Family Shepherds by Voddie Baucham, Jr.

Jonathan here, taking over Carrie's blog for the day to post a book review of my own. (After doing this a couple of times over the years, I must confess I'm amazed by her ability to write and communicate so much, considering the time it takes me to piece together a few paragraphs!)

So, anyway. I'm here talking about Family Shepherds: Calling and Equipping Men to Lead Their Homesby Voddie Baucham, Jr. As a quick disclaimer, this is a title I picked out of my own volition, and was not foisted upon me by my wife (who's usually the source of my reading recommendations. Don't act surprised.)

Christian husbands and fathers in this day and age have big shoes to fill, with the heavy responsibility of leading families in a world that presents no end of vices and distractions. To compound the challenge, it's not an easy job to learn by finding role models and watching them. One could figure out how to be a good football fan without much difficulty, simply by attending a game or two and observing behavior. But much of the character that make up a good "shepherd" of a Christian home is not put on display for all the world to see, and doesn't draw attention to itself.

As a result, the role of the father as family leader is one that is not often talked about, and, despite the enormous impact it has on countless lives, often its core principles go so unrecognized that, as fathers, "we do not know what we don't know". One reason I find this book commendable is because there aren't many other places this message is being preached – even in church, where it's received much attention historically, men are now often left un-challenged with regard to the leadership of their family. (Indeed, some churches can be counter-productive in this regard when they offer so many kids' programs and women's activities that fathers are left with nothing to do but practice the aforementioned art of being good football fans.)

Mark Driscoll has noted, "Before a man can be a good father, he has to be a good Christian." Baucham's book does justice to this principle, and correctly represents a gospel-centered foundation for family life. My behavior and attitude toward Carrie and our children should be, above all else, infused with the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is what scripture demands of me (Deut 11:18-19, Eph 5:25-27) and is inherent in my calling as a "family man". However, this is easier said than done. (A fact which my family has ample evidence of.)

The book proceeds to apply the truth of the gospel in three areas of life:

• Marriage. Considering the primary attention given to marriage in scripture as a picture of the union of Christ and the church, this is a good place to start in applying the gospel. Baucham addresses God's purposes for marriage, explores how they should be lived out in our relationships, and identifies competing agendas (e.g. feminism) which can affect the clarity of our perception of what a biblically centered marriage looks like.
  
  
• Upbringing of Children. Again, rooted in a scriptural definition of the nature of children in a family and how the gospel applies to them, this book identifies many practical aspects of what our child-rearing should resemble. Discipline and training is one particular area of emphasis, where attitudes held by Christians are often heavily influenced by worldly philosophies or, as is sometimes the opposite case, a more fundamentalist distortion of the gospel like the behaviorism espoused by Michael & Debi Pearl. (This section I found to be particularly interesting and well-written.)
  
  
• Lifestyle – that is, our relationship to our vocation/business, church, government/politics, and our use of time. Much good advice to be found here for guys struggling to balance the various daily responsibilities demanding our attention.

The book wraps up with some special notes regarding widowed, divorced, and broken homes, and offers some suggested tools and resources in the shepherding of families.

Baucham's presentation is frustratingly clear and practical. "Frustating" because I would love to blame my own shortcomings on a lack of knowledge, resource, or clarity, and Baucham does not leave me that excuse.

The learning process in which I, as a husband and father, am developing some ability to lead a family has been like embarking on a personal road trip... to Argentina. Thankfully, scripture exists as an infallible map, the Holy Spirit serves as a GPS, and books like this act as road signs. But, that means that when I drive merrily by a highway notice announcing, "Welcome to Alaska," there is no one to blame but myself.

Praise God for the mercy he extends to us, as a patient Father who works through our lives to gradually shape us into the character of Christ. I'm grateful for how He has used the days and situations of our lives to gradually effect change, and for being able to grow by the instruction of others. In that, books like this fulfill a great purpose.

And so, as my GPS would say, "Re-calculating..."

Crossway Books was kind enough to send a copy of Family Shepherds our direction in exchange for the sharing of an honest opinion. In this case, you get Jonathan's opinion - which is the better one to have in this particular situation.

Russian Winter, by Daphne Kalotay

I mentioned previously I had two friends at church who are avid readers like myself. You've met Heather, now meet Joy. Joy snatched Russian Winter: A Novel off my bookshelf and I asked her if she'd be willing to share her thoughts on it. Here is what she had to say:

******

Russian Winter is Daphne Kalotay’s debut novel and in some aspects this is apparent in her writing. The story centers around three people but four characters: Nina Revskaya, a retired Bolshoi Ballet star living in Boston; Drew Brooks, an associate at the auction house Nine has placed her extensive jewelry collection into the care of; Grigori Solodin, a university professor whose work specializes in the poetry of Nina’s late husband; and the young Nina, a gifted ballet dancer in Communist Russia. The tie that brings all four of these characters together is the magnificent jewelry collection of the older Nina that she has decided to auction off to benefit the Boston Ballet Foundation. At the very beginning of the book this quote appears, “Her husband had archaic ideas about jewels; a man bought them for his wife in acknowledgment of things he could not gracefully utter.” In such a way, several of the pieces featured in the auction are linked to the story of Nina’s life, with one set in particular taking center stage: an amber bracelet and earrings each with a unique inclusion (a small object, usually an insect, embedded in the amber). The parts of the book detailing the methods used to date and appraise the jewelry are interesting but occasionally tedious. Line drawings might have helped clarify the more technical aspects of description.

One tell of this author’s newness to the genre is her efforts for sophistication by frequently holding back details in the story. She uses this mechanism so often and at times delays the revelation so long that the reader feels like the author is holding out against them rather than giving the reader clues to help them put together the puzzle. A minor example would be on page 18 with a paragraph that opens with the sentence, “Grigori Solodin saw the announcement on the third day of the new semester.” The reader’s interest is piqued, but it is not until two pages later that their curiosity is satisfied as to what the announcement is! The biggest mystery of the book surrounds an amber pendant in the possession of Grigori, who thinks that the necklace might be a match to Nina’s amber set. The reader is kept in suspense as to what this large amber drop contains for the majority of the book so that when the secret is finally revealed it is almost anticlimactic.

At the beginning of the story each person is introduced as broken and dealing with a significant loss, Nina lost in her memories and regrets, Brook recovering from a severed engagement and Grigori mourning the death of his beloved wife. As these three characters interact, deeper layers of connection are shown to already exist between them. This is where another significant mystery enfolds. The reader is stymied with all the hints and questions that arise from the narrative. How are Grigori and Nina really connected? Does his pendant actually match her amber set and how did the pieces come to be separated? Who does Brook remind Nina so strongly of?

