Category Archives: Christianity

Christianity, History, research

Tied Up In Research

Leave a comment
A congregational photo taken in 1925, the earliest photo I could find. We have identified a few people in the photo.

Well, I’m late with my post today. Often I write my Monday morning post sometime during the weekend and schedule it for 7:30 a.m. Monday. Alas, that didn’t happen. My Saturday outdoor work was interrupted by rain, so I worked inside. Besides the usual clean-up, such as dishes, vacuuming, kitchen counters, laundry, decluttering, I worked on the checkbook (yes, I still keep the checkbook and make sure it’s correct to the penny) and budget. I then switched off to continue some research into our church’s centennial book.

As I’ve said before, it’s complete as to the writing. Well, almost complete, I have one more interview to do, and I decided I wanted to add one small section. Photos are something the committee will help me select.

One task I have taken on concerning church history—well, two tasks I suppose—is expanding the list of charter members. From history passed down, we know we had 63 charter members back in 1921. Alas, the names of only 12 were recorded. In fact, the church didn’t establish a record book until almost 3 1/2 years after they started meeting. Fortunately, the pastor at that time wrote the names of all who were then or who had been members before his coming. It is about 170 names. Of those 170, 63 were charter members and the others what I call “early members”. I decided to take on the task of figuring our who the missing 51 were.

I delayed that because I knew it was going to be a huge task. I was right. I established some criteria, researched the names, and was able to identify 32 people who I thought could be added to the 12 known charter members. I passed that list two three different people to check the names and see what they thought. Yesterday afternoon I met with two of them for nearly three hours. We went over every name on the list. Most of the names they were not able to rule in or rule out. One family they ruled out, being pretty sure they joined a little after the church began. One other family they added, being sure, from church lore passed down, that they were in fact charter members.

So where does that leave me? I have 12 known charter members, 34 probable charter members, and 42 possible charter members. The rest of the ±170 I have ruled out based on the research criteria I’ve set. The 12 + 34 add to 46, leaving me 17 still to be determined. Somehow, if I am to be successful with this task, I need to decide which 17 of the 42 were most likely charter members. That is my current research task.

One related item I’m working on is cross-checking that old record book to make sure I didn’t miss any names or any clues. I’m also working on documenting my research better than I have thus far. It occurred to me that some future historian will write another church history, maybe at our 150th anniversary. I want that historian to have confidence in my research. So I’m going back over every family, every name on that early members list, and doing the research over, but this time documenting everything I find in a Word file. I’m being meticulous. It’s slow going. Yesterday evening I documented the one family added to the list of probable charter members. There were four or five in the family but only the parents were on the early members list. They are now fully documented and added to the charter member list as “probables”.

While this is tedious work, and will take me a couple of months to do, It is also quite satisfying. It’s a mix of detective work and genealogy. Once research is finished, it will give way to writing. I have a section in the book giving the 170 names on the early members list, a section I will have to rewrite once the research is done.

Will it ever be done? Just as I finished my afternoon research session, I took a look again at the “H” page (since the next family I’ll do begins with an H), and realized I may have misinterpreted what that pastor wrote long ago and have to add some more H names to the early members list. I’ll do that happily, to be as accurate as I can.

Of course, I am hoping to return to creative writing at some point, more than just sneaking an hour or two of it in from time to time. The end is in sight.

Christianity, miscellaneous

Four Hours of Ministry

Leave a comment
These are the shoes we gave out. I’m sure we would have had fewer no-shows if they had given out Red Sox shoes instead.

Even though I’m retired and can do whatever work I want on whatever day, I still do more yard on a Saturday than on weekdays. This past Saturday I had big plans for two hours of specific work, finishing stuff I started Monday through Thursday. But I had already decided I wasn’t going to work in the yard, because our church had a special ministry opportunity, something known for a few weeks.

Each summer, in August, we have partnered with Samaritan’s Feet to provide shoes to needed children who would soon be back in school. It normally involves foot washing and giving a pair of socks along with the shoes. Last year we cancelled it due to covid concerns. We had it scheduled for this year when it seemed covid was under control. Our problem was construction adjacent to the church that has severely reduced our parking. Then, covid began to rear-up again.

However, since we had them (Samaritan’s feet) scheduled, our leadership reached out to our Hispanic church in Springdale, who accepted our church partnering with them and holding the event for them at their church. That happened this Saturday. We were supposed to sign up online for what job we wanted to do. All the volunteer slots were from 8:45 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. I signed up to be one of those moving shoes from the back “inventory” table to the front for access by those giving them to the recipients. That seemed like a nice indoor job (i.e. in air conditioning).

