Review: Movies Are Prayers: How Films Voice Our Deepest Longings

Movies Are Prayers: How Films Voice Our Deepest Longings by Josh Larsen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Standard disclaimer. I got an advanced copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank them and IVP books for the ability to be able to read it in advance.

I wanted to read this book because I think of myself as a bit of a movie person. Another reason was that my church (life.church) does a series each July called At The Movies where our Pastor takes clips from movies and builds a sermon about them. I expected a kind of insight that Pastor Craig Groeschel gives in the movies. Well, I am not as much of a movie person as I thought I was, and the insight given was not like my pastor's at all. This last fact is not a horrible thing. It is just that they have two different ways of looking at things and I was not expecting the difference.

The book made me want to look into some of the movies mentioned in the book. In fact, it may be worth picking up just for the lost of movies from the book listed in the appendix at the end.

Each chapter starts with a view of a type of prayer and talks about how a particular shows that type of prayer so that we can get an understanding of what he means. For the most part, these movies are relatively well known so as to help us by giving us something familiar. From there he shows us written clips from other movies, here they may be a little bit more obscure, to give us clearer details of the idea, and then rounds it up with going back to the into film to wrap things up.

One of the things that I did a lot of was looking up films to watch later as I read the chapters. The way a silent movie was talked about made me want to rent it right away and watch it. Even though I did find it on an online service to rent I did hold off as there were many other good ones mentioned as well.

I have read many books on the types of prayers that exist. As usually no two books reflect the same list of prayers, and this book did not disappoint in that respect, his list is different also. What was interesting is the way that he weaved these prayers in a story. It is a well know story of creation, then the fall. Followed by redemption and then restoration. Each of the type of prayers follows in those categories. Creation: praise. Fall: yearning, lament, anger. Redemption: confession, reconciliation, meditation/contemplation. Restoration: joy. In the end, the last chapter shows you them all in one movie as a journey.

My only complaint was chapter length. While I did not go back and see if they were evenly spaced out (I suspect they were), there seemed to be some chapters that I wanted to go on longer and felt they were cut short. Other chapters I felt went on much longer that they needed to. This is most likely my fault and not the authors. It is just where I was at when I read those chapters I think.

Recommended for Christian friends and those of my friends who are not antagonistic to the faith and also like movies. I look forward to any books this author may put out in the future.



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Review: Lilith

Lilith by George MacDonald
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The book was an interesting read. I can see where C. S. Lewis got his inspiration as Mr. MacDonald was an author that Lewis had read.
The story can seem to drag in places, but I think that is the nature of the time period that it was written in. The authors that I have read of this era seem to like to say a lot of words to say something simple.
If you cannot stick with the story through the long opening sections which seem to make no sense, than I would not recommend the book. It is an allegory of what life is and where we are all going. You take out of it what you put into it.
Not recommended to everyone. You have to want to read it.

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Review: Sex and Money: Pleasures That Leave You Empty and Grace That Satisfies

Sex and Money: Pleasures That Leave You Empty and Grace That Satisfies by Paul David Tripp
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I really did want to like this book. I wanted so bad to like this book. But it just was not there for me. For the record, for the average Christian who does not think that they need this book, this could be an eye opener to their lifestyle that they are not aware of. That is, if they could get past the title that they would skip over because they do not think that it would apply to them.

So what was my problem with this? In an unofficial capacity I have a ministry to men with addictions. The title screams that this would help me help them, especially those with sexual addictions. Mr. Trip tells us over and over that we should turn away from out problems (rarely does he call them addictions) and put Jesus back on the throne as we move ourselves off of it. Now, this is good advice, I have no problem with that. The problem is a person with addictions needs to hear this but also needs to be given steps in the natural to overcome their problems. Mr. Trip does not offer anything like this at all. One without the other is not a real solid teaching in my estimation.

Except for a few chapters it is mostly about sexual problems in life. Change the statistics and put in other addictions and this book could have been about any pair of addictions that you want them to be. The book is really that generic. Basic quote from the book to sum it all up:

“The dynamic of addiction is that if you look to something that God created, to give you what it wasn’t intended to give you, either you get discouraged quickly, and wisely abandon those hopes, or you go back again and again, and in so doing, you begin to travel down addiction’s road."

In other words, you take the creation and replace the creator with it.

I think that the only chapter I liked really well was chapter 4 that talks about 'The highest pleasure'. He tells us why we are wired for pleasure and how to get Godly pleasure.

For the average user this book will most likely be OK. I really can not recommend it for anyone who is working in ministry to people like this or to the families of people with addictions. They will repeat the things to the addict thinking they are helping and the addict needs help, not just words.

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Review: Into Dust

Into Dust by Amy Quick Parrish
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this book for free and voluntarily reviewed.

I have not read a lot of YA fiction, mostly because I am a much older person and the idea was kind of strange to me. A web site I visited offered some e-books for reviews so I scanned what was there and this one seemed interesting to me. When gifted the book I found out it was a YA book. I am thinking that I may have to start reading more because like another one I read the quality is quite good. On top of that, the age range indicates there will be a low of non-existent amount of sex. However, romance is still up for grabs in general it seems.

I have been a comic book fan for years and that is what interested me in the description. Janey, the lead character in the story, is a young girl from the Mexican side of the Texas border who loves her dad and comic books. She notices a resemblance to her dad, a masked vigilante (she does not know about this), and the comics she loves. Eventually, events lead to her father's death as he is fighting the drug cartels, and that is when the powers he had transfers to her. Eventually she moves to the Texas side of the border where her mom is from, and has to learn, with help from a tutor, about the powers she has.

It is funny in many ways because that part of comic book heroes is rarely looked at. The training she must go through to become the hero she needs to be. The fish out of water type experiences are quite well written, as are the times that she seems to doubt herself and her newfound abilities and the person who is training her as well.

The use of two different points of view in this story, both her and the person training her, is a little jarring at first but at least it is introduced early on in the story so that it is well established by the middle of the book.

My only complaint may be because of the medium that I was reading it in. Because one of the powers she had in pushing/receiving the thoughts of others the thoughts are often in italics. I have no problem with that but there were several times in my copy where words were in italics but not thoughts, and other times that thoughts (though they were from either person's narrative, not their thought dialogue) that they were not that way. By the middle of the book, it seemed to be standardized. I am thinking that it may be just the nature of the e-book and as I was able to read around it I did not see it as that much of a problem.

