The Shepherd Leader at Home, by Timothy Witmer

Jonathan here -- Carrie's husband -- reviewing a book written for, well, husbands. I recognize husbands make up a severe minority in readership of this blog, so the rest of y'all will just have to bear with me.

The Shepherd Leader at Home: Knowing, Leading, Protecting, and Providing for Your Familyis a new title by Timothy Witmer, published by Crossway, which I was especially curious to read after seeing its endorsements by J. Ligon Duncan, J. I. Packer, Sinclair Ferguson, and other theologians I have respect for. The last few years have seen more than a few books on marriage and family come off the presses, and I was interested to see what particular insights this one held. (Note the uncanny resemblance of this book's title to Family Shepherds by Voddie Baucham Jr., another review I posted recently. Linked to my thoughts.)

This title is a follow-up to Witmer's earlier book directed at elders and pastors, The Shepherd Leader: Achieving Effective Shepherding in Your Church, which I've heard good things about but not read personally. Both titles approach the subject of Christ in the role of shepherd, emphasizing lessons that we, as leaders in the home or the church, can apply to our own conduct and relationships.

Witmer divides the book into four sections, highlighting the responsibilities of a good "shepherd":

• The Shepherd Knows His Family. This emphasizes the generous way Jesus spent his time in the presence of his disciples and others, building close, trusting relationships. Obviously, this was necessary for the disciples as they learned to be imitators of Christ. In addition to sacrificing his time spent with them, Jesus also frequently turned the conversation to issues of spiritual significance, rather than just maintaining surface-level friendships. This is a quality that we husbands can, and should, develop in relationships within our own families.
  
  Witmer turns immediately to his (lengthy) practical advice on the subject, mostly comprised of references to his own experiences and a series of tips for effective communication. (This didn't particularly strike a chord with me, but that's probably just me.)
• The Shepherd Leads His Family. This section opens with the example of Joshua's famous line, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Josh 24:15) and Psalm 23's description of God's leadership over us:
  

  He leads be beside still waters.
    He restores my soul.
  He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for His name's sake.

  Witmer does a good job identifying what Christlike leadership should look like (compared to the "Clean up your room!" commands of a drill sergeant, and the equally ineffective desperate pleas of a father who's lost any semblance of influence over his family).
• The Shepherd Provides For His Family. In this (the shortest section, at about 20 pages) we are exhorted to give our families a balance of "material provision" and "spiritual provision". Many temptations seek to turn our attention as fathers solely to one of these types of provision, at the expense of the other. Both are necessary for the well-being of a family.
• The Shepherd Protects His Family. In this, Witmer considers the issues confronting our families in the context of today's culture that rages against God in almost every way, and seeks to identify what steps we can take to protect our marriage and children from being led astray. This area of responsibility is one that has seen much neglect in the Christian church, and the book gives a clarion call to fathers to show love by exercising protection over their families, publicly and privately.

The Shepherd Leader at Home is a quick read, at about 150 pages, and it's more down-to-earth and conversational in style than an academic treatment of the role of fathers like what you might find in more theological literature.

Still, I found it to have some helpful reminders, and will probably come back and re-read it occasionally as my own family dynamics change over time.

Thanks, Crossway Books, for sending a copy to me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

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.

With Calvin in the Theater of God

**Review by Jonathan**

John Calvin. Although I was raised in a Christian home, attending various churches growing up, I was almost completely unfamiliar with his work and role in the Protestant Reformation. I always perceived Luther as the figurehead of the Reformation, dueling heroically against the Roman Catholic traditions, and any other players fell by the wayside.

But, having recently been working my way through Reformed theology, my attention was caught by this book, and I bargained with Carrie to read it first. ("OK, fine, but you'll have to review it...") So, without further ado, I bring you "With Calvin in the Theater of God: The Glory of Christ and Everyday Life".

Calvinism these days comes up more often as a heady platform for theological debate, than as a nuts-and-bolts basis for the way we live our lives and handle our relationships. It's easy to be dismissive of theology and relegate it to the "ivory tower" of academic philosophy. As long as our pastor can boil it down into something relevant for us on Sunday morning, right?! Hm. If only it were that easy.

This book does an excellent job of combating this divorce of theology from lifestyle, by reviewing how significantly John Calvin's theology was interwoven with his daily life and circumstances. The book consists of six chapters, each authored by a contemporary Reformed theologian. Their writing of Calvin is only mildly biographical, and primarily focuses on exploring six different facets of his theology, illustrating them with his personal life for added context. (Some aspects of Calvinism, such a predestination, can be "hot topics" of debate between Christians, but the essays in this book don't engage in heavy argument along these lines.)

1. At Work & Worship: Calvin the Man & Why I Care by Julius Kim. This reviews the early life and conversion of Calvin, followed by his seminal writing of the Institutes of the Christian Religion, one of the earliest Reformed systematic theologies. His teaching on "Sola Scriptura" (scripture alone) and "Soli Deo Gloria" (the glory of God alone) emphasize how God is powerful, personal, and purposeful. Kim describes all this against the backdrop of Calvin's personal life, which was often plagued by ill health and difficult circumstances.


2. Bad Actors on a Broken Stage: Sin & Suffering in Calvin's World and Ours by Mark Talbot. Throughout history, Christians have struggled with the natural tension of believing in an omnipotent, holy God, and at the same time observing the corruption of sin that has turned our world into such a train wreck. Talbot does a great job of assembling Calvin's writings on the sovereignty of God and summarizing them in a succinct way. One thought-provoking example from Calvin's Institutes:

   "Whence, I ask you, comes the stench of a corpse, which is both putrefied and laid open by the heat of the sun? All human beings see that it is stirred up by the sun’s rays, yet no one for this reason says that the rays stink. Thus, since the matter and guilt and evil repose in a wicked man, what reason is there to think that God contracts any defilement if He uses his service for His own purpose?"

3. The Sacred Script in the Theater of God: Calvin, the Bible, & the Western World by Douglas Wilson. This chapter explores and dissects Calvin's extraordinarily high view of preaching, and the power expressed through declaring the Word of God. Wilson's writing style is quite readable (he can turn a phrase quite neatly), and he does a good job of contrasting Calvin's views with how the authority of scripture is often misrepresented by the navel-gazing of modern evangelicalism. Calvin writes,

   "Let the pastors boldly dare all things by the word of God. . . . Let them constrain all the power, glory, and excellence of the world to give place to and to obey the divine majesty of this word. Let them enjoin everyone by it, from the highest to the lowest. Let them edify the body of Christ. Let them devastate Satan's reign. Let them pasture the sheep, kill the wolves, instruct and exhort the rebellious. Let them bind and loose thunder and lightning, if necessary, but let them do all according to the word of God."



