[Book Review] The Bone House by Stephen R. Lawhead

This book was provided free for review by Thomas Nelson's Booksneeze program.

Anyone who gets to know me eventually learns that I am a huge fan of Stephen R. Lawhead. In my opinion, he is perhaps the greatest living science fiction/fantasy writer today. His attention to detail when describing either historical settings or even mythical settings is on par with J. R. R. Tolkien. So, of course, when I saw that his latest book, The Bone House (Bright Empires)
, was being offered for review, I took it. This is the second of five books to be written in The Bright Empires series. The first was The Skin Map, released in September 2010. The premise is that there are these "ley lines" running through the earth, where one might be able to stand at a certain time of day in a certain way or certain location and enter a different dimension or time. This similar to how Lawhead's characters in The Song of Albion trilogy entered the other world, with an exception or two.

In The Skin Map, we meet Kit, Cosimo, Sir Henry, Mena, and Lord Burleigh as they seek out this map tattooed on someone's skin which details the locations of the ley lines. A couple of the characters come to an end and that's where The Bone House (Bright Empires)
 picks up as we follow Kit and Mena around the world through various locations and time periods as they seek the second piece of the skin map. One criticism of The Skin Map was that there wasn't enough character information, as is typical in Lawhead's books. He seeks to rectify that in this book, by providing a good bit more of back story to the different characters. Maybe still not enough, but you do get to see a little bit more of how the characters got to where they are.

For many years, Lawhead has been focusing on historical fiction with books such as Byzantium and The Raven King trilogy. In The Bright Empires series, he draws from all of his previous writings to craft an imaginative tale somewhat similar to The Song of Albion, but unlike his others. Lawhead knows how to draw on your emotions to make you even see through the eyes of the bad guys to feel what even they are experiencing. He knows how to keep you reading and wanting for more in the series. One has to wait for The Well of Souls, the next book in the series, for another year, but The Bone House has been well worth the wait, so I'm sure the next will be as well. If you have not read Lawhead before, I encourage you to do so. This book has been described as an interdimensional time-traveling treasure hunt, and that it is. Think, H. G. Wells meets C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien and Stephen Spielberg and George Lucas and comes up with Indiana Jones. I now have Lawhead's son's (Ross Lawhead) book, The Realms Thereunder, to read. Someone is taking after his father quite well.

Related articles

• Book Review: The Bone House (debrakb.blogspot.com)


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150 Google+ Invites to Give Out

You know you want one, if you don't have one yet. So, what are waiting for?

The first 150 comments telling me the name of the latest book they've read and a two to three sentence summary, get an invite.

Ready?

Go!

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A 9/11 Call to Prayer

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The Zwemer Center for Muslim Studies has produced a video for churches to download starting 9/1/11 for churches to use in their worship services on 9/11/11, the 10th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. View the trailer below.



Visit the site on 9/1/11 to download.

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No Literal Adam & Eve?

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Dr. Albert Mohler writes on the new wave of disregarding the Biblical creation story of Adam & Eve:

At this point we are looking at a repudiation of the Bible’s account of beginnings. We are not talking about an argument over the interpretation of a few verses or even chapters of the Bible. We are now dealing with the straightforward rejection, not only of the existence of Adam and Eve, but of both Eden and the Fall. Look carefully at Professor Schneider’s words — “there never was any such paradise to be lost.”

Though shocking, this line of argument is not really new. The new development is the fact that growing numbers of Evangelicals are apparently buying the argument.

...

Ever since the challenge of Darwin and evolutionary theory appeared, some Christians have tried to argue that the opening chapters of the Bible should not be taken “literally.” While no honest reader of the Bible would deny the literary character of Genesis 1-3, the fact remains that significant truth claims are being presented in these chapters. Furthermore, it is clear that the historical character of these chapters is crucial to understanding the Bible’s central message — the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul, for example, clearly understood Adam to be a fully historical human who was also the genetic father of the entire human race. The fall of the human race in Adam sets the stage for the salvation of sinful humanity by Jesus Christ. But now, Professor Schneider is telling us that “in the moral experience of human beings, there never was any such paradise to be lost.”

...

The implications for biblical authority are clear, as is the fact that, if these arguments hold sway, we will have to come up with an entirely new understanding of the Gospel meta-narrative and the Bible’s storyline.

The denial of an historical Adam and Eve as the first parents of all humanity and the solitary first human pair severs the link between Adam and Christ which is so crucial to the Gospel.

If we do not know how the story of the Gospel begins, then we do not know what that story means. Make no mistake: A false start to the story produces a false grasp of the Gospel.

Read the whole thing.

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What is the Gospel?

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The other day I posted on 7 phrases the Gospel is not. Today, I would like to focus on what exactly is the Gospel. You've heard the saying, "we must preach the Gospel to ourselves." Perhaps, you've heard about living out the Gospel, sharing the Gospel with others, or living the Gospel-centered life. What does all of that mean and what is the Gospel that we should be preaching, living, and sharing? Merriam-Webster defines Gospel as the following:

1 a often capitalized : the message concerning Christ, the kingdom of God, and salvation b capitalized : one of the first four New Testament books telling of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; also : a similar apocryphal book c : an interpretation of the Christian message <the socialgospel>

2 capitalized : a lection from one of the New Testament Gospels

3 : the message or teachings of a religious teacher

4 : something accepted or promoted as infallible truth or as a guiding principle or doctrine <took her words as gospel><spreading the gospel of conservation — R. M. Hodesh>

