Radical, by David Platt

I know I can't say anything that others haven't already said in their reviews, but I will give a few minor reflections on the book.

1. The Church in America is in deep turmoil. We are sold out on living the American Dream and that means that we forget to live out our lives for Christ. The Lord calls us to radical discipleship and that means, sell everything and follow Him! Are you willing to do that? It's different than what the American dream says.

2. Platt's description of the USS United States, which was a troop carrier ship designed to carry 15,000 troops to war, is a great example of the problem of the American Church. The ship was commissioned, but never carried troops to war. It was the largest and fastest troop ship ever constructed. But WWII was over once it was commissioned and another major war had not broken out. So, we converted it to a luxury liner for the politicians (The President) to use. It was converted and carried 2,000 in luxury.

The American Church is the same. The church was called to a war time mentality by Jesus, but instead of us preparing and going to war we instead have turned the church into a 'luxury liner' church with great programs, safety, warmth and no major commitment. This is no way to win the war.

3. Platt pushes our buttons and tells us that we need to be 'radical' in our commitment to the Lord and he will be radical with His work with us. Part of what Platt reminds us is that Jesus didn't promise us 'safety' in our ministry. In reality He promised us that we would be treated as He was treated, which was poorly. Platt says, unless you are called to a dangerous ministry maybe the Lord isn't in the calling. Now, he does go on to say that not everyone will be called to a dangerous ministry, but if you are called, are you willing to go? Or will you abandon your faith and let others go?

The last chapter of the book does a great job of asking you to commit to a one year experiment that will change your life. He calls you to five commitments that he feels will impact you. I think they are well written, well documented and are just the tip of the iceberg of what Jesus calls us to.

Read the book, commit to the one year experiment and see what the Lord does in your life.

War of Words, by Paul David Tripp

Paul David Tripp's book, War of Words is a great book. For anyone who is counseling others, working with conflict resolution or just trying to learn more about how our struggle with communication can take a turn, this book is for you.

The tag line for the book is "getting to the heart of your communication struggles." That sums up the whole book in just that short phrase. Why is it that we struggle to communicate? Why is it that our words get us in so much trouble? Why is it that conflict seems to arise out of our words delivered to others? The answer is, we don't understand the power of our words and how they can either help or hurt.

A quote from page 200 in the book summarizes this thought, Tripp writes, "My father was saying, 'Paul, words matter. They will either contribute to a solution or further the difficulty. Speak with caution and care.'" This piece of advice is one that we all need to learn. Paul was trying to decide how to approach fellow employees of a part-time job who were stealing from the employer. He knew it was wrong and he wanted to confront the issue, but his fathers words of advice helped him to stop and think through what he was going to say before he just rambled and ran into trouble.

The book is divided into three sections;

Part One: Talk is Not Cheap, this section is actually a history lessons from the Bible in the power of words. It goes through the power that God has when He speaks to the power that Satan has when he speaks to how humans cause real hurt, pain and alienation with their words.

Part Two: A New Agenda for Our Talk: This section delves into the theory behind the "war of words" and how our relationship with God gives us the power to change and put into action a new way of thinking.

Part Three: Winning the War of Words: This is the practical section of the book.

I loved the way that parts one and three bookend the middle section. It is well thought through ,well written and does a wonderful job of communicating the points that Tripp wants to make.

The heart of the book can be summarized in Part One, Chapter Four, "Idol Words". This chapter gives the nuts and bolts of what Tripp is driving at. You will want to read this chapter a couple of times. Page 58 gives a wonderful definition of what an "idol" is and why our words can become idols.

Overall this book is great. I found this book with my studying towards becoming a "Peacemaker" through Peacemaker Ministries. It is probably one of the best books I have read off their resource list.

I think very Pastor, Elder, Sunday School Teacher, Counselor and lay person would benefit greatly from this book. Read it, mark it up, and best of all form a book club to talk about what you are learning from it, you won't be disappointed.

Enjoy!

