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America’s Choice 30: A Review

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I recently received the “America’s Choice 30″ split-track CD, featuring 30 of the most popular praise/worship songs in America, for the purpose of reviewing on this blog. It’s a nice CD, with a good sound, although the split-track version, which is useful for sing-along purposes (small group setting? Excellent!) isn’t quite as easy to listen to as a normal, stereo CD, since the words all come out of one speaker and the music all out of the other. That, of course, is a function of the very nature of the beast, so we can’t hold it against the dear CD!

The music is fairly middle-of-the-road; no head-bangin’ here, but with that “safe” sort of semi-homogenized evangelical sing-along sound. That sounds too critical, and I don’t mean it to be; again, it does what it’s designed to do, which is not to offend either by edginess or blandness, but to assist in worship leading. Frankly, I can see myself using this CD in the future for just this purpose; in a small group setting, if no one has the talent to play a guitar or keyboard, this CD would be a certain asset.

There’s a link on the sidebar to the publisher of the CD, Coolsprings Records; I’d encourage you to check them out for this and other good stuff!

Out of a possible five UVa helmets, Iâ€™ll give this recording a three.

I received this CD free of charge from Stacy over at Active Christian Media, who does a great job of hooking up bloggers with good books and now, great music (and even a video or two!). You should check it out!

Credo: A Review

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Ray Pritchard, a graduate of my alma mater, has undertaken to work his way through the Apostles’ Creed in his new work, entitled Credo: Believing in Something to Die For. Ignoring the dangling preposition at the end of his subtitle (you know, a preposition is really a lousy word to end a sentence with! Some of you will get that eventually…), Pritchard has written a nice little book that very ably, if not deeply, calls evangelical Christians back to the roots of their beliefs. At the end of the book, Pritchard sums things up this way: “This is the irreducible minimum Christians have always believed. The Creed reminds us that Christianity has a doctrinal basis. Although we talk a lot about a personal relationship with Jesus, that’s more than a feeling or a personal experience. It’s a relationship based on the truth revealed in the Bible.”

That’s a message that too many have forgotten in our individualistic, truth-challenged age, and Ray Pritchard deftly handles each clause of the Creed, explaining its meaning and then challenging readers to come to grips, not only intellectually but practically as well, with its implications for our lives. He brings the Creed to life, patiently illustrating the pertinence of our beliefs about such things as the Virgin Birth, the Ascension, and God’s judgment of all people. He made me think about some things, and I think that this book will serve as a nice resource, again, not because of particularly deep thinking, but because of its practical importance.

This is the kind of book that I’d encourage young believers, particularly, to pick up and read, in order to acquaint themselves with historic Christian faith. No, the Creed doesn’t cover every doctrine that I personally find critical; inerrancy isn’t mentioned in the Creed, and thus Pritchard doesn’t touch on it. We might say that the Creed wouldn’t necessarily serve particularly well as a full summation of our critical beliefs today, but as far as it goes, it goes well—and the same can be said for Pritchard’s elucidation of it.

Out of a possible five UVa helmets, I’ll give Credo a solid four.

I received this book free of charge from Stacy over at Active Christian Media, who does a great job of hooking up bloggers with good books. You should check it out!

Christ-Based Leadership: A Book Review

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What great timing; I received Christ-Based Leadership while I was in the middle of reading John Maxwell’s The Twenty-One Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, and the contrast could hardly have been greater! Maxwell’s book, written from the perspective of a Christian pastor, is nonetheless barely a “Christian book” (well, if we speak in dichotomous terms—but let’s not get into that now, ‘kay?); it contains a good deal of “worldly wisdom”, much of which has value, but as it seems designed for a very broad audience, Maxwell holds the Scripture references to a minimum and emphasizes a more “secular” approach. David Stark, by contrast, attempts to integrate Scripture at all turns, and the result is a nice book that will not go on my “best of 2006″ list, but which takes its place as a reasonably good effort at “applying the Bible and today’s best leadership models to become an effective leader” (the byline). That said, you might find this criticism interesting: I think that the book is misnamed; I’d have christened it Bible-Based Leadership instead of Christ-Based Leadership, because I assumed, as I picked up the book, that it would focus almost exclusively on lessons from the life of Christ, whereas instead of relying almost solely on the gospels, Stark draws from a wide range of Scripture to make his points—and on some points, he stretches a tad to make them fit into the Scripture he provides. Still, I appreciate the effort; this book is designed primarily for pastors and ministry leaders, making it directly applicable to my own life and situation.