The story of young Nina, as she discovers the world of ballet and rises through the ranks until she is the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet, is a fascinating look at Communist Russia, especially the world of the artist in that regulated time and place. The author is not so detailed with the phraseology of the ballet that the reader loses interest but instead gives a beautiful picture of glittering performances while also showing the drab realities of life behind the glamour. Before reading this book, I enjoyed the occasional ballet but I have now been inspired to more purposefully explore and learn about this beautiful art form.

For such an avid lover of mysteries as I am, I anticipated liking this book much more than I actually did. Some of the author’s literary devices seemed to hinder the story so that I occasionally had to force myself to keep reading until the flow was regained. For instance she seemed to touch on the each character two or three times within each chapter, which made their stories seem stilted. There are also few parts that stretch the reader’s imagination a bit and a few passionate scenes that are a little detailed for my taste. And if the ending seems to come upon the one rather abruptly, at least the author managed to clear up most of her hinted at mysteries by the last page. Leaving aside my difficulties with the author’s style, for an interesting look at the worlds of ballet, Stalinist Russia, and the history of jewelry, this book should be a pleasant read for any patient reader.

*****

After reading Sarah @ Library Hospital's review of this book, I was intrigued, but not convinced. Hearing Joy's take on it, I can't honestly say that this is one I'm going to spend time reading. (Although admittedly parts of it still sound intriguing.)

Thanks to Harper Perennial for shooting a copy this direction. All opinions expressed above are my own. And Joy's.

Turn Right at Machu Picchu, by Mark Adams

Do you all remember Heather? She's the other gal from my church who reads and is practically my TWIN (except she isn't) when it comes to the way we think, read and don't camp outdoors. (I bet she doesn't like slugs. I haven't asked her but I just bet she doesn't!) At any rate, I had a review copy of Turn Right at Machu Picchu sitting on my desk that she expressed an interest in reading it. So, I handed it over and figured I'd wait to read it and see if she liked it and she did! Below are Heather's thoughts on said book.

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I’ve been on an adventure book kick recently. I haven’t really done much soul searching to find out why this is, but my guess is that it’s something I tend to be a little schizophrenic about. On the one hand I hold the type of people who go backpacking in the wilderness for a month in great awe and there is even a little piece of me that wishes to be the woman who would do it. On the other hand there is the real me who hates being dirty, is terrified of insects and heights and being cold, and has never taken the miracle of indoor plumbing for granted. I’m left to satisfy my inner adventurer by vicarious reading. I’ve been frantically checking out books about far off places and long road trips and hikes across America. So Mark Adams’s Turn Right at Machu Pichu fitted in quite nicely with my recent craze.

Mark Adams is pursuing an interest in Hiram Bingham, Yale professor who allegedly discovered Machu Pichu in 1911 and may be the inspiration for the adventurer Indiana Jones. Adams, like me oddly enough, is someone who read and wrote about adventures all the time. Adams, unlike me, got paid to do this. He wrote for magazines like Outside and The National Geographic, and had been itching for an adventure of his own. So, when the 100th anniversary of Bingham’s discovery drew near and when Adams is alerted to the existence of a map that may prove Bingham’s claim to discovery to be false, he decides to hire a guide and follow the same route Bingham took in 1911.

Mark Adams’s guide happens to be John Leivers, an Australian in his late 50s introduced to the reader early on as: “Extremely fit; dressed as if ready to clamber up the Matterhorn though it was a cloudless, seventy degree day; and about as unattached as a man could be in the twenty-first century. He had no wife, no children, no permanent mailing address, just a cell phone and a Gmail account.”[1] The interaction of this colorful character and the author who admits, “The last time I’d slept in a tent was in 1978, when my father brought an imitation teepee home from Sears and set it up in our backyard,”[2] would make for a great read by itself. Both of these men come from such disparate backgrounds and even the differences between American English and Australian English is hard for them to overcome, but they do overcome it. And it is just funny. I found myself laughing out loud a lot.

The obvious reason to read this book, however, is if you find travel to exotic locations at all interesting. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t. Whether you would actually do such a thing doesn’t really matter. The idea at least holds an appeal. Mark Adams’s career as a writer for adventure magazines makes him the perfect person to write this story. His writing is particularly descriptive and drove me onto Google a couple of times hoping to get a taste of the experience. The interactions with the local people were very entertaining. The best story was of Adams’s interaction with two children who didn’t know where New York was, didn’t know where America was, but were curious if it was true that Michael Jackson had died. I can’t do justice to how funny that particular anecdote was, so I guess you’ll just have to read it yourself.

Something else I appreciate about the book is how Adams weaves the story of Hiram Bingham’s adventure with his own and even goes further back in time and mixes in some of Peru’s fascinating history. This was particularly helpful to me as I had only heard the name of Hiram Bingham and could probably not place him in his historical context. It would be a stretch to say I even knew he had anything to do with Machu Pichu. Also, I had no idea how interesting Peruvian history was! I plan on doing a little reading up on it now.

For more conservative readers, some of John Leivers’s language is pretty earthy, and naturally if you are going for this long of a hike there will be some talk of bodily functions. I found myself quite pleasantly surprised at how circumspect Mark Adams was. I know I shouldn’t be because this is a non-fiction book so how gross can one get, right? Well, I won’t get on a rant about “books these days,” but sometimes they do, and this one didn’t. Also, the last bit of the book dwells quite a bit on Incan theology….philosophy?...religion? Apparently right now Peru is a Catholic country officially. However, sacrifices are still made to the mountains and a sort of syncretism has cropped up between Peru’s Catholicism and the ancient Incan religion. And naturally, I disagreed with this syncretism, but the book isn’t being proscriptive here, just descriptive.

Anyway, I’m glad I read it, and found Mark Adams’s writing to be humorous and informative. I plan on exploring some more of his works along with some books on Peruvian history. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

[1] Adams, Mark Turn Right at Machu Pichu (New York: Dutton, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc, 2011) pg. 1

[2] Ibid. 2

*******

Now I simply have to read this book instead of just "have" to. What about you?

Thanks, Heather, for sharing your thoughts on it!

Thanks to Penguin Group for sending a copy of this book my/our way!

The World-Tilting Gospel, by Dan Phillips

I have two particular friends at church who are avid readers like myself. One of them is Heather. (The other I will be introducing to you in short order.) But first we must meet Heather. Mostly what you need to know about her is that she is very cool. And nice. And smart. And I like her a whole lot and you can make some very good guesses as to why I do when you read what she wrote below. I asked if she'd be interested in reading the following book ahead of me and offering her thoughts on it, which she happily agreed to do. Now that I've read her take on this book, I'm more eager to get to it myself (and will do so shortly!)

