Book Review: The Stories We Tell

What do Dexter, Pulp Fiction and Honey Boo Boo have in common? They all fill our desire for entertainment while, also revealing our need for redemption.

By examining movies and television, Mike Cosper demonstrates that every story we tell is longing for the truth of the gospel in his new book, The Stories We Tell.

Cosper goes into great detail of certain characters and plots from movies and TV shows, revealing how each one points to one of the four main gospel implications: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Consummation.

I love what Tim Keller says in the foreword, "Mike's book will help readers learn to put the gospel on like a pair of glasses in order to see the good, the bad, and the ugly in our culture more clearly...seeing God's story in the stories we tell today - will be a way for us to deepen our own understanding of and joy in the gospel we believe." I completely agree! After reading this book, I now watch TV and movies in a new way. Instead of just enjoying the entertainment of the story, I'm watching and looking for the storyline of the gospel - to see how characters are looking to redeem themselves or how a plot reveals our sinful hearts. (Please note, our stories are not the gospel, as some people like to think - if there is no mention of Jesus, it can't possibly be a complete telling of the gospel. Stories simply point us to different aspects/implications of the ultimate story, God's redemption of mankind through Jesus Christ.)

Cosper recognizes that "we tell stories because we're broken creatures hungering for redemption." Everything from fairy tales, murder mysteries, bedtime stories to horror movies are pointing out someone's mistake or looking for a solution to sin problem. Even if the authors and screenwriters don't recognize the spiritual nature of their tales, all stories reveal the heart's longing for the gospel. In the final chapter, Cosper says, "I've intentionally tried to view the stories in this book in the light of the gospel, treating their characters, plots, and images as signposts for a truth that the writers, directors, and actors might not even be aware of, but that we all nonetheless, long for."

*Special thanks to Crossway through Netgalley.com for sharing this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Book Review: Oliver and the Seawigs

Oliver and the Seawigs by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre is a fun and silly story about a boy looking for his parents that disappeared on a moving island. Oliver meets some unusual friends, including a near-sighted mermaid and a grumpy albatross on top of a shy Rambling Isle. In a quest to find his parents, Oliver and gang learn about confidence, courage and standing up to bullies.

I read this book aloud to my 4, 7 and 8 year olds as a bedtime story. They enjoyed the plot and the silly characters. Some of the detailed descriptions were long to read and lost their interest, but overall, we enjoyed reading this book together.

*Special thanks to Random House Children's Books through Netgally.com for sharing this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Book Review: The Fourteenth Goldfish

I'm always on the look out for good middle grade literature for my kids, which can be a daunting task because there seems to be a serious lack of good literature for middle school aged kids. So I was pleased to find Jennifer Holm's book The Fourteenth Goldfish to be a wonderful book for kids ages 10-14.

The main character, 11 year old Ellie is thrust into an adventure when her grandfather shows up in the body of a 13 year old boy. In the quest to retrieve his "fountain of youth" research from his lab, Ellie's grandfather helps her realize that science can be fun and interesting.

There are several things I really appreciate about this book. First, the author is not pushy about  certain scientific leanings. Several famous scientists and their accomplishments are mentioned with fairness - the grandfather, Melvin, shows them in a positive light, but Ellie does the research to see both the pros and cons of their accomplishments. Second, the author stays in character when presenting historical information - many books try too hard to be educational and veer away from what the main character would comprehend in the context of the story, but what Ellie learns about science make sense for her character and fits well in the story line. Third, this book deals with some of the tough relationship issues that preteens face in a way that's encouraging and enjoyable to read. As a bonus the characters are well developed and it doesn't have a cheesy ending. If her other books are of the same quality as The Fourteenth Goldfish, we will be reading more Jennifer Holm books in our family.
 *Special thanks to Random House Children's Books through Netgalley.com for providing this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: God's Story

Brian Cosby's God's Story: A Student's Guide to Church History is an excellent introduction to the good, bad and ugly of Christian history.

In the first chapter, Cosby make an important distinction between the visible and invisible church. The "visible church" often means that much of what happened in church history was the result of unregenerate people  having authority and influence in their historical context. But, Cosby reminds the reader that God has always preserved a remnant of faithful followers (invisible church) to Himself.

