Series: Reviews

October 28, 2011

Christian Standard

You Must Read This . . . Contemplating the Image of Christ

By Patricia Magness Silence Shusaku Endo (translated into English by William Johnston in 1969) Marlboro: Taplinger Publishing, 1980 “Everyone should read this book!” was the emphatic conclusion of class discussion””not coming from the professor, but from a student. The rest of the class agreed, and someone added, “It is painful, but it has changed me.” The comments were like an echo of the very words I had spoken when I finished the book. And each person who reads this book on my recommendation thanks me, even if the thanks is accompanied by tears. Silence, by Japanese Christian writer Shusaku Endo,

October 28, 2011

Shawn McMullen

You Must Read This . . . Radical

By Shawn McMullen Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream David Platt Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, 2010 Radical Together: Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God By David Platt Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, 2011 Some books teach us new things. Others remind us of what we already know. David Platt”s recent books, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream and Radical Together: Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God, remind us of our calling in Christ””to live radical lives of service and sacrifice for the glory of God and the

October 27, 2011

Christian Standard

You Must Read This . . . Challenging Prejudices

By LeRoy Lawson Allah: A Christian Response Miroslav Volf New York: HarperCollins e-books, 2011 Many years ago my doctoral dissertation was published as Very Sure of God: Religious Language in the Poetry of Robert Browning. My question was, “In his poetry, when Browning says “˜God,” what does he mean?” My answer was, “Not much.” Of course it took me a book to explain what I meant. Ever since this exercise I”ve been listening closely when people say “God.” You can explain a lot of their behavior this way. Now Miroslav Volf has published Allah: A Christian Response. His question is,

October 27, 2011

Christian Standard

You Must Read This . . . Timeless Relevance

By Jim Eichenberger Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters Timothy Keller New York: Dutton, 2009 Timothy Keller is well read without coming across as pompous. He strongly defends a biblical faith without being combative. He appeals to young adults despite being 60-plus and bald! A prolific writer of late, Keller defied the common wisdom by planting a church aimed at preaching “muscular” Christianity to a young urban audience in Manhattan. Founded in 1989, the Redeemer Presbyterian Church has more than 5,000 attendees weekly and is the “mother church” of congregations

October 26, 2011

Christian Standard

You Must Read This . . . Beyond Easy Legalism

By Brad Dupray Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy By Eric Metaxas Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010 German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer had a wanderlust that carried him throughout pre-World War II Europe, across the Atlantic to the United States, and even as far south as Mexico City. It was not the sights he saw that shaped Bonhoeffer”s worldview, so much as the people he met. In this thorough biographical account of a Christian martyr, Eric Metaxas reviews the tapestry of relationships Bonhoeffer used to understand basic human rights, all in the context of one who also had a deep understanding of Scripture. But

October 26, 2011

Christian Standard

You Must Read This . . . A More Meaningful Story

By Arron Chambers A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: How I Learned to Live a Better Story By Donald Miller Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011 I picked up this book because it was a compilation of lessons a favorite author learned while editing his life. I couldn”t put it down, devouring it on one four-hour plane flight, because it was at once both convicting and compelling. I immediately developed the book into a sermon series for my church; it had helped me find a more meaningful story, and I wanted the same for others. At the beginning of the book, Donald

October 25, 2011

Christian Standard

You Must Read This . . . A Priceless Discovery

By Mark Atteberry Moments with the Savior: A Devotional Life of Christ By Ken Gire Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998  Every summer my wife and I attend the International Christian Retail Show. We love it because we get to rub shoulders with many of our favorite authors and because we never come home with fewer than 60 or 70 brand-new, just-released books. It”s like Christmas in July. But it isn”t quite as great as it might sound. It always turns out that at least half the books we ship home aren”t worth the paper they”re printed on. For some, the problem

October 25, 2011

Christian Standard

You Must Read This . . . A Spiritual Retreat

By Becky Ahlberg Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense By N.T. Wright New York: HarperCollins, 2006 I found this gem during my search for help in writing the spiritual formation curriculum for an intensive yearlong program for low-income single mothers. As is often the case, when you teach, you learn the most. For this teacher, this book was like fresh water to a parched soul. In its simplicity and clarity it brought into bold relief how truly dry I was! Page after page the author brings to life the theology we often “know” and yet don”t understand in a personal way.

