A Critic's Eye: Book & Product Reviews

Review: Michael Logozar - Coming Into View (Get it FREE through Noisetrade)

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:17:00 -0500

I have had Michael Logozar's album Coming Into View for only a few days and have played it a half dozen times. It is an all-instrumental piano album. For 48 minutes and 10 tracks, Logozar manages to play in a soothing and diminished manner that doesn't have the annoying triteness of the relaxation, new age piano albums. Logozar is content to be silent and let a note simply ring and capable of complex interludes.

I have a very difficult time reading or studying without music in the background, and the constant struggle is to find something that will not become distracting in itself, isn't boring, and can simply fade into the background. Coming Into View is certainly one of the best that I have found for this purpose.

Best of all, you can get the album for free by letting a few friends know about it through NoiseTrade. Use the widget below to get the free album.

Carbonite Online Backup Saved the Day Once Again

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:47:00 -0500

Thank God for Carbonite! I have had Carbonite online backup software installed on my computer for two years now. In that time I have had two catastrophic computer failures (practically all data lost from the hard drive) and yet I have not lost any of that data.

A couple days ago I was working away and poof computer turned off and won't turn back on. I had been working on a Microsoft Word file in minutes before my computer's death, had downloaded an album from iTunes that morning, and had scanned and then shredded some important financial files hours earlier. I just loaded Carbonite onto the laptop that I'm using while I wait for the old one to be repaired. Carbonite had been backing up everything in the background and to my delight all of those files (and everything else from the old computer, all 254 GB of it) was backed up. I just downloaded the Word file I had been working on and am able to continue working right where I left off and am able to restore any or all of the files that I want thanks to Carbonite.

Carbonite is basically a piece of software that works in the background uploading everything (using encryption) that the user specifies to be backed up to Carbonite's servers. So whether my computer crashes or my house burns down, my data is secure. For $50 a year, Carbonite offers unlimited backup of any in-computer hard drives (they won't back up external hard drives). If you look at the reviews on Amazon, there are a large number of people who have complaints about Carbonite. As I view them based on my experience with the software and the company, these are all based on the users misunderstanding of how to use the software. So if you use Carbonite, beware that it will not automatically back up all files or file types. For example, movies and .exe files are not automatically backed up, but will be if you tell the program to (this is because most .exe files with the exception of installers won't function apart from the entire program installation so it is not helpful to back this filetype up). However, if you right click on a movie and tell carbonite to back up this file type from now on, they will be backed up. You can likewise tell Carbonite to back up everything within a directory by right clicking on the directory.

Once Carboniteis installed a colored dot appears on each file telling you whether or not it will be backed up and whether it has been backed up yet or not. After you install, I simply recommend that you check your various document types to make sure that Carbonite knows that you want to back it up (by right-clicking on the file). I understand people's frustration, but this is all pretty clear as you read the documentation.

In summary, I am a very very very very happy user of Carbonite who is currently enjoying the benefits of his $50/year subscription. I have all my files even from minutes prior to the computer crash. That is the test of a good backup utility. Carbonite passes with flying colors. I haven't found a single file that I needed that wasn't backup up.

Don't Lead Your Church Into Religious Busy-ness (Quote: A.W. Tozer)

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:44:00 -0500

Don’t for one second let the…bustle of religous activity, a surge of religious thinking fool you into thinking that there is a lot of spirituality…Actually, our craze for activity brings few enriching benefits into our Christian circles. If you look into [many churches], you will find groups of half-saved, half-sanctified, carnal people who know more about social niceties than they do about the New Testament…[It is a] never-ending squirrel-cage motion [that] gives the impression that much is being done, when actually nothing really important is ever happening and no genuine spiritual progress is being made. From such we must turn away. In an effort to get the work of the Lord done, we often lose contact with the Lord of the work and quite literally wear people out as well…[Activity alone] is not fellowship at all…The center of attraction in a true church is the Lord Jesus Christ. As for fellowship, let the Holy Spirit define it for us: ‘And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.’

