Books and Family

• Author: Andy Andrews
• Format: 167 Pages Jacketed Hardcover
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785229213
• ISBN-13: 9780785229216

• Thomas Nelson
• CBD
• Borders

The Noticer by Andy Andrews is a book that I have read and re-read since receiving it.  This book revolves around the two main character’s, Andy and Jones, not Mr. Jones, just Jones.  Andy just 23, is living under a pier, scratching together meals, and doesn’t have much of a plan for life.  Then out of the blue a wise old man that seems to know more then he lets on shows up.  Jones offers Andy a little perspective on his life, things are never the same for this young man.  Throughout the rest of the book I read about numerous lives that are changed, touched, and saved by Jones.  This mans wisdom, insight and keen understanding of perspective changes the lives of the people that he touches as well as my own life.  The mesmerizing storytelling, weaving together of characters and lives had me glued to  the pages.  I had many revelations throughout this book that have changed the way I interact with my wife and kids.  I felt such joy and hope as I read about gaining new perspective on my life.  There were times that I felt disgust reading about Henry Warren and his business practices, disgust because I could relate to the way I have done things in the past for people.  It made me recommit myself to staying honest when dealing with my customers.  Seeing that behaviour from a third parties point of view really hit home with me.  I can’t wait to get some of Andy’s other books as I have read that his writing is consistantly great with all that he does.  I will be recommending this book to family and friends, I will also be researching the option of purchasing a case of this book so that I can bless others with this insightful read.  Do yourself and others a favor, pick this up, read it and bless someone else with it!

I have recently received Living for God’s Glory - An Introduction to Calvinism by: Joel R. Beeke and Same Kind of Different as Me by: Ron Hall & Denver Moore.  Thanks to Reformation Trust Publishing and Thomas Nelson respectivaly for the review copies.  So much to read and yet so little time!

The Unseen

• Author: T.L. Hines
• Hardcover: 400 Pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595544526
• ISBN-13: 9781595544520

• Thomas Nelson
• CBD
• Amazon

With many thanks to Thomas Nelson for my review copy!

This was my first book by T.L. Hines that I have read,  it also marked the first non-fiction book that I have read in just over two years.  It was a really enjoyable experience , once I got started I didn’t want to put it down.  This story is definitely “Noir Bizarre” with emphasis on Bizarre, the novel goes from creepy to strange at each page turn.  The story is based in Washington D.C. which makes for interesting reading whether or not you are familiar with the area.  Lucas the main character is a young man, that is the product of an orphanage.  As a young boy he sneaks out of his room onto the roof of his orphanage, staring at the bright lights of Washington D.C. dreaming about one day living in that big city.  Lucas grown up finds himself in the darkest recesses of our nations capital, but never in the same place for very long.  He likes small hidden spaces, crawl spaces, dropped ceilings, and empty offices.  Lucas is a “watcher” of sorts.  He hides, watches, lives precariously through other people and the lives he creates for them.

This book has quite a few bits that can make one very uncomfortable, it deals with some of our most deep seated fears.  Lucas loves to discover new forbidden places in the Metro area, build “hammocks” in out of the way places, and collect peoples personal possessions or  “totems”  as he refers to them.  Soon he meets someone else that “creeps” in the area as well.  After this meeting things start to get interesting.  From the beginning the author sets a stage of intrigue, mystery, and a high level of suspense.  Surprisingly Lucas has high moral values when it comes to creeping, soon he finds that others that are like him don’t always hold to such high standards.  He is caught in a whirlwind of danger, and action.  Throughout the book I was kept guessing at where the author would take this story next, at every turn I was pleasantly surprised.  I really enjoyed the ethical standards that Lucas adopts pertaining to his hobby and the way he treats threats to himself.  An excellent read for the weekend or a short vacation.  I recommend this one and look forward to looking at others by T.L Hines.  Please check back for a review from  my 12 year old step daughter!

There are two things that I feel strongly about, OK there are more then two things but these are the two that I need to get off my chest. The first is what the world cries when we try to abide by God’s law in everything we do.

“The phrase separation of church and state is generally traced to the letter written by Thomas Jefferson in 1802 to the Danbury Baptists, in which he referred to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution as creating a “wall of separation” between church and state.

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that expressly prohibits the United States Congress from making laws “respecting an establishment of religion” or that prohibit the free exercise of religion, laws that infringe the freedom of speech, infringe the freedom of the press, limit the right to peaceably assemble, or limit the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seperation_of_church_and_state

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

This has nothing to do with keeping Church out of schools, courts, or any other public place.  This is to keep the “state” out of our Church’s.  I am printing two Wikipedia entries and will keep them handy.  I think this is something that we need to make the world aware of.