All in all, quite good. recommend it anyone who would be looking for a good story of comic book heroes and supernatural. May even want to take a look at the second in the series.

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Review: Hope for the Same-Sex Attracted: Biblical Direction for Friends, Family Members, and Those Struggling with Homosexuality

Hope for the Same-Sex Attracted: Biblical Direction for Friends, Family Members, and Those Struggling with Homosexuality by Ron Citlau
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

To start with the review, I got asked to review this book as part of a 'Blog Tour' I received an advanced copy of it through the author agent in this respect and from NetGalley.
When I was asked to review this book I was offered an e copy or a physical copy. I wish I had asked for the physical copy now. I wish now I had asked for the physical copy. This book is rich with content that I could use to help others. NetGalley copies will disappear after a suitable reading time so I will not get to use this book again and will have to take a lot of notes before it does.
Through the church that I go to I have a small online ministry that is to help men with addictions, most particularly sexual in nature. In the last few month I had a few people join that have problem with same sex attraction. When this book was offered to read I decided to take a look.
I honestly did not know what to think. I have reviewed one book about homosexuality that really s aid a lot of negative things about people who do not accept that it is the way God made them. I figured that this book maybe on that side of the political spectrum, or worse, it could have been the 'let's shoot them all' mentality. Fortunately this book did not fall either way. It was a common sense way of looking at the problem that people with same sex attraction(SSA) face.
This book is not for people who are family members or friends of SSA people. Unless you are trying to understand them better this is not for you. It is for the people who are this way or the people who minister to them. And for this book to work, we assume the people believe in Christianity and want to live a life pleasing to God.
The book is divided into parts. The first part deals with the obstacles that the SSA person will face in trying to live as a Christian with this attraction to the same sex. How it is identified is important as the author weaves what he believes is the proper way to identify yourself through the rest of the book.
Section two deals with the ways to deal with these attractions. The author does not purpose a conversion to an opposite sex attraction. If that comes, fine. In the meantime, God may call you to a life of being single. But not to be single alone. Become part of a community at a church that accepts this and will work with you to help you to grow in your Christianity.
The last section is a note to people who minister to these people and also an encouragement to them.
To be honest, a lot of this book, especially the last few chapters, with a little changing of the words, could be written to any people with sexual addictions.
The author does not give pat answers to the problems. This is good because life does not solve things just because we want them to. This is a point that is made throughout the book, especially in chapter 8 where he teaches about using some of the Psalms as prayerful laments. This spoke to me very deeply.
Five starts for this review. I recommend it to people with same sex attraction and to the people who minister to them.

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Review: Four Views on Christianity and Philosophy

Four Views on Christianity and Philosophy by Graham Oppy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Standard disclaimer. I got an advanced copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank them and Zondervan For the ability to be able to read it in advance.
I think in getting this book I bit off a little more than I could chew. That is why it took me so long to read it.
A few semesters ago, I took a Introduction to Philosophy class and have become fascinated with the idea that Philosophy and Christianity have so much in common yet be so different. I was approaching this book as a way for me to explore Christianity in respect to philosophy. I was not really prepared for what I was reading in that respect. That does not make the book bad, just not what I was thinking when I requested it.
The book is a compilation of four ways to look at the two subjects.
Conflict view - philosophy is better than Christianity
Covenant view - the exact opposite
Convergent view - philosophy confirms Christianity
Confirmation view - trying to make philosophy in a Christ centered fashion.

Of the four I feel that the author of the Conflict view did the best in explaining and defending his point of view. Of the four, the confirmation view was the one I tend to adhere to and felt it was handled fairly well.

Each author gives his point of view, the other three get a chance to make their comments and then the original author gives his rebuttal to the comments they have made.

I liked the format, but as I said, I had to take a lot of time to read as I was not fully understanding some of the terms. This is not for the average reader. While good, it is more something that I would expect to see in a classroom.
I do recommend it, but make sure that you have a good grasp of both the theology of Christianity and the understanding of how Philosophy works.

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Review: Are You My Spiritual Father?: Spiritual Fathers And Sons...Or Brothers?

Are You My Spiritual Father?: Spiritual Fathers And Sons...Or Brothers? by Jonathan Brenneman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"I believe spiritual sons are not accepted or embraced, they are born of death, persistence, perseverance and passion. True sonship is earned by aspiring sons, not given by their fathers. So, pay the price."
Unknown Christian preacher that sets up why this book was written.

That sets up the premise of this book. Some teaching that the author has heard. He is not identified not the denomination or any other affiliation. That is my problem with this book. I have been a Christian for almost 40 years and I have never heard a teaching about being a spiritual father/son. To be fair, I have heard of and experienced a pastor that was borderline Shepherding movement. I submitted to him up to a point and then felt that it was getting abusive. It also kept me from going to Bible School. So, yes I have seen abusive teaching in the church. I just never have heard this type of teaching.

The author does try to balance the words of Jesus that 'no man should be called father' with Paul's words of fatherly affection. In doing so he seems to muddy the water a little bit.

I would like to think that the relationship that Paul had with others that he called sons was more a mentoring relationship. I have heard it taught that everyone needs a Barnabas a Timothy in their life. Barnabas was the one who mentored Paul, and Paul mentored Timothy.

It has some points that needed to be made, but since the main point is to refute a teaching that was made by an anonymous person, I can not recommend this book more than 3 stars.

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Review: Microsoft Office 365: Connect and Collaborate Virtually Anywhere, Anytime

Microsoft Office 365: Connect and Collaborate Virtually Anywhere, Anytime by Katherine Murray
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Free book from Bookshout so can not complain. It is for an older version of Office 365 (Lync has been replaced with Skype for Business).
It talks more of what you need to do to plan for a good Office 365 Collaboration with Sitepoint more than it does how to use the apps. That is a good idea because most of us know how to use the apps.
It also focuses on the administrator side of things.
It is free, pick it up from Bookshout if you have a need for it.

