs no more,
Having grown but an inch by, is withdrawn:
For he hath new deeds, and new helps to these;
THis imports soley, man should mount on each
New height in view: the help whereby he mounts.
The ladder-rung his foot has left, may fall,
Since all things suffer change save God the Truth."

[Man Not a Machine]
"What? Was man made a wheelwork to wind up,
And be discharged, and straight wound up anew?
No!--grown, his growth lasts; taught, he ne'er forgets:
May learn a thousand things, not twice the same.
This might be a pagan teaching: now hear mine."

I say, that as a babe, you feed awhile,
Becomes a boy and fit to feed himself,
So, minds at first must be spoon-fed with truth:
When they can eat, babe's nuture is withdrawn.
I fed the babe whether it would or no:
I bid the boy or feed himself or starve.
I cried once, 'That ye may believe in Christ,
Behold this blind man shall receive his sight!'
I cry now, 'Urgest thou, for I am shrewd
And smile at stories how John's word could cure--
Repeat that miracle and take my faith?'

I must stop here. I continue through and pull my favorites from the entire poem or you could read it in full for yourself. I hope your appetite is whet.

At Google Books.

Propter Sanguinem Agni,
RS

Suprised by Laughter: Not a funny book

2012-02-12T00:18:00.001-05:00

The Warning
Surprised by Laughter is not a funny book. It might be well to at to the subtitle A Serious Look at. . . The buyer would at least have some cave emptor before finding himself holding a very unfunny book about a hilarious man. This would have the added benefit of reflecting the author's intend for he makes clear from the start examining a joke is not making a joke in the same way that vivisecting a rodent is not cherishing a pet hamster. So if the authors broadcast PhD is not enough warning for the reader looking for Lewisian wit and satire, then let this stand as the larger sign. The book you are looking for was written by Lewis and not about him.

What it's all about
Surprised by Laughter, like the Hockey-pockey, wastes no time in letting the reader know what it is all about. If you picked it up on the cover's merit and did not head the above warning you may likewise turn yourself about. In the introduction Lindavall informs the reader of the works purpose: "[the] study of Lewis' wit and humor." This is with all the hope that it will not end up like the vivisected rodent mentioned above, that is to say, dead, but rather as an "outburst of delight." The work lives up to its mission often at the words of Lewis himself and nearly as often at the words of an author he favored or at least found as a source of mirth, especially of G. K. Chesterton. Chesterton comes up enough that he could have had his own parentheses in the title: (and Chesterton).

Short the introductory bits and the conclusion the work proper is divided into four sections. These are based on a description of the types of humor from the mouth of a devil and the pen of Lewis in The Screwtape Letters. Joy, Fun, The Joke Proper, and Satire & Flippancy are then each broken into further pieces so as to better examine the nuances of the larger divisions. Were this a treatise on humor minus Lewis it would fail to entertain and in doing fail to enlighten. Lindvall, however, is in constant contact with Lewis who comes on at every page and this is not the examined man coming out but the living, breathing and laughing man in his own words and sentiments. This carries the work. One can't read the text and not come off convinced that the author knows Lewis and understands his humor as he handles integrating, without hiccup, all these interconnected thoughts and tidbits from books, apologies, treaties, letters and conversations. His hand is subtly in editing. The seams are well hid and the author gives the reader this greatest gift that the work feels, though any discerning reader must admit he knows otherwise, as though it were easy to write. It is easy to read after all.

The Real Caveat
The author handles Lewis deftly yet his own humor dispersed throughout is at times heavy handed and on rare occasion off-putting where it should be merry. Elsewhere one can read in Lindvall a parroting of Lewis stylistically. No doubt this could have been an aesthetic choice by the author, sometimes there is no doubt when the parellels are too obvious. If it were a conscious choice it was not the right one. It is more likely that the author spent such a number of hours in Lewis' words that his cadence and word choices started to seep in. It is possible that it could not be helped. Whatever the cause when it pops up it is apparent that Lindvall is not Lewis nor quite as mighty in pen. I am often influenced by the aesthetic pleasures of reading before I can enjoy the deeper, or in this case the lighter, but in Surprised what little offenses are present hardly detract from an excellent work.

The Verdict
I can do nothing but applaud the work as a whole and its author. Lindvall hits his mark and laughs appropriately throughout. His analyses are true to Lewis and most important of all they point to God just as Lewis would have it.

4.5/5

Propter Sanguinem Agni,
RS

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own; I was not expected to enjoy this book nearly half as much as I did. I bet if they knew how much I was going to enjoy it they would have wanted me to pay for it still. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Poesy's Possibilities

2012-02-10T10:52:00.000-05:00

What are we doing here?

There hasn't been enough poetry around here. To remedy our poetic lack and dyspepsia, Fridays have been anointed the bearers of whatever poetic fancy I am taken with at the moment.

(From John Marr and other Poems, written by Herman Melville, (Princeton University Press, 1922.) pp. 91,93:

Lone Founts

Though fast youth's glorious fable flies,
View not the world with worldling's eyes;
Nor turn with weather of the time.
Foreclose the coming of surprise:
Stand where Posterity shall stand;
Stand where the Ancients stood before,
And, dipping in lone founts thy hand,
Drink of the never-varying lore:
Wise once, and wise thence evermore.

Art

In placid hours well-pleased we dream

Of many a brave unbodied scheme.

But form to lend, pulsed life create,

What unlike things must meet and mate:

A flame to melt--a wind to freeze;

Sad patience--jouyous energies;

Humility--yet pride and scorn;

Instinct and study; love and hate;

Audacity--reverence. Theses must mate,

And fuse with Jacob's mystic heart,

To wrestle with the angel--Art.

Read it at Google Books. Or buy the original cloth bound edition.

How To Get Free Books Page Live

2012-02-09T13:24:00.000-05:00

Don't Worry You Are Not Seeing Double

Actually, you might be seeing double, but in that case you are likely drunk. Eat some bread, drink some water, take two advil, and come back and read this again when've pulled yourself together.

The First Resource

I have added a second page to the blog. This is meant to be a resource to help budding book reviewers and fellow bibliophile start getting books to review. Part two which will be coming shortly will continue in this vein by detailing the ways one goes about requesting specific books from publisher.

Without Ado:

Starting to write book reviews can be a harrowing and frustrating process. There is a lot to digest and figure out. If like me you are a bibliophile but unfamiliar with the publishing industry then the challenge may be considerable. For the bibliophile among us the trek is more like a slog through a Victorian novel, long, at times difficult and trying, one may time and again wish to put Clarissa down before the end, but to those who persevere goes the crown of glory. Neither should one need go alone; this is not a path which requires Virgil to guide and show and lead, but more like a boy directing a blind poet. You are the poet. The work is yours. I will direct and point out but in the end the poet must take up the lyre himself. . .

Read the rest here. Or click the link above.

The Walk: Shuan Alexander

2012-02-06T14:32:00.002-05:00

What its all about:
The Walk is an overview of the growth of a Christian into maturity as outline by the author. Alexander identifies five stages in life: the unbeliever, the believer, the example, the teacher, and the imparter. The book opens with a brief introduction that sets up the pattern for the work and the overriding principal: that God is a God of order therefore spiritual growth is orderly. This oversimplifies both what Alexander says and what he intends, however this is without flourish the basic idea behind the book.

Each stage on the walk of spiritual maturity is outlined and fleshed out with illustrative stories and anecdotes. The best of these come from the author's own life and experience. After the general sketch of a given stage is complete Alexander proceeds to outline trails, traps and victories. Here he points out the pitfalls particular to one at the given step and points toward the next step in the triumph and victory for those who persevere. Each section closes with an example from the life of Peter that discloses and illustrates that leg of the walk.

The final section wraps this all together in Alexander's discussion of his own spiritual maturity and the work of the Holy Spirit in his life and ministry. He sites a speaking tour which takes him all through the country with a group of protegees which he mentors. He expounds in detail the different signs and wonder God worked throughout this time.

The Good:
The Walk is easy to read and understand. Often the anecdotes are perceptive and insightful. The writing is clean and crisp, at times painfully repetitive. Unlike many modern Christian books The Walk is neither self-empowering self-help, nor does it tilt toward the over-amorous with semi-erotic descriptors for God. The book manages the ground between two frivolities without the tendency to be either. The book is light without being dribble, and instructive without being burdensome.

Alexander manages to provide an illustrative manual of discipleship. In addition he captures these images of discipleship in active language, whether by football or war metaphors, that is not distasteful to the male reader nor incomprehensible to the sport illiterate (Guilty.). His conception of spiritual discipline, colored by his own experience with weight training, and his discussion of studying the Word of God as a teacher were both memorable and laudable portions of the book.

The Caveat:
Alexander's work is preeminently sloppy theology. Foremost is the strange contortion of 1 Cor. 14:33: "For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints." (KJV) First the verse as the basis for a spiritual blueprint must be torn from its context. In his letter Paul is discussing the practice of the Corinthian church's fractured worship with many different people speaking in tongues, each with their own psalm, doctrine, tongue and interpretation. Were we to grant the translation of εἰρήνης (eirenes) as order and not peace, even the most basic syllogism reveals the equivocation:

God is a God of order (as opposed to chaos),
God is the God of man,
therefore man is ordered (in relation to arrangement).

This would not necessarily default the work, but Alexander sticks to his five step plan with a certain rigidity that disallows overlap. This is particularly the case with the Example, Teacher, Imparter dynamic. Experience reveals a picture that is much more messy and confusing than what is presented as clean and delineated. Rarely is creation ever so neatly segmented. More importantly the plan is not presented as a tool for understanding the working of God but as the fact of reality.

For the mature believer there is little need for concern as one ought to be able to take the good and leave the bad. But for the fresh believer there is much to lead to confusion and stumbling. With that in mind there is much good to be had and I would be remiss to turn away the reader.

We can applaud Shaun Alexander for his work, for there is no doubt that his heart is in the right place, but in the future I would hope to see a deeper theological foundation and framework that goes beyond the cherry picker's hermeneutics.

