Book Review--Christianity in Crisis: 21st Century

Christianity in Crisis: 21st Century is a pretty interesting new (old) book by Hank Hanegraaff. I say “new (old)” because it is an update of a book that came out quite a while back. The book is a critique of the “prosperity gospel” (or “health and wealth,” “name it claim it,” “blab it grab it,” “profess it possess it,” etc.). Most people’s experience with this theology is primarily through media such as televangelists and books, and many are turned off by their promises of great prosperity in this world of pain. Hanegraaff exposes the deceit of this theology and this false gospel that is preached. I think it is pretty good theologically, and it sticks to the basics of orthodoxy quite well. I will move on to practical thoughts.
The book is a pretty good read overall, and I especially enjoyed the first chapter which was a compilation of documented theological ideas from different false preachers compiled into a “biblical theology.” It brings out how ridiculous some of the ideas are. My biggest complaint is that there are too many acronyms (which means for some out there who love acronyms, this book is for you). I’m not huge on acronyms, and he had one for everything. Other than that I think it was a good book.

Free Drawing, oh yeah.

So, I went to a Pentecostal church the other day, which was interesting for someone who has been Southern Baptist all his life, but I will write about that later. I also went to a Synagogue Friday, which again was different, but again, another day.

For right now, I will advertise.
Abraham and Molly Piper are giving away up to $100 worth from Online Poster Printing. It is a pretty sweet deal. They also let you know how to get more chances to win.

Abortion: America's Not-so-secret sin

Owen Strachan passed on this news piece from the Florida Catholic. With all the theological, philosophical, and ethical arguments that are made, chilling stories like this are often ignored. Read this soberly, mourning America's greatest not-so-secret sin, and pass it on to others.

Review-This Is Your Brain on Joy

Dr. Earl Henslin’s book, This Is Your Brain on Joy, was a surprisingly good read. I must admit, when I got this book, I expected it to be a bunch of bad psychobabble. I also expected Henslin to minimize the reality of sin. I was surprised because he did not overload me with psychobabble and psychiatric analysis or minimize sin. He admitted multiple times that sin causes mental and emotional problems that need to be dealt with first. He also is not quick to say people need medicine. Henslin argues for many different things to help with mental issues, and suggests homeopathic solutions before medicinal ones. He also helps the average reader to understand how different parts of the brain work and different issues that come up with it. His heart is that people have joy in all circumstances, which is biblical. He has a chapter about the biblical basis for joy, which shows he is not an exegete, but is not bad. I rather enjoyed the book and learned more about brain health and different things I can do to help my brain function optimally, which should help in my studying, work, and even in my pursuit of biblical joy.

Review: The American Patriot's Almanac

The American Patriot’s Almanac, by William Bennet and John Cribb, is a fun resource for personal and family reading. It is composed of daily readings for the whole year that tell of different people, or patriots, who have had a major impact on American history. Part of the joy of the book is that the readings don’t focus on patriots that are commonly known, but those whose names are generally unknown, but have had huge impacts on the country and our lives to this day. In addition to the daily readings, there are other articles that speak of different patriotic things and ideas, such as flag etiquette, which there is a growing lack of knowledge of in the United States today.
The book cover and binding are pretty good quality, with good cover design. It has a canvas spine, while most of the front and back covers are wrapped in glossy paper. The pages are pretty thick, which makes the book thick, but that is ok. It makes a good shelf-filler or coffee table book when you are not holding it to read it. Not that coffee table books are really in style that much, but who says they can’t be brought back.

Book Giveaway

Trevin Wax is giving away a stack of books. Check it out at his blog, Kingdom People.

Review: The Kingdom of the Occult

The Kingdom of the Occult brings up a number of thoughts to my head. Overall this book is a good resource, but things bothered me about it. The first thing I noticed was that though it appears that Walter Martin is the author based on looking at the cover, it was really more of an adaptation of his notes by two other people. This was more of an annoyance than anything, but I will move on. For anyone who has read Walter Martin’s famous book, The Kingdom of the Cults, this book has some advantages and disadvantages. The advantages I find primarily in the “Case Studies” that are in each chapter. Each chapter on a different branch of occult practices has a true story of a person’s experience with that form of the occult. This sheds light on the reality of the occult, which we find so easy to ignore. A disadvantage that arises is that the book is not as clear in its comparisons to Christianity as Cults was. This may be due to the fact that the Occult is more easily distinguished from Christianity than cults are, but either way I found it lacking. Also, different sections (notably the first chapter) are marked by sub-par exegesis in pointing to the truth of Christianity. Although the heart of the authors was clearly good and they were pursuing a worthwhile cause, I found their treatment of Christianity lacking. Overall this book is good and useful (especially when not talking about true Christianity), but not as impressive or comparable to Cults as I had hoped.