A Fire Upon the Deep, by Vernor Vinge

If you have a taste for epic sci-fi with imaginative world-building, intricate plotting, and varied characters and settings, Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep may strike your fancy.  Since it won the 1993 Hugo Award for Best Novel, sci-fi lovers have lauded it.  Reading it now, 27 years after its publication, I can attest that it has stood well the test of time.

This is the first novel in Vinge's "Zones of Thought" series.  This part of his storytelling is the hardest for me to wrap my mind around.  In his world, there are transcendent beings in different zones of the Milky Way.  As you travel from one zone to another, their reach is limited, laws of physics change, and a ship's capabilities may be compromised.  The Zones are surely much clearer in Vinge's mind than in my reading.

On the other hand, the core of the story is much simpler: two kids crash on an alien planet whose technology is similar to medieval times on Earth, and whose dominant species is a race of dog-like beings with hive minds.  Light years away, a transcendent being has begun destroying entire planets.  A couple of humans believe the secret to stopping it is on the ship the kids were on, so they begin a months-long journey to find them.

The key to the story is that the choices and acts of insignificant people (of many species) have a far-reaching, consequential impact on the very structure of the galaxy and the fate of billions of its inhabitants.  A small boy's relationship with the dog-like beings he now lives among, the human researcher's relationship with a man who first lived thousands of years ago, a research station's inadvertent release of a powerful entity, the tribal conflicts of a bunch of pre-modern packs of sentient dogs, it all works together to shape the destiny of the galaxy.

A Fire Upon the Deep may not satisfy some readers.  It's a mash-up of sci-fi and fantasy, with the extensive history of space-faring species on one hand, and the packs of dogs living in medieval castles and using bows and arrows on the other.  I wouldn't call it hard science fiction, but it sure is fun, entertaining story telling.

9 Common Lies Christians Believe, by Shane Pruitt

As a pastor, church planter, evangelist, and denominational leader, Shane Pruit has seen and heard from Christians in all walks of life and stages of maturity.  Along the way, he's learned that some things Christians say and believe are flat wrong.  In his book 9 Common Lies Christians Believe, with wit and grace he disabuses his readers of notions that they may have been holding on to.

Each chapter introduces one of the nine ideas, discusses the impact these ideas have on the way we live and believe, and offers a right way of thinking about each flawed idea.  For example, how many times have you heard, when someone passes away, "God gained another angel."  A nice sentiment (I guess), but Pruitt points out that angels and humans are different by nature, and that "it's actually better for you to be human than to be an angel."  When someone dies, a better note of comfort is that "God does not gain another angel.  Rather, God calls another worshipper to come home."

In another encouraging chapter, Pruitt challenges the notion that some people never change.  He writes, "No one is too far gone.  There is no human still alive who is outside the possible reach of God's forgiving and transforming grace."  I need this reminder all the time.  It's easy for me to dismiss people without remembering that everyone is in need of a savior and the the power of the gospel can transform even the most hardened sinner (or annoying neighbor).

As Pruitt runs through his list of nine lies, there are probably some that you never have believed.  I would bet there are some that you have, unconsciously if not consciously.  And I'm certain that people sitting in the pews around you each week embrace some of these.  With love and a pastor's heart, Pruitt points us in the right direction, reminding us to be sure that what we believe is in line with scripture.


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

There's No Wrong Way to Pray, by Rebecca Ninke and Kate E. H. Watson, illustrated by Liam Darcy

Pastor Rebecca Ninke and 10-year-old author Kate E. H. Watson have teamed up to convey a crucial message to children: There's No Wrong Way to Pray.  Every child--and most adults--needs to hear this message, reminding us that prayer is simply talking to God.  The little girl featured in the story talks about praying in every circumstance.  She prays for herself, her pets, and her family, but she also prays for people in need, strangers affected by tragedies she learns about in the news, and for kids at school.  She even realizes that praying for her team to win may not be the best approach, since the kids on the other team are likely praying the same thing, so she decides to pray that no one gets hurt.

The theology is thin here, as you might expect for a book aimed at very young children.  In every case, she is praying to God; the name of Jesus is never mentioned.  But the overall message of the book is clear: we serve a God who loves us, who wants a relationship with us, and who cares about the things we care about.  Further, our eyes should not only be turned toward ourselves, but also to others.  I think we all need a reminder to talk to God, "wherever I am, whatever I'm doing, whoever I'm with."



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

The Swamp, by Eric Bolling

Former Fox News host Eric Bolling has some advice for President Trump.  In The Swamp: Washington's Murky Pool of Corruption and Cronyism and How Trump Can Drain It, Bolling runs through a sordid history of Washington politics and offers modest recommendations for the Trump administration.

The bulk of Bolling's book is a historical tour of the continual fount of corruption that is Washington, D.C.  This is not a new phenomenon; it dates back to the country's founding.  As Lord Acton said, "Power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely."  Throughout American history, the power of government has been on an upward trend, and levels of corruption have kept pace.  Bolling writes, "Washington is a city of no-bid contracts and general cronyism despite the constant pretense of scrupulous ethics rules and press watchfulness."

Moving into the modern era, Bolling will disabuse you of any notion that the supposed corruption of the Trump administration is anything new.  He reminds us of the scandal-ridden Bill Clinton administration (which was not necessarily out of the norm) and points out that "Many Clinton supporters went into the 2016 election so dead set against Trump being president that they were willing to overlook decades of wrongdoing by the Clintons."  By electing Trump, an outsider who had never been elected to public office, Americans chose another option besides "watching control of the Swamp lurch back and forth between two parties that were opposites on things that don't matter and all too similar on things that do."

The temptations for anyone in elected office in Washington are great.  "Once you're in Washington, no matter how many emails you get from constituents, the voices of the public will never be quite as loud as the voices of the lobbyists and fellow politicians sitting right there in the room with you day in and day out--including the ones pleading for more spending and more special favors at endless committee hearings."

Bolling's solution: tune it out!  Ignore the bureaucracy's demands!  He writes, "The haters are going to hate--and scream--whether you make a 1 percent cut in a single program's budget or a 90 percent cut in every program's budget, so you might as well aim for the latter while you're at it."  Sounds good to me.  Time will tell whether Trump will continue to shake things up.  "We have a strange, unexpected chance to break with business as usual" in Washington.  Trump really needs to figure out how to reduce spending while he reduces regulations.  Deficits are way up under him.  Will he live up to the promises that got him elected?  We'll see.

Raising Men, Not Boys, by Mike Fabarez

The danger of reading a book like Raising Men, Not Boys: Shepherding Your Sons to Be Men of God after your sons are pretty much grown is that you might end up thinking, "Ugh, there is so much that I could have and should have done differently."  The good news for me, whose sons are 17 and 19, is that my boys are godly young men, so I must have done something right.  The good news for dads of younger boys is that pastor Mike Fabarez has provided a guide for getting there.

Raising Men, Not Boys gives clear direction without condemnation, lifestyle guidelines without onerous strictness.  You can't talk about raising kids without some nod toward rules, but Fabarez makes it clear that he is not a legalist, especially not in a theological sense.  "Good behavior as a means to gaining or keeping a relationship with God is offensive to God, but good behavior done to please God by those who are in relationship with him is prized by God." 

Besides cultivating a heart that leans toward obedience, Fabarez provides strong, practical tips for parenting boys.  Promote physical activity, instill a solid work ethic, promote wise financial choices, learn balance in entertainment choices.  All told, Fabarez isn't particularly innovative in his guidance and recommendations.  But he provides wisdom and very practical, applicable suggestions that you can immediately implement, all under a broad attitude of living in godliness.  One of his themes is that we must model behaviors we expect our sons to emulate.  Being a dad isn't easy.  Fabarez gives help and hope for shaping godly men.


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

Restless Faith, by Richard Mouw

It has become popular, especially since the 2016 presidential election, for evangelicals to publicly eschew the label evangelical.  Richard Mouw, who has taught at Fuller Seminary since 1985, and served as president of the seminary from 1993 to 2013, acknowledges that those who distance themselves from the evangelical label have reason for concern.  But, as he writes in Restless Faith: Holding Evangelical Beliefs in a World of Contested Labels, he's not willing to give up the label: "For myself, I can't think of a label that suits me better than 'evangelical.'"

Mouw wants the evangelical tradition, a tradition he loves and that he nurtured him, to be preserved, and calls on "intellectual leaders who have been talking about simply resigning from the evangelical movement" to lend their aid to its preservation.  In Restless Faith, Mouw addresses some of the criticisms while affirming the strengths of the movement.

Mouw himself was active in the evangelical social movement in earlier decades, and rejects much of what the religious right, as it arose in the 1980s, stands for.  He makes it clear that one needn't embrace the religious right if one is to be an evangelical.  At the same time, Mouw's theological statements herein should disabuse anyone's suspicions that he is a universalistic theological liberal.  He absolutely affirms, for example, the need for individual faith in Christ for salvation, but goes on to say that "individual salvation is not enough."

Mouw's work is encouraging and challenging.  He has, in his academic life and public service, exemplified an evangelicalism that holds firm to faith while living with, speaking with, and cooperating with culture and society at large.  The bottom line, as I read him, is that evangelicals should not permit people and cultural forces outside of evangelicalism to define what is meant by the term.  The burden, then, is for evangelicals to model and preserve its meaning.


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

Money Problems, Marriage Solutions, by Chuck Bentley

I know Chuck Bentley must be a great guy because he's a graduate of Baylor University--sic 'em!  Beyond that, he is CEO of Crown Financial Ministries, where he has helped millions of people with his financial wisdom.  In Money Problems, Marriage Solutions: 7 Keys to Aligning Your Finances and Uniting Your Hearts, he offers couples assistance in keeping their marriages and finances strong.

While Crown offers resources for budgeting and planning, and Bentley does direct readers to those resources, the 7 keys here go much deeper than that.  His practical advice in support of marriage applies to any couple, no matter their financial status.  Bentley's guidance is doable and relatable.  Strengthen your marriage, strengthen your family's finances.


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