3/5

Propter Sanguinem Agni,
RS

This book was provided by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers as a complimentary copy for review purposes. They didn't even ask me to say all these nice things.

Go and buy their stuff. Or this book.

Cambridge Bible: Clarion KJV

2012-01-30T12:34:00.001-05:00

In the stack top to botom: 1968 Cambridge Pocket, KJV Clarion, Slimline KJV,
Standard NIV Pew Bible, Max Lucado's NCV, NIV Application

The fine folks over at Baker Publishing were kind of enough to send me a copy of the newest Cambridge KJV Bible: The KJV Clairion Reference Edition. Without question this is now the nicest bible I have, will likely ever have, and the nicest I have had the pleasure of handling and inspecting.

For a little over a week and a half I have been using it as my main Bible and I doubt I could, without fussing and whining, ever go back. For the past three years I have used the very top bible on the stack here, a 1968 Cambridge Pocket KJV & concordance. Only in the last year I added the slimline KJV for the larger typeface. I've missed the references and concordance, but the eye strain made the switch necessary, though in some situations a bible you can drop in your back pocket is still indispensable.

I am a King James reader, the Authorized Version is my version. The KJV is not a bible I go to for verse memorization or for high sounding liturgy. I am well aware of its inadequacies; its basis in the Textus Receptus and not the consensus texts of modern textual criticism. The KJV is not the ESV, nor is it the Greek Original, but it is poetic and beautiful. Its essence is that of Tyndale, especially within the New Testament and the history books. For this reason the Clarion is the perfect incarnation of the text: It is made for reading.

The formatting, the clean typeface, the line breaks, and the white space work together to make the reading a pleasure. Not only this, but where--as in the Psalms and Isaiah above--the poetry is printing to read as poetry, understanding is more readily facilitated. The parallelism, which is the main figure of Hebrew poetry, is not sought for in the rendition but readily apparent. The format brings clarity to the poetry and opens the text up to readers who may have been intimidated by the KJV before.

In addition the Clarion maintains Cambridge's verse references, variant readings and such in the margin which were sorely missed in switching to my slimline.

Below are comparisons between the Clarion and the others in the stack pictured above. We'll follow the order stacked.

1968 Cambridge Pocket:

The most obvious benefit to the Clarion here is its size. The text is just that much easier to read, but beyond legibility is the single column format which keeps from breaking the poetic lines. In addition the single column removes the reference from between the columns to the outside of the page. This change though slight, makes comparing the alternate readings that much easier.

KJV Slimline:

The slimline suffers the same fate as the Pocket; the text is too small, the double columns are too tight; the lines are oddly separated; and the slimline lacks the alternate readings, scriptural references etc. The type is a little larger and easier to read than the pocket Cambridge but neither hold a candle to the Clarion.

NIV run-of-the-mill Pew Bible:

First off, I didn't jack this from a church. It came from a rummage sale. The Pew Bible does not have the worst of all possible formats. But as is clear from the strange line breaks it is far from the best. The size of the text is an improvement over the slimline, but the offset line breaks make for difficult reading. The Clarion again shines in comparison. The single, left-justified lines with only a slight indent where needed for broken lines, is much easier to follow. The NIV tries and fails to format for the poetry. Much as the translation itself tries to phrase the poetry and fails. Zinger!

Max Lucado NCV Devotional Bible:

There are too many items I dislike about this devotional bible to list. I won't head down the rabbit hole today. Let it suffice to say, that were the text not the NCV, a 3rd grade level translation--this is not an insult, but the purpose of the translation; the translation fails to engage unlike the Message for instance, and comes off as dumbed down and not clarified, simplified and explanatory--this is an insult; were it not the NCV and I were looking for a devotional bible with lots of unhelpful extraneous and sometimes theologically vapid dribble, I still could not read this bible for its poor formatting. The superiority of the Clarion's attention to page space and formatting hardly need comment here.

NIV Application Bible:

The bible is huge, the text is small. Like most application bibles this one is not made to travel. Unlike the devotional bible above this Application Bible can be made good use of. The convenience of a light commentary within the text itself, the overview and introductions, clarifications, explanations and hermeneutics light all play well to expand the reading experience. But as a reader's bible it is a bit much. The Clarion on the other hand, with its scriptural references and alternate readings is not only suited for pleasure reading, but for study as well when paired with a good commentary.

The Clarion Itslef:

The Clarion comes in around 7.5 x 5.5 and just under 2 inches thick. The cover comes in calf split leather, calfskin leather, and goatskin leather. The calf split which is shown is the lowest grade cover available. This certainly speaks to Cambridge's dedication to quality when the least is still of such high caliber. The pages are gilt in gold which is a nice, if expected touch. The goatskin apparently has the red/gold gilding in addition to the finer quality leather. For the true bibliophile this may justify the price; for me, the bibliophilic dilettante, this is just fine. As usual the bible is on india paper, has two silk ribbons (nice for those of us who read OT and NT in tandem), 15 color maps--handy when you need see how far Jabesh-gilead is from Gath, or how far Dan is from Beersheba. In place of the previous concordance as per my pocket edition, the Clarion has 'A Reader's Companion' which is part concordance part bible dictionary. I think this is a good switch. The concordance was not sufficient as a stand alone (a la Strong's) and the Companion does nearly as well with the addition of gloss and brief explanations.

The Clarion is Smyth bound so that it opens flat to the first page of Genesis right out of the box, and as can be seen below, this allows the book to suffer what ever contortions the reader can think to put it through. And it bounces right back. Cambridge seems to be striving for an indestructible format for the indestructible word.

This was not my idea.

Here is a last look at the format, lest you think it is only in the poetry that the formatting is perfected. The Clarion is the standard against which all future KJV Bible will need to be compared. The bar is set and it is a staggering height.

Let me send you around the web:

Studies in Scripture: A review of the brown calfskin edition. A straight forward review with very good images.
Bible Design Blog: Review of the black goatskin edition. Mark Bertrand is the go to authority on bibles. Go and be in awe of his amazing biblephilia.
Taking Thoughts Captive: Review of the NLT Ref. Pitt Minion from Cambridge for comparison. Another straightforward review with nice comparisons between a few different bibles.
Cambridge Bibles: The official low-down from Cambridge University Press.
Baker Publishing: Baker Publishing. They will gladly sell you your very own KJV Clarion.

5/5

Propter Sanguinem Agni,
RS

This book was provided to me free of charge by the publisher. They asked only for my honest opinion. Nothing weird or anything like that. I am only disclosing this information because it is illegal if I don't. I'm pretty sure that I would go to prison, probably for life, seeing how reviewing a product you are given for free under the guise of having purchased it yourself is similar to murder. O laws, like whitewashed tombs!

Family Shepherds: Calling and Equipping Men

2012-01-24T14:00:00.002-05:00

Family Shepherds is a book that is hard not to get behind, the premise being such a stick at our politically correct, post-sense, nonsense culture. The driving idea behind Shepherds is that families are responsible for the discipling of their children. Listen closely. That distant sound like popping popcorn. That is the sound of minds being blown. It's true.

Baucham goes even further: Husbands are responsible to disciple their wives, Fathers are responsible for their children. Of the hundred and ninety or so pages seven are given to discuss the responsibility of the church. The other one eighty focus on the responsibility of Christian men to lead their families.

The book opens with an introduction to the idea that the family is ultimately responsible for their own discipleship. The the concept of the family shepherd is introduced. Closing the introduction Baucham gives an example family, cleverly surnamed the Joneses. This introduction lays the ground work for what follows in the actual meat of the work. With the relevance of family shepherding established Baucham is free to elaborate on the most important aspects of the work of the shepherd. Namely, family discipleship and evangelism, marriage enrichment, training and discipline of children, and lifestyle evaluation.

Each section is divided into three chapters. The first will usually introduce the section as a whole and elaborate what has been said on it so far. The second and third turn toward the practical implementation. For instance the first section on family discipleship opens with a discussion of the gospel and what exactly the gospel is. Then the second chapter discusses catechism and doctrinal education within the home. The final chapter gives an overview of family worship and suggestions for its practice. Each portion follows a similar structure with variation for the subject matter.

Minds are blowing every day.

While reading through Shepherds this tight interior structure is not apparent. One reads cover to cover oblivious to the way in which the author paces each bit of information and only at the end looking back does he see the pattern. Much like rambling along a trail in a forest, where the path has been well worn and well prepared the walker is free to enjoy the walk and forget about the walking.

Baucham explains in one of the appendices that he breaks up their church calendar into four blocks which correspond to the major ideas of family shepherding. There is not much of a caveat here, but the implication was clear enough: without constant feedback and focus a community will not implement this plan. A church's men's group won't become shepherds without a change in focus of the church en masse. This is not to say than a particularly devoted individual would not be able to plow through the springtime of a new idea and stay the course as competing commitments encroach upon his new dedication to shepherding. No, there will certainly be men who will read Baucham's work and be changed for the better. What remains to be seen is if there will be the implementation of a such a plan which focuses intently on the heads of household in a wider scope one that couldn't be talked about as 'families' but churches and communities of families.

My only real issue with the work is the paper that the cover is printed on. I'm not sure if it is Touche or not, but it feels like it. And FiberMark may claim that it is 'luxuriously appealing to the touch' but I for one am not convinced. It has an half rubbery feel that I just don't care for. Moreover, this book is obviously geared toward men, and I for one cannot understand who thought 'luxuriously appealing to the touch' was the sort of marketing that appeals to men. And again the it doesn't match up with the rugged 1st century shepherds robe, staff and sandals as portrayed on the cover (see the above image). Regardless of how one feels about the paper stock this should not be ample deterrent for reading this book. It is excellent after all.

4.5/5

Propter Sanguinem Agni,

This book was provided to me free of charge by the publisher. They asked only for my honest opinion. Nothing weird or anything like that. I am only disclosing this information because it is illegal if I don't. I'm pretty sure that I would go to prison, probably for life, seeing how reviewing a product you are given for free under the guise of having purchased it yourself is similar to murder. O laws, like whitewashed tombs!

