Current Events

Last Call for Liberty by Os Guinness

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book last call.jpg

I’m not sure how Os Guinness pulled off writing the book of the hour while at the same time giving us one for many generations to come, but in Last Call for Liberty he has done that very thing. He says so much to our generation, yet it will be the words that will be needed in a hundred years. At least if there’s any liberty left to cultivate and protect at that point. What is equally amazing is how he did it. There’s only a little of Trump or Obama, and even less of Republican or Democrat. He would have us stop drowning in the latest election cycle, or even the latest 24-hr news cycle. Our problems are more fundamental than the latest round of lunacy. His perspective spans the horizon. He looks at where we are, how we got here (since the 1960s at least), and where we are going. He holds us accountable to what freedom is and what it is not. He calls on us to embrace anew the precious gift of freedom or our twisting of freedom will be our destruction.

Guinness paints his portrait with the colors of the American Revolution of 1776 and the French Revolution of 1789. That comparison explains so much. I’ve always loved reading about that time period, so I’m a little ashamed I never saw this dichotomy before. How freedom was both approached and defined is why one of those revolutions has held for 200 plus years while the other is a historical footnote. Still, he isn’t giving us a historical survey. No, the problem is that much of America today has switched from 1776 to 1789 in their guiding of our nation. Peril awaits.

That’s not to say that this book is depressing. It’s like a teacher who believes in your intellect and boldly makes a case that assumes your ability to comprehend. He never talks down but sounds like he speaks to peers who will see what he’s saying when they face the logic. He comes across as positive there’s hope and all that’s missing is for us to slow down and carefully analyze the facts.

You will, without doubt, get some of the most perceptive analysis of the trends and events that define us today. He never comes across as shouting “this is wrong” as much as “here’s what’s behind certain behaviors and why they will hurt us all”. He never yells at us for assaulting freedom. It’s more of a proclamation that freedom is one of the greatest things that God has given us and it’s worth hanging on to.

I’m not going to give a chapter-by-chapter overview in this review. Just jump in and you will see things that perhaps you’ve never thought before and that now you see as the natural, unanswerable explanation of our turbulent nation. This book, if ingested by our nation, would revolutionize us all, or at least take us back to the beautiful place we began. Labeling a book as a “must-read” is trite, but read it and see if that isn’t exactly what you’d say.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Demanding Liberty by Brandon O’Brein

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book liberty.jpg

This book is hard for me to categorize. The author, Brandon O’Brien, warns us in the preface that that might be the case, but I had no idea that it would be thus to such a degree. It’s not exactly a biography, though I came to know Isaac Backus much better. It’s not exactly a historical treatise, but I found places where my historical understandings were off. It’s not exactly a political statement, but I wondered if there might be one just below the surface. I found myself asking what this author was up to quite early in the book, though I never was sure I could answer that question. To be sure, I found the book deeply interesting and hard to put down.

If the author desired to only overturn the applecart of our neatly packaged conclusions, this book was a smashing success. If he had some conclusion he wanted to take us to, then not so much. The titles alone of his previous books, Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes and Paul Behaving Badly, had me wondering if he was something of a provocateur. When he admitted that he was a Baptist who had become a Presbyterian and now was writing on a Baptist hero, I wondered if he was something of a rabble-rousing raconteur too. As a Baptist myself, when some of his first comments seemed to overplay the lack of education of the early Baptists, I was sure that it was so. But alas, he was quite fair to the Baptists overall and even seemed to have a real admiration of their dedication and of Backus himself.

He did prove to me that I have been something of a reductionist in how I view the Christian heritage of my country. It was much more of a battle than I carried in my convenient memories, but I retain my amazement at where it landed. On a few occasions, he took that premise a little too far. I’m not convinced that the Jefferson described in the introduction was as anti-religion as he was portrayed, nor do I see the full weight of the parallel of conservative Christians today to their forebears with “a difference between being marginalized and feeling marginalized.” Still, there might be enough truth in it to call for some introspection.