Stark borrows, as the byline suggests, fairly liberally from many different leadership sources (curiously enough, not from Maxwell at all!); having recently read Thom Rainer’s Breakout Churches, wherein Rainer basically uses Jim Collins’ Good to Great as the template for his book, I felt like I was in some kind of time warp when Stark did much the same. Some of what he finds from these authors is helpful, though; “all truth is God’s truth”, as they say, and Stark makes good use of them.

Stark’s style is to title each of his chapters in the form of a question: “who is the Lord of your leadership?”; “do you have a culture of excellence or a culture of winning?” (the correct answer is “culture of excellence”); “are you ready to create new wineskins?”; and so on. He gets off to a quick start by asking, “what is the truth of your ambition?” and adopts Collins’ differentiation between “Level 4″ and “Level 5″ leadership as a main point. I admit to a bit of confusion between the two, as one would think that a “Level 4″ leader, while maybe not at the top, would be a pretty good leader; Stark (and maybe Collins; haven’t read his book) pretty much paints the Level 4 guy as a clod; I found myself wondering what a “Level 1 or 2″ leader must be like—Attila the Hun on a bad hair day?

Chapter Two is the one I take most issue with; when Stark asks “who is the Lord of your leadership?”, his answer is to point his readers to the necessity of understanding God’s will and leading that readers of this blog would recognize as one with which this blogger would not agree. I won’t get sidetracked into that discussion except to say that it seems to me that with Stark, as with others who defend his point of view, the more he speaks, the less clear he becomes when it comes to specifics. That said, even this chapter has value.

Fear not; I don’t intend to do a chapter-by-chapter analysis here. Suffice it to say that I found this book readable, helpful, but a lot to take in all at one time, particularly for one such as myself who finds his eyes rolling back in his head when he gets too deeply into leadership theory; I just don’t find some of it to be all that scintillating stuff (sorry, Bill Hybels, we each have our gifts and interests, and if you want to read everything you can get your hands on about leadership, be my guest…). But I digress…

Summing up, I found myself toward the end thinking that there will come a time when I will want to refer back to this book to brush up on some of the principles I found therein, so from that standpoint, I think that the book was/will be helpful to me, and could be to most pastors, particularly those who want a pretty good, readable, Biblically-based approach to the subject of leadership.

My rating? Three UVa helmets (out of five)

I received this book free of charge from Mind and Media (thanks again, Stacy!) with the proviso that I write this review. It’s a good deal; you should sign up for it!

Book Review: Think Before You Look

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Dan Henderson, pastor of Grace Church in Eden Prairie, Wisconsin, has done men a great service with his new book Think Before You Look, which I received free of charge from Mind and Media (thanks again, Stacy!), for only the “price” of this review, and which is featured on the sidebar.

In this book, Henderson uses the approach of enumerating 40 reasons why men (and women, assumedly!) should “think before they look” at pornography. While perhaps an argument could be made that he conflates the number of reasons so that he can hit the magic number of 40, Henderson nonetheless deftly and biblically demonstrates reason after reason why we need to allow our minds (Biblically-renewed!) to rule over our impulses when it comes to what we allow our eyes to dwell on. Packaged in short, readable sections, the book would be ideal for devotional use, and to spark discussion among serious Christ-following men on how they can guard their hearts by guarding their eyes.

He articulates the effect that pornography has on a person’s relationship with God, his relationship with others both inside and outside of the body of Christ, and upon one’s spouse and children. He backs up most all of his 40 reasons with solid Scripture, and I found him to be a good writer, deftly illustrating his points with examples from everyday life. Further, Henderson really “talks turkey”, not mincing words nor dancing around issues related to the intake of porn. Finally, he finishes with 40 practical pointers on how to withstand the temptation of lust. If he stretched to make a point or two in the main body of his book, he stretched a bit further here, but nonetheless lists some great practical considerations for those serious about honoring God in this area. He lists several websites which can be of help to the Christ-follower in the battle for the eyes (and for the mind and heart!), including his own site, Strategic Renewal, from which one can access free Bible studies and a screensaver related to the subject.

Let’s face it: the internet has opened a whole new era of accessibility when it comes to the viewing of pornography; we receive unsolicited solicitations via email, and the pornographers are all-too-clever and willing to exploit every advantage they can in order to market their pernicious evil. Dan Henderson has presented us with a good argument—and with some good tools—to check their advances. I highly recommend Think Before You Look!

Four UVa helmets (out of five)

Paul Aldrich: One Funny Man

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“Are you ready to rock?” (”Yeaaaaaahhhhh!”)

“I said, ‘Are you ready to rock?’” (”Yeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!”)

“All right, go ahead!”

That’s how Paul Aldrich introduces Mock and Roll, his Christian comedy album, which I received free of charge from Mind and Media (thanks, Stacy!), for only the “price” of this review, and which is featured on the sidebar.

Aldrich is both a Christian comedian and a singer; in fact, he doesn’t do much that qualifies as “Christian music”, but rather he uses his music—mostly mimicking secular musicians’ songs—to get some good laughs. And they’re pretty good, truthfully; he masterfully weaves talk and instrumentals into seamless jokes; he sings some pretty good send-ups of such favorites as “Stairway to Heaven” (his version is “Stairway to 7-Eleven”); “Can’t Get No Satisfaction” (”Can’t Get No Liposuction”); and “House of the Rising Sun” (”There is a Mouse in Anaheim”). His “Dyslexic Love Song: Y-H-T-A-K” is a scream, as is his take on the “Politically-Correct Gilligan’s Island Theme Song”.

The album isn’t terribly spiritually uplifting; he makes a point or two about grace at the end, so if you’re looking for a cleverly-woven, deep-spiritual-truths kind of deal, you’ll be disappointed. But if a California-laced album of comedy is what you’re looking for, allow me to recommend Paul Aldrich. I laughed all the way through!

Four UVa helmets (out of five)

A Review of “Jesus”, by Leith Anderson

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Leith Anderson, a well-respected Minnesota pastor, has undertaken to write a readable profile of the life of Christ, entitled Jesus: An Intimate Portrait of the Man, His Land, and His People. This particular book interested me in that I have been preaching for a couple of years now chronologically through the life of Christ, and so it seemed that plumbing insights from this evangelical leader might prove helpful in my sermon research.

Unfortunately, such has not been the case. That fact, however, may well say more about me than it does about the book—but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Jesus is readable and thorough in its treatment of Christ’s life, to be sure. Anderson writes in an agreeable, easy style; this is no weighty tome, to be sure. In fact, this is the first negative assessment that I made of the book: it borders on the “lightweight”, and it’s lack of compelling, new insights into Christ’s person and work made this, for me, a very difficult read.

That said, I am very willing to countenance the likelihood that it was not me for whom Anderson wrote. This book, in the hands of the new/young believer, the person relatively unacquainted with the basic story-line of the life of Christ, could be a valuable asset. Anderson presents, in straightforward manner and with numerous bullet-pointed explanation points, the life of Jesus from pre-birth to ascension. I found myself thinking of people in my church whom this book could benefit, and there is no shortage of names on that list. In fact, though there is no study guide available in this printing, using the book as a small-group study of the life of Christ, particularly led by one armed with the ability to make good application (almost totally lacking in the book itself), could have real value.

It wouldn’t be fair to say that Anderson begins and ends chapters arbitrarily, but there is no title to any of his chapters, and thus no index which might be helpful in using this book as reference material, unless one had another working timeline of the life of Christ (and I grant that it’s not always possible to construct such with ironclad accuracy, and that good evangelical scholars might arrange their chronologies differently).

Still, it was not for me anything resembing a “page-turner”. I read to be challenged, to discover new insights, to see the world from a frame of reference other than my own. For this reason, I am the kind of person who is more likely to read a
liberal editorial than a conservative one in USA Today. On this count, Anderson’s book was a disappointment, as it did not hold my interest, frankly.