Thanks Crossway Publications. Buy their books. Buy this one.

The Shaping of an Effective Leader

2012-01-18T12:55:00.002-05:00

The Shaping of an Effective Leader by Gayle Beebe is one part paean and panegyric to Peter Drucker, one part leadership guide, one part anecdotal thanksgiving, and one part moral instruction.

Such is the basic structure of the eight sections of the book. First is an introductory illustration showing the basic premise of the leading principle for the section; here the illustration is always couched with Beebe's experience with Drucker and his works. Next the author continues elaborating on the initial discussion--often giving statistical, anecdotal, and practical information; generally this is the largest and most substantive portion of the chapters, and rightfully so. After the practical portion Beebe moves back into the paean yet no longer sung to Drucker instead pointed to the individuals in the author's own life who first introduced him to the aforementioned leadership principle. Finally each chapter closes with Beebe's discussion of the 8 deadly sins their opposites and how they correspond to the principals espoused so far.

Shaping discussed eight principles of leadership which are viewed as a pyramid each level stacking on the one before it. This sounds an awful lot like John Maxwell's Levels but Beebe's principles--though ultimately would lead to the same structure--can be applied practically across the spectrum of leadership. The eight levels are Character, Competence, Chemistry, Culture, Compatibility, Convictions, Connections, and Commitment. Unlike most choose-a-letter-to-start-every-title approaches I have encountered, Beebe actually expands upon the initial C word so that the full title encompasses the content, which both facilitates the memory and refrains from constraining the title to a word that only almost fits. When this fails it is a major annoyance to me (cf. Maxwell Link above), but Beebe manages it without a hitch.

The dance of the author between paying his respect to those who have walked with him along the way and the practical application of those very lessons and back again lends Shaping a variety that is not often found in leadership literature. While this engages the reader and maintains a level of entertainment not often found in nonfiction, the greatest contribution comes through the insights that this change of pace reveals. The reader is not inundated with a constant flux of lists, graphs and statistics, or stacks of principles and their multifaceted application, instead one story prepares the way for the practical which gives way to another story and another application. This method keeps the interest pique without sacrificing the content.

Hi, my name is Peter. . .

What might be the greatest contribution this work provides the expansive world of leadership literature is a framework and introduction to Peter Drucker's work. Were this its only contribution I would recommend it to those who lead or who ought to be. Thankfully Shaping is more than this and standing on its own feet earns its own recommendation.

4.5/5

Propter Sangiunem Agni,
RS

This book was provided to me free of charge by the publisher. They asked only for my honest opinion. Nothing weird or anything like that. I am only disclosing this information because it is illegal if I don't. I'm pretty sure that I would go to prison, probably for life, seeing how reviewing a product you are given for free under the guise of having purchased it yourself is similar to murder. O laws, like whitewashed tombs!

Thanks InterVarsity Press. Buy their books. Buy this one.

No, We Can't: Radical Islam, Militant Secularism and the Myth of Coexistence

2012-01-12T22:39:00.001-05:00

No, We Can't is a well meaning book. From its title and the first words in the introduction I thought this would be the sort of book I could get behind and agree with. The introduction does include a reference to the Fellowship of the Ring, although to the movie and not the book. I can get past the trade off for a lesser line from the script in place of the better line of the same scene of the book. However even references to hobbits and wizards lack the depth to save this book from its single-sided, one-dimensional worldview.

The basic premise of the work is that there are three worldviews that are vying for prominence in the world. These worldviews are inherently by their very nature incompatible. In addition the dominance of anyone would lead to the decline, or in the case of two of them, the subjugation of the others. So far so good for me. I agree. History agrees. Reality agrees. 2 != 5 !=7. Multiculturalism, coexistence are pipe dreams. Were the book to go no further and to expound with historical, statistical and political evidence to build such a case, it and I would have stayed on good footing.

Instead, Stearns lays out his basic assumptions and then proceeds to give flat crass descriptions to the three worldviews. None of which touch on the subtly or the intricacy of the views espoused. First in his exposition Stearns examines Radical Islam, or maybe it would be better to say that Stearns draws an awkward caricature of Radical Islam. I understand Stearns concern, I even agreed to a certain extent with his conclusions, yet it cannot be denied that he focuses on one aspect of RI to the exclusion of all others. This chapter reads like a bad 50's pop novel. There is no depth or perspective. The way Stearns sees it is: they hate us. While this may be true--videos of different terrorist groups and affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood would concur--Stearns overlooks what should be patently obvious to him. He even says it himself at the start of the chapter: "Just a decade ago, Radical Islam was not even a blip on most American's radar screens." It is a bad bit of cliche, but the worst of it is that the question that obviously comes to mind. Why not? Were Stearns analysis correct and RI hates intrinsically then why the prominence of the last decade? One might conclude that the issue is more complicated than "they hate us." The issue is of wider berth than religion. There are political, historical, martial, and cultural issues that go much deeper.

His take on Militant Secularism is hardly better. The worst of it comes in his looking at the Judeo-Christian worldview, which is really a misnomer given the authors constant muddling of Christianity and patriotism. The historical analysis of the United States might be worse than that of RI. The hagiography of Abraham Lincoln that tinges this section is particularly revolting, as is Stearns confusion of the balance of powers between the branches of the federal government and the checks in place by state sovereignty--I don't recall a page from either of the sections on Judeo-Christianity and America that was not entirely colored by anachronisms of 21st century patriotic projecting.

Not even Gandalf. . .

It pains me to be so hard on a book I would like to agree with, but Stearns is right for all for all of the wrong reasons. This books is a lesson in why our math teachers insisted we show our work: you can get the right answer even when you boff all the numbers. There is no doubt that those who agree with Stearns will still agree with him tomorrow, but this sort of convoluted diatribe will neither win arguments nor persuade people.

So bad not even Gandalf can save it.

2/5

Propter Sanguinem Agni,
RS

This book was provided to me free of charge by the publisher. They asked only for my honest opinion. Nothing weird or anything like that. I am only disclosing this information because it is illegal if I don't. I'm pretty sure that I would go to prison, probably for life, seeing how reviewing a product you are given for free under the guise of having purchased it yourself is similar to murder. O laws, like whitewashed tombs!

Thanks Chosen. You don't have to buy this one, but you could try some of their other excellent titles. No, they didn't put me up to this.

Reclaiming the OT for Christian Preaching

2012-01-08T23:31:00.003-05:00

Reclaiming the Old Testament for Christian Preaching is an academic overview and guide for preaching but it is a far cry from a piece on homiletics. Nowhere therein do the various authors wax long on the importance of three points or such inanities. Instead the work focuses on genres and aspects of the Old Testament and through pointed study shows the benefits, pitfalls, and practical necessities for preaching the different and diverse literatures of the Old Testament. The three man editing team of Kent, Kissling and Turner bring together a variety of voices and styles which not only strengthen the work but also reflects the variety of the task to be handled.

The book opens with two essays that take a wide look at the Old Testament and the challenges posed in preaching from narrative with the first focusing on plot and the second on character within the books. From there the full literary gamut is run from Law to Praise, from Lament to the Song of Solomon and every genre between. The material is as various as the contributing authors who come from a wide sampling of Christian denominations and from all across the globe.

A work composed of the writings of so many Old Testament scholars runs serious risk of dryness and inside jargon that would be a deterrent to a reader that did not share the scholastic inclination. That the work remains lively, impassioned and imminently readable speaks to the subtle hand of good editing and compilation. Like good stage direction it is rarely seen yet the presence reverberates throughout the work.

The scriptural insights that the authors bring to the work might be found with ample time, Sisyphean labors, and oceanic resources. Were a pastor enabled to endlessly burn the midnight oil and pour himself not only into the Word of God but into the multifarious commentaries and the time-spanning collections of theological tomes available he would certainly be able to come up with all of the answers contained in these mere 250 pages. That one does not have to is worth the investment in the test.

Beyond the scholastic side lies the true gold of Reclaiming in its practical application to sermon preparation. The authors are not mere biblical scholars but each in his own right preaches. And should one takes the texts at face value he cannot deny that the authors preach with great zeal for Christ and his Church. Were the scholastic language scotched the practical side of the work would serve the layman just as well as the pastor; not in the preparation of sermons but in the simple study of God's Word. There is enough substance to the work to establish a more serious reading of the text than many a bible study geared to the general congregant is able. This alone is enough to recommend the book: that the advice therein seeks to bring the 'God-breathed' Word to the church at large in a fashion that is beyond the superficial without being beyond the pew-sitter.

The chapter on preaching the Law is especially poignant here. The essay on the Law focuses not on the Pharisaical minutiae but rather on the God who gives the laws and the place within the narrative that this happens. The idea that one focus on what the law says about God instead of the duty apportioned to the ancient Hebrews creates a true foundation (see the pun there) for reading the text beyond preaching upon it. Any doubt that this message need be proclaimed to God's people may be assuaged in asking any number of congregants their take on the law. Is there any doubt that most will view Old Testament law as nothing more than that: old, dated, suffering from old-men-in-robes syndrome. The very idea that Christ freed us from the law, that is often heard in Christian circles, extols the need.

Reclaiming fills the need, or, more precisely, it aims to equip pastors, preachers, and lay-leaders with the tools and understanding necessary to fill the need. Were we to take Timothy's 'all scripture is inspired. . . and useful' seriously then it must be admitted that the lack of all scripture in most pulpits is a shameful waste of the resource God provided the leaders of his Kingdom.

5/5

Propter Sanguinem Agni,
RS

This book was provided to me free of charge by the publisher. They asked only for my honest opinion. Nothing weird or anything like that. I am only disclosing this information because it is illegal if I don't. I'm pretty sure that I would go to prison, probably for life, seeing how reviewing a product you are given for free under the guise of having purchased it yourself is similar to murder. O laws, like whitewashed tombs!

