Book Review - I Don't Believe in Atheists (07/09/08 - 13 Comments)
I’m on vacation this week and today we’re heading across the border into the U.S. of A. to spend some time at the Buffalo Zoo. And, if we have some time left over, we’ll swing by Niagara Falls since we haven’t taken the kids to see that site in some time. Today I just wanted to post a short review I wrote quite a while ago but haven’t yet had opportunity to post. It’s a...
Book Reviews - "A Book You Will Actually Read" Series (07/02/08 - 1 Comments)
In his rather unique ministry, Mark Driscoll has come across some rather unique challenges. Among these challenges has been finding a way of addressing some of the fundamentals of the Christian faith with a fast-growing church body comprised primarily of men and women who have no Christian background whatsoever. Because Driscoll found that he would not able to meet with each of these people one-by-one, he began to write booklets which were subsequently distributed by...
Book Review - Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life (06/24/08 - 3 Comments)
I think it is safe to say that, of all theologians contemporary or ancient, few have had as profound an affect on my life as Francis Schaeffer. Though I’ve read little of what he wrote, though he died when I was only a young child, and though I have never heard even one of his sermons, I know that my faith has been shaped by him. He was, after all, a major influence on my...
Book Review - The Snake Charmer (06/22/08 - 2 Comments)
The Snake Charmer is one of two books I plucked from Dr. Al Mohler’s suggested reading list for dads. It is a book that is rather unlike any I’ve read before. It is a biographical account of the life of Joe Slowinski, one of the world’s great herpetologists. Slowinski dedicated his life to studying snakes and, in particular, poisonous snakes. In 2001, Slowinski led an expedition of biologists and botanists as they traveled through the...
Book Review - Escape from the Deep (06/18/08 - 1 Comments)
I have often heard it said that no subject in history (with the possible exception of Jesus) has received as much attention in the written word as the Second World War. Even today, more than sixty years after it drew to a close, the war continues to fascinate. We still see a constant stream of books, movies and video games drawing upon that worldwide conflict. This makes good sense, I suppose. With countless millions involved...
Book Review - Why Good People Do Bad Things (06/14/08 - 12 Comments)
[Please excuse the back-to-back book reviews—I’m trying to clear out a bit of a backlog!] Though it was weeks ago that I completed reading Why Good People Do Bad Things, it is not until today that I’ve been able to write a review. A book like this presents a challenge to me as a reviewer. After all, my worldview, my entire way of thinking, seems fundamentally opposed to that of the author. Because her assumptions...
Book Review - The Soloist (06/13/08 - 1 Comments)
In November of 2008 The Soloist will debut on the big screen. Starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. and directed by Joe Wright (Atonement and Pride & Prejudice) it has the makings of a hit film. Before it was a film, The Soloist was a series of articles written by Steve Lopez for the Los Angeles Times. And between the two it is also a bestselling book. It tells of the unlikely meeting and...
Book Review - Lone Survivor (06/10/08 - 8 Comments)
“I tried to get a hold of myself. But again in my mind I heard that terrible, terrible scream, the same one that awakens me, bullying its way into my solitary dreams, night after night, the confirmation of guilt. The endless guilt of the survivor. ‘Help me, Marcus! Please help me!’ It was a desperate appeal in the mountains of a foreign land. It was a scream cried out in the echoing high canyons of...
A Few Notable (But Unreviewed) Books (06/08/08 - 1 Comments)
Today I wanted to draw your attention to a few notable books…but books I have not had opportunity to read or review in full. Reformation Heroes Reformation Heroes: A Simple, Illustrated Overview of People Who Assisted in the Great Work of the Reformation. This is a beautiful, hardcover, coffee table book that provides an overview of many of the heroes of the Reformation. It is written by Joel Beeke and Diana Kleyn and targeted at...
Book Review - A Passion for God (06/06/08 - 33 Comments)
A.W. Tozer is a man whose ministry has fascinated me. A man who held closely to biblical, Protestant theology, he was also a man who loved the old Catholic mystics. He had little formal education, yet had the ability to hold the most educated of men and women at rapt attention. He had a single-minded devotion to Christ and the highest respect for the Scriptures. Reading A Passion for God has only increased my fascination...
