Brief Book Review/Rant: The Revolution by Ron Paul
Between Now and Eternity
Let me start out by saying that the ultimate hope for any government is only Jesus. On this side of eternity, every political theory is lacking. The only perfect government will be the future one, where Jesus is king and the heart of every individual has been made perfect. Until that glorious kingdom is fully made known, every government will be less-than-perfect. Political party affiliation, political candidates, and political ideas will all be found lacking. So I don’t put an exorbitant amount of hope or time into politics. However, I do think we are called as Christians to live out the implications of the gospel to the various cultures that we find ourselves in, and this includes the political culture within America. Between now and eternity, I want to recommend the ideas of Ron Paul as a good solution to a lot of America’s problems.
A.S.A.P.
To be perfectly honest with you, to fully review this book would be a waste of your time and mine. To fully say all that I wish to say about the book, would be to quote the whole book. Rather than writing a lengthy review, I would rather you just read The Revolution. In fact, if you want to stop reading this review right now (which honestly is not much of a review anyway), and instead go read Ron Paul, I would applaud you. There is no portion of The Revolution that I wish to synopsize. I like every word. There is no part I disagree with. It’s all good.
The two political parties, as they currently exist, both promote a future for America that is heading towards total and complete futility. Ron Paul offers an alternative path. Bush was an awful president. Obama seems no better. Does either one intend to lead America into futility? No. But the politics they promote are like a heavy weight tied around the ankle of this country. The nation is drowning. These days America is not the America that we wish it to be. It is not the America that the founding fathers wished it to be. And personally speaking, I like the America that they envisioned better than they one we currently have. So I’m recommending this book.
Simply put, and I know this sounds awfully dogmatic, I dare you to read this book and consider its ideas honestly. Maybe you’ll disagree with some of them, but I think you’ll agree with a lot of them. And that at least will be a step in the right direction.
P.S.
This is an awfully good audiobook (concise, about 5.5 hrs), that’s how I read it. But, I’m thinking of buying a physical copy so I can go back and underline some stuff (see previous post).
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No commentsBook Review: Whoredom: God’s Unfaithful Wife in Biblical Theology by Ray Ortlund Jr.
The book has now been retitled, and this is the new cover.
Borrowed Books
Reading a borrowed book is like a bad dream to me. If I can’t underline, then the endeavor is almost worthless. It’s at best frustrating. Not that I don’t immensely appreciate the sentiment that goes behind loaning a book to a friend, I do, but reading without a pen is death. I find this same frustration listening to audiobooks. I try my best to write down page numbers and quotes when I get the chance, but I still feel like I miss out on remembering some of the content that I would otherwise be able to recall If I could underline. Libraries are of limited use to me for the same reasons. I want to write in the book. So I buy a lot of books and help stimulate the economy.
Whoredom
Now that I’ve got that out of my system, I should explain that I just finished a borrowed copy of Whoredom: God’s Unfaithful Wife in Biblical Theology. And while I enjoyed the book, and found it helpful, I feel that I can’t remember all that I would like to because you can’t underline in a borrowed book. But, I’ll attempt to recall a bit for this review anyway. As a side note, I’m a little tempted to go buy a copy of the book and skim it with pen in hand. But whatever!
In Whoredom, Ortlund traces the idea of “spiritual adultery” through the Bible. The idea of God’s marriage to His people is first alluded to in the Law, developed rather extensively in the writings of the prophets, and then brought full circle in New Testament. The theme is extensive throughout the Bible and often pushes the biblical text into “R” rating territory. Think I’m lying? Go read Ezekiel 23:20 and make it your life verse. Then quote it when people ask “What’s your favorite verse in the Bible?” Watch the jaws drop. God’s point, I think, is that He treats our spiritual adultery, our idolatry, our un-love, pretty seriously. The drastic nature of the Bible’s language in this area brings us face to face with the ugliness of our sin, and points us to our need for a Savior.
This book is primarily consumed with examining the development of the “spiritual adultery” theme throughout the Old Testament. But Ortlund takes time in chapter six to show the relation between all of the Old Testament’s proclamations of spiritual adultery to the New Testament’s idea of Jesus as the Bridegroom. My favorite quote in the whole book might be:
“The gospel reveals that, as we look out into the universe, ultimate reality is not cold, dark, blank space; ultimate reality is romance. There is a God above with love in his eyes for us and infinite joy to offer us, and he has set himself upon winning our hearts for himself alone. The gospel tells the story of God’s pursuing, faithful, wounded, angry, overruling, transforming, triumphant love. And it calls us to answer him with a love which cleanses our lives of all spiritual whoredom” (173).
