The Point (book review)

The Point:  The Redemption of Oban Ironbout

by William E. Jefferson
Paper, 208 pages
© 2013 by Port Estillyen Productions
published by Port Estillyen Productions
ISBN  978-0-9856621-2-7

Reviewed November 2013

The blurb on the back of this edition claims reminders of Bunyan, Lewis, Donne, and Milton.  While it is easy to scoff at such lofty aspirations, as I did, this claim is not far off the mark.  One could even argue that there is a bit of Tolkein mixed with the author’s own sense of story-telling.  This is truly allegory, it is a quest story, it used Scripture as a basis for relaying truth and conflict, it shows good versus evil.  In short, it has all the elements of a classic and only time will tell if it lives up to that aspiration.  The protagonists are human – probably, though not certainly –  and the interactions are plausible, just as one might expect from Lewis.  The use of allegory is more subtle than Bunyan but just as memorable.  The Readings are a retelling of important Biblical truth as we might have seen from Donne or Milton.  The wordcraft is powerful and reflects the author’s formal education in theology, media, and communications.

The story takes us to Estillyen, the still place where time seems to have returned to a simpler age, though we are not completely certain when that age would have been – or even if it would have been an earthly place.  In the best story-telling fashion, not all the elements that the reader needs are revealed immediately.  Indeed, some are never revealed.  We discover the story as the protagonists do.  As the protagonists do, we also want to explore and learn more.  We are drawn into the lives of Hollie and Goodwin from the first page.  We want to know more about them, what the story is, who are these people they meet, what circumstances really led them to seek refuge on Estillyen.  They are likeable and we develop a strong empathy toward them, just as the residents of Estillyen do.

There is also a bit of a morality tale here.  Indeed, there is a message that we are to be stewards of what we have been given.  The simple place Hollie and Goodwin  are visiting shows the young couple what is wrong with much of the world they left behind.  The people on Estillyen have adopted a simpler, more spiritual, healthier way of living.  Hollie tells us that the “world needs more people like this, focused on the spiritual side of who we are, why we exist.  They’re so completely on target about that.  Gadgets and stuff can so easily define us, pushing us onto one treadmill after another.”  Part of her frustration may be born from the disease she is fighting but there is a perspective for all of us here.

If the reader is looking to pick up a story for superficial reading, this books could serve that purpose.  However, there is so much more here that reading without thinking would be a waste.  This is a book to be read, savored, enjoyed, and used as a source of meditation and reflection.  We can only hope that there will be sequels.

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: This book was received for free from the publisher for the purpose of review but a positive review was not required. The opinions expressed are those of the reviewer. This disclosure is in accordance with the United States Federal Trade Commission’s “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” 16 CFR, Part 255.

See also http://www.estillyen.com/2013/11/25/review-roy-d-wallen/
 

The Lamb’s Agenda (book review)

The Lamb’s Agenda

by Samuel Rodriguez
© 2013 by Samuel Rodriguez
Published by Thomas Nelson Publishers
ISBN  978-1-4002-0449-6

The thesis of this book is simple: Christians should not follow the agenda of the donkey or the elephant but, rather, the agenda of the Lamb.  The agendas of the two leading political parties in the United States are not consistent with God’s plan for individuals or the country.  Rather, the way our country and its people can best be served is by meeting at the nexus of the cross.  If we, especially Christians who seek to follow Christ as closely as humanly possible, establish a vertical relationship with God (the vertical element of the cross) and a horizontal relationship in serving others (the horizontal element of the cross), we will be sitting at the center of the cross, with this meaning in many figurative ways.

Rodriguez is articulate and convincing in his presentation.  He has the delivery of an evangelist and the conviction of a true believer.  The call – indeed, the mandate – to serve in righteousness and justice is clear.  Jesus made it clear in His teaching and others who have followed Him have made it equally clear.  God has declared, through His Word, written by Ethan, that “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.  (Psalm 89:14).  We cannot only focus on righteousness, as is often done by white believers, nor on justice, as is often the focus of black believers.  Both the vertical elements and the horizontal elements are essential components of God’s plan and the teachings of Jesus.  We are called as believers to adopt both the Imago Dei with the Habitus Chrtistus.