4. The Secular Script in the Theater of God: Calvin on the Christian Meaning of Public Life by Marvin Olasky. Calvin was vocal and influential in describing the way our Christianity should influence our conduct toward the secular world of business, finances, relationships, law, and politics. Calvin's thoughts on these topics are more relevant than you might expect, given that we're separated from him by five centuries of progress world development.


5. Living With One Foot Raised: Calvin on the Glory of the Final Resurrection & Heaven by Sam Storms. As Christians living amongst the chaos of today's society, reflection on Heaven and the afterlife tend to be more of an afterthought. Calvin's treatment of this subject is that,
   

   The lusts of the flesh hold us entangled, when in our minds we dwell in the world, and think not that heaven is our country; but when we pass as strangers through this life, we are not in bondage to the flesh.
   
   If meditation on the heavenly life were the prevailing sentiment in our hearts, the world would have no influence in detaining us.

6. Jesus Christ as Dénouement in the Theater of God: Calvin & the Supremacy of Christ in All Things by John Piper. Calvin's theology places Christ squarely at the climax of history, around which all created things, past, present, and future, revolve. Piper describes the significance of this to our faith and life.

In summary, this book is a very approachable "birds-eye view" (from six different birds) of Calvinism, presented in a more relational, biographical way than theology is typically rehearsed. I found it to make for a good read (and short, at less than 175 pages), although the informational writing style leaves the step of personal application to the reader.

Note: The first half of the book can be read online at Google Books.

Thanks to Crossway Books for sending a copy for us to read.

Living in God's Two Kingdoms by David VanDrunen

**Review by Jonathan**

Occasionally I'll browse through Carrie's stash of un-reviewed new book releases, looking for a title that piques my interest. (There's a certain pride in discovering a good new book before she gets around to reading it!)

This particular title, Living in God's Two Kingdoms, by David VanDrunen, was put out recently by Crossway, and after I spent a few weeks reading and digesting it, Carrie suggested that I share my thoughts with y'all.

This book struck at a particularly relevant time for me, as I've been trying to pay more attention to politics and the effects of the recent elections, and at the same time trying to work out an appropriate, scripturally-based attitude for myself toward politics and that aspect of cultural involvement.

For those who are unfamiliar (as I was) with the "Two-Kingdom" theology described in the title of this book, it refers to:

1. The "common kingdom" being the fallen world in which we live and operate from day to day, involving our vocation, culture, politics, music, marriage, education, children, hobbies, sports, etc.
   
   This was formalized by God's covenant with Noah (Gen. 8-9) in which God promised to sustain the natural world, the animal kingdom, and human activities (procreation, justice, etc.)


2. The "redemptive kingdom" being the spiritual, heavenly bond first established by God through his covenant with Abraham (Gen. 15-17), in which eternal salvation by faith is granted to a particular group of people. In the New Testament, this salvation is extended to Jews and Gentiles alike through Christ's atonement.
   
   The redemptive kingdom will one day culminate in the "new heaven and new earth" described in Rev. 21; but, for now, we as Christians are called to live, as it were, with one foot in each kingdom.

Christians are referred to in the New Testament as "exiles", or "sojourners", and we know that this current world is not our final home. Similarly, God sustained the Israelites when they were awaiting the Promised Land, and did so again during their captivity in Babylon. Thus, "living in two kingdoms" is nothing new for God's people, and as a result VanDrunen captures quite a few unexpected insights from the Old Testament that are very applicable to our lives today.

In the common kingdom, we work hard at our jobs, enjoy our pastimes, take care of the physical needs of our families, submit to our rulers, etc. This aspect of our lives may not appear to be very different from the way some unbelievers conduct themselves. As Christians, should we be worried about this? Should we demand that the way we live our regular lives as Christians always appear different than our non-Christian counterparts?

VanDrunen, argues, "No." We shouldn't be using the yardstick of the common kingdom to measure the depth and maturity of our faith as Christians. (Compare this to the Catholic tradition of associating self-denial, and a host of other behaviors, with piety.) For example, a Christian plumber, other than perhaps the "ichthus" sticker on his car, will probably approach his daily tasks just as an unbelieving plumber might. And the world will hold them both to the same expectations — to deal fairly in business, and to keep the pipes from leaking.

But, when it comes to the redemptive kingdom, everything changes. God has given Christians and the church a unique set of responsibilities and privileges! Many passages of scripture are written and intended specifically for God's chosen people. (For example, rather than the Ten Commandments or the Sermon on the Mount being set forth as a general moral law for all mankind, they represent the ways God expected His people to be "set apart" from the rest of the world in their behavior and conduct.)

As another example, VanDrunen points out how verses like Jer. 29:11 are often incorrectly applied to the common kingdom, and are used by Christians as a general encouragement toward better health, finances, relationships, etc.: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." When actually, in the original context, this verse specifically represents a promise by God for the salvation of the His people. (Which truly should be of far greater importance to us!)

VanDrunen walks through many scriptures, viewing them through this "two-kingdom" lens to bring a sense of context that is refreshingly clear in describing how we, as Christians, should relate to God, to each other, and to the world around us. I've already noticed how this has shaped my thinking in every-day situations, and it has definitely changed the way that I read and understand God's word.

This book will definitely force you to think. (Not always a bad thing!) It definitely does require some attention to fully read and absorb (at least, it did for me, but I was not very familiar with many of these subjects.) However, it's written in an approachable style that is rarely dry or academic, and, weighing in at about 200 pages long, its length is manageable. I, for one, am glad to have read it.

Why Johnny Can't Sing Hymns, by T. David Gordon

Guest post by Jonathan

I'm here today with some thoughts on the book Why Johnny Can't Sing Hymns: How Pop Culture Rewrote the Hymnal, by T. David Gordon. As you probably know, occasionally Carrie will receive complimentary copies of new releases by some publishing houses, and I saw this one arrive and snatched it up!

This particular subject is near and dear to my heart, having originally been trained as a classical pianist, and then participating on church worship teams over the last 10+ years. Churches we have been involved in have run the gamut of worship styles, from Sunday-morning services matching Christian radio's countdown of hits, to environments where "How Great Thou Art" would be considered contemporary worship music.

Of course, just like everybody else, there are particular styles of music that I feel most comfortable and "at home" with. If you pop open the CD player in my car, you'll recognize at a glance the music I enjoy the most. And, yes, Carrie and I have quite different tastes in this area! But that's just fine with me, and you're welcome to your own musical styles also. I am A-OK with diversity when it comes to music preferences.

