Jesus is No Joke

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been spending a lot more time reading and concentrating on the spiritual side of my life.  On a regular basis, I peruse the Religion & Spirituality section of the Kindle store on Amazon.com.  One of the books that I downloaded and finished reading recently was a book written by Heidi Hollis entitled "Jesus is No Joke."

Actually, the full title of the book is "Jesus Is No Joke: A True Story Of An Unlikely Witness Who Saw Jesus."  From the Amazon website, here is a description of the book:

Once a skeptic of “Holy Encounters,” Heidi Hollis shares her true story of four unexpected journeys with Jesus, which led her deep into the reality of His Presence among us today. Hollis shares how Jesus and His angels revealed glimpses of Heaven and Hell, even healing her physically of an incurable disease, leaving her with the utmost passion to share His inspiration with the world!

As humanly as possible and lacking a religious tongue, Hollis pours out her raw emotions with all of the errors, yet new understandings, which came with meeting someone she highly misunderstood when she heard claims of Jesus appearing to people around the world today.

Hollis once thought that Jesus had traversed these lands long ago, never to be seen or heard from again—now, in admitting her error, she encourages others to hold their “J” for Jesus up in the air for all to see: Jesus Is No Joke!

I have to say that this was a difficult book for me to stick with at times.  Not because the subject matter was above my mental capabilities or because the writing was bad.  Quite to the contrary.  Hollis does a nice job of writing as if she were sitting in the room talking with you about the subject matter.  She injects her own brand of humor into the conversation and is very open and honest.

The reason the book was sometimes difficult to get through was that Hollis' experience in meeting Jesus was unlike anything that I have ever experienced before.  You see, prior to meeting Jesus, Hollis had an extensive background in exploring the paranormal realm.  So, when she says she met Jesus on four separate occasions, she literally means she saw him.

In addition to describing her encounters with Jesus, which also includes an encounter in which Jesus heals her  of an incurable disease, she describes some darker experiences.  After the first time she met Jesus, she had an encounter that would be safe to attribute to demonic forces trying to instill doubt in her mind about her Jesus encounter.  She also describes in detail an experience in which she saw the literal Hell.

My background tends to be more in the mainstream protestant church so you can probably understand why I saw her encounters as unlike anything that I have ever experienced before.  Shoot, in the churches that I belonged too, we even express doubt that the gift of tongues is active in the church today.

The closest that I can say I have come towards any experience like Hollis occurred 20 some odd years ago while in prayer.  At that time, it was my practice to lay quietly in my bed at night and pray.  During one nightly prayer session I experienced a presence that I can only describe as Holy.  It was unlike anything that I had ever experienced before.

If, as a Christian, I say that I believe that God the Father and Jesus the Son are both omnipotent and omnipresent, then I would have to say that anything is possible.  Just because I have never experienced anything like the visions that Hollis has experienced, does not mean that They couldn't reveal Themselves to Hollis in the manner she describes.

I do believe that there is a spiritual realm out there that most humans do not experience knowingly.  I also believe that there are people who are able to experience that realm.  In Biblical times, God spoke to the prophets through dreams and visions.  Prophesies of the last days say that God will pour out his Spirit and there will be those that will have dreams and visions.

It is not my place to try to determine if Heidi Hollis did see Jesus.  The main thing is that she believes she did and it has caused her to seek to follow Him.  If Jesus did decide to reveal Himself to Heidi Hollis in this way, then she is truly blessed.  Again, just because I haven't had these types of visions, doesn't mean that I should outright dismiss the possibility of them occurring.  The desire of my heart is to experience the presence I felt during my prayer session I described.

As difficult as it was at times to cast aside my preconceived notions while reading the book, it was enjoyable to read.  Putting aside the difficulties, there were things that I was able to take from the book like the idea of picture prayers and even a bit of an informality to praying.  If you decide to pick up the book, read it with an open mind and decide for yourself.  One thing that I am in 100% agreement with Hollis is that Jesus is No Joke.

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Fossil River

Conditions are ripe in this country for a potential energy crisis in the future.  The environmental movement has made it increasingly difficult to drill for oil. The Environmental Protection Agency has put policies in place that make it difficult for coal fired power plants to be built or to even remain open. For all of its potential, alternative forms of green energy has not proven to be a fruitful enterprise.  Any hint of unrest in the Middle East can send oil prices rising.

Fossil River by Jock Miller takes place in the relatively near future of the United States.  The country is faced with an energy crisis.  OPEC has reached a deal with China to send an increased percentage of their production their way.  Unrest in the rest of the Middle East has further reduced the supply of oil.  On top of that, a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico has reduced dramatically US domestic production of oil.

With the strategic oil reserves set to be bone dry in a matter of weeks, the President of the United States launches an all out search for domestic supplies of oil.  As luck would have it, they find a huge oil field in a very remote area if the Noatak National Preserve in Alaska.  An all out effort is made to verify the find and to find a way to tap into that oil field to prevent the country from falling into a depression to rival the Great Depression.