Book Review - Boys Adrift (06/03/08 - 14 Comments)
Something strange is going on with boys today. My memories of boyhood revolve around the great outdoors—running through fields with hockey stick guns, climbing trees, playing any and every sport, getting sunburns, heatstroke, ticks, sprained ankles and all the other bumps and bruises guaranteed to come to an active, rambunctious boy. Though today I live in a neighborhood filled with boys, rarely do I see them out and about; rarely do I see them engaging...
Encrimsoned (06/03/08 - 6 Comments)
Crimson is a word, a color, that figures prominently in the Christian faith. The Bible teaches that each of us is born into this world encrimsoned, covered with the blood required of those who sin against God. And without further blood, further encrimsoning, there can be no remission of this sin. Blood cries for blood and that Scripture is clear that every person will die encrimsoned in either their own blood or the blood of...
Book Review - 23 Minutes in Hell (06/01/08 - 16 Comments)
I suppose it was inevitable that, with a bestselling book describing an author’s “90 Minutes in Heaven,” one would soon follow detailing a journey to hell. Sure enough, Bill Wiese follows Don Piper’s 90 Minutes in Heaven with his own 23 Minutes in Hell. And interestingly, if you visit Amazon.com you’ll see that you can get a deal if you buy both of these books together. Clearly they are being read and appreciated by the...
Review - Amazon's Kindle Reading Device (05/27/08 - 17 Comments)
UPDATE: Since I wrote this review (I wrote it yesterday and posted it this morning), the price on the Kindle has dropped $40. This is a long-awaited price drop and seems like a reasonable move for Amazon. A few weeks ago I cracked open the box for my new Kindle, Amazon’s wireless reading device. Since then I’ve had ample opportunity to use it and I’d like to provide a short review based on my experiences...
A Family Guide to Prince Caspian (05/24/08 - 3 Comments)
With Disney’s adaptation of Prince Caspian having just arrived on the big screen, we have seen a flood of Narnia-related books hitting the store shelves. Readers who searched for books to coincide with the release of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe will be familiar with many of the authors and their books. Devin Brown’s Inside Prince Caspain is written in the same style and format as Inside Narnia. Leland Ryken’s and Marjorie Mead’s...
A Review of The Shack (Download it Here) (05/20/08 - 51 Comments)
In January of this year I released a review of William P. Young’s The Shack. Since that time the review has been read tens of thousands of times (and no doubt many times more than that at Amazon where it has been voted on 700+ times and has generated almost 100 comments). I continue to receive two or three emails every day either thanking me for the review or expressing anger that I could have...
Book Review - Out of the Black Shadows (05/17/08 - 2 Comments)
I knew I had to read Out of the Black Shadows after I came upon Philip Ryken’s brief review of the book. Ryken wrote, “The book is a great read for Christians of all ages. The members of our book club would put Out of the Black Shadows in the very first rank of spiritual autobiographies.” The book tells the story of Stephen Lungu, now an evangelist serving with African Enterprise. Stephen was the oldest...
Book Review - In the Eye of the Storm (05/16/08 - 14 Comments)
In 2003 Gene Robinson was elected bishop of the tiny Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire after having served as assistant to the previous bishop for almost eighteen years. Robinson’s profile, both within the Episcopal Church and outside of it, is completely out of proportion to the size of his charge. He is, after all, the first practicing homosexual to be elected as a bishop within that church body. His story has been told widely within...
Book Review - The Irresistible Revolution (05/09/08 - 31 Comments)
Love him or hate him, it is tough to accuse Shane Claiborne of being an armchair quarterback. He is not a man who seeks to convince people to do something that he is unwilling to do himself. Instead he calls Christians to live as radicals while he himself lives in a radically counterculture way. Claiborne is one of the founders of The Simple Way, a small but increasingly high-profile ministry among the poor in Philadelphia....
Book Review - Rapture Ready (05/05/08 - 18 Comments)
It is no secret that Christians have a subculture all of their own. It is an expansive subculture that for some people can encompass almost every area of life. From music to television, movies to sports, Christians can enjoy all manner of entertainment, all of it “blessed” by one Christian organization or another. While the majority of non-Christians are generally unfamiliar with this subculture, I have come across some for whom it presents something of...