September 23, 2011

Christian Standard

Reconsidering Politics, Revisiting Columbine, and Rediscovering Fun

By LeRoy Lawson The Great Awakening: 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, 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

Christian Standard

Embracing Mystery, Remembering Churchill, and Reconsidering the Classics

By LeRoy Lawson Einstein”s God: 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: A New Apologia 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

Christian Standard

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

Christian Standard

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

April 15, 2011

Christian Standard

Trying to Keep Up with Books by “˜Us”

By LeRoy Lawson Superman on Earth: Reflections of a Fan Gary D. Robinson / Baltimore: PublishAmerica, 2010 Thoughtprints: Poems En Route Wilma Curtis Buckner / ©Wilma Buckner, 2009 Daily Disciple: A One-Year Devotional Guide Gary Holloway / Abilene: Leafwood Publishers, 2008 Steppes of Faith: Discovering God”s Goodness in Ukraine Janice Lemke / Purpose Press, 2010 Eyes of Integrity: The Porn Pandemic and How It Affects You Craig Gross and Jason Harper / Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2010 I remember grumbling with some fellow Christian church ministers many years ago that we did not seem to be a publishing fellowship. We

March 15, 2011

Christian Standard

Charting a Course Through the Humanities

By LeRoy Lawson The West in the World, Vol. 1, 3rd Edition Dennis Sherman and Joyce Salisbury Columbus: McGraw-Hill Fleming”s Arts and Ideas, 10th Edition Mary Warner Marien and William Fleming Thomson Wadsworth, 2005 Greek Tragedies, Vol. 1, 2nd Edition David Grene and Richmond Lattimore, editors Chicago: University of Chicago, 1992 The Odyssey Homer; Stanley Lombardo, translator Indianapolis: Hackett, 2000 The Aeneid Vergil; Sarah Ruden, translator New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008 Beowulf Seamus Heaney, translator New York: Norton, 2001 COURSE: Humanities 101: Ancient and Medieval Cultures PROFESSOR: Lawson REQUIRED READING: see above The Milligan College freshmen who signed up

February 23, 2011

Christian Standard

A Troubled Continent, a New Dream

By LeRoy Lawson The Fate of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence Martin Meredith New York: Public Affairs, 2005 Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles Richard Dowden New York: Public Affairs, 2009 Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream David Platt Colorado Springs: WaterBrook Multnomah, 2010 Returning through Amsterdam”s Schipohl Airport from Kenya last year, I picked up a couple of books on Africa that, once I started reading, I couldn”t stop. Not that I enjoyed them. I didn”t. But I had just been to Africa and am fascinated by the people and countries I”ve visited. What these

January 4, 2011

Christian Standard

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

December 27, 2010

Christian Standard

FROM MY BOOKSHELF: From My Vacation, for Your New Year

By LeRoy Lawson The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves Matt Ridley / New York: HarperCollins, 2010 Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker / Carol Stream: Tyndale House, 2009 Why Does E=MC2? Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw / Cambridge: Da Capo Press, 2009 How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In Jim Collins / New York: HarperCollins, 2009 The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got that Way Bill Bryson / New York: Perennial, 1990 This column”s books have one thing in common: They provided my entertainment on a recent trip to Europe.

November 28, 2010

Christian Standard

From My Bookshelf: It Matters What You Believe

By LeRoy Lawson Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality Manjit Kumar New York: W.W. Norton, 2008 Pearl Buck in China: Journey to The Good Earth Hilary Spurling New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010 The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century Steve Coll New York: Penguin Press, 2008 “What is REAL?” asked the Velveteen Rabbit in that all-time favorite children”s book, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. “What is REAL?” asked some of the 20th-century”s most brilliant scientific minds. We”re still waiting for their definitive answer. Manjit Kumar”s Quantum records their best guesses

October 31, 2010

Christian Standard

FROM MY BOOKSHELF: Lessons from Lives Past

By LeRoy Lawson Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa”s Greatest Explorer Tim Jeal New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007 Cleopatra: A Biography Duane W. Roller London: Oxford University Press, 2010 George, Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I Miranda Carter New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010 “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” Who hasn”t heard Henry Stanley”s famous greeting when, after an incredibly arduous search for the missing missionary-explorer, he uttered this premeditated, deliberately understated line? More Than a Counterfeit That greeting, frankly, is about all I could have told you of the man before reading

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