That was always the philosophy that I approached corporate worship with, as well. Particular churches found their musical identity in one form or another for Sunday morning services, and that was fine with me -- after all, who am I to judge? And, more specifically, who is T. David Gordon to judge?! So, I was eager to read through this book. (A process which still took me about 100x as much time as Carrie seems to be able to read books in, but whatever! It's not like a competition or anything. Right, honey?)

So, having just finished it up, I have a ton of thoughts flying through my mind that I will try to articulate. First of all, from the perspective of being a well-written, thought-provoking, scripturally-based treatise on music and worship in the church, this book is an ace in the hole. But what's more important than the presentation in my mind are specifically the arguments made.

Let's start out with some fundamentals. Why do we, as a congregation of believers on any given Sunday morning, express worship in the form of music, at all? Well, because it is a God-ordained method of doing so, solidly endorsed throughout scripture. (Start with the book of Psalms and work your way in either direction.) We can certainly express worship individually through a variety of art forms, but singing has the distinction of being a corporate activity, with participation by young and old.

So, then, what is our goal in singing songs of worship corporately? Based on the examples of scripture, to declare God's glory, righteousness, mercy, and grace. Any other motivation should absolutely be swept off the table. This is where it gets uncomfortable. There is absolutely no scriptural basis for worship songs which are written to:

• Make us feel good
• Draw unbelievers to Christ
• Adopt popular styles to minimize "uncomfortable" differences between the church's culture and the world's culture

Where does this leave us? Quite simply, we don't get to decide what makes a particular song more or less suitable for corporate worship based on our personal musical preferences; we have to evaluate the song based on how effectively it serves the purpose of ascribing glory to God.

Incredible attention to detail was given by the hymn selection committees of earlier years, who chose which songs to include (or exclude) when compiling hymnals. At least half a dozen criteria were used to determine if each hymn was suitable for corporate worship, considering the music and lyrics in great detail. But, in an amazing number of churches today, that type of thoughtful process has been thrown out the window and replaced by the simple requirement, "Does its musical style match what our church likes to play and listen to?"

The author does not claim that 100% of all contemporary worship music should be discarded without a second glance. He (and I) agree that there are some recent worship choruses to be found which have every quality necessary for corporate worship. However, he does argue that these specimens are few and far between, and that we, as thinking Christians, should be using our brains to evaluate a little more carefully the music we're using to worship God.

One example that comes to my mind is a song by Mark Schultz which seems to be stuck on "repeat" on most Christian radio stations lately. Here are some of its lyrics, which, by the way, score a 100% on the "tuneful chorus which will get stuck in your head" meter:

Every knee shall bow,
Every tongue confess,
That God is love
And love has come for us all

What an incredible distortion of the gospel! This kind of phrasing, while you might be able to argue could be interpreted in a way which technically resembles the truth, is rife with ambiguity. Following the "Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess" phrase (which absolutely comes from scripture, but in a totally different context) we run into statements which sound like to the average Joe like God loves him and is coming for him regardless of any particular faith or action on his part. How comforting! Not. Universalism deserves no more place in Christianity now than ever, and this kind of drivel should be never be allowed into our radio stations or churches.

Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes, getting off the soapbox now.

So, as I was saying, the primary emphasis of this book is to make you think about the way you use music to express worship. I believe that we should all, as Christians, be doing more of this. T. David Gordon has done quite a lot of research and presents some interesting facts and arguments. (And, along the way, debunks the myth that Martin Luther set hymn lyrics to bar tunes.) If this topic sparks your interest in any way, check out his book. If it doesn't... well, maybe my next post will be sharing a casserole recipe. Right.

Every Man & Woman's Marriage

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, Jonathan and I read the companion titles, Every Man's Marriage and Every Woman's Marriage.

Since this pair of books is obviously set up to be read independently by the husband and wife, Jonathan and I did that, and are sharing our thoughts as a team on the respective titles.

Carrie's thoughts on Every Woman's Marriage:

This is a great book for just the female partners in the marriage to focus on. I opened the first few pages to find Shannon Ethridge to be a woman very much like myself in temperament and personality. It was easy for me to read her and take in the advice (which I identified with a great deal!) I felt convicted and challenged as a wife - in a good way! My favorite quote is probably the following:

"God designed the institution of marriage not just as a means to our happiness but as the very foundation of society. Marriage isn't a temporary agreement made for our convenience or selfish intentions. It is a lifelong, blood-sweat-and-tears, come hell-or-high-water commitment. When we marry, we pledge our entire lives to our spouses, "for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death."

Marriage is a sacred relationship that we should prize above all others and that we should hold on to for dear life. It's in this precious, sacred relationship that we can practice becoming more holy, exercising our spiritual muscles to become more like Christ." (Chapter 4, page 47-48)

I think one of the hardest things for me to realize, the further in we get into our marriage, is that the world really seems wants to pull us apart. I wouldn't say that I entered into this "blessed state" (which, for the record, it is!) with blinders on. I didn't expect it to be easy. I just didn't expect it to be torn at by outside forces as much as it has been. That's a hard road to walk and it takes fight and effort to keep going with it and to take care to protect it. When Ethridge says that marriage is something that you hang on to "for dear life" - she wasn't kidding! The encouragement that this book offered was welcome along with the conviction - to keep pressing on and honoring my relationship with Jonathan above all others.

Jonathan's thoughts on Every Man's Marriage:

First of all, I want to describe the general tone of this book. From what I've seen, books on marriage fall into two camps:

• Books which focus on expositing scriptures related to the marriage relationship, and to bring conviction by revealing the sin and selfishness so frequently found in ourselves when compared to the light of Christ and the perfect analogy of his role as bridegroom to the church. (What Did You Expect??, by Paul Tripp, does a fantastic job of this.)
• Books which focus on helping married couples overcome the hurdles in their communication styles, so that they can understand each other better and operate more effectively as a team. These issues are still often addressed from a Christian perspective, and a great example is The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman.

Every Man's Marriage is a blend of the two styles, and covers a very broad range of subjects by multiple authors as you progress through the book. The positive side of this is that the broad focus is likely to hit on a great number of issues that are relevant to your marriage. But, on the other hand, it doesn't go into extreme depth for any given subject, and it reads like a general Christian handbook to marriage concepts, pitfalls, and encouragement.

Personally, I've always had a penchant for reading marriage books... I recall reading them even before I was married or was in any kind of relationship. In retrospect, that really wasn't particularly useful! A bit like reading a tour guide to a foreign country you don't have any plans to visit.

My personal challenge now is that I enjoy reading books like this, nodding sagely at their advice, wincing a bit when they hit too close to home, and feeling silently smug when the authors share self-deprecating anecdotes from their own marriages where I feel like I could honestly say, "Well, even I wouldn't make that mistake!"

But, by applying that kind of attitude when reading books like this, and then moving on and living my life, there is really no benefit to be gained, and I may have just as well spent the time reading a good novel instead. Because, truly, purely academic knowledge in the area of relationships is not much use at all.