Thanks InterVarsity Press and IVP Academic. Buy their books. Buy this one.

Tyndale: The Man Who Made English

2012-01-04T16:49:00.001-05:00

That the English language is the language as we know it owes more to William Tyndale than to Chaucer or Shakespeare or any other better known figure. William Tyndale brought to life by his tireless labors the Word of God in English. David Teems' Tyndale is this story, not the story of the man and the martyr, but the story of the book.

Teems manages to weave a complex story of more than just the man and out of disparate and inconclusive pieces. He admits that Tyndale biography is a game of maybe's while simultaneously presenting the poetry of Tyndale as a man, an artist, a prophet and in the end a martyr. What I found to be so incredible in it all is the absolute lack of recognition that Tyndale has received as an influence of the language; Teems finds this appropriate, as Tyndale himself would have it, but how can that be. Let me offer a comparison of the opening of creation which Teems provides (I have taken the liberty of updating the spelling where appropriate for comprehension):

Wycliffe's English Bible (from the Latin):

In the beginning God made of nought heaven and earth. Forsooth the earth was idle and void, darkness were on the face of the depth; and the Spirit of the Lord was born on the waters. And God said, Light be made, and light was made.

Tyndale Pentateuch (From the Hebrew):

In the beginning God created heaven and earth. The earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the deep, and the spirit of God moved upon the water. Then God said: Let there be light and there was light.

The poetry of Tyndale is palpable in this snippet, where Wycliffe's reads more as a list.

Teems snatches Tyndale's poetry in his presentation. Every pages swells with it. Every word is (forgive me) teeming with it. There is a sensitivity in the writing that brings Tyndale's struggles, his dedication, and loneliness, and subtlety to life. He goes further than Tyndale's Bible and dives into the deep of his other works, theological, apologetic and epistolary, and with each he unweaves the complications that bind up their little known author to present the man and work in full perfection. Behold the man. And the man presented is one from which scripture oozes. Reading his words who could doubt his love for the Word? In Teems we see it overflowing the man, overflowing the page.

I cannot recommend this work more highly. For anyone who loves the language, her poetry, her stories; for anyone who loves the English bible whatever variety; for anyone who loves the church and her martyrs; for anyone who loves the Reformation there is hardly a book which offers greater profit both aesthetic and literary.

6/5

By the blood of the Lamb,
RS

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own; I was not expected to enjoy this book nearly half as much as I did. I bet if they knew how much I was going to enjoy it they would have wanted me to pay for it still. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

The Character of Our Discontent

2012-01-03T12:54:00.000-05:00

The Character of Our Discontent was not the book that I expected it to be. Unlike finding a raccoon in a box this surprise was pleasant.

Discontent is a collection of sermons that span the Old Testament. Initially I had expected that the sermons would be little vignettes of the characters of the Old Testament, a who's who of God's chosen lot. Instead the focus shifts sermon to sermon as the text allows. Instead of a picture of who Moses is we are presented a picture of what he did, what the action speaks to today, or what an eloquent flaming shrubbery has to say about life for Christians today.

The sermons are short. Staccato. However brief each is packed with anecdotes and other little tidbits and stories that bring to life the intentions of the scripture and highlight the insights of Bevere. Some are humorous, others, like that of a Hungarian survivor of WWII, are wrenching and powerful in their own right. It is apparent that Bevere is as good an editor as a preacher.

Concluding each sermon a prayer is offered which connects the scripture to the present as well as lending further practicality to the texts themselves. Always the prayer points back to the message so we have Bevere mirroring the word back to God. "This was the point God, help us to do it."

I enjoyed this little book so very much that I am tempted to wrap this review up here and leave my hangups hung up, but in all fairness what is troublesome in the work is not in the words but rather in the formatting. Each sermon opens with a chapter number and title. Then in text underneath is the listing of the scripture which will be preached upon; but there is no text. Bevere often refers the what is in the scripture, but he never once gives the text in full. I did feel at times that I should have my bible on hand as I was reading. Were the scripture blocked in italics the reader could quickly review the scripture to prepare for what comes ahead.

My only other issue, and this is purely aesthetic is that prayer at the end of the sermon. It is separated by a bold header (PRAYER:). It is just a preference but like having scripture at the start I would have preferred to have the prayer set apart in italics to break the monotony of the print type.

Overall this is a wonderful book that I would recommend to pastor and layman alike, to him who already loves the Old Testament and to him who has yet to relish its delights. And without a doubt it is better than a raccoon in a box.

4.5/5

Propter Sanguinem Agni,
RS

This book was provided to me free of charge by the publisher. They asked only for my honest opinion. Nothing weird or anything like that. I am only disclosing this information because it is illegal if I don't. I'm pretty sure that I would go to prison, probably for life, seeing how reviewing a product you are given for free under the guise of having purchased it yourself is similar to murder. O laws, like whitewashed tombs!

Thanks Energion Publications. Go buy their books.

The Jesus Mission: Twenty Seven Missions? Really?

2011-12-29T15:51:00.001-05:00

The Jesus Mission appears in all the trappings of an action, here's-what-you-do, call out. The content disappoints by offering little more than a checklist. I can appreciate the intentions of the author and occasionally agreed with his point here and there, but overall the book fail to pay up on what the title promises. In large part the book feels--and the author encourages this--like it is a companion book to Scott's earlier Greatest Words.

That is not to say the book is not without merit. Throughout he focuses on the words of Christ in the gospels and often on many of the overlooked words; better yet, is when he hones in on pet scriptures and beliefs. Scott blows away the regular Sinner's prayer formula and metric for evangelism along with other conventional practices of Christianity. Centering the concept of being born again on Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus from John 3. Sadly enough this all takes place in Part One before Scott arrives at the eponymous missions.

Part Two, the missions Jesus gave to his followers, moves away from the biting honesty of the first section into more standard fare. The four missions summed up: Know (God), Grow, Fellowship, and Evangelize. Not much new turf there and the setup and layout for the section is poorly executed to the point that I began wondering if this was the same book I started in Part One. I peered at the cover; it was. Herein are Activities, Action items and other tidbits composed with all the elegance of and subtlety of a Muppet drummer. A sad fate for a book with a promising start to sputter and strain and ultimately falter and fall short; momentum, a terrible thing to waste.

The third and final section doesn't help either. This is the part which reveals the 27 missions of Christ as promised on the cover, but not yet. First Scott needs to go on a political tirade lampooning liberalism and all the while he is either convincing himself, or maybe trying to convince the reader, that this is applicable to the task at hand. Even when I agreed with him it was a grating agreement.

Finally when he gets to the missions there is a lot of repetition. These 27 "unique" missions could have easily been distilled into the essential 6 or 7 missions opening up space for more practical or in depth information, but no.

Throughout are little snippets and anecdotes that were worth reading but for all the muck and rocks the reader is forced to sift away there was little gold.

3/5

Propter Sanguinem Agni,
RS

This book was provided by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers as a complimentary copy for review purposes. They didn't even ask me to say all these nice things. They just produce good books.

Happily Ever After: A book for ladies. . .

2011-12-29T12:06:00.001-05:00

Like the last Tyndale book I reviewed Happily Ever After has intricate detailing across its cover. This time the Victorian wallpaper mash up is very faintly printed in a silver metallic ink and covered with spot UV so that the title, design, and picture have added gloss. The picture to the left doesn't do justice to the work involved or the final product. It is very nice. But, and this is important, as soon as I had the book in hand red flags were going up. Yes there is much attention to the details and a lot of little steps to gussy up the cover, but I would never on my life buy this book. Even were I desperate for marriage advice and Chapman was the only available resource I would still not buy this book.

This a marriage book for women. It is marketed for the ladies, its dressed up for the ladies, cover to cover its content is pointed toward the ladies. The author, but not the publisher, remains throughout the work patently oblivious to this. Address one line to husband, one to wife, and always including or spouse, or some other equally inane nicety. All this is not to assume that no man could benefits from what is inside, a certain type of man certainly could, but I imagine our particular Everyman would run from such a daintily clad book. On the other hand the husbands who would be willing, or, God forbid, glad to pick the book up are more than likely the very same who will little benefit from it.

With that said the content is not as bad as the above might appear. It may not be intended for men, it may not be intended, or at least marketed, toward those who could best use it, but all the say there are a few good bits inside. Sadly what good is there could have been summed up in a pamphlet in a few hundred words instead of nearly 400 pages. Instead Chapman takes much hot air and expands and expounds and repeats and repeats and repeats till the reader is tempted again and again and again to put the book down. Moreover some of the more insightful bits are largely regurgitated snippets from his more well known Five Love Languages, and what is worse the regurgitation continues section after section for each of the problem areas Chapman identifies for marriages.

I have one last sticking point for Chapman. Happily is touted as a work written from a Christian perspective and yet Chapman manages to tip-toe around one of the most obvious and unpopular verses in the bible on marriage: Ephesians 5:22-24. While completely side-stepping what these verses say Chapman grasps onto what immediately follows (Vs 25): Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." What?! I would have been happier with the usual irrational hamster gymnastics involved in contorting the verse into some politically correct nonsense than with feigning the verses aren't there at all. Be honest, what do you expect of a husband who reads along with his wife and decides, if he is already unfamiliar with the Bible, to look up these verses? If it were me I would throw out the whole book with the safe assumption that someone who is dishonest with God's word is all the more likely to be dishonest with their own. To be fair, these verses in Ephesians are controversial for a number of people--and as implied above, Chapman's audience is mainly female--he may have thought it best to leave the controversy behind. All the same it would have been better to face the dragon head on rather than to try and cover his den with brush and camouflage.

Propter Sanguinem Agni,
RS

Ouch! 1/5

This book was provided to me free of charge by the publisher. They asked only for my honest opinion. Nothing weird or anything like that. I am only disclosing this information because it is illegal if I don't. I'm pretty sure that I would go to prison, probably for life, seeing how similar reviewing a product you are given for free under the guise of having purchased it yourself is very similar to murder. O laws, like whitewashed tombs!

