Modern life is distracting and shallow. That goes without saying. But how should a Christian respond in the modern environment of social media? How can a connected life reflect Christian discipleship? Alan Noble has a few things to say about these issues in Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age.
A few things stand out as I reflect on the book. First and foremost, Noble argues against a trivialization of faith. This hit home to me as I think about my Facebook feed and the posts of my friends, both believers and non-believers. It's easy for faith, as expressed through social media, to be seen as merely on choice among many, a lifestyle category. You follow a particular style of music, sci-fi comics, political activism. Well, I follow Jesus, as you can see from this meme I just posted. . . . Talk about robbing the gospel of its distinctiveness and immediacy. But in many cases, that's exactly what happens. Our connection to Jesus seems superficial, like our connection to a sports team.
Noble writes about the "double movement," which he describes as "the practice of first acknowledging goodness, beauty, and blessing wherever we encounter them in life, and then turning that goodness outward to glorify God and loving our neighbor." A life online can only hint at this double movement. While we can express our identity in Christ online to a limited extent, to glorify God and love our neighbor, we must log off Facebook and put down our smart phones.
Noble is not anti-technology or anti-social media, but he wants Christians to be reflective regarding how technologies impact the practice of our faith. The more distracted we are, and the more the world around us becomes secular, it's worth taking some time to reflect on our own practices and connection to God and each other.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
Friday, August 24, 2018
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Spymaster, by Brad Thor
Scot Harvath is back in Brad Thor's newest novel of geopolitical adventure and intrigue. In Spymaster Harvath, refusing to take a desk job at Carlton Group, is out in the field keeping threats to democracy at bay. In this case, it's those pesky Russians again, longing for the pre-Cold-War days of running all of Eastern Europe. Harvath's task: keep NATO out of a war with Russia. The Ruskies are threatening to take back the Baltic States. NATO's terms would require NATO members to defend the Baltics, and nobody wants that war.
Much of the action is centered on the strategic island of Gotland. Out in the middle of the Baltic Sea, it's normally a quiet Swedish island. But the Russians have their eye on it, and it's up to Harvath and his team to quash their plans. Then they have to go to the source--Kaliningrad--to beat the Russians who are executing a terrorist bombing campaign. (This was a geography lesson, too. Did you know that Russia has a province isolated from the rest of the country? It's a little slice of land between Poland and Lithuania that gives the Russians a port on the Baltic Sea.)
Spymaster shares many qualities with Thor's other novels. The pace is breakneck. Harvath and his team make good use of their private planes to hop around the globe. The action is intense. Harvath leaves a body count in his wake that must surely be dispiriting to his enemies. And, of course, Harvath might lose a battle but you know he's going to come out on top. Thor's fans will not be disappointed. Someday Harvath is going to hit the big screen; Spymaster is ready.
Much of the action is centered on the strategic island of Gotland. Out in the middle of the Baltic Sea, it's normally a quiet Swedish island. But the Russians have their eye on it, and it's up to Harvath and his team to quash their plans. Then they have to go to the source--Kaliningrad--to beat the Russians who are executing a terrorist bombing campaign. (This was a geography lesson, too. Did you know that Russia has a province isolated from the rest of the country? It's a little slice of land between Poland and Lithuania that gives the Russians a port on the Baltic Sea.)
Spymaster shares many qualities with Thor's other novels. The pace is breakneck. Harvath and his team make good use of their private planes to hop around the globe. The action is intense. Harvath leaves a body count in his wake that must surely be dispiriting to his enemies. And, of course, Harvath might lose a battle but you know he's going to come out on top. Thor's fans will not be disappointed. Someday Harvath is going to hit the big screen; Spymaster is ready.
Monday, August 20, 2018
The Holy Ghost Speakeasy and Revival, by Terry Roberts
Terry Roberts grew up in North Carolina. Reading his books, you'd think he grew up in North Carolina in the 1920s or earlier. He knows the land, knows the people, and knows the stories. In The Holy Ghost Speakeasy and Revival, he affectionately takes us back to the 1920s, during a time when prohibition and speakeasies barely tolerated one another, and when tent revivals were a great form of entertainment and cultural life.
