Book Review – The Man He Never Was by James L. Rubart

The Man He Never Was by James L. RubartHave you ever read a book that resonated so closely to your own life that you wondered if the author was watching your life? That’s kind of how I felt while reading James Rubart’s book, The Man He Never Was. This book hit pretty close to home, and brought some truths to light that I need to stop and think about in a little more depth.

The book is about a former NFL star, Toren Daniels, who suddenly reappears after being missing for eight months. Where he has been and what has happened to him is a mystery, but one thing is clear. His deepest struggle, his ability to control his anger, is gone. He is a new man, it seems.

But the search to find just how this has happened is what this book is all about. And it is a fascinating story. Even though it is fiction, it grabbed me and pulled me into the light of some truths that I haven’t quite grasped in such a way before. One of those truths is this: No matter what my sin may be, anger and rage in Toren Daniel’s case, there is no way any of my own efforts are going to be able to fix it. Sin can only be eradicated by the sacrifice that was made for that purpose; it can only be conquered by Jesus.

The second truth I need to dig into a bit deeper is the idea of my dual nature. Jesus died for my sin, and my sinful nature has been put to death. But the good side of me? That’s been put to death as well. I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Both side of my nature, the good and the bad, have to die so that Christ can live in and through me. Because even my best efforts at good aren’t good enough.

Book Review – Wounds Are Where Light Enters by Walter Wangerin Jr.

Wounds Are Where Light EntersSeveral years ago, I was exposed to the stories of Walter Wangerin when I watch a performance of his story, Ragman, at a youth leader’s conference I attended. At that moment I was hooked. I purchased Ragman: And Other Cries OF Faith and devoured it. Every now and then, I get it out and reread a story or two for inspiration, but I have never pursued any of Wangerin’s other works.

Until now.

I recently received a copy of Wounds Are Where Light Enters, and I am having a hard time putting it down. Several of the stories I have read through tear blurred eyes, and others have stirred my soul like I remember the Ragman story doing.

In this volume, Walter Wangerin relates several stories from his life, from both his role as a pastor and his role as a father. Each of these stories provides a glimpse of the incredibly expansive grace of God, sometimes in relation to those Wangerin has ministered to, but more often to Wangerin himself.

I have been inspired and encouraged by reading this book, and I’m sure that it will be one that I return to for strength and encouragement in days to come. I know that the grace of God has peeked out of these pages, and is daring me to see it in the everyday events of my own life.

Book Review – Whisper by Mark Batterson

WhisperI have been an on and off fan of Mark Batterson’s work for several years. I was a big fan of his book Primal, and it was an excellent help to my spiritual growth at a time when I desperately needed it. I was less enthusiastic about his book The Circle Maker. I felt like it was a bit of a stretch, and presumed too much that Scripture didn’t support. So I was slightly hesitant to read Whisper. But I am glad that I did.

I can’t place it on par with Primal for a couple of reasons, but I did find it encouraging and helpful. In Whisper, Batterson strives to discover and explain the different ways that God speaks to us today. He identifies seven different voices through which God communicates, and digs deep into each of them, one at a time. The first one he discusses is Scripture, God’s primary way of communication to his church today.

I was somewhat disappointed at the level of trust he places in the other six voices though. It seemed as if he held these voices – desires, doors, dreams, people, promptings, and pain – as authoritative as God’s Word. I disagree with that. I believe that God can, and does, communicate through some of these other voices; but I do not think they are to be held to the same level as Scripture.

Book Review – Steal Away Home by Billy Coffey

Steal Away Home by Billy CoffeyI am not a big sports fan, and I never really have been. But if there were one sport I can get into, it would be baseball. Of everything out there, I enjoy it the most. And, stories about baseball are among my favorites. So when I was given the opportunity to read and review Steal Away Home by Billy Coffey, I jumped on it.

I was surprised at first, because I halfway expected this story to take place during the Depression, or maybe after Word War 2. But Coffey placed it in the most unexpected of times. The story is split between 1990 and 2001. The main character is a man named Owen Cross, who is a catcher in the minor leagues. In 1990, he was a senior about to graduate from high school. In 2001, he gets his shot at the major leagues.

And the story is about both of those times. The majority of it takes place in the spring and early summer of that senior year, but it all comes as reminiscent memories while sitting in the dugout of Yankee Stadium one night in 2001.