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Review: Invention: Think Different; Break Free From the Culture Hell Bent on Holding You Back

Invention: Think Different; Break Free From the Culture Hell Bent on Holding You Back by Justin Camp
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was given an advanced copy of this book as part of a 'Launch Team'. I was asked to give an honest review.

This is an excellent book for a men's ministry. There is inside each man an inventor wanting to do something great. How do we know what it is that we are to do. We need to train ourselves to listen to the God who created us in the first place. Only through him can we learn what it is that we were invented for so that we can learn what we need to invent. It may not be a physical invention, it may be a need that you meet for others, and in fact it will often be.

The book has 8 chapters to it. The first one is an autobiographical look of the author. What he went through to be a success in his chosen field, and how he still felt that he needed to turn to the one who invented him to find true success. Chapters 2 through 8 look at one inventor, what they had to go through, to overcome, to make it through to create the invention that they had been successful with.

From Edison and seeing that he was not self made, to Bell, who wanted to help his deaf mother hear, Marconi, who had to figure out a way for the noise of the telegraph signals to be overcome, the Wright brothers having to overcome the feeling of not being able to accomplish something, and others. Each chapter brings us their story and how the author feels that we can use this in our lives. And then, we are guided in looking at each story with questions to make us think about why and how these are to influence our lives. The questions are designed to lead us deeper and understand things.

There are also some appendices that some of the chapters refer to. These take us deeper into what we are supposed to see in ourselves, what God is calling us to do and to get us launched out into doing it. These exercises are important.

As noted, the book could be used for men's group but also could be used in it's own as one man trying to find out his call in life.

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Review: Fame is a Killer

Fame is a Killer by Meredith Potts
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is something I had never heard of before. It is a cozy mystery. Short stories with no adult content. It was kind of nice to have that but that does not leave out the fact that to have a good mystery you have to have a good story.
In the end it was any of a list of people who could have done it including the storyteller herself. We know it was not her because she is telling us what she did.
Someone once said that if you kill someone in the third act with a sword, you better have made it available in the first act. And that was my problem here. There was nothing that pointed to the killer as well as no red herrings to throw us off on the other people.
As a quick mystery to kill some time it was OK.

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An Unhurried Leader: The Lasting Fruit of Daily Influence by Alan Fadling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Standard disclaimer. I got an advanced copy of the book from NetGalley and Intervarsity Press in exchange for an honest review.

Some books you can skim and get something out of them. Some books take a lot of time to read because you want to take your time and soak it all in. This is one of those times. Reading pre release copies can be frustrating sometimes. After a certain time period the books can no longer be read. This is one of those books I may have to spend some money on.

The premise is that most leaders in Christianity (yes it is geared towards Christian Leaders), tend to make plans and then ask God to come into them. Mr. Falding changes that idea. Why not ask God what He wants do and then make the plans. How much of leadership in organizations is done with asking God first. When we do this it tends to slow things down first.

One of the first thing this type of leader does is to fill himself with the fountain that comes from God. You can not spill onto others what you do not have in yourself. That is chapter 1, and the other 9 chapters do not disappoint. They include topics of looking at out thoughts (one that helped me a lot), taking time to pray (not as an afterthought for the start of a meeting but before it all starts), and leading with the same grace that God gives to us.

Each chapter has a set of exercises to be done as you finish the chapter. Do not skip these. These take what you have learned and make it something solid in your life. You learn some by seeing, some by writing and a lot by doing. Not doing these exercises leaves out the chance to make these internal in your life. I only did a few of them because of time constraints in my life but I have used them in helping others find something inside themselves to help change themselves.

I cannot recommend this book any higher than 5 starts or I would. If you are even in lower levels of volunteer work in a church, you can learn so much from this book.


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Love to the Uttermost by John Piper


John Piper, the author, is a well respect preacher and theologian. I am not a big follower of his but do visit his web site and pick up on some offers he has.
For the Easter season he put together this small book with 8 devotions for holy week. The whole book could most likely be read in an hour. But the trick here is to read a chapter each day, preferably early, and meditate on what it says. When used in that way, this book is great. And you really do not need to limit it to Holy Week. While it fits there, it is good for anyone who wants to mediate on what Jesus has done for us.
It is available for free at http://www.desiringgod.org/books/love... should you care to pick up the PDF or a physical copy can be purchased there as well.


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Review: Seven-Mile Miracle: Journey Into the Presence of God Through the Last Words of Jesus

Seven-Mile Miracle: Journey Into the Presence of God Through the Last Words of Jesus by Steven Furtick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Standard disclaimer, Netgalley and Multnomah provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Interesting read. It is the Sunday after Jesus has died, He is missing. Two discouraged travelers go back to their home town of Emmaus, about a seven mile walk away from Jerusalem. They are joined by a third unknown, who explains to them all that had to happen to Jesus was in the scriptures. When they urge him to stay and eat, in the breaking of the bread, Jesus reveals Himself. Then he is gone.

Flashback, we are on the hill watching Jesus die. During his time on the cross he utters 7 phrases (Furtick calls them words). Seven happens to be the distance to Emmaus. So for each mile of the journey, we look at the phrases in the order that he said them. They weave the steps that a Christian should take for salvation forward.

Each 'mile' is given a quick story of what was happening at the time said. Then there is a separate section for what Furtick thinks those phrases are to mean. Like anyone else I may not agree with someone's theology but I can learn a lot from anyone I take the time to listen to (or read from).

I enjoyed most of the book. I am not sure if it was me or the book but near the middle I had a hard time with the book. It felt like to some degree or another it was repeating itself in some way. It may have been me being familiar with the content, I do not know. But it was a point that I had to keep pressing on to finish. Eventually I did and the ending chapters did feel much better.

The book would be good as a series of devotions for the week leading up to Easter (Holy Week) or it can be read at any time. I would recommend this book for someone who wants a better understanding of what Jesus did on the cross for us.

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Review: Battlestar Galactica: Folly of the Gods

Battlestar Galactica: Folly of the Gods by Cullen Bunn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Standard disclaimer:
Netgalley.com/Dynamite Entertainment provided an advanced copy for an honest review.