We are presented the beliefs of men like Billy Graham and Martin Luther King, Jr. and have no conflict in reconciling the two.  We are presented with the need to recognize both John 3:16 (For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.) and Matthew 25:45 (… inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.).  Men like William Wilberforce and Chuck Colson saw inequities in their relationships with both God and men and were graciously rescued from them to go on and serve both God (vertical) and men (horizontal).

Likewise, we learn from our history that commerce without convictions is hollow.  Rodriquez shows us how the commercial pursuits of Jamestown and the convictions of Plymouth merge to form the American experience.  Both have contributed to a mighty nation and both need to be pursued under the principles of the Lamb’s agenda.  When we pursue only the commercial without the compassion, we fail.  However, we can pursue both, both as individuals and as a country.  The pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness is, however, in the context of God over man and man over government – any other configuration will cause failure.  In short, we are given a prescription to avoid the moral relativism we currently experience: live in His image, walk in His Spirit, exist in His grace.

In the end, we are told we have a choice.  We can live by faith or we can walk by sight, we can choose to believe or reject God, we can choose to establish a vertical as well as a horizontal connection.  It is my prayer that, as a country and as individuals, we recognize our responsibilities to God (vertical) and man (horizontal) and base those relationships on the Lamb’s agenda.

Disclosure of Material Connection: This book was received for free from the publisher but a positive review was not required. The opinions expressed are those of the reviewer. This disclosure is in accordance with the United States Federal Trade Commission’s “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” 16 CFR, Part 255.

The Legend of the Monk and the Merchant (book review)

The Legend of the Monk and the Merchant
by Terry Felber
Hardcover, 208 pages
© 2005, 2011, and 2012 by Terry Felber
Reprint published January 2013 by Thomas Nelson Publishers
ISBN  978-0-8499-4852-7
Reviewed March 2013

With a ringing endorsement in the foreword from Dave Ramsey, a respected authority on business and money management, this book promised to be interesting and enlightening.  It is not.  From its first, false premise to its anticlimactic conclusion, this book is a horrible and frightening disappointment.

The book is supposed to be a fable about training a young man by way of the example of his grandfather.  The grandfather took the route of a businessman and his best friend had taken the route of a priest.  The stepping-off point (into the deep end of the pool, obviously) was citing the Scripture reference of how God has made us kings and priests.  The reference is obviously to the Bible with capitalization of the reference to Scripture, calling it sacred, and how access was limited (it’s not, we can all access Scripture).  Indeed, in the book of the Revelation we are told how God has made us kings (or a kingdom) and priests.  However, we are all called to be both kings and priests.  This is not a choice of either one or the other.  The fact is that Felber takes us on a wobbly theological journey where we are to choose one vocation or the other – these roles are not mutually exclusive.  Even worse, the kings of Revelation 1:6 are not kings of business as Felber would assert.
The book goes downhill from this first theme.  There is just enough Scripture reference to make this book dangerous and just enough false theology to lead otherwise clear thinkers into believing that there are “twelve keys to successful living” (the book’s subtitle) that will make all well and good.  The goal here appears to be prosperity rather than fidelity.  Work hard, do right, provide for family and others, give back to God, and you will do well.
Why do we walk in faith?  It is not for prosperity but for obedience.  It is not to get but to give.  If we believe what is given in Scripture – really believe it, putting any designs of prosperity behind us – we will not work to get.  Anyone tempted to pick up this book will do far better to pick up a Bible to take away infinitely better lessons.

 
Disclosure of Material Connection: This book was received for free from the publisher for the purpose of review but a positive review was not required. The opinions expressed are those of the reviewer. This disclosure is in accordance with the United States Federal Trade Commission’s “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” 16 CFR, Part 255.

The Mormon Candidate – A Novel (book review)

The Mormon Candidate – A Novel

by Avraham Azrieli
© 2012 by Avraham Azrieli
Published by Create Space

Published coincident with a presidential election pitting an incumbent, liberal President being challenged by a conservative, one-term former governor who is Mormon, there are many interesting and current reasons to read this book.  However, it is a truly novel and has all the elements of a very unlikely set of circumstances and coincidences that comprise modern fiction.  That said, it’s a great read.