I arrived a little early, and saw people pulling things out of a trailer. The plans for the day included hot dogs, snow cones, cotton candy, small back of chips, and water for all recipients and their parents, as well as for the volunteers as available. Also included was an inflatable play house, but the kind where only two kids at a time enter and no one else goes in until they come out. That was a covid concession to not have the type of house where many kids are in it. They were just pulling them out of the trailer when I came, so I joined the work crew and we figured out how to set them up.

They were also putting up awnings to cover the different food areas. I helped with that, and helped moved the grill out of the trailer and find a place in the shade for it. Then I figured they would be ready to train the inside volunteers, so quickly went there. I was wrong. They were already halfway through with the training. As I listened and looked over the set up, it seemed to me they didn’t need four people to do the job I had signed up for. Two people could easily handle it. They had 400 people signed up to receive shoes, which sounded like a lot, but the system is so well set up that I couldn’t see that I was needed for that. Because of covid fears, the normal foot washing was suspended, reducing close contact between volunteers and recipients.

Back outside, I looked for a job to do. Because of covid they were going to individually wrap hotdogs. A few of us figured out a system for that and, as the delectable meat began coming off the grill we fell into a rhythm where three of us did the wrapping—wearing masks and gloves, of course, and making use of hand sanitizer.

Alas, the hot dog wrapping table was just outside the shadow of the awning. It was hot, and I wore down fairly quickly. I found a shady place to sit from time to time. I did some trash pickup. I went inside when supplies were needed—anything to get out of the sun.

Even with these steps, I was done by about 12:45. All the hotdogs had been grilled and wrapped and over 200 already given out. Most people who had signed up to get shoes had come and gone with their tote bag of shoes, socks, school supplies, and a small message card. Of the 400 who signed up, they estimated about 30 percent no shows. But people who didn’t sign up came by, and because of the no-shows they were able to receive shoes.

Also going on was a food pantry and a covid vaccine clinic. Both of those served a good number of people. The food pantry, mainly of bread products donated to the church, looked like it might be a regular part of their ministry. The covid clinic was something we arranged for to hopefully catch people who came for shoes but who had not availed themselves of the vaccine. That seemed to work.

I got home (a 30 mile drive) a little before 2 p.m. I tried to read awhile but my bum knee hurt too much. I went to the couch and, once I found a comfortable lot, was out light a light and slept close to two hours. I should have taken an extra pain pill because the knee prevented me from getting a restful night’s sleep.

Yes, I was tired. Yes, I paid for the extra activity. But it was worth it. The yardwork will still be there Monday morning and after. Hopefully I’ll be able to do this again next year. The construction next to our church will be finished, perhaps covid will be in check, and it will be a more normal set-up.

Thanks go out to Samaritan’s Feet and to our church leadership for figuring out how to make this ministry available in difficult circumstances. People (both recipients and volunteers were blessed) and the kingdom of God advanced a notch in the process.

But, I was busy enough I forgot to take photos of the event. This video will tell you a little. How’s your Spanish?

book reviews, Christianity

Book Review: The Soul-Winner’s Secret

Leave a comment

Back in May I reviewed a book re-published by the Salvation Army entitled Love Slaves. I was critical of it, though admitted it did me good to read it. I said in that review that this would be a book for sale or donation. What I didn’t mention was that I had another book in the same series to read. That I did, finishing it last month in my wife’s and my reading aloud in the evenings time. This one is titled The Soul-Winner’s Secret and it’s by the same man, Samuel Logan Brengle of the Salvation Army.

Not one of a pair as I first thought, but one of a dozen or so. They will all be going for sale or donation.

Originally published in 1903 and re-published in 1984 (the date of this copy), my review could be nearly a carbon copy of the last review. The language is just old enough to be archaic. Sentence structures are often convoluted, with multiple levels of defining clauses, requiring re-reading, leaving out the inserted clauses, to find out what the meat of Brengle’s message was.

The message of the book is good. Winning souls for Jesus doesn’t happen by chance. The one who wants to see people added to the kingdom of God on earth must go about it deliberately, with much preparation, prayer, follow-through, and renewal. Chapter titles include:

  • The Soul-Winner’s Personal Experience
  • Be Obedient
  • Prayer
  • Zeal
  • Spiritual Leadership
  • What to Study
  • Personal Health

Prepare to win souls. Study to show yourself approved. Continuously renew your commitment and knowledge. Mind your own health (spiritual and physical) as you do so. Keep at it. Don’t lose your zeal.

As with the other book, this one, while good, is not a keeper. The next time I need a refresher course in my own role in expanding the kingdom of God, I will find a more modern book that is relevant for conditions in the world today. My rating on it is 3-stars, the markdown coming mainly due to the language issue.

But, a funny thing happened when I planned to put this and the other one out on the donation/sale table. About a week before we began reading this, I went to our basement family room, where the biggest part of our library is. Shelves line the west and half of the north wall. But some of those north shelves are hidden by the Christmas tree we keep up year round (it’s a long story). I reached behind the tree one day in June or early July to grab a copy of John Wesley’s Journal, and on the shelf below it I found a whole series of these books, identical binding and covers except for the title. Maybe twelve books in all including the two we read.

How did these two get separated from the set? The shelf I saw the series on was the bottom shelf. Back in 2010 or 2011, we came home from vacation and found our basement wet due to a hot water heater gone bad. The books on the bottom shelf of three book cases were damaged. Rather than throw the damaged ones away, I put them on a table by my computer desk and slowly, while waiting for something to happen on the computer, would open one of them and separate pages. These two books must have been the only ones of that set that were damaged.

I believe I’ve read enough of the set. The two books, which were barely water-damaged, will find their way back to their brothers and thence to the donation/sale table. But, if any of my readers want them, I’ll be happy to send them to them for just the cost of shipping. If you want to know all the titles first send me contact information and I’ll be happy to give you the list.

Bible study, Christianity, Documenting America, goals, Writing

Writing Goals for August 2021

Leave a comment
No new work on this, except to link the three main volumes in a series. I sold 4 copies of The Civil War Edition in the last ten days. More about that in another post.

Well, July came and went without me establishing any writing goals. Yes, you astute observers will have noticed that I didn’t post goals at the beginning of July nor give a recap of how I did with my June goals. When July started we were busy heading to Chicago for a family event. I prepared a few posts ahead of time and scheduled them to post while we were away. Writing progress and new goals wasn’t something I could write early.

But here are my June goals and how I did on them over a two month period. You can get through them then see my August goals after that.

  1. Finish the church anniversary book. I think I’m doing well on this, and should be able to add the final portions and declare it done by the end of the month. …I have some more interviews to conduct, which may hold it up, and some contributions by some others. I won’t say that I’ll have those contributions, but without these interviews the book won’t be done. The book is DONE! I’m at the point where I am so far ahead of schedule with it that, if I had to go to press today I would be satisfied with it. However, since I still have time available, I will continue to tweak it. Maybe do a few more interviews, work on some more photos, etc. It will still be an August goal, and probably every month going forward until it goes to print.
  2. Blog twice a week on Mondays and Fridays. With this post I’m well on my way toward achieving that. I achieved this goal.
  3. Explore a little more the linking of a series together on Amazon. I have four series among my Amazon publications, none currently linked.  This was on my list of things to do last month but didn’t get done. Not only did I explore this, but I managed to get two series created, linking existing publications with their related publications. That was the Danny Tompkins short stories and the Sharon Williams Fonseca short stories. No, wait, it was three series. I also linked my Documenting American non-fiction books into a series.
  4. Work on this website, creating a new landing page and updating some content. I did not do this, technophobia taking over I suppose. I don’t think this is a difficult thing to do, but I put it off and allowed other things to fill the time.
  5. Work with the cover designer concerning new covers for the Church History Novels series. This is somewhat out of my control, based on her schedule. I haven’t checked with her in a couple of weeks. I stayed in touch with the cover creator. She has had a very busy summer, interning somewhere. She contacted me last week to say she is just about ready to get back to them and wanted the print book dimensions. So this is good news, and a goal sort of met.
  6. Watch some Amazon videos on how to better do Amazon ads. They keep sending me e-mails about available webinars, several of which look beneficial. I’d like to watch at least one a week. Goal partially met. I watched two Amazon advertising webinars. They weren’t very helpful. I also re-took the 5-day Amazon Ad Profit Challenge in July, the fourth time I’ve gone through it. I created six ads for Acts Of Faith, bringing me up to 16 ads running. Are they profitable? I’ll cover that in a future post.
  7. Continue work on the next volume of Documenting America. I’m still mainly in the reading for research phase, though I also did some of the book planning and created the book file. I want to at least complete the basic reading (40 more pages) and move on to some other sources. I think that is very do-able. I did finish reading the source materials. I also add somethings to the book file and even began the process of editing down the source documents. But, I would have to say I did not complete this goal.
Six ads running. Not a lot if impressions or clicks, and only one sale in July.