I enjoyed the story. I was back in the 70's with a show that I enjoyed so much. The author was well versed in the story lines from the show and used them to advance the plot of the book and weave them in and out. It was done in such a way that the person that had never seen the show could understand. The characters were true to there counterparts on the show. It was even a cute touch that they used the swear words that were written so they could swear but since they were made up words they got by the censors.
The artwork for the most part was quite good. It helped to move the story along. My only gripe was with the main characters. For the people not part of the main cast of the show, they were drawn fairly clear. Main cast however seemed to be drawn with features that seemed to be like they had their faces blurred after they were drawn. My guess here is that they could not get permission to use the distinct features of the actors so they muffled the features a little bit. It did take away some of the enjoyment of the graphic novel. I am hearing Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch, and Dirk Benedict in my head because I know them so well, but the pictures just does not go along with the voice, especially Mr. Green.
It was a nice trip back in time to when life was a lot different.

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Review: Forensic Faith: A Cold-Case Detective Helps You Rethink and Share Your Christian Beliefs

Forensic Faith: A Cold-Case Detective Helps You Rethink and Share Your Christian Beliefs by J. Warner Wallace
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Disclaimer, given copy of book in advance for an honest review by the Netgalley web site.
It was an interesting book. I know that what I believe is true but when I took a philosophy class last semester (as I get older I want to keep the mind going), I realized that I could not talk intelligently about it. Many of the arguments that were given me to question my faith in that class were used in the book (like the typical 'Flying Spaghetti Monster' one). I am not sure that I could ever make it to the Christian Case Maker that he talks about in this book. At this point I can talk a little more intelligently about the questions that could come at me.
The book follows a natural progression from barely understanding the topic to being well versed in and what to do. He seems to rely a lot on the fact that you have read the other books in his series but when he mentions them, he does bring forth the relevant points from them so you do not miss anything in the referrals to them.
I would recommend to any who are being questioned about their faith and as a tool for a parent to sit with their pre-teen and teenage children so that when they go off to college, their faith will be there own, not the faith of their parents. They will be able to talk intelligently about why they believe what they believe when they are questioned in class.

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Review: Messy Church Enhanced eBook: A Multigenerational Mission for God's Family

Messy Church Enhanced eBook: A Multigenerational Mission for God's Family by Ross Parsley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I always wondered why the church that I had been attending for years started doing the things they did the way they did. Thanks to this book I know why. They had read this book or one like it.
I do not disagree with the author on the premise of a church as a family, nor do I disagree with his thoughts that all generations should be at the table together. What I do disagree with is the concept that this can be done in a church that has been around for a while. When it did happen, people started to vote with their feet how they felt about the church. I weathered it out for a while but as I saw needed ministries be gutted because they could no longer be supported, and the one that I was involved with was one of them, I left as well. This book is better to be read by a person who is involved with a new church rather than trying to change an existing one. There was a lot of good material in it. I just feel that trying to steer a big ship is not as easy as steering a row boat. Most people will not last long enough in bigger churches to get the ship on the course that it needs to be.

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Review: Security and Privacy for Microsoft Office 2010 Users

Security and Privacy for Microsoft Office 2010 Users by Mitch Tulloch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While not a current book (2013 is what I teach, 2016 is most current) it offers a good overview of security features that do not change a whole bunch in each version of Office. If you can pick it up relatively low cost it would be a good investment.

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Review: This Risen Existence: The Spirit of Easter

This Risen Existence: The Spirit of Easter by Paula Gooder
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Excellent book for the season of Lent. Ms. Gooder focuses on the three things that are important that come from Easter.
1) The resurrection being the most important to a Christian. Without it there is not salvation. The next is the ascension, without this Jesus would still be here and we would expect Him to be doing all the work.
2) The ascension, since it falls on a Thursday, is usually not remembered on most church calendars. However, it is important.
3) Pentecost. Without this event, we would not have the power to go forth and tell others.
Without each of these events, the story of Easter is incomplete.
I was able to read this as part of Faithlife web site and their free book. As part of the site, people could sign up to read the book together and talk about it. That made the book a little more interesting to me as I read what other people thought and could reflect on things that I missed.
It is a seasonable book. For that reason, though it could be read any time of the year, it is best read as a reflection time leading up to Easter, or as part of the time from Easter to Pentecost.
Enjoyed the book.

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Review: The Good Book: 40 Chapters That Reveal the Bible's Biggest Ideas

The Good Book: 40 Chapters That Reveal the Bible's Biggest Ideas by Deron Spoo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Standard disclaimer. I got an advanced copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Deron Spoo has written an excellent book that can be used in so many different ways. It can be used as a personal devotional, a Christian Education class, a Bible study, etc.
My only disappointment, minor because I may have read something into his introduction. I was under the impression that he had created this book of stories to help an unchurched (ignostic he calls them) to understand the Christian faith better. In reality the title says it all, 'the Bible's biggest ideas.
The book is written to all levels. A person who has read the Bible and studied it can gain some new insight. I know that I looked at some scriptures in a way that I would not have before. On the other hand, a person who is unchurched can pick up the book can gain an understanding of what it truly means to be a Christian and what we believe.
Forty ideas are presented. 20 from the Older Testament (Old means we do not use it any more, older means it still has value), and 20 from the New Testament. One might have their own scriptures that they might include, but I feel that Mr. Spoo has chosen with care what he thought were the best ones. I am sure it was hard to narrow it down to 40 ideas.
If you are looking for a book that argues theology, this is not it. Nor does it deal with the issues that as Christians separate us into denominations. It does, however, introduce the key concepts of Christianity in nice bite sized pieces.
High recommendations from me on this book.

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Review: Facehooked: How Facebook Affects Our Emotions, Relationships, and Lives

Facehooked: How Facebook Affects Our Emotions, Relationships, and Lives by Suzana E. Flores
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

To start with got a free copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for a review
When I first started reading this it took a little bit of getting into it. I had just finished reading 'The Church of Facebook' and was expecting it to be very similar. It really was not, but like that book, it took some getting into it for me, but for opposite reasons. Church of Facebook seems to tell stories that had nothing to do with the subject but in the end had everything to do with it. Fachooked started out with stories but went right into the why of them.
It was interesting in that the author started with the light fare and when you got far enough in, the subjects became a little darker. And that is the way it should be. If she had started with the scary stuff first people might not read it at all. That was a good call on her part. If that is not what she had planned it still was a good move on her part. I feel that just the right amount of time was spent on each subject, although for me and what I know (I work in IT and am familiar with a lot of this) some seemed to drag on. I can not object to that because not everyone has the same level of knowledge and what drags for me might be not enough for you.
In all, I think it was a good read and would recommend it to anyone that has interest in the subject matter.