For example, a year ago I subscribed to This Old House with every intention of becoming inspired into lots of grand projects about our house and yard. Today I just received the last of my 12 issues in the mail. Each month I enjoy paging through them and seeing different ideas, construction projects, and what appears to be an inexhaustible variety of ways to use power tools! Now, a year later, I'm a lot smarter for it, and I can toss out complicated-sounding terms like "mortise and tenon" with wild abandon.

But, how many homeowner projects has this actually prompted me to take shovel in hand and go after? A big fat zero. Because, even though the glossy magazine photos of promised outcomes look fantastic, I know that there's a big difference between sitting in an armchair reading a magazine, and roto-tilling ground and pulling weeds under the hot sun! Our land will probably have to survive with the bare minimum of attention for a good long while. (Retirement, maybe?!) I don't think I'll renew my subscription.

It's tempting to apply a similar attitude to our marriages, and just stay on "survival mode", where we do the equivalent of keeping the grass cut before it gets knee-high and, well, if the drywall gets banged up somehow, just hang something colorful over it!

But, the rewards of maintaining and building your marriage are more far-reaching than any construction project ever could be, and the effort that we invest in making changes in our own attitudes and actions are repaid a thousand-fold. (Even though they probably won't be written about much in popular magazines!)

Every Man's Marriage is well-written and does an accurate job of describing many things about relationships. It's solid, scripturally based, and contains on-target guidance. (And I'll say the same for Every Woman's Marriage, having quickly paged through it out of, well, "curiosity," heh heh.)

But, let's not just read these books for educational purposes; it's better to take a few sentences and begin applying them consistently in our lives, than to read entire books and stuff them into the back of our "mental knowledge" where they may never see the light of application.

When the going is rough, we are forced to look to the cross for our strength and motivation to continue. “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for each other.” (1 John 3:16) The rewards of this are reaped in more than just the lifetime of marriage ahead of you; they are to be enjoyed for eternity!

Some good news for all of you. The publisher - WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group - has offered to give away a set of these books to one of you! Would you like to win these marriage resource books? Getting married soon? Been married and realize it's a struggle sometimes to keep plugging along? Simply leave a comment below. This contest is open for U.S. Residents only and will be open through Wednesday, the 19th.

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED

Religion Saves (plus 9 other misconceptions) by Mark Driscoll

Today's post includes comments from a regular contributor to the blog... although his "contributions" are usually in the HTML code! Basically this: Jonathan beat me to reading this book and the penalty for that is helping writing up a review!)

While Jonathan read the entire book, I (Carrie) only read three chapters of it. So Jonathan wrote up the gist of this and our comments are intermingled throughout and, well, you'll see....

Jonathan: Although Carrie does most of the reading in the family, occasionally I'm drawn to a particular title and am able to devote a few hours to a good book. Such was the case for Religion Saves: And Nine Other Misconceptions by Mark Driscoll. We'd heard of Mark Driscoll before, as the pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, with a particularly bold leadership style that has attracted a large following.

Carrie: I have to say that this book made me nervous because I was confusing Driscoll's Mars Hill Church with Rob Bell's Mars Hill Church. They are not affiliated with one another. Bell is part of the emergent church movement. Mark Driscoll stands opposed to it. Once I understood that fact, reading this book was not a problem.

Jonathan: The fundamental concept behind this book caught my attention immediately. Driscoll set out to discover the most controversial questions facing the current generation of Christians, with the intention of writing a book to address those specific issues directly from scripture.

After working through the 343,203 votes cast in his online poll, the following "grab bag" subjects presented themselves, with each receiving a chapter in the book:

• The Regulative Principle (How concretely does scripture dictate the methodology of a church service?)


• The Emerging Church (What aspects of theology and methodology are seeing revision in "emerging" churches?)


• Dating (How does a Christian date righteously?)


• Faith and Works (If salvation is by faith alone, why are there so many confusing verses about works?)


• Sexual Sin (How should Christians pursue breaking free from the bondage of sexual sin?)


• Grace (How does the grace of God and salvation apply to the various stages of our Christian lives?)


• Predestination (Why would God create people he foreknows will suffer eternal condemnation?)


• Humor (What kind of sarcastic jokes are appropriate in addressing sinful behaviors, knowing that we are called to evangelize the lost?)


• Birth Control (What kind of direction does the Bible give that can be applied to a policy around birth control?)

Picking up the book, I opened it immediately to the chapters I was most interested in. (Don't worry, Carrie, "Dating" was not one of them!) I think that's the way this book is intended to be used -- jump to whatever subject most applies to your life and thoughts at any given time, don't try to digest it from start to finish reading in one large chunk.

Carrie: I read three of the chapters in this book. First, I read the chapter surrounding questions involving the concept of the Emerging Church. I appreciated the way that Driscoll laid out his explanations for the various church movements, pointing out the differences between the reformed vs. liberals. I thought he did a really good job laying out the perspectives and it helped me make sense of things and understand who some of the key players are and where they are coming from.

Secondly, I read the chapter on Birth Control (and was offended by about half of its content because I thought it was more explicit than it had need to be) and lastly I read the chapter on Biblical Humor and really can't say that I think much of Driscoll's method of communication. Basically - he thinks he's funny and I don't. He likes to reference Doug Wilson. A lot. But I walked away feeling like he was using Wilson as an excuse to attempt his variety of humor, and it wasn't backed up by anything really solid in the scripture department, and therefore I was less than impressed.


Jonathan: In my reading of this book, I found that, in general, my theology agrees solidly with Driscoll's arguments. His theology is practical and down-to-earth reformed doctrine, without much sugar-coating. His writing style is conversational, yet at the same time very studied, like listening to an engaging lecture series by a seminar professor on "Apply Christian Doctrine To Our Lives And Culture".

Carrie: I agree with Jonathan in saying that my theology tends to agree with Driscoll's. He just communicates in such a way that really grates on my nerves and makes it hard(er) for me to admit to the fact. As Jonathan said, his writing style is conversational which also makes it controversial. That said, I'm willing to extend some grace here because I really like Doug Wilson and, having sat under his teaching for almost a year when I lived in Idaho, I can "hear" him talking in his writing. I have seen how Wilson can be misquoted and misunderstood, because the way that he communicates is risky. However, "knowing" him helps. I don't know Driscoll which makes reading him somewhat problematic. I've never heard him speak. And so I read what he has written here and I have to grit my teeth and try to catch the gist of the message and assume his attitude. When the smoke stops pouring out of my ears long enough, and I go back and re-read paragraphs, I find that I typically agree with him.

