Tag Archives: Review

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West Oversea by Lars Walker

West OverseaWest Oversea is a fictional account based on Norse legends. It’s not a genre I read a lot of, but I rather enjoyed this one.

Father Aillil is an Irish priest who settled in Norway. West Oversea tells of his attempt to find his sister who has been sold into slavery, in Greenland, it seems. Father Aillil convinces Erling Skjalgsson to embark upon a journey to Leif Eriksson’s Greenland, searching for his sister.

In the process, Father Aillil is given a powerful talisman, a relic straight out of pagan Norse mythology, the Eye of Odin. The Eye has given the priest the gift of Second Sight. But the question is, can the Sight be trusted? It seems to be giving him bad information, drawing him astray, and towards death.

West Oversea details the journey of Father Aillil, Erling Skjalgsson, and a host of others as they journey toward Greenland, visiting Iceland, and the mainland of America in the process.

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Through The Wardrobe – Your Favorite Authors On C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles Of Narnia

Through The WardrobeI recently received Through The Wardrobe: Your Favorite Authors On C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles Of Narnia from Smart Pop Books. They stumbled across the review I wrote on The Narnia Code, and contacted me, asking if I would be interested in reviewing their book. I gladly said yes. I’m a pretty big C.S. Lewis fan, this could be a great read.

I was wrong.

Through The Wardrobe is a collection of chapter-long essays written by many different authors of young adult book. The more I read, the more astonished I was, frustrated even, about the lack of understanding of The Chronicles Of Narnia.

While there were several things that bothered me about this book, I’ll keep it brief and only mention a few.

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The Shadowed Mind by Julie Cave

The Shadowed MindJulie Cave has a great future in Christian fiction. I was really impressed with her book The Shadowed Mind. I read it in less than two days. I simply couldn’t put it down.

While fiction, Cave deals with some heavy stuff in The Shadowed Mind. The main topic underlying the storyline is eugenics, including the controversial debate over euthanasia, and the discussion of whether nurture or nature is supreme in dictating a person’s destiny.

Cave lands solidly on the sanctity of life, and does so with logically sound reasoning. And with the scriptural principles found throughout the book, as well as Scripture itself, The Shadowed Mind is a great read, and is free from a lot of the crud that mainstream fiction seems to include by default.

I loved reading The Shadowed Mind, and plan on purchasing the other books in this series by Julie Cave, one of which won’t be released until June. Until then, I’ll have to pick up her first book and be content. Sigh.

Well done, Julie!

I highly recommend that you read The Shadowed Mind, by Julie Cave. You can purchase it at Amazon.com.

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.

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Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick

Sun Stand Still

If you’re not daring to believe God for the impossible, you may be sleeping though some of the best parts of your Christian life.

That’s what the back of the book boldly proclaims. Sun Stand Still is a book about having the faith that God can do the impossible in your life.

Sun Stand Still is taken from the story of Joshua leading the Israelites into the promised land. At one point, the Israelites are fighting a battle, but daylight is running out. Joshua prayed a faith-filled prayer that God would stop the sun in its path across the sky. God did so, extending that particular day by several more hours.

Steven Furtick holds forth the idea of audacious faith: faith big enough to see God “stop the sun” in your life.

While there were some good points in the book, I wasn’t all that impressed with Sun Stand Still. I suppose, with all the hype and visibility, I expected a book that would impact me deeply, such as Radical by David Platt, or Primal by Mark Batterson.

Sun Stand Still just didn’t impact me like that. That said, it does have some good points about having a bold faith, faith that asks for the impossible and believes that God can and will deliver. But there are other books out there that can deliver that message better than this one.

My recommendation is this: don’t rush out and buy Sun Stand Still. Wait until it’s offered free for the Kindle or something.

I highly recommend that you read tw of the books referenced in the post above: Primal by Mark Batterson and Radical by David Platt. Click on either title in this box to be taken to Amazon.com, where you can purchase it for yourself.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Multnomah 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. 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 – Hipster Christianity

Hipster ChristianityIt seems like Christianity is facing an identity crisis.

That is the main idea behind Brett McCracken’s book Hipster Christianity: When Church and Cool Collide.

I was immediately interested in the idea when I first saw the book. Take a look around postmodern Christianity; it’s all about trying to be cool, culturally relevant and hip.

But is that what the church is called to be? I’m not so sure. McCracken takes a stab at it in this book. And I think he hits pretty close to the mark in most of it.

In the first few chapters, McCracken defines hip and hipsterdom. And as I read those pages, I had to ask myself, is this even going to apply to my ministry situation? I mean, seriously. I live in a small town in rural southern Missouri, about as far from the centers of culture as you can get. What influence does the hipster mentality of Brooklyn, Chicago and LA really have on this area?

Quite a lot, actually. While Mountain View may not be a mecca of the postmodern hipster lifestyle, there are traces of hipsterdom in the church even here.

And then, the second and third parts of the book really started to hit home. What do Christianity and cool have in common? Should Christianity attempt to be so culturally relevant that it looks like everything else? Or is it perceived as a weak attempt at trying to fit in, after finally jumping on board eighteen to thirty-six months too late?

Is Christianity facing an identity crisis?

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Don’t Waste The Pain by David Lyons & Linda Lyons Richardson

Don't Waste The PainDon’t Waste The Pain was a difficult book for me to read, and yet very timely.

Brother and sister authors, David Lyons and Linda Lyons Richardson, take a deep look at the pain in their lives caused by cancer. Linda has dealt with cancer for a decade, while David recently lost a son to a rare form of cancer.

This book hit me pretty hard. It’s been five years since my brother Mike lost his battle with liver cancer, and now my dad is dealing with melanoma that has metastasized into several other areas of his body. Both of those are open wounds in my life.

While Don’t Waste The Pain was difficult to read, it was full of timely input into my life. At first, I didn’t really care for the style of writing, switching back and forth from David’s experiences to Linda’s. At first, I didn’t appreciate the jabbing prod into my own tender wound right now. At first, I wanted to put the book down and maybe read it later.

But I knew that if I could just get past my own mindset, I could really learn from this open and honest look into the pain of others who have dealt with similar situations.

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The Narnia Code, by Michael Ward

The Narnia CodeHave you ever read The Chronicles of Narnia? The Chronicles are some of the best loved stories of the 20th century, and for good reason; C.S. Lewis wrote so intricately and deeply that you can uncover new layers of meaning every time you read them.

Lewis claimed that each of the seven volumes were “all about Christ.” But how? Oh sure, Aslan is parallel with Christ, and other obvious comparisons. But is there something more?

Michael Ward seems to have discovered the underlying basis for just how C.S. Lewis filled each volume with Christ.

In the pre-Copernican view of things, people viewed the heavens as much more than simple scientific astronomy. Each of the heavenly bodies had symbolic significance; they held a much deeper meaning. And during that earth-centric time period, the cosmos was considered to consist of seven heavens: the sun and the moon, as well as Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.