This book held my attention until the last page. I’m still not sure whose side the author is on, or if he even knows. He did, however, ask good questions. My conclusions are ultimately the same, but I would have to admit that my views are a little more nuanced after reading this book.

We are at the point of this review where I’m supposed to give a recommendation. Perhaps if you’ve read this far you already have all the recommendation that I could give you. Clearly, this book influenced me. Maybe you will want to find out if it will have that effect on you.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

That Rough Patch Called Transitioning To Adulthood

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blog adulthood

I’ve been reminded of late just how tough that period in life where you have to figure out what you’re going to do when you grow up really is. I can remember that in my own life, but it seems so long ago that the memories are in black and white. My oldest, Briley, is at that place where she has to decide, and her brother, Caleb, the meticulous planner, is engulfed in it as well. Sadly, if anything, it’s harder to figure out these days.

An article in National Review by Oren Cass entitled “Teaching to the Rest” highlighted just how tough it is. According to the author, the 3 million recent high school graduates can be divided into approximately five equal categories. The first group didn’t even make it to high school graduation (remember one fifth of 3 million is 600,000!). The second group will pursue no further education. The third group will enroll in college but never graduate. The fourth group will graduate college, but will never work in the field they got their degree in. Only the final group will go through college and work in a field that they studied for. I don’t know about you, but those statistics shock me.

As you can imagine in that particular magazine, the article goes on talking about the political changes that need to be made in our educational system. The author’s ideas were wonderful, but excuse my cynicism in thinking that either the government or teachers unions would give his thoughts the time of day.

He alludes to, and you’ve probably heard it from other quarters as well, that there is a dearth of young people going into trades. In other words, a college education may not be the best case scenario as was universally believed when I graduated high school. Besides the fact that many public universities have lost their way and are so out of the mainstream that they actually steer young people away from success, there’s the issue that you might be financially worse off to go to college. On the one hand, many college students today embark upon their career with a disastrous financial situation because of college debt. A trade could be learned for a fraction of the cost with a similar starting salary but without the oppressive debt.

It grieves me to say this, but even for my children who want to follow my steps into the ministry, the possibility of making a full-time income from it over the course of their whole working lives seems unlikely. The rapid decline of Christianity in our day means that all in ministry may be tentmakers like Paul in the years ahead. That likelihood means even young people considering ministry will need a trade or profession to fall back on. I haven’t lost faith that the Lord can provide what’s needed for our calling, just that He he may actually start calling more to a bi-vocational ministry.

I’m totally sympathetic to my children. The gravity with which they view their choices for the future is commensurate to current events. I never want to be guilty of calling my children to the ministry or any other profession.

I’ve decided this rough patch of transition into adulthood is tough for parents too. You’d like to make it easier for them. You’d like for them to be able to pick it without reservations and feel perfectly at peace with their choices, but the reality is they go through all kinds of options. You have to balance telling them the ideas they have that probably will not work out well to not being overly controlling and telling them what they have to do with their lives. It’s tough. It’s times like this that I’m so happy that my children know the same Lord that I do. I’ve had times of not knowing the way and being afraid, and had to learn to wait on the Lord.

I guess this post is not really instructional. I really can’t see that I gave any good advice. But I guess I’m just putting in writing a plea to my children to trust the Lord with an acknowledgment that Daddy loves you and has confidence in you. I’m tempted to close my eyes and hide until the Lord grows your faith and leads you through this, but by faith let’s just go through it together.

Dictionary of Christianity and Science

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book dictionary cs

When you pick up this attractive hardback “Dictionary of Christianity and Science”, edited by Paul Copan, Tremper Longman, Christopher Reese, and Michael Strauss, your first thought will be to wonder if it can live up to its subtitle “the definitive reference for the intersection of Christian faith and contemporary science”. To my mind, it was a boast that turned out to be true.

That’s not to say, that you will agree with everything you read here. Fully conservative views are well defined, but in the interest of providing a comprehensive resource other views are as well. Since evangelical Christianity is not in full agreement on these subjects, you will discover here are all the opinions out there. If you do either theological or apologetic reading, you have already noticed the debate on its margins with science. In our post-Christian age, this is no time for trite platitudes. This resource helps us understand and intelligently discuss at the very point where so much of modern society is attacking Christianity.