Jonathan: Driscoll's responses to each of the questions in this book are pretty thorough, but they stop short of becoming tiresome. They are extremely rooted in scripture (very much appreciated!) and he includes as much foundational doctrine as is necessary to address each issue, without going overboard or off on tangents.

I particularly appreciated the analogies he used to drive certain points home. One that really struck me was related to the issue of, "If God has predestined the eternal condition of people, why does he include us in the process of evangelism?" Driscoll writes,

"We should evangelize the lost because God has chosen to work through our ministry efforts to save people. He does this so that we would share in his joy and get to know the heart of our Father better. Similarly, when I was a little boy, my dad was a union construction worker who hung sheet rock. I still remember the times when I dressed up like my pop, donning overalls, a white T-shirt, steel-toed boots, and a miniature hard hat, and packed up my lunch box and thermos to go to work with my dad. He would give me a few tasks throughout the day, and by working with my dad I got to know him better and spend time in his world. God is a Father like that. He needs people like me to evangelize the world no more than my dad needed a little boy to build an apartment complex, but he takes his kids to work because he loves them and wants to be with them doing what he loves." (p. 97)

His approach of teaching directly to the controversial questions being asked by people is similar to the book of 1 Corinthians, where Paul answers a series of questions posed by people in the Corinthian church.

Carrie: As I said, I could see Driscoll's points after a brief moment (wherein I was screaming into a pillow). Not to sound like a broken record or anything, but Driscoll's arguments for humor, in my opinion, fall short of Biblical justification. He quotes some scripture references and then makes an argument like "Why You Should Read the Bible As You Would a Comic Strip" (ok, ok, ok...I'm paraphrasing. Nastily, I admit.) In fact, the references he listed were so not funny I was bewildered. That said, I really do have a big bone to pick with the Emergent Church and I DID think Driscoll's response to the movement was, um, suitably humorous. For example, in talking about the movement's desire to be humble:

"If you would like to see this pride, just log on to an emergent discussion board online, chat with an emergent pastor, or attend an emergent event and say you are a Calvinist who believes that only men should be pastors and that Jesus died in our place for our sin and that anyone who does not repent of sins like homosexuality and trust in Jesus will spend forever in the conscious eternal torments of hell. I bet you two Left Behind trading cards that you will learn that all the nice talk about not having any theological certainty and being humble about it is about an honest as a politician behind in the polls near election day. After all, one way you can know that people are not humble is when they write a book and say that they alone are humble enough to see their own humility, and when they call you arrogant if you disagree with them." (page 240)

I admit I laughed out loud at that.

Jonathan: Overall, my opinion is that Driscoll did a good job addressing important questions in a broad spectrum of topics. At the same time, the "9 misconceptions" described by the title are not really addressing misconceptions at all, but just applying the truth of scripture to some important areas of life.

Carrie: I do like the premise of Religion Saves and I do like how much it really makes you grapple with your beliefs. I think he laid out his thoughts and his arguments well. I just have a hard time with his communication style, though, and that makes it something of a struggle for me to deal with.

In conclusion - we talked about this book again after we wrote up this review and we both agreed that Driscoll's communication style makes it hard to hear his message at first. Definitely don't plan on reading just one chapter to get a feel for who Driscoll is and expect to think you have him all figured out. He's complex, which, in this case, is a compliment!

For what it's worth - them's our thoughts!

Behind-the-Scenes: Reading to Know

I just wanted to take a moment to thank the biggest team player Reading to Know has and that is my husband, Jonathan.

If you haven't clicked on the Reading to Know main page in awhile, do so. Check out the cool "Quick Picks" widget Jonathan made for me! And it was his idea, not mine! He made it because he's all about (well, me) this site and supports me in what I read and write about here.

Lest you ever wonder about his involvement in Reading to Know, I want to assure you that if he wasn't a part of this, it simply would not be. He plays an active role, even though it is "behind-the-scenes." He sees the books when they come in. He asks me what I think about them. He reads them frequently himself. There are also plenty of times when I ask him to read a post before it goes live. I would never want to say anything that I wasn't positive that he agrees with because we committed from the first day of our marriage to speak as one as much as possible. Life is not about just Jonathan and life is not about just Carrie. I may write the words here and he may do some talking himself, but we're in it all together.

I really appreciate this about our marriage and I wouldn't want to have a blog in any other way. I'm glad that he is a part of this. I'm glad he is interested enough in it to make suggestions, to edit and advise. What a gift!

It remains important to me that whatever is said here upholds the vows we made to each other and for our family unit. It's important to him as well and so he observes and comments and offers his time and creative talents to build a book website that I will really enjoy. What a guy, eh? (And, in turn, you get to enjoy it also. Sometimes. haha.)

Thank you, Jonathan, for caring enough to create widgets. Thank you for caring enough to read rough drafts of posts. Thanks for asking questions and for making me be honest with myself for as long as Reading to Know continues to exist. It's yours as much as mine, we know. But I thank you for letting me stamp my name on it. That, too, is both amazing and freeing.

I love you!

Board Game: Race for the Galaxy

Guest post from "the husband"... on a suitably non-reading subject this time...


Race for the Galaxy (another Rio Grande production) is an unusual game for our us -- it's an interesting hybrid of a traditional family game, and the more complex, card-based strategy games that I've always assumed were just for the "hard core gamer" types.

(Warning: Geek Alert!) Back when I was a teenager, I had a great time with the complicated, long-running strategy games (Risk, Axis & Allies, Civilization, etc.) where things could go on and on. But, my attention span and habits changed considerably when I began having to maintain a Real Life™, and now having an active two-year-old has reduced me to the point where any activity lasting more than 10 minutes is a real uphill climb.

Anyway, Race for the Galaxyincorporates some of the same strategy elements as those more complicated games, but it's pretty attainable, and much more fast-moving in gameplay. It only takes 30 or 40 minutes to get through a round, and it plays well as a 2-player game as well as with more people. (Oftentimes games like this lose a lot of appeal with only two players where things become too predictable.)

If you're up for a bit more complexity and strategy than typical family game fare offers, this is a good choice! Players build up their empires by colonizing planets, developing technologies, producing goods and expanding their military. These yield "victory points" which, at the conclusion of the game, determine the winner. (This can be a surprise sometimes, as the end of the game can reveal an unexpected disparity in points between one player and another!)

I also like the fact that the players are primarily focused on building up their own empires, and not so much in head-to-head competition. Choices that one player makes can directly affect other's gameplay, but the ultimate winner is one who most skillfully manages his own resources and empire, rather than sabotaging or interrupting his competitors.

When I looked around online for more opinions on Race for the Galaxy I discovered many other fans... It's hard to find a negative review! The accessibility and depth of gameplay are very appealing, and I hope to discover more games like this in the future.

