Sometimes the best presents are given, not received.

February 4, 2008 · Posted in Movies, Reviews · 1 Comment 

We took the girls out Sunday night to see the Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of both worlds show. It’s filmed in Disney digital 3D. It was a lot of fun for the girls and I enjoyed it myself. Of course I am such a music junkie that it was inevitable that I would. The 3D made it more lifelike and the backstage and behind the scenes shots were really cool.

I must say that Miley is really talented and I envy her energy level. She has a promising career ahead of her. I just hope she doesn’t fall into the same trap that a lot of successful musicians fall into. I think Billy Ray will see to that though.

I am soooo tired now. I have had a full day, the longest birthday day for me ever. I am outta here, see ya on the flip!

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(Book Review) The Gospel and Personal Evangelism.

September 25, 2007 · Posted in Books, Reviews · 1 Comment 

I have a lot of books on evangelism, a lot! Why you may ask, because I can. The book The Gospel and Personal Evangelism falls into the easy to read easy to understand category. Some books tend to take it too far, so the layman can’t really understand what they are talking about. Mark Dever, has kept it simple without taking any shortcuts. Just the facts, that seems to be what his idea was when writing this book and if it was he succeeded.

Mr Dever covers all the bases with this book from who should evangelize(everyone) to why. What stuck with me the most you ask? Alright you didn’t ask but I will tell you anyway. My favorite quote from this book would be

“We don’t fail in our evangelism if we faithfully tell the gospel to someone who is not converted; we fail only if we don’t faithfully tell the gospel at all.”

He also has a chapter called “Why don’t we evangelize” Which effectively destroys most of the reasons we tend to have to not share the gospel. Jesus made it simple for us too, in Matthew 28:18-20 He gave us the Great Commission. When you think about it it really isn’t that much to ask. He could have told us we had to jump through flaming hoops while dowsed in gasoline or cover ourselves in honey and lie on a fire ant hill, but He didn’t. He asked us to go and make disciples of all nations. And as usual I have gotten sidetracked. This is about Mark Dever’s book and not my personal opinions on what we should all be doing.

Getting back on track. The Gospel and Personal Evangelism is a good read and very concise, he doesn’t go off track like I tend to do. This would be a useful read for all Christians and their pastors too.

I am giving this book five stars. If I could afford to I would get a copy for everyone in my church. I may approach the pastor with this idea and see if he could meet me halfway.
Rating: ★★★★★

The book, The Gospel and Personal Evangelism, was provided to me at no cost by Active Christian Media and Crossway Books for review purposes. To become a reviewer for ACM you may click here.

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(Book Review) Can We Trust the Gospels by Mark D. Roberts

July 4, 2007 · Posted in Books, Reviews · Comment 

Let me say first off that I have always felt that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were trustworthy. That said, I feel that this book has really reinforced what I already felt to be true. Mark D. Roberts has taken portions of the theology behind the New Testament and made it accessible to those who don’t have a degree in theology.

When I first got Can We Trust the Gospels I was afraid that it would be a difficult read as my last experience with a similar book ended with me surrendering halfway through. Mr. Roberts has succeeded where that book failed. I was able to read through it and understand what he was talking about without having to get out my Bible dictionary.

In the book he explains how scholars have determined which documents were genuine and accurate by a system called textual criticism. He also covers when the Gospels were written, what sources did the writers use and even if the writers knew Jesus personally.

He covers quite a bit of ground in this book. From “does archeology support the Gospels” to “do sources from the era of the Gospels support their reliability”. The amount of ground he covers really surprised me since the book is only 195 pages, not including the index.

Since my writing style cannot begin to do justice to what Mr. Roberts has accomplished in Can We Trust the Gospels, I am going to have to take the easy way out and recommend that you get a copy. Even if you already know all that you need to have faith you can still use this book to help a non-Christian friend or relative to understand and maybe even come to have faith in Jesus Christ and the Gospels that tell us of His ministry.

I am giving this book five stars and a high recommendation to anyone who may be curious about the historicity of the Gospels.
Rating: ★★★★★

The book, Can We Trust the Gospels, was provided to me at no cost by Active Christian Media and Crossway Books for review purposes. To become a reviewer for ACM you may click here.

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Be Not deceived (Review)

May 4, 2007 · Posted in Books, Reviews · Comments Off 

Tired of watered down Christianity? Not sure if your church is teaching you the Gospel the way it was intended?