Without further ado, Heather on The World-Tilting Gospel, by Dan Phillips:

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Sometimes when one has been a catechized member of a Presbyterian Church all their lives, or at least the part of their lives that they can remember, reading theology books may seem like a pat on the back or a sort of sanctified echo chamber. Not that they are unhelpful because all of us need to hear the good news and the beautiful doctrines that uphold our beliefs, but often it seems we read what we know we already agree with and finish with a pleasant feeling of agreement.

With similar expectations, I picked up The World-Tilting Gospel by Dan Philips. I had never heard of Dan Philips before, but I noticed one of the endorsement blurbs was by John MacArthur, so I figured I was in good company. Philips’s purpose is summed up well by his own subtitle: Embracing a Biblical Worldview and Hanging on Tight.

The book is split into four distinct yet related parts:

1. Who we (mankind) are;
2. What is God’s Plan?;
3. How do we get in on it?; and
4. How do we get going?

The last chapter brings all these parts together into a culmination that sums up the biblical worldview in a beautiful and breathtaking way, making you want to stand up and shout your love for an amazing God.

Now, I won’t say my expectations were totally blown out of the water, in that Philips doesn’t say anything I really fought against or struggled over, but he presents truths of the gospel in ways I’ve never even considered. Even this inveterate lover of doctrine and reader of the driest of the Puritans, learned something from this book! He succeeds in taking the whole of God’s plan leading up to the cross and how it affects and should affect us, and presenting it in all its mind-blowing, messy, and miraculous beauty. This is no new gospel Dan Philips presents. He just uses scriptures, other theologians, humor, and his own deep love of Christ Jesus to again proclaim this priceless good news.

When he writes specifically about Jesus Christ as He really is, it really shook me awake. Again, not that I disagreed until I read The World-Tilting Gospel, but it was like I was being re-exposed to something wonderful that I’ve always known, but I’d begun to take for granted. It’s like how I live within view of Mount Hood, but sometimes it takes someone from out of town pointing it out and saying, “How beautiful that mountain is,” for me to think, “Wow, that is beautiful.” In this way Dan Philips pointed out Christ to me again, and I thought, “This gospel really is beautiful.”

“The World has tried to do all sorts of things with Jesus. It has tried hard to ignore Him. Eighteenth-century radicals tried to make Him a mythical figure, until the spade of the archaeologist rendered that endeavor intellectually absurd (That news hasn’t reached the somnolent chambers of the Jesus Seminar, which thrives on the ignorance of the public at large, and the shallowness of the pulpit.)…Failing all that, the world has repeatedly tried to mash Him into its image for its own endeavors – as political/social revolutionary, hippie, sage, philosopher, champion of ___rights, anti-establishment, iconoclast, eco-warrior. It tries to tame Him, control Him, cage Him.

The world needs to know the truth about the Jesus who won’t be ignored, tamed lassoed, or co-opted. It needs to hear about Him in all His raw, rude, gate-crashing, table-bashing power. It needs to hear about His nature, His cross, His resurrection, His crown, His warnings, His demands, His offer.

If Jesus is real all the world’s values and plans and tiny little sand castles are doomed. And He is. And they are. This is a world tilting truth” (The World-Tilting Gospel, pg. 294)

This book has a real emphasis on the Bible. Philips digs deeply into the entire Bible, literally from Genesis to Revelations, and brings up so many priceless words from the Lord. He takes things like sin, the sovereignty of God, and our own helpless condition and shows who we really are and why grace is so necessary. The issues that the modern evangelical church constantly avoids in an effort to "be less mean," he exposes as an integral part of our real life (dare I say it) happily ever after.

And if all of that hasn’t convinced you to read this book immediately Philips is an amazing author. He has a winsome way with words, a “warped sense of humor” (his words not mine), and an appealing style. There are certain passages where I thought perhaps he was taking his humor a little too far and bordering on the flippant. Also, when he lightly touches on some of the false doctrines in the church some of the language he uses is mainly dismissive and slightly insulting. “But these doctrines are obviously stupid and deserved to be mocked,” my fellow reformers might say. Well, yes, I agree in theory, but I don’t think it’s necessarily the best way to win friends and influence people. For example, he uses the term “Evanjellybeans” to describe modern evangelicals who have compromised the gospel in order to make it fit the world or make it more appealing. If you didn’t laugh at that, or at least chuckle or smirk, you might want to check your pulse. BUT if you ARE an Evanjellybean you might be offended by the word and not listen to the rest of what he has to say.

I will be buying it for two friends (one of whom says she is a believer, but only if it doesn’t interfere with her life) for Christmas this year. And if that doesn't convince you to find a copy yourself, I don't know what will.

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It should be duly noted that Heather read my review copy of this title, which was provided to me by Kregel Publications. She then did purchase her own copy (along with the others she mentioned) which convinces me that this book must be read.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Detective Fiction, and Spiritualism

Remember Jeremy? He has provided a guest post or two. Well, he so happens to come from a well-read family. His brother, Tim, who blogs at Diary of an Autodidact, is here to offer some thoughts on Holmes, Doyle and action figures. (What?) Read on!

(This article, by the way, following on the heels of my recent post on The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.)

*****

I own the complete Sherlock Holmes, including the numerous short stories and the four full length novels. I read them all when I was in High School, which is an indication that I had far more of my own time back then.

Sherlock himself, without a doubt the most famous fictional detective of all time, first appeared in 1887 in the novel, A Study in Scarlet. He was not, however, the first of his kind. The first was C. Auguste Dupin, created by Edgar Allan Poe in The Murders in the Rue Morgue, published in 1841. At that time, the term “detective” had not yet been coined, yet Poe essentially established the main conventions of the detective story in that tale and its successors, including the use of deduction from careful observation. Later, in the 1860s, a Frenchman by the name of Émile Gaboriau introduced the character of Monsieur Lecoq, also an amateur detective who uses scientific and deductive methods. (Doyle name checks Lecoq in A Study in Scarlet.) It was Holmes, however, who became the archetype of the detective; and Watson, likewise, as the loyal but less intelligent assistant.

Further back even than these influences, The Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins, essentially founded the English detective fiction genre. This work was an incomplete beginning. For example, The Woman in White lacks the central personality of the detective as protagonist, but already, the seeds are there. In Collins’ next detective work, The Moonstone, the elements are nearly all there. The list of plot points is remarkable: bungling local police, a brilliant outside detective, a large number of false suspects, a “locked room” murder, the use of the “least likely suspect”, a reconstruction of the crime, and a final plot twist.

