Monday, November 28, 2016

Review: The New Believer's Guide to the Christian Life: What Will Change, What Won't, and Why It Matters

The New Believer's Guide to the Christian Life: What Will Change, What Won't, and Why It Matters The New Believer's Guide to the Christian Life: What Will Change, What Won't, and Why It Matters by Alex Early
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As a serial book reviewer, I have felt a deep sense of despair. After having read so so many books where I had no idea why on earth the authors had to put so much effort to justify their man-made ideas that could find no proper Scriptural backing, Early's tiny little book has brought me so so much joy! I'd give it 6 stars if I could!

Thoroughly researched with wonderful gospel truths, no theological axe to grind, and written in such accessible and engaging language. What more can we ask for? The title would suggest that it is meant for new Christians, but I as a 28 year old final year seminary student who had been born into the church, enjoyed the read thoroughly. I found myself agreeing every so often as I devoured the book in a single sitting. I recognise the masterful ability to convey complicated theological truths in simple terminology (something that I still am learning to do), and Early does it flawlessly.

One area for improvement though, I found the narrow margins (I do not like opening the book to the extreme "flatness" to protect the spine) and the narrower-than-A5 size to be an unhelpful distraction. Hopefully in the subsequent revisions, it would either be released as a proper pocket sized book, or as a normal paperback sized title.

I received this book from the Baker Publishing Group's Blogger Review Program for the purposes of providing an unbiased review. All views are my own.

View all my reviews

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Review: The Essential Guide to Deliverance: Finding True Freedom in Christ

The Essential Guide to Deliverance: Finding True Freedom in Christ The Essential Guide to Deliverance: Finding True Freedom in Christ by Larry Richards
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As I read Richards introduce himself, I was very pleased to find out he came from a non-charismatic background, studied in and lecturered in more reformed seminaries and then was confronted with the reality of demons (I am roughly the opposite, raised in a charismatic church, schooling in a charismatic seminary but yet holding a more reformed theological position).

The book is highly practical, delivering a systematic and yet concise introduction to the topic. I did appreciate the easy-to-read language the book was penned in and mostly found part 2 of the book useful (a glossary of definitions on the topic of deliverance). I find it hard to accept Richard's proposition that demonised persons do not exhibit larger-than-life, extraordinarily dramatised behaviour. I was quite put off by the constant referencing to his own books repeatedly.

I received this book from the Baker Publishing Group's Blogger Review Program for the purposes of providing an unbiased review. All views are my own.

View all my reviews

Monday, November 14, 2016

Review: The Temple and the Tabernacle: A Study of God's Dwelling Places from Genesis to Revelation

The Temple and the Tabernacle: A Study of God's Dwelling Places from Genesis to Revelation The Temple and the Tabernacle: A Study of God's Dwelling Places from Genesis to Revelation by J. Daniel Hays
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The numerous full-colour photographs would probably be worth the price of the book to a student writing a paper, or a Christian education teacher. The paperstock is a rather usual glossy thick white type, those that we often see in university textbooks. I however found the pages to reflect too much light and made for a distracting read. The thorough research and resulting insightful discoveries (to the reader) would be typical Hays quality - excellent.

Being a naturally un-arty person, I struggled to find interest in the archaeological or design aspects of the buildings discussed. I did however enjoy the theological segments, especially the chapter on Solomon's temple. Hays even put in an application chapter at the end, which was a nice touch to a very informative book that would build up one's "head knowledge."

I received this book from the Baker Publishing Group's Blogger Review Program for the purposes of providing an unbiased review. All views are my own.

View all my reviews

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Review: What Is Reformed Theology?: Understanding the Basics

What Is Reformed Theology?: Understanding the Basics What Is Reformed Theology?: Understanding the Basics by R.C. Sproul
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Although the subtitles state "understanding the basics," I perceive that the target audience would lean more toward the scholarly types (rather than the popular level readers). Weighing in at 250 pages, it definitely would fall short of the 500 or 1000 pages required to be a seminary level textbook, but the content was immense and very rich. It would probably hold the interest of a christian who affirms a reformed position (more so than an arminian-leading believer).

I tried reading this book on three occasions, and as I had to write a review, each time I started from the beginning. I would like to believe that I wrestle close to the middle of the Reformed-Arminian spectrum, but somehow I struggled to plough through the pages. While the beginning of the pages were extremely engaging and interesting, I felt that the meatier content toward the middle was a great challenge to read and digest.

To the Sproul fans out there, I'm very sorry but I find that his ability to explain complex theological terminology and concepts (with elaboration through logic or illustrations) in a manner that the layperson can understand is not on the same level as John Stott, Edmund Clowney or Gordon Fee. Writing an accessible book on such a large topic is truly a daunting task, and Sproul did put up a tremendous contribution with this piece of work. It could have been so much better if there were more pictures, diagrams, highlighted excerpts, quotes etc that would have provided mental breaks to the monotony of page after page of dense knowledge.

I received this book from Baker Publishing Group's Blogger Review Program for the purposes of providing an unbiased review. All views are my own.

View all my reviews

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Review: One Of the Few: A Marine Fighter Pilot's Reconnaissance of the Christian Worldview

One Of the Few One Of the Few by Jason B. Ladd
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Before I went to bible school, my book shelves consisted mainly of military history and military biographies. Fast forward 5 years or so, they are now dwarfed with theological titles. I still relish reading about the exciting accounts of men at war, and looked forward to reviewing this title.

As a seminary student, I recognise Ladd's mammoth effort to read, digest and cite from a large variety of sources to substantiate his thesis - from the military experience of himself and others, from pop culture, from Christian theologians, from secular thinkers. Ladd's retelling of military accounts/situations were intense, it rekindled my love of reading about men at war and gave me quite an adrenaline rush.

I initially wanted to flag out the rarity of Scripture in the book, but as I reflected, I think that is not a big issue as Ladd's purpose was probably apologetics and therefore his primary audience (which would not be the bible scholar types) probably would prefer extra-biblical accounts to substantiate the logical arguments put forth. And as the most helpful review on amazon points out, as the beginning of each chapter, Ladd's juxtaposition of quotations of a non-Christian against Scripture is a masterpiece.

I was however rather irritated at being left hanging about the outcome of Arnold the helicopter pilot in the prologue. This was an unwelcome distraction - I found that I was more interested in finding out what happened to Arnold - and the pages in between were standing in my way. When I finally got to the epilogue, I was disappointed at the short conclusion; I guess I was hoping to enjoy digesting what had happened after having waited 250 pages to find out the outcome!

Here are some suggestions for improvement.

Stylistically, I felt that the numerous short chapters were a challenge as a reader. Perhaps similar chapters could be consolidated into larger ones to eventually end up with about 10-15 chapters. Readers take a mental break with the end of a chapter and the beginning of another; I found it exhausting to do so about 30 times and struggled to maintain interest after about 20 chapters.

Formatting wise, the margins are far too wide; adjusting them to the usual one inch could save quite a bit of paper and perhaps even make the book a more compact size. Because the book had no illustrations, it felt like a wall of text. Fiverr.com would be a great source to include an inexpensive illustration for example at the beginning of each chapter.

I received this book from the author for the purposes of providing an unbiased review. All views are my own.

View all my reviews