"The God I Never Knew"

                Let it be stated from the outset, I am a member of a Pentecostal fellowship (Assembly of God) that believes in the reality of Holy Spirit.  That said, my interest was mildly piqued at the idea of reading this book since I felt at this stage that I knew more than enough that a book introducing Holy Spirit would seem a little elementary.  I was wrong. The God I Never Knew by Robert Morris is an eye-opening teaching in print about the reality of Holy Spirit and how we as Christians are called to let it play a vibrant, active role in our daily lives.  The book is well-written; the reader can see the teacher’s heart come out in this work as Morris uses multiple biblical examples and passages to clearly state and explain the points he is trying to get across.

                I do have issues with the way that Morris explains some of the concepts on Holy Spirit in his teaching.  There are a couple instances in “Session One” where I would question the extent to which he exercises interpretation of the Scripture, but these moments do not detract from the overall cohesiveness of teaching a topic which is brand new to some readers and Christians.

                The God I Never Knew is a good teaching material for both novices and seasoned Christians alike to read for sound, biblical teaching on Holy Spirit.  The book’s moments where I might question the direction that Morris is taking the reader are quickly alleviated by reading the teaching sections in context.  I recommend this book for anyone wishing to learn how Holy Spirit plays a vital role in the Christian life.

I received my copy of the book for free from the publisher in exchange for reviewing it.  I was not obligated to compose a favorable review; my opinions are my own.

Surfing for God one click at a time.

               Men everywhere are quick to acknowledge that purity is a struggle. With sex cheapened to the point of being used as nothing more than an advertising technique, it is no wonder that men feel this way.  Enter Surfing for God by Michael John Cusick. His book which is part personal accounts and part God-centered, practical advice based on those personal accounts gives the reader valuable tools on how take back the field of the mind for the cause of purity. Cusick is highly candid and transparent in sharing about his struggles and history with the issue of addiction to porn. Cusick expresses plainly that looking lustfully at a woman is a dehumanizing experience, both for the woman posing in the picture and the man viewing the picture.

               The writing in this book is straightforward. Cusick does not treat the issues lightly nor does he treat them as minor. He states what he means with a succinct clarity that shows that his intentions are to give the reader as much help as he can on the written page. If this book lacks in anything, it feels like Cusick spends more time at the beginning constructing scenarios and repetitively introducing his topic over multiple chapters before beginning to explain how to handle the issues. Overall, this was a decent book and I would easily place it alongside a book like Every Man’s Battle as recommended reading for any man who is wrestling with issues of sexual sin or pornography addiction.

I received my copy of this book from the publisher for free in exchange for reviewing it. I was not obligated to post a favorable review; the opinions expressed in this review are mine.

Not Another "Fish Tale"

I am a Caucasian male and have never caught a fish in my life.  The thought of picking up a book like The Fourth Fisherman and expecting to get anything out of it seemed slightly ridiculous…until I started reading it.  I was wrong; Joe Kissack weaves together the personal narrative of a man who has, about losses, and then claims THE MOST IMPORTANT thing with that of Mexican fishermen who have, appear to be about to lose, and then receive THE MOST IMPORTANT thing in life.  I was expecting a hokey faith narrative and instead found open, honest, transparent truth.

Kissack does a good job of making some of the most intriguing moments of life seem normal and mundane.  I have never traveled all over the country for a job, or met with multiple station managers and entertainment executives, but Kissack make it seem normal.  He also excels at being able to share about his life in a way that makes the reader feel as if he or she knows him personally.  I am hard pressed to find anything to critique, but for the sake of saying something, at times the action especially in the early chapters seems too slow in building for me.  On the whole, The Fourth Fisherman is a great faith narrative which is no case a “fish tale.”

I received my copy of the book for free from the publisher in exchange for reviewing it.  I was not obligated to compose a positive review; my opinions are mine.

Need a Shot (of Faith)?

     "There is little to no evidence for God, and so Christians are forced to take what refuge they can in a feeble, sometimes fleeting faith."  From the onset, one gets the impression that Dr. Stokes is going to address some pretty pointed critiques of the Christian faith, and that is exactly what A Shot of Faith (to the Head) is.  In this book contains some of the most practical deconstructions and point-by-point analysis of the discourse midst various prominent atheists and neo-atheists of our day and the theologian's rebuttal.  This book does a great job of giving even-handed treatment to points that the author obviously feels are faulted and wrong, without indicting or ridiculing the other party for their seeming lack of fair assessment of the situations.
     Where I find that this book lacks (if there is a place), is that I feel like a lot of this is just retread ground.  I didn't find really any new or exciting points to ponder, whether in the theist's rebuttal, or the original atheist's argument.  Much of this book seemed to be stuff that I had already read in other places; I will give Dr. Stokes the tip of the hat for consolidating it and making it a concise narrative for the reader to follow.
     Overall, this book is suitable for anyone with a mind for academic discourse who wants to enrich his or her ongoing conversation in the existence of a deity.  This book is an enjoyable read with many deep points to consider.

I received my copy of the book free from the publisher.  I was not required to write a positive review about the book; my opinions are my own.

Don't Lose Your Dinosaur.

     In the great family classic film Step Brothers, there is a line about one of the two characters that when he was a child wanting to be a dinosaur when he grew up.  Of course, this gets us all to laugh; however, I think there is some bitter truth hidden behind all our laughs.  Are we laughing because the idea of a child turning into a dinosaur is ridiculous, or are we laughing because we too once had impossible dreams that as we have grown up we never took the ambition to chase after and now we feel pain (we're using "laughter as the best form of medicine")?
     When we were younger, we played games of make-believe because we could do anything.  We believed that we were the great artists, musicians, and most powerful people in the world.  And then we started looking at the great artists, musicians, and "powerful" people and we lose our zeal.  Why does this happen?  Belief is half the battle.  What caused us to lose this belief?  How can we reclaim it?
     The answer in short is: "I don't know."  Maybe we should stop valuing celebrity and start esteeming creativity.  Maybe we should take every opportunity to build each other up instead of tear each other down.  This is a big issue, more than a simple blog can solve an answer too.  Thoughts?

Are You Torn?

     Suffering happens to everyone.  Alright, discussion's over and we can all go home!  Yes, true.  Suffering happens to everyone, but the question is how do we all deal with it?  Torn by Jud Wilhite was written to address this question and provide a God-centered way to address it.  Written from the perspective of a theological narrator whose discourse is supplemented with examples of people who have experienced suffering and how they've coped with it, all this is done ultimately to come to the conclusion that we don't know why suffering happens to each individual but we do know that God will always use it ultimately to His glory.
     Wilhite does a great job of tying Biblical perspective to current setting.  Stories of suffering straight out of the Bible provide an application to life, and alongside them Wilhite adds references to pop culture events (YouTube, Death Cab for Cutie, and Hopkins's The Edge for example).  What I have an issue with is the fact that this book ends too neatly.  For all the practicality that Wilhite provides for how to deal with suffering, it would seem that he glosses over or makes it seem too simple.  For example, in his final pre-conclusion chapter, "Learning to Forgive," a much more powerful thing to analyze would have been what happens when the one suffering is upset with God and how to "forgive" when he or she feels that they have been abandoned by the Creator.  He starts to leave the door cracked for issues like this but sadly it would seem that a lot of the messy issues he sidesteps.
     Overall, Torn is a well-written book full of practical advice for the Christian who is in pain and suffering.  For the issues that I have, I still enjoyed this book and would recommend it for anyone who would like a book to broaden their view on issues of the Christian walk.

I received my copy of this book free though Multnomah's Blogging for Books program.  I was not obligated to write a favorable review; the opinions are my own.

Why We Should All Be "Second"

Revelations 12:11 states that, “They overcame by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.”  I Am Second: Real Stories Changing Lives is definitely a book about and for overcoming all obstacles and experience the life-transforming power of the Almighty and His Son, Jesus Christ.  This book is a collection of stories of notable people from different walks of life and how their lives were changed by an encounter with Jesus.  These stories are real, gripping, true-life narratives of how different famous people overcame various problems to the glory of God. 

These stories are powerful yet polished.  Sometimes, I felt they were a little too polished and perfectly presented.  While I did enjoy reading them, it feels like there is a lot of production that went into writing them to the point that some of the power of these personal stories can be missed.  Most of the stories, I was able to find a video counterpart on the I Am Second website, and these stories reflect the same production that the videos received.  Overall, the book was alright.  I teach high school English and have recommended this book to a couple of my students.

I received my copy of this book for free through the publisher, Thomas Nelson, in return for writing a review over it and its contents.  I was not required to give a favorable; the opinions stated are my own.