After Holmes, numerous British authors wholeheartedly pursued the writing of detective fiction. Such names as Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie from the early 20th century are well known for their ingenious plots and memorable detectives.

In contrast to the English Detective Story, American writers subsequent to Poe largely followed the path of the Private Eye novel, or what might be considered the American Detective Story. Major names in this genre would be Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, and “hard boiled” would be the operative description. Also related is the police procedural, such as Dragnet. These all differ from the English pattern in that they are more about the process of tracking and accumulating evidence than about determining the perpetrator among a group of potential suspects.

These basic divisions still persist today not only in fiction, but also in television. Think of the difference between, say, CSI (American) and Psych (English). Of course, there are combinations and overlap, but the basic approaches still fascinate us today, nearly 200 years after they originated.

In addition to Detective Fiction, the 19th Century gave rise to a number of significant religious movements which intersected with authors and their works. Major movements which originated during this time are the Latter Day Saints (Mormons), Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Scientists, Seventh Day Adventists, and the Spiritualists. (A minor sect would be the Theosophists, who built a colony near Pismo Beach. My review of The Heart of Midlothian by Sir Walter Scott has a note regarding this movement since my copy of the book came from their library.)

These new religious ideas arose in the time of general questioning of orthodoxy contemporaneous with and often related to the rise of science and the works of Charles Darwin and others. Doyle’s works were influenced by these ideas in a number of interesting ways.

First, A Study in Scarlet chooses the Mormons as the villains of this particular story. It was controversial at the time, even though the Mormons were viewed with suspicion, because it attributed particularly lurid and violent tendencies to them that were not fully justified.

Spiritualism was an even more profound influence on Doyle. For those not familiar with the term, Spiritualism is the belief that the dead are able to communicate with the living, typically through séances. Although he did not contribute to the religious side of this movement, a major influence was Franz Mesmer, who founded the practice of hypnotism. The spiritualists appropriated this technique as a means of reaching the world of the dead, although it unlikely that this was Mesmer’s intent.

Doyle became a Spiritualist after a series of deaths. His first wife passed in 1906, followed by his son Kingsley in World War One and two nephews and his brother soon afterward. He sunk into a depression, which proved difficult to shake. Eventually, he turned to the hope and belief that he could some day communicate with his dearly departeds through Spiritualist séances. Sadly, Doyle became progressively more gullible as he clung to his belief, despite the exposure of hoax after hoax, even writing a defense of the well known hoax, the Cottingly Fairies. The low point came when he insisted that his friend Harry Houdini possessed supernatural powers. Houdini insisted otherwise and in fact did what he could to show how many of the Spiritualist hoaxes were done. This caused a break in their friendship. (Oddly, none of my friends have ever claimed that I had supernatural powers. I obviously need a better publicist.)

What is fascinating to me about this whole episode is that Sherlock Holmes stood for the proposition that all things had a rational, logical explanation, if only one could find it. Many of the events in the Holmes stories seem at first to be spooky, unexplainable by mere human activity, but are proved in the end to be the product of mere criminals, however brilliant. As a later version of the English detective tradition would prove, it was just [villain’s name] all the time; and brains, observation, and Scooby Snacks for all would bring the mystery to light. Doyle himself, however, could not accept the purely naturalistic explanation. Perhaps the despair caused by his losses led him to cling to whatever he could. Perhaps he felt a void in his philosophy. Perhaps he did not actually believe that the entirety of existence could be explained by what could be experienced by the five senses. Whatever the case, the apostle of logic was given life from the man made gullible by loss.

As a final word, I would like to address the reason that I have avoided modern movies based on 19th Century fiction. Despite the fact that the 19th Century has given us more memorable characters than perhaps any age in history, modern filmmakers seem to think that these venerable characters and plots cannot possibly be left alone to stand or fall on their own merits. Thus, Around the World in 80 Days (the recent Jackie Chan version) becomes an action movie of sorts, with bizarre inventions and slapstick, and goodness only knows what else. (I never saw the complete movie. The trailer was enough for me.)

Sherlock Holmes has not been immune, alas. I concede that the original was a strong man, capable with a gun, but preferring the riding crop. However, few of his cases even required the use of force. The power of deduction was sufficient both for the foiling of the criminal and retaining the interest of the reader. There is no need to make Holmes into a cookie cutter action hero. There is no need for CGI. The laws of physics should remain in effect.

In this respect, I would argue that these filmmakers are trying to cram an English detective story into an American detective story shaped hole. Sherlock must become Dirty Harry. In confusing the two, Hollywood continues to create movies that are indistinguishable from each other. You can give the movie a 19th Century veneer, a futuristic sci-fi feel, a modern dystopian look, an ironic 1950s glaze. It’s still the same characters, doing the same things, with the same computer generated explosions. Yawn.

Okay, that tantrum out of the way, I would encourage the reading of the originals. Doyle wrote well, and created a truly memorable character, one that has permeated the culture in a way few do. The mysteries themselves are fun to unravel along with Dr. Watson as he follows the dynamic detective along the path of the clues. Read and enjoy, and let your mind create its own pictures – they are better than CGI anyway.

Are You Waiting For the One?, by Margaret Kim Peterson and Dwight N. Peterson

Today my friend Taia is here, sharing about a book she recently read - Are You Waiting for "The One"?: Cultivating Realistic, Positive Expectations for Christian Marriage. As she mentions below, Taia and I are real life friends. While we don't always agree, I enjoy hearing her take on things. She challenges me to think through my beliefs and positions in a healthy way and I was glad she wanted to share about the following book.

I do feel like I should preface this by saying that just because I'm posting it doesn't mean I necessarily agree with the book. (The quote, in particular, raises question marks.) I take a markedly different view of marriage at times, being much more conservative. However! Like I said, I respect the way Taia approaches me with differing opinions and hastily agreed to post her thoughts on this particular work.

Lastly, I would like to point out that I have not (yet) read this book.

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I know Carrie from real life and started following her book blog to get to know her better. Margaret Kim Peterson is one of my favorite Christian authors, although she’s written only three books. (The others are Sing Me to Heaven, about her years caring for her first husband, who had and died of AIDS when its treatment was not well understood and Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life.) She is a theologian/professor, a widow, a wife again and a mother. My background is in engineering and I appreciate her practicality. She decided to write this book as an outgrowth of a course on Christian marriage that she and her husband (a professor of New Testament) taught to college seniors and it is appropriately subtitled “Cultivating Realistic, Positive Expectations for Christian Marriage.” The book definitely has Margaret’s “voice”, although I haven’t read anything by Dwight to know if he likely did any of the drafting.

