The Pursuit of Holiness - review

The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges is a book about the holiness of our Lord and the holiness in the life of the believer. Originally written in 1978, this book has not lost any luster.

Bridge's classic addresses the issues surrounding holiness: holiness of the Lord, understanding how holiness works in us, obedience, faith, joy, etc. Straightforward and lucid, Pursuit of Holiness guides the reader through the text of Scripture with great impact.

Some excerpts:

Acknowledging His holiness is one of the ways we are to praise God. (p 24)

Holiness does not consist in mystic speculations, enthusiastic fervours, or uncommanded austerities; it consists in thinking as God thinks and willing as God wills. (p 47, quoting Scottish theologian John Brown)

We have to learn that we are dependent upon the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to attain any degree of holiness. Then, as we look to Him, we will see Him working in us - revealing our sin, creating a desire for holiness, and giving us the strength to respond to Him in obedience. (p 76)

Joy not only results from a holy life, but there is also a sense in which joy helps produce a holy life. ... And as [the Christian] hopes in Christ, he begins to have joy. ... He then finds that the joy of a holy walk is infinitely more satisfying than the fleeting pleasures of sin. (p 151)

Definitely recommended.

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking - review

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell investigates how some people can make highly accurate split decisions. And how our intuition can really let us down.

This book really gets you thinking. There has been some critique about Gladwell's analysis of what forms our thinking, how he sees this phenomena working, or that he just pulled together various articles and try to make a book out them. These accusations may be true, but this was a FUN book to read!

Gladwell looks at so many things: predicting divorce, picking out a fake sculpture, Tom Hanks, racial bias, Marines in Vietnam, Coke vs. Pepsi. The concept behind the show Lie To Me is addressed. You learn why orchestra auditions are done with a screen separating judges and applicant. The list goes on - awesome stuff!

Truth. - review

Truth. by Dave Bordon has 100 contrasting statements between what popular culture says and what Scripture says. Written in a style that allows someone to easily read a page at a time, the book is meant to highlight some of the messages we get bombarded with and confront them with the truth.

While I was a bit skeptical at first, I actually enjoyed this book. Yes, there is a bit of Christian sloganeering and there are few chapters that I would have said a bit differently. Arguments and analysis are not that in-depth. But the intent is to confront some of what is been told to us with Scripture. Truth. does that in an accessible, entry-level fashion.

A word of warning: this book is meant to be read in parts. There isn't any real cohesion between the sayings, so it is good for people that really don't like to read more than just a little bit at a time.

The Kite Runner - review

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a novel about the life and redemption of Amir, a kid growing up in and then returning to Afghanistan.

In short, I enjoyed learning about Afghan culture and history, but the story was disappointing.


SPOILER ALERT!!!

SUMMARY OF THE STORY: This is a novel about a rich(er) kid, Amir, that grew up in Kabul. They have servants in the house and the servant boy, Hassan, is very fond of Amir, but he is a Hazara, an unpopular minority. One day Hassan gets a special kite for Amir, but a local bully, Assef, rapes him because he is Hazara and Amir, who sees it happen, does nothing. Amir, ashamed of his cowardice, drives out Hassan and his father out of his house and into a very desperate life.

Amir and his father eventually have to flee the country and they go to America. A relative of Amir, Rahim, asks him to come back to Afghanistan (during the Taliban era) and retrieve Hassan's son, Sohrab, from an orphanage. Amir finds Sohrab in the clutches of the same man, Assef, that raped Hassan - a druggie, a pedophile, and an executioner for the Taliban. Amir gets beat up by Assef, only to be saved by Sohrab before he dies. Though free from Assef, the Taliban, and Afghanistan, Sohrab never really recovers psychologically, even though he winds up getting adopted by Amir and living in the US.

The positives of the book: The author tells a very compelling tale. It grips at your heart. You feel anger and despair. You gain some insight into a culture that you might ever know about.

What did I not like about this book? This is essentially a story of the redemption of Amir for his cowardice when Hassan needed help. It seems that since Amir almost dies at the hands of Assef and he (reluctantly) adopts Sohrab, all is well. Everyone else dies before the truth of the whole situation comes out. It seems so trite; the events, though perfectly laid out, do not yield redemption for Amir. How does Amir's pummeling make everything better? How does Amir caring for a child that (seemingly) could have had a happy life with his real dad make the first act go away? It doesn't.