Now the second, that is Rick Warrens prayer during the inauguration. This was a great opportunity to share about the foundations that this country was based upon, Christ our Lord and Savior. To share the hope of the gospel, to plead for our country to repent and put our faith in Christ alone. I feel that he wants to appeal to the mass public, doesn’t want to offend anyone. That should not be of concern, I was glad to find that others before him did not shy from the truth when addressing the country:

Invocation delivered by Franklin Graham

Blessed are You, 0 Lord, our God. Yours, 0 God, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is Yours. Yours, 0 Lord, is the kingdom. You’re exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from You. You are the ruler of all things. In Your hands are strength and power to exalt and to give strength to all. As President Lincoln once said, “We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown, but we have forgotten God. It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended powers, to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.” O Lord, as we come together on this historic and solemn occasion to inaugurate once again a president and vice president, teach us afresh that power, wisdom and salvation come only from Your hand. We pray, 0 Lord, for President-elect George W. Bush and Vice President-elect Richard B. Cheney, to whom You have entrusted leadership of this nation at this moment in history. We pray that You’ll help them bring our country together so that we may rise above partisan politics and seek the larger vision of Your will for our nation.

Use them to bring reconciliation between the races, healing to political wounds, that we may truly become one nation under God. Give our new president, and all who advise him, calmness in the face of storms, encouragement in the face of frustration, and humility in the face of success. Give them the wisdom to know and to do what is right, and the courage to say no to all that is contrary to Your statutes of holy law. Lord, we pray for their families, and especially their wives, Laura Bush and Lynne Cheney, that they may sense Your presence and know Your love. Today, we entrust to You President and Senator Clinton, and Vice President and Mrs. Gore. Lead them as they journey through new doors of opportunity to serve others.

Now, 0 Lord, we dedicate this presidential inaugural ceremony to You. May this be the beginning of a new dawn for America as we humble ourselves before You and acknowledge You alone as our Lord, our Savior and our Redeemer. We pray this in the name of the Father, and of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Billy Graham Center, Wheaton College

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Five Things Every Christian Needs to Grow - Revised & Expanded

• Author: R.C. Sproul
• Format: Hardcover
• Number of Pages: 136
• Publisher: Reformation Trust Publishing
• Publication Date: 2008
• ISBN: 156769103X

• Amazon
• CBD

With thanks to: Greg Bailey at Reformation Trust for providing me with this review e-copy.

I was excited to receive, read and review this book.  Being but a babe in Christ I am eager to learn from such a knowledgeable teacher.  I was drawn in right from the introduction, Sproul draws a comparison to our Christian walk with the Olympic games, and points out that like athletes we must train and embrace certain disciplines.  Those disciplines are Bible Study, Prayer, Worship, Service, and Stewardship, each with its own chapter in the book.

The book can be a quick easy read or one that requires more study, I made sure to have a highlighter handy after reading the first pages of the opening chapter.  There are many great scripture references and Sproul really paints a brilliant picture for each one of the five points.  His writing is interesting, he sprinkles personal stories that really kept me involved in the book.  There are basics laid out in every chapter, the first chapter on Bible Study includes a lay out or framework for how the bible is put together, also he sites many useful tools that will help a new believer in their study.

I enjoyed the next chapter the most out of the entire book, this one is entitled Prayer.  Prayer is a tool that as a new believer I have struggled to learn much about.  Sproul lays it out in a simple easy to understand manner, includes Martin Luther’s booklet on how to pray as a reference.  It is laid out in the chapter that Prayer is a privilege that we are blessed with.  He points out that we should approach prayer with the attitude of “I get to” rather then “I have to” or “I should”.  He delves into prayer further by pointing out that Paul uses the metaphor of marriage to illustrate this communion.  Expounding on this metaphor in a clear and understandable way with lots of scripture included for further study was very helpful in continuing my journey in prayer.

The third chapter titled “Worship” was one that I looked forward to.  As a former Roman Catholic, my understanding of worship was radically different then it is now.  In this chapter Sproul teaches that “true worship focuses on the whole counsel of God, not on isolated aspects of God with which we are comfortable.”  Again Sproul points us to places in scripture that teaches about the topic of this chapter, this time it is John 4, the story of the Samaritan woman at the well.  He expounds on the text and draws the conclusion that we are to worship in Spirit and in Truth, and that God’s presence cannot be confined to a physical location.  Sproul also takes us through some of the practical steps of worship such as preparation prior to worship and practical guidelines.