They gently criticize many existing popular books on Christian marriage for creating unrealistic expectations of perfect love. They attempt to describe “real love” in marriage and family, with an emphasis on the imperfections that, on one level or another, plague all families. They use scriptural examples to make the point that these problems have always existed and will always be with us. They also value singleness and ponder how the modern church seems to consider singleness a transitional state, rather than a lifelong state of being for many people. Many of their examples refer to the historic church as well as scripture- they are interested in the many ways Christians have lived over the past two millennia.

They identify qualities- hospitality, compassion, justice and reconciliation- that ought to mark Christian marriage. They believe neither in male headship nor in egalitarianism because both emphasize power in the relationship. They use the perfect peace and mutuality between God the Father and Jesus Christ and their oneness as the true model. I quote,

“...it is most emphatically not the case that God the Father is in the business of making decisions on behalf of the Holy Trinity when the Father and the Son are unable to reach agreement in any other way. On the contrary, the relationship of the Father and the Son is characterized in Scripture by perfect peace and mutuality. When Jesus says, ‘I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me’ (John 6:38), his point is not that God the Father calls the shots, and he, Jesus, is a lesser deity who just does as he is told. His point is that God the Father and God the Son are on the same page; they are a team; they’ve talked it over and made a plan. They have different parts to play- the Father sends, the Son is sent- but they are coauthors (with the Holy Spirit) of the drama. This, we think, is the kind of mutuality that husbands and wives should be striving for…”

They emphasize the value of children and the emphasis that the church has historically placed on welcoming them into marriage. Their discussion of the history of marriage in the church cannot be easily summarized but will probably be informative to most readers.

Are You Waiting for "The One"? is one of the few that discusses family economics in a world where medical insurance is expensive and pensions are a memory. For most families, a lifelong full-time stay-at-home wife and mother is not economically realistic. Neither they nor anyone else can resolve the tradeoffs for each family, but their work with college students in recent years led them to observe that fathers who are largely absent, due to the hours that they work in order to afford a mother at home, are also a social problem.

“A lot of fathers who have stayed married to their children’s mothers are nonetheless absent from those children’s lives because they are at work. The Christian exaltation of the stay-at-home mother has a flip side that is not so often talked about: the always-at-work dad. The children of such parents often express powerful feelings of ambivalence toward their fathers, who they know worked long hours or traveled many weeks out of the year specifically so their wives could stay home with the children, but who thereby denied the children their own presence.”

When we were married, we were required to complete a workbook with budget guidelines by Christian financial author Larry Burkett. Guidelines for medical insurance/expenses (3-5% of income) were laughably low, even for a family with healthy children. Housing in urban areas has increased in price. At the same time, the work of nurturing and caring for one another is important. (That’s why Margaret Peterson wrote a book on that topic as well, on keeping house, my very favorite of her books.)

I’ve recommended this book to friends with college or post-college children. Some information- that 95% of people in the United States engage in premarital sex, for example- is useful to know for decisions about public policy, but not at a young age. There is nothing graphic, but the effects of infidelity, divorce and pornography are discussed. It is a practical book, written for a world of real, not perfect, love.

For those who might be interested, you can read much of the first ~40 pages in the Amazon preview.

Craft With Rice & Reading

From Carrie:

My friend (and sister-in-law), Jennifer, is a crafty and creative type of person. She wows and floors me with her ideas sometimes. I confess to NOT being crafty or creative. I have to see someone else do something (about a million times) before I feel like I can give it a go myself, with any hope at success. She told me about this simple idea that she worked up for my (cute and ever so adorable nephew) to play with. I think I can do this one. So you probably can as well. I asked if she wouldn't mind writing the steps up for me (and others) and she graciously agreed to do so. Check this out.

******

From Jennifer:



Carrie introduced me to amazing world of Safari Ltd. in a recent post she did about Narnia. I was curious, so I jumped over to their web site to see what other kinds of mythical creatures they had (I was really digging their Pegasus) and that is when I discovered: Toobs!!! Oh happy day! A Toob will feature miniature replicas and come in different themes: Horses, Dinosaurs, Arctic, Sea-life, and much more. They come with 12 replicas, which are about 1.5" to 3" tall and look fantastic! In and of themselves they are enough to let any imagination take flight, but then I had a stroke of genius. Why not make an environment for my son to play with his Toob figurines in? Enter: COLORED RICE! So I ran to our local craft store and after much deliberation bought the Safari Ltd Coral Reef Toob, mainly because it sported Nemo and Dory. And, while my son played with his new toys I set about to create an ocean for him! You can make an ocean, desert, Dino dig site, jungle, or any other environment with just a few household goods and a little creativity.

Here's what ours looked like:

This ocean has already provided hours of entertainment and keeps my little one occupied while I am busy in the kitchen. And, the best part is that it encourages creativity in my youngster! I love watching his imagination take flight.


How to Dye Rice:

Step 1. Collect the following:
Uncooked Rice (White or Brown*)
Vinegar
Food Coloring (I used Wilton Gel Food Coloring-Pastel Colors because I wanted tropical waters for our ocean)
Sandwich Zip Bags
1 Cup Measuring Cup
1/2 tsp. Measuring Spoon
Plastic box/bin with an air tight lid**

*Use White Rice for crisper colors and Brown Rice for deeper colors or a combo
**My box didn't have a lid so I just dump our ocean back into a Gallon Zip bag when play time ends



Step 2. Choose how many colors you are going to dye (I did three) and set out the corresponding number of zip bags.

Depending on how big your box is you will determine how many cups of rice you will want to dye. Feel free to measure un-dyed rice into your box to see how much you want. But, none of these measurements have to be exact. This should be fun for all parties involved and not stressful!
Note: I will be demonstrating 1 cup Rice to 1/2 tsp. Vinegar for ease. You can dye larger batches at once with a larger zip bag in needed.

Step 3. Measure 1 tsp. Vinegar into a zip bag and add 4-6 drops of food coloring. Zip and mix Vinegar and Food Coloring. Repeat for each color you are making.



Step 4. Measure 1 Cup of Rice into your zip bag. Zip and mix Rice with your Food Coloring and Vinegar mixture together until all the rice is well coated. Repeat for each color you are making.

Step 5. Allow Dyed Rice to remain in zip bag over night or for 8 hours. (I put my zip bags in a glass cooking dish just in case one of the bags had a hole the dye wouldn't stain my table.)



Step 6. After allowing the rice to dry shake the bag to loosen any rice that may have stuck together. Pour rice in to designated box and let the Adventures Began!!!
Note: If you don't want to wait over night or the rice still seems a tad moist when you first open the bags, (the Vinegar smell will disappear after a few minutes) place the rice in a glass cooking dish (9x13 works great) in your oven on low for 15-25 mins and the rice will dry it out without hurting the color.

