Book Review: Days Like These by Kristian & Rachel Anderson

This is a chronological walk through Kristian’s cancer, in his own words. Blog posts he wrote during his struggle with cancer have been compiled into chapters with a summary section at the end of each written by his wife Rachel. It’s incredibly personal, very personal, and of course very emotional throughout.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book like this before – written in the middle of the struggle, describing every up and down, no hiding behind cliches or spiritual catchphrases – and it’s pretty powerful. Simply by reading this informal journal we’re taken on a detailed and highly personal journey through cancer – it isn’t pretty, but it’s enlightening. I’ll definitely look at cancer differently having read this.

To be honest, I found the book quite difficult to read; firstly, the obvious subject matter, but also because it’s written as most blogs are, simply a collection of thoughts he’s having on that particular day with very little thought-through holistic storyline. That’s part of the beauty of it but I’m not entirely convinced it lends itself well to book format – it took me a long time to read it, and I read a lot. That said, the personal nature of it did genuinely draw me in to the point that I really felt like I had built a relationship with Kristian – it moved me to tears more than once.

An issue some might have with it is that he uses language every so often that some would consider offensive. I’m not sure whether this is because Australians (like Kristian) approach language differently to Brits (like me), or whether it’s simply a genuine expression of his frustration at that moment, but if that’s the sort of thing that would lose you, you’re probably not going to enjoy it.

Overall I’d certainly recommend this to anyone who is struggling with cancer, knows someone who is, or doesn’t know anything about it. Kristian’s focus invariably returned to Jesus in spite of the bad news that kept coming his way, and that attitude is something pretty much everyone could learn a lesson from.

I got this ebook for free from BookSneeze.com in exchange for an honest review.

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Book review: Altar Ego by Craig Groeschel

Yes, it’s another book about becoming who God says you are in Christ. This one’s split into three parts, basically covering who we are in Christ, what characteristics that means we should have, and how to be bold in obeying God.

Craig Groeschel is biblical, challenging, humble and absolutely hilarious. Each chapter is well-structured, based on clear Bible passages and ideas, and well-communicated through Groeschel’s own experience and powerful challenges throughout. I’d challenge any Christian to read this book and come out the other side thinking they can continue living as they have before. The best thing about this book is Groeschel’s trademark all-or-nothing approach; God demands our all, so give him your all!

I normally try to come up with one or two things I didn’t like about a book but I simply can’t with this; at times it made me laugh out loud at his stories while at others it was as if my heart had been ripped out of my chest. I haven’t read a book as good as this in a long time, and am looking forward to Groeschel’s next creation.

If you’re a Christian, read this book. And if you’re not, become a Christian, then read this book.

I got this book for free from BookSneeze.com in exchange for an honest review.

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Book review: 20,000 Days and Counting by Robert Smith

The Bible tells us to ‘number our days’. Robert Smith took that literally, and when he realised that he had been alive for 20,000 of them he decided to take 48 hours out to make sure that every day he’d do everything in his power to make it count. This short book is basically him communicating the lessons he learnt during that time, encouraging the reader to make each day count and ‘echo in eternity’.

Most of my opinions about this book stem from the fact that it’s so short – some chapters are only two pages long. On one level this makes it very approachable and not at all scary to read, but on another it means that some ideas are not communicated as clearly as I’d  have liked. Because of the nature of the book being something requiring such personal application, I think the book could perhaps have done with some questions for application at the end of each chapter, particularly as it was so short.

On the whole I found the content to be inspiring, challenging and exciting, but at times hard to apply to my own life; Smith tells about how it worked for him (e.g. calling 30 people per day to sell something led to several ‘no’s but the all-important ‘yes’ as well), but it wasn’t immediately apparent how I might be able to put that into practice myself. This led to the book feeling like [a] it was Robert Smith telling me how great his life is (not that useful), and [b] it could have done with being a bit longer.

So if you’re looking for something quick that will give you food for thought, you could certainly do a lot worse than this. But if you feel like you perhaps need a bit more hand-holding through it, I’d probably push you more in the direction of Craig Groeschel’s Chazown, or John Piper’s Don’t Waste Your Life.

I got this ebook for free from BookSneeze.com in exchange for an honest review.

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Either/or – both/and

Last Life in the Universe (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of the phrases I hear most often when talking to non-Christians is ‘I can’t believe in a God who [insert cause here].’ For example, these are all real-life reasons I’ve been given by people saying they don’t believe in the God of the Bible:

I can’t believe in a God who would tell me who I can and can’t sleep with.

I can’t believe in a God who dies.

I can’t believe in a God who allows suffering.

But if God is God then he’s fundamentally other than us, so surely would be expected to be something different to what we’d come up with ourselves?

It’s like the search for intelligent life in the universe. Every time there’s a news story reporting something exciting, it always starts with something along the lines of ‘scientists think they’ve discovered water on Mars’, because no life has been discovered on earth that hasn’t needed water to exist.

