“Kneeling down on the hard wooden scaffold, Jane turned to Feckenham who stood by her. ‘Shall I say this psalm?’ she faltered. Overcome with emotion, the priest who had tried so hard to save Jane from this moment, could scarcely reply. After a moment’s pause, he simply said, ‘Yea.’ Jane then began to repeat Psalm 51 in English, David’s great prayer of contrition…A deep silence rested over the sad scene, nothing could be heard except for the quiet sobbing of her lady attendants. Hardened soliders who had witnessed brutality many times before stood without moving…Bracing her body to receive the impact of the blow, Lady Jane called out in a clear voice, ‘Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit.’ With a stroke, swift, sharp and terrible, Jane’s short life was ended” (page 200-201).

Because of the surprise hit Chariots of Fire, the world knows the name Eric Liddell. Most people also know about the stand he made for his beliefs as he refused to run an Olympic race he was favored to win simply because the race was scheduled for Sunday. Those who have seen the movie know that it ends shortly after he wins an Olympic gold medal in an event in which he had barely trained. But in Pure Gold, a biography of Liddell weighing in at 333 pages, the race is complete by the ninety-eighth page. There is much more to Liddell than the movie portrays.

Eric Liddell is a man who was sold out to God. He regarded his own desires and his own comforts as secondary to God’s. Raised as the son of a missionary, he grew up away from his parents, for in those days children were left in their native country to receive their training, often seeing their parents only once every six or seven years. There was a period of over a decade in Liddell’s life where he was with his parents for only 100 days. Despite the seperation, he received strong training, primarily in the Bible.

Having written The Cross Centered Life, in which he exhorted believers to keep the gospel the main thing - the central focus of the Christian life - C.J. Mahaney now stops to reflect on Christ’s sacrifice. Christ Our Mediator follows hard on the heels of many similar books timed to coincide with the popularity of The Passion of the Christ. Mahaney begins the book by asserting (correctly, it seems) that a visual presentation of Christ’s crucifixion simply is not enough - we must also be told about the content of the story of the gospel. “The gospel message isn’t visual; it’s truth. It is truth to be believed, not simply a collection of images to be viewed” (page 10). Knowing that many people have seen the how of Christ’s death, Mahaney sets out to bring sense to the why of it.

Walking With Arthur is a spiritual memoir. It is one man’s story of a friend God used to guide him to the Lord. As such it is a story not unlike many every Christian has heard. Yet I never grow tired of hearing how God brings His people to Himself, and the circumstances he saves them from.

1984 was a big year for James O’Donnell. It is the year his father died; the year his salary was cut despite great success in his field; the year he decided to divorce his wife; and the year he met Arthur. Arthur, who was older and had been a Christian for a long time, listened to, guided and helped his new friend. He showed him a glimpse of the power of God working in the heart of one of His people. 1984 went from a year of great darkness to a year of the brightest light.

It seems that behind every sad song is a sad story. Behind an inspiring song is an inspiring story. Behind the song “Mommy Paints the Sky,” there is both. With thanksgiving but sadness in his heart, Danny Oertli wrote a song for his daughter. “As the sun lays down to sleep / You ask me why she’s gone / I don’t know where to start / As the sunset lights your face / I see God knows how to heal little hearts.”

“Gracie, Jack and I were driving down the road in my really fast Honda minivan. As we pulled into a parking space at Wal-Mart an incredible sunset began to form over the mountains. The car’s interior was bathed in amber light and deep strokes of yellow criss-crossed the sky, as if drawn by an unseen hand.

“‘Daddy,’ came Gracie’s little voice from the back seat, ‘Did God let mommy paint the sky tonight?’

“Looking in the rearview mirror I saw her leaning into Jack to catch a better view. As the light from the sunset settled on their faces, I silently praised God for the healing and hope He had brought into our lives.

It was the late, great Francis Shaeffer who spoke of a group of people “who have both feet firmly planted in mid-air.” This phrase brilliantly describes people in our society who adhere, as much as anyone can adhere to such a system, to moral relativism. For one can only be planted so firmly on a system that has no foundation. Relativism, written by Greg Koukl and Francis Beckwith, critiques moral relativism and explores the myriad inconsistencies inherent in this position.

The authors launch a five-pronged attack on relativism. In the first part they help the reader understand relativism and see the three different types: “society says,” “society does” and “I say” relativism. In the second part they critique relativism, exposing seven of its most fatal flaws before turning in the third part to an exposure of the impact of relativism on education. In the fourth part they examine relativism in public policy, and specifically its application to homosexual marriage, abortion and euthenasia - three of the pressing issues of our time. The final part provides some tools to refute relativism.

I have often expressed my love of biographies. I consider them to be among the most helpful of resources in helping equip Christians in their lifelong quest for Christ-likeness. We can learn much from the examples of those who have run the race before us. We can learn from what God taught them, learn from their triumphs and learn from the times they were defeated. I have a passion for biographies. I also have a passion for the English language. I love to see how we can use the language to craft works of art. I cannot express myself in the fine arts - music and art are both disciplines that escape me. But I consider myself a wordsmith-in-training. These two loves come together in Jack, a biography of C.S. Lewis written by a veritable master of the English language.

Deep in the earth, brilliant clusters of quartz crystals lie hidden in fissures and crevices--”pyramid-tipped spires huddled together like a miniature city, cracking the light into a thousand rainbow shards…salted with pinpoints of iron pyrite, glittering like tiny stars.” But such treasures can only be found in fractured, unstable, dangerous earth--places miners simply call “bad ground.”

Bad Ground is the story of Jeremy Prine, a seventeen-year-old boy who has been orphaned and who needs to grow up, and fast. His mother, who died of cancer, left him the only thing she could give - a letter. She tells him to find his uncle Aiden. “When you find him, stay with him. He’ll try to run you off, but don’t let him. Do whatever it takes to stay with him. You have something I couldn’t give him, and he something I couldn’t give you. I won’t tell you what - you’ll just have to find out from each other. When you find it, you’ll know.”

In 1943, Levi Mullet escapes his farm, his father, and his Amish heritage. He leaves behind family, scandal and beliefs in order to set out on his own. Defying his pacifist upbringing he enlists and fights in the Second World War. After the war he marries and settles down with his family. But even when living in the Deep South, far from Ohio, he cannot shake the memories of his family. He cannot fully and finally uproot himself. His prodigal heart beats for home.

In Levi’s Will Dale Cramer, whose previous books, also published by Bethany House are Sutter’s Cross and Bad Ground, brings us a story of betrayal, judgmentalism and forgiveness. He brings us a story of “the sins of the fathers.” Ultimately he brings us a story about grace. With settings as diverse the Amish countryside of Northern Ohio, the battlefields of Europe and the burning heat of Georgia, Cramer’s attention to detail and realism paints a story that is both moving and profound.

I have had the mixed blessing of reading several of the titles in the LifeChange series. Some have been good, some have been awful. But I guess that is to be expected when the authors represented range from C.J. Mahaney to Pat Robertson; from John Piper to Bill Gothard. Of the titles I have read, none has been better than The Cross Centered Life.

In his book The Discipline of Grace Jerry Bridges wrote, “The gospel is not only the most important message in all of history; it is the only essential message in all of history. Yet we allow thousands of professing Christians to live their entire lives without clearly understanding it and experiencing the joy of living by it” (The Discipline of Grace, page 46). C.J. Mahaney would have us remember that sometimes the most obvious truths are the very ones we need to be reminded of the most. The Cross Centered Life is just such a reminder.