Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo

This story is about the near-death experiences of the author's son, Colton, who kept revealing parts of his experience as he resumed the normalcy of life. It also takes the reader through the agony of dealing with a child's illness and facing decisions --right and wrong--that doctors make about that child. As a pastor, the author felt he should react one way but as a father, he had a completely different opinion of how he wanted to react. In the midst of the worry about the son, there was another worry -- how to pay the bills for all of the medical care.

In the four months following the surgery the family began to pick up little snippets from Colton about what kind of experiences he had during this time when he was in surgery. At first, they were discounted by the parents but gradually, because of the simplistic faith of the child, and the fact that the parents knew that the experiences were real to him and not a figment of his overactive imagination, they became to listen far more closely to the experiential messages from a child-like faith. Colton talked about the rainbow colors of heaven and the "markers" of Jesus on his feet, and meeting his grandfather in heaven.

The book details how dealing with this experience has changed the family and their religious community. It also shows the profound effect it has had on the child who lived through it giving him a faith to know that God loves him and loves all children. He reveals much of what he "saw" in heaven including the throne room. Heaven, to this family, is no longer an unknown but a visual of the future.

Holy Bible, International Children's Bible

This is an excellent translation. I was first drawn to the art work in the Bible because it is so compelling and modern. It fits with the translation.

Then I checked out three sections with my Bible of choice. All three sections measured up, added clarity to the reader and were written with explanations in parentheses, red print taken out and far more conversational and less stilted. I looked at John 4 (The Woman at the Well) and it made both people involved in the conversation more real. The theological implications of the verse were certainly not neglected, misstated or downplayed.

Then I went to Revelation and the 2nd chapter with the letter to Ephesus. Revelation, to me, is most difficult for children to understand in light of the fantasy worlds that they experience every where around them. The translation was on target and true and did not try to be a Scriptural Harry Potter.

The last section I read was Proverbs 25 which is an amazing translation and I wish that I had had the translation when I was young. It flows while conforming to the original words. In fact, it enhances the poetic nature of the words. I will read continue to read Proverbs and Psalms from this translation. Excellent translation.

The Kings Christmas List by Eldon Johnson

The King's Christmas List, with its beautiful illustrations, tells the fanciful story of a little girl who instinctively followed with her heart even when it cost her something to do so. The message, to me, was to those who had much (a new playhouse, a dog, a toy, a set of parents who was supportive in every way) the biggest thing that they had was a sense of sharing and giving.

It is a wonderful story, especially in the Christmas season, to examine the virtue of why we give and ways that we can instill this in others around us as the primary gift of the season. My favorite line in the book is "It takes a lot of love and courage to share the things that are dear to you. When you stopped to help others on your way to the castle today, you showed them what My love looks like." It is the updated version of the Good Samaritan and a true lesson to a child who is far more interested in getting than in giving!

I also thought that the "Give a Gift to the King" was an added bonus instead of a cagily designed advertisement (as some might take it.) I did have a thought that the parent who reads this book and helps the child give the gift should be most careful in explaining that giving demands each of us to sacrifice what is ours to keep. The book made this act specific and individual.

Outlive your Life by Max Lucado

The book, Outlive your Life, stresses the idea that each one of us can and should make a difference in living out one's pilgrimage. In fact, throughout the book the author, Max Lucado, shows us that we are given opportunities all along the way to make big differences. He says that we suffer from our sense or ordinariness and often don't grasp the significance of the opportunity. I like his statement: "God doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called." This was true when Christ called the apostles, simple fishermen mostly, and it is just as true today.

The author is a master at taking a simple statement and making the reader see it for something stabbingly personal. He is also a master at intertwining the gospel personages and passages with the people he has met personally along the road, both singing the same song. For instance, in his statement "he indwells the low-ceilinged world of the poor", he connects the apostles working among the poor with the admonition that God's children will be people of hospitality and ends it with the true statement that "Hospitality opens the door to uncommon community".

I loved the story of Stanley Shipp and the drifter. I also liked the way the author beat himself up on his own misguided response to this situation for compassion is a "movement from within--a kick in the gut". To me this chapter was the finest in the book. It kicked me in the gut...but not bad enough to hurt. It did sting, however.

So did the story of Father Damien on Molokai. This story caused pain as I struggled, in my own mind, to wonder how the Father recognized that this move to Molokai should be his own non-retreating mission of mercy. The book did not settle its focus on the great people who had responded to a spectacular need but, rather, it opened a door, a small ajar, so that each of us would, at least, consider opening the door a bit more in our own mission of mercy.

The Butterfly Effect by Andy Andrews

I would have enjoyed this book more had I not already read "The Boy Who Changed the World" by the same author. Some of the same material and ideas are also conveyed in this book. Nevertheless, the points are well taken in both. The main points diverge into one: Every choice one makes, makes a difference. Every choice you make, makes a difference. You can make a difference.

I found the first part of the book much more interesting because it was new material to me. It is the story of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, a Colonel in the Union Army, who insisted that his men stand their ground, despite all the obstacles that should have forced them to run, at the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War. He would not allow his troops to allow the obstacles to keep them from standing and defending their position. And the decision changed the course of the War, the status of the country and its later ability to stand united as one country when other outside forces attacked.

