September 2009 Book Reviews

I’m excited to be reviewing some new books published by David C Cook.  Just the other day, I received my copies of Battle Ready: Prepare to Be Used by God by Steve Farrar and Finding Organic Church by Frank Viola.  Here’s a quick synopsis and links to the books at Christian Book Distributors (bonus: if you buy one through the links, I get some cash to help pay for the website;).  Both books should be available by Sept. 4th or 5th.  Complete reviews will be posted soon.

Battle Ready -Joshua and Caleb By Steve Farrar / David C. Cook Are you prepared to fight the good fight? Farrar arms you with the weapons you need to be a powerful warrior of God! Exploring the lives of Joshua and Caleb, he shows how to meet challenges head-on, trust the Lord when all hope seems lost, and stand firm in the assurance of God’s provision. 256 pages, softcover from Cook.

Finding Organic Church: A Comprehensive Guide to Starting and Sustaining Authentic Christian Communities By Frank Viola / David C. Cook Frank Viola, author of Pagan Christianity and Reimagining Church, believes that planting the seeds of God’s kingdom in good soil is essential if congregations are to flourish. But how does one grow a vibrant Christian community? In Finding Organic Church, Viola draws upon his experience in nourishing home, organic, and missional churches, and gives you scripturally based insights, real-world tools, and practical suggestions to help your church thrive!

I was introduced to Steve Farrar’s writing when I was still in high school.  Our high school Bible teacher assigned all of the guys in the class to read Farrar’s book, Point Man: How a Man Can Lead His Family.  Point Man is an excellent book and I highly recommend it.  I still have a copy of it on my shelf and I’ve bought copies to give away in the past.  I just started reading Battle Ready a couple of days ago.  It has a feel very much like what I remember from Point Man.  So far, it is easy and engaging to read.  Look for the complete review in another week or so.  

Point Man, Revised & Expanded By Steve Farrar / Multnomah The bestselling classic Point Man encourages and equips Christian men to lead their families successfully through hazards and ambushes like divorce, promiscuity, suicide, and drug addiction. Men will find practical insight on topics such as a father’s influence, maintaining purity, and husband-and-wife teamwork. In this war, renowned men’s author Steve Farrar emphasizes that Jesus Christ is looking for men who will not die, but live for their families.

I first picked up a Frank Viola book when I was in seminary.  I was (and still am) interested in church leadership, authority, and worship.  I read two of his books while preparing a paper on church leadership.  I read, Rethinking the Wineskin: The Practice of the New Testament Church and Who’s Your Covering?: A Fresh Look at Leadership, Authority and Accountability.  I understand that both of these books are now out of print individually, but have been combined into a singular text - Reimagining Church

Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Community By Frank Viola / David C. Cook Should a house of worship be a home? Contending that many modern believers secretly wonder why there isn’t something more to “church,” Viola suggests a return to the early Christian model of organic house churches. Biblically grounded and intensely practical, this radical proposal calls for a more vibrant, integrated, and active community of faith. 208 pages, softcover from Cook.

I am very impressed with Viola’s writing.  He challenges many of our contemporary concepts of church and urges his readers to dig in the Scripture for guidance on how we should live this Christian life together.  Don’t read a Viola book if you don’t want to have questions about why your church is doing some of the things it is doing.  I have been wanting to pick up a copy of Viola’s Pagan Christianity - it looks like a very interesting read.  If I can get a chance to read it, I’ll definitely be posting a review.

As soon as I’m done reading Battle Ready, I’ll be posting my review of Viola’s Finding Organic Church.  I’ve thumbed through it and it looks like it’s going to be a great book.  Stay TunedTechnorati Tags: Book Reviews, Frank Viola, Steve Farrar, Battle Ready, Finding Organic Church, Point Man, Reimagining Church, Christian Book Distributors, David C Cook

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I’ve bought a couple of guns over the last few months, a 9 millimeter Kel-Tec Sub-2000 rifle and a 12 Gauge Mossberg 500 shotgun. 