A.W. Tozer
Tozer on Worship & Entertainment: Selected Excerpts
162-164

Timothy Brindle: Killing Sin

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:04:00 -0500

I have been loving Timothy Brindle's second album Killing Sin, for many months now. You know a cd's gonna be good when it's

based on mortification of sin making frequent use of John Owen
Tracklist looks like a collection of Puritan sermons and books including: "Pressing Into the Kingdom" (Edwards), Power of the Holy Spirit (Ryle), Sinfulness of Sin (Venning), Preciousness of time (Edwards)
Sample John Piper Sermons
Encourages us to greater holiness by pointing us to Christ

Brindle has given us a great gift in Killing Sin. For 16 tracks, he describes sin as wickedly detestable and Christ as utterly desirable. From Sinfulness of sin: "Sin is any thought that's not morally pure, sin is loving anything else more than the Lord, sin is breaking his laws, breaking his commands, sin is hatred for God, it's blatantly satanic." Sin is revealed for the disgusting thing that it is, often likened to excrement. But Brindle recognizes that revealing sin for what it is is not sufficient. Romans 6 is often referenced, proclaiming that we are to kill sin and not sin because Christ has already freed us from the dominion of sin and made us His slaves to righteousness. So each song is filled with gospel promises. The joy of obedience to Christ is proclaimed as superior pleasure to endulging in sin. Sin is to be fought and we are to press into the kingdom, not by being perfect, but by "rocking [Christ's] righteousness as our banner." The album reveals Brindle's deep knowledge of the Bible's teaching regarding sin, salvation, and sanctification. He effectively takes the heart-changing biblical theology of the Puritans and makes it memorable as he sets it to rhyme and rhythm.

If you are unfamiliar with gospel/holy hip-hop, I recommend you first go get Shai Linne's Atonement and let him preach the gospel to you. And then get Brindle's Killing Sin. I praise God for Timothy Brindle and the effect that this cd has had on me in my battle to kill sin in me:

Pressing Into the Kingdom: "Rocking righteousness as my banner"

The Humility of Christ

The Excellency of Christ: "This is the ultimate remedy against sin and temptation-namely knowing, enjoying, and worshiping Jesus Christ and his many excellencies"

Let's Kill Sin:

The Sinfulness of Sin:

Apologetics for the Glory of God by John Frame (Review)

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 08:08:00 -0500

I have read almost a dozen apologetics texts over the last year, and in my estimation, Apologetics for the Glory of God by John Frame should be the first book you read on the subject. Let John Frame guide you as you learn the particulars of apologetic argument from other apologists. John Frame describes what principles should be guiding the use of any evidence or line of reasoning as the apologist seeks to reason with the nonbelieving skeptic. Frame's apologetics would rightly be characterized as presuppositional in nature; he is not shy to be aligned with Cornelius Van Til. However, for those who think that a presuppositional apologetic eschews evidence, you will be pleasantly surprised. I recommend that any reader of Apologetics for the Glory of God get a copy of Frame's masterpiece Doctrine of the Knowledge of God as frequent reference is made to it and you will find ideas hinted at fully expounded in that larger volume. All of Frame's thinking is influenced by his tri-perspectival way of looking at things (which DKG goes into much detail), where he realizes the helpfulness of considering truth from different angles. His apologetics is no different; the perspectives into which he breaks the apologetic task (and the chapters of the book) are:

Apologetics as Proof
Apologetics as Defense
Apologetics as Offense

Classical apologists seek to find commonground between the believer and the nonbeliever and work from there to convince the skeptic of the plausibility of existence of the God of the Bible; therefore, the classical apologist argues, the Bible is not the appropriate place to start in apologetic encounters. The presuppositionalist argues on the other hand, that the unbeliever is acting in rebellion to God as manifested by his desire to think autonomously and place himself as the ultimate criterion of truth. The apologist should not encourage this thinking; neither should the apologist adopt it. The skeptics basic heart commitment is that Jesus is not Lord; the apologists basic heart commitment is that Jesus is Lord. "Our argument must be an exhibit of that knowledge, that wisdom, which is based on the 'fear of the Lord,' not an exhibition of unbelieving foolishness. Therefore apologetic argument is no more neutral than any other human activity. In apologetic argument, as in everything else we do, we must presuppose the truth of God's Word....Even if neutrality were possible, that route would be forbidden to us" (p. 9).