So all in all, June and July, while not stellar with accomplishments, did have their moments. Lack of July goals has reflected in that lack of accomplishment.

Now, time to set some goals for August.

  1. Continue to tweak the church anniversary book. I can think of only two more interviews to do. I may add in photos this month. I have a bunch in the file now, but have more I could add. As I do this, I will first format the book for print dimensions. That will let me bring in photos at the right size.
  2. Finish a short story in the Sharon Williams Fonseca series, tentatively titled “Foxtrot Alpha Tango”. I wrote four pages in July to share with the Scribblers & Scribes critique group when we met that month. With just under 2,000 words written, I believe it’s 2/3 done.
  3. Work on the middle grade novel I started in July. The Forest Throne is technically to be co-authored by my oldest grandson, though I’ll do most of the writing and he will edit it, helping me to understand what 10-13 year old boys like. I wrote the first chapter of this in July and sent it to him for comments, receiving his approbation of the sample. I’d like to add another 5,000 words to it this month to go with the 1350 written so far. I’ve brainstormed out most of the plot but not specific scenes.
  4. Blog twice a week, as always.
  5. Do some work on my website. I’m not sure what, but I have to overcome this technophobia and improve it.
  6. Attend meetings of my three writing groups, assuming they don’t get cancelled because of local corona virus outbreaks.
  7. If the cover artist gets the covers re-done, re-publish the three older church history novels, updating them for new copyright info and list of works, as well as link them in a series.

That’s it. See you in September with a progress update.

book reviews, Christianity

Book Review: Life and Diary of David Brainerd

Leave a comment
It took me at least ten years to finish this. A combination of many things to do and read, and maybe some repetitive boring passages and extraneous material caused me to set this aside for most of that time.

If you start reading a book, get 3/5th of the way through it, lay it aside, and pick it up again and finish it ten years later, does that say something about the book or about you?

That’s what happened to me with The Life and Diary of David Brainerd. It might actually be more than ten years, though for sure less than twenty. My edition of this book was printed in 1989 by Baker Book House, a reprint of the 1949 edition, edited by Philip E Howard, Jr. The original diary and life dates from 1749, first written and edited by Jonathan Edwards, the famed preacher.

Brainerd (1718-1747), from Haddam Connecticut, attended Yale University then became a missionary to the Indians, specifically the Delaware Indians of northern New Jersey. But he was a sick man, suffering from what modern scholars believe was tuberculosis. He had considerable success in his evangelistic efforts.

Brainerd kept a diary and journal at various times during his ministry. Sometimes this was required by the organization that sponsored his ministry. Sometimes he wrote of his own accord. After his death following a lengthy decline, Edwards, in whose house Brainerd spent his final months, had all the younger man’s journals and edited and published them, along with biographical material that Edwards wrote.

The journal is, like many journals are, somewhat boring. Brainerd wrote much the same thing from day to day. At least he did at certain times. At other times, especially in his last three years, he had more substantial and varied writing. It was more interesting. He was quite a man, working through poor health to evangelize the Indians. He took part in their everyday lives, not just preaching to them. It seems that the Indians loved him and regretted his parting from them when his health no longer permitted him to work.

Why did I put this book aside all those years ago? Like I said, it was somewhat boring. That was just the early part. Had I persevered, I would have come to the last third, which was considerably more interesting. I was also put off by the lengthy biography of Jonathan Edwards included. Philip Howard used 30 pages for a bio of Edwards, then two pages of a list of Edwards’ works. That left 320 some pages of the Life-Journal-Diary. I remember thinking that, if I wanted a bio of the fiery Edwards, I would have read a biography of him. For me, at the beginning of the book, it was wasted.

I picked up the book again about a month ago and finished it. I did so because I don’t like to abandon a book I start. Also, because I figured the book wasn’t a keeper. I wanted to finish it, then put it out for sale or donation. Finish it I did. And, as I thought, it isn’t a keeper. Once I finish this post, off to the garage it will go for disposition, one more book read and off the shelves.

