Adam Shields

The Englewood Review of Books

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I have had several people ask me how I decide what books to read.  Primarily, I listen to friends and read reviews.  The two best book review magazine/websites for Christian books are Christianity Today’s Books and Culture and the new Englewood Review of Books. Englewood Review of Books has been around as a website for … Read more

God Is My Broker: A Monk-Tycoon Reveals the 7 1/2 Laws of Spiritual and Financial Growth by Christopher Buckley and John Tierney

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Takeaway: If you don’t know what good satire is all about, you have not read anything by Christopher Buckley. Purchase Links: Hardcover, Paperback, Audible.com Audiobook I hate abridged audiobooks.  You never know what you really are missing, you just know something is missing.  Is it a good part, a lousy part.  Is it five minutes … Read more

Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality by Manjit Kumar

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Takeaway: There is a reason that the concept of paradigm shifts was originated in science history. Purchase Links: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle Edition, Audible.com Audiobook Science is a weak area for me.  I only had one science class in college and it was one of the weakest teachers I had in college.  And my high school science was … Read more

Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between the Rich and the Poor in an Interconnected World by Jacqueline Novogratz

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Takeaway: It is easy to do more harm than good when working among the poor. Developing people and infrastructure is usually harder, but more important for the long term. Purchase Links: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle Edition, Audible.com Audiobook This is a book that has been on my to read list since it first came out about … Read more

New Kindle Lending Page

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I have been working on creating a lending page for my kindle books that are authorized to be loaned.  This is a new feature that was added to the kindle at the end of 2010.  It is limited, each book can only be lent one time.  And during the lending period, it is not authorized … Read more

The Grace of God by Andy Stanley

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The Grace of God

My Takeaway: Grace really is the central message of the Gospel.

I have been meandering through this book for a while.  I bought it pre-release when it was sold at church (full disclosure, I go to Buckhead Church, Andy Stanley is my pastor.)  Then Thomas Nelson gave away the ebook if you signed up on the Facebook page.  So I waited for the ebook to come out.  Thomas Nelson only distributed it in PDF (they really should know better).  So I tried converting it to kindle format using Calibre and it did not look that great.  I eventually finished the book by reading it as a pdf on the iPad, a far from perfect experience.

This is my first of Andy Stanley’s explicitly theological books.  I have read some of his leadership books and I think leadership is where he really shines.  He is a great preacher and having attended the church for a while I can recall some of the sermons this was based on.  It is not a sermon series turned to book form.  But there are a few things that I recognize from earlier sermons.  I think there is just as much that will be in future sermons.  In fact, I recognize a couple quotes from the book as being in the last two week’s sermons and the book has been in my house for the past couple months.

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