The 5 Levels of Leadership, or Why John C. Maxwell is awesome.

2011-12-20T15:37:00.000-05:00

The Five Levels of Leadership does one thing that just makes me batty: the five levels all start with the same letter, P. Why do you have to do that? The five P's of leadership. It sounds dumb because it is a dumb idea. Let's consider the 5 P's to see why this approach is so silly. Position, Permission, Production, People Development, and Pinnacle. Two of these descriptors fit their levels, three are misnomers. Position, dead on, this level is all about the position that a person is granted, appointed to, etc. and Production, this is all about what the leader is producing, about the results that he garners. How about Permission? This level is concerned with the relationships between leader and team, about bonding with your team and forming some comradery with them. Where does permission come in? Getting people's permission to be led. I don't get it. Or People Development? This one isn't bad, but it almost would fit stage two better, where this level is really more Leader Development. And of course Pinnacle, but then this misnomer is only related by virtue of it being the last level. There is no other connection. Level five is about a person's legacy and influence as a leader of leaders who make leaders of their own.

Alright: end rant.

This book is excellent with that single exception due to my personal irritation with picking a letter to use as a naming convention for subject matter in a work. It is convoluted and as silly as running through the alphabet for the first word of every sentence in a technical manual on microwave rotating plate assembly.

John C. Maxwell is a man who knows leaders and knows leadership. Beyond his personal success as a business leader, speaker, teacher and author, his company EQUIP has trained a million leaders worldwide. This guy knows what he is talking about. For me the most interesting part was something that say behind the lines, that Maxwell never alludes to or even implies. I wondered at one point if he had noticed the connection. The life of Christ exemplifies the five levels of leadership. Let's just do it real quick.

Level one: The dove comes from heaven as John the Baptist dunks Jesus. A voice from heaven cries out, "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well-pleased." Position: God's Son.

Level two: Calls twelve ruffians and ragamuffin men out of their current lives to become disciples, and by disciples he means one who follows him around, shares his food, to cast out demons, heal the sick, so forth so on (room and board, not provided). Comradery: Twelve Disciples.

Level three: Feeds 5000, and then 4000, casts out legion, drives out Pharisees, produces 908 bottles of Chateau Le Fie for a wedding. Production: Ministry

Level four: His followers are by the Ascension already gathering others together, maybe five hundred or so. That is to say he has produced leaders from his ragtag bunch. Leadership Building:

Level five: The Great Commission and the Apostle Paul. The command is given by Jesus just before the Ascension to make disciples of all nations, and we see from church history that the process is leaders making leaders who make leaders.

That was fun. Now back to the book itself. The work is well written, easy to follow and packed with advice and such for up and comers. Maxwell follows the same pattern for each level, highs, lows, beliefs, "laws," and how to move onto the next level. There is enough on each level that a long time leader will find bits useful across the board, and light enough that a newcomer won't feel like they need to come back after they have gained a little more experience, though, I could see the benefits there.

The book grows with each level building on the last and giving a clear picture of the practical side of it all. It is obvious from the gate that Maxwell is not a philosophizer or a lazy-boy leader but that he has and is in the trenches. This is a book I would suggest to both the long established and the freshly appointed and even to the naively hopeful.

4/5

Propter Sanguinem Agni,
RS

This book was provided to me free of charge by the publisher. They asked only for my honest opinion. Nothing weird or anything like that. I am only disclosing this information because it is illegal if I don't. I'm pretty sure that I would go to prison, probably for life, seeing how reviewing a product you are given for free under the guise of having purchased it yourself is similar to murder. O laws, like whitewashed tombs!

www.faithwords.com and http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/ go buy some of their books.

Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge

2011-12-05T12:38:00.001-05:00

What if Socrates wasn't the man that Plato portrayed him in those famous Dialogues? Would it matter at all if Socrates was the gruff, underhanded, arguing truth seeker of Attic fame? What about Diogenes, a lesser known figure, just as mythic; what if he never insulted Alexander the Great nor shook his lamp in the faces of passerbys in the Agora; would it matter at all? Let's go forward a number of years. Would it matter at all if the Borgia were not at all the historical caricatures that are now finding fame in popular novels and bad television? What if Lucretia were sweet and coy, Cesar magnanimous and merciful, and the old crooked Pope, a man of God; would it make the slightest difference, would it matter at all beyond butterfly effect speculation? What about George Washington? What if he didn't cut down any trees? What if Lincoln wasn't honest? Now what if your brother had a secret life, your husband a second wife, or if your father were a spy? What if all of the people around you weren't who you had been told all your life they were? Disconcerting?

What if Jesus wasn't the God you'd been told your whole life he was? More than disconcerting, upside down.

This is the basic premise of John Eldredge's Beautiful Outlaw, that the Jesus you have seen pictures of in Sunday School and been heard extolled from the pulpit is a mere shade of the reality. What if Christ was more than meek and mild, humble and compassionate, more than healing and preaching, more than fish and loaves? What if there were more to his personality than Sunday school lessons, and pictures of a white robed bearded man who never sweats or gets dirty and whom kids love? Wouldn't that reality alter the very fabric of Christendom; if Christ is not the God we've been told he is then all of the religious infrastructure needs to repent. We have been false prophets speaking honeyed words to Nebuchadnezzar and now we need Joel to cry out for the priests to rent their garments and weep for lost Israel.

This is where Eldredge begins his book at the precipice point. He gives a fleeting glance at the what if then dives off the edge and he asks the reader to come along. Eldredge argues the the Jesus of the church is two-dimensional, without any personality; soft and compassionate; and that for this reason when one who has bought into this false image reads the Gospel they miss the truth. They miss out on having Christ as their Lord, as their companion, as their Rabbi, because they have missed him completely. The outcome is much like using a Red Ryder BB gun to take down an elephant for no reason other than that I'd had that BB gun since I was a kid and didn't know any better. It's not effective or satisfying; it's just silly. The true Jesus, the Christ that Eldredge describes as cunning, fierce, and playful, when that guy is your boss, when he sends you out in his power. Imagine hunting squirrel. . . in an iron barrel. . . using a grenade launcher. It's effective, it is satisfying, and silly. Silly because no one needs that much power.

Eldredge is equal to the task that he sets before the reader in this work. He walks through each personality trait drawing samples from the Gospel accounts, snippets from the New Testament letters, and even some sage words from the Fathers and the saints. The writing is concise and clean. The narrative is playing and interspersed with a fair amount of anecdotes, from the Gospel accounts and from the author own life. Eldredge manages to clear away ages worth of rubble and whitewashing with his quick mind and deft storytelling. What it comes down to is a case study of the personality of Christ, and Eldredge has found him to be a beautiful outlaw indeed. We need more of this. Less of the other polished bourgeois buddy of hugs and potlucks.

5/5

Propter Sanguinem Agni,
RS

This book was provided to me free of charge by the publisher. They asked only for my honest opinion. Nothing weird or anything like that. I am only disclosing this information because it is illegal if I don't. I'm pretty sure that I would go to prison, probably for life, seeing how similar reviewing a product you are given for free under the guise of having purchased it yourself is very similar to murder. O laws, like whitewashed tombs!

www.faithwords.com and http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/ go buy some of their books.

Lovey, huggy buddy Jesus wants to make you his bride.

2011-12-02T11:14:00.001-05:00

Its called Why Church Matters; but it hardly matters. I'm sorry WaterBrook Multnomah, but I couldn't finish this one. I almost put it down after the first three pages, but I did power through about three quarters before I just could not take it anymore.

I was an atheist for nearly 7 years before Christ came for me, and had I read this book in that period I would have avoided the church like it were a leper. That said, let me proceed to demolish this book.

The book opens with the story of Jack, or John, or some other ambiguous Everyman. He is dating Grace, and after awhile, because he won't commit to her, he tires of her and all goes awry. He goes on to talk about the family of God. Not the Kingdom, mind you, the family. The emphasis couldn't be more effeminate, as though, there wasn't enough wet-noodling in churches already. Is it any wonder that there are largely disproportionate numbers of women in the pews while the men are golfing, fishing and sleeping. A little more talk about relationships, and family, and more whitewashing of the fiery passionate Christ, who rebuked storms, and drove the money-changers form the temple with a whip, and we might drive the very last of the remaining men from the church. Or if not that, then at least we could dull them to the point of sedentary obedience. I think this must be the purpose of this book.

More than the nicey-nicey talk about the church and Christ there is a constant flow of amorous love speak. This may be fine for the ladies reading the book but I personally don't want to put on lipstick and mascara for Christ. He is my God, and my King. I am not his bride; we don't have a *relationship*--I have a relationship with my wife--I follow Christ; he is my leader, my Lord. On that note, Paul never says that you and I are the bride of Christ, the Church is the bride, the holy city Jerusalem in revelation is. The language used over and over again is off putting, uncomfortable, and far too passive. The spirit of Christ is not in the words.

Now all of this is not at all fair to the author, his intentions are good. He is doing something important even: calling people back to the Church. But the approach is so very wrong. This might be a fine book for a woman looking for a loving Savior to embrace her in his merciful arms, but for a church looking to lead the harvesters to the field this ain't gonna cut it. And let's just be real a minute. The people missing from the pews are men, and this is not the vision of the church that draws men to give their lives up for the church.

Propter Sanguinem Agni,
RS

1/5

WaterBrook Multnomah provided this book free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion. They are probably regretting that decision after this scathing review.

Why Men Hate Going to Church By David Murrow

2011-11-30T12:20:00.001-05:00

Why Men Hate Going to Church by David Murrow is a refreshing look inside the holy gates. With a sniper's precision Murrow hones in all the many facets of the family of God that have sent the warriors of the Kingdom out alone into the fields. Three points stand above the rest in his analysis: the Church preaches the lamb to the exclusion of the lion, that is, churches are nice; they like hugging and potlucks; the Church is effeminate, that is, it is filled with women and so it is to women that it caters; we refer to the Kingdom of God, as the family of God, or our relationship with Christ, but not our mission from him; ministries, sermons, music tend more and more to focus on the needs of women and sensitive touchy-feely wet rag men, and not the risk takers and the adventures; the Church is safe and secure and wants to stay that way; we take no risks, we offer no challenges, we never ever, ever worry about floggings, betrayals, or death in Church--and since this is exactly what Christ promises those who follow him, I wonder who it is we're following?

