Chandler First Church of the Nazarene
a Christian family sharing the love of Jesus
Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife, by Even Alexander, M.D.
I think that most of us are curious about that one thing that none of us can know until we die, and that is what comes after? I am a skeptical reader –I do not believe everything I read just because it is in print, but I am also a curious reader, so I picked up this book at a local bookstore to check it out, and checked it out at the register.
Disarming Scripture: Cherry-Picking Liberals, Violence-Loving Conservatives, and why we all need to learn to read the Bible like Jesus did, by Derek Flood
A friend gave me this book, thinking that I might be interested in it, and when that happens, I always at least take a look. First I looked at the back of the cover for some info on the author, and seeing that he holds a Master’s degree in systematic theology, I took the plunge.
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible A. J. Jacobs
The author begins his book with a description of his religious affiliation, “I grew up in an extremely secular home in New York City. I am officially Jewish, but I’m Jewish in the same way the Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant.” As an editor at Esquire magazine and author of the New York Times bestseller The Know-It-All, Jacobs is an engaging, humorous writer, and I enjoyed his wry, self-deprecating honesty. He began his religious quest after telling a friend at a coffee house about his infamous Uncle Gil, the “spiritual omnivore.” Jacobs realized he didn’t know very much about his own heritage, much less anyone else’s, so he decided to try to live the Bible as literally as possible, and being a writer, to make it a project. [Read more…]
A few weeks back I had a routine Doctor appointment. I mentioned in passing a slight discomfort in my lower right abdomen. The doc pressed into said sore spot and feared the worst; appendicitis (read in same tone as the old gingivitis commercials for added affect). I went to the hospital and after many more nurses, doctors and even my own mother made it a point to poke the area of pain, it was confirmed that I did indeed have appendicitis. Pro tip to any of you that may one day in the future have appendicitis: I recommend you make a shirt or a sign that states , “Yes it hurts when you do that, so don’t!” if it prevents one unneeded prod, it’s done its job.
An appendectomy followed, and I found myself with ample free time during the healing. I decided with this free time to tackle a book that I have long hoped to read but have been intimidated by, Dietrich Bonhoeffer a Biography. Now it wasn’t the subject of said book that had me intimidated but rather the length of the book. Coming in just under 1,000 pages, it is a mammoth work,, but with ample healing time on my hands I decided now was as good a time as any. [Read more…]
Let it be know up front, if you have come to this blog hoping to discover what the “W” in W. Travis McMaken’s name is, you have come to the wrong place. For whereas this book, The Sign of the Gospel: Toward an Evangelical Doctrine of Infant Baptism after Karl Barth, proved to be informative and challenging in many ways, it left the reader to wonder “what about that W?!”. I can only imagine I have lost half of my readers at this point, the mystery remains, but for those of you left I would like to write a quick review of this book; which, spoiler alert- was very good. [Read more…]