The entries given are of three types. Some are short introductions intended to give an overview. There’s longer entries called essays that attempt to give a larger picture. Finally, some oft-debated subjects are given what they call multiple-view discussions. In these cases, scholars of varying opinions make their strongest case. That type of debate can be most instructive.

The range of topics covered almost anything I could think of regarding faith and science. Whether it was common terminology or less common scholarly jargon, you will find it here. You will find scientific terms, hot button issues of our generation, prominent movements and people, and some things I imagine you’ve never heard of before. There’s various creation/evolution theories, the Flood, fossil records, bioethics, and even climate change from various viewpoints.

I could easily see myself in the future reading an article and coming to an obscure concept or the element of debate I was a little rusty on and grabbing this book to get a grasp of what I was reading. This book has clearly found a niche missing in other Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias. This fine volume succeeded in what it set out to do and I think it’s an all-around winner. I predict it will be the go-to volume of its kind for many years.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

God and Tattoos by Allan Dayhoff

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Have you ever read a book that was both provocative and somewhat outside your comfort zone, but still opened your eyes? This book by Allan Dayhoff was such a book for me. Tattoos to my mind were gross, ugly, and wrong. While I still am not a fan of tattoos at all, this book chided me for never considering what is going on in the souls of those with tattoos. Why are tattoos exploding in our day? More importantly, what should a Christian see in this trend of people writing on themselves? 

The author did what it never occurred to me to do: ask people why they have tattoos. He asked them what their particular tattoos meant and that opened up a massive flow of information from which some conclusions could be drawn.

He found that some are doing it because it is the “it” thing to do in our generation. In other words, for some it is merely a jump on the cultural trend bandwagon. I suspected this one, but sadly never thought about the other reasons involved. It’s in those other reasons that this book is eye opening. 

It seems as though people are needing empathy and to have meaning. In that they do not have those needs mets, Dayhoff explains that their souls are crying out these needs and writing them on their own skin. People are finding this new way to say who they are. Often, the story on their skins is one of deep pain. Other insights abound.

I met the author and while I could not do all his methods, I saw that he was sincere in sharing his faith. I must warn you too that in some cases he directly quotes his interviewees and that means some really bad language. That arose, no matter what we feel about it, from his approach to write a book that would teach Christians and could be used with non-Christians at the same time. 

It’s probably not a book for everyone, but I found it instructive and fascinating.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Unchanging Witness–A Book For Our Day

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book

This issue of homosexuality is the roaring issue on the doorstep of Christianity. That the world is embroiled in it is no surprise, but that some corners of Christendom are bowled over by it is.  The biggest shock of all is what is proclaimed to be biblical and historic in Christianity on the subject. That is why this new book by S. Donald Fortson III and Rollin G. Grams is so timely, helpful, and important.

The task these scholars tackle with such aplomb is showing that homosexuality has always been biblically and historically wrong  in our Christian faith. They show in one succinct chapter how the gay movement has proceeded since it embarked upon a political path in the 1960s. Then the next 6 chapters show what all parts of Christianity has believed on the subject since the beginning with plenty of direct historical quotation and analysis. They may provide more than you will feel you need, but you will appreciate their careful labor.

The balance of the book examines the biblical passages mentioning homosexuality. They spend time mentioning every argument presented by pro-homosexual scholars. You see these other scholars have been incredibly unscholarly, careless, and even dishonest. Some may not like all that scholarly interaction, but this is a case where it’s needed appreciated.

A person can say they think homosexuality is acceptable because they choose not to accept the truthfulness of Scripture, but one cannot logically or honestly say the Bible supports homosexuality. These authors have put any Christians who study this subject in a great debt by so ably providing that proof.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

The Truth About Being Always Positive

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a smile

We’re told to always be positive. We’re to take it so far that we should never say anything negative. Some not only say it’s the right thing to do, but also the Christian thing to do. But we must ask: is that true?