I was browsing the local gun store when I came across the Kel-Tec.  I wasn’t planning on buying a gun that day.  I was looking at the AR-15s and trying to decide whether I really wanted to spend upwards of a thousand dollars on one to carry at work.  There was no way I can spend that kind of money on a rifle for work.  Maybe they’ll issue them to us one day.  The Kel-Tec kept catching my eye.  Here’s a stock photo of the Kel-Tec Sub-2000

It’s so small, I thought it was a little .22 caliber target rifle.  One of the salesman saw me eyeing the gun, mentioned how unique it is and took it down off the shelf.  Just as he started to hand it to me, he folded it in half.  I immediately thought about whether it would fit into a “bail out bag” that I just got to put in my patrol car.  I initially got my bail out bag to carry extra ammo, second gun, first aid kit and some miscellaneous stuff that I might need if I ever had to ditch my car quick.  They had the gun in on consignment and I learned through another customer that the stores were having a particularly hard time getting and keeping the Kel-Tecs in stock.  I gave the gun back to the salesman, but couldn’t get it out of my mind.  I went to the truck to leave, but just had to look up the gun’s reviews on my phone’s internet browser.  After reading some great reviews, I went back in and bought it.  I made some modifications to it right away.  I removed the foregrip and added quad rails that now hold a folding foregrip, light/laser, two magazine holders with 20 round magazines, a holographic sight, and a bungee single point sling.  The whole thing folds up nicely and still fits in my bail out bag.  Here are some pics of my modified Sub-2000.

I wish I could write about how it shoots, but I haven’t gotten a chance to test it out yet. 

A couple of months after buying the Sub2K, I bought the Mossberg 500 12 Gauge shotgun.  I have an almost identical Mossberg 500 that’s issued to me for work and I’ve really liked it as a defensive gun.  I wanted something simple and reliable to keep for home defense.  The Mossberg fits that bill nicely.  This particular model came with a full stock and a pistol grip.  Here’s a stock photo

I put the pistol grip on mine, but I’m not sure if I’ll keep it that way.  It’s easier to maneuver in a confined space, which is good if you ever need it in the home, but it’s harder to access the release for the pump.  Before I bought the Mossberg, I considered the Maverick 12 Ga, which is almost identical to the Mossberg but is around a hundred dollars cheaper.  I chose the Mossberg over the Maverick for the same reason I chose the Mossberg over a Remington - I like the safety release as a sliding switch on top of the gun rather than as a button on the trigger guard.  Here’s a picture of my Mossberg alongside the Kel-Tec Sub2K:

This gun thing may be getting kind of addicting.  I need to stay away from the gun store for awhile.  I’ll try to get some reviews posted as soon as I get a chance to spend some time at the range.

Technorati Tags: Kel-Tec, Sub-2000, Mossberg, Rifle, Shotgun

I joined the Association of Biblical Counselors.  I found their website while looking for resources for my dissertation.  Their site is designed well and had some great looking resources.  I decided to join after reading through their statement of faith and endorsements.  Their statement of faith was very well written and almost poetic in places.  It is an especially good format for a website.  I was also impressed by the endorsements, which included a few of my favorite pastors, teachers and biblical counselors.  Here are just a few:  John MacArthur, Jay Adams, David Powlison, Ed Welch, and Wayne Mack.  I’ve read more than a few books by these godly men and I’ve always been impressed with their work.  I was excited to see an endorsement from one of my favorite seminary professors, Dr. Sam Williams, from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.  Current Southeastern president Danny Aiken endorsed the group.  There was also an endorsement from former Southeastern president and current Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson.  I’m glad that SBC leadership, at least in the seminaries, is supporting biblical counseling groups like the Association of Biblical Counseling, the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors and the International Association of Biblical Counseling.  Speaking of NANC, they also have a great design on their new website. 

If you’re looking for information about biblical counseling, take a look at these organizations’ websites.  There is so much information there to absorb, I wish I
had another vacation coming so that I could spend some time really
digging into them.  Each of these is link worthy and going into my website’s link list and my personal bookmarks.

Technorati Tags: Association of Biblical Counselors, National Association of Nouthetic Counselors, International Association of Biblical Counseling, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary