Adam Shields

Short review: This is a look at the importance and mystery of community from a Russian Orthodox perspective. I consciously try to read at least one Roman Catholic or Orthodox writer every couple months because I think the different perspective on Christianity is important. I especially appriate Orthodox concept of mystery in faith. What I appriciate can also be what irritates me. Many Orthodox books are rambling, looking at the same thing from a variety of perspective and still never quite getting there. So what I end up reading for are snippets of greatness. This book has some snippets, but it is also rambling.

My full review on my blog at http://bookwi.se/sigrist/

My review is at http://bookwi.se/the-noticer-by-andy-andrews/

Short review. I didn't like it. I felt it was recycled advice from the best of the self help books of the last decade or two. The story form was ok. I don't really like the form where the author pretends to be the actual narrator and there is a mix of actual autobiography and blatant fiction. But getting over that, the issue isn't the story form, it is the lack of originality.

I have been reading and studying the book of Luke for the past four months. I decided to take seriously a comment that too often we as Christians skim over the bible instead of reading it closely. So I have been reading just Luke and reading at least one book a month on Luke. I have read commentaries or bible studies by John MacArthur, Michael Card, a book on the Luke version of the Beatitudes and I am working through a very academic commentary on Luke right now.

This book is the best introduction to Luke. I really like Card's perspective and look at the artistry of Luke. But if I were going to suggest a book for a small group study I would suggest this. It is designed with 60 percent of the book as commentary and the remaining 40 percent is a very detailed suggested bible study format.

I am increasingly frustrated with people that suggest that we should be able to just read scripture on our own without any help. We can, but if we want to understand the deeper ramifications of a passage then we need to build on the knowledge of the church and past scholars.

A good example (although the book as a whole is not dense like this) is from Gabriel's announcement to Mary of Jesus' birth:

"”Do not be afraid; for see–I am bringing you good news [gospel!] of great joy [a major Lukan theme] for all people [another Lukan theme]: to you is born this day in the city of David [Israel's royal city] a Savior [a title reserved for the emperor], who is the Messiah [a Hebrew title applied to King David and his royal heirs], the Lord [a title used by the emperor and also used by Jews to refer to God].” (2:10-11) Luke has laid on Jesus several titles of authority that might make some in Luke's audience a bit anxious. Nevertheless he continues. Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” (2:13-14) The more sophisticated of Luke's hearers might have heard in the angel's doxology an echo of the Roman poet Virgil's hymn celebrating the birth of another baby boy–Caesar Augustus.”

In general the book is written in a very narrative format and just refers to sections instead of actually quoting long sections. This is a book designed to be read along with the bible, not one that has all the bible passages in it. I am looking forward to using this series in the future.

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An ebook version of this book was provided by the publisher for purposes of review. A longer version of this review was originally published on my blog at http://bookwi.se/luke-scratch/

Short review: This is my first James Bond novel. It is pretty much what I expected. Slightly darker than the movies. Enjoyable read. Dated attitudes and setting.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/dr-no/

Short review: This is a short, very readable introduction to Aquinas. It is not going to go deeply into depth, but it does give a good overview to Aquinas' major contribution (understanding of God, Natural Law, Just War theory, sexuality, politics, etc.). People seem to be split on whether you like it based on if you think it is a funny book. It is a bit corny, but respectful of the subject and very easy to listen to and still get the point. This is the second of the armchair series I have read. Much better than the John Calvin book.

A longer review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/aquinas/

Full review at http://bookwi.se/milrose-munce-and-the-den-of-professional-help-by-douglas-anthony-cooper/

I really enjoyed this young adult book. It is in a similar vein of Lemony Snickett, but oriented to older readers. The basic story is about a middle school boy that talks to ghosts and the “Professional Help” he is sent to that will “solve his problem”. It has a nice early teen romance and lost of non-scary ghosts. I would say it is appropriate for advanced 10 year old to about 15 year old readers.