There is no common ground apart from mutual knowledge of God of which Romans 1:19ff way. The thing that the apologist is most sure is true is that which God has told him in the Bible. Therefore, the apologists argument will be based on Scripture. Frame writes, "The preacher-apologist is to present the word...to expound it, to apply it to his hearers, to display its beauty, its truth, its rationality. [He] seeks to combat the unbeliever's false impressions and present to him the word as it really is. It is to this testimony that the Spirit also bears witness" (p. 17). This does not mean, however, that natural evidences or rational argumentation are out of line, just that they must be submitted to Scripture, "The obedient Christian apologist will show the unbeliever the various ways in which nature reveals God, without claiming neutrality and without allowing the use of non-Christian criteria of truth" (p. 25). The main attack against this line of reasoning is that it is circular; the teachings of the Bible are true because the Bible is true. We must recognize the truth of this statement but recognize that every system of thought is circular when it seeks to defend its ultimate presupposition: the Bible, reason/logic, sense-experience, relativism, or otherwise.

Frame spends the rest of the book working his presuppositional line of reasoning out as it relates to proving Christianity to be true, defending Christianity's truth, and attacking the irrationality of all other belief systems. Frame includes very little actual argumentation, with the exception of the problem of evil in the world. He admits this. His goal in this book is to provide the framework into which all other arguments or lines of reasoning will fit, and he does so masterfully. It is for this reason that I recommend that you read Frame before any other apologists, because fit into this framework the apologist can use any true line of reasoning or evidences (whether it comes from a presuppositionalist or not) and use it in a way that recognizes Jesus and not man as Lord.

Finally, the book ends with an exceptional transcript from a faux dialogue between Frame and a man on an airplane where Frame demonstrates how each item he has discussed throughout the book might work itself out in actual apologetic discussion with a real life person.

I do not recommend that Apologetics to the Glory of God is the only apologetics book you read, but I do recommend that it is the first. When you are finished, I recommend you move on to Busenitz's Reasons We Believe and/or Pratt's Every Thought Captive.

Review: Financial Shock by Mark Zandi

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 11:00:00 -0500

Financial Shock is a timely read in in light of today's economic crisis. It has served me well in educating me as to the behind-the-scenes causes of the financial shock that we are all feeling. Dr. Mark Zandi, chief economist and cofounder of Moody's economy.com, gives simple and helpful advice on how to avoid/mitigate the damages of the next bursting bubbles. He ably identified time and time again that "Americans aren't as smart about money as we should be. Financial illiteracy was a fundamental cause of the subprime financial shock" (p. 236). This book, which is imminently readable, will go far to help educate any member of the public who spends the time to read it.

He begins the book with a very simply yet insightful summary of the recent history that led to the perfect storm. The remaining chapters go into detail on each one of the players. The book is full of helpful charts that convey simply pertinent information without confusion. Zandi is a master at making the complex understandable, at defining terms, and writing for the layperson (but I have no doubt that this would be helpful for the well-versed as well). Finally, although he misjudged the state of the market writing, "the worst of the crisis appears to be over," (published in July '08), he does give 10 "policy steps" based on all that he's written to help us fix this problem and to avoid or mitigate the damamges of bubble bursts in the future. This list will help you get a flavor for what he writes about in the previous chapters (don't worry if you don't understand the terminology - I didn't either - but if you read the book you will):

Adopt a voluntary mortgage write-down policy
Establish clear mortgage lending rules
3. License mortgage brokers
4. Expand data collection
5. Reform the fractured foreclosure process
6. Invest in financial literacy
7. Modify mark-to-market accounting
8. Raise financial transparency and accountability
9. Overhaul financial regulation
10. Pay attention to asset bubbles.