 

Azrieli has woven enough fact into his fictional tale to make it believable and created enough pace to make it compelling to read.  It is a novel of intrigue and suspense and is, by definition in this reviewer’s experience, a page-turner.  From the start of the book, the reader is drawn into alliance with a character who is rather difficult to develop sympathy.  Ben Teller is a minimally-employed, essentially-agnostic, self-declared investigative reporter with a medical student stripper for a girlfriend and a series of stereotypical allies (a wheelchair-bound editor, lesbian policewoman friend, dissident religionists).  Yet even the most biased reader will cheer for this protagonist who seeks the truth (not the “faith-promoting truth”) about the death of a fellow Harley rider.  Through well-researched efforts and a comprehensive supporting bibliography, Azrieli presents the shadowy world of politics, religion, and suspense with enough plot twists to be captivating.

This book is not in the form of literary novel yet is very well written and draws in the reader from the beginning.  In short, is it recommended reading, especially for an escape (but not too far) from current events.

Disclosure of Material Connection: This book was received for free from the author, along with a nominal stipend, but a positive review was not required. The opinions expressed are my own. This disclosure is in accordance with the United States Federal Trade Commission’s “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” 16 CFR, Part 255.

Be the People (book review)

Be the People

by Carol M. Swain, PhD
Hardcover, 321 pages
© 2011 by Carol M. Swain
Published June 2011 by Thomas Nelson Publishers
ISBN  0849948282

From a poor, rural background to a university professor, Dr. Swain is an excellent example of the American dream.  Her conservative views do not, however, fit what should be the stereotype she represents.  The book is presented as a rallying cry for those who would have us consider the shift in social and political structure in the United States.  In the few months between the publication of this book and this review, there has been a continued and even more pronounced addition to that shift – the reelection of the country’s first black president and the stifled criticism of this black woman.

Yet, is the book about color?  It is because the author chooses to make it so.  The principles she presents are sound – there can be little to argue that the America of the 21^st century is not the America of the 18^th century.  The values on which the country were built have eroded, liberty is as oppressed as it was when white men were driven to dress as natives and dump tea into Boston Harbor, regulations are developed in knee-jerk response to every event reported by a biased (on both sides) and tangled web of media, and the split in ideals and values is palpable every time a politician or elected official (the redundancy is noted) stands to speak.  Yet this rant against the current situation and the frequent use of Scripture does little to help the situation.  It will be ignored by the “mainstream media”, held up by conservative pundits, and never reach bestseller status.

It is in interesting read and a useful reference (for example, you can easily find the ten commandments if you don’t know where they are in the original source).  These, along with the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and extensive notes and an index take up the last 90 pages of the book.  You could read this book and wonder why the author and publisher took the effort or you could listen to Fox News where people of the same opinion shout over each other – the effect will likely be the same.

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: This book was received for free from the publisher but a positive review was not required. The opinions expressed are those of the reviewer. This disclosure is in accordance with the United States Federal Trade Commission’s “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” 16 CFR, Part 255.

The Fight of Our Lives (book review)

The Fight of Our Lives: Knowing the Enemy, Speaking the Truth, and Choosing to Win the War Against Radical Islam

by William J. Bennett, Seth Leibsohn
© 2011 by William J. Bennett, Seth Leibsohn
Published by Thomas Nelson

This short book (208 pages, approximately 150 of which are reading material) outlines the events surrounding the wars currently being waged in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in defense of our own country.  It is both a history lesson and a call to action.  The premise is, as the subtitle suggests, that we are both in a war and, as a country, we have softened our approach to winning it.  As this review is being written on the tenth anniversary of the attack of September 11^th, it is fitting to review the challenges we face in a country that has changed dramatically since 2001.

Bennett and Liebsohn certainly represent the more conservative end of the social and political spectrum in the United States.  Yet, despite this bias, they are objective in their presentation of the criticism and correction they offer.  The complacency regarding the struggle of political, religious, and social segments of American society is criticized regardless of which administration is in office – and this, in the context of Bennett having served in both the Regan and Bush administrations.  This summary of events leading up to September 11^th 2001 and the subsequent acts that have left people dead and wounded need to stay fresh in our minds.  The parallels of how, as a country, we react to those around us are striking as we look back in history.  Bennett and Liebsohn take us there.

