Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce, by John Piper

There have been many books written about the life of William Willberforce.  You will find other

books that have a much more detailed accounting of Willberforce's life.  But Piper has given us a short little vignette that gives a clear picture of the man more than a clear picture of his theological and political prowess.  

This is a good book for a group discussion starter about the life of a saint and his persistence in the calling that God placed on his life.  Piper points out the following about Wilberforce:
1.  He was not educated in Theology, but he had a firmer grasp of the truths of the doctrine of Justification and Sanctification than many learned men of his time.
2.  He was a wealthy man who didn't need to get involved in social issues of his day.  He could have lived a quiet uneventful life in wealth and done just fine, but he chose to get involved.  Have you chosen to get involved?
3.  He found his calling from God and never wavered from it. How many people would spend forty years fighting for the abolition of Slavery and continue to do so after being voted down by parliament year after year?  He found his passion and stuck with it.
4.  Wilberforce though was not just a one social issue politician.  He was involved in dozens of issues and worked hard for them, it's just that abolition was the most focused.
5.  Did you know that Wilberforce loved children and loved having fun and laughing?  In his period of life wealthy men hired nanny's to care for their children and push them out of sight.  Wilberforce loved though to play with them and have family meals and read to them and care for them.  Unusual for that day and age, but even unusual in ours.
6.  Wilberforce suffered from physical ailments.  BUT, he didn't let those keep him from his work.
7.  Wilberforce wrote guides for practical Christianity that are still relevant today.

All in all Wilberforce was amazing, and John Piper in just a short 82 page book gives us a glimpse into a side of Wilberforce's life that many other biographers don't address.

Don't make this your only book you read about William Wilberforce, but maybe make it your first if you have never read any at all.

Enjoy!

Rosemary Cottage -- by Colleen Coble

The Series Title Says it All - HOPE

Curtis and Amy both have things from their past that they need to deal with. Both of them have significant loss in their lives recently. Curtis losing a sister and Amy losing her brother. To complicate things it appears that Gina (the sister) and Ben (the brother) had a child together, Rainee. Curtis is raising this child along with his aunt. But Amy doesn't know the relationship.

Amy gets an E-mail telling her that her brothers death may not have been the accident that it is reported to be. Since the body was never found it is hard to know what exactly happened. But the most likely scenario is that he drown, or was attacked by a shark and died from that.

Colleen Coble will take you through a myriad of emotions as you journey through this story. You will feel love, hope, despair, pain, dismay, hurt over deception and fear over the loss of true love. These emotions are native to all humans and they stir a wild range of responses depending on your personality.

Coble develops each of the characters very well. Her writing is clean and direct. She always has a moral point to make and displays her understanding of human nature very well.

The mystery of the novel will also keep you turning pages. Although you will feel you solve it before the end (mainly because of all the detective shows on TV giving us lots of insight) you might just be surprised by what really happens.

I have only one small problem. I want to know what happens to a certain young teenage girl (maybe that is a spoiler, but I don't think it is much of a spoiler).

You will enjoy this novel and find that it is very much like all of Colleen's books, well worth the read!

Wonderful Vignettes on Discipleship

N.T. Wright is well know for writing very deep and often times difficult books to wade through, not because they aren't well written, but because the topics are so weighty.

This book is a breath of fresh air from N.T. Wright that will speak to the hearts of Pastor's, Religious Professionals and the Layman. It tackles some tricky issues but in a very well written easy to comprehend and digest format. I don't always agree with all N.T. Wright pens, but my son enjoys him so I read him to have good conversations with my son.

The chapter that caught my heart was Chapter 8, A Mind Renewed. It deals with the story from 2 Kings 5 where the "Great General Naaman" who is suffering from a skin disease comes to Elisha for healing. As N.T. Wright puts it, "If it happened today, it would make instant headlines in The Jerusalem Post, and perhaps also in The Washington Post. 'Syrian General Healed By Israeli Holy Man.'" He then goes on to talk about how controversial this would have been in it's day and how Naaman was left with a problem. He was healed by the God of Israel. His God was unable to do this, but Israel's God was able. So, now who should he worship?

His treatment of the story is fun to read as well as challenging to think about. The main principle I caught from his writing on this story, "Naaman left his pride behind on the bank of the Jordan, and washed, and was cured." How many of us struggle to leave our "pride" behind and let Jesus wash us and make us whole?

Well, the whole book is just wonderful and it is a quick read. You will not be disappointed in purchasing and reading this book.

The book, The Peacemaker by Ken Sande is the definitive work on how to Biblically resolve conflict within a persons life. This little booklet, Resolving Everyday Conflict takes the main points of the larger work and delves into them quickly for a good summation of the key principles that you need to understand to get a good start on handling conflict.

For people who don't have the time to work through the larger text because of a busy schedule or the need to get help quickly for a present conflict this booklet will be a great help.

But, when you get the chance you will want to pick up The Peacemaker for a longer and more detailed treaty on how to handle the conflicts that come into your life on a much to regular basis.

Enjoy!

May I have your Attention Please, by Dr. Jason Whitehurst

Dr. Whitehurst has given us a very quick, easy to read, informative book on the problem of ADHD/ADD and the effects this can have, specially in regards to Church Worship Services and Church Youth Groups.

Most Pastors and religious professionals do not have a good handle on what ADHD truly is and how it is effecting the lives of people in their congregations. Also, the term has been thrown around so much with so little knowledge that Youth and Children's Pastors may be labeling students/children with a label that is not true and that the professional religious worker doesn't fully understand.

In this short book Dr. Whitehurst (A Youth Minister) shares what he has learned about ADHD and how it truly changes the lives of those who truly have this problem. He gives us the basics of why some people have ADHD and also explains how all of us at times have attention deficit, but it doesn't necessarily mean we have ADHD.

He gives the basics. He lists the obvious signs/signals that someone has this affliction. He gives clear guidelines on how we might want to review our worship services and youth group meetings to see how we might better communicate, hold the attention of, and use teaching methods that enhance the ability for the ADHD person to pay attention and gain understanding and knowledge.

One helpful hint is his pointing out that as we consider our services in light of the person with ADHD we will actually be doing all worshipers a service because we will make the worship experience more engaging for everyone.

THIS DOES NOT mean that you are dumbing down your service. It means that you are looking at how to better articulate and communicate and hold attention so that people can learn even more than before.

Every Pastor / Religious worker needs to read this book, not just the Youth and Children's people.

Enjoy learning!