Book Review - The Little Boy Down the Road (01/14/09 - 7 Comments)
I don't often post reviews two days in a row, but today you'll need to bear with me. I was somewhat surprised but rather pleased to find The Little Boy Down the Road in my mailbox one morning. It was the first I had heard of the book. I was drawn to it by its pastoral cover and its simple premise--"Short Stories and Essays on the Beauty of Family Life." As the subtitle says, this...
It's Not Fair! (01/13/09 - 8 Comments)
A couple of months ago I was having one of those mornings. I was in a grumpy mood to begin with and was grumbling as I headed downstairs to find that the children's lunches remained unmade. With just a few minutes before they had to be out the door and on the school bus I set to work on one of my least favorite routine jobs. As I did so I grumbled, "It's just not...
Book Review - A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards (01/06/09 - 2 Comments)
Ask those who love biography and ask those who admire Jonathan Edwards and you will find the jury split on which biography best tells the life of Edwards. Some will vote for Iain Murray's Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography while others will opt for George Marsden's Jonathan Edwards: A Life. Most will say, rightly, that you cannot go wrong with either one; both are excellent and both are well worth reading. Several years after the...
Book Review - Virtual Integrity (12/23/08 - 6 Comments)
The internet is a minefield--there is no doubt about it. For every blessing it brings (and there are many) there seem to be innumerable dangers. For every relationship forged and strengthened, there is another damaged or destroyed. For every minute of time saved through some great technological advance, there are hours wasted in distraction and procrastination. For every good use, there are uncounted evil uses. Such is the fate of technology in the hands of...
Book Review - Incomprehensible Demoralization (12/20/08 - 9 Comments)
It's probably not a good idea for a drug addict to work as a pharmacist. Actually, I'd say it's definitely not a good idea for a drug addict to work as a pharmacist. And yet, in 1996, when Jared Combs graduated from school and became a licensed pharmacist, he was heavily addicted to all kinds of drugs--any kind of drug, really. As is so often the case, Combs had to be brought low--very low--before he...
Don't Stop Believing (12/09/08 - 2 Comments)
Michael Wittmer feels trapped in the middle. To one side are conservative Christians demanding lockstep allegiance to narrow doctrinal statements--statements so detailed that they insist on specific theories of the end times or specific understandings of the spiritual gifts. Such people interpret doubts, questions, or appreciation for other viewpoints to be the first signs of an inevitable slide to liberalism. On the other side are postmodern Christians who question many traditional assumptions--or maybe even every...
Book Review - Signs of the Spirit (12/06/08 - 7 Comments)
Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in the writing of prominent Christians of days past. Christians have turned with renewed interest to church Fathers, to Reformers and to Puritans. One of the chief benefits of this interest has been the many "interpretations" and contemporary adaptations of classic books. Taylor and Kapic, working with Crossway, have edited two volumes of John Owen, giving us updated versions of Owen's classic texts on the Holy Spirit...
Book Review - Outliers (12/02/08 - 6 Comments)
I am an unabashed fan of Malcolm Gladwell's books. I enjoy his style of writing and admire his ability to not only dig up fascinating stories and statistics, but to weave them together into a cohesive whole. Blink and The Tipping Point were both excellent books that, even if not particularly deep, offered popular-level introductions into topics all of us experience but few of us think about. It is little wonder, really, that Gladwell's books...
Book Review - Twilight (11/25/08 - 52 Comments)
Twilight is a phenomenon; or that is what I hear. I began to receive emails about it a short time ago and the requests for a review have increased as the release of the Twilight movie has approached. Strangely, I get more requests to review teenage fiction than any other genre. I usually reply with an apologetic email saying that I do not review such titles. But because of the popularity of this series I...
A Visual History of the English Bible (11/17/08 - 3 Comments)
I wanted A Visual History of the English Bible to be a standout. A book that I spied in a catalog and knew I just needed to read, it deals with a topic I love and in a way that is fresh and compelling. Few readers of the English Bible really understand the history of their Bible and fewer still understand the countless sacrifices that were made to bring it to us. A book like...