If I could summarize Financial Shock, it would be: Simply Helpful. Simple, but not Simplistic. And although it is writing about a scandal, it is not scandalous. History is used more to help us learn lessons than to point fingers. I have learned much from this book. It has given me the basis to digest most of what I'm reading in the paper and hearing on the news.

On a similar note, I found this roller coaster animation plotting housing prices exceptionally enlightening in regards to the financial state we find ourselves in (HT JT):

Review: Amazon Kindle for Christians

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:43:00 -0500

After one month and a dozen books of using my new Amazon.com Kindle, I can recommend it most enthusiastically. The Kindle is basically an electronic book reader with wireless connectivity. Using Amazon's Whispernet (powered by Sprint EVDO), the Kindle can download full text of books, subscribe to receive digital editions of periodicals or blogs, receive emailed digital texts, and browse the web. Everybody who has seen my Kindle is immediately impressed by the amazingly easy-to-read screen, called electronic paper, which displays a very high quality grayscale viewable in both lowlight and direct sunlight situations. The search function allows basic searching for terms within all of your loaded books or online. The onboard dictionary allows lookup of full definitions with etymology of most common words.

Pros

Super easy to read screen in all lighted conditions
Always connected to internet wherever Sprint has service; (makes up for high cost of device)
Perfect for reading text-based webpages
Long battery life (days when wireless is disabled)
Easy to turn on/off; easy to enable/disable wireless (switch at back)
Amazon or Mobipocket converter will convert HTML & Microsoft Word documents to be readable.
PDF texts are able to be converterted but often lose formatting
Mp3 player and Audible Audiobook player (either through speaker on back or through headphones)
Easy to navigate with huge Next page, Previous Page, Back buttons. Very simple navigation; grandparents in their 70's have used it without problem and minimal introduction.
QWERTY keyboard easily allows typing/notetaking easily exported to computer
Comes with nice leather carrying case
Easy to "clip" sections of text for export to computer

Cons

No native pdf document support (conversion often destroys formatting)
Easy to accidentally push the navigation buttons
No backlight (can purchase clip on light which works well)
Battery life only about 12 hours with internet enabled
Web browser very limited in formatting capabilities/unable to work with complex pages

Kindle for Christians

The above comments are not unlike most of the other thousands of reviews of the Kindle. My primary concern is for Christians, especially for Christian leaders. Is it easy to read the Bible on the Kindle? Are new Christian releases available on Kindle? What about the books published in the last decades? What about older works, public domain? The following is a brief summary, I will be blogging much more extensively on this topic in the upcoming weeks and months and going into more detail.

Bibles

I have downloaded and used a few translations of the Bible. They are all plagued by the same problem. The Kindle doesn't show you what chapter of a book you are on, so it is easy to get lost and difficult to check what book or chapter you are in. They all have common navigation scheme: Navigate to the books via the table of contents. Then the superiorly formatted ones (ESV, NASB, & NIV) let you click on links to navigate to the appropriate chapters (I can usually find a verse in these versions in under 15 seconds). (NET & KJV) make you click next page until you get where you are trying to go (this can take a very long on the order of minutes if the verse is later in a book) In summary, the Kindle is not very effective as a look-up-stuff Bible, but excellent in any translation to read straight through a book of the Bible or to read a long section.

