Adam Shields
Full review at is on my blog in three parts
Part 1 at http://bookwi.se/your-church-is-too-small-by-john-armstrong/
Part 2 at http://bookwi.se/your-church-is-too-small-by-john-armstrong-part-2-truth-church-and-god-in-history/
Part 3 at http://bookwi.se/your-church-is-too-small-by-john-armstrong-part-3-moving-forward/
Short review: This is a book that anyone that is interested in the church should read. It really spends time thinking about how the church can think about itself and how to fully follow Christ, the church needs to pay attention to all of its brothers and sisters in Christ (catholic, protestant and orthodox.)
full review at http://bookwi.se/tell-it-slant-a-conversation-on-the-language-of-jesus-in-his-stories-and-prayers-by-eugene-h-peterson/
Short review: I really like the way that Peterson teaches. He walks you through scripture narratively. You understand the story, what it means, its background. He teaches theology, linguistics, culture, philosophy, etc along the way and at the end you feel like you have been in the presence of wisdom.
Full review at http://bookwi.se/hear-no-evil-my-story-of-innocence-music-and-the-holy-ghost-by-matthew-paul-turner/
Short review: I had mixed feelings about this book. As essays about Christian's perception of music (both Christian and non-Christian) it was interesting. I did not grow up in a stream of Christianity that rejected Christian rock completely, but I was aware that it was out there.
It also was good and illustrating some of the issues that Christians have with interacting with the wider culture in general.
Overall it was good, I liked the author, but it didn't grab me in the way that I thought it would. Maybe I had too high of expectations.
Full review at http://bookwi.se/no-way-to-treat-a-first-lady-by-christopher-buckley/
Short review: I really like Christopher Buckley. He is funny, has a sharp wit and writes good stories. This one is about a first lady being tried for the Presidents murder. He wakes up dead in bed after yet another affair and she is charged with assassinating the President. This is primarily a court novel and he does a great job making the court scenes interesting to read.
Full review at http://bookwi.se/organic-church-by-neil-cole/
Short review: Neil Cole is interested in a church that reaches people. A quote early in the book says (paraphrase) “People are interested in Jesus, it is just his wife, the church, they don't want to spend time with.” We all know couples where one person is interesting and the other person we can't stand being around.
Cole envisions a church that is so reflective of Christ that people want to be around her as well. This is a inspiring book about how Cole has started a network of simple churches (he doesn't like the term house church because his churches often don't meet in houses and because they are not reacting against the church like many house churches.)
Cole is actually reaching people that the traditional church misses. Good book.
Full review at http://bookwi.se/tithing-by-douglas-leblanc-the-ancient-practice-series/
Short review: It was ok. This was a journalistic/interview take on tithing. Didn't answer many of my questions about what tithing should be about. Didn't have any history of tithing in the Christian church.
I want to like the Ancient Practice series, but I have been disappointed in most of them. They have not been that grounded in scripture or history. Fasting by Scot McKnight has been the best so far.
I am not traditionally a suspense/horror reader. The author of this book contacted me to see if I would like to review the book after finding my blog. I am always up for something different so I agreed.
The opening of the book is classic suspense. I was on the edge of my seat. The main character is scared to death of being alone in her home, because of past events and the author did a great job giving what seems to be unrational fears real life and meaning. This is a suspense, through most of the book, you are not sure if the main character is deluded or someone really is out to get her.
A longer review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/skull-ring-by-scott-nicholson/
Full review at http://bookwi.se/humility-true-greatness-by-c-j-mahaney/
Short review: This is a great short book. We don't spend much time thinking about humility in this world, even less thinking about how to intentionally develop it. There is a short section on humility and parenting that is worth the price of the book. I listened to it on audiobook.
Full review at http://bookwi.se/assaulted-by-joy-the-redemption-of-a-cynic-by-stephen-simpson/
Short review: This is a short memoir (just the right length) to illustrate a point. The author is trying to show where we should be looking for meaning. He finds that God pursues him, using the daily joys of life, and reminds him why the struggle matters.
This is a good example of a “grow up and be a man” book. Not a Tim “The Toolman” Taylor, kind of man, that tries to be cool and manly. But the good Dad, good husband, person that you want in your corner because he will give his all at helping you kind of man.
