Tag Archives: Books

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Book Review – Chronicles Of Dinosauria by Dave Woetzel

Chronicles of DinosauriaOne of the most often claimed statements heard from the evolutionist worldview is that man and dinosaurs did not co-exist.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

And Dave Woetzel has done an incredible job of presenting the evidence that this is the case. Simply put, land dinosaurs were created on day six of the creation week, along with every other land animal… and man. Aquatic dinosaurs would have been created the day before with the rest of the sea creatures.

In Chronicles Of Dinosauria, Woetzel gives breathtaking details of the history, the mythology and more of dinosaurs throughout the centuries since God created the earth and everything on it.

Here is the video trailer for the book.

Woetzel starts off by establishing the facts of the existence of dinosaurs, presented in the creation story and how they would have fit into the flood event of early Genesis. From there, he examines the fossil evidence of dinosaurs and how that fits into the story of humanity. Following that, he presents several chapters examining the historical, the artistic and the cryptozoological evidence, finally concluding with the biblical evidence.

There are several amazing elements to the Chronicles Of Dinosauria. There are several human artifacts found in the lower fossil record, such as the bell found in a lump of “300 million year old” coal, bearing similarities to both Babylonian and Hindu religious characters. How did it become encased in that coal? The obvious answer is that the coal isn’t as old as it is assumed to be in an evolutionary worldview. It must be much younger.

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Book Review – God In My Everything by Ken Shigematsu

God In My EverythingSometimes, the best way to grow in your spiritual disciplines is to take an idea or two from those who have gone before. The early Church Fathers, the aesthetics, and others had a solid grasp on the spiritual disciplines that we seem to have lost in the struggle to survive our modern, busy, chaotic, day to day existence.

Fortunately, much of what our spiritual ancestors have written still survives. Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of time (or won’t take it) to wade through all of this material to glean some nuggets of value out of it all to help our daily lives.

But Ken Shigematsu did.

After a trip to Ireland, where he toured some ancient monasteries, he began to study the life and writings of St. Benedict, and the Benedictine order that he started, and has found practical application for those ancient practices in our hectic, twenty-first century lives.

Here is the video trailer that describes the concept of God In My Everything.

In God In My Everything, Shigematsu has built a spiritual trellis, just like the ones that flowers grow on in our yards, and uses it as an illustration of how it allows certain spiritual disciplines to grow in our lives.

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How To Take Notes While Reading The Bible

Since I decided to be more intentional about how get the most out of reading a book, it seemed like a no-brainer to apply that to the most important reading I do, my reading of the Bible.

I’ve developed several different habits surrounding this discipline in my life, from my method of reading, to hand-copying portions of Scripture. I’ve discussed how to gain more from reading the bible, called the Golden Nugget approach. And even wrote a post on how to be more consistent in your Bible reading from my own experiences.

Man Reading

But how do you incorporate what you’ve read into your life? How do you retain what you read?

I’ve discovered that one way this works for me is to take notes, just like I do when I read a regular book. Only I do it a bit different.

First of all, you need to realize this:

It is OK to write in your Bible.

In my first youth ministry, I received a tongue-lashing from a parent because I told her daughter that it was OK to write in her Bible. This mother went ballistic, and berated me for several minutes, telling me is was NOT OK to write in the Bible. She wanted her daughter to keep her Bible in pristine condition.

But an unworn and unused Bible is a sign of a life unaffected by God. I would much rather replace my Bible frequently because I fill up the margins and wear it out than have a museum-ready copy on my shelf.

Here are a few things I do when I read the Bible to help me retain what I read.

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How To Take Notes While Reading A Book

It seems like I’ve seen several different websites post articles about how to read a book in the last few weeks. Many of them had some helpful suggestions; others didn’t make much sense to me. So I thought it might be nice to think through just how I read a book.

In the process of examining my method, I decided that others might benefit from my discoveries, and as a result, this article was written.

Man Reading

Some of the material I read had some interesting suggestions. One site instructed me to read the book through very quickly, scanning more than reading, looking for significant ideas. The next step was to follow that up with an in-depth read of the book. To finish, a third time through the book was necessary, reading only the sections I highlighted, underlined, or otherwise took notes about.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have time to read every book three times. That is simply not practical for my life. I understand the point that article was making, that this would help me to grasp a much larger portion of the material being read. But it just doesn’t seem workable for me.

Another blog suggested that I simply read the book, making no notes or highlights at all, allowing the material to sink into my mind on its own. This might work when I read fiction, but I won’t learn anything at all using this process. So that isn’t a practical way to read, either.

Here’s a brief look at how I read a book, the notes and symbols I use, and how it works for me. If this helps you, great. But just because I’ve found it to be useful, doesn’t mean that you will benefit from it just the same as I do.

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Book Review – Billy Graham In Quotes

Billy Graham In QuotesIt’s said that, outside of Paul the Apostle, Billy Graham has presented the Gospel to more people than anyone else in history.

And his ministry was vast and widespread, holding crusades all over the United States and around the world for decades.

Billy Graham has also penned countless books and written hundreds of articles, and countless sermons.

He’s almost a household name for most people, especially those in the church.

With all of that history, I’m surprised that it’s taken this long to gather many of his memorable and poignant statements into one volume of quotations.

