You Had One Job!, by Beverly L. Jenkins

Do you get a kick out of the "You had one job!" memes on the internet?  Just google that phrase, and you'll turn up lots of silly pictures of goofed up jobs, sloppy projects, silly signs, and dumb mistakes.  If you're not online, you can see a nice collection of these pictures in Beverly Jenkins's book, titled, appropriately enough, You Had One Job! Hilarious Pictures of Jobs Gone Horribly Wrong.

Some of these are pretty hilarious.  A few are un-hilarious enough that I wondered why they made it into the book.  Many of them make you think, What exactly what were they thinking?  What's the story with that?  These pictures don't stand head and shoulders above what you might find in a random internet search.  But it's fun to have them all in one place.  Jenkins does add a bit of commentary, employing a wry sense of humor and irony.

Besides being a fun little book you can keep on your coffee table or bedside to flip through for a laugh (no electricity or wi-fi needed), You Had One Job is sort of like a time capsule.  Long after these web sites are shut down, after the click-bait links are dead, this book will preserve a little bit of what we laughed at in the second decade of the 21st century.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

  

The Fifth Gospel, by Ian Caldwell

It's tempting to view Ian Caldwell's The Fifth Gospel as a Dan Brown knock-off.  That's not really fair. They're in a similar genre--a mystery surrounding ancient texts in a religious setting--but The Fifth Gospel stands on its own.

When a curator of a new exhibit at the Vatican museum is murdered on the grounds of a papal retreat, his close friends, two priests who are brothers, get involved in the mystery.  One is accused of the murder; the other, Father Alex, wants to exonerate his brother.  Add in the subject of the exhibit, the Shroud of Turin and a Fifth Gospel, and motives, controversies, and mysteries will abound, even among the holy confines of Vatican City.

In my opinion the mystery part of The Fifth Gospel really dragged and did not keep me on the edge of my seat.  As Father Alex uncovers clues and hits against walls of silence, my interest was only mildly piqued.  The resolution of it all was a let down.  What really interested me was Caldwell's description of life inside the walls of the Vatican.

Alex grew up in the Vatican and has a young son (as an Eastern Catholic, he can marry).  Living in a place so steeped in history and religion, while doing mundane things like grocery shopping and raising a child, must be strange.  Caldwell portrays it like a small town where everyone knows everyone else, which must not be too far from the truth, as the population is only a few hundred.  Further, the conflict of the story revolves around the schism between Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox.  As a Greek Eastern Catholic, Alex's allegiance is to Rome, but his tradition is a sort of bridge between the two groups.  At issue is whether the events of the book can reunite the two traditions or further alienate them from one another.

I enjoyed The Fifth Gospel for the elements of religious, historical, cultural, and geographical education.  That is enough reason to like a book.  But it would have been even better if I had really been able to get into the story.



2016 Reading Challenge: A book recommended by a family member
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Speaking Well, by Adam Hamilton

If you ever find yourself speaking in front of groups of people, you will want to pick up Adam Hamilton's Speaking Well: Essential Skills for Speakers, Leaders, and Preachers.  An experienced preacher and speaker, Hamilton has lots of practical advice to heed before you take the platform.

His logistical tips are especially welcome.  For many readers, these may be self-evident, but it doesn't hurt to mention even the obvious.  For instance, have water available, but room temperature, because "cold water restricts throat passages."  Make sure there are fresh batteries in your microphone, if you are using a cordless.  Limit the use of technology.  To the extent that you do use it, make sure it supports your point.  And, given that snafus are inevitable at one time or another, "make certain your talk works without the technology, and be prepared to deliver it that way!"

In terms of preparation and content, Hamilton starts out by saying, "There's one ingredient that is vital to most effective talks: illustrations. . . . Speeches, talks, and sermons should nearly always include illustrations to touch people's hearts."  Further, a good speech will have focus.  "Choose on central idea and focus on that, giving . . . hearers a simple, straightforward takeaway.  That takeaway should include an action point, "a clear answers to the question, 'So what?'"  A speech has the most impact "when you directly ask the audience to do something, to take a next step, or to make a change."