BUT YOU’RE NOT LOOKING FOR LIFE ON EARTH! Surely if there’s life that isn’t on earth, we’d expect it to be different from the life that we’ve seen here? Never mind. Back to what I was saying.

So something that’s struck me recently is the way that we tend to like things in nice, easy-to-manage boxes, whereas the Bible is far happier to present a Person who is not either tolerant or judgmental (as our society would present it), but he is both loving and gracious towards sinners and holy and intolerant of sin.

This sometimes looks like a contradiction. For example we’re told:

…by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:9)

…to us who are being saved (1 Corinthians 1:18)

…all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:9)

Our minds go: Well, which is it? Is salvation a past, present (ongoing), or future event?

And God says: It’s the best of all three.

Nearing Home: Thoughts on Life, Faith and Finishing Well by Billy Graham

When it comes to inspirational older Christians not many names come to mind as easily as Billy Graham’s, so I was excited to read the wisdom he’d gathered for the 200-ish pages of this great book. Without wanting to sound morbid it’s essentially Billy Graham’s well thought-through last words captured in ten easy-to-read chapters.

On the whole the book’s written well – it doesn’t minimise the difficulties, frustrations and limitations of growing old, but also doesn’t minimise the continued responsibilities of older people, particularly around things like retiring. The lessons delivered in the book are not ground-breaking by any means but they’re all worthwhile repeating and re-stressing, at any stage of life. Billy Graham has alread lived my lifetime several times over but a lot of the biblical ideas he presents are instantly applicable to my life as well as someone in their 90s.

But that brings me to my only potentialy criticism of this book (and it’s only potential!) – I can’t put my finger on exactly who I’d recommend this book to. Certain paragraphs and chapters relate to how to live as an older Christian, so I’d recommend them to retired people. Others relate to lessons Billy Graham’s learnt so are really around preparing for old age; I’d have to recommend them to younger people because someone in their 80s or 90s may feel it’s too late, for example, to start saving money for their old age! Others are timeless truths and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone, Christian or not.

So if you’re looking for some good wisdom this is certainly a decent book, but I think because of the subject matter it’s a really personal thing whether you’ll find the contents encouraging, challenging, uplifting or frustrating.

I got this book for free from BookSneeze.com. I’m not required to give a positive review.

More Than Ordinary by Doug Sherman

In this book Doug Sherman explains that it is actually possible to enjoy life with God! Based on his experience as a teenager in which he handed every area of his life over to God and was surprised to find that Christians actually seemed less happy than other people, he has compiled a biblical argument for how life can truly be enjoyed through our relationship with God. The book is separated into two sections: Encountering God, in which we learn about God’s character, and Enjoying God, in which that character is practically applied to our daily lives.

Sherman’s a good communicator – I found the book easy to read but not over-simplistic – and he has an ability to explain some pretty enormous truths concisely. The concepts presented here aren’t ground-breaking by any means but I found it really useful to be reminded of the importance of the Christian basics like prayer, purity and witness.

Each chapter finishes with a paragraph about how to practically apply the lessons learnt; I imagine this could work well as a devotional in which you think about the chapter during the day or week, or as a tool for a small group discussion.

I’d be happy to recommend this book to any Christian but particularly those who have been Christians for a while – it really takes us back to the foundations of Christianity in a way that isn’t patronising.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges

This book is an investigation into the full impact of the gospel on our daily lives. Bridges looks at a series of different angles to ask what was achieved at Jesus’ cross, looking at its already completed effects, the day-to-day impact of living in light of the gospel, and the eternal consequences for us and for others.

There are similar books to this out there, such as The Cross of Christ by John Stott, but I don’t think that takes anything away from this book. Jerry Bridges has a good way of communicating, and he uses it to full effect in this book. The content is foundational from a Christian perspective but not presented in a childish way, so I’d certainly recommend this book to all new Christians, as well as anyone who has been a Christian for a while but doesn’t feel that they have every basic nailed (i.e. all of us). It’s very easy to read; Bridges doesn’t shy away from the challenging long words like propitiation, but he’s good at explaining exactly what he means.

The only potential problem with this book is one which I think is unavoidable – a lot of the concepts presented here aren’t that practically applicable due to them being about spiritual attitude, faith, and so on. So although there is a good chapter on sanctification if you’re looking for practical tips on how to pursue purity I don’t think this is the place to find them.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

A Conversation With God by Alton Gansky

This book is a collection of 55 questions asked to God, and an account of what His response would be based on the Bible. The questions are separated into various categories, such as God, the Bible, pain and suffering, and today’s world.

 

When I first received this book I was excited; the book naturally fell open at a chapter on whether or not God loves gay people, and I liked the answer. A couple of pages earlier was a chapter on abortion, and again I liked the answer. I decided I’d behave myself and read it from the beginning.

 

Unfortunately, my experience then changed. To say that the title of this book is ‘a conversation with God’, this is a bit of a weird conversation. Each chapter begins with the same question asked three times: first in one sentence, then in a couple of paragraphs, and then in the form of several questions at once. The answers are then not provided by God, but by an entire cast of characters, including Judas, Micah, Asaph, Urbanus, and Matthias. So the format, if anything, is simply confusing. This book is not a conversation with God.

