Against Nothingness

Oh my! And what a story it is ....

Back in May I attended the Regent Pastors Conference, which was on Science and Faith. Among many other excellent speakers and presentations, we were treated to an update on the state of bioethics and the Church's lack of involvement in this fast expanding arena of modern life. Then, more recently, I read Everyday Theology , and was treated to more thoughts on Christians in the public square. Even more recently, I started following this blog: http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/secondhandsmoke/ Finally, and most importantly, we had our second child, Ethan. This swirl of events and ideas has recently coalesced into the following thoughts. Nicene Creed We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. ..... Begotten not made... th

Andrew Farley, The Naked Gospel: Jesus Plus Nothing. 100% Natural. No Additives. . Zondervan, 2009. 237 pages. Full Disclosure: I was provided a copy of this book for free by The Ooze Viral Bloggers . My 2nd free book to review. And another disappointment. I tend to like controversial titles. It usually means, at the very least, that the author will not be pulling any of his punches. Sometimes that is just the way the editor, who actually chose the title, wants us to feel, but such was not the case in this book. Farley definitely does not pull any punches. One only wishes he was beating up on something other than proper biblical hermeneutics... I'm sorry, but anyone who has to jump from one translation of the bible to another in order to make his point, and refuses to get into the Greek at all, even when doing so would clearly answer the 'questions' he (isn't really) posing... Before I get into that, what is this book about? Well, Farley had a p

On Sunday morning at 7am we got started. And by we, I mostly mean Kristina. As much as I might say, further on in this post, that some things were difficult, nothing I had to go through is anything like what Kristina went through. I just wanted to say that out front. Anyway, labor began Sunday morning. We headed to the hospital at 1230 and were very happily surprised to find out Kristina was quite far along (especially compared to where she was with Hannah when we went to the hospital). Labor then 'progressed' (got progressively worse and more painful) into the early evening. This is where I say Kristina is crazy. Crazy as in amazing, ridiculous, and unbelievably impressive. She did the whole thing with no painkillers (except a small amount of laughing gas). I think the hardest part, for me, was just seeing her in so much pain and not being able to do anything. I had a huge urge to 'fix' things. I prayed a lot, and probably harder than I ever had before. Any

Right, so what else do I have to say about this book. First, read my short review Billy Graham is a man I admire. As an evangelist and preacher God has used him in amazing ways. His life, and his record, speak for themselves. Within this book, his heart for the gospel and his concern that people come to know Christ are clearly evident. His focus is in the right place, and this is where the books ends. I feel like I need to say this because pretty much everything else I have to say is negative. I requested this book from Booksneeze because of the author, but also to see how he would deal with the topic. As I mentioned in the short review, by page 30 I was getting very worried. There Graham explains that recent events shed light on Revelation, make it easier to understand, and that he would take this difficult book and read it literally and explain what it has to say for out time. Now, those kinds of promises and points make me nervous. If revelation is easier to understand becau

This book is a summary of many of the horrible/terrible/bad events/trends which have covered our world recently. These events are summarized within the categories given, generally speaking, by the biblical book of Revelation. At each point, Billy Graham takes what is happening, names it and defines it within the biblical perspective, and then uses that point to draw the reader back to the gospel message of Jesus Christ. I have to say that this book was better than I initially thought it would be. By page 30, with Graham's promise to read Revelation "literally" ringing in my ears, I was preparing for the worst. There are so many bad commentaries on Revelation out there; predictions of the end, timelines, culturally mis-informed readings, etc. This book was none of those. In fact, it was hardly a reading of, or commentary on, Revelation at all, and that is probably a good thing. However, I must also say that Billy Graham is a much better evangelist than he is an auth

Patrick Lencioni. The Three Signs of a Miserable Job: A Fable for Managers (and their employees). Jossey-Bass, 2007. 272 pgs Patrick Lencioni, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team . Jossey-Bass, 2002. 227 pgs. Two books in one review? I know, shocking! But, in this case, I think it is appropriate. Patrick Lencioni is quite a successful author, publishing 8 unique books, and several spin-offs from those as well, and many of which have been best-sellers at various times. Before I get into these two books specifically, I need to say a few words about business/leadership/management books in general. There are thousands, if not more, business/leadership/management books available. Most of them promise basically the same things: fix problems at work, make you more efficient/effective/money, help your company do better, etc. There are many different ways this is approached, some more helpful than others (in my opinion), and I am not going to go into detail in either explanation or critique.

Selected and with introduction by: Francis S. Collins. Belief: Readings on the Reason for Faith . HarperOne, 2010. 323 pgs Francis Collins is a noted, probably famous, American geneticist who lead the Human Genome Project. He is also the author of The Language of God: A Scientist Provides Evidence for Belief , a popular and important work on science and faith. Now, in this book, Collins has gathered together a selection of readings on the reason for faith which range in period from ancient Greece until quite recently, and which includes authors such as C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, and N.T. Wright (three of my favorites), as well as Plato, Madeleine L'Engle, Mother Teresa, and Mahatma Ghandi. An interesting collection to say the least. Obviously, I cannot review this book like I would a normal one. No less than 32 authors are represented in this work, and the quality of both their writings and arguments, while largely within what I would characterize as 'excellent',

78 pieces which need to be individually hand washed... And put together... And filled with boiled/sterilized water... The process, from rinsing/soaking, through washing, drying, assembling, and filling, takes about 30 minutes when you have 15 bottles to do. I'm not whining though. My wife, who would have to do this if I didn't, is worth it. Hannah, who eats with these and makes this massive mess, is worth it. They're worth it.

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted, and even longer since I did a real post... what can I say, I've been busy ( just like everyone else ). We are expecting our 2nd child, a son, very shortly. The official due date is June 23rd, but Kristina and I both think he will be early. Things at the church are going well, but there is lots of work to do. I am planning on taking 2 weeks or so off when the baby is born, but I am definitely not 2 weeks ahead in what I need to get done. In terms of books, I am so far behind in reviews that I am giving up . At this stage in my life, there is simply no way I can review every book I read unless I read less books. I will still review some, but my ambition to do them all... well, its not going to happen. On the upside, I have joined two blogger review sites. They provide me with free books in exchange for my reviewing them. I don't know who came up with this arrangement, but whoever it was is a genius. Any way I can get free books is