Book reviews 4/29
April 29th, 2012 at 11:22 pm by NukeIt’s time for some book reviews again. Seven months later. Yes, that’s how I continue to roll.
Who Ate Lunch with Abraham (Asher Intrater)
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This book was advertised by one of the charities I support, and I found it quite inexpensive on Amazon to read on my Toshiba Thrive’s Kindle app. This was by far my favorite book out of all the ones I read over the past several months, probably because it’s right up the alley of the Bible study I’ve been leading at home. Asher is a Messianic Jew, writing about many times Jesus shows up in the Old Testament. His point in doing this is to demonstrate to fellow Jews that the idea of God showing Himself to us in the form of a man is not blasphemous, but is something God has been doing for a long time in the form of the "Angel of the Lord." If you find it a big struggle to read through my lengthy study posts, or you’re annoyed I’m taking WAY too long to get to them (ha), here’s a great option to check out.
The Art of God: The Heavens and the Earth (Ric Ergenbright)
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T and the kids got me this for my birthday, and I fell in love with it. Ric’s photography is simply amazing. He not only captures the beauty and sheer awesomeness of God’s creation, but does an amazing job expounding on each photograph as well. His inclusion of Scripture with the images throughout the book is the icing on the cake. I’m going to have to soon find out if he has more of this kind of material (I’m too lazy to Google right now, though ;). Let me know if you want to borrow it, as it’s a quick read/view, though I think you’ll want to take your time walking through it.
Counterfeit Gospels: Rediscovering the Good News in a World of False Hope (Trevin Wax)
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I really don’t’ remember how I happened across this book, but it was a pretty quick summary of some of the prevailing false gospels out there within Christianity. He chooses six main ones to work through (each with some sub-themes), points out what is wrong with each and why they are so attractive, and then turns back to how he sees the true gospel answering them. In case you don’t plan to read the book, here’s a really quick summary, which ultimately can’t do the book justice:
- Therapeutic gospel – The fall was the moment we failed to meet our potential, Christ’s death proved our worth as humans, and the church is there to help us find happiness and fulfillment.
- Judgmentless gospel – Restoration is about how good God is rather than including any demonstration of His righteous judgment for rebellion, Christ defeated sin, death and Satan, but the need to avert God’s wrath through Jesus’ sacrifice is missing, and the church doesn’t really need to evangelize the world.
- Moralistic gospel – Our sinful condition is only from our sins and redemption is through us working with God to stop committing them, the good news is the instruction to help us attain God’s favor and blessings for obedience, and the church is there for us to gather with other moral folk like us.
- Quietist gospel – Scripture is of a personal nature only, Christ’s message is not for the political sphere or society but only the changing of individual hearts, and the church is to be separated and removed from the world.
- Activist gospel – God’s kingdom is to be advanced by believers (we are the answers to our prayers), Christ’s power is to be demonstrated through social, political and cultural change that we lead, and the church’s role is to be focused on this change.
- Churchless – Scripture is for the individual only (not a community), Christ’s gospel is only for individual soul-saving, and the church is an optional aid to our individual growth to be discarded any time it slows us down.
If you want to understand what the problem is with each of those, you’ll either have to read your Bible some more or go check out the book. While I might quibble on just a couple things in the book, I thought Trevin did a great job with this. I could more easily see how I personally tend towards some of these myself. Reading through it, I think you’ll find out how much fuller (or maybe even simpler) the gospel is than perhaps you are being taught.
Insights on Romans (Charles R. Swindoll)
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I think I now have all of the books in Chuck’s "Insights" series, though have only recently made it through Romans. Chuck has a way of bringing Scripture down to planet earth that is unequaled by other authors I have read. He chunks passages up in nice bites, allowing you to digest as much as you want during any sitting. He also breaks up the study nicely with some personal stories that are usually entertaining as well. If you’re looking for something a little less scholarly (i.e., lengthy commentaries with big, scary words) and yet with far more meat that a study Bible, these are a great option to dive right into.
The Feasts of the Lord: God’s Prophetic Calendar from Calvary to the Kingdom (Kevin Howard, Marvin Rosenthal)
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This is a nice, short trip through the feasts God commanded the Jews to observe, with a focus on how they point towards His prophetic calendar in the person of Jesus Christ. When seen from this viewpoint, one sees there is importance in these feasts for all Christians, as some have already been fulfilled by Jesus, while others are still yet to be fulfilled. I expect to consult this again along with my other resources when getting around to Leviticus in our home Bible study, looking for Jesus Christ throughout all the Scriptures.
Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back (Todd Burpo)
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I had some trouble rating this book. While there may be some truth in this boy’s story, written through his pastor father, or it may even be completely true, I’m not sure what to make of it. One of the problems with near-death-experience stories is that they generally seem to side right along with the religious worldview of the person having the experience. What do we do when a Muslim/Mormon/Hindu/Wickan/etc. has an experience like this, yet he or she sees everything backing their own personal views? What sets this story apart from all the others that would lead a person to believe? I think relying on testimonies like this, rather than the truth of God’s own written Word, can lead one astray. Since that’s just a bunch of me rambling, I’ll leave you with one quick example in the book. One of the things the parents seemed to focus on for some time was finding a picture/painting/representation of Jesus Christ that their son would finally say, "that’s Him!" Well, they finally found it in the child prodigy, Akiane’s, painting of Jesus (Google for Akiane’s "Prince of Peace"). It’s an amazing painting, as are all of hers, but here’s where things break down a bit. What do we do when we read some of her blog posts that are clearly against Scripture, yet she appears to claim as direct revelation from God? That’s where the wheels come off for me, and why I guess I ultimately can’t give this book my recommendation, either. This all requires some serious discernment, and must be tested against God’s Word. If you want someone else’s thoughts, I felt this review was a fair one. I would recommend spending more time in the Bible before spending it on books like this.