The author, in the last part of the book, tells a similar story about the combined efforts of Henry Wallace, Norman Borlaug, and George Washington Carver whose lives were intertwined and each played a major role in discovering new plants and helping to feed the world's hungry. Borlaug is credited, rightly, with developing a hybridized high yield, disease resistant corn and wheat for arid climates. With this discovery, he truly changed the world for many starving people.

Andrews, in both cases, whether it be the Colonel of the Union Army or the intertwined roles of Borlaug, Carver and Wallace, calls the reader to examine his/her own role and responsibility for the experience of life today.

Sunday, August 22. 2010

Today is Sunday and I am through with the crossword puzzle already at 8:08 a.m. I am going to the park (short time on hot day) with Bev Hickam for Mason Oliver's birthday (Debbie's grandson) and then we are going to the movie (Eat, Love and Pray) and out to dinner. I am taking most of the day off because I CAN.

I caught up on my book and did all I can do until Liz comes tomorrow. When she does, I will be in a world of hurt. I did studying for seminary and I have no assignment this week for I am analyzing Scriptures like mad to get it into my mind. You take the Scripture, find pronouns, comparisons, figures of speech, repetitions, verbs, conjunctions, contrasts and find a much deeper meaning in the words. It truly works although it is a little like being in Miss Henry's grammar class.

Miss Mattie Henry taught me grammar and writing for three years--6, 7, 8 grades in Eugene Field School. She had her ways--when she got mad, one eye turned red and the other turned green but she made a believer out of everyone. There were people who said they were afraid of her and there were people who said they were not. The ones in the second category were, to a person, liars. I met Mark Scully for the first time when he came to visit Miss Henry in the classroom. That was a long time ago but I told the story when I gave the eulogy at Dr. Scully's funeral. I wrote a eulogy for Miss Henry in the Signal when she died. I wish I had a copy so I could read it again.

I will enjoy the day.

The Boy Who Changed the World by Andy Andrews

This is an excellent and informative book for children and adults. The author shows dramatically how the work one person does touches that of another and tht we build upon the progress of others who go before us or beside us.

Norman Borlaug, an Iowa farmboy, wondered about the plight of the hungry people in the world and decided that he would share to make a difference. This opportunity came to him when he went to work for Henry Wallace, who had long had a similar interest in plants and wanted to make a difference in the world. Wallace found his strong niche as U. S. Secretary of Agriculture and then later Vice President of the United States. The two men worked together to feed the world's hungry.

George Washington Carver played a major role in this threesome. He had been taught by his adoptive parents that he could make a difference in the world---and he did. Not only did the three men have similar concerns and interests, but they had a physical tie which kept them connected. When Carver went to the University to study, his teacher, there, had a six year old son, named Henry Wallace. Carver began to teach the child what he knew about feeding the hungry.

It all boils down, according to the author, to the Butterfly effect or when one thing happens, it sets all another thing. One never knows what one might be setting off. This effect is validated in the story of these three people who, in the course of their careers, fed two billion people. Very good story.

Let's Do Lunch by Roger Troy Wilson

Maybe I am just a frustrated dieter but I enjoyed the first part of the book more than I did the last part. I was interested in learning more about the idea of the book because of the photographs which showed that the way-of-life certainly worked for the author. And when it comes to losing weight, anything that works, might work for me.

He makes some points that I am now trying to put into my daily life. So that means, that, for me, it was a successful book and plan. His affirming comments from other initialed people also helped make me want to implement the plan.

What was off-putting to me were the last two sections: What Not to Buy lists (which included most everything I normally buy) and failed to tell the reader what TO buy, and the recipe sections. I didn't discount all of them and won't until I try two or three to see if my tastebuds agree with the author's.

All in all, it was a good read. I have implemented some changes in my daily life and I will try this plan for a two week period to see how I feel and what I weigh. Who knows, I may try it even longer. The book has inspired me to check it out further.

Captured by Grace by Dr. David Jeremiah

Dr. David Jeremiah has written a thought-provoking book about grace and how it is waiting, out there, for all of those who are seeking. He has taken the unique approach of dealing with God's individual grace from the perspective of John Newton and the Apostle Paul. While the author deals with both of these personages and their experiences with grace, he never strays too far from the subject of how that grace is available to all of us and how anyone who reaches out for divine grace will be changed by the experience.

Throughout the book Dr. Jeremiah gives the reader points to ponder and consider. One of these is his definition between mercy and grace. He says, "Mercy is God withholding the punishment we rightfully deserve. Grace is God not only withholding that punishment but offering the most precious of gifts instead. " He, then, goes on to give further differences between the two in one of the most interesting sections of the book.

Another interesting section said: "Grace changes people as nothing else can do. It cleanses the sins of the past. It enable righteousness in the present. And one thing it does is for certain; it constantly surprises us. For the essence of grace is surprise." This last statement gave me pause to reflect. Grace gives the seeker something that he/she does not expect and certainly comes as a surprise to all those who live in the circle of the seeker.

The last chapter of the book deals with where the seeker of grace is at the present. He talks about how unfathomable the reward is and how the requirement is so simple. The book is worth the reading. It makes you think and the connections with the author of the great hymn "Amazing Grace" and the apostle who preaches about grace are treasures of the word.

The Edge of the Divine by Sandi Patty

This is a book that should not be dismissed as an episodic adventure on dieting and surgical intervention. It is the story of a person's pilgrimage fighting the demons which have gained controlled in whatever form they choose to appear in one's psyche. The author takes her definition of "edge" as the "point of which something is likely to begin." She spins her chapters with real-life situations, who she is, what she has done wrong, and where the trip of her life has taken her.

I was surprised in the book by her frankness about her own sense of failure, her dedication to the needs of the individual members of her blended family and to her down-to-earth grounding which allows her to deal with all of this. She does not dwell on her accolades and when she does drop a name or give an achievement, she quickly acknowledges the statement of her friend, Chonda Pierce ,"Not bragging. Just sharin' my testimony." Her writing makes the reader feel that the two of you could sit down and share a coffee and that she would do as much listening as talking.

The author gives her insights into Scriptural characters and authors she is reading. Her words about Oswald Chambers and what he has called, "the unexpected sacredness of circumstances",

caused me to ponder my own circumstances and opportunities to bring and find ministry. Patty made no allusion to the fact that her music ministry has done this, and continues to do this, for many thousands of people in her years as an artist. I concluded from her words that this was only a part of what she considered to be her ministry; rather that every aspect of her life was a major part of her ministry including what she and others might consider to be her failures.

The Jesus You Can't Ignore by John MacArthur

In this book, The Jesus You Can't Ignore, Dr. MacArthur takes as his premise that what one thinks of Jesus Christ will thoroughly color how you think of everything else. He directs one's thinking to how Jesus confronted his "friends" in the ministry or rather, those who did not practice what he preached.

The author dissects the Scriptures of confrontation well and thoroughly. He points out, in examples, how Christ did not back down in rapid conciliation when faced with situations that needed correction. He also makes the point vividly that Christ was not a contradiction but a composite of things holy. He stood for what needed to be stood for at all times and for all situations. The author was careful to define the responsibility for truth-seeking as the "destruction of falsehoods, not people."

The outstanding parts of the book, to me, were the chapters which centered on the responses of Christ to his Pharisee constituents who were charged with keeping the things which were "holy". The narration of these events gave me new insights into the words of Christ and allowed me to ponder and reflect on his words, actions and reactions.

MacArthur made the point, especially in the last chapter, that the goal of ministers and movements is to stand for what Christ taught us; it is not the primary goal to get along with all things Christian no matter what is said and who says it. The quotes he uses from other authors are excellent and bear out his premise that Christ should never be thought of as one who sought peace at all costs. Christ met people where they were and dealt with them accordingly as he searched their hearts.

You Can be Everything God Wants you to Be by Max Lucado

This is an excellent book for high school graduates, even people who are searching for a new way of living. Lucado provides excellent Biblical Scriptural bases for his guidelines. He speaks for the uniqueness of each individual and urges each to search for that uniqueness. He talks about each person having a divine spark.

One of my favorite parts of the book is entitled "Am I stretching theology?" It gave me pause to think about the coincidental roles that each of us play in the lives of others, sometimes unaware of the fact that we are acting out God's hands on the earth.

I appreciated the author in his use of words and phrases such as "God gave you, not a knapsack, but a knack sack." These phrases were all used to provide support for the cogent points. The book is fast-reading but it causes the reader to stop and think along the way. The illustrations are very effective and appropriate.

Billy Graham, His Life and Influence

Billy Graham, His Life and Influence was written by David Aikman, a former TIME magazine senior correspondent and demonstrates the author's facility with gathering and interpreting facts for the reader. The book chronicles the years of Graham's life while providing an historical background for many of the events. He provides a structure for both the reader who has been a part of the history surrounding the events or the reader who is learning much of the information for the first time. The author shares his knowledge as a reporter with an eye for detail and a commitment for truth.

It is most interesting to relive many of the events of Mr. Graham's career-calling including his relationships with the Presidents of the United States and his world crusades. One of the most fascinating chapters deal with his emergence as a national counselor in our times of trouble.

The book is not designed to placate the people who might feel that Mr. Graham has crossed over, to his detriment, from evangelical to ecumenicalism. Nor does it give credence to the ecumenical who feels that the early years of his preaching were only a misguided venture that he eventually outgrew. The author notes that neither would be entirely supported by the facts.

The part this reviewer found most interesting about the book was the stress it gave to Mr. Graham's humanity. He was, in most instances, true to himself and to his own sense of character (sometimes reinforced by his wife.) One episode that is given in the book is an assessment by one of his friends and colleagues, Bill Bright: "With all the great honors and applause and praise that's been heaped upon him, Billy's very humble and gracious." Time and time again, his graciousness showed through for individuals to ponder. Graciousness for a man of his age raised in a Southern Culture demanded personal kindness, lack of confrontation, respect for others, and a sense of courtesy at all times.

The book depicted how these traits helped him carry God's message to a waiting and suffering world.