Fear not, Murrow, does not tells the reader he is in the fox-hole and then abandon him; No. The last third of the work is dedicated to the ways to reengage men in the Church, and without having to kick out the ladies none the less. He gives practical advice to church leaders about the many things that will bring back the men: timely services, less amorous man-love songs, less hugging (especially with strangers), more challenge, more risk, less lamb, more lion. Talk about the Kingdom, the mission, the difficulty and the reward. Then give them something to take with them as a reminder (ask our wives, it is a rare bird that remembers what all we've been told) like Joshua setting the stones across the Jordan as a reminder to the people from whence they'd come, or the scars that Shakespeare has King Henry extols when he calls for his band of brothers to rise and fight on Crispian's day. So gives us a message that relates to a piece of water pipe, or a rock, or how about a knife. Men love knives.

Murrow is just all practicality either. The work is well written, and even after chapters and chapters interspersed with statistics and demographic studies I was not worn by the work--I didn't realize anyone would be until I saw another review that mentioned this--but I was not tired of the information. I wanted more fact more evidence: if I am going to present this as a needed change at my home church I need to back it with some heavy firepower. Moreover it is chocked full of humor whether Murrow is comparing the gospel to an action film and church to a chick-flick, or the best reason ever to pray with your wife (I won't spoil it, you'll have to read it; trust me, you want too) he hits the message home again and again.

Just a short warning for the ladies. If you read this book be prepared for your rationalization hamster to spin his little wheel like a madman, your defenses will go up, you will be offended, but if you have ever in your life wondered why you couldn't find a good man, this is why. Take heed.

5/5

Propter Sanguinem Agni,
RS

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own; I was not expected to enjoy this book nearly half as much as I did. I bet if they knew how much I was going to enjoy it they would have wanted me to pay for it still. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

The Book of Man By William Bennett

2011-11-09T13:10:00.000-05:00

William Bennett's The Book of Man: Readings on the Path to Manhood carries the reader through six major aspects of Manhood: War, Work, Play, Community, Women & Children, and Prayer & Reflection. The work is structured around this topics with each having allocated to it a series of essay setup in Bennett's own words as "examples worthy of emulation, stories worth knowing, lives worth studying and remembering, and counsel worth hearing." In a way Bennett plays the part of both editor and author as he combines sources of manly ensample throughout history and present times--including a number of men he has himself known, or known of through his radio program. The breadth of the work only would give cause to praise with essay, poems, and prose from such fine men as Douglas MacArthur, Homer, John Stuart Mill, Daniel Webster, James Baldwin, Teddy Roosevelt, Alexis de Tocqueville, Emerson, Carlyle, Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Twain, Franklin, Washington, Hesoid even! But there are unknown men entwined with these giants which brings the book back to everyman.

The Book of Man delivers, and so, in such a way, that I find that I can come back to it for a nibble after the first chew through is over. This is a book which encompasses all the aspects of that famous Bacon quote: "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." Once over chewed and digested and I suspect like myself one would be back for seconds. In a similar fashion, as the Havard Classics is a liberal education on a five-foot-shelf, so the book of man is a manly education in a 5-inch-binding. There is so much packed into these over 576 pages, that I am sure given the time, Bennett could allow each its own space and create a five-foot-shelf.

Now the title may lead the ladies to expect that this book is not for them, but, not so; it is just as well that the women in our lives know the road map that leads a man to act like one, that such a title is not a misnomer on a casement that looks like a man but is little more than boy. In this way they will not be fooled by false bravado without virtue, voice without content, action without motive prevalent today; and moreover, like our ancestors, it is duly falling to the women in our lives to tame the wildness of a man. Here she will find the proper form, and not be fooled by our societies androgynous image of spineless men, or ladies wearing pants--HA!--and not dresses (Not true: Don't let my crass sense of humor turn you away from this book, Bennett doesn't once tell ladies they should wear skirts. . .no matter how nice they are).

The binding on the book is beautifully done, the paper is of a fine grade, with rough edges, I assume to give even the paper a rugged manliness--as though, manliness were rough edges, ooooh, or maybe that a man can't be so easily delineated. . . or maybe Bennett sells enough books to warrant such niceties?-- The work supports itself and you won't have to worry about the spine cracking as you get the the 300th page as some lesser quality tomes.

So if you are a man, or even if you just look like one, or even if you know a man, or would like to, this is a book not to pass up.

5/5

Propter Sanguinem Agni,
RS

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I was not coerced or cajoled. Honestly, this is how I feel. Promise.

AbundantLife Day Book: Guthrie

2011-11-08T10:18:00.000-05:00

The aesthete within me adores this little volume; while I am not partial to the electric green of the cover's butterfly, the texture and design of the exterior make up for this slight. The detailing on the outside is reminiscent of the Victorian wallpaper with all its gaudy embellishments, or like a binding for a William Morris story, though here the detailing is electric green and blind embossed; still the comparison holds. Inside the paper is of fine quality. Each page is marked across the top by a design which hints back at the cover design. The typesetting is simple and fits well with the rest.

The content of the books consists of 365 devotionals, ordered and dated, to be read daily throughout the year. These are formatted in three parts: first, there is a bible verse to which the whole devotional points. This is set apart in italics at the top of the page; second, is the largest section of the devotional which is an explanation or an embellishment on the scripture, but written from the first-person as God--for me, when I first opened the book these portions turned me off, to be fair though Guthrie does offer an explanation for her approach in the introduction and once I had read that I found the devotional more enjoyable--there is no major exegesis going on here, but rather a restatement, a simplification, or an explanation of what the Word says; third, is another section marked off by italics, but here is a dedication, or a prayer, read from the point of view of the reader. A sort of this-is-what-I'll-do-with-what-I've-read section.

Overall I like the book but for my taste is it awful light on the Word, and, for that, too heavy on the hermeneutics. Were the passages of scripture seen in their own context, or if the explanatory passages were geared more toward an understanding of the scripture, or were it not styled a devotional--though, it does, in all fairness, call itself a day book, and not a devotional; can that be a criticism? that it is not what it does not say it is? possibly--then I could read it and enjoy it in good faith. But it is not for me. All that said, it is a very pretty book and it has made a nice gift for my wife who has enjoyed it so far. And any number of your wives may enjoy it as well. Certainly with a butterfly on the cover they are the intended audience.

3.5/5

Propter Sanguinem Agni,
RS

Tyndale House Publishers has provided this book as a complimentary copy for review purposes. They required only an honest evaluation. They did not threaten my family, nor did they try to entice me with gifts of exotic animals and fine linens. They asked only for my honest opinion. Does anyone else think these new FTC guidelines are rather silly?

The God Pocket: Bruce Wilkinson

2011-11-03T22:46:00.000-04:00

Back in July I wrote a review for Bruce Wilkinson's You Were Born For This. Today I have the pleasure of reviewing his newest book in the same vein: The God Pocket. Looking back at the first book I remember two complaints that struck me. First, the way Wilkinson pounds the vocabulary he chose into the reader was off putting, and second, how repetitive the work as a whole felt. Neither is the case with The God Pocket. What errors there were in the first he has repaired in the second.

The writing is much the same as before, some anecdotes are even shared between the two, yet without the constant tautological drilling the words come forward more lucid than before. As in the first the anecdotes are strong here but there is something extra in the simplicity and straightforward matter and formatting that give these little stories even more strength.

I could criticize the similarities between the two, couldn't this book be an extended section in the first? But no, it stands on its own.

So now if you've read this far you must be wondering what in the world the book is about. It is a guide book, and a petition, to partner with God in delivering His miracles by means of specially dedicated funds (ie the God Pocket). Wilkinson explains just exactly what all this means, how one goes about it, how one continues to do it, and the many blessings that so doing rewards. Closing he tells a number of stories of people, small groups, and churches who take the challenge and equip themselves for God's work.

I for one am excited to begin my first dedication of a God Pocket and getting to work. Read it, and you can too.

Propter Sanguinem Agni,
RS

This book was provided by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers as a complimentary copy for review purposes. They didn't even ask me to say all these nice things. They just produce good books.

Fyodor Dostoevsky by Peter Lethart

2011-10-27T13:08:00.000-04:00

Fyodor Dostoevsky by Peter Leithart is a biography unlike any I had read before; hardly unique, I would imagine someone else has done the same for other giants, but none that I have read. Dostoevsky's life is retold in many of his own words but by way of a fictionalized account wherein he and friend Maikov reminisce while his wife Anna sews in the background, interrupts him, corrects his memory, and brings tea. Dostoevsky relives his life in vignettes and anecdotes, from his earliest childhood through Petersburg to Siberia, back to Petersburg and through Europe, then Moscow and, of course, Petersburg.

I was skeptical. Skeptical of the format, skeptical that Mr. Leithart could embody such an enigmatic figure. It would take a certain strength of literary figure and an understanding of man and an understanding of Dostoevsky beyond that of the man himself. I must confess I took a sick pleasure in the first few chapters of the work as the fiction of Dostoevsky did not compare to my own ideal form from many close readings of his work, but the Dostoevsky of a Raw Youth, Crime and Punishment, The Gambler and The Possessed takes his time to come out. In Siberia, after his trial for political sedition, Dostoevsky says that he died and that he was resurrected there. True in life; true in the work. It is after this chapter, maybe the fourth or fifth, that the man Fyodor begins to come out.