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Book Review - Understanding the Culture

Understanding the Culture: A Survey of Social Engagement by Jeff Myers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I got an advanced copy from Netgallery in exchange for a review. Unfortunately I could not finish in time for the book to be released. This is a good thing. It was so deep, rather than skim through it I had to deep read it each chapter.
The book has the feel of a Classroom textbook. It is easy to read but the topics are very deep. There is a clear pattern to each chapter and once that pattern is noticed it does make the reading a little easier.
It is clear that once you get into it, this is a Christian world view book. The name does not give the hint that it would be. I wish I had a copy of it last semester when taking a Philosophy class, a lot of the questions that came up I had a hard time addressing. It would have been good to have this a reference to quote from.
It is the third in a series and I would love to some time invest in the other two. For now, I will have to add them to my want to read list.
Summing it up, it is a great book, but it may not be for everyone.


View all my reviews

Book Review of Mom I'm Gay

Mom, I'm Gay: Loving your LGBTQ child without sacrificing your faith by Susan Cottrell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I got a free ecopy of this book from Net Gallery in exchange for an honest review of the book.

I ask to review this book not because I have a child who is gay, but I have children who have gay friends. In fact last Thanksgiving she my daughter brought home a young man from hr college who says he is trans-gendered. He was welcome into our home with no problem whatsoever. A far cry from the father who told him not to come home for Thanksgiving.

I was hoping that I could understand the right and wrong things to say. The author does address that, but the politics in it is fairly overwhelming. For about the first quarter of the book she spouts the belief that God made your child that way. If you do not think that God did this then you are basically told how unloving you are. While she does not use the words, she basically is talking about the gay gene theory. It has not been proven either way, but she speaks as if it is the only truth. For a person who preaches that we should not judge, she judges you flat out if you disagree with her.

As a Christian, I also do not care for her bashing the church as a whole. She basically says that there is no church that will affirm your gay child. She late in the book talks about a select few that would be accepting and recommends a web site that you should go to. One of her problems here is she talks about people who have religion and not relationship. The church I go to (one of the megachurches she puts down with not names mentioned) when I told the pastor of the church that my daughter would be bringing a trans-gendered person to church said, great, we will love them like we love everyone else. You see, we preach a love for all in our church. A sin is a sin, and there sin is no worse than mine or yours. What matters is your relationship with God.

I can not recommend this book at all as long as the political baggage is attached to it. If she could have stuck to the ins and outs of loving a child who was gay I would have given it 5 stars. Since she got political about things I could only give it three. I also recommend that the author not judge others, just like she talks about in the book.

View all my reviews

Wow, has it been that long.

Used to be this was where I posted a lot of the flotsam and jetsam that flowed through my mind.  As I became more involved in Facebook, that is where a lot of my thoughts wound up going and I realized the other day that I had not blogged for a while.
Logging in tonight I realized it has been a year an a half.  And before that it was spotty.
So, here I am again. let's see if I can be a little bit more regular here.

Happy new years....

A New Look at an Old Story

We changed churches recently.  While I still love the people at Grace Church in Tulsa, I did not feel like I was part of the fellowship anymore.  I honestly felt that it was time to move.  I looked at a few, but I kind of felt that I should be at Lifechurch.TV South Tulsa campus.  Last week Pastor Craig started a sermon series on "The Christian Atheist".  Very good series.  I was encouraged to try a reading plan that they had called

Home Again: A Study Of The Prodigal Son.  I would encourage all to read it.

I have read the story of the prodigal son for years, even facilitated a group that discussed the The Father Heart of God: Experiencing the Depths of His Love for You , a book devoted to that same story.  So for me, I did not think that I could learn anything new from it.  You know, God has a habit of grabbing you by the neck sometime and just politely tell you, shut up and listen.  I did for this one.

It is an old story, I am sure that you know it well if you grow up in church.  One son wants his inheritance while dad is still living.  Takes the money and spends it all, then, when he has nothing less, he tries to return home to be a servant.  Dad rushes to him, forgives him, kills the fatted calf and has a party for him.  The older son gets mad because he did not get a party the whole time he stayed.  The question that this devotional tried to bring out was, "which son was the better one?"  (that is my version of it).

I always though that the older son was the better one.  He stayed with the father through all the problems of life that were thrown at them, there he was, right by the dad's side.  If the younger had not run away, then he would have been blessed just like the older one did.  Sure, the younger son was forgiven, that says something, but the older one was smarter. Or was he?  His actions, that I had not really looked at closer before, showed he was just as bad as his younger brother.

In reality, one brother is living by faith, the other living by works.  Both are elements that God wants in our lives, and like the father loved both of his sons, God loves both sides equally.  Both of these, however, are ditches on the side of the road.  You get off on one you or the other, you are out of the will of God.  God will gently prod you to get out of the ditch and get back up to center ground so that you can move on with what He has planned for your life.

Take some time to do the reading plan, I am sure you will get something else out of it.  If nothing else take some time to take a look at the YouTube presentation of the story.

From the "If I drank I could win a bar bet with" department

Helping my son with homework tonight and the question was name the three largest cities in Oklahoma by population and land mass. We looked up population and it was Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Norman. By land mass it is Oklahoma City, Norman and Tulsa. He wants one answer not two so I look up population per square mile.  That muddles things up even more as it is Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Norman.

So if you ever need the answer to the largest city in Oklahoma, you can give one of three answers and be right!

U.S., Israel developed Flame computer virus: newspaper - Yahoo! News

U.S., Israel developed Flame computer virus: newspaper - Yahoo! News

So they are trying to blame something on us from un-named sources.  What is funny is the following quote:

Since Flame was an intelligence "collection" virus rather than a cyberwarfare program to sabotage computer systems, it required less-stringent U.S. legal and policy review than any U.S. involvement in offensive cyberwarfare efforts, experts told Reuters.
The CIA, NSA, Pentagon, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.

