Dinner with Christ?

Dinner with a perfect stranger by David Gregory

ISBN 1-57856-905-2

The book is a small 100 page hardcover made up of ten chapters. Each chapter is between 8 and 10 pages in length.

The book is a fictitious story about an over worked married man named Nick who has a young daughter. Nick spends way too much time at work and not enough time at home with his wife and daughter. Nick receives an invitation to dinner one day and thinks it’s some kind of joke because it’s dinner with Jesus of Nazareth.

I have a hard time with books that put words in the mouth of Christ that aren’t found in scripture because there is always a good possibility of making Jesus say something he never would say or endorse and that’s what we find in this book to some degree but that being said after the first chapter or two I did find the fictitious conversation interesting and enjoyed most of it.

The overall concept of the book was an interesting one, what would you say to Jesus if you had the opportunity to sit down and have a private dinner with him?

The book, in my opinion, is something like an apologetics book meant to give an answer to some of the questions concerning Christianity. Many of the questions that Nick asked are those that the average non-Christian would ask, things like is there a God, what about all the other religions and so on.

The fact that some of the theology is weak shouldn’t surprise anyone reading this kind of a book this isn’t a theology or an apologetics textbook after all so we shouldn’t treat as such. My philosophy is “eat and spit out the bones”. Let me give one example of what I consider bad theology, nothing crazy but weak in my opinion. On page 76 there is a discussion of the six days of creation and without directly stating it the author hints at that being the wrong way to view chapter 1 of Genesis. The implication is that God didn’t create in 6 literal days. There is also a bit of a jab at anyone who would wear a suit and necktie on page 86 (I do wear ties) although that has nothing to do with theology or salvation.

In the end I did like and very much enjoy reading this book. It touches on many of the regular questions and objections you find to Christianity and to Jesus. I think this is well worth reading (even though I mentioned a few things that I didn’t like about the book) and might even be worth reading together with someone who isn’t a Christian but is open to talk.

You can buy this book Here and Here

Please see the links below for more information.

http://www.davidgregorybooks.com/

http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?isbn=9781578569052

http://www.scribd.com/doc/53092260/Dinner-with-a-Perfect-Stranger-by-David-Gregory-Chapter-1-Excerpt

http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/author-spotlight.php?authorid=60719

Disclosure of Material: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive, review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR Title 16, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Great book to get you to think

First let me say that I bought this book for my Kindle and I gave it 4 stars out of 5 in my Amazon review due to the many typos in it (I am sure this will be fixed and don't let that keep you from reading the book).
The Dragon Slayer by Jim McGuiggan was a very interesting read. The one thing I liked about this book was that it got me to think. McGuiggan takes a different view of some things and that can cause someone to stop and rethink what they might have always believed but the book also does a great job of pointing us to Christ and his work as well as reminding us about our loving Holy Father. Sometimes people can forget that God is our Father and loves us and Jim McGuiggan does a great job of reminding us of that fact.

Some of the topics discussed in the book have to do with Atonement, God's love, and of course Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. At a time when we hear a lot of fluffy-psycho-babble-self-help junk in the pulpit and in books it's great to read a book centered on Jesus one that makes us THINK.

You will not agree with the author on every point but it will make you think.

Thank you Mr. McGuiggan for calling us back to Jesus "The Dragon Slayer"

You can buy this book Here

You can find out more about Jim McGuiggan and his other books, writtings, and teachings Here

Book Review: “What is Baptism?”

Crucial Questions No. 11 “What is Baptism?” by R.C. Sproul

ISBN: 978-1-56769-260-0

Dr. Sproul has written a number of booklets in a series entitled “Crucial Questions”. These are designed to answer a number of questions concerning important topics from a Reformed theological perspective. Some of these include “What is the Trinity?” and “Who is Jesus?” the one I am reviewing is on the subject of baptism.

This booklet on baptism is around 70 pages long and is broken up into six chapters addressing such aspects as “Baptism and Salvation” to “The case for Infant Baptism”. The booklet is meant to be an overview and introduction to the subject, again, from the view of Reformed theology but does address issues related to Roman Catholicism and even Baptist theology.

I need to say that while I don’t agree with Dr. Sproul’s views on baptism (he mentions at one point that baptism is not necessary for salvation which I disagree with) I have enjoyed reading this booklet. The booklet is well written and has a very pleasing format and while I know that Dr. Sproul is a brilliant theologian who could have written this booklet with a lot of technical jargon he didn’t and that I appreciate. I don’t agree with many of the conclusions but I do think there’s a lot in the booklet that’s helpful and insightful.

One example comes from a discussion of the Greek word eis. I found Dr. Sproul’s comments to be helpful and even though I didn’t learn anything new about the word it was presented in a new light with new illustrations.

Another reason I enjoyed reading this booklet was for his discussion on infant baptism. I don’t hold to this practice but I did find it helpful to have someone who believes in infant baptism explain it and give some reasons why they believe it.

In the end, anyone who is looking to research what others believe about baptism (especially from the Reformed view) really should pick this booklet up, it’s a must have, simple, understandable, and for me it enjoyable to read as well.

You can buy a copy of this booklet Here or Here.

Disclosure of Material: I received this book free from Reformed Trust Publishing’s book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive, review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR Title 16, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

A review of the book “The Troubled Church: A study in 1 Corinthians” by Darrin Yeager

ISBN: 978-0-9831117-0-2

This book is intended for layman or average Christians. This is a lose style commentary on the letter of 1 Corinthians.

