Takeaway: Friends are important.
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In the second book of the series, Percy is getting comfortable in his role as one of the half-bloods and excited about going back to camp for more training. But as normal, the mosters that seek after the children of the Gods cause problems and another adventure is started.
Takeaway: We often live like Jesus is the Life, sometimes like Jesus is the Truth, but often forget that Jesus is the Way. It is a path that we are to follow, not just a belief that we are to ascribe.
This is the second time I have started this book. A couple of years ago, I got bogged down and did not finished it. Because it was the only one of Peterson’s series of practical theology that I have not read, I decided that I should go back and read it again. This time I got it. That is not to say that it is an easy book to get through, I still think it is the weakest of this series. It is a bit disjointed. The beginning of the book talks about the reasons that we need to follow Jesus. This section primarily revolves around the passage of Jesus saying he is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Peterson says we spend a lot of time on Jesus being the truth and the life, but we do not often think a lot about how Jesus is the way.
Takeaway: Very few topics get more to the heart of Christian love and community more than racial, class and economic reconciliation.
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I first heard about John Perkins in the spring of 1992 as I was preparing for a summer missions trip with Wheaton College. We read one of his books (cannot remember which one, but according to his Wikipedia page, only A Quiet Revolution was published in 1992, now out of print). Later that year, after working for a summer in Houston with kids in a long term homeless shelter, attended my first Christian Community Development Association meeting. It was there that I first heard John Perkins speak. Since think I think I have read almost everything written by or about him. He truly is one of the modern prophets that has done much to change the direction of the modern Evangelical church. So I am always surprised how many people have not heard of him. A the last Catalyst conference, Perkins was one of the main speakers and I saw dozens of tweets quoting him and many questioning why they had never heard of him.
Takeaway: Learning scripture from a variety of teachers is important.
I have decided I am going to try a different format of scripture reading. The main issue for me is that I read too much and too quickly and that after a while I start reading scripture in the same way as I read everything else. So I am being intentional, repetitive and trying to slow down as I read scripture.
I picked up this bible study a while ago when it was offered for free on kindle. I decided to start with Luke intentionally in part because I had this bible study and wanted to be intentional in reading a diverse group of authors as I read about the book I am actively reading.
Takeaway: Technology is shaped by its human creators, but also in turn shapes its human users. (This is the book I have been searching for on Technology and Christianity.)
I am a geek wannabe. I fix a lot of friends computers and my less techie friends often ask for advice. But my skills pale in comparison to John Dyer, John Saddington, and a bunch of other twitter friends. In spite of the fact that I am a nanny and not a full time tech worker, I have been thinking a lot about technology and how we as Christians should be reacting. Over the past couple months I have read two decent books on Technology and Christianity, Tim Challies’ The Next Story and Adam Thomas’ Digital Disciple. Both have real value, but the book I have been looking for is John Dyer’s From The Garden to the City.
The main theme of the book is that while we as humans create technology (and that is part of our God given role), the resulting technology shapes us in ways that we often ignore. A personal example happened yesterday. My wife and I are heavy users of our phones for social media and texting, but we do not actually use them to make a lot of phone calls. Our smart phones are not neutral devices as many Christians want to say, neither good nor evil. Yes, we can choose to do good things or evil things with the phones, but the very fact we have the phones affects the way we interact in the world. Technology is not deterministic; we can overcome natural tendencies. But without reflection and insight we, often are just unaware of how the technology affects us.
Takeaway: Communication is the center of marriage. Almost everything, both good and bad, is a result of communicating with our spouse.
One of the best things my wife and I have done over the past year is to lead a small group for newly married couples. We have seven couple that were married from 5 weeks to 1 1/2 years when we started. We are wrapping up the group this month and will start a new group in August. Leading the group has really required that my wife and I have serious conversations about what is good and bad in our own marriage and the marriages of those around us and how it is we can encourage new marriages to become strong. I really recommend leading a group like this.
I had a conversation with the Author in the comments of my review on Amazon. I am reprinting that conversation here. I need to re-read the books because clearly I did not get all of it. Whenever I disagree with an author, I want to make sure that I am communicating their argument correctly, in a way that they would agree that I have understood. Farley was kind enough to dialogue with me to move me closer to understanding what he was trying to communicate. The conversation is at the bottom.
Takeaway: The overall point, that Jesus plus anything else is no longer the Gospel, is right. But his method of dismissing most of scripture, including much of Jesus’ own teaching, makes it so I am hesitant to recommend it.
It took me about 3 years, but I finally got around to reading this book (or most of it anyway.) A friend asked me what I thought of it and gave me a copy, but we were never able to schedule a time to talk about it, and I did not read it until now.
Farley grew up in a legalistic church background. He reached a crisis of faith when he realized he never could share the gospel with enough people, he never could live righteous enough, he could never become holy by his own power.
Rating: 3 Stars Purchase Links: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle Edition, Audible.com Audiobook I first heard of Klosterman a few weeks ago on Bill Simmons’s BS Report podcast. I enjoyed his analysis of Charlie Sheen, the Oscars, and rock music. This book seems to be his most popular, so I figured I’d start with this one. Overall, … Read more
Takeaway: The search for who Jesus is, is important for every generation, not because Jesus changes, but because we do.
I honestly cannot express how disappointing it is that when listening to the introduction (this was an audiobook) I find that this book is based on a series of lectures that NT Wright gave while in Chicago speaking to seminary students and others for a conference put on by Intervarsity in 1999. Because I was in Chicago, and was a seminary student in 1999, and I had no idea that this conference happened.
One of the benefits of multiple reviewers is that we can read the same books and give our different takes. Adam’s previous review of Unbroken is here.
Louie Zamperini has an incredible story. It’s amazing what one person can experience in a lifetime. His story made me really think about what I would do if I had to go through what he did.
While I don’t think Hillenbrand intended to make any political statements with the book, I couldn’t help but think about Louie’s story of torture and the current debate in our country on gathering intelligence on prisoners of war. Hillenbrand gives you a little bit of history on Japan during World War II.