Have fun and let the creative play began!!!


Note: Picture of my adorable nephew, our little Buckaroo.

Helpful Hint: If you are dying really large batches of rice at a time, say for a kids party, classroom, etc. consider using Easter Egg Dye instead of food coloring. It is super easy!

****

Carrie here again with a book recommendation to consider in conjunction with the Safari Ltd Coral Reef Toob:



Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef is told in rhyme, following the patten of Over in the Meadow except it involves marine life. We first borrowed this book from our library but then ended up purchasing it to add to our home library. Bookworm1 thoroughly enjoyed looking at his favorite types of creatures while listening to a rhyme about them as well! The illustrations in this book are done by Jeanette Canyon and will no doubt inspire some artful creations from your own kids. Check out this page spread:



Very imaginative, bright and cheerful - we feel safe in recommending this book. And, of course, I always feel safe in recommending Safari Ltd. animals to you! We're quite the fans around here and are delighted with our fresh converts! ;) Stay tuned for some additional ideas for Safari Ltd. figures.

Narnia Legos and Further Explorations into the Wardrobe

Guest post from Narnia-Girl who blogs at Lantern Waste. (Need I say more?!) I think she is oh so cool.

*****

In 2008 I took on the challenge of VBS director in a brand-new church. The newness gave me freedom from precedence: no expectations of doing things the same way as past directors, just convey the Gospel to children. I figured I could do no better than using beloved children's literature from a revered Christian apologist, and that is how I settled on sculpting a VBS from Narnia.

I found that there was Narnia curriculum available, but after purchasing two sets I was disappointed in the quality of the material. I set to work creating our own curriculum, using ideas from each of the purchased sets and adding my own inspiration. The end result was a VBS that told the story of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe over five nights. Each evening the children left our hot August environment and passed through the wardrobe into snowy Narnia. They heard a bit of the story, participated in object lessons and enjoyed crafts and games related to the theme. The evenings ended with a chat with "The Professor".

One popular part of our VBS was a Narnian Museum. This small room was filled with Narnian "artifacts" collected from all the stories. Each item was displayed and identified with a placard that described it and the book in which it was mentioned. For example, we had Reepicheep's sword (an ornate letter opener), Mr. Pevensie's war uniform (WWII uniform), Caspian's sword (real sword hung up high), Peter's shield (Halloween costume), the tea set from Father Christmas, Bree's saddle, Mrs. Beaver's cookbook, the steering wheel of the Dawn Treader and much more. The setting was additionally enhanced by playing 'Narnian' music and employing curators who were in character each evening.

At the time we were preparing for the museum, our son would spend hours a day playing with Lego bricks. In an effort to spend time with him and work on VBS plans, I began to create scenes from Narnia out of Legos. We had a wonderful time discussing concepts and trying to implement them. We also did some online research and found several ideas. While there were Chronicles of Narnia building sets available for purchase, they depicted the most famous scenes. We were striving for Lego dioramas from each book, plucking one little scene from the story and conveying it in miniature plastic bricks.

Each of our creations were displayed in a glass case and labeled with the scene and book.

We included:

• Puddleglum assisting Eustace and Jill up the giant, snowy steps and The Lady of the Green Kirtle with the mysterious Black Knight (The Silver Chair);
• The Pevensies finding the ruins of Cair Paravel and then discovering the old treasure room in Prince Caspian;
• Uncle Andrew's study, with the mysterious green and yellow rings, from The Magician's Nephew;
• an exotic (and cruel) stranger visiting a poor (and cruel) fisherman and the luxurious palace room where Shasta is placed when he's mistaken for a prince in The Horse and His Boy;
• the poor talking horses of Narnia being beaten into submission in The Last Battle; and several other scenes.

The Narnian scenes were a fun addition to our Museum and a big hit with the kids who talked of creating their own masterpieces at home. In our home I found this to be an excellent catalyst to get the kids back into the books, digging for ideas for their next creation.

****

Narnia-girl shared pictures of her Lego creations which I'm posting here for you to see. Wasn't she terribly creative?! I LOVE this! Totally LOVE it!

Uncle Andrew in his study with the rings


Polly and Digory on Fledge


Lucy enters The Wardrobe


Lucy meets Mr. Tumnus


Susan & Lucy with Aslan at the Stone Table


Dr. Cornelius helping Caspian to flee


Peter, Edmund, Susan & Lucy entering the Treasure Room


The Lady of the Green Kirtle with the mysterious Black Knight


Shasta in Tashbaan


Pretty creative, huh? I'm duly impressed.

Thank you, Narnia-girl, for sharing both your love for these stories and your creativity with us! I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling very inspired by your work and efforts! I want to attend your VBS and walk through the museum! Sigh.

Far From the Maddening Crowd: I Read It To Be Cultured and Actually Liked It

My friend Jeremy is back for another guest post. This time he addresses a classic that he finally pulled down off the shelf. He didn't know I was writing up a post on Classics I Mean to Get To when he wrote up his post and so the timing of it was rather amusing. Anyway, if you can sympathize with this situation, I dare you to read this post.

******

I can't imagine that I'm the only who has classics sitting on the shelf that I've been meaning to read for years, but just never actually picked up when the time comes to pick a book to read. My eyes tend to slide right past books like War and Peace and alight instead on the newest John C. Wright space opera. I like having War and Peace on the shelf, I feel good about it, but it’s low odds I’ll actually read it of my own free will.

Of course, I may be more easily distracted than most (I once spent 6 months exclusively reading books off of Jimmy Buffet's personal Top 10 list) but I'm sure most of you know what I'm talking about. Sometimes, however, I overcome the urge to read Clive Cussler's latest formula book and pull out something that I figure will be a bit slow, but will have a chance of giving me another box to check off on those '100 Best Books Ever' lists that always pop up on the internet and in magazines these days.

Which is really hard to do, by the way, because none of the lists is ever consistent. The only thing you can guarantee is that they'll all have A Tale of Two Cities and a pop-religion book by either Mitch Albom or Yann Martel, but not both, and some book that nobody heard of but the editor writing the list to make him/her look smart. There's probably close to 1,000 books in the 'Best 100' pool and so it's hit and miss whether you're making progress at all by reading a given book, and the only thing you can be certain of is that you need to totally disregard any list that includes Gravity's Rainbow because that clearly means the editor didn't read all the books on the list.

So anyway, I recently read Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. It was an interesting experience because as I was reading, I never once thought 'Wow, this is incredible and memorable!' but it's stuck in my mind in a way that a Cussler plot never has, despite the fact that I've read his plot 15 times in his various books.