First let me give the positives.

The book is written in an easy to read style. It isn’t a highly technical commentary with original language references, lexical discussions, or Greek syntax. The book was written for the average Christian and seems like it may have been a series of sermons or bible studies that ended up as a book (this is simply my guess). The font size and the way the book was formatted were pleasing. I also liked that the book gives the biblical text that will be comment on. The text that was used was the King James Version and the New King James Version which can be a little hard to understand at times but I enjoy have the scriptures written out for easy references.

Now for the negatives.

            The book is extremely surface level in its interaction with the biblical text and has no real depth to it. There isn’t any real meat to chew on. While I may not agree with an interpretation given by a particular commentary I do enjoy reading people who have differing views as long as they give me some reasons for their interpretation. Many times the book gives the scripture and then makes a surface level comment no longer than a sentence with nothing at all to sink your teeth into. Often you will find the same illustration, quote, or comment multiple times in different chapters which is fine in a sermon (repetition is often key) but in a book it’s redundant and get’s tiring.

            At one point in the book we find a mistake. There is a reference to the Greek word for love (I think the only time a reference is given having to do with the original language) and the author says that the word AGAPAW and AGAPE are two different words and the word AGAPAW “…is not ‘God’s love’ as is sometimes mistaken.” (pg141) The problem is one of the words is a verb and the other is a noun but they are both from the same root. Also the word AGAPAW is used of God’s love for man in 1 Thessalonians 1:4. The word “loved” in this passage is the word AGAPAW.

In the end I can’t recommend this book because the theology and interpretation presented are (in my opinion) off base, because of the error with the original language, and because of the surface level comments.

You can buy it here or here 

Disclosure of Material: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookCrash.com book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive, review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR Title 16, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review: The Martyr of the Catacombs

The book is around 160 pages written by an unknown author. It was said to have been found on an abandoned American sailing ship in 1876.

The book is something like historical fiction. It’s a fictional story set in a history. You follow a Roman soldier named Marcellus as he is tracking a group of criminals in Roman around A.D. 251. The criminals are Christians who are persecuted under the Roman Emperor Decius, hated and forced to live out their lives in the Catacombs.

We follow the rather quick conversion of Marcellus who goes from Roman soldier to a persecuted Christian himself. Marcellus finds faith in Christ among the tombs of Christian martyrs.

The one thing I did like was the description of the events in the Coliseum. The book somewhat reminded me of the movie "Gladiator" or the HBO miniseries "Rome" although not as enjoyable to read as those were to watch.

The fictitious story is alright but there are parts of the book that were bogged down and slow. The book isn’t all that great and I really can’t recommend it. Save yourself the time and read something else or watch a good documentary on the martyrs.

You can buy the book Here or get it free for Kindle Here

Thoughts from this evenings Bible study

I just came back from an evening Bible study at the Worcester church of Christ. The study was on the “Gospel”. Mike, the Bible study leader asked us “what comes to mind when you hear the word ‘Gospel’?”

This seems like an easy question to answer for those of us who have been in a church or Bible study before but we were challenged to think about the different responses people might give. Some of the answers that were given were “good news”, “one of the first four books of the New Testament”, “the death burial and resurrection”. After talking about these and other answers Mike zeroed in on the way Paul defines it in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. Paul defines the “gospel” as the death burial and resurrection of Jesus the Christ and he says it’s of first importance.

Some of the things we talked about were “how does this gospel impact us and change us today”, “Does the gospel have the same impact today as it did in the first century”, and “What is the only way we can see the gospel power today?”

The study was very well done and is something we need to continue to think about. Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 this week and ask some questions about the text.

Tortured for Christ

Tortured for Christ is an autobiographical account of the life of Richard Wurmbrand while he lived in communist Romania. The book was written more than 30 years ago and is approximately 170 pages long with 7 chapters. Some of the chapters were added for the 30 year anniversary rerelease of the book (I think).

I have mixed feelings about the book because on the one hand the man’s theology isn’t very biblical but it’s not a theology book. There are things that he says that seem to go a little too far. For example on page 15 he speaks about American Christians needing to “atone” for national sins. That seems to go too far and I can’t accept that at all. He also seems, at times, to be a bit bitter. Some of the things he says about American or English Christians and/or churches seems harsh (you can read and make up your own mind).

But on the other hand the author does do a good job at times of refocusing us on things that are truly important. He speaks of being tortured for years and praying and loving his torturers and speaking to them about Christ in hopes that they might come to know Jesus. He says that we are to love the sinner but hate the evil.

On page 51 the author says: “The value of Bibles smuggled in by these men cannot be understood by an American or an English Christian who ‘swims’ in Bibles.” That truly is something to ponder. We live in a place that has an abundance of Bibles and many people own more than one and yet we tend to be illiterate when it comes to the Bible. So he does make good points and has given me a lot to think about.

In the end this book is not recommended for its theology, it’s not a theology book but I do recommend every Christian read it for its eyewitness account of what one man went through and saw as a persecuted Christian in a communist controlled country. You really will do well to read this book and perhaps make it a habit to read even once a year a book on martyred Christians to help keep in perspective what is really important.

You can buy this book Here or get a copy (possibly for free) Here