Modern Christian Books

Crossway and some other publishers are releasing their books in Kindle format, downloadable in under a minute by navigating on the Kindle to the Kindle Store or by ordering online at the Kindle Store. It seems like most new books are being released digitally. However, books published in years past are only slowly making their way onto the Kindle, and most (but not all) of these are the doctrinally deprived best-seller types. I will be releasing recommended Kindle reading in the coming weeks and months. Additionally many authors release their books digitally for free and these are easily converted to Kindle format and read. Some of these authors that do this are John Piper, Frame & Poythress, and some from Sovereign Grace. Similarly Crossway often will email you a pdf of the physical books that you buy direct from their site.

The best part of reading digitally is that many of the best books available are public domain. Christian CLassics Ethereal Library, Gracegems, Spurgeon.org, Google books, and others are great to get digital texts which you can then paste into a Word document or pdf and send it to your Kindle, or you can browse some of the texts directly on the web-browser on the Kindle.

I have a very extensive digital text collection in Libronix and as I am studying, if I find something that I want to read later when I'm not at the computer screen, I have found myself pasting it into a Word Doc and emailing it to my Kindle to read later. It has made my Libronix Digital Library much more useful to me.

Commentaries

I have not found many commentaries for sale for use in Kindle, however, I have found myself during my study times on Libronix pasting the commentary sections that I want to read in more detail into Word and sending it to my Kindle. There are many public domain commentaries that are available online that the Kindle user can take advantage of. Overall, however, the Kindle is not a good standalone reference tool as it is very slow to navigate section to section (as discussed in the Bible section above). My opinion is that the Kindle is best used to read large sections and not flip around within a resource as is done in a reference book.

Blogs

Most blogs have pretty complicated formats; Kindle does not do well with this. As far as I know, Kindle has no way to read RSS feeds; so I have not found any easy way to read blogs effectively on the Kindle. Amazon does have an option to serve blogs to your Kindle at a cost if the blog chooses to participate. This may be the future of blog reading on Kindle, but I hope that soon there will be an easy way to read simple RSS feeds on the Kindle.

Overall, I highly recommend the Kindle for all who love to read. I have loved mine and find myself using it for hours and hours almost each day.

We Are All Very Committed and Gifted Self-Swindlers (Quote: Paul David Tripp)

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:36:00 -0500

Sin lives in a costume; that why it's so hard to recognize. The fact that sin looks so good is one of the things that make it so bad. In order for it to do its evil work, it must present itself as something that is anything but evil. Life in a fallen world is like attending the ultimate masquerade party:

Inpatient yelling wears the costume of a zeal for truth.
Lust can masquerade as a love for beauty
Gossip does its evil work by living in the costume of concern and prayer
Craving for power and control wears the mask of biblical leadership
Fear of man gets dressed up as a servant heart
The pride of always being right masquerades as a love for biblical wisdom

Evil simply doesn't present itself as evil, which is part of its draw...Now, what this means personally is that as sinners we are all very commited and gifted self-swindlers...We're all too skilled at looking at our own wrong and seeing good. We're all much better at seeing the sin, weaknesses, and fialures of others than we are our own. We're all very good at being intolerant of others of the very things that we willingly tolerate in ourselves....Accurate self assessment is the product of grace. It is only in the mirror of God's Word and with the sight-giving help of the Holy Spirit that we are able to see ourselves as we actually are.

Paul David Tripp
Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin & Mercy (Amazon | Kindle | WTS)
Chapter 6
As Read on my Kindle