Jedidiah Robbins travels through the South by train with his merry band of an evangelistic team. With a circus tent, and the circus roustabouts that came with it, they roll into town bringing a taste of old-fashioned revival fire. On the sly, they bring a fire of another kind. In the same train car where they carry their Bibles, they have cases of moonshine, which they surreptitiously supply to speakeasies, blind pigs, and juke joints in the less reputable parts of town. They want to be certain that some of the town folk will have plenty to repent of!
Along the way, Robbins and his crew attracts crowds, but also attracts the wrong kinds of attention. (Or, in a way, the right kind.) When he preaches in Ashville, the crowd isn't the usual working class of farmers and coal miners that usual fill his benches, but the white collar, high dollar crowd. So of course he preaches about the dangers of wealth and camels in the eye of a needle, offending most of the congregation. When the leader of a fraternal organization fond of wearing white hoods and burning crosses asks for Robbins's support in their work, Robbins turns him away scornfully. Unfortunately, his team pays the price for getting on the wrong side of the Klan.
Roberts's portrayal won't please many from a theological perspective. Robbins is more about putting on a show and collecting the cash; the Bible is merely the means by which he has chosen to do so. He eventually comes around to faith of a kind; his getting there is the journey of The Holy Ghost Speakeasy and Revival. The story takes the reader to another time, and could almost have been written in another time, like it dropped through a time machine from a publisher half a century in the past. This is an enjoyable trip back to the 1920s.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
Jedidiah Robbins travels through the South by train with his merry band of an evangelistic team. With a circus tent, and the circus roustabouts that came with it, they roll into town bringing a taste of old-fashioned revival fire. On the sly, they bring a fire of another kind. In the same train car where they carry their Bibles, they have cases of moonshine, which they surreptitiously supply to speakeasies, blind pigs, and juke joints in the less reputable parts of town. They want to be certain that some of the town folk will have plenty to repent of!
Along the way, Robbins and his crew attracts crowds, but also attracts the wrong kinds of attention. (Or, in a way, the right kind.) When he preaches in Ashville, the crowd isn't the usual working class of farmers and coal miners that usual fill his benches, but the white collar, high dollar crowd. So of course he preaches about the dangers of wealth and camels in the eye of a needle, offending most of the congregation. When the leader of a fraternal organization fond of wearing white hoods and burning crosses asks for Robbins's support in their work, Robbins turns him away scornfully. Unfortunately, his team pays the price for getting on the wrong side of the Klan.
Roberts's portrayal won't please many from a theological perspective. Robbins is more about putting on a show and collecting the cash; the Bible is merely the means by which he has chosen to do so. He eventually comes around to faith of a kind; his getting there is the journey of The Holy Ghost Speakeasy and Revival. The story takes the reader to another time, and could almost have been written in another time, like it dropped through a time machine from a publisher half a century in the past. This is an enjoyable trip back to the 1920s.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
Sunday, August 19, 2018
Mother Teresa, by Isabel Sanchez Vegara, illustrated by Natascha Rosenberg
When your name is basically synonymous with "the highest expression of Christianity and humanity," you know you are living right. That is more true for Mother Teresa than for practically anyone else. Isabel Sanchez Vegara distills Mother Teresa's life into a picture book for the "Little People, Big Dreams" series in Mother Teresa. Accompanied by Natascha Rosenberg's cute illustrations, Vegara tells the heart of Mother Teresa's story.
From her childhood in Macedonia to her decision to become a nun as a teenager, from teaching children to India to helping sick people on the street, from opening hospitals and orphanages around the world to being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Mother Teresa never wavered from her desire to serve the poor.
Mother Teresa captures the love and humility and joy with which she served. As Vegara points out, "She received all the awards that could be given to a single person." Her lesson for all of us is to love others, always. What a great example she set. And what a charming book to introduce young children to this model we can all emulate.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
From her childhood in Macedonia to her decision to become a nun as a teenager, from teaching children to India to helping sick people on the street, from opening hospitals and orphanages around the world to being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Mother Teresa never wavered from her desire to serve the poor.