30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family, by Rebecca Hagelin

** Reviewed by Jonathan & Carrie

Jonathan's take:

30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family. Because everybody's family needs a little saving every once in a while!

Honestly, it's hard to review books on parenting. (I think this is why Carrie pawned the job off on me this time.) You can't get away with shallow, surface-level commentary, like you can with fiction: "Loved the plot! But not enough semicolons."

It also feels a bit presumptuous for me to give a hard, squinty-eyed look at parenting advice, voicing my opinions as though I'm the expert on the subject. Ha! Well, of course, I have every right to be -- all our kids so far excel academically, are developing a strong faith, respect us as parents, and we genuinely enjoy being together...

But, when he turns 3 years old this fall, all bets are off.

Really, my most lucid thought this week on the subject of parenting was, "Man, potty-training is going to be a lot harder than I expected."

But, anyway, back to my squinty-eyed critique. (I'll wander off-topic like this pretty regularly, because Carrie's been setting hefty word count quotas for my reviews lately. Just kidding! I'm actually just a naturally distracted kind of individual.)

30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family doesn't do much beating around the bush. It's down-to-earth, practical advice on a diverse enough set of topics to be useful to parents at almost any stage of child-rearing.

The biggest theme throughout the book is encouraging us as parents to take responsibility and authority over our homes, and not allowing the influences of today's culture to make decisions for us. And so, love for our children should motivate us to invest the time and attention to make our homes into fruitful environments where kids will thrive.

Easier said than done!

I think the problem we most battle as parents is ourselves. And our own, well, laziness. It's so easy compromise our parenting style by giving a higher priority to other projects or work, and not putting the attention into parenting that we need to. Because, truly, it's a thankless task. (At least, for the first 20 years!)

So, what we need is daily encouragement and motivation. Which this book provides, in spades. Although I was a bit skeptical with the way it's broken into individual sections to take you through "30 Days", I actually appreciate it now. Rather than digest it in a couple sittings and put it back on the shelf, treat it as more than just "information" -- our role of parents is of paramount importance, and we need that to be reinforced early and often.

This is the role we signed up for, as parents. And we all consciously recognize the importance of it, but the author does an eloquent job of putting that into words in a practical -- and often humorous -- way. It's not heavy reading, but it is important reading. (Although, I was disappointed by the lack of attention given to the subject of potty-training...)

I'm not familiar with Rebecca Hagelin's earlier book on child-rearing in today's culture, but after reading this, I may be following up on it!

******

Carrie's take:

Jonathan beat me to the book this time and he read it first. He gave it a positive review so I picked it up and quickly devoured it. (Neither of us like to spread our reading out over a period of 30 days so we both read it in "one" sitting.)

The thing I appreciated about this book the most is Hagelin's unapologetic approach to parenting. She claims the God-given right to parent and guide her own children and encourages other parents to do the same. Regardless of whether you are at the doctor's office, in a parent-teacher conference with your child's teacher or wherever - YOU bear the responsibility of raising your own children and passing along your values to them. In a day and age where everyone is clamoring to raise your children for you, I found this book refreshing.

Hagelin does offer practical advice at how you can be involved in your children's lives. I most appreciated the description of how they built their home so that their children's friends felt welcome to be among them. By creating an atmosphere of love and fun, the Hagelins have a better idea of who their children are hanging out with and spending time with. She motivated me to build a home that is attractive not only to our own children, but to others also.

This was indeed a great book and I'd heartily recommend it to any parent or soon-to-be parent. It's a much needed kick in the pants.

Heaven Misplaced, by Douglas Wilson

from Jonathan

Having read plenty of works by Doug Wilson, I was expecting a fairly in-depth, academic study of eschatology (the "end times" debate) in Heaven Misplaced. I was surprised to discover his writing style in this book to be much more light-hearted and whimsical than usual! At less than 150 pages, it's not very intimidating.

Eschatology can be such a hotly debated subject, with lots of controversy around the interpretation of scripture, that I found his attitude refreshing. Rather than feeling like I was being dragged down the path, argument by argument, to an inevitably ponderous conclusion, it was like being invited to skip along hand-in-hand and see how incredibly simple the answers can be to some of the most frustrating passages of scripture:

"Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour." (1st John 2:18)

"Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!" (James 5:8-9)

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." (Matthew 24:29-31)

And then, a few verses later:

"Assuredly I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place." (Matthew 24:34)

Ouch!! I'm used to cringing inwardly when I come across verses like these, thinking, "So, here we are, two thousand years later, with our iPods and air travel and Internet, still trying to guess when 'the last hour' will actually be..." and assuming that it would require a seminary degree and a lot of carefully-worded excuses to convince anybody that these statements haven't been deeply compromised by now.

Wilson actually does answer all of the hard questions posed by scriptures like these. Actually, he explains them so simply that they cease to be questions at all, and I'm left scratching my head and wondering why, exactly, the evangelical church is so perennially confused on these topics.

Heaven Misplaced takes a fairly meandering path through a variety of Old Testament and New Testament prophecies and promises, showing how they fit together and actually match up with historical events. And, actually, they do! The conversational writing style usually works well in communicating these points, although occasionally it wanders into rabbit-trails that can be interesting, but requires some effort to relate everything together and maintain a sense of context.

Throughout the book, Wilson does not "take sides" with any particular camp of established eschatology, or argue his points using a very theological vocabulary. The writing is plain-spoken and unassuming. (Although, in the glossary at the end, he admits that the position he argues is that of preteristic postmillenialism.)

You can read the introduction and the first chapter to get a feeling for the book. If these are questions that you find yourself coming up against sometimes, I recommend spending some time with this book!

Game Review: Bohnanza

from Jonathan

The first thing you need to know here is that "Bohn" is actually the German word for "Bean", so the title is intended to have a useful and slightly pun-like meaning — which is completely lost in the English translation. (I expect they could sell easily twice as many units with a better American game title... but that's rather beside the point of this review!)

Bohnanza is made up of simply a large deck of about 150 cards. They're sturdy enough to hold up to a lot of play, but it's worth noting that the price is fairly steep for a card game.

However... what makes this card game completely different from every other one I've played is that the players cannot rearrange the cards in their hands, and must play them in the same order they have received them. This would make the game flat and boring, if it were not for another rule: the only way to get rid of the cards you don't want to play is to trade them with the other players! The fun and hectic trades, as well as the frustrating impossiblity to rearrange your cards, make for a really fun and fast paced game.

Play is based around planting and harvesting bean crops, which is a bit of a corny theme, but holds together pretty well. Each player starts out with two bean fields, and can purchase a third after they've accumulated the cash to be able to. In the meantime, each field can support only a single type of bean crop, so it's very motivating to trade your cards with other players like crazy to accumulate a large quantity of the crop you're most interested in raising.