A Great Study Tool
I used this book mainly as a study tool and commentary on parts of the book of Hosea. Ortlund vividly portrays all the key passages that deal with the spiritual adultery theme in the Bible. These include passages in the Law, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Ephesians, and Revelation among others. For being a book that I expected to be quite complex, Whoredom was rather straightforward and easy to read. I recommend it highly if you’re at all interested in studying this Biblical theme. It’s also a great read if you just want to understand the Bible better as a cohesive whole. The appendix, which deals with feminist interpretations of the Bible’s sexual language, is especially entertaining if you’d like to get a good look at absurd examples of Biblical interpretation.
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No commentsBook Review: Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins
I just finished the audiobook version of Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins. The audiobook was read by Brian Emerson, who is one of my favorite readers. (I believe even a bad book could sound interesting if Emerson was reading it.)
I can safely say that this book will change the way that you view politics and the economic situation in the world, if you choose to read it. Confessions of an Economic Hitman is Perkin’s autobiography, his confession, about his involvement as an economic forecaster for a now-defunct company called Chas T. Main. Chas T. Main was a large, U. S. engineering firm which specialized in designing infrastructure plans for utility industries around the world. It was bought, and the name changed, in the late 80′s due to mismanagement.
Perkins explains that while his official job title may have been “chief economist for Main,” his real job was to act as an economic hitman. An economic hitman, or EHM (as Perkin’s calls it), is an economist whose purpose is to produce inflated infrastructure predictions for third world countries. These inflated forecasts are produced in order to justify the millions of dollars that foreign countries will have to borrow in order to hire American construction companies to build modern utility infrastructures within these third world countries. Based on these predictions, the world bank grants loans that these countries will never be able to repay. The country becomes mired in debt, and only a few, privileged people benefit. In this way, the American “corporatocracy” continues to grow rich, and economic pressure due to debt keeps the governments of third world countries in-check politically. At the end of the day, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, thousands of indigenous peoples are exploited, and America continues to build its global empire. Economic hitmen, and the CEO’s of large corporations, work unofficially in conjunction with the NSA to control foreign nations.
Whether you buy all this or not (see the wikipedia entry about Perkins for the controversy surrounding the book), it’s great, thought-provoking, conscious-altering reading. Much of what Perkins describes about the way in which the U. S. government uses the private sector, free-trade agreements, and economic pressure, seems (in my mind at least) to match real life. Perkins’ insights into the administrations of several of our past presidents is eye-opening for sure, and he confirms a lot of my own suspicions about the reasons for the Iraq War and the Bush/Cheney regime. I will say however, that any critique of the Clinton presidency is completely absent from this book, which may point towards some of Mr. Perkins’ political leanings (although I would be remiss to say that I find him a complete leftist).
Perkins ends the book with an epilogue of suggestions about how we, as Americans, can fight the global empire and leave a better world for our children. As a Christian, I’m inclined to see “the way forward” a little differently than Perkins. In my opinion, the main reason the global empire of America exists is greed. Many of the ideals at the heart of democracy, capitalism, and a global economy are sound (not perfect, but sound), except that people are greedy. The problem with capitalism is that companies nearly always act based on the bottom line. They hardly ever consider the best interests of others. They are greedy. They run over the poor, especially the poor of other countries. The rich get richer, and the poor are exploited. Unregulatized capitalism would work perfectly if everyone had a changed heart, but we don’t, so it doesn’t. Neither will the alternative to capitalism work (i.e. – socialism). They are both faulted systems because of faulted people.
We need Jesus to do the masterful work of heart transformation. On its own, this world will always tend towards depravity, and the American government and its capitalistic, self-serving policies, are most definitely included. I’m not saying that we should do nothing. We should try to fix the government. We should try to put men into office that don’t simply support the wishes of a few rich men that help fund their campaign. We should work hard, promote justice, and involve ourselves in charity. But more than any of that, we should embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the only true, transformational hope that our world has.
My advice: Read this book. Involve yourself in politics as a concerned citizen. Think beyond party lines. Act like a Christian. Trust Jesus and the life change that He brings most of all. And, spend the majority of your time focused on the Gospel because it is the real change-agent in the world.
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No commentsBook Review: Living the Cross Centered Life by C. J. Mahaney
Why?
My brother Andy has been telling me about C. J. Mahaney and Sovereign Grace Ministries for a while now. So, digging into a Mahaney book was really only a matter of time. Andy and I like to talk about books and ministry and theology because, well, we’re both pastors. But the actual reason that I picked up this book was to review it. I wanted to see if it might be a useful tool in a discipleship program that I’ve been working on for my church. Nathan Loxley (our worship pastor) and I were looking for a book that would be pretty accessible for the average person, but also really foundational. It needed to be a book that would teach doctrinal truth, but stay applicable. And I think we found the book with Living the Cross Centered Life.