But it’s been done at last, in Billy Graham In Quotes. This volume has collected hundreds of quotes, from Grahams public and personal writings, covering more than a hundred different topics.

While Billy Graham has never been one of my favorite authors, he has said many things that ring true, and having access to many of those quotes will prove to be a handy resource, I’m sure.

Billy Graham In Quotes will be a convenient volume for sermon and lesson preparation. And it’s been interesting to simply thumb through and read random quotes for inspiration and encouragement.

If you are a Billy Graham fan, then this is a resource you may want to add to your library.

Have you ever had the opportunity to hear Billy Graham speak? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

If you are interested in reading Billy Graham In Quotes, by Franklin Graham, you can purchase it at Amazon.com in print or for Kindle.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“

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Book Review – Judges For You by Timothy Keller

Judges For YouThere is a new commentary series on the market that has me very intrigued. It’s from The Good Book Company, and I have two of them on my shelf already.

My newest addition is Judges For You, by Timothy Keller. And I have to tell you, I am once again impressed.

Most of the time, I use commentaries only as reference materials for a sermon, an article, a lesson, or a blog post. But this new series turns a simple commentary into a Bible study devotional tool. I’ve learned more about the book of Judges than I ever have before through reading Keller’s material.

Judges has long been one of the Old Testament books I’ve found most interesting. The story of the Hebrew people on their conquest of the Promised Land, and before God gave them a king to rule over them, has always captured my attention. There are dozens of interesting stories in the book of Judges.

  • Ehud, the left-handed leader of Israel, who killed the oppressing king Eglon.
  • Deborah, who led the nation into freedom from the Canaanites with the help of Barak.
  • Gideon, and his fleece, and his wine press, and his 300 warriors who defeated the Midianites.
  • Samson, a man of great physical strength, but not of great moral strength.

There are more, but these are just a few of the stories that grace the pages of Judges.

Timothy Keller does a great job of digging into these stories and showing them for what they are, a cycle of rebellion, leading to God’s anger and a foreign nation’s oppression. The people cry out, God hears and sends salvation through a chosen judge. There is peace, which leads to complacency, and after the judge dies, the people slip back into rebellion.

Keller opens up these stories, and pulls details into view that a cursory reading doesn’t catch. He shows how these stories continually spiral down into greater depths of despair for the nation of Israel, and how God shows time and time again how a savior is needed. But not just any savior, the people need one who can save them permanently.

Really, the stories found in the book of Judges show our need for Christ.

I read through Judges For You from cover to cover, just as I did with Keller’s Galatians For You a few months ago. I highly recommend that grab a copy and read it. It will put a lot of the history of the Old Testament into greater perspective for you.

Out of all the stories in the book of Judges, which is your favorite? Why? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

I highly recommend that you pick up a copy of Judges For You, by Timothy Keller. You can purchase it at Amazon.com in print or for Kindle. You can also purchase the additional study guide to go along with it.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Cross Focused Media as part of their Cross Focused Reviews blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“

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Book Review – God And The Nations by Henry M. Morris

God And The Nations by Henry MorrisI am fascinated by history. I’m especially fascinated by origins history. So reading a book on the nature and origins of civilization seemed natural. I wasn’t disappointed.

I’ve read other material on this before, such as Bodie Hodge’s Tower Of Babel. So when I received a copy of Henry Morris’ book, God And The Nations, I was pretty excited to dig into it.

Morris took a look at several aspects of the biblical nature of civilization that I’d never considered before, giving me plenty of food for thought. Much of what he wrote in the early chapters of the book was expected. But the latter half of the book was new information for me, things I’d never really paused to consider before.

In the first few chapters, Morris discusses the nations of the earth, and how they began. He looks at the Dominion Mandate that God gave mankind, to fill and subdue the earth. And he looks in depth at the Table of Nations in Genesis 5, discussing the origins, and where or who these nations might be today. Much of what I read here I’ve read before, but there were several new insights, such as the connection between the ancient Hittites and the modern nation of China.

The rest of the book, however, I found simply fascinating. Morris examined the chosen nation of the Jewish people, and the Gentile nations, seeing how they fit together and gave a solid biblical framework for the importance and inclusion of each in God’s major narrative for mankind. Moving from the Dominion Mandate, he looks at the Missionary Mandate, and God’s intention that all nations be reached with the Gospel. He added thoughts and insights to the urgency of this mandate that have my mind reeling under the weight of our mission, and the importance it is to God that we fulfill it with haste.

I found God And The Nations to be a very helpful resource, one that I know I will reference again and again as I study not only Genesis, but the purpose of the church worldwide. I’m glad to be able to add it to my shelf, and I suggest you pick up a copy as well. Well thought, and well written, it will provide much for you to mull over as you consider the nations and just how important they are to God’s overall plan.

I’m sure you’ll gain a wealth of information from it, just as I did.

Have you ever wondered what happened to the nations of the Bible? Which of the nations most interest you? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

If you are interested in reading God And The Nations: What The Bible Has To Say About Civilizations – Past And Present, by Henry M. Morris, you can purchase it at Amazon.com in print or for Kindle, or directly from Master Books.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from New Leaf Press/Master Books as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“