In Cast of Characters: Common People in the Hands of an Uncommon God, Max Lucado presents twenty-two stories of amazing faith from scripture.  Lucado’s ability to take stories from scripture and make them come alive in today’s context is the main appeal of the book.  The stories of David, Lazarus, Paul, and many other beloved Bible figures are presented with a focus on the power of God using ordinary people.  The people who many Christians have looked upon as saints and perfect people who have been used by God are brought back down into the context of the ordinary through Lucado’s book.  The people that Bible readers admire should not be admired because of the things that they have done, but rather they should be seen as ordinary people who were empowered and used mightily by God.  Lucado is intentional to remind his readers that God is the hero of the story, but He is a gracious hero in that He decides to use ordinary people in His plan.  In his typical style, Lucado places profound theological insights in a narrative which is easily accessible to his readers.  This is an inspiring book that encourages readers to allow God to work greatly through them despite being ordinary people.

David Aikman’s book Billy Graham: His Life and Influence was a very interesting biography of the famous evangelist.  Aikman has an interesting writing style that comes from his experience working as a reporter for Time magazine.  The book focuses strongly on Billy Graham’s development with regards to the issues of race, communism, and theology itself.  Aikman continually focuses on what he perceives as Billy’s journey from fundamentalism to a more open an ecumenical version of Christian.  Aikman summarizes  the Christian message as dealing with both issues of truth, which he summarizes as judgment, and issues of love.  He describes Graham as changing from focusing on a message of truth and judgment to a message of love.  Aikman argues that Graham’s likability was one of the reasons for his success with regard to his influence on influential leaders including many American presidents.  Aikman argues that Graham saw himself as a pastor rather than a prophet. He wanted to support, encourage, and guide people and politicians rather than critique them and their decisions.  Aikman’s book places a large focus on Graham’s involvement in the lives of influential political figures of his time.  Aikman presents Graham as America’s pastor and the person who serves as a spiritual guide for many Americans during difficult times.  This is a very interesting and engaging biography of a man who has not merely shaped Christianity in America but also the influencers who have shaped America itself.

The Jesus Manifesto by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola stands as a call to the church to restore the person of Christ to the center of our churches, lives, and ministries.  I cannot think of a more timely topic to be addressed in the American church.  Sweet and Viola do an excellent job of addressing the need for a refocus on the person of Christ in the church and the beauty of Christ, which is clearly seen in scripture.  The final chapter of the book clearly explains the authors’ views on the topic and the goal of the book by stating:

“But if the truth be told, we have been handed a shrink-wrapped Jesus.  Christ has become our once-a-week Mascot.  We rally around Him on Sunday mornings, selfishly reaching for all we can get from Him – goodies and gifts, all for us.  Then we push Him off to the sidelines the rest of the week.  But the game has never been about us; it has always been about Him.  The gospel that’s so often preached today lacks a revelation of Jesus Christ.  The contemporary gospel boils down to a fire-insurance policy, a Santa Claus God, or a performance-based religion.  As long as we stay on that plane, we’ll never see or comprehend the staggering enormity of our Lord.”

I constantly found myself challenged throughout the book.  I would greatly encourage anyone to read this challenging book that seeks to put Christ back in His rightful place – at the center of everything.

The Voice is a new translation of the Bible that seeks to bring together biblical scholars alongside talented writers to present a biblically sound yet easily readable translation.  This is the New Testament edition released by Ecclesia Bible Society, which is headed by Chris Seay at Ecclesia in Houston, Texas.

The translation of the text itself reads very similar to another translation, such as the NIV or ESV,  in most places.  The editors have added italicized portions within the text itself that serve as a commentary within the verse to explain the original author’s intent.

These italics additions within the text itself help readers to be able to understand the textual meaning that has a tendency to get lost in a mere superficial reading of the text.  These commentary notes flow easily through the narrative and are seen as an aid to readers rather than a distraction.

I would be hesitant to term this version a translation since there are clearly commentary additions to the written text.  The purpose and place of this work can best be described by looking back at the Jewish rabbi’s commentaries on Jewish writings.  These scholars desired to produce a commentary along with the written text to aid in studies.  This is the purpose of The Voice project.