5 : gospel music

Literally taken from the Bible, the word translated "Gospel" means "good news." Here's the full Greek definition:

G2098:

εὐαγγέλιον(euaggelion)

nominative,singular, neuter

1. a reward for good tidings


2. good tidings
   
   
   
   1. the glad tidings of the kingdom of God soon to be set up, and subsequently also of Jesus the Messiah, the founder of this kingdom. After the death of Christ, the term comprises also the preaching of (concerning) Jesus Christ as having suffered death on the cross to procure eternal salvation for the men in the kingdom of God, but as restored to life and exalted to the right hand of God in heaven, thence to return in majesty to consummate the kingdom of God
   
   
   2. the glad tidings of salvation through Christ
   
   
   3. the proclamation of the grace of God manifest and pledged in Christ
   
   
   4. the gospel
   
   
   5. as the messianic rank of Jesus was proved by his words, his deeds, and his death, the narrative of the sayings, deeds, and death of Jesus Christ came to be called the gospel or glad tidings
   
   
   
   

gospel, gospel of Christ, gospel of God, gospel of the Kingdom, misc

This is the same word that we get our words, evangelist and evangelism, from. The problem I see is that we have distorted the message. The Gospel is a message. We speak of the Gospel so much, but we rarely define what the Gospel is. We attempt to apologize the Scriptures to people, to attempt them to see that the Scriptures are true and calling that, sharing the Gospel.  We attempt to prove the Trinity to people, using egg or water illustrations, and we call that the Gospel.  We declare that Jesus is coming back and we call that the Gospel. We tell them that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their life and call that the Gospel. However, we've missed the Gospel.

Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom often (Matt. 4:23, 9:35, 24:14). He told His disciples to preach the Gospel often. They were to preach it in all the world, making disciples, teaching all that Jesus had commanded, and baptizing (Matt. 28:18-20). What is the Gospel that they preached? One word: Jesus. Jesus is the Gospel. The Gospel is not the Romans Road, the Four Spiritual Laws, or whatever other "evangelism" method you choose to come up with. Now, the Romans Road, is pure scripture and contains truth about the Gospel, but as I continue to think about this, I think we often start at the wrong place. All people are sinners, yes, but in today's culture, that's a little hard to pull off telling someone. That might be the place that God is putting someone, but overall, it might not be the best place to start with most people.

Let me explain where I think we should start. The apostle Paul said it best:

[2:1] And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
[2] For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
[3] And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,
[4] and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
[5] so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

(1 Corinthians 2:1; 1 Corinthians 2:2-5 ESV)

We don't see Paul arriving in a private jet, limo, or some other fancy means. We don't see him sitting on a stage on a gold throne next to a woman doled out in enough paint to cover a house three times over. He doesn't tout his seminary and doctoral degrees as proof that he knows what he's talking about. What is the message or Gospel that Paul is preaching? It's found in verse 2: Jesus Christ and him crucified. That is the Gospel. That is what we are to preach, both to ourselves and to the world.  Is that too simplistic? Sure sounds like it, but it worked for Paul. It worked for Jesus as well. All through the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we find Jesus consistently preaching Himself and the fact that He was going to be crucified and raised to life. It's the very same message. God wants us to know Jesus Christ. He wants us to know him as Yahweh, the name above all names, our Savior and our Lord. That is the Gospel. That is the message we need to preach. John Piper said it best when he called his book, God is the Gospel, because that is the truth. God, Jesus Christ, is the good news to all mankind. Let us stop all this non-Biblical apologetics and give people Jesus instead. Their hearts will be changed to believe the rest once Jesus has changed their hearts to believe in Him.

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7 Phrases the Gospel is Not

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I am constantly hearing people talk about sharing the Gospel or what the Gospel is or isn't. Here's my take on what the Gospel isn't. The Gospel is not:

1. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.


2. God is not willing that any should perish. (hint: this verse is not describing unbelievers)


3. You must repent in order to believe.


4. Believe and be born again.


5. All sins are atoned for on the cross.


6. All have been reconciled.


7. Jesus as Lord is optional in the life of a believer.

These are a few things that I believe the Gospel is not. I have another one in mind that I did not post simply because I'm still exploring it's implications. What do you think? Agree or disagree? Do you have something to add to the list? I hope to have a followup post to explain what I believe the Gospel really is.

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[Book Review] Desiring God by John Piper

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This is an old book, but this is a review of the 25th Anniversary version as provided by Multnomah Books free for review.

Desiring God is John Piper's seminal work on Christian Hedonism. Six years ago, I only had read one book by John Piper and it was rather unwillingly. That book, now one of my favorites, was Let the Nations be Glad. Since then, I have read Future Grace, When I Don't Desire God, and Brothers, We Are Not Professionals. I have come to love Piper's writing. All of these books stem from Desiring God. It is the root of nearly everything that Piper has written since, other than the Bible.

The word hedonism has a bad connotation. Piper has taken the word, added Christian to it, and made it a positive thing. His whole point is centered around glorifying God. God's purpose is to glorify himself through His creation. Even if He did not create us or all that is around us, He would be glorified and enjoy Himself. This is not egotistical, as assumed, but is glorifying. Piper lays out his case in this book. This 25th anniversary edition also features a new preface, and a list of study questions at the end of the book for either personal study or small group study. If you want to get to the root of Piper's thinking and understand Christian Hedonism, this is the book to do it.

If you like this review, rank it at Blogging For Books.

http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/bloggingforbooks/reviews/ranking/11568

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