I probably sound too negative. It’s a good book. If I were to rate it I’d give it 3 or 4 stars. It’s just not something I see myself ever reading again.

Christianity, miscellaneous

Tired, But Slogging On

Leave a comment
Two ads running for this, both getting impressions but no clicks. Hoping to do three more ads this week.

I had great plans for my blog post today. I have three books recently read that I should review. I have things to say about writing but cannot wrap my mind around it.

The weekend was filled with work on the church anniversary book. I know, in the last post I said I was done with that project. But, as I sought to plug those holes I talked about. I found some other resources and am trying to make contact with relatives of various former pastors or church members. I’ve heard back from a couple, and they should be supplying me with information that will plug the holes. So that tiny little amount of writing left is closer to being done.

So what’s making me tired? And is it mental or physical? A little bit of both. Saturday I got out early and did close to two hours of yard work, including a lot of bending and stooping, as well as removing cuttings and pullings off to the woods. I came back into the house exhausted. I still did work inside the house for the rest of the day, and ended the day quite tired. One of the things I did was go through a large box of photos for the anniversary book. I tried to sort and label some of the envelopes, but I found that exhausting.

Then, I think the work that is required of me this week is causing me mental exhaustion even before I undertake it. I have a number of phone calls to make about home repairs, about the book, and about other writing. We have three medical appointments to go to this week, one a 45 mile drive away down a busy interstate. We will get through it, but thinking about it is exhausting. One of those appointments could result in a number of follow-up appointments, as they figure out a treatment regimen for Lynda’s enlarged thyroid problem.

What else is causing tiredness? Or maybe weariness is a better word to use. Thinking about menus while Lynda is still on a restricted diet post-ablation. Thinking of the continued morning yardwork. Thinking about re-starting our de-cluttering activities. I’m also going through the Amazon Ad Profit Challenge for the third (or maybe the fourth) time, trying to grasp things that left me confused in past times. I made two new ads so far, this time for Acts Of Faith. Both ads are getting impressions but no clicks, no sales. Hopefully those will come with time.

Yesterday was restful, as a Lord’s Day should be. But at church I had to make a brief presentation in both services about the work I’m doing with the anniversary book. Those went okay, though I was sweating profusely afterwards. Here’s  a link to the second service, should you want to see it. My part runs from about 36:20 to 40:00 in the video.

So here I am, writing this on Sunday evening for Monday posting. I have Beethoven’s 6th Symphony running in the background. As soon as I finish this post I’ll get on our evening reading aloud. Hopefully, in the morning, when this post actually goes public, I will be renewed and refreshed.

Christianity, History

My Writing Project Is Done—Sort Of

Leave a comment
This man was instrumental in establishing our church. Yet almost no one in the congregation knows anything about him. His secrets will all be revealed. Well, maybe not all.

As I’ve said in other posts, my main writing project has been a book for our church’s 100th anniversary. Originally planned to be held in Oct 2021 (a delay due to covid), then pushed to around April 2022, and finally set for July 2022, the delays in the celebration mean I’m way ahead of schedule. But I really had no idea how big the book would be. So, predicting when I would finish it was difficult.

Yesterday I had a meeting with our pastor, my first with him to discuss the book since he asked me to write it last November. I’ve been running progress reports and snippets by the Anniversary Committee, and I’ve had drafts posted on our Google Drive site. And, I’ve shared the manuscript electronically with a couple of people outside of the church and received feedback. But, until you have the pastor’s blessing on the product, you don’t know whether you’re on the right path.

Fortunately, Pastor Mark seemed pleased with the book, maybe even impressed. He made some helpful suggestions on additions in a few places. I’ve already made a couple of those changes. The others will require interviewing people. They will be short interviews of people I have already spoken with.

At present, the book is a little over 28,000 words long, about double what I thought it might be when I undertook the project (though, as I said, I had no basis for knowing how long it would be). By the time I add these few items remaining, it should still be less than 29,000.

The main work remaining is to find photos and load them in the book. They will be placeholder photos, coming in at on-line quality (which won’t do for print). And the layout of those photos within the book will be somewhat of a nightmare. I’ll begin that work when I’ve put the last few words in the book and change the page size to the print size. Fortunately, one on our committee is an expert at digital layout. I’ll either turn the photo insertions over to her or will lean heavily on her expertise.