The plot centers around the English countryside in pre-industrial revolution days and Gabriel Oak, the steady, simple, stalwart and good-hearted shepherd who falls for the headstrong and independent Bathsheba Everdene. In the beginning, Gabriel has the financial upper hand as an independent shepherd to her penniless state, but Bathsheba rejects his initial advances, and tells him it can never be in a fit of emotion. The wheel of fate, however, continues to turn and a tragic accident reduces Gabriel to a hired worker, while Bathsheba inherits a prosperous farm.

Thus begins a period of years where Gabriel works on the farm for Bathsheba and has to watch as she blunders her way through awkward and damaging romances with the swaggering, spendthrift and philandering Sergeant Troy and the intense, myopic and obsessive Farmer Boldwood.

Much of the book paints these scenes against the background of a deeply satisfying picture of English farm life. The folk of the countryside are a motley but human group, and the community feel and rhythm of planting, reaping, shearing sheep and fighting the elements paints a picture as old as humans and human nature. It's a place you might like to live a while to forget your cares and worries, knowing that hard work equals reward and the only schedule you have to keep is the schedule of the seasons.

Although the book contains quite a bit of tragedy, and shows some of Hardy's dislike and animosity toward mis-matched marriages, it is much more happy, overall, than his later works. This was his first successful commercial publication, and was originally written under a pen name, thought to be an alias of George Elliot, and garnered immediate accolades.
The startling concluding scenes contain some nice twists, and the book ends on a happy note for some characters and tragedy for others.

A theme throughout the book is the understated compatibility of ideas between Bathsheba and Gabriel, that perhaps even they don’t see, regarding how life should be, how the farm and estate should be run, and how people should be treated. This ties in to Hardy’s viewpoint (which grew over the years, rather than receded) that women are easily swayed by fine words and promises and fail to see deeper into the character of a man. There is a lot of speculation that Hardy’s own tempestuous first marriage influenced his views on marriage in his novels, but this book lacks the bitter tinge of his later works.

Hardy also uses bits of ironic fact and coincidences in this book: momentary urges and missing appointments play a major part of the story, although you can argue that such happenstances are always consistent with the attributes of the characters, and while they provide branching points and crossroads in the story, it is never with an unjust result. You get the feeling like Hardy would love to have been fatalist in his writing, but just wasn’t able to do it in the end.

If you're looking for a classic to read, and want something with themes and characters that will stay with you (and don't want to feel depressed from reading Tolstoy or Dostoevsky) I recommend this book. You won't notice the 'fantastic writing' as you're reading, like you might with Hemingway, but every character you ever liked won't die and you won't be left wishing you'd read 'Inca Gold VIII’ instead. I bet you’ll remember the plot and the points years after other books have faded from your memory. And that makes it a classic.

***

Jeremy is an attorney in Bakersfied, CA who is a good ol' friend of mine from law school. He has recently discovered book blogging to be an amusing past time and I'm glad he does. Wave a happy hello to him, if you like!

Calvin in the Public Square

Ok, you should be prepared for a few history-related books that are coming up this week. Christopher participated in some of the fun:

John Calvin was born in France in 1509. Having thus reached a major historical milestone, P&R Publishing is in the midst of printing a number of works as part of their Calvin 500 Series, of which Calvin in the Public Square, by author and series editor David W. Hall, is a part.

While this book has a more scholarly flare (i.e. it has footnotes!), let me tell you why you will love this book before you run screaming from this review:


1. If you love to read about history, you will love this book.

2. If you love to read about politics, you will love this book.

3. If you love the story of America's Road to Independence, you will love this book.

4. If you love the study of Calvin's life and thought, you will love this book.

5. If you love Martin Luther, you will love this book.

6. If you love the Scottish Covenanters, you will love this book.

Etc., etc.

I really and truly enjoyed this book . . . and not just in a geeky way (though that probably was a factor). Pastor David Hall has a very readable style that seemlessly integrates relevant, revealing, and compelling quotations from all kinds of sources.

Be warned, this book is not for the timid. It contains such quotes this, from the Reformer Peter Martyr: “Since the magistrates are ordained [by God] for good, if they pervert their function, they forfeit their place. If the magistrate is bad, rapacious, and violent, he is a tyrant. Since God is not the author of evil, tyrants may be overthrown.”

Calvin in the Public Square details how Calvin's teaching and work in Geneva grew to effect and in large measure to create the freedoms we have come to expect as a matter of course, especially in America. The heart of the matter being this:

Calvinism “built a damn across the absolutistic stream, not by appealing to popular force, nor to the hallucination of human greatness, but by deducing those rights and liberties of social life from the same source from which the high authority of government flows, even the absolute sovereignty of God.”

I found the chapter on Calvin and Poverty to be one of the most compelling, as it presents a wise and Biblical model by which Christians and the Church can (and historically has) provided for the needs of the poor, the sick, the widows, orphans, and outcasts in their communities. It is a model we would do well to reclaim and put to good use once more.

In terms of an ideal audience, I believe this book can be appreciated by mature Christians of any age who are concerned about how their faith can effect all of life.

I hope that you will get a copy of this book and read it, and that it will be a blessing to you as it was to me.

***
For some lighter fare concerning John Calvin, see Christopher's review of The Betrayal: A Novel on John Calvin.

The Betrayal

Review by Christopher, seminary student extroadinare, husband, father and a really good brother (who has good tastes in books, what can I say?).

In The Betrayal: A Novel on John Calvin, author Douglas Bond has sought to bring to life the world and experiences of the great Protestant Reformer John Calvin, as seen through the eyes of a (fictional) antagonist who is at the same time the protagonist and narrative voice of the novel. Published this year to coordinate with the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth, I was excited to read this book and found much that was satisfying in it.

The author sets the historical stage with detailed accounts of the spread of the Black Plague through Calvin's hometown of Noyon, France and, later in the novel, of the persecutions that befell Protestants in Paris. Because of these compelling renderings of gruesome events, I would not recommend the novel for young readers. It is instead accurately categorized by the publisher as “Adult Historical Fiction”.

More than anything else, the book is hallmarked by its historically accurate rendering of Calvin's life and personality. Weaving the story with flashes of excitement – such as Calvin's flight from Paris when the Crown sought to capture and kill him – Mr. Bond introduces us to the sober, godly, caring, and kind heart of the man who is all too often lost in debates about the doctrine named for him. John Calvin the man is someone we could all benefit from knowing, and the author of The Betrayal affords us that opportunity.

