Against Nothingness

Rick Richards. Simply God. Westbow Press, 2011. 192 pgs.  The description of this book promises to discuss the difference between convincing people and equipping people. It is supposed to be about seeing and knowing God, making these things our priorities. That is, what we need is simply God. These are, in themselves, excellent points. We do need God more than anything, and we ought to be equipped, not just convinced, to live well. You will not find that here. Unfortunately, Simply God is actually a long, unedited, unorganized, mostly unhelpful, self published book that needed, but clearly did not get, a lot of help.  Something in the very preface of this book made me uncomfortable. As I finished reading it I had to stop and consider what it might be. I wasn't sure, so I reread it more carefully. There it was, clear as day, in the first lines. Richards claims that this book "was inspired by our Father so that all his children would know how much he loves them an...

Compiled by Linda Washington.  Everything the Bible Says About Heaven . Bethany House Publishers, 2011. 105 pgs.  This is a book which claims, in the title, to be a collection of everything the bible says about heaven. In terms of format, it is divided 6 chapters exploring Old Testament visions of heaven, New Testament visions of heaven, heaven in Revelation, the time between death and resurrection, hearing from heaven, and who will go to heaven. Each chapter begins with a brief introduction and is then entirely made of bible verses (quoted from whatever translation the 'compiler' chose) and sometimes a brief explanatory word after the verse.  To be frank, there are so many things wrong with this book I don't even know where to start. First of all, it is plainly not "everything the bible says about heaven." This collection of verses has been sifted and selected to avoid some more difficult issues. An obvious example is how the compiler seems utterly ...

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...