GuineaField

The Pleasantness of a Religious Life Matthew Henry   This was a wonderful little book that the Lord used in my life recently.   Its theme has been repeated for generations… all the way back to the first followers of Jesus: “So Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’   Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life’” (John 6:67-68). It goes back to Moses: “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,   choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:24-25). And it was first experience by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. It has been promoted through the ages by those who have experienced the joy of God.   I’ll summarize the theme in my own words.   A life pursuing the enjoyments of God is a life of satisfaction and fulfillment far beyond a life ...

Future Israel - Why Christian Anti-Judaism Must be Challenged By Barry E. Horner Readability 4 Spiritual challenge 6 Doctrinal Agreeability 9 This topic (and book) was brought to me by an unbelieving Jewish man who started studying the New Testament (NT) because he has observed anti-Semitism historically in Christianity and wanted to see for himself if the source was the NT, or an improper interpretation of the New Testament. So, up front, I want to challenge my friend that Jesus and the majority of the NT writers are Jewish, and their writings are not anti-Semitic.   And Horner does  great job showing that through appealing to OT and NT sources.  Another reason this topic is of considerable interest to me is the number of my friends that are becoming more Reformed in areas beyond Soteriology to a Reformed Eschatology and Ecclesiology.      In Future Israel Horner traces a correlation between anti-Semitism in history and a Reformed E...

 Crazy Love (Francis Chan) Readability 10 Spiritual challenge 9 Doctrinal Agreeability 8 When I come across a contemporary Christian book that "makes it" in sales, I usually don't set my expectations too high. But this one met and surpassed expectations.   Several chapters are worth the price of the book on their own.   Chan challenges us repeatedly to be Christ-like.   Sad to say, that is radical in today's pop-Christian culture. Brief Summary: I especially enjoyed chapters 8-9.   After the first chapter, there is not much of a sequence/development of thought from one chapter to the next, so you can jump in just about anywhere and feel the biting conviction of living the life of Christ in this age.   Also, I did not take the time to view the videos encouraged at each stop.   Sorry, that is a great idea, but I don't always have Internet access when reading. Here is a brief summary of each: 1-Stop Praying Chan encourages us to wor...

Click to buy from Amazon Whitefield has taken over Spurgeon as my favorite historical figure to read. "He who walks with wise men will be wise" (Proverbs 13:20). We all would be wiser if we walked with Whitefield for at least one biography. I read Dallimore's one volume summary of Whitefield's life and had to read the two volume account. I just finished the first volume and am now going through the second volume. Dallimore does a wonderful job painting Whitfield's life as well as the times and figures surrounding the great awakening. In first volume, in addition to telling the story of Whitefield, Dallimore gives short bio sketches of the Wesleys, Howell Harris, John Cennick, and many others in shorter sketches. He also details the rise of the Wesleys on the achievements/ministry of Whitefield and the disagreements between them (which is a fascinating side story). I'll give an extremely brief summary of the first volume and then highlight a couple character tr...

By Eric Metaxas ( For Amazon click Link ) Bonhoeffer is definitely a challenging life to read and I enjoyed Metaxas' writing style and presentation. Below I’ll give a brief overview (very brief), two cautions, and then several positive lessons I learned from Bonhoeffer or the book in general. Overview: Metaxas does a great job of painting the life and times of WWII in Germany. He describes how quickly Hitler came to prominence and how the German nation was so easily deceived – they were grasping at any leadership and got the worst. In contrast, It was a beam of light to have Bonhoeffer and some of his comrades see clearly from the very beginning the ugly atrocity that would become the Third Reich. The story is fascinating. A German boy raised with an excellent education – from one of the prominent families in German culture chooses to study theology instead of some more prestigious field like his brother and father. And yet, in his late 20’s and early 30’s the Lord uses this young...

Book Overviews A. Lincoln This was my first book on Lincoln; I knew very little of him previously. It was good to make his acquaintance. I am also glad I had Ronald White introduce me to him (although I didn ’t like his writing style nearly as much as someone like McCullough). White is something of a Presbyterian minister somewhere in his past and although I have no idea if he has the new birth he does try to share more about Lincoln’s beliefs than others might. He also gives a bit of info on Lincoln’s pastor (while in IL), Gurley which is interesting . . . revealing things like Gurley studied under Charles Hodge at Princeton. He had influence on Lincoln. I am not going to attempt a painful survey the whole book but just give a few thoughts on what I liked, disliked or thought interesting about Lincoln: 1. Liked – His down to earth demeanor and humble leadership. Lincoln was not a bull-in-the-china-shop or a knock-you-dead-if-you-stand-in-my-way kind of leader (which is interesting s...