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Anderson’s account is faithful to Scripture; it could profit those without a good working knowledge of the life of Christ. For me, though, that’s not enough to give it more than 2-and-a-half UVa helmets (out of five).

I did not receive any compensation for this review other than a copy of the book provided by Mind & Media through a generous gift by Bethany House Publishers.

Mind & Media Review: “Veil of Deception”

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Review of “Veil of Deception: The Impact of Same Sex Marriage on American Youth”
Running Time: 30:16
DVD Produced by MissionAmerica

As hot topics go in American society, there are few hotter today that the subject of so-called “gay marriage”. From the perspective of homosexual advocates, the issue would seem to be a simple one of “equal rights”, with the idea being that homosexuals are being denied rights available to “straights”, in that only the state of Massachusetts, for the time being, recognizes the union of two same-sex individuals to legally unite in marriage, and there, debate rages hot and heavy as voters will soon go to the polls in back-to-back year referendums in order to, potentially, amend the state constitution to deny this “right” to homosexual couples. Conservative Christians and others reply that true “equal rights” already exist; homosexuals, we say, have the same right to marry as anyone else, and what is being sought by the gay lobby amounts to “special rights”, the right to redefine marriage according to the desires of homosexuals.

Into this fray comes this DVD offering from MissionAmerica, entitled Veil of Deception: The Impact of Same Sex Marriage on American Youth. Veil of Deception is a half-hour documentary which uses footage of demonstrations (both pro- and anti-gay-marriage), speeches (opposing), and interviews to paint a picture of the rapid advance of the gay agenda in seeking to change forever America’s perceptions about homosexuality. Of particular interest in this piece, as the subtitle would indicate, is the effort being made to inculcate new mores in the lives of impressionable children, from elementary school upward.

The video begins with pictures of wedding cake and a man tying his shoes, with the voice-over of a “preacher” announcing, “dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of God to unite this man and this man in holy matrimony”, arresting our attention immediately with the bold reality of the homosexual vision for marriage of the future; this is followed by the words of Matthew 19:4-6—the only Scripture so quoted in the film. From this point on, the film is a collage of often-grainy videos and webpage stills, with several interviews interspersed, held together by the voice-over of the narrator. The audio editing leaves a lot to be desired; it seems that even in those instances where a direct interview takes place, the quality is quite uneven; have your volume control at the ready if you choose to see this DVD!

The film seems to do a better job of documenting what is taking place all across the country than it does analyzing its impact upon our young people, and given the subtitle which promises such, this is a decided weakness of the film. We are left having been “brought up to speed” on what’s taking place—a valuable service to those not inclined to keep up with the news—but there could have been more detail on how same-sex marriage will likely impact our children; this seems almost completely lacking, save for a brief interview at the end with author Linda Harvey (no relation to pundit, but great name…), who speaks of the confusion a six-year-old girl might feel growing up in a society which has embraced “gay marriage”. Harvey envisions this young lady thinking, “I might marry a guy, or I might marry a girl”—and needless to say, that’s a pretty creepy thought.

This film is appropriate for senior high students through adults; despite the subject matter, there are only a couple of references which refer to homosexual acts; these, though, make the fare a bit heavy for junior-highers. The film doesn’t seem to be geared to youth anyway so much as it is geared to parents, to sound a wake-up call. At the end, parents are given a rapid-fire list of “things to do”; these are of the very general variety, as well as a listing of websites for more information; have the “pause” ready on your remote if you seriously want to look at the websites, for the scroll is pretty fast.

Overall, Veil of Deception is a reasonably good effort, and will be helpful for those parents who have not kept up with—or considered the seriousness of—our societal movement to normalize “gay marriage”.

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UVa Helmet Rating: 3 helmets (out of 5)

Special Word of Thanks!
Stacy Harp over at Mind and Media is doing a great thing here tip of cap , matching up blogger/reviewers with publishers that donate all the books and DVD’s and ??? for free; I didn’t pay a dime for this nice DVD! Thanks, Stace and, in this case, MissionAmerica! I call these kinds of situations “win-win” (I don’t think that phrase is original with me, so go ahead and feel free to use it yourself…).