Jesus: A Theography

Jesus: A Theography by Len Sweet and Frank Viola is one of those books you want to read again, because there is so much to process. It's an excellent book that is bound to make you think deeply. Though written for the 'average' person, it still contains much deep, rich material and thoughts.

As he states in the introduction, this book sets out to show that ALL the Bible is meant to reflect and point to Christ.

"Let's face it. The Bible is often viewed as a disjointed array of stories, events, laws, propositions, truths, ethical statements, and moral lessons. 

But we will demonstrate in this book, the sixty-six books of the Bible are woven together by a single storyline. Of of the best ways to look at the twenty-seven books of the New Testament may be to see them as a commentary on the Old Testament. The entire Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, are unified by a common narrative. And once our eyes are open to see that narrative, everything in both Testaments gels into a coherent, understandable, and amazing story. 

And what is that story? Well, it's not enough to call it "salvation history" as many people do. 

No. It's the story of Jesus Christ. 

The end product of biblical Christianity is a person -- not a book, not a building, not a set of principles or a system of ethics -- but one person in two natures (diving/human) with four ministries (prophet/priest/king/sage) and four biographies (The Gospels). But those four biographies don't tell the whole story. Every bit of Scripture if part of the same great story of that one person and that one story's plotline of creation, revelation, redemption and consummation." 

If you are a fan of Frank Viola or Len Sweet you'll love this book. I recommend it. 

Red Letter Revolution

Red Letter Revolution is a book by Shane Claiborne and Tony Campolo. There's a trailer promoting it that says they don't shy away from the controversial subjects, and that's true. This book talks about lots of relevant topics today, including racism, homosexuality, immigration, politics, war and violence, Islam, national debt, etc.

The different, interesting twist on this book is the way it is written; it is written more as a dialogue between Shane Claiborne and Tony Campolo. You'll either like this style or dislike it, but for me, it worked and it was good to see the different (at times) views and insights from both men, especially seeing as they differ generationally.

I don't expect you'll agree with EVERYTHING in this book and I think the authors know that; what they've done here is start a dialogue not only with each other, but as a starting off point for you to wrestle with this topics and have dialogue of your own with others.

The subtitle of this book is: What if Jesus Really Meant What He Said? It's a question that bears much looking into and this book takes a deeper look into it.

I received an ebook copy free from Booksneeze. I was not required to write a favorable review.

grace - Max Lucado

There are so many great books out there on the topic of "grace" that I was skeptical if another book was needed. I've read many books on the subject of grace -- from Philip Yancy's classic What's So Amazing about Grace? to several others, including Andy Stanley's The Grace of God.

But Max Lucado's book on grace is not just "another book on grace"..... It's Max Lucado, who brings his own thoughts, writing style and especially stories to the publishing world. For that reason, this book is worth reading and I think most will enjoy it, plus the subject of "grace" -- though so simple in many concept, is incredibly difficult to truly fathom in practical terms.

If you love Max Lucado, you'll love this book and if you are wanting to understand grace better, you'll also enjoy this book.


I received a copy from Booksneeze and wasn't required to write a positive review.

52 Little Lessons from It's a Wonderful Life

My family loves It's a Wonderful Life and have already gotten so much out of the movie, that I was excited to read this book. It is, in some ways, a devotional book, though weekly. (52 lessons = 52 weeks) It seems designed to make you relate to a spiritual truth and think on it in terms of how it is played out in the movie. Some chapter titles are, Look for the Best in Others, All that Glitters is Not Gold, Prayer Changes Things, etc. Plus, there are some nice tidbits about the movie.

If you are a fan of It's a Wonderful Life, you will probably enjoy this book. While it can be repetitive (some of the lessons seem the same, just with a different illustration), it is still a fun book and can easily be a good discussion starter for a small group.

I received this book free from Booksneeze and was not required to write a favorable review.

One Big Thing: Discovering what you were born to do

One Big Thing, written by Phil Cooke, is a book that promises to show you what you were born to do, hence the title. While it was written well and has some good insights, I didn't think it was all that different from several other self-help/find your calling/unique talents books that I've already read.

It's still a good book; just not a great one. Perhaps if you hadn't already read books on this subject you'd find it more interesting than I did.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson's Booksneeze program and was not required to write a favorable review.

The Truth about Forgiveness

Surprisingly, the Truth about Forgiveness by John MacArthur is a small book; a little over a hundred pages, but it is packed with information and truth! First, I had a lot of questions about forgiveness and this book answered most of them, though at times it seemed a bit harsh. Yet still really good and filled with Scripture to back things up.

If you have questions about forgiveness, I can't think of a better book to read, in spite of (or especially) because it is a short, small book. 

I received this book from Booksneeze and I was not required to write a positive review. 

1000 Days

1000 Days by Jonathan Falwell is a interesting premise - the days of Christ's official "ministry"  and the book was good, it just wasn't great. There are a lot of interesting stories and examples, and it's a nicely written book, just not one that I'd recommend to all my friends as an amazing book.

Sorry.

I received this book free of charge by Booksneeze and was not required to write a positive review.