 

On top of this I didn’t find the answers particularly helpful, particularly at the ‘foundational level’ questions. For example, the opening question (in it’s short form) is ‘God, who are You? What are You?’ to which God responds with ‘I’m unique in all creation.’ I agree that God is unique, but ‘in all creation’? Surely God is outside of creation? The answer then continues by describing His characteristics, one of which is His jealousy, which Gansky defines as ‘the fear of losing what you have [in the same way that a husband] worries that he might be losing [his wife].’ I disagree. God is not afraid, and He is not worried.

 

In this entire opening chapter the Holy Spirit is never mentioned, nor is the existence of the Trinity – a major oversight when the question is ‘God, who are you?’. When the Holy Spirit finally pipes up (in chapter seven, after the section of God is finished), He is called simply ‘holy spirit’, as if He is some impersonal force rather than a Person in the Godhead. In the ‘cast list’ in the introduction (which contains a spelling error), the Holy Spirit is not even mentioned. God and Jesus are both named as if they are separate people (I can only assume that Gansky means ‘the Father’ each time he references God), and overall the understanding of God just seems to be a bit clumsy.

 

It seems a shame that silly things like this have slipped through despite the apparent input from a whole host of people (none of whom are named, by the way). The most frustrating of these silly things must be that the introduction seems to disagree so much with the actual book contents. In particular we’re told that the combined efforts have intended ‘to do away with what is often called Christianese‘. Great! But it takes hardly any time for Jesus to start talking about forgiven sin and ‘disciples, who became apostles and established the church to spread the message of salvation.’ What are disciples? Or apostles? And what’s this sin, forgiveness, church, or salvation?

 

At times the specific questions aren’t even answered, the response is simply a general talk about a related topic! For example question two is specific: ‘God, how can we believe that You created us?’ but the answer is summed up early on: ‘The key to seeing creation is the willingness to look…there is no lack of evidence, only lack of belief.’ Well, I agree with the statement, but the answer’s not right – ‘how can we believe?’ ‘You just need to believe.’

 

So in summary I’m not the biggest fan of this book, which is a shame. The idea’s an interesting one, and some questions are dealt with well, but the content of the book just doesn’t live up to the title or the introduction.

 

I got this book for free from BookSneeze.com. I’m not required to give a positive review.

Max on Life by Max Lucado

In this book Max Lucado takes a whole lot of questions that he’s found he’s been asked over the years, and endeavours to respond to each one in one page each. The book is separated into several sections dealing with hurt, home, relationships, and so on.

Max Lucado is a really good communicator and I think is at his best in this book; the toughest question takes no more than a page and a half to answer, and the vast majority of the time you feel like he’s presented a thoroughly biblical and sincere response.

There are some nice quotes, catchy phrases, and good disciplines in here as well – my only concern would be that because of the succinctness of the answers, a reader may not be able to properly take in the content!

The only thing that slightly frustrated me was the same thing that occurs in all Lucado’s books; he uses a different translation every time he quotes from the Bible. At times this is useful and brings a good take on the topic, but every so often I was left wondering why that particular translation of that particular verse…

All in all, thoroughly recommended. Whether you read it cover-to-cover, or pick out the most relevant questions or Bible verses or topics, I’d be happy recommending this to any reader, Christian or non-Christian.

I got this book for free from BookSneeze.com. I’m not required to give a positive review.

Soulprint by Mark Batterson

This book is essentially a plea from the author that we would fundamentally get to know, and be, our true selves found in Jesus Christ. Looking at various examples in the life of King David, Mark Batterson explains how God has designed each of us uniquely, which is a place of great privilege, yet great responsibility.

Listening to the opening chapters and blurb about this book I thought for a moment that this book was going to tell me to ‘be the best I could be’ by following another self-help book, but this is not that kind of book! Batterson’s idea is that each of us has a unique ‘soulprint’ in the same way that we have a unique fingerprint, and that we will experience fullness of life when we embrace that soulprint for what it is.

David’s life gives a great biblical example of a man who God used for a unique purpose regardless of what the world thought of him. I think Batterson does a great job of explaining occasions in David’s life using contemporary examples, and he really communicates the extent to which God loves to think about and plan for us, while at the same time underlining the phenomenal responsibility which comes with that.

The book is filled with personal stories from Mark’s life which really added a good depth to it, and it made it even more special that the audiobook was narrated by him – his voice isn’t the most natural narrator but for his own book it doesn’t make much difference, he’s easy to listen to and it’s always nice to hear the author’s own work.

I can’t imagine any Christian not being impacted by this book so I’m happy to give this a blank recommendation to you if you’re a Christian, I’m sure you’d enjoy, and be encouraged and challenged by it.

I got this audiobook for free from christianaudio.com. I’m not required to give a positive review.