The first team of scientists enter the area to try to confirm the find.  They are flown into the area by Scott Chandler, a decorated helicopter pilot of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, of the Fish & Wildlife Service.  None of the team, with the exception of Chandler, makes it out alive as they are attacked by an unknown predator.  During the attack the predator left behind feathers and a talon with blood on it.

Chandler called on the knowledge of his ex-girlfriend Kimberly Fulton who is the Curator of Paleontology at the New York Museum of Natural History.  He sends the talon and feathers to her.  She runs a series of tests on the relics and comes to the conclusion that the predator is a living fossil; a dinosaur.  She flies out to reunite Chandler to somehow find a way to access the oil field without everyone getting killed by the dinosaur and without destroying the pristine ecosystem.

I won't reveal any more about the plot of the book.  Most of this is found in the book description on Amazon.  I found it to be an exciting book.  The action was non-stop and the characters sympathetic.  There were a few things I did not like.  Some of the plot twists were easily predictable.  I also felt some of the characters, particularly the military characters, were a bit too much of a caricature.  All in all though, it was an enjoyable respite from reality.

If I Can Lose It

Since my last post was about Michael Bloomberg's desire to ban large drinks with sugar in them in New York City, I decided to review a weight loss book that I recently read on my Kindle.  The book is entitled If I Can Lose It...A Middle Age Tech-Fanatic's Extraordinary Journey & Guide-Book For Losing Weight written by Jonathan Ellis.

Quite a mouthful of a title, eh?  Henceforth, I will refer to it as If I Can Lose It.  The author of the book, Jonathan Ellis, is not a medical doctor.  He is a middle aged man, like me, who has always struggled with his weight, like me, who also happens to be into technology, like me.  So you can see how I might be interested in seeing what he had to say about weight loss.

I really liked his style of writing.  It was conversational and humorous.  Ellis is a man who has tried a number of diets over his life time.  Some of which worked for awhile, but eventually he would go back to his old habits and gain all of the weight back and maybe a few more to boot.  Been there, done that!  His goal in writing the book was to take control of his weight loss plan and to do it in a way that would be sustainable in the long term.

So, what is his secret for losing weight?  Consume less calories each day than your body requires to maintain its current weight.  Hardly earth shattering, right?  That is what doctors diet gurus have been telling us for years.  I remember when I was younger, my mom would have a book of calorie counts and when she was trying to lose weight, she would dutifully tally her caloric intake.

Seems like a lot of work to me.  I can easily see why doing that would get old quick, and would not be easily sustainable.  What if there was an easier way to keep track of your calories each day?  That is the driving force behind the Ellis weight loss plan.  His secret to losing weight is by utilizing the MyFitnessPal app on his iPod touch so he can easily track his daily calories.

I have used MyFitnessPal in the past.  It is a great little app.  In fact, I have recently started using it again.  I am discovering a lot of features that I did not notice before that I think are going to be quite helpful in my goal to achieve a permanent healthy weight.  One of the features allows you to enter a recipe so that you can  calculate the caloric content of the food.  I recently added one of my favorite meals that my wife cooks for us.

MyFitnessPal has tools that you can use on the internet or from the app.  It has a place to enter all of your food and exercise daily to track your net calories each day.  I mostly use the app on my smartphone.  It has a great feature where you can scan the UPC barcode on a package and it brings up the nutritional info so that you can add it to your daily diary.  This way, you do not have to try to remember to log it online at the end of the day.  They have a huge database of info.

In the previous paragraph I mention "net" calories.  This is an important part of the app and achieving your goals that I learned from the book.  When you set up your account, you enter your weight, your goal weight, and how much weight you want to lose each week.  That gives you a daily calorie goal.  It is important that your net calories each day not fall below 1200 calories.  That is the minimum number of calories that the body needs each day to function properly.  If you enter a daily diary of less than 1200 calories, the app actually gives you a warning message.

I have to confess that I did not finish the book.  The first half of the book consisted of the main focus of the book, how to take control of your weight loss plan.  It consisted of 11 chapters which shared encouragement and tips for achieving your goals.  When I got to chapter 12, I stopped reading.  Chapter 12 was over half the book and consisted of his daily diary of his quest.  It probably would have benefited me to read it, but I just couldn't bring myself to do.

I can't say that I highly recommend the book because it really didn't break a lot of new ground for me.  I did enjoy parts of it, and I did learn a couple nice tips.  The thing for me is that I know what to do, it is just sticking with it when I get frustrated.  I do recommend the MyFitnessPal app if you desire to lose weight.  I looked at a few others, but of the ones I looked at, MyFitnessPal had the most extensive nutritional database.  Below is my badge at MyFitnessPal tracking my progress to my goal.


 

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Weight Loss Tools

Buddha and Jesus: Could Solomon Be the Missing Link?

There have been a number of books putting forth the theory that the teachings and ministry of Jesus was influenced by Buddhism.  The theory suggests that during the period of His life that is not discussed in the Gospel accounts, Jesus traveled to India where he studied under Eastern sages.  It is an interesting theory, but one that can not be proven definitively.  Granted, there are a number of parallels in their teachings, but there are  a number of parallels between most religions.

R.E. Sherman has put forth a different theory for the many parallels between the teachings of Jesus and those of Buddha.  In is book Buddha and Jesus: Could Solomon Be the Missing Link, Sherman puts forth the idea that Buddha could have been influenced by the writings of Solomon.  During the diaspora, the Jews could have settled in India and brought scrolls of Solomon's teachings with them where Buddha could have been exposed to them.  Since Jesus was a Jew and often quoted Old Testament scripture, it would have been natural for his teachings to be influenced by Solomon.

In the first part of the book, Sherman introduces the reader to Buddha and Buddhism.  He devotes a good bit of time laying out Buddha's Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold path and argues that you can see precursors of Buddha's teachings in the Proverbs of Solomon and the Book of Ecclesiastes.  Starting with a proverb of Solomon, Sherman then shows similar proverbs and teachings from both Buddha and Jesus to make his case that rather than Jesus being influenced by Buddha, both were influenced by Solomon.

The second half of the book, Sherman devotes to comparisons of the similarities and differences between Buddha and Christ.  He discusses the idea of whether or not somebody could be both fully Christian and at the same time be a Buddhist.  He argues that while there are a great many similarities between Buddhism and Christianity, there differences are so profound that they can not be reconciled to be both Christian and Buddhist.

For his part, Sherman is a Christian.  However, he see the benefit of recognizing the good and having respect for those of divergent faiths.  He feels that there is much that can be learned from others and that we should not have an arrogance in our own faith that makes us think we are superior to others.  He points out the positives and negatives involved in both Christianity and Buddhism.

The book was a very thorough examination of the subject matter.  There was a bit of repetition of a lot of materials.  The one drawback that I had in reading the book on my Kindle is that there were a number of charts in the book.  A lot of the charts would not fit on the screen of my Kindle so I could not read the full quotes of the proverbs being discussed.  Other times, the text was so small that I could not read the charts.  All in all though, a very informative and interesting book.

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A Married Man's Guide to Christmas

Image via WikipediaBy now, most of you know that I am married and have a special needs child, so I am both a husband and a father.  While I am both of those things, I am first and foremost a guy.  As a guy, I typically enjoy guy humor, especially when it come to the subject of marriage.

One of my favorite "guy" books of humor was Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys.  It is a laugh out loud book about guys because there is so much he describes that I can relate to.  For example, in the men's room there are certain rules.  If you enter the men's room and see a series of urinals you take one on the end of the series.  If another guy is using a urinal, you go to the opposite end of the urinals.  If by chance you have to take one next to another guy, you stare straight ahead, and by all means you do not talk, unless it is a comment about how cold or deep the water is.

I was in the mood to read something a little lighthearted and holiday related.  I found A Married Man's Guide to Christmas written by Robert Henry.  In this tour de force, Henry tackles all of the thoughts, feeling, and fears of the typical married man faces as he approaches the holiday season.  There are all the household projects that have to be completed because the wife requires the perfect Christmas decor as seen in the holiday magazines.

In addition to the hazards of decorating the outside of the home, Henry talks about the married man's fears in heading out to the mall to find the right gifts for the little missus, in spite of all her hints.  There is frequent discussion of the need of large quantities of alcohol in dealing with the holiday season.  Even more alcohol is needed when dealing with all of the family members on both sides of the family that you would never want to see outside of the holidays.

I found  myself laughing out loud at several spots in the book because so much of it is true.  When describing why he always says he doesn't want anything for Christmas, here is his response.

You see, the problem is...I'm a guy.  We are by nature low-present-maintenance creatures.  We haven't worn the clothes we got last year because when we reached into the drawer, they weren't on top.  And we can't figure any reason to dig lower because, frankly, we  didn't care about what we were wearing in the first place.

I can really relate to this because this is my philosophy for deciding what I will wear each day.  If it is on top of the clean pile, that's what I put on.

One of my pet peeves in life is people who wear to much cologne.  In the chapter in dealing with those relatives that you would rather not see, but must during the holidays, Henry has this to say about one particular in-law:

Fred needs to die.  I suggest drowning him in cologne, an act for which he has provided a substantial head start.

A punishment that several people I know needs to have inflicted upon them.

All in all though, Henry says that despite all these things, us guys love Christmas.  In spite of all the travails of the season, we wouldn't change a thing.  We can take some comfort that millions of married men are going through the same things as we all are.  The book itself is very short, and was literally laugh out load funny.  It was a very enjoyable break from the stress and strain of the holiday season and daily life.

 

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The Slackers Guide to US History

If you read here regularly, you know that I really enjoy reading.  Ever since I got my Kindle from Amazon, I have been reading a lot more reading these days.  One of the other things is that I have a tendency to stay a little bit on the frugal side.  I regularly peruse the free and discounted books for something interesting to read.

Since getting my Kindle, I have downloaded over 100 books; most of them free.  I have found several good reads in that time.  Recently, I even found one of my favorite Christian theology books for free; RC Sproul's The Holiness of God.  It currently is still free for Kindle so if you have one, go to the Amazon page and downloaded before it goes back to regular price.

I do most of my reading during my lunch break at work or before going to bed at night.  On those occasions when I have to travel for work, my trusty Kindle always makes the journey with me.  It usually takes me about a week or two to finish most of my books.  I have finished reading over 20 books on the Kindle. I have been able to discover a lot of books that I have enjoyed reading that I would not normally have looked at a second time.

It is rare that I start a book and not finish it.  This month I found one.  I enjoy learning about our history, and I enjoy lighthearted treatments of those kinds of things.  It is one of the reasons that I have enjoyed the Politically Incorrect Guides so much. So, when I saw The Slackers Guide to US History by John Pfeiffer and Don Stewart I thought it might be a nice, lighthearted read.  I was wrong.

When I first saw The Slackers Guide on Amazon, it had some pretty good ratings (4+ stars average), so I downloaded it.  The book was supposed to be a humorous look at US History, but I found it was anything but funny.  Most of the attempts at humor were extremely sophomoric, and in some cases downright racist.  I made it through a few chapters to see if got any better, but it didn't.

I stopped reading the book, and started reading A Married Man's Guide to Christmas which I will finish in the next day or so.  I will probably review that in the next few days.  I am not sure if I will ever go back to the Slackers Guide to finish it, but I kind of doubt it.  Since downloading it, the ratings on Amazon have dropped considerably, with most people rating it at 1 star.  Thank goodness it was a free download, it wasn't even worth that.

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I Surrender All

Usually, when I read a book I read a little at a time.  A chapter or two a day.  For most books, it usually takes about a week or so for me to finish.  The book I just finished yesterday, I Surrender All: Rebuilding a Marriage Broken by Pornography by Clay and Renee Crosse was finished over a two day time period.

There are a couple of reasons why this book was read so much more quickly than most books.  First, I have been off of work the last two days so I have had some more free time on my hands.  My son has also been home, so he has been playing some games on my laptop.  With him sitting next to me playing, I would read. Another big reason that I read the book so quickly is that I found myself relating to Clay Crosse's story.

Clay Crosse made his name in the Contemporary Christian Music field. He had several big hits, won Dove Awards (the Contemporary Christian Music version of the Grammy) and toured the country performing his music.  Crosse has been a professed Christian most of his life.  The book details his addiction to pornography and how it almost cost him everything he held dear.

Crosse was exposed to pornography at an early age when he was in the fourth grade.  He reveals that it started with some magazines and eventually moved on to movies.  As he delved more and more into the world of pornography, he needed it to become more graphic and more intense.  The more he watched, the more he wanted to live out those fantasies that played in his mind.

While he never physically committed adultery, he knew it was just a matter of time before he would give in to the temptation.  He came to the realization that he needed help.  He also confessed his double life to his wife.  Her part of the book talks about her feelings and how she came to forgive him and rebuild their marriage.  It was not easy.

The key for the couple in turning around their lives was in turning to faith.  While both of them had been professing Christians most of their lives, they were living a superficial form of Christianity.  Both were more concerned about how God could bless them and not in having a deep relationship with God.  They were both caught up in the material blessings of success, and Clay had the added burden of lust through pornography.

By discovering that their faith was lacking, they were able to build a deeper faith.  It allowed them to save a marriage that was on the brink of collapse.  Eventually, their story became a ministry to help others who were struggling with similar issues.  God was able to take the bad in their lives and turn it into something good and positive.

I think that everybody could benefit from their story, whether or not they are struggling with issues like lust and pornography.  The root of their problem were not these things, but rather the focus on themselves and not on God.  By refocusing on the right things, they were able to get back on the right track.  That is not to say that they don't still struggle, but that they now know better how to stay on track.

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Buck Naked Faith

When I was a kid, my parents used to tell me that doing certain things would stunt my growth.  Usually, the purpose of telling me this was to keep me from performing some undesirable behavior.  Let's face it, nobody wants to be have their growth stunted. 

To have your growth stunted, is obviously a bad thing.  There is one instance, however, where the goal is to stunt the growth of the object.  That would be in the art of bonsai.  The goal of the bonsai artist is to inhibit the growth of the tree so that it appears to have weathered obstacles and grown strong, but in reality it is all just an illusion.

In Buck Naked Faith: A Brutally Honest Look at Stunted Christianity, Eric Sandras compares the life of faith as one that is either superficial and weak like the bonsai tree, or one that is real, strong, and growing. As somebody who has had issues staying solid within the Christian community and someone wanting to develop a real Christian world view, the book intrigued me.

One of the things that has occurred in my own spiritual life is to be surrounded by those with the appearance of having the Christian walk down pat.  Playing the church game was all about doing and saying the right things.  On those occasions when I would struggle or stumble, I felt like I could not share those who were supposed to be my cohorts in the walk.

I remember the first time I had one such incident that forced me to walk away from a group I had been a large part.  It was a Baptist group, so we did not drink alcohol.  I had just been laid off from one job and my car wouldn't start.  I felt like having a beer.  When I confessed this "sin" to one of my friends from the group, rather than support, I received a condescending, "Oh, Richard," like I had committed the worst of acts.

Sandras feels that in order to actually develop a vibrant, growing Christian faith, we need to shed the veneer of acting as if we have it all together.  We need to be able to ask questions and struggle.  We need to be transparent with one another and share those burdens, doubts, and struggles.  From the very first chapter, Sandras shares some of his own struggles and failures and how he had to struggle to get through those difficult times.

Throughout the book, Sandras looks at the various techniques the bonsai artist uses to create the bonsai tree.  He then compares that with the walk of faith and how to go counter to the bonsai artist that creates a real and growing faith rather than one that only appears to be real and strong.  It was a book that due to my past struggles was one that I really enjoyed reading.

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Shrouded in Silence

I like a lot of different types of books.  In the past, I would primarily read books on Christian theology or living, or books about other religions and philosophy.  Fiction was not something that I read a lot of, though I have been working some more of that genre into my reading.

The type of fiction that I usually gravitate to are books that have a lot of actions.  I have really been reading a lot of Brad Thor and his Scot Harvath series.  I also like to read books that have some basis in fact and teach you something while reading a fictional work.  An example of which would be works like Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, and The Lost Symbol.  Books like those cause you to think while enjoying a piece of fiction.

During one of my many visits to Amazon.com to search for new books to add to my Kindle, I came across a book by Robert Wise that I thought looked interesting.  The book is entitled Shrouded in Silence, and is the story of husband and wife biblical scholars Jack and Michelle Townsend and their quest to find the original ending to the Gospel of Mark.

One would not think that the scholarly pursuit of studying ancient biblical documents would lead to an adventure tale, but in this case it does.  The Townsends follow clues through the streets of Rome in pursuit of their quest.  Eventually, they are dealing with dangers from an anti-American terrorist group and one of their rivals in the study of ancient documents.  They survive gun fights and explosions while exploring historic Roman sites.

While I did enjoy the book and the story line, it definitely did not live up to the hopes that I had for it when I downloaded the book.  There was a lot of dialog in the book, primarily between the main couple.  As you were reading the book, it became all too clear the direction the author was taking some of the characters.  The ending of the book wound up being all too predictable.

Shrouded in Silence was one of the several books that I have found for my Kindle that I was able to download from Amazon for free or a very reduced price.  Currently, it can be downloaded for the normal Amazon Kindle price of $9.99.  The book is one of the reasons I frequently search for free books on Amazon, a book I enjoyed reading for free, but I would have been disappointed had I bought it at full price.

Rawhide Down

A couple of weeks ago, I was driving into work listening to the morning program on WMAL 630 here in the DC area.  One of the in studio guests on this particular program was Del Quintin Wilber, author of the book "Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan."  Since I consider Reagan to be the best president of my lifetime, I listened to the segment a little more closely that I usually do.

Wilber has been a reporter for various newspapers, most recently The Washington Post.  He described how he came to write the book.  If nothing else, Wilber is an excellent story teller.  As I drove to work, I was riveted by the way he described the events of the assassination attempt by John Hinkley.  He told how each split second decision helped to save Ronald Reagan's life.  I knew after listening to him speak, that "Rawhide Down" would be the next book that I would download on my Kindle.

I was not disappointed.  I was 20 years old when Reagan was shot.  My recollections of the incident were that his life was never in serious jeopardy.  However, "Rawhide Down" describes in tremendous detail how close Reagan came to dying on that day 30 years ago.  It also gives us some more insight of the personality and character of the man.  Reagan's presidency has been described as the most scripted in US history, but "Rawhide Down" shows us a great deal about Reagan in its descriptions of his words and actions in those unscripted moments.

As I said, I have a great deal of respect and admiration for the life and legacy of Ronald Reagan and his presidency.  That respect and admiration is only enhanced by my reading of "Rawhide Down."  I highly recommend the book to anybody who admires Reagan or wants to know more of the history of our country.  It is an intense and exciting narrative on a par with the most intense thriller as opposed to a dry historical narrative.

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The Dark Side of Islam

Cover of The Dark Side of IslamLast week, I mentioned that I finally got a Kindle ebook reader.  My big concern when I got it was whether or not I would actually use it enough to make it worth buying it.  At work, I rarely would take a formal lunch break.  Instead, I usually sat at my desk and ate junk.  So, I have made the decision to bring a healthy lunch to try to lose weight and use that time to read from my Kindle.  Last week, I finished my first book on the Kindle.

That book was called "The Dark Side of Islam" by RC Sproul and Abdul Saleeb.  Saleeb is the pseudonym of a former Muslim who has converted to Christianity.  The book is rather short, with only 8 chapters and less than 100 pages in total.  It is based on a series of conversations that the two had on the subject of the differences between Christianity and Islam.

The first seven chapters of the book highlight the various differences between the historical orthodox Christianity and Islam.  Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of the similarities and differences. Those subjects are the views on Scripture, the Fatherhood of God, the Trinity, sin, salvation, and the death and Deity of Jesus Christ.  With the brevity of each chapter, you do not get an in depth treatise on each subject, but a fairly high level comparison.  The two writers take turns within each chapter discussing various aspects of the topic.

In the final chapter of the book, Saleeb draws on his experience as a former Muslim and as a Christian to address what is called "the dark side of Islam."  Saleeb makes the argument that the vast majority of Muslims are, in fact, peace loving people.  However, there is the problem that can not be avoided and that is the fanatical element that are using Islam as their justification to wage jihad.

Saleeb states that Christians are not without sin in acts of violence in the name of Christianity.  However, his belief is that when Christians act in such a manner, they are acting in direct opposition to the teachings of Christ.  Muslims who perform acts of violence in the name of Islam do so based on the teachings of the Qur'an and the example as set forth from the life of Muhammad.

Normally, I am a big fan of the work of Dr. Sproul, especially in his works on "The Holiness of God" and "The Last Days According to Jesus."  His work usually is a lot more in depth than the particular book.  Still, I enjoyed the book and learned a bit more about the subject matter.  If you are looking for a brief look at the differences between Islam and Christianity, you may enjoy "The Dark Side of Islam."  However, if you want a more in depth treatise on the subject you will probably be disappointed.

Will the World End in 2012?

You probably would have to be living under rock not to have heard the predictions of planetary destruction that the planet faces in 2012.  For years, I have been fascinated with Biblical prophecies of the end times, starting with Hal Lindsay's "Late Great Planet Earth" and others.  So I was very excited when I saw that I could have the opportunity to review Raymond C. Hundley's newest book "Will the World End in 2012" for BookSneeze.com.

Dr. Hundley is a former pastor and seminary professor, so his treatise of the subject matter is from an evangelical Christian viewpoint.  He tackles ten possible scenarios for the end of the world in the year 2012.  Among these are the predictions of the Mayan calendar, possible solar storms, the eruption of a super volcano, the predictions of Nostradamus, and prophecies of the end of the world from a number of different religions.

Given Hundley's background, not surprisingly, the longest chapter in the book is the chapter on the religious predictions of the end of the earth.  The Old and New Testament prophesies get the most ink.  However, Hundley does an adequate job of including prophesies from the Muslim faith, the I Ching, the Hindu faith, and the Hopi Indian tribe.  In the chapter on the Mayan calendar, he does a great job of quoting multiple sources, several of which conclude that 12/21/12 is an end of the world event, and several that quote it as a "changing point" in the world order.

Hundley also addresses some of the predictions of world doom from scientific possibilities.  In these areas, I felt a little shortchanged as a reader.  It would be the one complaint I would have against the book.  For instance, the chapter on possible solar storms in 2012, a subject I am very interested in, contained a mere 3 pages.  Other chapters that harbor potential peril for the fate of the planet  based on scientific fact are not quite as short as the solar storms, but are among the shorter chapters in the book.

All in all though, I enjoyed reading "Will the World End in 2012?"  The subtitle to the book is "A Christian Guide to the Question Everyone's Asking," and as such has the expected evangelical call to acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior.  The epilogue calls for Christians that have read the book to live their lives as if the world would end in 2012 or tomorrow and live a life in honor of Christ.  Even if you are not a religious person, or interested in Christianity, this book does have a lot of information about the possible "end of the world" in 2012.  The author reaches his conclusion.  It could, but you will have to read the book for the details.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com's book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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A Century Turns-William Bennett

Image by vincentchow* via Flickr

A few weeks ago, I was visiting various blogs, and I came upon one blog that had a banner on it for BookSneeze.com.  I enjoy a good book as much as the next guy, so I decided to check them out.  I am glad I did.  Book Sneeze provides books to bloggers to read and to review.

The first book that I have the pleasure to review for Book Sneeze is "A Century Turns-New Hopes, New Fears" by William J. Bennett.  The book covers the time period from 1988 to 2008.  Bennett gives a unique perspective on this era in our very recent past, because as part of the George H.W. Bush administration, he was right in the middle of a lot of it.

By studying our past, we can learn an awful lot about our current situation and our future.  Bennett does a nice job of showing how the events of the past twenty years have led us to our current situation. Although a well know conservative, Bennett gives criticism and praise to both sides of the aisle.  In addition to covering politics and foreign affairs, Bennett delves into cultural events that helped shape events of the day. All in all, it was an enjoyable and entertaining read.  I highly recommend it if you have any interest in our history.  

In order to comply with Federal Trade Commission requirements of 16CFR Part 255, "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising," I disclose that Thomas Nelson Publishing provided me with a free copy of this book as part of their BookSneeze.com blogger book review program.  All opinions expressed regarding this book are entirely my own.

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One Second After

I don't get to read as often as I like to these days.  When I do get a chance to dive into a book, I usually do not gravitate towards fiction that often.  However, a couple days ago I did start reading a book by William Forstchen called "One Second After."  I am probably about one third of the way through the book, and thus far, I am enjoying it. Normally, I would wait until I am finished reading a book before blogging about it, but the subject matter in "One Second After," while fiction, is of great importance to our society, regardless of political affiliation.

The story takes place in a quiet town in North Carolina.  People are going about their daily lives when all of a sudden the power goes out.  But this is not an ordinary power failure.  Not only does the electricity go out, but everything that uses modern circuitry is fried, including telephones (land and cell) and automobiles.  The disaster comes as a result of an attack from an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) from a nuclear weapon detonated above the atmosphere over the United States.  The book deals with how our society as a hole is ill equipped to deal with such a tragedy, and follows the struggle of the main characters to survive.

The reason the book is important, is that this is a very real threat facing the United States.  Nearly everything that we rely on is dependent on the delicate micro-circuitry of modern technology.  If there were to be an EMP attack on our nation, the entire electrical grid would be vulnerable.  Everything could be fried.  It would not be a case of the local utility truck coming out to fix a few components and everything be back to normal.  In fact, most vehicles these days are loaded with mini computers and would likely not work after the attack.  It is estimated that it could take not just months, but years to fully repair the grid.  Upgrading the grid to protect it from the vulnerability of attack will be costly, but it is a matter of national security.

I remember a few years ago when Hurricane Isabel came up the Atlantic Coast.  We lost our power for about four days.  That was a major inconvenience for my family.  It was terribly difficult to try to explain to my special needs son the reason why he could not do the things he takes for granted everyday.  Then there was dealing with Mrs. Dickster complaining about how ridiculous it was that the power was taking so long to get back on.  We were at least fortunate enough that we had relatives nearby who did have power to allow us to enjoy the simple pleasures of watching television.  Imagine how your life would be impacted without power for an extended period of time.

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Ted Nugent: Ted, White, and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto

Cover via Amazon

As I mentioned a few days ago, I had to take a business trip to California. During the first leg of the trip, I finished reading "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming" which I reviewed a few days ago. After finishing that book, I began reading Ted Nugent's "Ted, White, and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto." Well today was the return trip home to Maryland so I polished off the Nuge's missive.

I have to say, that I have not been a big fan of Nugent's music. "Cat Scratch Fever" was OK, but it wasn't something I ever wanted to purchase. I did enjoy his time with Damn Yankees, but that was mainly because I was a fan of Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades.

The first time I became aware of Nugent's political views, was when I saw him on The Glenn Beck Show. I immediately thought, "I may not be a big fan of his music, but I like the way he thinks." Nugent is a staunch conservative and makes no bones about it. In "Ted, White, and Blue" he articulates his views in the way that only he can. That is to say, he isn't exactly politically correct and he offers no apologies. Instead his response is "deal with it."

It is Nugent's way of telling it the way he sees it that made this enjoyable for me to read. He tackles a wide range of subjects and I find myself in agreement on almost everything, though some of his views might sound a little extreme, but Nugent proudly wears the right wing extremist label.

Take Ted's view on war. Ted's view on war is that if we are going to send our troups into battle, then they should be allowed to commit to total war, complete and total destruction of the enemy, much like Harry Truman dropping the bomb on Japan. According to Ted, "Lasting peace can only be achieved through the application of relentless and superior fire power."

Ted takes the same view as another famous Ted, Teddy Roosevelt. Roosevelt insisted that an immigrant should assimilate himself to the US and in every facet become an American, including learning English. Nugent, like most conservatives, have no quarrel with folks who come to this country legally to become citizens. His issue is with the illegal immigrants, or as he calls them criminal aliens, because they have committed criminal acts. His answer is to "shoot to kill" any armed alien who attempts to enter this country illegally.

As a member of the Board of Directors for the National Rifle Association it should come as no surprise that Nugent is a strong advocate for 2nd Ammendment rights. Nugent believes that all law abiding citizens should have the right to carry a concealed weapon. As he puts it, the police can't be everywhere and in most cases arrive after the fact. So called "gun free zones" are only opportunities for evil to reign without fear of reprisal.