And having the villain as a doped-up, Nazi-loving, pedophile with John Lennon sunglasses who also happens to be a part of the Taliban(!) is a real stretch - even in this novel. I'm no friend of the Taliban, but that sort of portrayal seems to run contrary to Taliban values (like eradicating opium production, hating Western culture, enforcing sexual mores - you get the picture), which they conveniently disregard in the case of Assef.


The book is a page turner, no doubt about it. If you think that a certain amount of personal suffering can atone for very evil deeds, then you'll enjoy the flow of this novel. If not, you can learn a bit about kite fighting (which actually sounds kinda cool).

Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God - review

Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan is an audio book that talks about what it means to be a follower of Christ.

First, the book is deeply challenging. Looking through the lens of Scripture, Chan confronts mediocrity in the church without seeming whiny. Convicting. Inspiring. One of the better books I have 'read' this year.

Secondly, this is not a great audio book. For one, Chan reads it and his reading seems a bit dispassionate. Also, this is a book you want to go back to. He makes these annoying comments about putting down the book (to stop listening) and check out a particular video online or fall on your knees and I'm like, "Dude, I'm driving as I listen to you."

So buy the book. It was worth listening to, but I'll still need to go back over my own copy. (And set aside time to check out video, reflect, and seek my God.)

Who Is Jesus? - review

Who Is Jesus? by N.T. Wright evaluates three contemporary (1994) claims of who Jesus really is. The unfortunate (but deserving) victims of Wright's penetrating analysis are Barbara Thiering, A.N. Wilson, and John Sprong.

Barbara Thiering claims that Jesus was a figure in the community that wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Gospels are code (she claims pesher) for the happenings within that community. According to Thiering, Jesus is drugged on the cross in a trial and awakens in a cave. He eventually marries Mary Magdalene, has a daughter and two sons, divorces her, and marries again. Easy breezy for Wright to dismantle this mess.

A.N. Wilson claims that Jesus, as we know him, is mythical story. According to Wilson, Jesus actually died, but the people thought that James (Jesus' brother) was actually Jesus resurrected. Wilson's problems in his assessment center around two issues: (1) even though he is a good writer, he isn't that great with facts and using scholarship and (2) he has admittedly given up his Christian faith and (surprise, surprise) Jesus wouldn't have approved of the Christian faith either, all the while calling the NT writers biased. Wright shows his ability as a historian and Wilson readily goes down as well.

John Sprong attacks the birth of Jesus and calls the Gospels fanciful stories which aren't meant to be taken literally (calling them Midrash). Wright deals with Sprong skillfully, but this is a more intricate argument.


Wright is very easy to read; for a book reassessing the historical Jesus, it was a page-turner. There are a couple of comments Wright makes that get under my skin. While N.T. Wright takes positions that I do not hold, they are outside of this volume; this book is a keeper.

The Gospel and Personal Evangelism - review

The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever is a short volume on our individual responsibly to see the Gospel spread. The core of the book is found in these seven chapters:

1. Why Don't We Evangelize?
2. What Is the Gospel?
3. Who Should Evangelize?
4. How Should We Evangelize?
5. What Isn't Evangelism?
6. What Should We Do After We Evangelize?
7. Why Should We Evangelize?

There are some final words on the "closing the sale" mentality, a recommended reading list, and a word to pastors.

Excellent stuff by Dever. Simple, biblical, clear. The intro about John Harper is worth having alone.

Yes, it appears that the dude pointing on the cover has been in the weight room.

How To Pray - review

How To Pray by Reuben A. Torrey (1900) is a straightforward guide on the why's and how to's of prayer. The chapters, correspondingly, follow in this fashion:
1. The Importance of Prayer
2. Praying Unto God
3. Obeying and Praying
4. Praying in the Name of Christ and According to the Will of God
5. Praying in the Spirit
6. Always Praying and Not Fainting
7. Praying with Thanksgiving
8. Hindrances to Prayer
9. When to Pray
10. The Need of Prayer Before and During Revivals

Some summaries and excerpts:
We are to pray, as Christ did: a great while before day, all night, before great crises, after great events and crises, when life was unusually busy, before great temptations, and as a habit of life.

A wife's prayer for her husband to be converted is selfish when it is because she wants a more pleasant life or even because of the pain she might feel knowing her husband is lost. Why should a woman desire the conversion of her husband? First of all and above all, that God may be glorified; because she cannot bear the thought that God the Father should be dishonored by her husband trampling underfoot the Son of God.


One might take issue with Torrey's concreteness, but this is a helpful work. There are a few places where I took issue with his presentation of Spirit baptism and how God responds to our efforts, but he offers some sound wisdom to the would be intercessor. Plus, it's free.