Review: A Different Kind of Happiness: Discovering the Joy That Comes from Sacrificial Love

A Different Kind of Happiness: Discovering the Joy That Comes from Sacrificial Love by Larry Crabb
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I struggled to remain interested in the words I was reading and felt sharply disconnected from Crabb's style of writing. I was extremely uncomfortable by his strawman approach to rebutting a comment by John Frame, which he did not elaborate much about what it was and simply passed a few paragraphs of comments that I could not really see the logical flow to. The Scripture passages quoted, if any, followed neither biblical nor systematic theological frameworks. Most of the time though, I found the assertions made were not backed with clear support from Scripture or the field of psychology. Having recently read a book by another Christian psychologist, Dr. Everett Worthington, perhaps set the mental bar of expectation too high; I had hoped and expected to see psychology being governed by the authority of Scripture being explained in layman terminology... But it was not to be.

As I flipped to the back page to check the list of endorsements, I see that the majority are pastors (not theologians, as I'd imagine bible scholars would often be scratching their heads at the multiple verse citing approach to Scripture). It is not often that I read a book that I dislike so much, so I did a quick search on what other reviewers commented, and most had 4 or 5 star ratings for it. So my guess is that this book was written for a very different kind of audience. It would appeal to readers who are looking for a Scripture-light, massively conversational and highly instructional book.

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

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Review: Spiritual Warfare for Your Family: What You Need to Know to Protect Your Children

Spiritual Warfare for Your Family: What You Need to Know to Protect Your Children by Leighann McCoy
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

From what I understand, McCoy's principal thesis seems to be that we have to fight back against the devil through spiritual warfare. She writes from the personal pain of praying for her "perfect" daughter to break up with cohabiting with a man only to see her bearing a child out of wedlock. She writes in a mostly conversational style with short comments on bible passages that she would draw analogies from to support her statements. Interestingly, she quotes from reformed theologians such as John Piper and David Platt, but still retains an eisegetical approach to Scripture. This book would therefore appeal to readers who are looking for bible verses and instructions to deal with what they perceive to the spiritual warfare in their families.

A few areas for improvement though: I wished that she had cut short the storytelling of her personal life, because unless she is a famous theologian or preacher, I'm guessing the average reader would not appreciate so much detail. I felt that the book would have been much better if it stood at 200 pages (towards the end I was honestly struggled to hold my interest and would not have finished it if I did not have to write a review). I also did not feel the same sense of assuredness and confidence in the Lord and one's resulting delegated authority, as compared to for example, when I had read a Randy Clark book on healing breakthroughs.

For the application of spiritual warfare about specific issues (in Part 6 of the book) - many of which were spot-on relevant, I however wished that she had elaborated more on each point by going more in depth instead of just skimming the surface. The prayers at the end of these sections were immensely helpful though - relating as one struggling in a specific area, the template prayer helps convey what we would want to but yet perhaps be unable to utter.

A few pet peeves though, some more serious than others. As a perfectionist, the blurry low-resolution black and white photographs made me feel so very dissatisfied (I'd rather they had not included them). For her to quote Dr. Worthington's account of his mother's murder and brother's suicide, spending multiple pages talking about his REACH model of forgiveness, I felt that it was almost criminal for her not to provide a proper reference. Having recently concluded a 20 page academic paper on healthy church growth, which included a lengthy segment on church discipline, I cringed at the use of Matt 18:18 in the final pages (the context was church discipline, not spiritual warfare).

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

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Review: Dreams and Visions: Understanding and Interpreting God's Messages to You

Dreams and Visions: Understanding and Interpreting God's Messages to You by Jane Hamon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I did find it quite puzzling that the book started out with an invitation to non-Christians to say the sinner's prayer at the end of the introduction. The second thing I found strange was the opening vision in Chapter 1 - which ended with a series of questions of what its purpose could be - but oddly Hamon never went back to discuss the matter further. The first couple of chapters were disappointing, with multiple bible narratives in quick succession being cited to in support of the author's substantives (reminiscent of the typical eisegetical charismatic book that I'd get rid of as quickly as I can).

Thankfully, the book got better! In the subsequent chapters, the bible narratives were retold at greater length (exegeted quite well in fact). I especially appreciate the segments on what were NOT dreams/visions in chapters 4 and 5 (Natural dreams and visions; False dreams and visions). Chapter 6 (Knowing the Source of your dreams) was my favourite chapter, especially the segment of "determining factors of spiritual dreams," (p65-66) which is also repeated in kind at the closing chapter. Basically, the content is about the few steps one can take to determine if a dream/vision is from the Lord or not. It is not that Hamon provided a scheme of things that made dream/vision interpretation super easy, but I appreciated how she approached them with a holy expectation and reverent posture toward understanding them.

The book almost fits into the category of a what a work of art a spirit-led Christian can write, without having to engage into proof-texting or making theologically shaky assertions. I honestly did not expect myself to like this book (because I found the front matter a little strange), but I thoroughly enjoyed the effort to be exegetically responsible and how so very practical the rest of the content was. As an avid reviewer, I can only keep books that I feel are really excellent - 6 stars out of 5 (otherwise I'd run out of space on my bookshelf); and this title is one of those I'd want to keep for the ages.