If your options are: 1) be joyful and look for the positive, or 2) be grumpy and find the bad in every good, then your choice is clear. No one likes the person who sees the dark cloud beyond every rainbow, or the person who finds pain in every pleasure, or the person compelled to never suffer alone yet who seems to always suffers much. Still, does that mean nothing negative should ever be thought or said? Is there a better point of balance on this subject?

An article entitled “The Harm of Swarm” by Christine Rosen got me thinking. She was writing about “smarm.” That word (either as a noun or a verb) has to do with “behaving in an ingratiating way in order to gain favor.” Swarm was never a familiar word to me as in my childhood we preferred the phrase “laying it on thick.” Still, we’ve all seen it. Likely, some salesperson we’ve met along the way first comes to mind.

In our day it extends far beyond sales. Some websites have said only positive things can be shared, and even some review sites now only accept positive reviews. Social media naturally lends itself to this approach too. I’m glad my wife only shares on Facebook some nice thing I’ve done instead of those days she is convinced I’m a moron who needs to take a long walk off a short plank. Of course, no good could ever come from hurting those we love and live in close proximity to and a positive Facebook presence makes complete sense.

You might be surprised at the research the article I referenced shared about people reading their Facebook news feed. Studies have shown that many people are discouraged or even depressed by reading their mostly positive Facebook news feed ( they may even “hide” the few negative friends on their list). Why does that flow of positive not have a positive emotional impact on many people?

Because it’s not real! (I believe you could enjoy Facebook if you kept your head on straight here). You see all those perfect pictures and posts, those lovely couple posts, or those awesome children pictures, and you compare that to your own imperfect life and somehow you feel worse.

That article goes on to show how it corrupts us politically and filters through society, but I was thinking of how it affects our Christian lives.

We are fragile people for sure. Too much negativity aimed straight at us will soon put us over the edge. I know that I won’t find you helpful or caring no matter your intentions if you bombard me with all that’s wrong with me. I assume I’m not too unique in that regard. On the other hand, even the Bible suggests that their are times for “the wounds of a friend.” Thoughtful prayer, careful word choices, and checked motives are essential to pull this off for good. Many of us well understand the balance in this instance.

The danger of allowing yourself only to live in a world of positive spin, however, is that you more and more leave reality. Then those efforts to rid yourself of unpleasant fear backfires because there is nothing quite as scary as the unknown. It’s just in this case that it’s an unknown of your own creation.

For example, we have had much horrible news in regards to the morals of our land recently and any thinking Christian knows what that means before the Lord. Some even limit what they allow themselves to hear about it because the prospect of persecution or God’s judgment is just too horrifying to contemplate. But is that the best way to manage the fear?

Think of these two options and decide which is really best: 1) Don’t read articles or watch stories of these latest cultural disasters at all to avoid thinking about it–it’s bad, you know, so I don’t want to think about it, or 2) gather information of what happened including the long-term spiritual ramifications and then from the perspective of reality (not excessive pessimism but true present realities) seek out the positive realities–God still reigns and Christianity often thrives in horrid times– and form a spiritual plan for yourself and your loved ones. Is this question not the ultimate no-brainer for a Christian?

This is not to deny that there might be an occasional day that I don’t need to think about the bad news. Maybe I just need to listen to birds sing and watch the children play for a day or two to bring the necessary balance back to my heart and mind. That approach, though, does not have me hiding in non-reality to fix a fear that will only grow in an environment of an unreal world. Truth is always your best choice.

Again, we are not talking about the negative person who spins events until there’s a goblin behind every bush and a conspiracy in every news item. We are talking about an honest look. We are talking about being real. You not only need to be a real person, but you need to face a real world. Perhaps our timing isn’t great in our country as we are clearly at that unpleasant moment of our history that is a jolt downward.

Still, this honest look will not hurt me. It will prepare me. The cost of carelessness with my Lord just got much greater. With that knowledge I can find the comfort that His grace is always the superior of the darkest times. And that is far better comfort than the cult of always being positive.