The story is typical Billy Coffey, engaging and captivating, told in such a way that you can’t really put the book down. It’s a story of love and betrayal, of grief and forgiveness, of a girl and a game, and how salvation comes in the most unexpected ways.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Steal Away Home, just as I have with every Billy Coffey novel I have read. I think you’ll like it too. I highly recommend that you grab a copy and read it.

Ratings & Details For Steal Away Home:

  • Genre/Style: Christian Fiction
  • Story/Plot: 10 of 10 stars
  • Spiritual Content: 10 of 10 stars
  • Readability/Flow: 10 of 10 stars
  • Cover: 10 of 10 stars
  • Overall Rating: 10 of 10 stars

Book Review Rating

Question: Have you ever read anything by Billy Coffey? If so, how did you like it? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

If you are interested in reading Steal Away Home by Billy Coffey, you can purchase it at Amazon.com in print or for Kindle.

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.

Book Review – Unimaginable by Jeremiah J. Johnston

UnimaginableI have long been a history buff. And one of the genres I enjoy within the category of history is the “what if” idea, such as, “What if this had happened instead of that?” That is kind of the take on history that Jeremiah Johnston uses in his book Unimaginable.

First of all, I expected something a bit different than what Johnston presents here. I’m not sure what I really expected, maybe something more imaginative, more fictional, but that’s not the purpose of this book. Instead, what Johnston has done is look at history and show what it would look like if Christianity did not exist. What I did not expect, perhaps blindly on my part, is that he would draw from history those things which already point to what it would look like in such a world.

That sounds a bit confusing, and I’m not sure how to articulate it very clearly. Maybe an example would help. Without Christianity in our world, there would be no value to the human life. And if life holds no value, then things such as slavery, abortion, euthanasia, communism, fascism, and more would run unhindered. But we have already seen in history how those kinds of things have affected the lives of millions. Slavery is an institution we have fought for ages, around the world in various forms. Abortions occur in epidemic proportions. Communism and fascism have cost the lives of countless millions of people. And the list could go on.

It’s kind of depressing. Johnston shows what a world without Christianity would look like, and we see that it is our world.

Book Review – Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald

Ordering Your Private WorldOne of the first books I was assigned to read during my freshman year at Bible college was Ordering Your Private World, by Gordon MacDonald. Being a green, new student, fresh out of high school and into the big world for the first time, I had no idea what to expect, or any indication of just how much this book would impact my world.

It was phenomenal! I think I read it multiple times that year, and a few times after that as well. The impact that it had on my personal life was indescribable. After college, I kept that copy of the book, but didn’t read it much, although its principles continued to form a solid base for much of my personal life structure. And it has always been one of the most impactful books on my life.

Last fall, I decided to pull it out and add it to my list to read over the winter, and then I found that it had been updated and revised, so I grabbed a new copy to read instead. And once again, it holds a tremendous influence on my life and how I seek to order my inner world.

Gordon MacDonald presents some of the most practical input and advice into how to order the private world within, so that the public world can remain as effective as it can be. Looking at such topics as rest and leisure, time management, and reading, MacDonald presents several excellent principles to help make the inner life as stable as it can be. Is this exhaustive? Of course not. There are other things one can do to help maintain balance and order in the inner life. But this is an excellent place to start.

Book Review – Jefferson’s America by Julie M. Fenster

Jefferson’s America by Julie M. FensterI have stated before that I am a history nut, and that I love reading history, especially early American history. One of my current projects, in fact, is reading biographies of each president, chronologically. So when I saw Jefferson’s America, I was immediately intrigued and grabbed a copy.

However, I was not as impressed as I had hoped to be. While the period covered was one of perhaps the most fascinating times in American history, I found Fenster’s recounting of these times and events to be somewhat dull and academic in nature. I was disappointed by that. In an age where our imagination is easily captured by the next thing, and the next thing, and the next thing, this account of early American history could have been presented in a better way as to captivate and hold the attention of most readers more completely.

The back cover states boldly that “history comes alive in this entertaining account.” I could only wish this were true. This book took me longer to read than most do, simply because I found it the exact opposite of it’s claims. Make no mistake, the events recounted within were accurate and detailed. They just weren’t told in a way that held my attention for very long. I found it hard to finish this book.

Because it was accurate and detailed, I will recommend it, with reservation, as long as you know going into it that it is academic and dry. If you are looking for a more sensational reading of American history, this is not the book for you.