Brief Description
Living the Cross Centered Life is a relatively small book (166 pages to be exact) about the theology and practical application of the cross of Jesus. It should be explained that this book is really a combination of two other Mahaney books: The Cross Centered Life and Christ Our Mediator; the new version of the book combines these two books and includes additional material. The focus of the book is this: the truth of the cross is not just for new believers, but for all believers in all parts of their lives. As Mahaney says in the first chapter, “Too many of us have moved on from that glorious plan [the plan of responding with our whole lives to the gospel]. In our never-ending desire to move forward and make sure that everything we think, say, and do is relevant to modern living, too many of us have stopped concentrating on the wonders of Jesus crucified” (18). This is glorious truth and often overlooked. Many times Christians think they are saved by God’s grace, but then after that it’s all about what they do. Wrong! It’s all about what Jesus did from beginning to end.
Mahaney takes his readers through a brief, but thorough understanding of the cross in the first half of the book. He then moves on to explain how the cross helps us when we suffer, how it brings us joy, and how it defeats legalism and self-condemnation. He ends by giving practical advice for keeping the cross central on a daily basis. I love this nod towards the practical. As Mark Dever says in praise of the book “You’re holding the book you want to read to begin living the Christian life. You’re also holding the book you want to read to help you continue living the Christian life” (1).
Why I love it
Living the Cross Centered Life is a great book! It’s doctrinal, accessible, and practical. C. J. carefully examines the cross, teaching theology as he goes, but keeping the picture of Jesus vivid the entire time. Mahaney is honost and practical as he writes; he seems to me to be the type of guy that anyone would love to hang with.
The part of this book that will probably stick with me the most is the concept of “preaching to yourself” rather than “listening to yourself.” Mahaney talks about how prone we are to let our emotions control us. We begin thinking all kinds of negative and prideful thoughts in our heads rather than preaching the truth of the cross to ourselves. He encourages readers to make decisions in life based on the truth that they know is right (the cross and it’s accomplishment) rather than making decisions based on how they feel emotionally at any given moment. This is a really good insight that has already begun to effect my life. I’m grateful for this little book, and even more grateful for Jesus and his life, death, and resurrection! I highly recommend Living the Cross Centered Life and am already making plans to implement its use in the life of 24church.
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2 commentsCrush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk
Gary Vaynerchuk is perhaps best known as the creator and host of the popular video wine blog, Wine Library TV; however, he is quickly becoming known as the go-to-guy for knowledge on social media marketing. Crush It! is Vaynerchuk’s how-to book of social media brand building. Specifically @GaryVee (his twitter handle) is interested in helping people build their “personal brand” using free, social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, WordPress, Tumblr, and the like.
Crush It! is a timely book offering effective methods for building brand recognition right now. I don’t know that it will be on anybody’s radar in 10 years because the internet is an ever-changing landscape; however, if you have an interest in marketing a product, blog, church, or non-profit in 2009 or 2010 or 2011, then this book is worth your time. And…it’s an easy read. In fact it’s a bathroom-reader easy read, and it’s written in a quirky, enjoyable style.
My favorite advice / quotes from the book:
“legacy is greater than currency (126).”
“Love your family (2).”
“Work superhard (2).”
“Live your passion (2).”
“The best marketing strategy in the world….CARE! (101-102).”
I’m approaching this book mostly from the standpoint of a pastor, and I think it offers sound advice for churches. Churches aren’t selling something (or at least they shouldn’t be), but they do have the best news in the world (that you were created for God’s glory and Jesus would like to enable you to fulfill that purpose). So, I think marketing your church and it’s resources more effectively just makes sense. This is a book I would like to get in the hands of as many pastors and church marketers as possible because I think it could benefit the kingdom of God.
READ IT!
check out Gary Vaynerchuk at:
winelibrarytv.com
garyvaynerchuk.com
on twitter @garyvee
P.S. – my site could stand to take a lot of the advice in this book, and I’m working on it, but I’m not there yet!
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1 commentVintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll & Gerry Breshears
I’m honestly not even sure how to review this book. How do you a review a book this great? I have no complaints or disagreements; I have only praise. This is an amazingly good book. It’s entertaining to read because Driscoll is adept at mixing pop culture references throughout the text so that the words come alive with relevance. It’s deep because the theology presented in the book is thoroughly Biblical, beyond surface-level Christianity, and presented in a lively, understandable manner. And…the book will strengthen your faith and conviction in Jesus and His glorious salvation. Even elderly saints will benefit from the depth of solid theology that this book offers. This is one of the most encouraging and inspiring books I’ve read in a while. Everyone should read it.
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No commentsLike No Other
promotional poster
Like No Other Logo
Tee Shirt Design #1 (I did a version of this in dark grey that looked really good as well)
Tee Shirt Design #2
This is some design work I did for some a camp that some of my buddies are putting on. The job included the creation of a logo, t-shirt, and promotional poster. I was given a fair amount of freedom in the direction of the design and I decided to incorporate a Lion because of it’s messianic symbolism. Jesus is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, our Savior, and He is like no other.
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