 

 

 

 

Impossible People by Os Guinness

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book

This book is the one precisely needed today. It speaks to what thinking Christians are dwelling on. His title won’t make any sense until you read his reference to Peter Damian, but the book will strike the right cord on many levels. The problems are as bad as we imagined, yet the answer is not despair, but courage.

He will explain how Western culture is in its death throws. He really doesn’t explain a way to save it as we are too far down the line for that, but Western culture or not, Christians have an obligation just as they did in the hedonistic days of the Roman Empire.

He writes about how Christians are failing dramatically these days. He compares the very thing some of us have been telling others–how did German Christians get duped into accepting Nazism. Sounds so familiar, doesn’t it?

Os Guinness never fails to challenge me and this title is no exception. This book,  particularly, is needed whether that sounds trite or not. There is so much more here that I don’t even know what to say other than I underlined line after line as I read. This is a winner and I give it the highest recommendation.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

The Emperor Has Spoken

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emperor

The edict has just come down from the Imperial Palace, formally known as the White House, directing all public schools in our nation to allow so-called “transgender” students to use the bathroom they self-identify with. I guess in a country where a President can self-identify as a king and can get away with it, even to the degree that other members of our republican government join the facade and put on the costumes of court subjects with most fighting over the one of the court jester, it was inevitable a high school boy could “self-identify” (wink, wink) and get into the girl’s bathroom or gym showers.

We were already forced a few weeks ago to think through this issue (as I did here for myself), and many of us decided that this wasn’t going to work for our families. Now in a move shocking both in its suddenness and brashness, we have a nationwide proclamation that hits in a place that should definitely be protected from such shenanigans: our schools.

I’m heartbroken for our country. I’m heartbroken for the family that has no other option besides public schools. I’m heartbroken for the good public school teachers who will now be put in a hopeless situation. I’m sorry for the accredited Christian schools or colleges who will have trouble avoiding this ruling. Most of all, I am sorrowful for the helpless children who will suffer.

The children of our country deserve better. Many children who abuse another child are ones who have been abused themselves. The adults need to protect them all. A safe bathroom is a minimum requirement, wouldn’t you say?

I do want to thank God that homeschooling is still a legal option.  I applaud all homeschooling mothers, who even though you may want to pull your hair out at times, you are one of the true heroes of our generation. I want to thank those involved in providing Christian schools too. With what is going on in public schools, homeschoolers and Christian school families need not split hairs.

There’s another thing that needs admitting at this time. Perhaps the drama of the 2016 presidential election with Trump and Hillary and the others made us forget for a moment. Obama is the most perversely effective president in our nation’s history. He has gotten through so much of his grotesque agenda, an agenda far beyond what we thought in 2008. He has used methods not mentioned in our Constitution, methods never heard of before, and they have worked with apparent ease. Every few months now we are getting the shock of our lives. And that’s exactly what this nationwide “transgender” bathroom edict really is. May God help us.

Miracle of Israel by Frazier and Fletcher

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israel

The miracle that is Israel is a story too little told in our day. Gary Frazier and Jim Fletcher wisely subtitle their work “The Shocking, Untold Story of God’s Love for His People.” Hatred of Israel is on the upswing yet again,and the saddest part of it is that many Christians fail to see the significance and rank evilness of it.

The book is an easy read and is appropriate for anyone. It begins with three chapters that review Israel’s history in the Old Testament. It is a satisfactory overview.

Part Two is four chapters that present the information that is most likely to be unknown to readers. Particularly, chapters 6 and 7 tell the incredible story of modern Israel. The Lord has worked in several miraculous and thrilling instances and that story is told here. It is my favorite part of the book.

The last Part is three chapters on the future. Here prophecy involving Israel is discussed. It is handled from a premillennial perspective. It was good, but occasionally saw something in the Biblical text that was perhaps at best a guess.

Some of the prophecies used from the Old Testament seemed a stretch too. Still, if this volume can help stem the tide among Christians against Israel, it will be a blessing. Those with genuine questions will find some answers as well.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.