This project is off to a great start and is producing Bibles that will function well for a devotional reading of the text but should be avoided when seeking to do an in depth study of a particular passage due to the commentary elements getting mixed with the text itself in the minds of the reader.

The Voice is a new translation of the Bible that seeks to bring together biblical scholars alongside talented writers to present a biblically sound yet easily readable translation.  This is the New Testament edition released by Ecclesia Bible Society, which is headed by Chris Seay at Ecclesia in Houston, Texas.

The translation of the text itself reads very similar to another translation, such as the NIV or ESV,  in most places.  The editors have added italicized portions within the text itself that serve as a commentary within the verse to explain the original author’s intent.  A clear example of this is found in the second Beatitude from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:4, which reads:

“Blessed are those who mourn, who weep about sin and long for how things are supposed to be – they will be comforted.”

These italics additions within the text itself help readers to be able to understand the textual meaning that has a tendency to get lost in a mere superficial reading of the text.  These commentary notes flow easily through the narrative and are seen as an aid to readers rather than a distraction.

I would be hesitant to term this version a translation since there are clearly commentary additions to the written text.  The purpose and place of this work can best be described by looking back at the Jewish rabbi’s commentaries on Jewish writings.  These scholars desired to produce a commentary along with the written text to aid in studies.  This is the purpose of The Voice project.

This project is off to a great start and is producing Bibles that will function well for a devotional reading of the text but should be avoided when seeking to do an in depth study of a particular passage due to the commentary elements getting mixed with the text itself in the minds of the reader.

In A Million Miles in a Thousand Places: What I Learned While Editing My Life, engaging author and masterful storyteller, Donald Miller, invites his readers into the realm of story.  This memoir, which journeys with Miller through the past few years since his last book, To Own a Dragon, brings the idea of living your life as a story that matters to front and center.  This book uses Miller’s personal journey to show his readers the importance of living a life that becomes a story that makes a difference in the world.

The book’s premise focuses around the opportunity that Miller had to edit his life in working to produce a film based off of his first book which made him famous, Blue Like Jazz.  Through the writing and editing experience of this film, Miller realizes that the life that he finds himself living is anything but the epic and exciting stories that good films are made of.  This causes him to seriously evaluate his life to see what living a life that counts for something would look like for him.  This personal evaluation led him to start a ministry to children and students in the inner city called the Mentoring Project and to also take a bike journey from one side of America to the other to raise money and awareness for clean water in Africa.  Through these experiences, Miller realized that living a good story is found in living for a bigger story outside of yourself.

This hilarious, touching, and honest memoir calls readers to seek their own story.  A story that makes a difference in the lives of others and calls them to take risks to be able to have a large impact on the world.  This book will inspire you and encourage you to step into a larger story that you cannot even imagine.

In Fearless, Max Lucado brings to life Jesus’ teachings on fear throughout the gospels.  The is a timely book considering our current cultural fears raging from economic to health to political fears.  Lucado does a biblical job of addressing fears not using the popular techniques of self-help and prosperity preachers who take advantage of people’s fears and believe in the power of positive thinking to overcome your fears.  Instead, Lucado addresses our fears by pointing us to Jesus Christ who is the centerpiece of our faith.  In Jesus, we find a God who is not foreign to our fears and who does not sit idly by in our times of fear.  Lucado, through the vehicle of the gospels, paints a picture of a Jesus who not only understands our fears but who wants to be the peace in the midst of our storm.  The chapters in this book address different storms that Jesus desires to be our peace in the middle of.  These storms include: the fear of not mattering, the fear of disappointing God, the fear of running out, the fear of not protecting my kids, the fear of overwhelming challenges, the fear of worst-case scenarios, the fear of violence, the fear of the coming winter, the fear of life’s final moments, the fear of what’s next, the fear that God is not real, the fear of global calamity, and the fear of God getting out of my box.  The most amazing part of this book is the fact that after addressing all of the potential earthly fears that Lucado addresses in this book he brings us to see that a healthy fear of God as God brings all of these fears into proper perspective.  If God is God and He is on the throne, our fears look as large as they really are because we see them from an eternal perspective.  A God-sized view of God is the ultimate comfort in the midst of fear.  God is sovereign and He is good despite how ever dark our fears may look.  Lucado does an excellent job of bringing this powerful scriptural truth to life to encourage his readers to not fear!

In Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-Eyed Wonder in God’s Spoken World, author, N. D. Wilson takes readers on a seemingly random journey of exploring snapshots of the world while making theological observations and discovering timeless truths along the way.  This is a book that is unlike almost anything that I have ever read.  The randomness of the topics addressed and the lack of transitions between the concept being portrayed and the illustration to make the concept come to life makes this book a difficult read.  It is difficult in that the reader has a hard time following what N. D. Wilson is trying to communicate.  The interesting and insightful part of this book was the author’s ability to bring different individuals’ perspectives to the table when an issue was being addressed.  This skill shows that the author was well read and knew well the theological stances and positions on age old apologetics issues such as the problem of evil.  This book does a brief job of addressing these issues drawing short conclusions with little to no backing and no scriptural support.  I think in reading this book that I may have missed the point.  One thing, however, that I know for sure is that this book was not written for people who think and learn best through logic and reasoning because the artistic transitions and themes in this book are likely to lose you like they lost me.

In The Principle of the Path, Andy Stanley brings to life the key truth that your current direction in life will determine your destination.  This is what Stanley terms as “the principle of the path.”  This is an idea that in being a principle happens naturally as a result of our life decisions.  This is not something that we have a choice in whether or not it will happen.  Our current decisions, whether good or bad, leading toward our goals or straying away from our goals, or reflecting our convictions or denying our convictions, will determine our future destination in life.

This book does an excellent job of driving this simple yet profound point home to the reader.  Through Andy Stanley’s usual mix of biblical principles and practical, real life examples, the truth is seen illustrated both with positive effects and negative effects in the lives of real people.  The common misconception that “the principle of the path” confronts is that our intention will lead to our destination.  The problem that the principle points out is that action determines results not intention.

In the final chapter, Stanley addresses how to deal with the struggles that arise when we realize that our destination which we desired to achieve is unattainable.  For a biblical picture of dealing with this reality, Stanley turns to 2 Samuel 15 where David takes his army to face his son Absalom.  The passage finds David going to confront his rebellious son who wants to overthrow David.  The High Priest at the time, Zadok, prepares the Ark of the Covenant to go with David into battle.  This Ark going into battle signifies that the Lord is with the army carrying the Ark and is on that side of the conflict.  David approaches Zadok and refuses for the Ark to go with him.  David does not want to try to manipulate God to get David’s desires.  He wants to by faith trust God for God to do “whatever seems good to Him.”  This biblical truth of trusting God to do “whatever seems good to Him” is the driving point that causes our seemingly disappointing moments on the path of life to become moments where our uncertainty in our life’s direction drives us to a deeper trust in God who is certainly there.

The Principle of the Path is an encouraging book that challenges the reader to prepare for the future through the decisions made today.  It also stands as a reminder of the faithfulness of God to be there in the midst of the journey of life even if that journey is not going as you had planned for it to.

In Contend: A Survey of Christian Apologetics on a High School Level, Jason Dollar and Bradley Pinkerton lay out an excellent introduction to the study of Christian apologetics.  This book focuses on placing the study of apologetics centered first and foremost on the glory of God and secondly driving the focus of apologetics to be evangelism.  Dollar and Pinkerton do an excellent job of arguing the person of Jesus with a very well presented argument for the resurrection.  Apologetics are constantly brought back to Jesus, as the living picture of God and the center of our faith.

The seemingly difficult apologetic arguments are presented clearly through real life illustrations that make the presuppositions of the arguments come alive.  Arguments in this volume are primarily made using scripture as the ultimate source which equips and provides students with truths directly from the Bible that they can share with their friends.

Dollar and Pinkerton do an excellent job of raising objections to Christianity and responding to them in a concise and convincing manner.  The authors also provide a simple survey of other worldview systems which provides an excellent introduction for further study.  Contend is an excellent resource for introducing students to the seemingly complex arena of apologetics.  Dollar and Pinkerton help bring this subject to life and to equip students to defend and share their faith with others.

For more information about Contend or to purchase your copy of this excellent resource, click here.