All posts tagged: Christian

Kids Long for Tradition

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My daughter is fourteen and there is something she has always wanted to do. What? Help my wife prepare the Thanksgiving turkey. For some reason, which none of us can remember, she never ended up lending a hand in the kitchen on the big day. We haven’t had many Thanksgiving meals at our house and if memory serves me, the year she expressed interest in cooking the bird was the last year we stayed home for the feast. After that year we traveled to Grandma and Grandpa’s house, alternating between my parents and my wife’s to celebrate the national day of thanks with our extended family. Earlier this year, as we were discussing our November travel plans, my daughter expressed that she’s always wanted to help her mom prepare the turkey for Thanksgiving. We’ve already traveled a lot this year so we decided that we would stay home. It’s an opportunity to give my daughter a part of the Thanksgiving tradition for which she has longed. This little episode reminded me of a truth that …

Imagination Redeemed | Book Review

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What if Adam Malloy had a Christian imagination? That’s the question that popped into my head as I neared the end of Imagination Redeemed by Gene Edward Veith Jr. and Matthew P. Ristuccia. Adam, one of the main characters in The Gift and the Defender is gifted with the special power to change the world with his mind. All he has to do is imagine the change and it becomes reality. He makes a lot of mistakes wielding his imagination, precisely because it was forged by the ways of the world instead of by the Word of God. Adam is a super-powered expression of the reality that ideas have consequences. I for one don’t want to make the mistakes Adam did, I want to harden the steel of my Christian imagination. That’s why I read Imagination Redeemed, to sharpen my understanding of the powerful instrument God gave me.  It’s a great book! I’d recommend it to anyone. It’ll strengthen your understanding of the human mind and reveal just how much you use your imagination. The book is a blessing. It …

Root of All Evil? | Book Review

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Ray Keating’s second Pastor Stephen Grant novel, Root of All Evil? is a fantastic follow up to Warrior Monk (click here for my review of that work). It’s a well crafted political thriller full of intrigue and theological truth. Keating’s world has proven profitable for contrasting good theology with bad. In this book he tackles money and how it impacts the Church. I was impressed with the skillful and varied way the author deposited the money theme into the story: from global economics, to the prosperity gospel, to expenses that come with operating a parochial school, to the concerns laity have regarding their pastor’s salary. Keating’s economist background pays offs big! I can’t wait to crack open the next book!

The Messengers: Discovered | Book Review

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On the back cover of Lisa M. Clark’s debut thriller, The Messengers: Discovered, published by Concordia Publishing House, there is a word printed in small type: futuristic. It’s there under the ISBN barcode. A genre classification. But just how futuristic is this adventure? Clark tells an exciting and believable story centered on the Word of God. The setting, though a dystopian future, isn’t hard to imagine. In light of the rise of ungodliness in America, it’s easy to see the world Simon Clay lives in as one we may well inhabit in the not-too-distant future. Discovered delivers God’s life-forming truth, demonstrating it’s transformative power and the significance it has on those who believe. In fact, it does it with such precision and skill that it begs the question: why doesn’t CPH publish fiction regularly?! With each turn of the page, readers, especially young readers (Clark’s primary audience) are built up in the understanding that there is no darkness that can overcome the light of Christ (John 1:5). A much needed message for all believers today! I bought this book …

Warrior Monk | Book Review

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With powerful endorsements by both a congressman (Pete King) and a well known reporter (Larry Kudow) on the cover, I was aching to get into this book. The first of Ray Keating’s Pastor Stephen Grant novels, Warrior Monk, catches your attention from page one. It reads like one of Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp adventures, dishing out details and action at a fast pace.  And in the midst of that action Keating manages to brilliantly present the reader with thought provoking truths, seemingly little things that aren’t pondered nearly enough, such as a note about church architecture or a relational reality particular to men who hold the pastoral office. At other times he deals with larger topics such as church doctrine and practice. As the story unfolds Keating presents the Christian faith in a real way that any reader will appreciate, exposing differences and difficulties between varying denominations and between the Church and the world without distraction. This perfect backdrop propels the protagonist, and the reader, into the challenges of the book. It’s a spectacular ride steeped in theological intrigue! As a fan of G.K. …

Stitched Crosses: Crusade | Book Review

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I’m a book geek. I am. I like the medium. When I get a new book, whether it’s actually new or just new to me, before I even begin reading it I spend some time ingesting the product, no, no, the treasure. That’s better. I hold it in my hands, firmly gripping it. I trace my fingers over it. I flip the pages with my thumb. I turn it over analyzing the the spine and the back cover, looking at the layout and design of the whole thing, enjoying all that is book before ever actually getting to the first chapter. I study the copyright page and the title page. All the stuff that is extraneous to the real prize, the story (fiction) or information (non-fiction). Personally, I believe this is a behavior that a lot of book lovers share. I know it’s common to theologians. Call it a symptom of being all about the Word. Or not, it’s up to you. Anyway, I also think I developed this fetish-like quirkiness when I was studying books as …