Series: From My Bookshelf

Provocative Approaches to Purity, Dementia, and the Afterlife

By LeRoy Lawson Unclean: Meditations on Purity, Hospitality, and Mortality Richard Beck Eugene: Cascade Books, 2011 Turn of Mind Alice LaPlante New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2011 Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives David Engleman New York: Pantheon Books, 2009 Richard Beck”s Unclean is not a nice book. It”s about the disgusting things that shape our spirituality. While most people like their religion neat and clean””it”s what we usually mean by “holy”””life isn”t neat, and many of the people Jesus sends his disciples to reach aren”t clean. What then? The author, a professor at Abilene Christian University, is convinced that

January 3, 2012

Aging, Dying, Disasters . . . and Joy

By LeRoy Lawson Emily Alone: A Novel Stewart O”Nan New York: Penguin Group, 2011 Death with Interruptions Jose Saramago Orlando: Houghton MifflinÂ Harcourt, 2008 A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster Rebecca Solnit New York: Penguin Books, 2009 I speak fairly often for seniors” conferences. I used to speak for youth conventions. As a wag has noted, that means I”m still talking to the same people. Last year I was on the program for two such conferences in Oregon, one at the state convention grounds in the Willamette Valley, the other at Camp WiNeMa

December 13, 2011

Four Books About Microfinance

By LeRoy Lawson When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor and Yourself Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert Chicago: Moody Press, 2009 Banker to the Poor: Micro-lending and the Battle Against World Poverty Muhammad Yunus with Alan Jolis New York: Public Affairs, 2003 The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World Jacqueline Novogratz New York: Rodale, 2009 A Billion Bootstraps: Microcredit, Barefoot Banking, and the Business Solution for Ending Poverty Phil Smith and Eric Thurman, Forward by Muhammad Yunus New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007 First, hear the story: “Elephant and Mouse

November 4, 2011

Two Books about Hell

By LeRoy Lawson Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell,Â and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived Rob Bell New York: HarperOne, 2011 Hell Is Real (But I Hate to Admit It)Â Brian Jones Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2011 In July, I met with an exciting group of campus ministers from universities around the world. These engaged and engaging young men and women never fail to challenge me with their penetrating questions about today”s leading theological issues. This time there were two issues under consideration: gay marriage (one by one the states are voting to approve it””what are

September 23, 2011

Culture & Public Square Politics & Government

Reconsidering Politics, Revisiting Columbine, and Rediscovering Fun

By LeRoy Lawson The Great Awakening:Â Reviving Faith and Politics in a Post-Religious Right America Jim Wallis New York: HarperOne, 2008 Columbine Dave Cullen New York: Twelve (e-book), 2009 Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination,Â and Invigorates the Soul Stuart Brown, MD New York: Penguin Group, 2009 I didn”t read Jim Wallis”s The Great Awakening when it came out in 2008. My “must-read” stack was pretty high then, so I opted to skip the Sojourners founder”s sequel to God”s Politics, his opinion of””and this is the book”s subtitle””Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn”t Get It.

August 13, 2011

Apologetics & Worldview Faith & Science

Embracing Mystery, Remembering Churchill, and Reconsidering the Classics

By LeRoy Lawson Einstein”s God:Â Conversations about Science and the Human Spirit Krista Tippett New York: Penguin Books, 2010 Churchill and America Martin Gilbert New York: Free Press, 2005 Climbing Parnassus:Â A New ApologiaÂ for Greek and Latin Tracy Lee Simmons Wilmington: ISI Books, 2002 There”s no yelling in Krista Tippett”s Einstein”s God, no name-calling. This book is not another shootout of science and religion. Instead, these transcripts from 10 episodes of her radio show Speaking of Faith thoughtfully raise issues that thinking people can”t avoid: Can science and religion get along? Can you believe in God and evolution? What is the primary

July 25, 2011

Believers, the Bible, and Prescriptions for Health

By LeRoy Lawson American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us Robert D. Putnam and David E. Campbell New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010 The Book that Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization Vishal Mangalwadi Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011 Pause Points: The Mindful Pursuit of Health and Well-Being Gene Harker and Curt Smith Bloomington: WestBow Press, 2011 Well, it”s happened at last. The third-largest “religious” group in the United States is “Nones,” people who claim no religious or institutional affiliation. The group is more numerous (17 percent) than mainline Protestants (14 percent). Only

June 17, 2011

Restoration Movement History

Dead Guys and a Living Church

By LeRoy Lawson Southern Seen: Meditations on Past and Present Larry T. McGehee, Edited by B. J. Hutto Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2005 The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt T. J. Stiles New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009 The Church Awakening: An Urgent Call for Renewal Charles R. Swindoll New York: Faith Words, 2010 What so disappoints me about Larry T. McGehee is that he is dead. You read someone”s book, you become enamored of his wit and charm, you look forward to reading more and maybe even meeting him. Then you discover you can”t. As

May 14, 2011

Service and Love: Paths to Change

LeRoy Lawson reviews three books on older adults in ministry, loving enemies in the Middle East, and James Davison Hunter’s call for Christians to serve the world.

April 15, 2011

Trying to Keep Up with Books by “˜Us”

LeRoy Lawson reviews five books from Christian church writers, including reflections on Superman, devotional poetry, Stone-Campbell meditations, missions in Ukraine, and ministry amid pornography’s destructive reach.

March 15, 2011

Charting a Course Through the Humanities

LeRoy Lawson revisits the classic reading list for Milligan College’s Humanities 101, reflecting on Homer, Vergil, Beowulf, Augustine, Greek tragedy, and enduring questions from ancient and medieval culture.

February 23, 2011

A Troubled Continent, a New Dream

LeRoy Lawson reviews two histories of post-independence Africa and David Platt’s Radical, connecting Africa’s suffering with the church’s call to sacrificial Great Commission living.

January 4, 2011

Changed Lives, Reformed Hearts

By LeRoy Lawson The Brain that Changes Itself Norman Doidge, M.D. / New York: Penguin Books, 2007 Dark Journey/Deep Grace: Jeffrey Dahmer”s Story of Faith Roy Ratliff and Lindy Adams / Abilene: Leafwood Publishers, 2006 In the 1950s Norman Vincent Peale”s The Power of Positive Thinking became a surprise best seller. Robert H. Schuller took up his mantle a generation later with a host of self-help books with a variation on the theme, the power of “possibility” thinking. It has been pretty easy for cynics to dismiss Peale and Schuller and their ilk. Too easy, too Pollyannaish, so much “pie

November 28, 2010