As you might have discerned from the above paragraph, Hamilton writes from the perspective of a preacher.  Speaking Well does seem to be directed most to preachers, at times explicitly so, but if you are a non-preacher speaker, don't be put off.  Most of what he writes will be applicable in speaking to general, secular audiences as well.  Spend a few minutes with Hamilton's book.  No matter what kind of speaker you are, you will find plenty of ways to improve your speaking.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

2016 Reading Challenge: A book about public speaking
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The Daniel Prayer, by Anne Graham Lotz

Anne Graham Lotz knows something about prayer.  And she knows something about evangelism.  When your daddy is Billy Graham, and your brother is Franklin Graham, it is part of the family tradition.  As a speaker (dare we say preacher?) and writer, she carries on her father's tradition of clear, thoughtful, and challenging messages about the gospel and the Christian life.

In The Daniel Prayer: Prayer That Moves Heaven and Changes Nations, Lotz challenges us to follow the example of Daniel.  As a captive exile in a foreign land, Daniel remained faith to his God, refused to bow to the foreign gods, and gave an example of prayer, found in Daniel 9, that we can follow today.

Daniel's prayer is a prayer of repentance and restoration, calling for God to restore Israel.  Lotz believes "God's patience may be running out" for the United States, because of the nation's tolerance of abortion, embrace of gay marriage, and "our abandonment of the nation of Israel."  In Daniel's case, God's people were taken into exile.  I don't know what God has in store for us, but Lotz is right.  We do need to repent, individually and collectively, of our sin, and plead with God for restoration, for the glory of God.

The Daniel Prayer is about prayer for national restoration, but much more than that, it's about prayer in general.  She discusses Bible reading and worship as foundations for prayer, practical issues like determining the proper time, place, and preparation for prayer, and keeping a central focus of prayer "that God's name be cleared. Exalted. Glorified."  And we should never forget that prayer is warfare.  When we pray, "we are entering into the realm of spiritual warfare with the enemy."

It comes as no surprise that Lotz, who had one of the great evangelists as her model, would be a great communicator.  She has honed her gift and developed her own style.  She's a sought-after speaker, and The Daniel Prayer is an example of why.  However, as powerful as parts of her message were, I sometimes felt that, like many speakers, she drew points out a bit too far, squeezing 15 minutes of content in a 45 minute sermon, so to speak.  It also lost focus overall, as the book morphed from a book on the Daniel Prayer to a general book on prayer.

But that may just be me.  The larger point is that she leaves the reader with much to chew on.  Her challenge to a more consistent, focused life of prayer is compelling.  The model prayers in the final section are at once intimidating (I can't pray that articulately! Or that long!) and encouraging (Here's a prayer I can learn to pray from.).  Now, to get American Christians praying Daniel Prayers. . . . May God's name be glorified as he restores his people to his place of blessing.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

2016 Reading Challenge: A book by a woman conference speaker
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Dispatches from the Front, by Tim Keesee

Tim Keesee has one of the coolest jobs ever.  As executive director of Frontline Missions International (FMI), he travels the world supporting church planters and missionaries spreading the gospel in some of the most gospel-hostile environments.  He tells the stories of his travels in the Dispatches from the Front film series, and in his book Dispatches from the Front: Stories of Gospel Advance in the World's Difficult Places.

The travels in the book span Europe, Asia, and Africa, including much of the 10/40 window.  Keesee gets up close and personal with Christians serving in these countries, many under the threat of persecution.  Some of his friends are Westerners, others are indigenous Christians, some are even missionaries to their own people, such as some Chinese who have moved from one part of China to another to share the gospel.

The brief vignettes are almost overwhelming, as we read one story after another of heroic Christians loving their neighbors around the world.  What an honor for Keesee to be a part of all of these works.  I am assuming that the people he visits are affiliated with FMI, but he scarcely mentions his organization or identifies his friends as FMI missionaries.  I am curious about the structure and support of FMI missionaries.