Full review at http://bookwi.se/finding-juliet-by-frank-sennett/

Short review: I was at the beach and looking for a beach fiction book. This is a nice little romance. Lit Grad student writes a letter for a class, it gets sent to Italy to a society that write letters “for Juliet”. The guy breaks up with his girl friend and comes into some money, so goes to Italy to find the girl that responded to his letter. Nothing out of the ordinary, but a good story.

Short review: I intentionally read this with CS Lewis' Letters to Malcolm because I thought they would complement one another. But I was wrong. Letters to Malcolm showed a personal, intimate side of Lewis and was great at giving us Lewis developing thoughts and working out ideas. Peterson is writing composite letters to a composite character. These were flat and a but curmudgeonly. There are nuggets of good stuff here, but all of it is better in fuller treatments in his other books. I am a fan of Peterson and this is the first book of his I really didn't like. But I didn't and think you should skip this and read Letters to Malcolm instead

My full review on my blog at http://bookwi.se/friends/

Short review: This is the only book I know of that is particularly about leading prayer in a small group/community group setting. Very practical in its orientation. He uses lots of prayers as examples of both positive and negative ways to approach prayer in a small group setting. Basic idea is that setting matters and that the prayers that you pray alone or in a large group setting are not the prayers you should be praying in a small group setting.

My longer review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/prayer/

Short Review: Matched is a young adult utopian/dystopian novel that is more thinking & romance than action. This is actually good in my mind. The violence and action of Hunger Games, Divergent, Little Brother and some others can sometime be more than is necessary and this is a good change of pace for the genre. It will appeal to girls more than boys, but that is ok. I enjoyed it.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/matched/

Short Review: I am being a bit hard on Wright. But because I know he has the capacity to write clear prose I am a bit frustrated by this book. It is very lightly edited series of lectures. And while I appreciate the fact that just lightly editing some lectures can produce a book fairly easily, Wright should have spend some more time editing to make it more cohesive. It is not a bad book, on content alone I would rate at 4. I have had this for a while as a hardback but I didn't actually read it until it was on sale for audiobook. Wright's basic thesis is that you can't understand Paul without understanding how he understood the relationship between Israel, the exodus, convenant, eschatology, righteousness, election and justification. Once you understand all of those things you will see that Paul is often misunderstood.

I think there is real value in this book, but it is not the easiest of Wright's books to start with.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/paul-wright/

Short review: this is a decent introduction to systematic theology book. Fairly easy to read, covers all the major topics it should and uses many of the correct theological words with fairly good definitions. I am not a fan of the title. I think it is misleading and potentially inappropriate. But the book has good discussion questions and good (but conservative) further reading suggestions. I think this is good for a small group or adult education class. Probably not great for individual reading.

My full review on my blog at http://bookwi.se/thoennes/

Full review at http://bookwi.se/beyond-the-reflections-edge-by-bryan-davis/

Short review: This was a unique science fiction idea about multiple dimensions. Music and mirrors are used to move between three parallel dimensions. Nathan Shepherd, a 16 year old, is the main character. I thought the character development was a bit mixed, but I appreciated the multiple female leads that had read development, unusual for a young adult science fiction book. Liked it more than enough to keep reading the series. Hard to review the story until I read more of the series.

Full review http://bookwi.se/eternitys-edge-echoes-from-the-edge-book-2-by-bryan-davis/

Short review: These are not perfect young adult science fiction/fantasy books, but they are original. Sometime a bit hard to follow but they work out in the end with decent stories. I find some of the motivation a bit stretched, but the author is working in some boundaries that makes it all seem worthwhile. Overall pretty good.

Short review: I think the first part is really good. I really wanted him to talk more about cultural issues of transmission of the gospel. But he seemed to be a bit convoluted toward the end of the book. This is somewhat dated with references to Christianity in public schools and issues with communism. I want to read more by Newbigin to see if he is clearer in other places.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/foolishness/

Full review at http://bookwi.se/primal-a-quest-for-the-lost-soul-of-christianity-by-mark-batterson/

Short review: I think that this is a good book for helping us to re-discover the emotional and spiritual attraction that Christianity held for us at the beginning. I thought it would be more about the church and less about us as individual Christians. I feel this is the greatest weakness. Primal (early Christians were not individualistic) and a focus on the “Primal” feelings and motivations of early Christians would have spent a lot more time helping us to rediscover a sense of community among the church.

That being said, Batterson has a keen sense of wonder and creativity. I think that he really does help move people to embrace Christianity as more than a theological or philosophical exercise. I think that this time of book is needed in the church. But I wish that it was less individual focused and more community focused.

Short review: This is a challenging book about how Evangelicals misuse scripture. I would not recommend it to everyone (maybe not even most) because it does a much better job at tearing down inappropriate uses of scripture than a showing what it views as proper ways to read scripture. It is a natural follow up to my reading on scripture lately and it has helped clarify much of my thinking. I am concerned about the tone of the first part of the book. It is pretty negative about the way that many Christians misuse scripture. And I think there are some of his complaints that are over stated. But on the whole I agree with him. If you are in seminary or a pastor, I recommend this. If you are a lay person that has not done a lot of thinking or reading about the use and understanding of scripture, this would not be the first book I suggest.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/bible-smith/

Short review: good fictional look at issues of privacy, government over-reach, cyber-security, civil liberties, all wrapped up in a young adult book. Mostly very good, but can veer into the propaganda feel occasionally.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/little-brother/

Short review: Interesting concept, looking at the different ways the meal is important to Christianity. The best chapters were on meals as missional activity and meals as grace. The discussion on Jesus as seen through Luke was also good. The book just seemed to be missing something though. And I am not sure what. I think we should think about meals and our intention with people well. I think that scripture wants us to focus on people, I think that the eucharist says something spiritually and physically important. But I still felt this book was a little flat. Maybe it was just me.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/meal-with-jesus/

Full review http://bookwi.se/contemplative-prayer-by-thomas-merton/

Short review: I am reading through books on prayer from different Christian theological perspectives. This book was written for monks, but there are several very good sections that are useful for all. It was the last book written by Merton before he died in 1968. I have put it on my list of books to re-read in six months.

Short Review: Read the book. It is a very interesting modern spiritual biography. Consciously drawing parallels between Yun and the books of Acts is a storytelling method that was quite striking. This is a good book to remind us that being a Christian in other parts of the world is not just a decision about which church to attend.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/heavenly-man/

Short review: Skip this, it is filler and doesn't add anything to the series. Three short stories and some interviews with the series characters.

My full review on my blog at http://bookwi.se/demigod/

Short review: This is a good (short) book about the Flag Page Test. It is a short personality test that we found very useful with our married small group. If you buy the book you get one free test code. The book is $15 and the test is $15. So might as well get the book and a free test. (note: since I originally wrote the review the test is no longer included with the book.)

Longer review on my blog at http://bookwi.se/flag-page-test-gungor/

I borrowed this on kindle so it expired before I finished it. So I can't comment about the end. Overall, I was not impressed. It just seems like it is fighting for an understanding of scripture that doesn't get us anywhere.

My slightly longer comments are on my blog http://bookwi.se/comfort/

Overall, this was a very weak response to Enns. Beale's use of prior journal articles, his summary of Enns responses instead of actually re-printing them and fairly random supplemental chapters make this book feel very thrown together and a very weak piece of scholarship. If Enns is important enough to write a full book about, he should be important enough to actually write a decent book about. Instead, this book seems to be exactly the type of book that Christian Smith wrote Bible Made Impossible to address. Beale's concern does not actually seem to be the authority of scripture, the value of the text or following the evidence of the text, but preserving his per-conscieved understanding of what the is necessary to maintain inerrancy. I also think much of the problems of the book are because this book is primarily outside Beale's traditional area of scholarship. It likely would have been much better with a co-author or if he had been an editor of a wider response.

My full review (about 1600 words) is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/the-erosion-of-inerrancy-in-evangelicalism-by-gk-beale/