Seeking to keep the dialogue as faithful as possible to the historical context and persons involved, Mr. Bond has culled most of the repartee from Calvin's published works and personal letters. (At the end of the novel there is a helpful “Guide to Further Reading” which lists the primary sources from which Mr. Bond drew the dialogue for various subjects.) This works fairly well for the majority of the novel, but the weakness of that method is made somewhat evident in the early portion which records Calvin's childhood. Though all the records show Calvin was a brilliant student from his youth, the dialogue still comes off as stilted when you realize that preteen Calvin is being quoted as saying what he would actually write when he was in his twenties or older.

While much light has been (justly) shown on Martin Luther's life and walk with the Lord, much less has been said or published about Calvin's personal experiences on a popular level. This novel helps to fill that gap and does so well. I found The Betrayal to be an enjoyable and rewarding read, and hope that you will as well.

***
If you'd like to do a little more indepth reading on Calvin, see Christopher's review of Calvin in the Public Square.

Broken Down House

Guest review by my favorite brother, Christopher, who has been with us before. Everyone say "howdy!" and be friendly now!


To be honest, I did not know what to expect as I began reading Broken-Down House, by Paul David Tripp. I knew the author to be solid, but I simply could not make heads or tails from the title. I am very glad that I had the opportunity to discover this book though.

Broken-Down House is about applying the Christian worldview on a “street level”; in one-on-one relationships and situations. In other words, Mr. Tripp (who is both a licensed Counselor and Pastor) encourages us to see the world and its inhabitants as they really are, using the analogy of a Broken-Down House. Just as houses can fall into disrepair and need extensive remodeling, which can be very difficult to live through, likewise this world in which we reside is broken by sin and is presently being restored by God, its owner. Living through the remodel though, is not too much fun.

What does this mean for us? It means first that we must be aware of our own need to have our brokenness healed by the grace of God. It means that we need to put our hope and confidence not on other broken people, but in the God and Savior whose transforming grace has the power to restore us, our families, and this whole world to a state of joy on this earth and eventually to a place of everlasting bliss with Him.

In fact, I don't know that I've ever read anything better on the nature and power of grace. Here is a taste of what Mr. Tripp has to say about it:

“So grace is a story and grace is a gift. It is God's character and it is your hope. Grace is a transforming tool and a state of relationship. Grace is a theology and an invitation. Grace is an experience and a calling. Grace will turn our life upside down while giving you a rest you have never known. Grace will onvenience you of your unworthiness without ever making you feel unloved.

Grace will make you acknowledge that you cannot earn God's favor, and it will remove your fear of not measuring up to His standards. Grace will confront you with the fact that you are much less than you thought you were, even as it assures you that you can be far more than you had ever imagined. Grace will put you in your place without ever putting you down.”

A strong emphasis in the book is that, once we have come to grasp our own nature and the state of the world we're in, the next step is to move forward ready to minister. And the ministry pictured is not a limited one, but a life-wide ministry that encompasses every relationship and every vocation we will ever be engaged in. The whole world is in need of repair, and if we have Christ then we have exactly what this world needs if it is to be salvaged.

I would recommend this book to Christians of 20+ years, who are perhaps a little bit road-weary with life and need to be re-energized with a vision for how they can move forward. Not that anyone couldn't benefit from the book, but I think people in that situation would find it most helpful.

Just Do Something

Reading is sort of been a family affair for as long as I can remember. My parents were great readers and encouraged my brother and I to read heartily and extensively as well. Despite the oddness of it, when I grew up and was making "The List" of qualifications I hoped to find in a husband - I wrote down that he needed to be a reader. (Thankfully for Jonathan - he was! haha!)

At any rate, reading is still something that my whole family (both sides now!) have in common. We love to swap and share and so I've asked my brother to write some posts from time to time. He recently read Just Do Something and launched into a discussion of it with me which I (somewhat successfully/somewhat unsuccessfully) avoided by asking him to review it for me! (Some might say that's a mean older sister trick. But actually I get more out of reading about books than I do in talking about them . . . strange as that may sound!) At any rate, here's a review by my favorite brother, Christopher.

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In Just Do SomethingA Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will, author and pastor Kevin DeYoung has given the Body of Christ a useful guide to understanding what God expects of us, and what we should expect of ourselves, as we seek to make life decisions. I personally was very blessed and refreshed as I read the book. In fact, at this point my wife has now read the book, my Mom has read it, we have quoted from it extensively to our friends on various occasions, and we are purchasing additional copies of it to give away to folks as we have opportunity.

It is clear that the author is writing with a Pastor’s heart. There is no heavy-handedness here; no pushy theology, simply the encouragement and prodings of shepherd who has seen too many sheep sitting idly in green pastures, distracted by a haze of spirituality and not seeing the lush provision they’re right in the middle of. Filled with clear reasoning, practical examples, and sound exegesis, Just Do Something encourages you exactly as the title suggests, to get out there and walk in God’s will instead of waiting around for it to walk up and smack you in the face.

I do have to warn you that Pastor DeYoung does have a sense of humor, and good dose of sarcasm to boot. You’re not going to walk away from this book with the warm fuzzies. Let me give you one of my favorite quotes as an example:

“I’ll never forget my poor beleaguered roommate talking with me after he took a risk and told a nice young lady that he liked her. They went on a long walk. He was pretty sure that she would reciprocate his declaration of affection. But it turned out she wasn’t interested. She was a sweet girl, a good Christian. She didn’t mean to have bad theology. But instead of just saying “I’m not interested” or “I don’t like you” or “Quit stalking me” or something, she went all spiritual on him. “I’ve been praying a lot about you,” she demurred, “and the Holy Spirit told me no.” “No?” my confused roommate asked. “No… never,” she replied.

Poor guy – he got rejected, not only by this sweet girl, but by the Holy Spirit. The Third Person of the Trinity took a break from pointing people to Jesus to tell this girl not to date my roommate…

Whether it’s the Holy Spirit saying “No, never” or Jesus apparently wanting some guy to “date” a myriad of girls at every campus, God’s will is frequently employed as an excuse for difficult relationship decisions.”

You get the idea. Just Do Something is a call for Christians to take responsibility, and to seek God’s will for their lives with the right motives and the right expectations. I would recommend it for all Christians, but especially for those who are facing a major life decision and are wondering where God will lead them. If you choose to read this book, I pray that God will bless it to your encouragement and joy.

*****

Carrie here again. In answer to the question(s): No, I haven't read this book yet and yes, Christopher has successfully piqued my interest in it enough to make me wish I already had. (But that's partly because I hate it when my brother beats me to reading a really good book.) Yes, our sibling rivalry is teeeerrrible to behold!!!