Um, yes, the USA and the various departments are just going to admit to something like this?  If they were not involved and said so, would the average person believe them.  

Problems with conspiracies, is once they start, they are hard to kill....

Do people really think about what they are saying when they get their 15 minutes of fame?

News from The Associated Press

So, in Georgia, there is a little girl throwing a tantrum in school and the police get called in:

Salecia Johnson, 6, was accused of tearing items off the walls and throwing books and toys in an outburst Friday at Creekside Elementary School in Milledgeville, according to a police report.
Police said a small shelf thrown by the child struck the principal in the leg during the fracas. The child also jumped on a paper shredder and tried to break a glass frame, the police report states.

So, she was really traumatizing all the students all around her, would you agree?  So what do the cops do?

The school called police. When an officer tried to calm the child in the principal's office, she resisted, police say. She "was restrained by placing her hands behind her back and handcuffed," a police report states.

 Why did they call the cops and not the parents is a good question. In one version of the story that I read, the parents were unavailable for contact. If you contact everyone on the list in most schools, the next step in most cases in the police.  So far I think the police or the school did not wrong what so ever, though the cuffs might have been overkill, I understand that it was for her safety in the police car.

But here is the kicker:

The girl's aunt, Candace Ruff, went with the child's mother to pick her up from the police station. She said Salecia had been in a holding cell and complained about the handcuffs.

"She said they were really tight. She said they really hurt her wrists," Ruff said. "She was so shaken up when we went there to pick her up."

And:

"We would not like to see this happen to another child, because it's horrifying. It's devastating," her aunt told The Associated Press.

So let me translate what she said in what it means to me.  It was totally OK for her niece  to terrorize the school, give her classmates nightmares about her actions, and be totally impossible to work with. What is not OK is for her niece is to have handcuffs put on her because they hurt her wrist and she was so shaken up about it, to the point of being devastated.

Am I missing something here.  She got her 15 minutes of fame I guess. I do not think I would have been calling the police if my child had been acting like that...

From the "Whoops, I spoke to soon department"

Read this today and got a chuckle....

Only good driver 'on the planet' ruins car

NEW YORK, April 3 (UPI) -- A car that hit a guardrail on a New York road was photographed with a bumper sticker proclaiming the motorist is the only good driver "on the planet."

The car, which was smashed on its front end and flipped over after colliding with the guardrail in a northbound lane of the FDR Drive at 9 a.m. Sunday, was photographed bearing a bumper sticker reading, "Why am I the only one on the planet who knows how to drive?" the New York Post reported Monday.

Police said the male driver, who was alone in the car, was taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2012/04/03/Jockstrip-The-world-as-we-know-it/UPI-48681333447200/#ixzz1r08dNNR6

Obama Warns 'unelected' Supreme Court Against Striking Down Health Law | Fox News

Obama Warns 'unelected' Supreme Court Against Striking Down Health Law | Fox News

President Obama, employing his strongest language to date on the Supreme Court review of the federal health care overhaul, cautioned the court Monday against overturning the law -- while repeatedly saying he's "confident" it will be upheld. 

The president spoke at length about the case at a joint press conference with the leaders of Mexico and Canada. The president, adopting what he described as the language of conservatives who fret about judicial activism, questioned how an "unelected group of people" could overturn a law approved by

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/04/02/obama-confident-supreme-court-will-uphold-health-care-law/#ixzz1qv0zymJd

So I want to make sure that I get this straight. When the conservatives complained that the unelected court was making rules from the bench that  flew against what the people wanted, that was OK because it fit the liberal agenda, that was OK.  When the unelected court makes rules that support the conservative agenda and go against the liberal agenda, then a stern warning comes from the president and elected officials happen.

Am I the only one who does not see the logic in this.  If it is wrong one want, is it not wrong the other way as well?

Or have I drank too much of the conservative Kool-aide....?

Working with my kid...

Last night and tonight have been interesting. You have to understand that up till a few years ago I was always very active in working with my children. Even though I worked nights, most of that time I worked from home.
That changed a few years ago. My job was airline related, I did technical assistance for technicians fixing airline ticketing equipment. When 9/11 happened my office go downsized a few people at a time . I was lucky and held on longer than others, but in the end I was let go.
I took a job at a community college fixing computers but I worked nights. Eventuality I went to days but along with my part time job of teaching them, I had to take on a job at a major retail store. So I was basically home maybe one a week.
This not good because my youngest son has Asburgers, a high functioning form of Autism. He has really needed a dad and I have not been emotionally or physically there. We were loosening connection.
In school he was needing to write a narrative essay, but he was drawing a blank on how to do it. It was passed the due date but they would take it if we could get it done soon. Now I am not the best writer but I have learned how to write bettthan many so even though I was tired, as he was to, I got to help him write his paper.
The result I do not care if he gets a good grade on. We had connected again in ways we haven't done in years. I think he enjoyed it as well. He was relaxed as he climbed into bed as if he once again knew he had a dad who loved him.
In my Wednesday night co-dependency group, I am a facilitator of a group going over the book, The Father Heart of God. I have learned in the past two days just what a joy it is for me to be part of my sons life again. How much more does it mean to the Father God to be part of my life if I will just let Him be a part of it? 

Retail workers sign petition to “Save Thanksgiving” | SFGate Blog | an SFGate.com blog

Retail workers sign petition to “Save Thanksgiving” | SFGate Blog | an SFGate.com blog

So let me see if I understand this correctly.

More and more stores, from Target to Best Buy, are pledging to start the Black Friday shopping extravaganza’s early — like after dinner on Thanksgiving night. And they’ll stay open all night long.

That upsets a lot of workers, including Anthony Hardwick of Omaha, Neb., who says he’d rather be at home with his family than stocking shelves or working a register at Target. Plus to make it though the night he’ll have to sleep most of the day, he told CNNMoney.com.

Hardwick started an online petition called “Tell Target to Save Thanksgiving” calling for Target to open later that quickly attracted 157,000 signatures.