So when I say that the book is done, I guess I’m saying that all essential words are there. If some said to me tomorrow, “You’re out of time; we have to go to press now”, I would feel good about what’s already written and have no regrets. Sure, more high quality photos nicely arranged and a few more words would be worthwhile. But I will be happy whether they get in the book or not.

So, it’s almost on to the next project. Stay tuned for more about that.

Christianity, family

Would You Trade Five Years In Heaven?

4 Comments
Ah, the beauty of God’s creation, tapped and packaged by man. We are not to love it more than God Himself.

It was not my day to teach our Life Group class yesterday. And, since Lynda is still recovering from her heart ablation on Friday, I decided to stay home and join the class via Zoom. Since my co-teacher is a veterinarian and sometimes gets called in even on his weekend off, I always prepare to teach. I did so on Saturday, and then some more yesterday morning. Good thing, as he almost didn’t make it due to veterinary duties. Our study is in 1st John, and our scripture for yesterday was 1 John 2:15-17

15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

Lots of years to spend with these four. But should I not want heaven more?

As I prepared to teach and worked through various lines of discussion, I found the concept of not loving the world difficult to work out. God created the world. God so loved the world. Should we not love it? Obviously there is some nuance here. Perhaps the word “love” needs some explanation. Or the word “world”. What exactly does that mean?

I thought of the difference between the world and life. I wouldn’t say that I love my life, but I do like it and enjoy it. God has given me certain skills which I am able to use to change the world, one book at a time, one letter at a time. I have children influence then watch as they moved into adult responsibilities and careers. And grandchildren to watch and influence a little as they grow up. I would hate to miss all that. And I have a wife to love and care for, and share the years with.

What a joy it was watching these two grow up, and perhaps influencing them a little.

But the thought came to me: Would I trade five years in heaven to have five more on earth to accomplish more and be part of the family? I’d like to have those five years to accomplish more; a lot more than that really. If God were to say to me, “I know you have things you want to do, things that you will enjoy and find fulfilling. But I’m ready for you to come home. It’s your choice.” What would I do?

The same thing happened to King Hezekiah in the Old Testament. God said his time had come. He told God he wasn’t ready. God answered that prayer and gave him 15 years more. During Hezekiah’s extra 15 years weren’t all that good, as he showed more interest in his own wealth and position than he did in the things of God.

And spending more time with my soulmate.

But I love the things in my life. I’d like to live it some more. And therein lies the problem and probably what John meant. While there’s a lot of bad stuff in the world, there’s a lot of good stuff too. A lot of enjoyment. A lot of satisfaction. Ah, but heaven! The beauty of God’s creation, the beauty of a life being well lived, cannot replace the beauty of heaven.

Maybe that’s the answer to John’s question. No, not a question but a command. Do not love the world or the things in the world. Do not let anything take precedence over God. Enjoy life while you can, but earnestly desire heaven when that time comes. Until then, I will embrace what the apostle Paul said:

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far…. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue….

America, Bible study, book reviews, Christianity

Book Review: The Harbinger

Leave a comment

While we were in Orlando in May-early June, we took a morning to go to a Books-a-Million store near where we needed to pick up some first aid supplies. Lynda cut her foot on a barnacle-encrusted rock at the beach and had stitches. I also needed to take care of something at the pharmacy. Our errand completed, we went around the corner to the book store.

This book has an important message for the USA, but they way that message is presented rates it 2-stars from me.

That’s a favorite activity of mine, to go to a book store (or a library works just as well) and browse, select, read while drinking coffee, and probably not buy. On this day I bought a writer’s magazine, and Lynda bought The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn. Cahn is a Messianic Jew, and Lynda listens to his podcasts. I’ve listened some too, but haven’t heard them enough, or paid attention enough (I’m always multi-tasking) to get a good feel for what his message is. This book was our evening reading for much of June.

The subtitle of the book is “The Ancient Mystery That Hold The Secret of America’s Future”. The book essentially draws out parallels that Cahn sees between Isaiah 9:10-11 and the events of 9-11 and the years since then. It’s a warning—a harbinger—for America, to turn back to God.

In Isaiah, God’s protection was prophesied to be removed from Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and, because their response to God’s rebuke was incomplete, another judgment would fall on Israel. This happened to Israel, just as Isaiah prophesied.

The literary technique used by Cahn is a dialog, or actually two dialogs, between Nouriel and 1) an investigative reporter named Ana and 2) an unnamed prophet. It was this prophet who gave Nouriel a series of seals. Nouriel had to investigate what the seals meant. As he followed the clues, the prophet would suddenly appear and help him to understand what the seals meant, what Israel went through, and what the USA was going through.

