Review: Lit!: A Christian Guide to Reading Books
Lit!: A Christian Guide to Reading Books by Tony Reinke
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Great book. This is a book about reading books and that sounds like cruel and unusual punishment in the form of a school assignment to many. But this book is practical and helpful. Not every chapter will be of equal value to all. The chapter on imagination is worth the full suggested retail price and more. I highly recommend it.
Review: A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers
A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers by D.A. Carson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Very Good. Carson is a scholar who writes books with things like “Variegated Nomism” in the title, but don’t let that intimidate you. This book is readable and quite practical. I believe he aims at the “normal” Christian and he hits the mark. Everyone will be able to identify and be helped.
This is a book on prayer. More specifically, it is a book where the author looks at various prayers of Paul from the Scripture. The goal is examine the prayers to find out what Paul prayed for and why. Answering those questions is instructive and helpful for our own prayers.
Everyone, if they’re being honest, will admit that prayer is an area of their life where they need great improvement. There is no end to the number of books on prayer that have been published and many of them are no help to us. Books on prayer usually divide into one of two categories. Some books belong to the pietistic tradition. They present a view of prayer where the penitent sit or kneel with hands folded 25 hours a day. They are so immersed in prayer, they have no need of food or water or any necessities. In fact, the pious pray with seemingly no obligations or duties of life at all. So a mother with young children gets to the end of every day exhausted. She falls into bed and grabs a book on prayer to read a few pages before she falls asleep. However, the pious books only bring guilt on her and she cannot relate to the picture painted. She is not helped.
Other books on prayer tend toward the higher life/deeper life view of Christianity that vary in degrees of charismatic influence. So here, prayer is not something you do, it’s more something that happens to you. The victorious, best life is presented. This leaves people chasing after some loosely defined experience and they come up empty. These books do not help and they do hurt.
We need a book on prayer that sticks close to the biblical text and makes practical application from that text. We need a book that will be convicting and challenging as well as informing and provoking in a good way. We need a book that will encourage us and ultimately help us in prayer. D. A. Carson has given us such a book. I highly recommend it. As always, there are things here and there to disagree with. Be discerning and stick with the main things and you will be helped.
Review: Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Just excellent. Austen was a master of character and story.
Review: The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor’s Journey Into Christian Faith
The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor’s Journey Into Christian Faith by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I hardly know where to begin with this book because there are so many layers to it. We could look at it from different perspectives and gain valuable insights from each. For example, this book could be read as a book about conversion in general or conversion of a lesbian feminist in particular. This book could be read as a book about the Christian life–repentance, faith, discipleship, and sanctification. This book could be read as a book about mercy and sacrificial service. This book could be read as a book about hospitality, neighboring, and friendship. This book could be read as a book about adoption, diversity, and outreach. I could go on, but I think by now you are on the business end of the rapier.
With all this, you would think the book to be three times as long as it is, but it isn’t. The chapters are longish by market fads but the number of chapters is few and the overall book is 128 pages. It could be read in one sitting, or at least in a week, a few chunks at a time.
The book’s impact extends far beyond its catalog stats. The author tells the story of her life, focusing on a little over a decade in which she was born again, converted unto Jesus Christ. The narrative is incarnational and compelling. She does not gush. The emotions she feels and incites are deep running. The questions she asks are honest and embarrassing. Her insights and assessments are simple and challenging.
If you are to focus on one theme in reading this book, focus on the meta-theme of God’s grace. This is a story of God’s grace. God’s grace is not safe and tidy. Neither is grace a flat proposition. God’s grace is sharp, piercing, and dividing. Grace wounds and heals, kills and makes alive. Grace is dangerous and violent, but grace is always good and holy. Sin abounds but grace abounds much more. Grace is greater than all our sin. This grace is what we all need.
I highly recommend this book. It is not illicit nor gratuitous, but it is real and honest. Caricature sensibilities will be offended. As she writes in this book, “Rahab the Harlot. Mary Magdalene. We love these women between the pages of our Bible, but we don’t want to sit at the Lord’s Table with them.” Overall, we owe this sister a great debt of gratitude for opening up her home and inviting us in for a while.
Review: Psmith, Journalist
Psmith, Journalist by P.G. Wodehouse
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Excellent book. Psmith gains quite a bit of character depth in this and it is fun as usual.