The following chapters contains basic historical information on each of the major time periods of Christian history. This book is designed to be an overview for students, so there are not a lot of details, but the author still covers all of the major people and ideas that have shaped the Church over time. Cosby consistently presents the information with a theologically reformed worldview and clearly shows how different leaders and ideas have helped or hurt that orthodox view.

Even though the book is targeted toward students, I think it would also be an excellent resource for every Church member, Sunday School teacher, homeschool family...basically anyone who would benefit from understanding how the past has shaped the present state of Christianity. This book is short, fun, to the point, and would be a great springboard for deeper study on a particular person or time period.

For a quick, fun promo of this book, check out the Book Trailer on youtube.com

*Special thanks to Cross Focused Reviews  for sharing this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Book Review: The Word of the Lord

The Word of the Lord: Seeing Jesus in the Prophets is Nancy Guthrie's fifth book in the Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament series.

Guthrie spends a week on each of these books: Jonah, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah, Habakkuk, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, and Malachi. Her goal each week is to help the reader see the predictions Jesus fulfilled, the problems Jesus solved, the people that prefigured Jesus and the pattern that was superseded in each of theses prophetic books.

Guthrie assigns sections of each prophetic book and asks probing questions to get the reader thinking about the passage in it's historical context and in it's gospel context. She then explains what should have been found in the Scripture readings using anecdotes and examples that make sense to the modern reader.

One of the things I appreciated most about Guthrie's writing is that she is very knowledgeable about the Scripture while being genuine and honest in her assessment of it, all while addressing her readers in a personal, friendly way - drawing them into her passion for seeing Christ magnified in His word.

By helping the reader understand the prophetic writing in light of God's completed redemptive work in Christ Jesus, I think Guthrie accomplished her previously stated goals to show how all Scriptures points us to Jesus.

*Special thanks to Crossway through Netgalley.com for providing this book in exchange for my honest opinion. 

Reflections of Glory

Real Life Faith: Here's another post where theology meets daily living...
 

I've given my life to the only one
Who makes the moon reflect the sun
Every starry night
That was his design

 -Chris August, Starry Night, 2010






February 9th Dr. Albert Mohler spoke at our church. (He's kinda a BIG deal.) He said many profound things (He ALWAYS does), but there was one thing he said that has been on my mind for the last few months. It wasn't even a main point, more of a side note. (Listen to the entire sermon to hear all the incredible wisdom: Scripture is Sufficient by Dr. Albert Mohler, 2/9/2014 High Pointe Baptist Church, Austin, TX)
Ok, here's his mind-blowing comment for me: "We have no innate ability to glorify God...We were made to glorify...but as it turns out, we are unable to originate glory, we actually just reflect it."

Did you catch that? We don't create glory. Our good deeds, kind thoughts, best efforts don't do anything inherently new - which is a huge relief as well as the answer to many questions for me.
If all our deeds are tainted with sin, how can obeying God please him?
If my salvation is based on faith alone, what's the big deal about works?

The Chris August song quoted above was playing on the radio one day as I was thinking about this revelation on God's glory - and it was the perfect illustration to what I was striving to understand. We are just like the moon. The moon doesn't create light/we don't create glory. The moon simply reflects the light of the sun to light the sky at night/we reflect the glory of God into the dark world to spread the light of the gospel, that is Jesus Christ. The sun is the source of light for the moon/God is the source of light/glory for us.

So all my good works and obedience are only a reflection of God's mercy and goodness toward me in His son, Jesus Christ so that His name will be praised through all the earth.

Book Review: Surprised by Motherhood

Honestly, I was surprised by this book (yes, pun intended). I've written a few times for Lisa-Jo's "Five-Minute Friday" blogger community full of wonderful, talented, creative women. Many of them are very poetic and have an amazing way with words. However, sometimes it seems the message they are telling gets lost in the beauty of telling it. I really thought that would happen with this book. But, like I said, I was surprised. Lisa-Jo did a wonderful job of telling her story in an adjective saturated way without losing me as an interested reader. I found myself enjoying the re-telling of very personal experiences and perspectives on becoming and being a mother.

*Special thanks to Tyndale House Publishers through Netgalley.com for providing this book in exchange for my honest opinion.