Mother Teresa captures the love and humility and joy with which she served. As Vegara points out, "She received all the awards that could be given to a single person." Her lesson for all of us is to love others, always. What a great example she set. And what a charming book to introduce young children to this model we can all emulate.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
Friday, August 17, 2018
God, War, and Providence, by James A. Warren
As a Baptist, I was always aware of Rogers Williams's role as the founder of the first Baptist church in the New World. But the more you know about Williams, the less that seems to be the defining characteristic of his life. As James A. Warren writes in God, War, and Providence: The Epic Struggle of Roger Williams and the Narragansett Indians Against the Puritans of New England, Williams's legacy as a peacemaker and friend to the Indians of New England may be more impressive than his role as a clergyman.
For much of God, War, and Providence, Williams is a bit player, a character in a much larger drama. Warren, a historian who has written about America's wars in the 20th century, goes into a lot of detail regarding the Indian's territories, factions, rivalries, and wars among themselves, as well as with the settlers. His tone reflects that of Williams, who believed the English to have arrived at territory already held by sovereign people. Unlike many of his contemporaries, "Williams did not see how the king could claim the right to grant English settlers land that had belonged for thousands of years to the current inhabitants." This put Williams in the minority, and on the bad side of the crown. But his actions backed up this attitude and put him in a place of respect with the Indians and in a position to negotiate between the Indians and the English.
Baptists are familiar with Williams's promotion of religious liberty, but his aims were larger than that. Warren writes that Williams's ideas became foundational to the American character: "religious liberty for all comers. . .; complete separation of church and state; democratic government, in which magistrates derived their powers not from God, as Puritan political theory had it, but from the consent of ordinary citizens." On religious liberty, or "soul liberty," Williams struggled to point out to his Christian brethren "that Christian faith was most likely to prosper in an environment where other faiths were permitted to flourish, unimpeded by the strong arm of the state."
God, War, and Providence is an enjoyable read. If you can keep everyone straight, which is no easy task with the rival tribes, both Indian and English, the story Warren tells sheds a lot of light on this period of American history. He doesn't overplay Williams's role, but the message is that Roger Williams's impact on the history of the United States is greater than many people are aware.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
For much of God, War, and Providence, Williams is a bit player, a character in a much larger drama. Warren, a historian who has written about America's wars in the 20th century, goes into a lot of detail regarding the Indian's territories, factions, rivalries, and wars among themselves, as well as with the settlers. His tone reflects that of Williams, who believed the English to have arrived at territory already held by sovereign people. Unlike many of his contemporaries, "Williams did not see how the king could claim the right to grant English settlers land that had belonged for thousands of years to the current inhabitants." This put Williams in the minority, and on the bad side of the crown. But his actions backed up this attitude and put him in a place of respect with the Indians and in a position to negotiate between the Indians and the English.
Baptists are familiar with Williams's promotion of religious liberty, but his aims were larger than that. Warren writes that Williams's ideas became foundational to the American character: "religious liberty for all comers. . .; complete separation of church and state; democratic government, in which magistrates derived their powers not from God, as Puritan political theory had it, but from the consent of ordinary citizens." On religious liberty, or "soul liberty," Williams struggled to point out to his Christian brethren "that Christian faith was most likely to prosper in an environment where other faiths were permitted to flourish, unimpeded by the strong arm of the state."
God, War, and Providence is an enjoyable read. If you can keep everyone straight, which is no easy task with the rival tribes, both Indian and English, the story Warren tells sheds a lot of light on this period of American history. He doesn't overplay Williams's role, but the message is that Roger Williams's impact on the history of the United States is greater than many people are aware.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
Burden, by Courtney Hargrave
When a Ku Klux Klan museum opened in a small South Carolina town, it made national news. But the even better news story was when a white man left the Klan and was taken in by a local activist African-American pastor. This is the story Courtney Hargrave tells in Burden: A Preacher, a Klansman, and a True Story of Redemption in the Modern South.
Michael Burden was going nowhere--no money, no job, no prospects--when he moved on to John Howard's land. Howard, a leader in the Klan, mentored Burden and put him to work, both in a Klan business and his more legitimate businesses. Together they bought an old theater in Laurens, South Carolina, and opened the Redneck Shop. Part retail store, part museum, part gathering place for Klan activities, the store became a flash point of tension in the community.
As Judy, Michael's girlfriend and later wife, becomes more and more disturbed by Howard's activities and Klan promotion, and as Michael's relationship with Howard deteriorates, Howard kicks them out of their apartment at the Redneck Shop. With nowhere else to go, sleeping in their truck, they run into a local pastor, David Kennedy. Kennedy and his church had for years assisted poor residents of Laurens, and made no exception for Burden and his family.