The Misery of Job and the Mercy of God (John Piper)
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This poetic creation of John Piper, which depicts another side of the Book of Job, was a super-short read. It appears John set out to give us a clearer picture of Job and his wife in their story, as well as maybe tie up some other loose ends someone feels are there in the book. It was neat, and fairly well done, but I think there is a great gravity to the book that doesn’t require a reimagining of it, and God meant for it to include exactly what was there and no more. It’s a book that requires much study, and multiple readings, and even some major life lessons, in order to fully grasp it. I would recommend further study of the book itself before skipping to the reader’s digest, easier-to-read version here.
Don’t Waste Your Life (John Piper)
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Dear Lynn of Lynn’s News blog, someone we became acquainted with last year during her own trials, has been a real testament of faith to us. She loaned us several John Piper books to read (including a copy of the book above, which we already had) several months ago and hopefully we can finally meet up soon to return them! While you may notice below that I’m rating all of them 4 stars, this was my favorite of the four. Piper has a nice treatise here on all the ways we can and should see in our lives a purpose for glorifying God, rather than wasting them in all sorts of trivial pursuits. I don’t remember him mentioning all these movies I’ve spent time watching is too bad, so there’s hope there for me. ;)
The Roots of Endurance: Invincible Perseverance in the Lives of John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce (John Piper)
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I really haven’t spent much time reading biographies, and I’m starting to realize I’ve wasted a bit of time there missing out on them. There are so many people’s lives we could learn from, and these three are no exception. These men persevered through various trails in their lifelong pursuits to glorify God by doing His work. Piper doesn’t simply dwell on the positives of their perseverance, but points out their own struggles against their sinful nature as well. It was very refreshing to see such role models of the Christian faith, and yet at the same time see how they are human, too.
Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die (John Piper)
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This book was very similar to a previous one of Piper’s that I had read, "What Jesus Demands from the World." The fifty reasons are presented in a few pages each, which makes it both a great page-turner that you can get through quickly if you want, or that allows you to check out and dig more into as a single reason a night. I felt a few were repeats of others in order to get to a nice, round number of fifty, but as Jesus spent much time repeating Himself during His ministry (as well as the Spirit did throughout all Scripture), I guess reminders never hurt.
When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy (John Piper)
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Lynn loaned us Piper’s most widely recognized book, "Desiring God," which I already read, so it was nice to also see the other side in this book. While his popular treatise is on how we are to desire God as our ultimate goal, this book provides some insight on what can be done during those all-too-prevalent times when we do not, in fact, desire God. This one requires a bit more work to get through than the others, but was well worth the read.
Read the Bible for Life (George H. Guthrie)
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I honestly don’t remember how I ended up with this book (whether I put it on my birthday wish list, or if T simply grabbed it during a sale), but it wasn’t too bad. There is a whole set of study material that you can get to go with it, and we got the DVD along with the book, apparently. I still haven’t watched it, but a quick glance appears to be George sitting around interviewing people and having group discussion. The book itself contains several interviews with Christian leaders on topics related to how to study the Bible. Personally, I could have done without much of the random "we were walking around in the garden" or "I asked this and he said something back with a big smile/laugh/chuckle/grin/etc." I think I would have gotten much more out of it without all the extraneous detail. However, I imagine there are many out there who enjoy things written this way, and you might be one of them. Let me know if you want to check out the book and/or the DVD.
Noah Primeval (Brian Godawa)
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Chronicles of the Nephilim, Book 1.
Ok, time to step off into the fictional arena. Here we have a really fun book by Mr. Godawa, as he imagines what Jesus Christ meant when He said: "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." (Matthew 24:37). Godawa’s vision of the times of Noah starts at about age 500 when Noah’s already heard from God that he is to build "a box" and is not really ready to do it, and continues until the flood. The book hinges on the idea that the "sons of God" in Genesis 6 are fallen angels, and the Nephilim are the giant offspring of those fallen angels and human women (the daughters of men), which is something I’ve blogged about before. While this book is obviously full of detail not found in the Bible, Godawa includes several appendices going into detail on why he wrote the story the way he did. It’s a great ride, and the extra information in the appendices is a great walk through Scripture itself as you look to understand more, and act as a Berean from Acts 17:11.
Alien Encounters: The Secret Behind the UFO Phenomenon (Chuck Missler)
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Ok, I guess maybe we’re back in the non-fiction arena, but we are still with the semi-bizarre. Chuck provides for us much detail behind the UFO phenomenon that we’ve most-likely encountered in one way or another during our lives. For those who spent too much time reading about the phenomenon, there was a lot of repetition in the book that can be skipped, but for those that no little or nothing other than the word "Roswell," there might be a ton of interesting information in here. The good stuff, which I don’t think he spent enough time on, is at the end, and is something I’ve briefly blogged about before. Namely, he discusses the idea that the end-times great deception spoken of in Scripture could possibly tie in with UFO and aliens, keeping in mind that if so, these aliens are Satan, his demons, or some creation of them… perhaps in a similar way to the Nephilim during Noah’s time. Anyway, if you have a desire to learn more, this is certainly an option to check out.
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