Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller

Searching for God Knows What, by Donald Miller, is a collection of essays on searching for God. The title explains that often the search for God begins with a search for something else. Miller’s own searching for meaning led him away from a god of his own design to the gospel of the true and merciful God. The essays go in different directions but lead back to a theology based in the grace of God, with glimpses of rich theology in the midst of entertaining narrative.
Compared to Blue Like Jazz, I was impressed. This book was more theological while still maintaining his typical and expected humorous style. While it was entertaining, Miller has a way of getting under my skin. I have a number of friends that he annoys much more, but we have different reasons. In the middle of his essays, he makes statements that bother me. Most of these I find inappropriate, not theological statements, but details in the midst of the narrative. While the book reads at a fairly elementary level, he makes statements that are immature and inappropriate for any age (admittedly few and far between, but the problem is that they are there at all).
On another note, this edition includes puzzles and games, which to me are just worthless and add annoying inconsistencies to the typeface.
Overall, this is an enjoyable read that shows his cards when it comes to theology, and I appreciate it.

Review: Bonhoeffer

Bonhoeffer: A Biography impressed me from the start. I was skeptical coming in because I had heard negative reviews of Metaxas’ Amazing Grace, mainly that it was overly academic sounding while attempting to be a popular level biography. I had not read Amazing Grace, and my only experience with Metaxas was when he came to Union University and spoke in chapel, which frankly, the only thing I remember is that he came. On of my professors at Union, Greg Thornbury, is a good friend of Metaxas and spoke highly of him, but more importantly, over the years I have greatly enjoyed history of World War II Europe and have come to appreciate Dietrich Bonhoeffer greatly.

Coming in with my skepticism, I was immediately impressed, not only with readability but the high amount of detail woven into a single narrative. Metaxas weaves together personal accounts to show the character of the family and of Dietrich himself from a young age, showing his vivaciousness and sensitivity to both God and to others. He was always a servant to others, putting everyone else before himself. While this was in many ways simply his moral compass, he knew from an early age that he would study theology, and persevered even through opposition from his overly rationalistic family. He maintained his character throughout his life, even through the hardest of ethical choices during Hitler’s rule over Germany. I'll let you read the rest yourself. This is a great book that paints a great picture of such a hero of the faith.

Review: Called to worship

Called to Worship by Vernon M. Whaley, is a good book on worship that bridges both academia and the broader church. Whaley, who is the director of the Center for Worship at Liberty University, gives a biblical theology of worship, tracing both the “worship wars” throughout Judeo-Christian history and positive biblical responses to God, providing, as the subtitle declares, “biblical foundations of our response to God’s call.” Whaley has a biblical point of view that all people share this purpose in life, to worship God, and, as Tozer said, “If we do not honor this purpose, our lives will degenerate into shallow, selfish, humanistic pursuits.”

While overall the book is good, it fits into a small niche. It can be helpful to worship leaders and pastors to give a better understanding about worship as the bible portrays it, but doesn’t bridge gaps well beyond themes and principles. It seems more theoretical with little practical advice on how one can proceed with worship to follow through with these principles. Yes, this does lay a foundation and gives a framework for thought, and it does a good job at that, but there is great need for practical helps on how to proceed in our “call to worship,” both individually and corporately.

ZIBBCOT, Vol 5 Review

Zondervan recently released its new set, the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (ZIBBCOT), edited by John H. Walton. I recently received volume 5, “The Minor Prophets, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs.” As soon as I took it out of the box, I was impressed. The cover is a pretty typical glossy hard cover, with sewn binding that allows the book to sit open on a table to just about any page. This is great for when reference books as it is often hard to hold the book open and type or write notes on it.

After I noticed how nicely it sits open, I noticed the pictures. There are a lot of pictures. I haven’t had a picture book in years, and this was pretty exciting. The pictures are useful too. For example, I was writing a paper on Zechariah 4 last year, the passage that mentions the lampstand with seven bowls, each with seven spouts for wicks. I couldn’t find a picture of these anywhere (in available books). Everyone described it but no one had a picture. This not only has a picture of a seven-spouted bowl, but it has a picture of a real one, not a recreation. This is immensely helpful in understanding what Zechariah is talking about. The book is full of helpful illustrations and descriptions that enlighten the background of the text.

There is one thing I noticed that annoys me, which is not unique in ZIBBCOT. When referencing Hebrew, it uses transliterations. Transliterations are generally (not always) unhelpful to those who don’t know the language, and are frustrating to those who know enough of it to use the Hebrew. This is not unique in tools for Bible study, but it is frustrating to look and see a transliteration and have to figure out what letters mean what in order to look it up.

Overall, this is a great resource, and even a great book for general enjoyment. I look forward to using ZIBBCOT for years to come

Review-It Happened in Italy

Thomas Nelson recently put out the book It Happened in Italy, by Elizabeth Bettina.  The book was a good read and the story flowed pretty well (though it became a little disjointed at times). 

The book was a narrative telling of Bettina’s discovering the story of the survival of many Jews in the internment camps in Italy during World War II, in what were relatively good conditions compared to what was going on in the rest of Europe.  While, throughout the rest Europe, Jews were taken to concentration and death camps and treated as if they were inhuman, in Italy the Jews were treated with respect, and though they were moved into specific “internment” communities, were allowed to live relatively normal lives.  They carried on life as usual, including recreation, business, and even religion, as long as they checked in every day.  This story of hope in the midst of the horror of the Holocaust is relatively unknown in the world today, but Bettina brings it to light.

Overall, I found the book a good read, but was a little disappointed by it.  I received it expecting to read a historical narrative patched together from survivor stories and historical research, but what I read was a narrative about finding the stories of survival.  The book was not about the survival itself, but about Bettina’s discovery of the story and the way her life began to intertwine with the lives of the survivors.  While it was good, I hope to see a more historical work born of her efforts to find the story.

I would suggest this book to pique one’s interest in Holocaust history, but it by no means fulfills one’s wildest dreams.

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.

I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by Lynne Spears’s book, Through the Storm: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World. I really did not know what to expect coming into the book, though I had heard rumors about “Britney’s mom’s book about parenting.” What I didn’t expect was something that was present throughout the book: an account of her faith and trust in God, and not just any God, but Jesus Christ. I was skeptical while reading through most of the book, she said a lot of vague things about faith in God, but things started sinking in with words like “providence,” “redemption,” and finally the phrase “Christ our savior.” She surprised me with an apparently deep faith that I knew nothing about before reading Through the Storm. Really, that is part of what the story is about. Lynne Spears has an abiding faith in God, even though her family went through a “storm.” She often appeals to the image of a “whirlwind” of fame and its ramifications, and if there was not already a book by Tim Ellsworth about the tornadoes at Union University with the title God in the Whirlwind, it would be an appropriate title for this book. Lynne Spears presents a picture of her family, faults and all, with fame tearing it apart in some instances, yet her faith remains steady. Her faith is the stabilizing factor in her life. While I had trouble reading the book, my issue with it was not content, but the stream of thought organization. Really, I read theology more than anything else, so this book is much different and in many ways hard for me to follow. But it was casual and good for what it was, her story, and many people that are prone to judge the Spears family should read this book. This book opens your eyes to see the character of the members of her family, the effect fame has had on them, and the regrets she has for letting fame take control and letting her own control slip away. Let this be the basis for judging Lynne’s character, not the tabloids.