Many new churches these days teach a watered down gospel. Telling you if you say the sinners prayer and get baptized that you can basically live your life whatever way you want and you are still saved. Be Not Deceived points out many of the fallacies of the modern church and shows you the way to true salvation. Once saved always saved is just not true but many believe this and don’t even know that they are being deceived and on the wrong path.

There is no such thing as cheap grace. You cannot live your life the way you want but must instead live it the way God wants you to. The Bible makes it very clear how to live our lives but some new churches ignore these facts and try to make the Gospel fit in to todays lifestyles. Unfortunately they are sending many unwitting “Christians” straight into the fiery pits of hell.

Be Not Deceived gives many Biblical references to show you that while you might think you are saved, you may very well have been lied to. The author even throws in a scriptural guide full of references to help you see how you should be dealing with things like anger, friends, gossip, and many other topics. I was in complete agreement with the first five chapters of this book.

That being said, he lost me on the sixth and final chapter by saying that you are only saved if you lead a perfect and sinless life after salvation. I have been on this subject before and stand by my belief that there has been only one who was able to be perfect and remain sinless on this planet and that was Jesus. It is impossible to be sinless and to believe otherwise is a slap in the face of Jesus. I can quote the old standby of John 8:7 Let he who is without sin cast the first stone at her. But that is but one reference in the Bible of our inability to remain sinless.

How about Ecclesiastes 7:20 For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin. Another good one is John 8:34 Jesus answered them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Everyone practicing sin is a slave of sin. As far as the quote from John, I think the keyword is practicing. When they tell us to turn away from sin they want us to not do it on purpose. Jesus also knows that we are human and will sin but the righteous man will do it because we are born sinners and we shall die sinners, just forgiven sinners if we have been born again. The key is that we realize that we are sinners and ask for forgiveness. No I don’t mean you can do it on purpose. Knowing you are sinning and continuing to do it purposely is another thing all together.

We must strive everyday of our lives to walk this world as Christ wishes us too and when we stumble we must repent and ask for forgiveness. We are human, we are fallible. When we finally realize this we can truly start our walk with Christ.

I am going to give this book a 3 out of 5. It really is quite good except that little bone of contention I have with the last chapter.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

The book, Be Not Deceived, was provided to me at no cost by Active Christian Media for review purposes. To become a reviewer for ACM you may click here.

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What a bummer!

April 10, 2007 · Posted in Reviews · 5 Comments 

It looks like I am reviewing my last book for Active Christian Media as they have decided to go to something called iGroops. It looks to be somewhat like Google groups with the added bonus that you have to pay a yearly fee. Unfortunately it is just not in my budget at this time to pay out for this. I am trying to stick to my budget and I didn’t budget for this.

I have really enjoyed my time with ACM, it’s been a lot of fun and I have had the opportunity to read some great Christian authors that I might have never heard about otherwise! I really believe in what Stacy is doing and wish her the best of luck with this venture I will always keep her and the entire group in my prayers as what we were doing isn’t always popular in todays society!

Maybe some where down the road I will be able to rejoin the group but at this time it just isn’t feasible.

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(Movie Review) Hidden Secrets

March 27, 2007 · Posted in Movies, Reviews · 3 Comments 

This is my first attempt at reviewing a movie so bare with me here:

From the box:
What if your deepest secrets were suddenly exposed? Nine friends discover just how explosive it can be when their past becomes their present.

This movie took me by surprise. Honestly I haven’t had much luck with Christian films. Aside from facing the giants, they have usually been a letdown. Hidden Secrets though, has done an excellent job of mixing biblical principals with genuine entertainment.

A few of the stars you might recognize are: John Schneider(Dukes of Hazzard), Reginald Vel Johnson(Family Matters), and Tracy Melchior(Bold and Beautiful) among others. The cast is great, I was especially impressed with John and Tracy who made their characters come alive. As an added bonus, the movie features music by Rachael Lampa and Building 429. Building 429 makes a cameo in the movie as themselves and they rocked!

I was having a hard time figuring out what the movie reminded me of then I read a few other reviews and realized that it was reminding me of The Big Chill, only I was able to sit through this.

There are some really touching moments and some very funny ones. Movies that make me laugh out loud will almost always score big with me. Hidden Secrets gets a 4 out of 5 stars. They could have had that fifth star but there were a few times where it felt it got a little preachy, still not as bad as most though!

Rating: ★★★★☆

The movie is due for theatrical release on April 30th and available on DVD in August of 2007. For more information about the movie you can visit their website at http://www.hiddensecrets-themovie.com

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