The next two chapters, Service and Stewardship, are chapters that I find myself going back to read again and again.  At the beginning of the forth chapter he points out that “The five practices we are exploring in this book are all means of grace.”  That grace is a tool that the Lord uses to strengthen and nurture us so that we grow in conformity to Christ.  All believers are called to service in ministry.  We all have a talent that can add to the body of Christ, we need each other.  Sproul teaches that we are to be unprofitable servants.  We should serve because we want to serve and Glorify Christ rather then get “bonus points”.  He ends the service chapter with a small paragraph that I had to highlight, star and have now quoted to several people.  “I would say that the greatest weakness in the church today is that many pastors keep looking over their shoulders for the approval of men.  But as soon as pastors become slaves to human opinion, trying to please human beings instead of God, the message of Christ is compromised.  No man-pleaser preaches the whole counsel of God.”  Stewardship, money, but as Sproul points out its not just about stewardship of our money.  In the first half of the chapter Sproul focuses on the effective stewardship of our time and talents, after reading this section I came to my own conclusions that not only is wasting time bad stewardship but not reading this book and reviewing it in a timely manner is bad stewardship of the resource that was so freely given to me.  I have been more focused primarily on the stewardship of my time, especially at home after dinner.  Sproul then goes on to discussing the tithe in the Old and New Testament, he does a great job of using examples to illustrate the types of tithes, how they apply now, and how they were applied then.

The final chapter in the book is entitled “Questions and Answers”  A nine page Q&A on various issues related to the means of grace and the growth in the Christian life.  Some of the questions I have sought answers to myself and found this section helpful for myself, I was eager to share it with my wife.  He seeks to answer all the questions with Scripture and where the Bible fails to provide an answer he does his best to answer it from his own experience.

Overall I found this book to be uplifting, educational and a great avenue for further study of scripture.  It seemed that something stood out to me every three pages that needed highlighting or noting for further review.  I am quite pleased with the easy to read format and the book staying very specific to the Five Things Every Christian Needs to Grow.  This was my first time reading R.C. Sproul and I will look forward to the next time I am presented with an opportunity to read one of his many books.

I am trying to wind down, read more of Matthew and mentally prepare for my prayer time tomorrow morning.  My goal is to pray for an hour for our leaders tomorrow morning from 6 AM - 7 AM.  I will also be praying for Pastor Rick Warren.  With Mason being up that may be a challenge, but I am sure the Lord will provide a solution.  Pastor Kevin has been teaching on Election, God choosing us.  This is something I have had much interest in recently, I have begun reading reformed works to learn more about this.  I need to read a bit more on prayer tonight, I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide me in the morning.

Thanks to Ryan Burns at Logos Bible Software for furnishing me with my review copy of BIble Study Magazine.

I have been looking forward to reading it ever since I heard of its conception.  I am fairly new to the Faith and was excited to read through the very well written and well laid out articles.  The magazine had a wide variety of topics, I especially enjoyed the article with Josh McDowell on defending the bible.

“Choosing a Bible Translation” written by Daniel B. Wallace was a very insightful article, and I was pleasently surprised of his high view of the New English Translation (NET).  A translation I have been very enamoured with since it was released but don’t hear much about outside of the organizations own blog.

Another feature of the magazine that I am especially enjoying is the “Not your average bible study”.  It is an 8 week bible study, in this issue it is on the book of Hebrews.  An excellent in depth resource, for anyone that wants to jump deep into the Word.  It gives weekly lessons, with in depth questions, plenty of cross references, and prayer points.  The “Greek Word Study without the Greek” was a refreshing article that I have never come across in any other publications.

Last but not least the magazine published a wonderful resource that they have also made available on line.  (Please see thumbnail and link below)  It is a chart that shows a sampling of the different bibles used today and what content they contain.  I had not idea that the content was so varied from tradition to tradition.  This has piqued my curiosity and I will be seeking out more books and materials on the history and canonisation of the bible.

All in all this magazine is in depth, very well written, and worth reading.  There is enough substance here to last until the next issue is published in January.  I look forward to subscribing to it and getting it in the mail.

Finished upgrading to the latest word press!  Now all the themes work instead of just the default.  I like the new version a lot better.  When you want to see a theme it will do it in a preview window with your content.

I just recieved my first book to review via email/pdf. It is R.C. Sproul’s 5 Things every Christian needs to grow. I am looking forward to reading and reviewing it. It looks like it should be a quick read, probably just one evening. I need to finish the book I am currently reading, Behind the mask of Mormonism.

I am looking forward to getting the unseen   to review.  It should be going out to me soon.