Understanding the Big Picture of the Bible, Edited by Wayne Grudem

This guide to reading the Bible is a good sourcebook for the serious Bible Student. It is not a casual read. Each of the chapters is a different article that is written by an "academic" writer. Each article covers a different aspect of the Bible. Part one of the book is focused on the Old Testament and each chapter delves into the Historic, the Poetic and the Prophet's.

Part Two is titled: Background to the New Testament and deals with the 400 year gap between Old and New Testament. It deals with the history of the culture at the time of the writing of the New Testament and a specific chapter on the Jewish world at the time of the New Testament writing.

Part Three deals with the Theology of the New Testament and then three chapters. One Chapter deals with the Gospels and Acts. The next Chapter deals with the Epistles and the final Chapter deals with Revelation.

Again, I felt that this was a good book, but fairly academic. Not all of the details are needed by everyone interested in reading a Bible and wanting to have a brief background. There are more technical discussions than the casual reader needs to be brought into.

Thus this is a good book for Pastors and serious Lay Leaders who are looking for an introduction to the Bible.

Two other books that do well to bring you an overview of the Bible are:
1. God's Big Picture, tracing the storyline of the Bible by Vaughan Roberts, this would be a great book for the casual reader and Theologian
2. Welcome to THE STORY Reading, Loving and Living God's Word, by Stephen J. Nichols

The difference between Understanding the Big Picture of the Bible and these other two books are that the first book is a compilation of writings and thus there is not as good a flow to the writing. The other two books are by single author's and the flow is better. Also they are not as academic as the first.

I appreciate Crossway Publishing putting together this group of writers and if you are serious about getting a background of the Bible you will enjoy the book. But if you are a more casual reader then these other two books are good.

Enjoy!

Beauty for Ashes, by Dorothy Love

Mrs. Carrie Daly and her brother Henry Bell live on their family farm. Their parents are both long gone as well as grandparents. And Carrie lost her husband Frank during the civil war when he was killed in battle. Her brother Henry has always been the stable influence in her life.

As the story opens we are introduced to Carrie Daly, Mr. Griff Rutledge and a horse name Majestic. The horse is out of control and about runs Carrie to ground in front of the town mercantile. Griff rescues Carrie from the horse and comforts Majestic who immediately calms under the careful hand of Griff.

The story quickly moves back to the Bell farm where Henry is to be joined in marriage to Mary. Mary comes to the marriage as a widower herself and brings along her two young sons, Caleb and Joe. The three of them move in with Henry and Carrie and that's when the fireworks take off. To say the least, Carrie and Mary do not hit it off and the boys are absolutely out of control (they are little demons to tell the truth).

Carrie leaves her homestead and moves to town. Henry is left with a wife who knows little to nothing about farming. Caleb and Joe are left to run wild. Mary is left to criticize anything and everything. All the while Carrie moves into town, into a run down hotel for women and tries to figure out how she will make life work.

A romance triangle emerges between Carrie, the bookstore owner, Nate, and with the drifter, Griff Rutledge. How will things turn out. Will Carrie and Henry ever be reunited? Will Carrie ever learn to love Mary and her boys? Will Carrie follow her heart towards the drifter, or will she settle for the safety of the bookstore owner?

All these issues will be dealt with along with the sub plot of the depression following the civil war and the hard times that farmers fell into. Henry will have to leave the family farm to go to Chicago and try to get gainful employment. Hickory Ridge will try to struggle to find someway to survive as a town. God is going to be called on to help everyone sort through their issues.

There are many other sub plots that run through the story. Dorothy Love weaves them all together to bring you a romance novel that will have you eager to see how things come out in the end. The bottom line question you will have, is this as good as Gone with the Wind? Maybe not, but it sure gives it a good run for it's money. Keep a pencil and paper handy to take notes so that you can follow the many different issues that will be discussed and solved.

Oh, and by the way, not everything will be wrapped up by the end of the book. There will be some loose ends that will leave you wanting more.

I personally want to find out more about Nate Chastain and Rosaleen, but that will have to wait for another book.

Enjoy!