Book Reviews

Sight in the Sandstorm: Jesus in His World and Mine

Ann J. Temkin

Emotional Response-4

Scholarly Response-4

The concept of this book fascinated me. Almost every chapter shares a story from the author’s life that she parallels to a story from Scripture.  She gives us a glimpse into life in 1st century Palestine while showing us that some things haven’t changed enough. Often she picked a Scripture text to walk alongside her story that was not the one I would have picked. I loved this. I enjoyed guessing what Scripture she’d select. When I was correct, I felt like we were seeing Scripture similarly. When I guessed wrong, I felt like the author was challenging and expanding my reading of Scripture.

I enjoyed her storytelling. She does not simply retell the Biblical stories. She adds details so you can see it. She gives voice to the characters (many whose words and thoughts are not shared with us in Scripture). The connection exists between her stories and the Bible stories because she tells both in the same way and style.

Once we have moved past Palm Sunday, the stories become only about Jesus and life in the 1st century (Chapters 15-17). I was saddened and disappointed by this change. Although the stories of the cleansing of the temple, the Last Supper, the betrayal and arrest, and the crucifixion are difficult, I wanted to know how she would use her life stories alongside these stories. When Easter comes, she returns to sharing her stories again. The book ends with the celebration of Pentecost.

Overall, I highly recommend this book. It is well-researched, well-written, and a fun read. I’d recommend this book to you if you’d like to look at Scripture in a new way. I’d recommend this book to you if you’d like to find a way to relate life today to the life of Jesus. I’d recommend this book to you if you love a good story.

 

I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR,Part 255.

#SpeakeasySightintheSandstorm

Drop, Dead Healthy: One Man’s Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection A.J. Jacobs

 

Years ago when I read My Year of Living Biblically with a book group at church, I loved the book. I loved the humor he brought to the task of attempting to follow every single rule, commandment, and suggestion in the Bible. Everything was so difficult for him to accomplish that it was funny. I was excited to discover this audio book to accompany me on my long travels.

I was disappointed in this book. The audio book is 11 hours long! When he got to month 12 and I still had many CDs to go, I wondered what was coming next. He did not feel he could complete the challenge in only 12 months and so he extended it to two years and then even longer.

While the Bible has many rules for him to follow, the sky felt like the limit with his quest for health. He kept coming up with more and more body parts and organs to try to improve. I wanted him to have a goal (not as lofty as bodily perfection) that he was going to spend 12 months trying to achieve. Every time he visited a doctor, specialist, or expert, he was left with many more healthy habits to explore.

I appreciated that he did seek out various experts in each challenge. For example, in Chapter 5, The Immune System: The Quest to Conquer Germs, he met with someone who is trying to eliminate all germs (extensive hand washing, etc) and a woman who only washes her hands when they are dirty. In the Prologue, he said, “Only by exploring the limits can you find the healthy middle ground.” And this seemed to be his point. He would attempt almost anything to try it. He was open to any “expert” who had health advice. I was overwhelmed by all the facts presented and challenges attempted.

I did appreciate learning that Protestant ministers live longer than Catholic priests. After sharing the results of a study about this, he did go on to talk about the difference between causation and correlation which led me to believe that I shouldn’t bank on living longer just because I am a Protestant minister.

He tells a story about how excited he was when he learned to listen to podcasts at double speed. I think this is a great idea. I might have enjoyed this book more if I had listened to it at double speed.

Let me sum it all up for you. It all boils down to three things. Eat less! Move more! Relax!

My recommendation for anyone who wants to read a book by A. J. Jacobs  is that you read My Year of Living Biblically.

Downtime: Helping Teenagers Pray Mark Yaconelli

Emotional Response-4

Scholarly Response-4

I finished reading this book while having some downtime at a dear friend’s home. And as I finished the book, I reflected on how busy life is. When I asked my youth about their lives, I am overwhelmed by all that they fit into a day and week. Sometimes when I look at my calendar, I wonder how I can get everything done. This book is a gift to those who work with youth and anyone who longs for some prayer time in their lives.

 

“Downtime is repentance-a returning to our natural dependance on and need for God” (25). This book encourages us to look at our time differently. By encouraging us to “withdraw, keep silence, read, go outside, rest, imagine, create, travel”, and many more things that should be part of our lives, we are given the tools to pray through the things we already do and create space to pray by taking time away. More than fifty prayers and exercises are shared in these pages.

 

The theme that runs through the book is seeking space apart from our busy-ness and the noise of life to seek God. In reflecting on 1 Kings 19:11-13, “God speaks to Elijah not through the overwhelming spectacles of wind, earthquake, and fire, but through a “sheer silence.” Teenagers live within a culture enamored by power and pomp, a culture that has lost its ability to hear the quiet sacrifices, the hidden creativity, and the humble acts of love that continue to sustain our world. Our young people need the silence of God so that they too might hear God say to the, “Who are you? What are you doing here? What is it you desire in this life?” (107).

 

With just that snippet of what you’ll find in this book, I would recommend this book to anyone looking to do youth ministry differently. This book offers an opportunity to include quiet prayer time in regular youth ministry nights and retreats. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to include more prayer time in your own life. Although the book is written for youth ministers, there is plenty to be gleaned by anyone who reads it.

Psalms for Young Children

Marie-Helene Delval

Illustrated by Arno

 

I love how this book features child-friendly language and beautiful, diverse illustrations of God’s children from around the world. When I am preaching on a psalm, I turn to this book to see if that psalm is featured in these pages, and when it is I am delighted. The writers of the psalms articulated so many emotions, and they are present in this book in the words and illustrations.