Here is a guy who has a job in an economy that is not doing very well so he starts a protest so he does not have to work on Thanksgiving. I would think that the man would be thankful that he has a job and can work on that day. I would think that he would be thankful that he is not in a soup kitchen with his family. Nope, the protest is there, and he is upset he has to work. While I do not care to work on the day, someone has to and the Walmart that I work at will take care of the people that work there. We will have some food set out for us to eat during breaks. We will get holiday pay based on the average hours we worked. And more important, my family will have 8 hours more of pay from my part time job, maybe being able to get some presents for each other.

Get your priorities correct people.

Church tweets protest of Steve Jobs funeral via iPhone | News To Me with George Mathis

Church tweets protest of Steve Jobs funeral via iPhone | News To Me with George Mathis

This has got to be what I consider the ultimate in irrational behavior. If you look up irony in the dictionary, this news article should be found there.

Westboro Baptist, those of the protest the military funereals because America is going to Hades in a hand-basket fame, have decided to protest the funereal of Steve Jobs. Why, because he did not use technology for God...

Religious leader Margie J. Phelps, in responding to an Associated Press headline on Twitter concerning Jobs’ death, said the group would picket the funeral because Jobs had “a huge platform; gave God no glory and taught sin.”

I never knew he taught sin... must have been one of those things I missed because I am not an Apple fanboy. (and I am not putting down Apple or Jobs, just the religious fanatics that the fanboys are). What is ironic is how they put this message up on Twitter:

Yes, that is right, they protested Jobs, and his lifestyle, on a phone that he helped to create. I am a Christian. I can honestly say that if I thought that Jobs represented Satan and all that stand with him, I would not be using the tools he created to talk about how I would protest his lifestyle.

School Surveys 7th-Graders on Oral Sex - FoxNews.com

School Surveys 7th-Graders on Oral Sex - FoxNews.com

Was this really necessary?

Tessitore said her daughters, both students at Memorial Middle School, were told they had to complete a Youth Risk Behavior Study.

“Kids were actually told to sit down and take them,” said John Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. “The parents here are very upset.”

Whitehead said the girls were deeply disturbed by the subject matter of the study – including questions about suicide, drug use and sexual behavior.

“One of the questions is, ‘have you ever had oral sex,’” Whitehead said. “You’re talking about kids who probably don’t even know what oral sex is.”

But in stead of accepting responsibility the principal passes the buck:

Principal Fran Thomas told Fox News Radio that students were indeed given the survey – and admits it was graphic. But Thomas said the school has nothing to do with the content and they were required to administer the survey to fulfill a grant requirement.

“I can take no responsibility for what’s on that survey,” Thomas said. “It’s not generated by the school system.”

So in stead of saying that I could have stopped this if I had not applied for the grant, he says that it was mandated by the grant and I had no control over it. Then they wonder why the kids do not take responsibility for their own actions!

Travel Time

Will have to be going to another campus for the next few weeks.  Could be interesting, it is one of the ones that I used to work at.  Not sure why they need me, call load does not look too bad.  I was told that we have a number of projects that need to be done, so I will be up there for a little bit.  It is between semesters so I will not have the commute between the two campuses to teach.

Now, if I could only get to the point that I did not have to work the third job.  I enjoy Walmart, but 3 jobs is a bit too much.  Each weekend drains me so much.

Well, here goes .....

Osama, who? Ask clueless teenagers - Hindustan Times

Osama, who? Ask clueless teenagers - Hindustan Times

My daughter was four years old when 9/11 happened. She kind of remembers me watching TV for hours trying to make sense of it all. She kind of remembers seeing a big plane crashing into tall buildings in New York. But while she may remember those things and we have talked about them over the years, I do not think that something that we talked about who was who was responsible for doing it. It does not surprise me these facts:

According to Yahoo!, 40% of searches on Sunday for 'who killed Osama bin laden' were from people aged 13-20.

But teenagers aged 13-17 made up 66% of searches for the question 'who is Osama bin Laden?'

Why would't this be the truth. We teach our children all sorts of things, but then do not teach them about others. And then call them clueless when they do not know about something? I can understand the questions they asked desperately, flooding internet, confused and clueless as they were about the man who ran the world's largest terrorist network and whose manhunt of 10 years had finally culminated in his killing in a Pakistani city, the Daily Mail reported.

Scores more turned to Twitter to pose the question and get the answer, before they were quickly embarrassed by other users for their lack of knowledge.

One youngster wrote: 'Who is Osama Bin Laden and why should I care?'. Another asked: 'Is he famous?'

A young Twitter user wrote: 'Who is Osama? And why is it so good he died?'. Another poster referred to the terrorist leader as 'Ben' Laden.

What bothers me is that they did not ask their parents. We as a culture have grown cold to what our kids need and let them surf the web for answers. And then we wonder why they are messed up.

When I get time to visit with my kids tonight, I think I have to ask them if they understand exactly what happened Sunday night, and why they should care.

An American family in London watches and worries | Commentary | Minnesota Public Radio News

An American family in London watches and worries | Commentary | Minnesota Public Radio News

I wrote to my friend what I said to my daughter. "Christians do not celebrate the death of anyone."

As a Christian I value all life. Jesus taught us to pray for our enemies. Proverbs 24:17 teaches, "Do not rejoice when your enemies fall, and do not let your heart be glad when they stumble." It's not easy, but that's what Jesus has asked me to do.

I guess this sums up what I felt last night as I typed those words. I cannot celebrate the death of anyone. I wish he could have come to know Jesus. On the other hand, a moral evil is gone and we no longer have to put up with it. In that respect, the world is a little safer. But my life will still go on.

Bin Laden Dead

As I sit here and watch the talking heads talk about the death of Bin Laden I feel nothing. Has anything really changed? I got up this morning and went to one of my jobs. My relationships have not changed and my income has not increased.

So what has changed? Nothing! God still is in control, at least what I let Him. 

Time to get on with life. 

Palin caught in crosshairs map controversy after Tucson shootings

I really am getting tired of this. The guy did not have right leaning motives, if anything they were to the left, but some how Palin is responsible for him killing all these people. What connection am I missing here?

Palin caught in crosshairs map controversy after Tucson shootings: "He said Palin needs allies who can 'point out repeatedly that the cross hairs are irrelevant. The only thing that's relevant is what Jared Loughner was influenced by, and according to his posting and his videos, there's not an iota of evidence that he was even aware of these things. So you need allies out there saying that.'"

