Randisbookbag Blog
Just another WordPress.com weblogBe the People: A Call to Reclaim America’s Faith & Promise by Carol M. Swain, PhD
There are other books on the market, written by respected conservatives, that seek to defend the premise that America was founded on religious, even Christian, principles, and to refute the currently popular cultural notion that our Constitution (particularly the First Amendment) necessitates a complete divorce of religion and politics or public life. Dr. Swain’s book goes further than that. She compares the founding of our country to the covenant that ancient Israel had with God; she goes so far as to say that many of the Founders intended for America to be built on a NEW covenant with the Creator. As we have, as a culture, turned our collective backs on this covenant, we have put our nation at risk, because just as God’s judgement fell on ancient Israel, so too it may fall on the United States of America. Dr. Swain’s book is a call to action for all Americans, especially Christian Americans, to sincerely repent of sin and of apathy, and to work together to reclaim our culture.
The book describes America’s religious history and foundation (including acknowledging that BOTH Christian and deist philosophies influenced the Founders), and then goes on to discuss cultural issues of our day, including abortion, gay marriage, divorce, immigration, and race relations. Swain’s treatments of these issues are very well-researched and well-articulated. The only complaint I have about the book, in fact, is that many times I felt that Swain was leaving a certain discussion to move onto another topic, but I wanted to read more! I suspect she could easily have made three or four books out of her material and had to edit quite a lot in order to have a manageable manuscript. I especially appreciated the way the author’s personal experiences as an African-American woman inform her discussion of issues such as poverty, abortion, single-motherhood, race relations, and “the American Dream.”
It’s so easy for those of us who believe that our culture is deteriorating to feel helpless to turn things around. I know I do. It feels as if the tide is moving in the wrong direction and all of us are getting swept up in that tide whether we like it or not. Dr. Swain’s book leaves the reader with hope, hope that with prayer and hard work – and God’s help — we can redeem American culture. I pray that she is right.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. 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 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
The Final Summit: A Quest to Find the One Prinicple That Will Save Humanity, by Andy Andrews
An engrossing novel…but the ending, and the solution to the puzzle, fall flat.
I read 
Andy Andrews’ novel, The Final Summit, with great interest. The story reintroduces David Ponder, the main character from Andrews’ previous novel, The Traveler’s Gift (which I have not read). Decades after his time travel adventures in the previous novel, David is again visited by the archangel Gabriel, who informs him that he (David) has been selected as the leader of a summit of time travelers (many of the others being famous historical figures). The purpose of the summit is for the participants to come up with the correct answer to the question: “What does humanity need to do, individually and collectively, to restore itself to the pathway toward successful civilization?” (p. 67). The stakes are high — Gabriel informs David and the other summit members that the future of humanity depends on them coming up with the right solution.
I would love to be a spectator at the summit which Andrews’ imagination has conjured up. How incredible it would be to just sit and listen as historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Joan of Arc, George Washington Carver, and Anne Frank debate the essential elements of human nature and the betterment of our world. (I suppose some might criticize Andrews for choosing mostly American and European individuals as members of his summit, but I think that’s natural given that he’s writing to an American audience.) The conversations that take place during the summit were fascinating to me. I had to discipline myself not to look to the end of the novel to find the solution that the characters at last decided upon. Then I finally reached the ending — and the novel fell flat. I won’t reveal the solution, but I will say that the answer, which the archangel Gabriel approved as the “correct” one, is completely devoid of any reference to humanity’s need for God (or Christ).
I should mention here that I am an avid reader of all kinds of books, fiction and nonfiction, “Christian” and “secular.” I am not someone who believes that a book must have an overtly Christian message to be of value, as entertainment or even as instruction. But this isn’t just any book — this is a novel in which the characters are trying to decide what humanity NEEDS. In my opinion (and I realize many readers of this review may disagree), what humanity needs is Jesus. I suppose that, because the publisher, Thomas Nelson, is a Christian publisher, and because this imagined summit takes place in what seems to be heaven, I was expecting a very different ending. And it seems strange that Gabriel, who describes himself several times in the book as a “servant of God,” ends by accepting a humanist/postmodern solution to the puzzle in which God is absent. I also think that, even if I were not a Christian, the characters’ eventual solution would seem inadequate to me, especially given the thought-provoking discussion which preceeds it. My reaction was basically: “Huh? That’s IT?”
I’ve never read a book by this author before, but judging from this example, I think he’s a very gifted writer. Too bad he’s missed the point.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. 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: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
What Difference Do It Make? by Ron Hall, Denver Moore, and Lynn Vincent. Published by Thomas Nelson.
What Difference Do It Make? is the sequel to the authors’ bestseller, Same Kind of Different As Me, the true story of an unlikely and life-changing friendship between a wealthy art dealer (Ron Hall) and an illiterate homeless man (Denver Moore). But you don’t have to have read the first book to be touched by this one — I hadn’t, when I first received this sequel as a Thomas Nelson book review blogger.
The book’s voice alternates from chapter to chapter between the first-person memories and musings of Ron Hall to those of his coauthor Denver Moore. (The third co-author, Lynn Vincent, is not one of the actors in the book.) Excerpts (plainly set apart from the rest of the text) from the first book are included, to help the reader track the story. Also included are stories of readers — people from all over the country whose lives changed through the first book in myriad ways, from a family who decided to adopt from Ethiopia, to children inspired to raise money for the homeless, and more. Mr. Hall and Mr. Moore are both gut-wrenchingly honest in the book. The book is touching and challenging, and I highly recommend it.
(Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, Thomas Nelson, in exchange for reviewing it. I am not required to post a positive review, just provide my own opinion. For more on this book review blogger program, see www.booksneeze.com.)