Offering material assistance, along with a huge helping of grace, Kennedy got the family a place to live and helped Burden find work. Although Kennedy had been leading public opposition to the Redneck Shop, he "didn't seem remotely interested in discussing the Redneck shop or the inner workings of the Klan. 'He just wanted to talk to us as people,' Judy said. 'He wanted to know what he could do to help, to get us lifted back up.'"
So began Burden's involvement with Kennedy's church, and an interesting chapter in the history of Laurens and the Klan. Hargrave weaves these personal stories into the larger picture of the history of the Klan and race relations in the South. The ultimate outcome doesn't turn out to be as satisfying as one might hope; we are dealing with fickle, selfish humans here. I would imagine the Hollywood version (starring Forrest Whitaker) will be a more dramatic story on one level, but, in this case as in most cases, the true story is more complex, interesting, and inspiring than a condensed movie version can offer.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
Michael Burden was going nowhere--no money, no job, no prospects--when he moved on to John Howard's land. Howard, a leader in the Klan, mentored Burden and put him to work, both in a Klan business and his more legitimate businesses. Together they bought an old theater in Laurens, South Carolina, and opened the Redneck Shop. Part retail store, part museum, part gathering place for Klan activities, the store became a flash point of tension in the community.
As Judy, Michael's girlfriend and later wife, becomes more and more disturbed by Howard's activities and Klan promotion, and as Michael's relationship with Howard deteriorates, Howard kicks them out of their apartment at the Redneck Shop. With nowhere else to go, sleeping in their truck, they run into a local pastor, David Kennedy. Kennedy and his church had for years assisted poor residents of Laurens, and made no exception for Burden and his family.
Offering material assistance, along with a huge helping of grace, Kennedy got the family a place to live and helped Burden find work. Although Kennedy had been leading public opposition to the Redneck Shop, he "didn't seem remotely interested in discussing the Redneck shop or the inner workings of the Klan. 'He just wanted to talk to us as people,' Judy said. 'He wanted to know what he could do to help, to get us lifted back up.'"
So began Burden's involvement with Kennedy's church, and an interesting chapter in the history of Laurens and the Klan. Hargrave weaves these personal stories into the larger picture of the history of the Klan and race relations in the South. The ultimate outcome doesn't turn out to be as satisfying as one might hope; we are dealing with fickle, selfish humans here. I would imagine the Hollywood version (starring Forrest Whitaker) will be a more dramatic story on one level, but, in this case as in most cases, the true story is more complex, interesting, and inspiring than a condensed movie version can offer.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
Monday, August 13, 2018
Beyond Justice, by Cara Putman
Hayden McCarthy is an up-and-coming lawyer in a D.C. law firm. When a partner asks her to cover on an unusual case, she doesn't imagine the mess it will become, or that her very life will be in danger. Beyond Justice is the first book in Cara Putman's Hidden Justice series of legal thrillers. The central case is certainly timely, dealing with a Mexican teenager who died in a detention center for children who were caught crossing the border illegally.
Beyond Justice isn't bad, but it's sort of "by the numbers." The young, up-and-coming, pretty-but-thinks-she's-not damsel. The most-eligible-bachelor, son-of-a-powerful-wealthy-family-but-eschews-the-trappings-of-wealth-and-power hero. The corruptible lawyers. The evil drug kingpin. It was rather predictable, but enjoyable. It reminded me of a crime show on TV. Not terribly original, but with enough good stuff to keep you reading to the end.
Female fans of legal fiction who like their suspense with a very healthy dose of romance, especially the prince charming type, will enjoy Beyond Justice.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
Beyond Justice isn't bad, but it's sort of "by the numbers." The young, up-and-coming, pretty-but-thinks-she's-not damsel. The most-eligible-bachelor, son-of-a-powerful-wealthy-family-but-eschews-the-trappings-of-wealth-and-power hero. The corruptible lawyers. The evil drug kingpin. It was rather predictable, but enjoyable. It reminded me of a crime show on TV. Not terribly original, but with enough good stuff to keep you reading to the end.
Female fans of legal fiction who like their suspense with a very healthy dose of romance, especially the prince charming type, will enjoy Beyond Justice.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
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