Yet the book is also a call to change that is beyond the scope of where influence in religious and civil affairs will typically end.  At what point do we, as individuals, compromise what we believe and how we practice that belief?  The authors call for reformation in Islam, for the ending of what is termed “radical Islam”, also termed as fundamental or doctrinal Islam.  Indeed, just as polygamy in some doctrines is against the laws of the country and against what is believed to the be the good of the people, so must killing “infidels” in the name of a false god be punished according to the laws of the land.  Can it be eradicated?  It cannot.  Should it be reformed?  Perhaps it should or, better yet, abandoned.  However, is it the place for non-Muslims to dictate the need for reformation or abandonment?  It is not, if change is to come from within – from the heart.

The book is both an alert and a reference piece.  Twenty pages of notes and ten pages of index demonstrate the work that went into supporting the premise of the authors.  Of note, two quotes from the book that are not from the authors are particularly worth citing.  The first is from Tony Blair from the autobiography of his political life where he said: “In the mind-set that is modern Islam, there is one spectrum, not several.  At the furthest end of the spectrum are the extremists who advocate terrorism to further their goal of an Islamic state.” He goes on to identify others along the breadth of this spectrum that “in a curious and dangerous way buy into bits of their world view.   This group stretches uncomfortably far into the middle of the spectrum.”  It is this fact, that a broad group of adherents agree with those who resort to violence, that Bennett and Liebsohn find disturbing.

The second quote is from another era, from one who saw the impact of a different group of extremists: the National Socialists of 20^th century Germany.  C.S. Lewis, in The Abolition of Man, wrote: “We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.  We castrate and bid the geldings to be fruitful.”  The compromise and accommodation we see for those who follow doctrines that hurt others and rend society is disturbing.  Where do we, as a country, draw the line?  This book proposes a course.

 

Disclosure of Material Connection:  This book was received for free from the publisher but a positive review was not required.  The opinions expressed are my own.  This disclosure is in accordance with the United States Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Defiant Joy (book review)

Defiant Joy:  The Remarkable Life & Impact of G.K. Chesterton

Kevin Belmonte
© 2011 by Kevin Belmonte
Published by Thomas Nelson

Belmonte’s book is, as he introduces it, a study similar to the one that Chesterton himself wrote about Thomas Aquinas: “This book makes no pretense to be anything but a popular sketch of a great historical character …”  This is a sketch and not an exhaustive work but tells the story of Chesterton’s life in much the same way he would have it told, with wit and sincerity.

 

This is a chronological account as one would expect from a biography.  However, the book is salted – indeed liberally seasoned – with quotes from Chesterton’s works and critiques others had of his work.  While we start with Chesterton’s birth and early childhood and end with his death, we walk the course of his life by the works that he produced.  He was prodigious in his writing, both in the numbers of works and in the variety.  The novels and detective stories may seem frivolous for such a renowned man of letters but Chesterton always had a higher purpose in his writing.  Belmonte never lets us forget that.  Then there are the “higher” works such as the apologetic volumes that Chesterton left us as well as the literary biographies of greats such as Chaucer, Dickens, and Shaw.  His writing included character studies of others – in addition to the authors he admired –  that Chesterton admired and for whom he provided great insight.  Belmonte provides a glimpse into all of them, just enough to tell us of the man’s works and influences but not so much that we are satisfied in not reading these great works for ourselves.

Acknowledging the biographies of others, including Chesterton’s autobiography, Belmonte has added much to the study of the man.  Chesterton’s Catholicism is always prominent, along with the mysticism that accompanies it.  However, his genuine faith in a risen Christ and the assurance of Chesterton’s own salvation is not diluted by that religious structure.  The contrast with those who did not share his faith – famously George Bernard Shaw – is sharp yet there is never an alienation that Chesterton allowed to taint the agreeable presentation of his faith.

This book is recommended for those who have never heard of Chesterton, those who have read all his works, those who have been influenced by authors whom Chesterton influenced (notably C.S. Lewis), and those who might disagree with him.  In short, this is valuable reading for anyone.


Disclosure of Material Connection: This book was received for free from the publisher but a positive review was not required. The opinions expressed are those of the reviewer. This disclosure is in accordance with the United States Federal Trade Commission’s “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” 16 CFR, Part 255.