The scattershot nature of Keesee's narrative was a bit of a deterrent to my enjoyment of the book.  It was one visit after another with no narrative thread (save for the obvious story of God's work in the world).  Also, in keeping with the travel journal style, he starts almost every section with a sentence fragment, like "Arrived in Tirana about noon," or "My last day with Aashish."  I know, it's a picky style issue, but it just annoyed me. 

Toward the end, he writes of his experiences in Central Asia, where Islam is militant and Americans are constantly in danger.  He tells of a missionary who works as a physical therapist and who was shot down on her way to work.  Another friend of his was killed shortly after his visit.  I appreciated his stark, yet realistic, conclusion.  In Afghanistan, "Where are the Iranians with their universities and wealth?  Why have they not sent doctors and nurses here?  Where are the Saudis, the Egyptians, or the people of the Emirates awash in oil and designer islands?  These countries are sending fighters and suicide bombers, but not doctors and nurses.  Out here among the poorest and neediest, it is Christians--not Muslims--who are caring for the sick and dying.  It is not because we are better than they are.  It is because our God is better than their God." (221)  This is quite a contrast to the "we worship the same God" crowd.

Yet, he doesn't let Christians off the hook.  In Iraq he was detained by some Iraqi military.  Some American military stationed nearby came to their aid, noting that the Iraqis had likely been preparing to turn them over to some Iranian militants.  Keesee and his party were thankful for the providential intervention.  Yet he asks, "All these businessmen I flew in with four days ago are still here--risking their resources and even their lives in order to make money.  Why can't Christians risk at least as much for the gospel?" (233)  Why, indeed.  Reading Keesee's stories will inspire you to ask exactly that.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

2016 Reading Challenge: A book that won a ECPA Christian book award
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The Field Guide to Sports Metaphors, by Josh Chetwynd

Years ago, when my kids competed in judo tournaments, I had a revelation.  I had heard the phrase "no holds barred" and didn't really have a grasp of what it means.  As I learned about my boys' chosen sport, I realized that certain "holds" are "barred" in judo, and that a "no holds barred" match might reach a conclusion more quickly, but would be risky and dangerous for both parties.  Thus the phrase applies to "no-restriction efforts in most everything else" besides judo, wrestling, and other combat sports.

In The Field Guide to Sports Metaphors: A Compendium of Competitive Words and Idioms, Josh Chetwynd points out how many of these types of phrases have worked their way into everyday language, so much so that we are often ignorant of the phrases' origin in sports.  Chetwynd takes the phrases or words sport by sport, providing a bit of history, etymology, and, in some cases, discussing competing claims.  This is great for someone interested in the language, but also for lovers of sports trivia.

My favorites were the "unexpected phrases" from sports.  "Flake" and "jazz" are baseball terms?  Who knew?  Not me.  "My bad"?  I always associated that with basketball, but didn't know its origins from a Dinka tribesman who played in the NBA.  How about "there's the rub"?  Shakespeare, right?  Yes, but where did Shakespeare get it?  Lawn bowling!  That's just a sampling, of course.  A nice feature is the handy index.  Is there a phrase or word you suspect is derived from sports?  Check the index.  The Field Guide to Sports Metaphors is a treasure trove for lovers of the English language, as well as for lovers of sports.

(On minor quibble on the Kindle edition.  Some of the phrase were discussed in block quotes, separate from the main text.  In the electronic version, sometimes these did not show up correctly, causing abrupt shifts in the text and wild goose chases to resume the correct paragraph.  I have an ERC; perhaps the Kindle version for sale will have corrected this.)


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Winners, by Anna Ehrlemark

Anna Ehrlemark's art is dark, stark, and creepy.  All of those elements and more describe her collection Winners, ten "stories" told in graphic novel form.  Her images are stark black and white, her themes are bizarre, and the art ventures far into the realm of the abstract and surreal.

I found the "stories" (I use that term loosely) to be strange and, in some cases, nonsensical.  Ehrlemark uses text in some of the stories, but the majority of the work is wordless, broadening the Eastern European artist's appeal.  The images range from unappealing to gross.   I have pretty diverse tastes, but there just isn't anything about Winners that appealed to me.




Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!