This game is very easy to learn quickly, and is definitely a "party game" where five or more people make a good group to play with. (With few players, the trading aspect of the game is severely limited.) The rules are simple enough, but at the same time it's definitely a game where good strategic decisions are heavily rewarded. It's rare to find a strategy game that moves this rapidly! Bohnanza will be making a regular appearance at our house when we have company.

****

Note from Carrie: As the completely ANTI-game/non-gamer in the family - I have to say that I really enjoyed this game. It prompts people interaction. I like games that you can converse over and still have a good time. This is one such game. I still lost at it (I always lose when I play games, which might be why I don't really care to play them!) but I really enjoyed it. This game ranks on my "Happy to Play Again (and Again)" list! And I don't say that often.

Game Review: Buzzword!

post by Jonathan

We've been in a gaming mood more often these days! Part of it has to do with the fact that our 2-year-old is just beginning to be able to appreciate board games... although, as of yet, any actual method and order of gameplay continues to elude him.

Candyland currently poses a challenge to him, similar to what I might face trying to compete at, say, Trivial Pursuit: Country Music Edition. But we're learning! (Well, at least he is. I don't ever expect to get anywhere when it comes to country music.) In the meantime, his joyful cries of "Take turns! Take turns!" usually just mean that all the pieces are going to end up on the floor unless there is immediate intervention...

But, our game for the day is for a rather more mature audience -- that is, about third grade and up! Buzzword is a great party game, right along the lines of Taboo, but with even more group action.

Players divide into two teams and take turns reading clues for their teammates to guess words. Each round consists of a "Buzzword", which is a word fragment like "hand", and a set of ten clues and answers, where each answer includes the word "hand" in it. For example:

• The telephone receiver (handset)


• Balancing on your palms, with your feet in the air (handstand)


• Food and clothing for the needy (handout)


• Living only on the bare essentials (hand-to-mouth)


• Penmanship (handwriting)

...

You get the idea. Some of them are pretty quick and easy -- others, not so much! And any clues in the round that the reader can't get his teammates to guess, are made available to the opposing team to score their own points from.

As with most games like this, the more players, the better. (Although it could be played with 4 people, it would definitely not have quite the collaborative team spirit.) Half a dozen players is a good starting point, and you could go all the way to 10 or 12 with no trouble.

To sum up -- if you like fast-paced group games of the intellectual sort, Buzzword would be a popular choice! Five stars from our household. (Except for the little guy, who's now playing cowboys and indians with Lord Licorice and King Kandy...)

April 1st

This was Jonathan's favorite April Fool's Joke of the day.



Here is the original source, if you are wandering.

Then there's the non-joke of the day which really sounds like a joke (to me). Despite my utter lack of interest in doing the "Twitter Thing" and despite my fighting against adding the "Followers" application to my personal site here -- I've succumbed to both. I think it's fitting that I added the Followers application ON April 1st. Joke's on me sort of thing. At any rate, some of you have faithfully followed even though I had previously not acknowledged that. Thank you. I now officially tip my hat and bless you. (Your picture can be found on my sidebar.) But now that I HAVE added the Follower application, if some of you were previously hesitant to say anything, well don't be shy! I'll notice you.

Now. If you want to follow me on Twitter - you may. Only I can promise you that the only thing I will ever Twitter is exactly what you see here on this blog so you kinda don't need to. But if you want to because you'd just like to - well you can find me @Readingtoknow. Yes, you can.

I will now attempt to live as if I know nothing of this new technology, crawl back in my bubble, and fondly remember the old Blogger template that didn't let you do anything other than type and post.

Thank you very much and goodnight!

Mirriam-Webster's Word Sweep

Jonathan here again. Carrie's given me permission to review another board game! (And here you've been looking forward to an incisive commentary on Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. That will just have to wait for another time, I guess.)

Word Sweep. Carrie got this for me as a surprise, knowing that word games are usually my strong suit. I just had to promise only to play it with friends and guests, and never to inflict it upon her one-on-one. (She would generally prefer invasive dental surgery to 2-player word games.)

So, when my family (whom I described in my earlier post) was visiting last week, I took the opportunity to spring this on them. Splitting into two teams, each has to take turns trying to guess a series of three consecutive words that can be found in the dictionary. (For example: "Sofa", "Soft", "Softball".) The game comes with three separate sets of cards (easy, medium, and hard) with clues leading to the words, and the teams are limited by a timer that keeps the game moving quickly.

Upon reading through the rules, we didn't have very high hopes -- It sounded pretty boring. But, we gave it a shot, and turned out to be pleasantly surprised! Teamwork is a big aspect of the game; the more players you have participating, the better. The difficulty of the clues and words is also handled very well, and it's easy to assign younger kids the "easy" box of clues to level the playing field if you have different ages playing. (Our teams ranged in age from 13 to fifty-something.)

The gameplay feels a little bit like Taboo, but with a more intellectual twist. (You're guessing words based on the definitions on cards that come with the game, rather than on a teammate's stream-of-consciousness clues.) I would say it falls into the "educational" game category, and the box advertises that many of the words come from SAT test word lists. (This would definitely be one of the more enjoyable ways available for teenagers to do SAT prep!)

If you enjoy word games, this is one of the few that I've felt will hold up to extended family gameplay over the years. (I would put it in the "timeless" category of Scrabble, Balderdash, Boggle, Taboo, and Scattergories.) Everybody has unique tastes when it comes to game styles, but this is one that we definitely enjoyed!

Riven, by Jerry B. Jenkins

I'm "helping" Carrie with the blogging again this week, this time reviewing the mainstream Christian novel Riven, by Jerry B. Jenkins. Some friends of ours loved this book and loaned us their copy, which I spent a few days with.

The author, who's written twenty other bestselling Christian fiction titles, describes this work as "the novel I've always wanted to write and is unlike anything I've ever written". I was intrigued by that, and, having now read the book, agree wholeheartedly. This is one of the most unusual novels I've seen in a long time.

The writing style Jenkins uses in this book is completely different from what we're used to in contemporary novels. These days, the "popular" novels are those that keep you glued to your seat from beginning to end with plot twists, gripping action, and intensity.

This book is different. The storyline is not fast-paced and action-packed. In fact, after having read the first 300 pages, it felt like the plot was only just beginning, and everything up to that point had been focused on character development. In reading this style of writing, though, you find yourself becoming much more intimately involved in the (very complex) personalities and emotions of the individual characters. You feel like you've walked with them, and know their joys and sorrows. You can empathize with their thoughts and reactions as though they were real people -- good friends, at that.