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

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Review: Jesus Talked to Me Today: True Stories of Children's Encounters with Angels, Miracles, and God

Jesus Talked to Me Today: True Stories of Children's Encounters with Angels, Miracles, and God by James Stuart Bell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Growing up in a charismatic church and having turned away from the faith entirely (which I attribute to dogmatic leaders, pastors who did violence to Scripture on a regular basis, and of course most of all, my own wretched sinfulness), I have found reformed theology and non-charismatic churches to be a breath of fresh air. However, the reverent interpretation, teaching and preaching of God's Word somehow comes with a lower emphasis on the supernatural.

This book's wonderful stories have compelled me to think back - does God communicate to his children directly and is the supernatural realm real? So much memories of my own personal encounters came flooding back, and whenever a book compels me re-examine my theology, I have to take a step back and reflect. I appreciate and cherish such experiences so very much.

Bell did a commendable job in compiling and editing so many stories; unfortunately I cannot give this book 5 stars because I am unsure of the authenticity of some of the accounts. The yardstick for me still is the bible, and some of the details did not match up with what Scripture tell us the supernatural and/or heavenly realm is like.

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

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Review: Your Marriage Masterpiece: Transform Your Relationship Through God's Amazing Design

Your Marriage Masterpiece: Transform Your Relationship Through God's Amazing Design by Al Janssen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I realise that I had subconsciously come to expect poor theology to line the pages of the any popular level book about marriage. I am so very pleased to admit that I could not be more wrong - Janssen has gifted us (both bible scholars and "lay" Christians) a most wonderful gift in this amazing piece of literature! The content was so finely edited that the 250 pages felt like only a hundred as I devoured page after page; the flow of the book's thesis was extremely easy to follow along and I found that Janssen held my interest and attention throughout. I enjoyed the encouraging and the painful accounts of marriages alike that served as vivid illustrations. But what I savoured the most was his remarkable ability to retell bible narratives! Often when we read Scripture, we do not really understand the narrative well because our modern day context is so far removed from the ancient times.

As a seminary student, I recall spending hours if not days trying to retell the parable of the good Samaritan in an updated, modern day context. Even if I did not want to keep the book for its solid theology and marriage applications (I do of course and will discuss that in a while), this book will be a required reading if I were to ever teach a course on hermeneutics (how to interpret Scripture). For this reason, I felt that Chapter 8 titled "The greatest love story of all time" was worth the price of the book; I was so so very delighted when I found that chapter 18 titled "The great adventure" also was an outstanding paraphrase of a biblical narrative. I did not complete buy a couple of Janssen's interpretations, for example that Adam watched passively when Eve was conversing with the serpent or that the Shunammite woman husband was a king... But theologians can have disagreements and yet hold another in high regard...

As I closed the pages of the book, I felt a sense of awe at the magnitude and the impossibility of the task set ahead of me as a husband to be. Yet at the same time I was encouraged and inspired by the worldview changing presentation of Christ's love for his bride (the church), and our ensuing responsibility to live it out through its metaphor - our marriage.

I heartily recommend this book! This is one of the few titles that I regard to be 6 stars, because it is in a class of its own.

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

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Review: The Gospel & Racial Reconciliation

The Gospel & Racial Reconciliation by Russell D. Moore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Most of us would not consider ourselves as racists. So no harm in picking up the book so that we can gain some knowledge as it may be useful for ministry. Or so I thought...

This tiny book was outstanding. I appreciate how the application and reflection was built upon a sturdy theological foundation. When a "controversial" or "hush-hush" issue is presented in such a manner, us readers would have no choice but to confront the reality of sin in our own lives. Nobody likes to talk much about such topics, and the book's brevity ensures that we do not feel preached at. The book's format was great - consisting of an excellent compilation of chapters from 5 authors. This fine piece of work makes me curious as to how the other titles in this series are like; if they are of the same style and quality, they could form an invaluable set of resources.

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

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Review: Unlocking the Bible: What It Is, How We Got It, and Why We Can Trust It

Unlocking the Bible: What It Is, How We Got It, and Why We Can Trust It by Jeff Lasseigne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lasseigne is a master storyteller - I found myself looking forward to the anecdote that would come with every new chapter (only 1 out of the so many was average and uninteresting; the rest were brilliant in reeling the reader's attention to the topic at hand!). From what I can infer, the primary audience for this book would be lay readers, and therefore most of the material did not have scholarly citations. The downside of this would be that readers who are interested in studying further into any topic covered in the book would have to consult other similar titles for advice/direction. The scholarship however was excellent - a lifetime of research was probably involved in the compiling of material for this title, with few controversial assertions observed by this reviewer (to be discussed in a while).

One section that perhaps best illustrates Lasseigne's amazing ability to digest a ton of material and present it in an easy-to-understand summary, would be the section about the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenees and Sanhedrin (p81-83). First year Bible school students and small group leaders would find sections like these very useful, but as mentioned previously, the lack of citations leaves one with not much guidance for further reading. And when a statement like "there are at least a thousand prophecies in the bible, half of which have already been fulfilled," (p65) it is almost a crime not to provide references and more information about such a claim.

While Lasseigne toed the line of safety when declaring that he was unsure of who the author of the book of Hebrews was, he strangely affirmed that Solomon was the author of the book of Ecclesiastes (p64). His short points (and scholarly citations) in support of this substantive I felt were insufficient for such a bold claim.

Nevertheless, I felt that the concept of the book was actually quite brilliant - establishing all the whys before the whats. But it is a pity the second half - the survey/summary of each book of the bible - was too short to be of much use. Perhaps a better idea would have been to publish the two sections as separate books, and to elaborate further on the surveys/summaries. Weighing in at 300 pages, the book could also deter potential occasional-readers (people who not usually read) from picking it up.

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.

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