The last three-quarters of the book were a joy, a true pleasure, much like sitting with an old friend as he deftly leads me by string through the run of his life. The writing itself improved as the ideas that Dostoevsky captured in his works improved, and again as the problems of his life deepened so does the biography. He runs from his first wife, to Apollinaria--a women I never did understand before Mr. Leithart put her thoughts back into her head-- and then to Dostoevsky beloved little dove Anna. The work of his life is weaved with half the skill of Dostoevsky himself and that is a compliment of the first order.

If you don't know Dostoevsky, this may not be the best biography to begin with. Read Crime and Punishment or The Gambler, then The Idiot,The Possessed, and Karamozov. Then we you've drunk of the man deeply, come back to this little pleasant book so that you may sit in the presence of the man and hear his story from his own lips.

Propter sanguinem agni,
RS

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

On First Looking into Chapman's Homer

2011-10-17T11:38:00.000-04:00

On First Looking into Chapman's Homer: John Keats

MUCH have I travell'd in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
That deep-brow'd Homer ruled as his demesne;
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He star'd at the Pacific--and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise--
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.

Oddyseus And Nausicaa (From Book VIII of Chapman's Homer's Odyssey):

Cleansed then and balm'd, fair shirt and robe put on,
Fresh come from bath, and to the feasters gone,
Nausicaa, that from the Gods' hands took
The sovereign beauty of her blessed look,
Stood by a well-carved column of the room,
And through her eye her heart was overcome
With admiration of the port imprest
In his aspect, and said: "God save you, guest!
Be cheerful, as in all the future state
Your home will shew you in your better fate.
But yet, even then, let this remember'd be,
Your life's price I lent, and you owe it me."

The varied-in-all-counsels gave reply:
"Nausica! flower of all this empery!
So Juno's husband, that the strife for noise
Makes in the clouds, bless me with the strife of joys,
In the desired day that my house shall show,
As I, as to a goddess there shall vow,
To thy fair hand that did my being give,
Which I'll acknowledge every hour I live."

This said, Alcinous placed him by his side,
Then took they feast, and did in parts divide
The several dishes, fill'd out wine, and then
The strived-for, for his worth, of worthy men,
And reverenced of the State, Demodocus,
Was brought in by the good Pontonous.
In midst of all the guests they gave him place,
Against a lofty pill; when this grace
The graced with wisdom did him: From the chine,
That stood before him, of a white-tooth'd swine.
Being far the daintiest joint, mix'd through with fat.
He carved to him, and sent it where he sat
By his old fried the herald, willing thus:
"Herald, reach this to grave Demodocus,
Say, I salute him, and his worth embrace.
Poets deserve, past all the human race,
Reverend respect and honour; since the queen
Of knowledge, and the supreme worth in men,
The Muse, informs them, and loves all their race."

Poetic Strength

2011-10-10T10:35:00.000-04:00

Let it be noted that poetry can carve its marble statues, though with less power and by other methods than sculpture. It can express definite conceptions for the intellect, through spatial forms given for the imagination. Let us take a great example in one of Shelley's most powerful sonnets:

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Let us omit, for the present, the element of music in the poem, and consider only what is carved and painted for the imagination. The ruined statue is given here, no less truly than in sculpture, though for the inner vision, and with less smiting impressiveness than if one stood in the desolate sand waste beside the legs of stone, with the shattered head lying near. . .

. . .Poetry must therefore depend upon associates and suggestion for its carrying power in description; and one mark of a great poet is the ability to choose powerfully visualizing epithets and images. Homer's traditional greatness, for example, results in no small measure from his preeminent possession this quality--"ox-eyed Juno," "rosy-fingered Dawn," "blue-eyed Pallas," "earth-shaking Neptune," "swift-footed Iris," "cloud-compelling Zeus," "far-darting Apollo," "golden Aphrodite": the atmosphere of the Iliad depends much upon these wonderfully suggestive epithets.

From the Philosophy of Art by Edward Howard Griggs: http://tinyurl.com/67fhfxr

Our Last Great Hope by Ronnie Floyd

2011-10-06T12:58:00.000-04:00

Ronnie Floyd's book Our Last Great Hope: Awakening the Great Commission sets out to evaluate and to exhort Christians to take serious the commandment of Christ to make disciples of all nations. Floyd opens with an explanation of his credentials--in the case he was part of team which investigated the Great Commission for a full year--then he dives right into the meat explaining the why of the Great Commission, its importance to Christ, and the urgency with which all followers of the Way ought to be pursing this goal. From there Ronnie begins to explain the way in which this must be accomplished. By Creating Great Commission lives, that is family life and church life centered around this vision which was so important to Christ. Then the book closes with more advice on how these two things can be accomplished.

The writing is clear and crisp, it flows smoothly from one idea to the next. It is clear on every page that Ronnie Floyd drinks deeply of his own advice. This is not empty lip flapping and look-at-me scribbles, but the passionate drive and desire of one man who has given himself to the work of his Lord. The chapters are divided off into shorter sections which make all of the information more palpable and between most chapters is a short anecdote or other little sampling which breaks up the books and gives some relief to the pressing matters in the main.

Ronnie Floyd is no outstanding stylist but the plainness of language is fitting to the serious attitude given to the material. It is clear that he hold his purpose and his God in high reverence. But he does commit one sin against the written word which is nigh unforgivable: he refers to objects in reality as "high-def." Please stop. Reality has neither low or high resolution settings. I mean it. Stop. If you do it again, I'll put your next book down and never read a Ronnie Floyd work again. Seriously.

An Easy 4/5 Stars. If you love God with all your heart and all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself, if you desire to do what is required of you, to act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God, then you must do what He has commanded. Ronnie Floyd's Our Last Great Hope will tell you how.

Propter sanguinem Agni,
RS

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

Chazown: Vision, Dream, Purpose

2011-10-05T16:18:00.000-04:00

Craig Groeschel opens *Chazown* with an interesting anecdote where he asks the reader to imagine himself lying on his deathbed. He tells the reader that we are all dying and to expect one day to look back at our lives. Then he poses the question which sets the tone for the rest of the book. "Why was important that I existed?"

Groeschel wants everyone to understand that the Lord of creation does so with a purpose: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart;" (Jer 1:5). Now maybe that bit was just for the prophet Jeremiah, but then again it could have been for each one that was formed in the womb.

This purpose, this vision, this dream for your life Groeschel describes as your Chazown from the Hebrew meaning just that: vision, purpose, dream. And he sets out to help every individual find it. The book begins first by way of discovery looking at the three key points in everyone life, their Core Values, Spiritual Gifts, and Past Experiences. From this he says there is an overlap that likely with house one's Chazown. He goes on to give instruction in different areas of life that he feels will lead to or away from this intended vision for our lives.

The book throughout makes good uses of the space on the page with little notes and highlights, graphs and clever placement of text and white space. The chapters are divided into small bits which can be taken at a nibble or section by section. The writing itself suffers, like most contemporary works of this nature, by being overly conversational and cutesy but it is not so off putting that one is tempted to slam the covers shut. The rest of the kitschy layout helps to make up for these aesthetic slights.

Overall I would give this book high marks for its aspiration to call Christians to live out their faith in God and moreover to live intentional seeking the will of God in all things.

Per Sanguinem Agni,
RS

*This book was provided to me free of charge for review. Multnomah has asked for nothing of me other than my honest opinion.

Peace Be With You by David Carlson

2011-08-30T10:48:00.000-04:00

Peace Be With You by David Carlson delves into the monastic life from an unexpected angle. After a series of seemingly disconnected promptings Carlson set his mind to travel around to a number of monasteries--a practice that was already familiar to this convert to Greek Orthodox--to find a word of life, much like those pilgrims long ago who sought out the desert Fathers.

Carlson sought to understand the world after 9/11 and to do so he looked to the monastic traditions hoping their separation from the world would grant a unique perspective, something fresh and clean and Christian, not the stale and spoil of our modern world, our false conservatism, that says instead of "return not evil for evil," but, "You got me I'm gonna get you."

Over and again Carlson is given an answer of peace, an answer of love, and not one of retaliation, the response most often heard in the media, and even among our peers. This is a read that will be painful for many, or if not painful, then revolting and rejected out of hand. Such is the way that darkness hates the light, yet the call within these pages is like that of Christ's Sermon on the Mount, that we would love our neighbors and pray for our enemies.

At one point toward the end of Carlson's monastic circuit he comes to the conclusion that 9/11 ought to be seen in light of the death and resurrection. For me this was one of the most powerful moments of the narrative. He says that God the Father, when Christ gave up the ghost, had a choice to make at that very moment--and that this choice is the same we each make every time that we are wronged--whether to retaliate or to forgive, to seek vengeance or to grant love.

Yesterday I saw a headline that said the number two man for Al-Qaeda had been killed. I imagine a number of people reading the same line were glad, or even celebrating as in May when bin Laden was killed, but my mind turned toward the monasteries. I wonder what response Christ would have, what response we are called to have, and my mind quickly went to this man's family. Did he have a wife? Children? No doubt, he had a mother, a father, maybe brothers and sisters. How many people did he have who loved him in spite of his faults? How would they react to such a tragedy? And so I prayed, and in that moment pray for one's enemies became something real and not just an oft-heard, oft-spoke platitude.

Were the message itself misplaced this book would be worth reading for its kind and familiar narrative style. Carlson comes through in his choice of words so that in this quasi-memoir, part life part travelogue, one can find the man and the journey making the road a pleasure to walk.

Propter Sanguinem Agni,
RS

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me by Ian Morgan Cron

2011-08-02T12:33:00.000-04:00

Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir of Sorts tells the story of the author and of his strained relationship--if relationship it can be called--with his father. From the start Cron grabs the readers attention with pithy anecdotes and personal story that break up the main biographical arc of the narrative. The book moves through the life of the author in a number of stages, and even without their being separated and divided out by the author, there is a clear line or demarcation: life before first communion, first communion to first drink, from drinking to Christ, and from Christ to depression and back to Christ.