Could Sarah Palin be right about Michelle Obama?! - CSMonitor.com

Could Sarah Palin be right about Michelle Obama?! - CSMonitor.com:

"In an editorial the Wall Street Journal criticizes Sarah Palin for criticizing Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity campaign. The point seems to be that such talk from the Ms. Bully Pulpit is innocuous or benign. The writer makes an analogy with Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” anti-drug campaign.

Now if Michelle Obama were just a Chicago-based community activist who was organizing a nation-wide propaganda campaign to urge people to eat healthily I would have no objection."

Interesting thoughts. Does Ms. Obama speak for herself or her government when she speaks? If she is good enough to meet heads of states without her husband, can she not represent her government in other things. If the president can be held responsible for what he says as being government beliefs, then her words would be as well.

Yes she has the right to free speech, we all do. But free speech gets lost when you are an official government person. It can not go both way.

When the government steps in and tries to educate us, we must remember that other than public schools, that is not their job.

Yes I think obesity is a problem in America. A simple trip to a Wal-mart on any weekend will show you that. But when the government steps in and tries to use its bully pulpit, then maybe we should talk back.

Spam Campaign May Mark Comeback for Storm, Waledac Operators - Security - News & Reviews - eWeek.com

Spam Campaign May Mark Comeback for Storm, Waledac Operators - Security - News & Reviews - eWeek.com:

Interesting new worm out there. While the mass emails that told you go to some link had for the most part died down, they seem to be back again. This one has you download a fake Acrobat reader update to infect you. What gets to me is the staggering numbers it seems to be generating.

"'The overall volume is hard to estimate as it depends on many factors,' Tillmann Werner, malware analyst at Kaspersky Lab, told eWEEK. 'We observed one successfully delivered mail per second on average—that means 3,600 spam mails per hour or 86,400 per day for each bot. The botnet is still very young and constantly growing. We counted about 2,500 different IP addresses that participate in the fast-flux service network which is used to hide the C&C [command and control] infrastructure. The total number of infected machines is probably magnitudes higher, but there is currently no way to measure it."

What really gets to me is that these people could be real successful in a real job and yet they do this.

FOXNews.com - World's Strongest Beer Launches at $762 a Bottle

Just what you need to take to your local PETA meeting!

FOXNews.com - World's Strongest Beer Launches at $762 a Bottle: "The blond Belgian ale, named The End of History, is an astonishing 55 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) and is presented in a case made from stuffed animals, including stoats and squirrels."

A long day

Time seems to go by slowly on some days.  Yesterday and today seem to be a pair of ones.  I tried to tell my daughter that it was a long day yesterday and she looked at me strange.  I could see the cogs going in her head and before she could say anything I said, 'well technically it has been 24 hours, but it feels longer'.

Yesterday and today have been convocation days at the college that I work at. As part of the team that takes care of the multimedia and the computers I get to put in long days to make sure things go right when these events take place, and this semester it was on my campus. Rooms had to be set up, projectors made sure to be running, etc.  You get the idea.

I did get one blessing though.  I changed jobs abruptly in the college and because of that had to change shifts that I was working. That meant that I lost the two classes that I was going to teach.  Teaching brings in the extra $ that I need.  I thought that nothing could be done. But a little faith and prayer and a little putting out of feelers that I was available (the Bible does say 'faith works'), helped me get one class to teach out of the two. While it would have been better to have the two, I am sure that God will provide.

You can do it... we can help

Had an interesting night tonight.  Last night I replaced the float assembly in the toilet tank. In doing so, the old  metal pipe that was coming out of the wall which already had a kink in it got a worse kink.  In doing so, the old metal (probably original pipe from the 60s or 70s) got fatigue and started spraying water.

My thought was to get some JB Weld to try to seal the pipe.  So with some money in my pocket I headed out to the Home Depot.  The wonderful woman at the South Tulsa store talked me out of the weld and suggested that I try to replace the pipe with a new type mesh hose.  I was not sure that I had the skills but she talked me into it.  Well it took two trips to get all the parts needed, and a lot of help from my 14 year old daughter Annie, and it was after 10 when I was done, and it took a few disassembles and reassembles.  But we got it all done.  And afterwards we sat down to some Ice Cream and the first David Tennant  episode of Doctor Who.

I really could have used his screw driver thought.....

 

FOXNews.com - U.S. Atheists Reportedly Using Hair Dryers to 'De-Baptize'

FOXNews.com - U.S. Atheists Reportedly Using Hair Dryers to 'De-Baptize': "American atheists lined up to be 'de-baptized' in a ritual using a hair dryer, according to a report Friday on U.S. late-night news program 'Nightline.'

Leading atheist Edwin Kagin blasted his fellow non-believers with the hair dryer to symbolically dry up the holy water sprinkled on their heads in days past. The styling tool was emblazoned with a label reading 'Reason and Truth.'"

I kind of find this interesting even if it is a few weeks old. It seems that it is OK to make fun of the way that Christians do things. Now to be fair, they make fun of infant baptism, a thing that I do not believe in but accept that some do. But what gives these people the right to make fun of beliefs. If a Christian was to do the same about their beliefs, they would be intolerant Bible thumping fanatics. If they do it, they are trying to open our eyes to the truth.

Seems they might have a bit more faith they they claim, they seem to think that we do not have the truth and that they do.

Do people think before they create advertisement?

Sitting at lunch, reading the company magazine. They want us to sell USB sticks so they have an ad in it for colored USB sticks. Picture has a tween girl sitting at a computer. Now the kicker! The colors; fearless red, aqua blue, ... Lolita. Excuse me, did any one stop to think about this?

Where are the parents?

Many people who know me know I work for a large retail store chain on the weekends. Seen a lot of weird stuff in my two years here. Today has to take the cake. I work in electronics and we haves Nintendo Wii display with a game in it. When I came back from break two kids were playing the game. That in itself is not strange.

Two and half hours later I leave for lunch. The kids ate still playing.



My questions: where were the parents and how could you leave a kid alone that long in a store where there are a lot of strange people?



Or is it just me

Update: mom showed up for her kids Of course I was writing the above at lunch and she came back after I had returned from it. Three and a half hours!