My only criticism of this book is that the only pronoun used for God in this book is he. Because the psalms use such diverse language for God, this is only a problem in 10 of the psalms in this book. I raise this as a caution if this is a concern for you.

I highly recommend this book for children as a way to introduce them to the psalms and help them see that the psalms are applicable to their lives. Also, I recommend adults get a copy of this book to enjoy for themeselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blessed are the Crazy: Breaking the Silence about Mental Illness, Family, and Church

Sarah Griffith Lund

Emotional Response-4

Scholarly Response-3

 

This is an honest and brave book. It is the author’s testimony. In her story, I saw the reality of mental illness. I saw how the church failed and fails to talk about it, to support the ones who live with it, and to welcome mental health consumers and their families as they are into the body of Christ. This isn’t an easy story to read because it is so real and heartbreaking. And in the midst of the struggles, I saw hope and possibility and community shining through.

 

I don’t want to tell you too much about this book because her words are so powerful and unlike many other books I review this is a story and I do not like it when people ruin the story.  In Chapter 6, she shares her hope for how the church can change. She encourages us to tell our stories and to listen to others’ stories. She asks us to care for caregivers. And she recommends we all pray for ourselves, for each other, for an easing of the pain and stigma of mental illness.

 

For me, this book is a challenge to the church to do better and to be better. I recommend we all read this story. I recommend we open our churches to support God’s children who have mental illness. I recommend we open our churches as places of hope, support, and comfort for those whose loved ones have a mental illness. For too long, the church has not talked about this and I thank Sarah Griffith Lund for changing that. You can change it to by reading this book and utilizing the resources she mentions.

 

“Church taught me a lot about a loving God, but not how to tell my own story about love, or the lack of it. My Sunday school teachers wanted me to learn about God’s love for the world and that this love sent Jesus to save us. But no one in Sunday school ever asked me what I needed saving from in my own life. Bible truths would magically set us free from sin. Yet there was no place for us to name, in our own words, the sin in our lives, the sinfulness of our families, or the sinfulness of our world” (7).

 

“If we believe that God knits us together in our mother’s womb, do we therefore believe that God knits crazy into our being? If God is in all places and is present in all times, is God also in mental illness? If we are made in God’s image, then is God crazy too?” (37).

 

“The gift of prayer is that over time it can transform worry into something else. Spiritual transformation doesn’t happen immediately, like creating light by striking a match. It is the day-by-day, hour-by-hour practice of lifting our worries up in prayer that brings change. By taking our worries to God in prayer, we can free our minds” (52).
“As a Christian I want so badly to believe that God has the power to save us. But what life has taught me is that God cannot save us from situations where we choose to give fear and hatred power, and, in so doing, choose other gods. When we choose the God of love, whose very nature is to reconcile all things, then we have a real shot at saving the world through Christ. Salvation means wholeness and it comes through relationships, not through individual piety” (70).

The Zimzum of Love: A New Way of Understanding Marriage Rob and Kristen Bell

Emotional Response-3

Scholarly Response-2

I believe we are created to be in relationship with each other and with God. One of my gifts and joys in ministry is supporting relationships-individuals and congregational relationships with God, loving partnerships, family, friends, etc. To help support these relationships, I’m always searching for good resources to share. As my readers know, I find Rob Bell very readable with an easy to follow style. And this book was a quick, easy read.

The word zimzum is the theme that holds this book together. It is a Hebrew word that means in order for God to create God had to withdraw and create in a space where God wasn’t. Basically, God moved over to allow space for us to thrive and grow and be. They take this word zimzum and use it to describe how we interact with the person we love. “You meet this person, you fall in love, and you zimzum–creating space for them to thrive while they’re doing the same for you. The zimzuming unleashes energy and creates space that didn’t exist before, generating flow that is the lifeblood of marriage” (19).

Many things in this book just make sense. In order for your partner to thrive, you need to know what he or she needs/wants. Talk to the one you love (25). Stop keeping score of who does more (31-36). “How is the space between us?” Are we too close or is there too much distance? (56-58). Give your partner the benefit of the doubt (61-62). Go places and do things together. Shared experiences are essential (76-83). Extend grace and forgiveness with reckless abandon (100-110) as long as it is safe to do so.

All of the things mentioned in the previous paragraph are wonderful ways to support and strengthen the relationship you have with your partner. Are they new and revolutionary? Probably not. What I found the most wonderful of this whole book was the set of questions at the end (123-127). Even without reading the book most of these questions could be excellent ways to start a discussion about your relationship in pre-marital counseling, with your partner, or even by yourself to see how well you know the one you love.

This book is for people in any stage of a romantic relationship. This book would work for those who are just getting to know each other and for those who have been together for decades. Most of the book keeps the pronouns fluid enough to allow this book to work for all couples. I noticed a few places like page 57 where the couple language is “husband and wife”. This book contained excellent nuggets of conversation starters for couples. When I finished reading, I wanted more. I think this feeling was a wish that the book had explored any of these ideas on a deeper level instead of skimming the whole concept of marriage and romantic relationships in only 120 pages. I would recommend checking a copy of this out of the library and going through the questions at the end with the one you love.

 

This is What I Pray Today: The Divine Hours for Children Phyllis Tickle

Illustrated by Elsa Warnick

 

In this book, Phyllis Tickle introduces young children to the concept of praying three times a day. She does this with prayers that reflect what is going on in the lives of young children. Each day there is a prayer for the morning, a prayer for when it is time to rest (meaning naptime) and a prayer for the end of the day or bedtime. In this book, you’ll find a week of prayers.

I recommend this as a great gift to a young child in your life. It would also be a great addition to your church library. Tickle wrote the book so it could be used by followers of the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian faiths, so this book would also work as an inter-faith gift too.