My Life as a Doormat (In Three Acts): A Romantic Comedy, by Rene Gutteridge
I’ve already got more unread books on my bookshelf than I know what to do with, but the title of this novel called out to me from the fiction section of my church library last week. “My Life as a Doormat.” Somehow, I knew this story would be one I could relate to. I have NOT actually lived my adult life as a doormat, but that’s only because I happened to marry someone who has always insisted that I stand up for myself, to him as well as to the rest of the world. (I suppose I could get philosophical here and wonder whether I’m really being a doormat by bowing to my husband’s insistence that I not be a doormat…but I won’t.) Over the last 21 years of marriage, I have learned to deal with conflict when necessary, to say what needs to said — yet I still usually feel panic-ridden during the whole process, as if the words in my head were going to strangle me on their way out of my mouth.
Gutteridge’s heroine, a playwright named Leah, feels just as frightened of conflict as I do, but has not yet learned to fight past the panic. She lets everyone in her life — her parents, her best friend, her theatrical agent, and her boyfriend of two years — walk all over her. She can’t even order what she wants for dinner in a restaurant if she thinks it will displease her companion. Then her boyfriend, Edward, enrolls her in a conflict management class as a surprise. Leah, of course, goes to the class even though she doesn’t want to. Thus begins a journey that eventually leads Leah to discover who she really is and what she wants out of life. She learns that God values and loves her as she is, and that it is ultimately more unselfish to speak the truth in love than to try to please others by pretending to be someone she’s not. The novel is funny, both in the narration and in the ridiculous situations that Leah finds herself in on her journey from doormat to authentic woman of God. I had trouble putting it down.
(A Women of Faith selection, published by WestBow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson, 2006)
What He’s Really Thinking: How to be a Relational Genius With the Man in Your Life, by Paula Rinehart
When I was in college, in the 1980s, it was fashionable – especially for those of us in the social sciences – to view all non-anatomical differences between the sexes as being caused by socialization, the different ways that parents and others treat boys and girls. Fast-forward twenty years, with all the advances in gender research, including brain scan technology, and it’s no longer considered sexist to acknowledge that men and women are different. This book, written for women about men, is about understanding those differences. It’s about men as Other. The book’s tone is that of viewing men’s qualities as God-given gifts without demeaning the qualities of women. The author is a female psychotherapist, and she peppers her observations with stories from her practice about the experiences of men and the women who love them. Although the book is mostly geared toward wives, the author frequently reminds the reader that the men women love and seek to understand also include the fathers, brothers, and friends of both married and single women. Some of Rinehart’s observations are old news to anyone who has ever read books or magazine articles about gender differences: It’s not exactly revolutionary to read that men are action-oriented or that they are less comfortable than women with the verbal expression of emotions. But many of her other points are more helpful. For example, in a chapter entitled “Expectations,” Rinehart accurately says that “expecting too little from a man may mean, unfortunately, that too little is what you get” (p. 85). Rinehart writes eloquently of relationships: “What feels like love between two human beings is mostly a string of moments in which you feel enjoyed” (p. 150). I have to admit, though, that the 1980′s-era social scientist in me feels uncomfortable with Rinehart’s depiction of the God-given strength of men, meant for women to lean upon. (Really? Didn’t God make women strong, too?) I think it’s more accurate in my own marriage to say that my husband and I are each the stronger at different times and each lean upon the other. But other than that, I found Rinehart’s book to be beautifully written and helpful. I would recommend this book in general to female readers but think that it might be particularly helpful to younger women, who are still exploring who men are and who they are in relation to the men in their lives.
100 Bible Stories, 100 Bible Songs by Stephen Elkins, Illustrated by Tim O’Connor
100 Bible Stories, 100 Bible Songs by Stephen Elkins, Illustrated by Tim O’Connor
As the mother of a five-year-old, I am very impressed with this Bible story collection and 2-CD set. As the title implies, the book contains 100 Bible stories, each paired with a children’s song or familiar hymn that relates to the story. I estimate that the set is appropriate for ages 3-8. I was pleased to see that many of the songs are recognizable from my own childhood, such as “Noah’s Arky Arky” and “I Love Him Better Every D-A-Y.” (Printable lyrics are available from a website.) The stories themselves are well-written, and each is accompanied by a brief (2-sentence) biblical truth that the child can take from the story, as well as a 1-sentence “Life Action Application,” such as “I will listen to God” or “Jesus loves me and I will love others.” A minority of the “stories” are not really stories per se but rather are impressively concise, kid-friendly explanations of biblical truths from passages such as the Psalms, the Sermon on the Mount, and the Epistles. The one drawback I can think of for this anthology is that the stories are so brief that they may not satisfy kids and parents who want more detailed, involving stories – those parents may prefer individual Bible storybooks or other collections. But my family is finding this set to be a helpful, enjoyable, and well-crafted devotional guide, and I highly recommend it to other families.
Welcome to Randi’s Book Bag!
Welcome to Randi’s Book Bag! I hope you will find my book reviews to be helpful and that they perhaps will guide you towards books that you will enjoy.
I have become a Thomas Nelson “Book Review Blogger.” If this sounds at all impressive, it isn’t — anyone can do it, receiving free books from this Christian publishing company in exchange for posting reviews online. If you’re interested in this program, check it out at http://brb.thomasnelson.com/join.
So, I will be reviewing Thomas Nelson books on this blog — fiction, non-fiction, and children’s books. If I get to liking this blogging thing, perhaps I will post reviews of other books (Christian and otherwise) as well. Stay tuned, and happy reading!
