The Accidental Voyage
by Douglas Bond
P&R Publishing Company
PO Box 817
Phillipsburg, NJ 08865
©2005 257pp Soft Cover
The fourth book in the adventures of Mr. Pipes, Annie and Drew finds them going through Europe and finding the sources of many hymns written long ago. They do this because adventures are awesome and modern hymns are stupid. Seriously, there is no need to use the word praise 57 times in one song.
Bond’s book is fiction for younger readers and that serves not only to give them something to read, but it gives them something to read that involves Christianity and a subject that they would almost never learn about on their own: The sources of old Christian hymns. How many children do you know who would gladly look up information about old hymns? That’s right none. This book fills a necessary gap in the knowledge of their own culture and provides a welcome lack of the counter culture that will bombard them from about age two until the day they die.
The only down side I can think of in this book is that being a modern children’s adventure tale it will lack the shotgun blasts, escapes up vent shafts, car chases, and hissably nifty villains that did tend to fill the pages of adolescent fiction of the past. However it does contain good Christian values and information that your children would not look up on their own. So get your son and/or daughter this book and subversively educate them today!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Informed Consent
Informed Consent
by Sandra Glahn
David C. Cook
4050 Lee Vance View
Colorado Springs, CO 80918
©2007 342pp Soft Cover
If you only read one book about medical research, mistakes, the AIDS virus, and ethical dilemmas this year it should be Informed Consent. Why the reader might ask? You should read it because I am reviewing it is my reply. But there is more to the novel than that. Based on an extensive look at the back cover I have determined that this is a book by a Christian author that may not have every other line be, “What would Jesus do?” Now there is nothing wrong with being deeply religious or taking the law of God into account in all of your major decisions but in novel form it does get repetitive.
With this in mind, Sandra Glahn’s Informed Consent was sent to a Christian magazine to review, and the author teaches at a theological seminary, yet the entire back cover is not one long sentence about faith and Jesus. Let us look at literature as a hamburger. Christianity is the bun. Without the bun the burger loses much of its appeal and becomes a mess. Yet attempting to shove a baguette down someone’s throat will choke the eater. Mrs. Glahn appears to have produced a burger for us to enjoy. Take a bite and see if you like it. For those of you out there wondering why I have not described the plot, it is a medical drama so you probably already know the plot. That does not mean the book will not be awesome. Have faith in Jesus and the great burger of literature.
by Sandra Glahn
David C. Cook
4050 Lee Vance View
Colorado Springs, CO 80918
©2007 342pp Soft Cover
If you only read one book about medical research, mistakes, the AIDS virus, and ethical dilemmas this year it should be Informed Consent. Why the reader might ask? You should read it because I am reviewing it is my reply. But there is more to the novel than that. Based on an extensive look at the back cover I have determined that this is a book by a Christian author that may not have every other line be, “What would Jesus do?” Now there is nothing wrong with being deeply religious or taking the law of God into account in all of your major decisions but in novel form it does get repetitive.
With this in mind, Sandra Glahn’s Informed Consent was sent to a Christian magazine to review, and the author teaches at a theological seminary, yet the entire back cover is not one long sentence about faith and Jesus. Let us look at literature as a hamburger. Christianity is the bun. Without the bun the burger loses much of its appeal and becomes a mess. Yet attempting to shove a baguette down someone’s throat will choke the eater. Mrs. Glahn appears to have produced a burger for us to enjoy. Take a bite and see if you like it. For those of you out there wondering why I have not described the plot, it is a medical drama so you probably already know the plot. That does not mean the book will not be awesome. Have faith in Jesus and the great burger of literature.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Exploring The Gospel Of John: An Expository Commentary
Exploring The Gospel Of John: An Expository Commentary
by John Phillips
Kregel Publications
PO Box 2607
Grand Rapids, MI 49501
©1989 401pp Hard Cover
Commentaries can be fun and enlightening! Really they can! That’s why people write so many of them. Those of you familiar with the Ironside Expository Commentaries should be in for a thrill with the Phillips Expository Commentaries. John Phillips wrote a series of commentaries on scripture back in the eighties. In the book Exploring the Gospel of John, Phillips tries to explain in depth the most confusing of the four gospels. It is not really confusing but it is a little different so certain “cough” scholars have dedicate their lives to arguing with each other over it. When was John written, who wrote it, what does it mean, and does it contradict the others are all pointless topics that get harped on in seminaries and religion classes the world over!
Dr. Phillips spent his career teaching seminary and writing. Phillips commentary series tries to navigate the sea of arguments over the Bible to come up with a scholarly and adult guide to the books in it. He tries to explain the Gospel of John from a modern perspective for modern readers. Whether this is the right or wrong way to interpret the book is irrelevant. What matters in any commentary is that it explains the topic without either talking down to or insulting the readers. That way the reader is encouraged to reread the original text. If the reader has never discovered the text than a commentary can serve as an introduction to the topic. In this area Phillips has succeeded.
by John Phillips
Kregel Publications
PO Box 2607
Grand Rapids, MI 49501
©1989 401pp Hard Cover
Commentaries can be fun and enlightening! Really they can! That’s why people write so many of them. Those of you familiar with the Ironside Expository Commentaries should be in for a thrill with the Phillips Expository Commentaries. John Phillips wrote a series of commentaries on scripture back in the eighties. In the book Exploring the Gospel of John, Phillips tries to explain in depth the most confusing of the four gospels. It is not really confusing but it is a little different so certain “cough” scholars have dedicate their lives to arguing with each other over it. When was John written, who wrote it, what does it mean, and does it contradict the others are all pointless topics that get harped on in seminaries and religion classes the world over!
Dr. Phillips spent his career teaching seminary and writing. Phillips commentary series tries to navigate the sea of arguments over the Bible to come up with a scholarly and adult guide to the books in it. He tries to explain the Gospel of John from a modern perspective for modern readers. Whether this is the right or wrong way to interpret the book is irrelevant. What matters in any commentary is that it explains the topic without either talking down to or insulting the readers. That way the reader is encouraged to reread the original text. If the reader has never discovered the text than a commentary can serve as an introduction to the topic. In this area Phillips has succeeded.
Building on the Rock
Building on the Rock
by Joel R. Beeke, and Diana Kleyn
Reformation Heritage Books
2919 Leonard St., NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49525
©2000 157pp Soft Cover
Children like stories. Trust me they do. For this reason many children’s books have been written. The Christians are supposed to come to Jesus as little children so it is no surprise that there are vast numbers of Christian children’s stories out there. One of these books is Building on the Rock. The book is a collection of 31 stories written by two authors; Joel R. Beeke, and Diana Kleyn.
The stories are all short, easy to read, and easy to understand. The first story is about a young man who has grown bored with Christianity and goes off on a ship to find his fortune. He finds God instead and is quite embarrassed. These stories fill this fourth book in the Collection of Christian Stories for Children series. Building on the Rock is a good book for helping youngsters to understand their God and how to read. Children have to learn how to read somewhere, and while the King James Bible is a good place to hone those skills it is a little advanced for beginners.
by Joel R. Beeke, and Diana Kleyn
Reformation Heritage Books
2919 Leonard St., NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49525
©2000 157pp Soft Cover
Children like stories. Trust me they do. For this reason many children’s books have been written. The Christians are supposed to come to Jesus as little children so it is no surprise that there are vast numbers of Christian children’s stories out there. One of these books is Building on the Rock. The book is a collection of 31 stories written by two authors; Joel R. Beeke, and Diana Kleyn.
The stories are all short, easy to read, and easy to understand. The first story is about a young man who has grown bored with Christianity and goes off on a ship to find his fortune. He finds God instead and is quite embarrassed. These stories fill this fourth book in the Collection of Christian Stories for Children series. Building on the Rock is a good book for helping youngsters to understand their God and how to read. Children have to learn how to read somewhere, and while the King James Bible is a good place to hone those skills it is a little advanced for beginners.
A Steadfast Heart
A Steadfast Heart
by Elyse Fitzpatrick
P&R Publishing
PO Box 817
Phillipsburg, NJ 08865-0817
©2006 158pp Soft Cover
Not everything is going to go right in a person’s life. This does not mean that God does not love you. Those two sentences sum up the book A Steadfast Heart by Elyse Fitzpatrick. In her book Mrs. Fitzpatrick describes some of the problems people have, how they can lead to spiritual doubt, and how God is there to help the people. Fitzpatrick continually references Psalm 57. That is because the Psalm is about a person who has problems but knows God will help with the problems so the Psalmist will remain true to God. A Steadfast Heart is an extension of that thought put into the perspective of the modern world. For example in the introduction Fitzpatrick briefly describes a battle with her insurance company and the confusion and frustration it brought on.
The book is divided into eight chapters. The first chapters deal with crying out to God. The next few chapters are about His answering prayers. The last few are praising God for helping. This is preferable to many modern books in that Fitzpatrick identifies the problem, discusses it, and provides a conclusion. Much of modern non-fiction looks like a disjointed mess and serves to embarrass the entire English speaking world. Mrs. Fitzpatrick should be congratulated for both providing an interesting book and not poisoning our culture with more useless words. A Steadfast Heart is marketed predominantly towards women. It comes with a CD in the back so that reader can listen to some scripture readings.
by Elyse Fitzpatrick
P&R Publishing
PO Box 817
Phillipsburg, NJ 08865-0817
©2006 158pp Soft Cover
Not everything is going to go right in a person’s life. This does not mean that God does not love you. Those two sentences sum up the book A Steadfast Heart by Elyse Fitzpatrick. In her book Mrs. Fitzpatrick describes some of the problems people have, how they can lead to spiritual doubt, and how God is there to help the people. Fitzpatrick continually references Psalm 57. That is because the Psalm is about a person who has problems but knows God will help with the problems so the Psalmist will remain true to God. A Steadfast Heart is an extension of that thought put into the perspective of the modern world. For example in the introduction Fitzpatrick briefly describes a battle with her insurance company and the confusion and frustration it brought on.
The book is divided into eight chapters. The first chapters deal with crying out to God. The next few chapters are about His answering prayers. The last few are praising God for helping. This is preferable to many modern books in that Fitzpatrick identifies the problem, discusses it, and provides a conclusion. Much of modern non-fiction looks like a disjointed mess and serves to embarrass the entire English speaking world. Mrs. Fitzpatrick should be congratulated for both providing an interesting book and not poisoning our culture with more useless words. A Steadfast Heart is marketed predominantly towards women. It comes with a CD in the back so that reader can listen to some scripture readings.
Hostage Lands
Hostage Lands
by Douglas Bond
P&R Publishing
PO Box 817
Phillipsburg, NJ 08865-0817
©2006 234pp Soft Cover
There are times when an author can seem disconnected from a subject. When the book looks odd or contains information that directly contradicts things the reader knows to be true. It is highly unlikely the Douglas Bond is one of these authors. Bond begins his book Hostage Lands in a Latin class. The students are translating the Aeneid. The first few paragraphs of the book will give anyone who spent time in Latin class chills as they are catapulted back into their past. That alone was enough to make me trust this author. Nothing else that happened after that could really bother me. I guess I am trying to say that this book had a good opening.
Hostage Lands is about a bored young student in Latin class named Neil Perkins. Neil discovers an ancient manuscript and translates it. The story the manuscript tells is about the Romans in Britain during a chaotic period of history. This type of story telling has a name but I cannot remember what it is. All that matters is that this is a story within a story. The boy’s discovery of the tale of Rusticus, a Centurion who is attacked by his own people and finds hope in a Christian Celt is meant to reflect the feeling of discovery that many non-believers feel when they read and understand the Bible for the first time. That the story involves Celts fighting Romans is also good.
by Douglas Bond
P&R Publishing
PO Box 817
Phillipsburg, NJ 08865-0817
©2006 234pp Soft Cover
There are times when an author can seem disconnected from a subject. When the book looks odd or contains information that directly contradicts things the reader knows to be true. It is highly unlikely the Douglas Bond is one of these authors. Bond begins his book Hostage Lands in a Latin class. The students are translating the Aeneid. The first few paragraphs of the book will give anyone who spent time in Latin class chills as they are catapulted back into their past. That alone was enough to make me trust this author. Nothing else that happened after that could really bother me. I guess I am trying to say that this book had a good opening.
Hostage Lands is about a bored young student in Latin class named Neil Perkins. Neil discovers an ancient manuscript and translates it. The story the manuscript tells is about the Romans in Britain during a chaotic period of history. This type of story telling has a name but I cannot remember what it is. All that matters is that this is a story within a story. The boy’s discovery of the tale of Rusticus, a Centurion who is attacked by his own people and finds hope in a Christian Celt is meant to reflect the feeling of discovery that many non-believers feel when they read and understand the Bible for the first time. That the story involves Celts fighting Romans is also good.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
The Anonymous God
The Anonymous God
Edited by David L. Adams, and Ken Schurb
Concordia Publishing House
3358 S. Jefferson Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63118-3968
©2004 287pp Soft Cover
God and County. What is it? Is God Country? Is Country God? Find out today! The Anonymous God is a collection of essays on the subject of civil religion and American society. In other words, is the religion people practice the religion of the Bible or are they worshiping the United States and pretending it is the Christian way. The articles contained in Anonymous God claim that a good citizen must both worship the God of the Bible and pay respect to the United States. The line can blur however and Anonymous God discusses and explains this process.
Anonymous God contains eight essays on the subject of civil religion and attempts to analyze it from a historical context. The contributors, two of whom were the editors, are all university and seminary professors. These essays explore the various pillars that the United States was built upon. These pillars include the scriptures, ancient civilizations, and the influence, or lack thereof, of Deists.
The Anonymous God was written for the modern American. In a time of internal and international strife, many Americans are flocking to their nation’s banner. However, this has lead to mistaking that banner for the banner of God. This has resulted in confusion and antagonism between Christians about what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God. The Anonymous God could help shed some light on the problem.
Edited by David L. Adams, and Ken Schurb
Concordia Publishing House
3358 S. Jefferson Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63118-3968
©2004 287pp Soft Cover
God and County. What is it? Is God Country? Is Country God? Find out today! The Anonymous God is a collection of essays on the subject of civil religion and American society. In other words, is the religion people practice the religion of the Bible or are they worshiping the United States and pretending it is the Christian way. The articles contained in Anonymous God claim that a good citizen must both worship the God of the Bible and pay respect to the United States. The line can blur however and Anonymous God discusses and explains this process.
Anonymous God contains eight essays on the subject of civil religion and attempts to analyze it from a historical context. The contributors, two of whom were the editors, are all university and seminary professors. These essays explore the various pillars that the United States was built upon. These pillars include the scriptures, ancient civilizations, and the influence, or lack thereof, of Deists.
The Anonymous God was written for the modern American. In a time of internal and international strife, many Americans are flocking to their nation’s banner. However, this has lead to mistaking that banner for the banner of God. This has resulted in confusion and antagonism between Christians about what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God. The Anonymous God could help shed some light on the problem.
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