Three Cups of Tea (11/12/08 - 3 Comments)
I eventually gave in to the pressure. I had seen Three Cups of Tea on the shelves of airport bookstores, in the hands of friends and on countless bestseller lists. I thought it was only right that, if so many people were reading it, I should read it too. And so, while browsing through one of those airport bookstores and searching for some early-morning easy reading, I finally picked it up. Three Cups of Tea...
Book Review - Worldliness by C.J. Mahaney (11/10/08 - 16 Comments)
Any book on worldliness faces a difficult challenge. The author who takes too firm a stand on issues may slip into legalism while the author who takes too lax a stand may slip into the worldliness he seeks to avoid. The discerning author will need to tread the line, being careful to say no more than Scripture does while still dealing effectively with issues of contemporary importance. Because such a book is long overdue I...
The Purpose of Christmas (11/08/08 - 31 Comments)
Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life was a phenomenon, selling tens of millions of copies and remaining on the New York Times list of bestsellers not for mere weeks or months, but for years. Tens of thousands of churches and organizations have participated in a "40 Days of Purpose" program, encouraging their members to read the book and implement its teachings. While several books bearing Warren's name have been released since The Purpose Driven Life...
Book Review - The Prodigal God by Tim Keller (10/30/08 - 22 Comments)
After the publication of The Reason for God, Newsweek hailed Tim Keller as "a C.S. Lewis for the twenty-first century." That is a lofty comparison and one I'm sure must make Keller quite uncomfortable. Yet at some level the comparisons are becoming undeniable. Keller's ability to communicate to believers and unbelievers alike and to do so on an intellectual level clearly parallels that of Lewis. Where Keller's first book offered an explanation as to why...
Christless Christianity (10/28/08 - 15 Comments)
It is no small thing to take upon oneself the name Christian. Though it was first used as a form of derision when unbelievers mocked the "little Christs," the name was embraced by the earliest believers. The term, even when used mockingly, nicely encapsulated what they sought to do, namely, to imitate their Lord and Savior. Sadly, in the centuries since then, the word has become far too ambiguous and now refers to any number...
5 Things Every Christian Needs to Grow (10/21/08 - 4 Comments)
5 Things Every Christian Needs to Grow is a book about Christians and farming. R.C. Sproul suggests five things that every Christian needs to grow--barley, wheat, corn... OK, I'm just kidding. But don't you think the strangely ambiguous title could fit such a book? In reality, 5 Things Every Christian Needs to Grow is a reprint of a small book published in 2002 by Thomas Nelson. Revised, expanded and given a great new cover, the...
Unpacking Forgiveness (10/17/08 - 11 Comments)
You do not need to live long in this world before you will accumulate a nearly endless list of people to whom you owe forgiveness. Even young children quickly begin to sin against others and have to ask forgiveness (just as my two-year old had to seek forgiveness from her sister yesterday for tearing a page from her new Bible). And though Christians speak often of forgiveness extended to them by God, they speak far...
The ESV Study Bible - A Review (10/14/08 - 29 Comments)
I still remember getting my first study Bible. It was many years ago, probably in the late 80's, that my parents gave me the gift of a brand new NIV Study Bible. I used that Bible daily for many years though it was eventually replaced by a New Geneva Study Bible in the NKJV translation and after that by a Reformation Study Bible in the ESV. Today, if you drop by my home in the...
Book Review - Desire and Deceit (10/07/08 - 1 Comments)
Dr. Albert Mohler has released four books this year and they have had very different origins. Atheism Remix began as the W.H. Griffith Thomas Lectures Mohler delivered at Dallas Theological Seminary early in 2008; He Is Not Silent is an original work, written as a book; Culture Shift and his most recent work, Desire and Deceit, began as articles written over a period of years, most of which were posted at Mohler's blog. Each of...
Book Review - Called Out of Darkness (10/03/08 - 3 Comments)
Of all genres of books, memoirs may be the toughest to review. After all, how is a reviewer to evaluate the life experiences of another person? What is the measure of a good memoir and what is the measure of a poor one? Ultimately, as a reviewer, I can judge only the power and effectiveness of the writing, the truthfulness of what the author claims as fact, and, more subjectively, the personal impact of the...