The story is well written and structured each story within pulling the reader in and pushing the story arc forward. The story is in large part about the author's trouble childhood and his seeking after his own father's approval yet the story is not told in such a fashion that having had a happy and prosperous childhood one would feel left out. The story itself is as such universal like good Greek drama without being pedantic. There is a savor of humanity that can be found only in such tragedy and it is here that the book becomes like salt, seasoning and preserving.

Moreover the narrative is reassuring to any honest reader who will see in the author's failings a flavor of their own, if only stronger; as the author finds his own redemption at the feet of Christ so then can any who would follow his life-line to its end.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Lord Send Me This Day

2011-07-25T12:29:00.001-04:00

Bruce Wilkinson opens *You Were Born For This* with the strongest aspect of the book, an anecdote, and this continues throughout as these moving stories, peppered into what otherwise may have been a Holy Spirit *how-to* book, saves an otherwise repetitive work which could do with some concision.

The writing leaves something to be desired, not that it is poorly written, but rather it risks cliche and kitsch to drill in the catch phrases chosen to demonstrate Wilkinson's practical hand at partnering with the Spirit. *Everyday Miracle Territory, Bump, Nudge, Cue,* certainly there may be something practical in the handling of the writing as such, like a Spanish teacher repeating paradigms to pupils till their ears bleed. Wilkinson likewise expects that you will use his vocabulary in God's work and he will repeat them till you can't well help but use it; a noble idea, indeed, but. . . most readers deserve more credit.

On the positive side, the content of the book is very good, biblical, and radical in an area that is sorely needed in our Churches today. Were every reader of Wilkinson to take him so very seriously and get about the work we should have a church filled with Finney's, Edwards', and Wesley's and more important, churches filled with God.

If I know you, I will likely be trying to have you read this book soon; and if you are my mother then I gave you a copy already. So get on with it and give it to someone else who could use it.

This book was provided by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers as a complimentary copy for review purposes.

2011-06-09T10:33:00.000-04:00

In response to news that the US may yet be embroiled in another conflict in the Middle East:

Is that shocking, or exactly what one would expect from the office of a tyrant? The traditional checks on power, after all, have not just evaporated, but have been snatched away; and under our noses like a thief who one by one carries off gold bricks leaving pyrite in their stead. At one time Christians acted as a bulwark against such trangressions: men went to the scaffold and pire for less. What shocks is not that tyrants are tyrannical--sic semper tyrannorum--but that Christians all over the country have taken their necks from the yoke of Christ and offered them to the yoke of man. Were we not called from the world? Does the Church not pride itself on being foreigners in all lands, and brother’s with all men in Christ? Or is it that men live first under a flag? A submission which the Lord whose footstool is the world cannot bear to commend. Or are we only brother's with those whose passports share the selfsame seal? Don't worry about tyrants for the Lion of Judah makes the clay after his own purposes as Pharaoh to manifest his glory in Egypt, as Pilate to work wickedness on behalf the light of the world, as the brothers of Joseph who sought evil but found God had made it for good.

"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."

2 Corinthians vi 14-18

Propter Sanguinem Agni,

Christian Encounters: Johann Sebastian Bach by Rick Marshall

2011-05-21T18:56:00.001-04:00

This concise biography of famed Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach touches the keystones of his life without inundating the reader with a deluge of musical minutiae. Marschall covers the major periods of Bach's life through his employments and settles in with his final appointment at St. Thomas to look more deeply at the music behind the man. Early on Marschall divulges the secret strength of Bach's talents, namely, his faith. On every page one is moved by the life of this incredible artist and his astounding ability not only in his music but in is relationship with God. At every turn we see Bach giving every thing for the Glory of God.

I had not read long before the text moved me to the music. I dusted off a few old vinyls and a couple CDs wherever Bach could be found that he would fill the air without my mind while living in the space within it. This was the state in which I finished the book with Mass in B minor floating through the air.

Bach is nothing short of inspiring as an example of a Christian life well lived, and Marschall's work brings this out with his well peppered styling. He disallows anachronisms, and beats back any plead of strained text or overwrought detailing for the musically erudite. Bach, himself, left little in writing, hardly any correspondence, only a few notes on scores, and a more extensive sampling from the marginalia of his well read bible, yet with as sparse as the way might have seemed Marschall manages to latch on to the essence of the man through his music. It is obvious that his music is well loved by the man.

It would be difficult not to wish for Bach's chorales and cantatas to return to the chapel service in our own day, and in seeing the pure evangelism through his life, by his music, one wonders what minister would not do well to find that essence, the emotional, spiritual, physical connection that is had in Bach's world and infusing it in their own sermons. For those who turn to Chrysostom, or Wesley, or Spurgeon for means of inspiration would do better to find Bach. For anyone looking for an introduction, or even an informed recommendation, he could do no better than begin with Marschall text.

Soli Deo Gloria.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com; book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Benaiah and the Lion

2011-05-20T15:00:00.000-04:00

In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day begins with the story of Benaiah, one of David's Mighty Men and eventually head of the Israeli army. The book hinges on a passage from Samuel in which is describe in brief a day when Benaiah spying a lion chases it into a pit and kills it. From this little story and an iota of other details from Benaiah's life Batterson constructs a system of risk-taking, fearlessness, boldness or whatever one may call it. From the start it is plan that Benaiah is little more than a mascot for an idea inherently important the Batterson as a person, and especially as a Christian. The message of the book is meant to challenge and inspired, and it lives up to its intentions in this way.

If I had to pare criticism to go with the book, I would look to its stylings. What Batterson exhorts others to chase in life, he ignores in his writing. The message is clear, but the vehicle is spotted and rusting. The writing is rife with cliches and modernisms, in making Benaiah's lion anecdotal there are wide jumps of culture and time, and on every page one hopes for cadence, rhythm and an airy lyricism, but instead cacophony, dissonance. One last sticking point, Batterson makes a habit of using dollar words where a nickel word would have sufficed if not been better. One particular substitute of "gluteus maximus" for the colloquial "butt" not only broke up an otherwise fine sentence but also jarred the reader from the anecdote being told about Peter's boldness.

Overall I found the book a pleasing read that, though it did not challenge literally, it does practically. The advice throughout is oddly reminiscent of that given out by Robert Greene & Fifty Cent in their book on fearlessness. All the same draping such practical advice in Christ, or maybe it is better understood as robing Christ in a practical boldness, whichever way, snatches away the all important message of Christianity--that of Christ, and him crucified--and points inward instead of upward to God. That Batterson is capable if balance in this regard, if nothing else, speaks to his work for the Lord.

This book was provided by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers as a complimentary copy for review purposes.

The Chasm

2011-04-19T09:01:00.001-04:00

I had a hard time reading the Chasm. It is not that it is particularly bad writing, the writing though not spectacular is equal to its purpose. Nor were the ideas presented overly complicated, nor simple platitudes, nor gregarious profundities; it was again chosen and set for its purposes.

What I found in reading the Chasm is that I cannot be a good judge of modern allegory. It is not to my taste, it does not fall within my sphere of knowledge. I would no more be able to judge the quality of a fine Merlot or Cabernet than give a qualitative judgement.

Someone better qualified will review this book and I am sure like a wine connoisseur will comment on the nutty overtones, its earthly aroma, and light body. As for me, I'll just have some juice.

This book was provided by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers as a complimentary copy for review purposes.

Review of John Piper's Desiring God

2011-02-10T23:24:00.001-05:00

John Piper's "Desiring God" reveals the solution to one of societies greatest hindrances--that is, that we are too easily pleased. In its initial statement this is the theme of the book. I have seen a number of other reviewers stating the the purpose of the book is to extol that we find our joy, our pleasure, in God, and while on the surface this is true, it is not in fact the point of the book. The point of the book is not to give an exposition of Christian Hedonism, but rather, Christian Hedonism is a tool, one well wielded by Piper, to point to this "stumbling block" in Scripture. The stumbling block is our pleasure in things unworthy of it, it is our apathy, our weakness, our self-love in place of, instead of through, our love for God.

Some will think I have over thought this, or over looked the obvious. One might say how very apparent it is that Piper means to tell us: do this. Delight yourself in the LORD! But we do not need John Piper for this. It is clearly, and plainly stated before us in His Word. What Piper says instead is, "God commands this, and you aren't doing it." It is through the means of a jolting term (Hedonism) and unflinching scholarship that he seeks to open our eyes to the truth that is plainly before us.

A number of other reviews have given complaint to Piper's Calvinism. Which I admit shows up in a number of places throughout the text, but I could find no fault in it. That is to say that if properly understood his arguments, whether we agree with them or not, do hold water. I personally do not agree in every pablum of theology as it is presented, but this does not keep me from enjoying the work and the passion that has gone into the life of the one who presents it. If one is only every willing to accept what is good from another that they agree with in totality on all points and in all minutiae then this book is not for him.

There is another class of people who may find little pleasure in this volume. If style in a written work is not important, or rather if the speed in which you can read a work is the measure by which you judge it, this book is not for you. Piper writes in a style that reflects the depth and breadth of his life of reading and of learning. He turns phrases that would please even as harsh a literary critic as Oscar Wilde in his prime. More than this Piper's style is suited to the work at hand, and to the references in that work. In its writing I would be surprised if every passage and sentence were not mulled over, examined, refined, and in the end put back polished or replace with new literary silver. Piper places his words next to those of giants who could ask him not to present his very best. It would be a great loss if he had not.

Let me end with two quotes, the first is a quote Piper pulls from C. S. Lewis' "Weight of Glory":

". . .Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

The second quote is from Coleridge. I offer it to rebut those reviews which make ignorant and erroneous claims against what they do not understand, like one who thinks Sophocles worthless because he doesn't read Greek:

"When we meet an apparent error in a good author, we are to presume ourselves ignorant of his understanding, until we are certain that we understand his ignorance."

If you are willingly to consider the first quote, and can abide patiently by the second, then nothing but good fruit can come from reading "Desiring God."

*This book was provided to me free of charge from the publisher, with the express intent that I would review it. I was not asked to offer a positive review, but only an honest one. This much I have done.