Fully review posted to my blog http://bookwi.se/stones-to-schools-by-greg-mortenson/
Short review: This is an inspiring book that shows what one person can do with vision and drive. This is the second book (first was Three Cups of Tea that I reviewed at http://bookwi.se/summer-reading-club-update-week-3/ ). This book picks up right where the last one left off and takes us until Oct/Nov 2009. At the end of the book you don't know what really happened, even now because the story is in very rural Afghanistan where the roads are closed by snow six months a year and we don't know what the final result will be until around March or April this year (2010). This is mostly just story of how Central Asian Institute is growing, but some of the most interesting parts are the author, Greg Mortenson, dealing with the fact that he, as the face and author of the schools movement, has to spend his time speaking, writing and traveling in the US instead of in central Asia where he would like to be. He is clearly an introvert and the constant travel and speaking is very wearing on him. But he continues to do it because of the importance of the mission, not necessarily to himself, but to the 10s of thousands if not 100s of thousands that are affected by the schools that he helps to start.
(Note: since I read and wrote this, Mortensen's stories have largely been disproven.)
My full review is at my blog http://bookwi.se/the-hole-in-our-gospel-by-richard-stearns/
Short review. This is a great response to people that want to assert Evangelism only at the role of the church. The basic thesis of the book is in a quote from Stearn's former pastor. “It is not just what you believe, but what you believe enough to do that matters.”
His theology is sound and he does a good job illustrating his changed in thinking through his life story. Highly recommend the book. Every Christian should read and implement this book.
http://dreamcafe.com/index.html has a copy of this free fan fiction piece. It is a short novel based on the Firefly/Serenity universe. It was pretty good, especially with the characterization and internal thoughts of the main characters. It is set between the TV and movie.
Full review at http://www.mrshields.com/?p=443 on Feb 1.
Short review. Reminds me why Christian biography should be read, and how good it can be. I am searching out some good Christian biographies now. The story telling is excellent. Nasser and his family left Iran during the Iranian revolution when he was 10. Eventually moving to the US and building a new life, his family ended up in Birmingham, AL. Nasser was a wild child but slowly came to faith in Christ and learned what it means to live as a Christian. A very good book.
A longer review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/jumping-through-fires-by-david-nasser/
Good. There were some really good essay. But there were some that I just don't know how to respond to. In some ways she is like Donald Miller, she presents herself as she is, a Christian that is still progressing in grace and still in need of a savior. In other ways I want to kick her for not getting it.
full review on http://bookwi.se/grace-eventually-thoughts-on-faith-by-anne-lamott/
Full review at http://bookwi.se/constant-prayer-by-robert-benson-ancient-practice-series/
Short review: I liked this book. It was a good description of what Fixed Hour Prayers are and why you would want to do them and the background of how the author became involved with them. But as with all the rest of the Ancient Practice Series, it was almost entirely theoretical. If I am reading about Fixed Hour Prayer (and the audience is fairly Evangelical, non-liturgical in most cases) then I think there should have been more practical advice about how to do fixed hour prayers.
I will write up a full review later. But this is one of the most useful, practical books on spiritual growth I have ever read. It is somewhat similar to Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline, but I think a little more accessible and less intimidating. I am going to schedule some time to re-read it again in about six months. I will try to put into practice what I can now and plan on adding more later.
I have been reading through the “Ancient Practice Series” as well. And many of the same disciplines were covered in this book as well. And while I liked the Ancient Practice Series, those books are 150-200 pages of history and motivation on why you should Prayer, Fast, Tithe, participate in the Eucharist, observe the Church Calendar, etc., but none of them had much if anything in the way of practical advice on how to go about doing those things. This book was full of very practical helpful advice as well as the motivation, history and benefits. Highly recommend.
My full review is at http://bookwi.se/spiritual-disciplines-for-the-christian-life-by-donald-s-whitney/
Full review on my blog http://bookwi.se/introverts-in-the-church-finding-our-place-in-an-extroverted-culture/
Short review: I have never really thought of myself as an introvert. But I probably should have realized it before now. I was the kid that was reading 300-400 pages a day in middle school and had a lot of deep friendships with a few people. I am not an extreme introvert, but as I get older, people seem to wear me out more. Maybe it is because I now work out of my house and on over the internet. But this book was very good for me. It affirmed some areas, had some good prodding to work harder in other areas and gave me a lot of things to think about. Reading it in conjunction with Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (a fairly introverted book) and Just Courage (a fairly extroverted book) really gave me some additional things to think about. Even if you are not an introvert, but are in leadership at a church, this is a good book. It has two very good chapters for non-introverts to read. The ones on evangelism and church (the last two).
Full review at http://bookwi.se/living-prayer-the-lords-prayer-alive-in-you-by-dennis-fuqua/
Additional comments at http://bookwi.se/a-few-thoughts-from-living-prayer/
Short review. This was a very good book on prayer. It gave good practical advice, was theologically deep and sound and was well formated and thought out. I highly recommend picking it up. It is only available (as far as I can tell) at http://www.livingprayer.net