At 500+ pages long, you're given plenty of time to identify with the characters. And when an unexpected drama is unleashed on their lives, it is incredibly powerful because of what has come before it. Worlds are transformed, lives are changed, and it's related in a way that reaches deep into your soul.

Without giving details away as to the actual content and plot, I will say that this book largely revolves around the somber, darker side of human nature. Actually, it reminded me of Dickens' writing in many places. Revealing the inner conflict and struggles of man, through a gradually-unfolding story that is presented in a measured, steady tone.

A unique book indeed, and one that is eye-opening in many ways.

Carcassonne, by Rio Grande Games

*****
Note from Carrie: I think Fridays are going to be wild card days here from now on. At this point in the week I'm pretty much brain dead anyway. Today would appear to be "game day". Check out our earlier post today in which guest contributor, Sky, reviewed Number Hunt.) And then check out my note here at the end of Jonathan's review of the following game.
******

Howdy folks! It's Carrie's better other half, blogging again. (Apparently you didn't "boo" loudly enough last time I posted... or she just hasn't gotten around to changing the password yet!)

Anyway, in a bit of a change of pace, I'm actually reviewing a board game this time rather than a book. (If you're only here for the book reviews, look at it this way: Here's a game that the rest of your family could spend hours on, giving you more time to read. Happy now?)

Growing up, I was the oldest of five kids, and we were all Totally Into Board Games. Particularly the serious, thinking kind. If a particular game involved any bit of luck, it was snubbed. (Yahtzee, for example. We would have rather been found dead in a ditch than been caught playing Yahtzee.) Anyway, when it came to board games, we invented them, played them, argued about them, and more. I'll never forget my eight-year-old sister coming home from a friend's house and mentioning that they had played a game which most of the other girls liked, but "the ruleset could have been improved."

Somehow, my younger siblings all became better than I was at games. I had serious morale issues as a teenager due to this. (Later on, two of my brothers went on to win national chess championships. I didn't feel so bad at that point.)

Fast-forward a dozen years, to the present. Carrie and I are not much the gaming types. (My acne is gone now, too.) But we ran across Carcassonne recently and gave it a try, to our very pleasant surprise.

Carcassonne (a French word, pronounced "Carcass-Zone") is unique in that it's a tile-laying game with extremely simple rules that don't require mind-bending strategy in order to get the hang of. At the same time, there's enough depth that you'll enjoy playing it over and over. (We have.)

It's also fun because you're creating a "landscape" of roads, cities and fields as you lay down the individual tiles, and the map is built from scratch differently with each game. By the time you're halfway through a game, you're thinking uniquely about the map that's being created, which is constantly changing and presenting new situations. This keeps the gameplay feeling very fresh and interesting, rather than becoming boring after a while.


The rules are easy enough to pick up quickly, and even most kids (8 years and up, I'd say) can participate in playing without much challenge. But there's enough depth in the strategy to be explored that it doesn't become tiresome, even to adults. The game can be played with 2 to 5 players (and there are expansion packs that support adding a 6th player.) Carcassonne can truly be enjoyed just as much by 2 players as 6 players; the gameplay scales perfectly without any difficulty.

If your family is the type that enjoys playing games together, I recommend this wholeheartedly. It's been a hit with everybody that we've introduced it to!

******
I am seriously NOT a gamer in any sense or imaginative use of the word. I rather loathe playing games as a general rule. However, I wanted to play this one because we've been talking about Knights and Castles around here and this game involves both. Hence my initial interest. I played this game once with Jonathan and then volunteered him another round of it because I thought it was very fun. And I wouldn't even mind playing it again (and again and again)! If you know me, you know I wouldn't normally volunteer to play ANY game more than once. Except Clue. I do like Clue . . . (so I find it rather unfortunate that Jonathan doesn't) . . . sigh.
******

Author Highlight: Patrick McManus

*** I asked my husband to write up something about McManus becuase he was the one who introduced me to this author in the first place. To me, McManus is to the American what Wodehouse is to, well, the world. So maybe McManus' audience is smaller but we're here doin' our part to change all that. ***

Disclaimer: It's another Post From The Husband, folks, so you can just hit that "back" button right now if you're not up for some talk about good ol' huntin', fishin' and shootin'.

The only thing is, truth be told, I'm more the typin', pointin' and clickin' type myself. Carrie will be the first one to agree that outdoor, uh, "recreation" is not something I particularly enjoy. (Truth be told, she doesn't either.) But, we share a common love of books. And a common loathing of stumbling through the wilderness with nothing but a bedroll and a box of matches.

However, when it comes to other peoples' adventures, well, bring it on! I always loved The Mysterious Island, The Count of Monte Cristo, and any other tale of adventure I could get my hands on.

When I was a boy, I discovered the works of Patrick McManus, and through them lived a much more outdoorsy, adventuresome, and rough-and-tumble childhood than my own. McManus was a regular contributor to Field & Stream magazine, and his books were compilations of his short stories -- but it wasn't the anecdotes about camping and hunting that I was drawn to... no, it was the fact that they made the perfect backdrop for some of the most hysterically funny writing ever published.

McManus's trademark style is a dry, sarcastic narrative, written from the perspective of himself as a young boy who got into endless scrapes during his backwoods upbringing. It would seem that, in the childhood of this (mostly fictional) McManus, everything always went wrong at the exact moment and in the exact way to create the utmost hilarity in retelling.

Although he's written over a dozen books, I've always loved his early collections the best -- their style is more fresh and spontaneous than his more recent works. My favorites (I couldn't pick just one) are:
- The Grasshopper Trap
- A Fine and Pleasant Misery
- Never Sniff A Gift Fish

What sparked this blog post was my recent reading of his latest collection, Kerplunk! For me, it was a bit disappointing -- in his more recent columns, it feels like McManus is starting to find the genre a bit tiresome after all these (30+) years. (Not something I can really blame him for.)

Recently, he's also turned his hand to fiction with The Blight Way and Avalanche, a mystery series around the fictional Sheriff Bo Tully. Although these are reasonably enjoyable novels, it truly feels like there are endless writers of popular fiction out there, and that form of writing really doesn't give the humorous genius in McManus the opportunity to shine. (I'm not sure how his publisher is advertising these. "Bestselling humorist proves he can write books that aren't funny, too!" Yes, and I'm sure Leonard Bernstein could play "Chopsticks".)

But of his early collections... Never have I read anything that so perfectly juxtaposes fresh, youthful exuberance with complete calamity, in the most hilarious way possible.

If you've never read Patrick McManus, pick one up and give it a try. You really have no excuse not to -- Amazon is showing used copies of the titles I mentioned above available for $0.01! The beauty of these collections is that short stories make for fun, quick reading. But, to plagiarize an old ad campaign, "Betcha can't read just one!"