If you are looking for a politically correct disertation of conservative views, "Ted, White, and Blue" is probably not for you. If you want to get through all the PC bull shit and hear somebody tell it like it is, then pick up the Nuge. If nothing else, he makes things interesting. I may have to go back and take a second listen to some of his music. In the meantime, for your listenting enjoyment, how about a little "Cat Scratch Fever."

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The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming

Cover via Amazon

I spent the better part of today on an airplane flying from Maryland to California for business. So while waiting in airports and while on the plane, I spent most of my time reading. I finished reading "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming and Environmentalism" by Christopher C. Horner. Horner is a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and is considered an expert on global warming legislation, having testified before the US Senate and European Parliaments. Now I am no expert on global warming, but I am staying at a Holiday Inn Express tonight, so I will give it a shot.

Horner goes into detail about how the global warming agenda is really more about trying to gain more control over our lives and destroying the American way of life. He discusses in great length the way Al Gore and the other global warming alarmists try to shut off any debate on the subject of global warming. If Gore and company say the science is settled enough times, then it must be true. Anybody that would dare dispute that must be in the pocket of big business. Those who do question global warming, are either cut off from funding or worse, defamed.

The book opens with the argument that the "Green" movement is the new red. It is really nothing more than an anti-American and anti-capitalist agenda. Did you know that Earth Day, April 22nd, is also the day of Vladimir Lenin's birth? Do you think it is a coincidence that Earth Day would fall on the same day as the birth of the first head of the Soviet Union? Maybe, but it makes me wonder.

Horner also goes into the science of global warming. He shows how the current warming trends are not anything out of the ordinary for planet earth. In fact, the Earth has been much warmer than it currently is. One would think that if CO2 was causing global warming, then increases in CO2 would correspond with increases in temperatures. It isn't always the case. Dr. Willie Soon, a Harvard-Smithsonian astrophysicist, plotted Arctic air temperatures against both CO2 concentrations and solar activity. The graph below shows that solar activity seems to be the overriding factor in climate change.
Al Gore and his Inconvenient Truth gets a lot of scrutiny as well. Horner shows numerous examples where Gore utilizes the most extreme examples to try to make his points. Most models of global warming project modest sea level rising, in the range of a few inches to an extreme of a few feet. A far cry from the 20 foot rise that Gore projects. There are several other examples he gives where Gore uses outright exaggeration, or worse.

The final chapter deals with the Kyoto Protocol. The Senate voted 95-0 on a resolution to tell Clinton/Gore that the US should not enter into any agreement that would not include countries such as China and India or would have harmed the US economy, which is precisely what Kyoto would have done. Clinton actually signed the treaty, but never sent it to the Senate for ratification because it would not have passed. Also, Europe has expressed their displeasure with the United States because we are not a part of the Kyoto agreement. It interesting to note that since agreeing to cut back emissions (which they were using a cap and trade program to achieve this), European emissions have actually increased. In fact, from 1997-2004, European CO2 emissions grew at a faster rate than the US. From 2000-2004, that rate of increase was 3 times the rate of the United States. So all Europe got out of their cap and trade policies was higher energy costs, and an increase in CO2.

I highly recommend this book if you want to get beyond the hype of Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth hysteria and hype. All of the efforts to try to curb CO2 will have a negligible impact on temperatures, and will only lead to higher costs and a decline in the US standard of living.

Trace Adkins - A Personal Stand

About a year ago, I was watching the Glenn Beck show before he moved over to the Fox News Channel.  One Friday night, his guest for the whole hour was country music star Trace Adkins.  Being a fan of both Glenn and Trace, I stayed tuned for the whole hour. 

It was not your garden variety, celebrity interview.  Sure they touched on Trace's musical career, but for the most part they discussed Trace's views on news and politics.  Trace was a straight talking, no nonsense man.  I found myself in agreement with a lot of his views.

Fast forward to last night, when I was browsing around the local Barnes & Noble.  I was looking in the current affairs section of the store when I spotted "A Personal Stand" by Trace.  I was not aware that he had written a book, so I flipped through the chapters and quotes on the back of the book.  Since the book was in paperback, I decided to go ahead and make the purchase.

When I read the introduction to the book, I knew I was going to enjoy reading it.  In the second paragraph Trace writes the following:  "I stand for personal responsibility and against anything undermines it.  So much of what I see in our country today represents a hell-bent flight from responsibility to victimhood.  From acting on one's convictions  to going along just to get along.   From making decisions based on moral principals to taking the easy way out.  That's not what the United States is about, and that's not the legacy our children should inherit."  I could not agree more.

Throughout the book, Trace uses stories from his life to share his views on 9/11, energy, illegal immigration and more.  Like his appearance on the Glenn Beck Show that night, he writes in a straight forward, no nonsense style, interjected with a wry sense of humor.  As a writer, he isn't going to make anyone forget the great writers of the world.  Hell, he may not even make you forget the ordinary ones.  However, if you are a fan of Trace Adkins, and your political views tend to lean towards the right, I think you will enjoy the book.  I know I did.