I find it difficult to find any fault with what Cahn says in the book concerning the fate of the USA. He could well be right that we are on a declining leg of our up and down history, and there may not be a future up leg. Our zenith may indeed have happened and it’s all down from here. Cahn doesn’t lay out a litany of what’s wrong with America. Simply that we as a nation have turned away from God; that 9-11 was evidence that the hand of God’s protection has been removed from us; that we did not respond to that warning with repentance and turning but with defiance and bravado; that other judgments have come upon us and are still coming. I won’t say he’s incorrect about any of those. The book was copyrighted in 2011, and much has happened since then.

However, Cahn’s literary vehicle was not good. In fact, I’d call it bad. The dialogs between Nouriel and the prophet and Nouriel and the reporter were tedious and repetitive.  The seals were a contrivance to build the story on. A simple statement of the message Cahn wants to give (Wake up, America! Wasn’t 9-11 enough? Wasn’t the Panic of 2008 enough?) could have been given in 100 pages or less instead of the 253 pages in the paperback we read.

He could have avoided the silliness of the seals. He could have spared us the endless dialog, and scenes of lower Manhattan or of various places in Washington D.C., where Nouriel and the prophet met up. Rabbi Cahn, if you read this, those things detracted from your message, they didn’t add to it.

It seemed that every night as we read, and I waded through the dialog or descriptions of what was on a fictitious seal, I would say aloud, “Well, he just lost 5 stars,” or “No way I can give this 4 stars.” In fact, if I post a review on Amazon, I will likely give it 2 stars. It would be 1 star for organization and writing, but higher for message.

In my mind, this book is not a keeper. I don’t ever plan on reading it again. Lynda will likely want to keep it. So on the shelf it will go.

Bible study, book reviews, Christianity

Book Review: “Daniel”

Leave a comment

As we continue to try to whittle down our inventory of books by pulling some off the shelf or out of piles that look like they will be good to read but not necessary to keep, my wife pulled Daniel off the shelf. It’s a Bible commentary volume by J. Vernon McGee, based on his radio “Through The Bible” broadcasts.

Every now and then I would catch McGee’s program while driving in the Kansas City area back in the late 70s/early 80s. Years and years later, in the first decade of this century (I think), I would catch it again sometimes. I enjoyed the program. The latter round was just a re-broadcast of the earlier programs, with a new intro added.  I think Lynda picked up this book at a yard sale or thrift store. I know we didn’t buy it new.

It was an okay book. McGee’s broadcasts were for the layman and, since this volume is said to be more or less a transcript of his broadcasts (slightly modified as would be needed for a book), it’s easily read and provides some good information and explanations of the book of Daniel. I’ve read many other commentaries as I do my Bible studies and prepare to teach adult Sunday school, and find them almost written for scholars by scholars, not for laymen. This aspect of the book I liked.

I found the organization difficult. Where Daniel had his visions or where he interpreted the dreams of others, McGee put the  commentary of the interpretations with the dreams/visions, rather than hold them for the verses of the explanations. Then, when he got to the verses of the explanations, he had nothing to say but to repeat what he had already said. It seems to me that if the Bible is clear, the commentator shouldn’t have to say much. Of, if the Bible repeats itself (as it sometimes does), the commentator should say little. McGee did that to some extent, but perhaps not enough.

In his defense, it’s a tough thing to write a commentary in a repetitive situation. I don’t think I could do any better. McGee also did a good job sorting out the historical context. The Bible doesn’t give a list of the Babylonian kings, or those of the Medes and Persians. That has to be obtained from non-biblical sources. McGee gives that info—a good thing.

Right after reading McGee’s book, we got out the Matthew Henry concise commentary and Daniel read that, sort of as an exercise. When I’ve used Henry’s commentary before, I found it different than others, having more of a insights for living a Christian life feel to it than just a technical explanation of the Bible. I thought, therefore, we might gain some of those insights. Alas, it wasn’t as good for that purpose as I hoped it would be. It’s still a good commentary; just not something you can read as sort of a devotional.

I’m glad we read McGee’s book. I give it either 3 or 4 stars. But it is not a keeper. Today it will go on the sale/donate table. Nor will I go out of my way to acquire any others in the series. It’s good, but not good enough in our era of dis-accumulation.