Review: The Truth of the Cross by R.C. Sproul

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:25:00 -0500

In The Truth of the Cross, R.C. Sproul effectively communicates the truth of the cross, its significance, its necessity, and its accomplishments. The Truth of the Cross is a short little book packed with doctrine related to the cross (with a focus on substitutionary atonement), a topic that no Christian can spend too much time thinking about rightly. R.C. Sproul's aim throughout the 10 chapters of the book is to ensure that the reader correctly understands what transpired at the cross, why it was necessary, and what God accomplished there. He makes extensive use of church history, historic Christian philosophers and theologians, (Augustine, Aquinas, Anselm, Luther, & Calvin), philosophy, and logic. Sproul, as usual, is excellent at taking complex statements and whittling them down so that they seem simple. I do wish, however, that the book was more Scripture-packed and that Sproul's appeals were based more explicitly on Scripture than on logic. It seems that Sproul's modus operandi is to demonstrate where his reformed theology logically directs his thinking on an issue. Then he may point to Scripture to show how his position is not at odds with Scripture. This seems backwards to me and is my concern with Sproul and underlies all of the areas of disagreement/caution that I have with this book (On pp 159-161, Sproul's need to teach that Jesus the man and not Jesus God was crucified at the cross seems to be more theologically driven than textually driven and is a good example of this observation as not one verse is cited or interacted with to defend his position, Acts 20:28 & 1 Cor 2:8 would have been nice). Nevertheless, this book is an excellent devotional treatise on cross of Christ that does make frequent use of Scripture. It served me well as I slowly read it, wondering anew at the amazing love of this Holy God who would crush His Son in my place and give me His righteousness to free me from Hell and to reconcile me to Him.

The first few chapters were written to demonstrate to the reader that the atonement was absolutely necessary if man were to have any hope to come to God. Sproul writes, "If we are defective in understanding the character of God or understanding the nature of sin, it is inevitable that we will come to the conclusion that an atonement was not necessary" (p. 15). It is not merely enough to know the facts of the cross, we must know the meaning of the facts, he says, otherwise we will miss the significance of the cross (p. 102). Sproul does a masterful job at simply and understandably laying out this significance. In summarizing what he has taught, at the end of the book, Sproul writes, "[The cross] is not an afterthought or an attempt to correct a mistake. Rather, from all eternity, God determined that He would redeem for himself a people, and that which He determined to do was, in fact, accomplished in the work of Jesus Christ, His atonement on the cross."

In the face of many modern heresies, such as New Perspective on Paul, postmodernism, and Open Theism, that attack the very significance of the cross and are being embraced by many in evangelical circles, Sproul's book is well-timed and well written. We would do well to read it, recognize the truth of the cross, and guard ourselves from believing these gospel-attacking wolf-doctrines dressed in academic sheep's clothing. We would do well to sit at the foot of the cross everyday and recognize the importance of the doctrines that first brought us life and are meant to sustain us through our Christian life. For these ends, you will be served well by Sproul's The Truth of the Cross.

Purchase at Westminster Books
Purchase at Amazon.com

A Baby Preaching: Less Content; Less Error; More Excitement!

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:17:00 -0500

In what was described by his brother as a "powerful move of God" a baby, the son of the preacher, takes the mic and begins to "preach". It is far better than what the congregation was used to and better than much of what you'd find on TBN:

Slightly less content
Much less error
Equal or greater emotional rise.

Amen! Sad, huh? This just reinforces how grateful I am for the expository preaching I am blessed with each week.

HT: Thabiti

Business for the Glory of God by Wayne Grudem

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:01:00 -0500

I had never really thought about it, but I guess--even though it is contrary to my longing and belief that God can be and is glorified through all of the Christian's life--that I had always just assumed that business wasn't good in and of itself. In fact like Grudem asserts of those who are like I was, we believe, "that from a moral perspective [profit, competition, money, and business are] 'neutral' at best." I guess that when I was pursuing a degree in engineering, I thought that I could glorify God through it by sharing the gospel at the work place, earning enough money to free my wife up to be a stay-at-home mom, and being able to give moreo the church. But Grudem's view is so much balanced and biblical than money t these views, exposing my blindness that would have kept me from obeying 1 Corinthians 10:31, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do (including business), do all for the glory of God." (On a side not to 1 Cor 10:31, read "How to Drink Orange Juice to the Glory of God," chapter 5 of John Piper's book, Pierced by the Word.)

The topics in which Grudem covers in this book, with a chapter devoted to each one are:
How God is glorified by...
1. Ownership
2. Productivity
3. Employment
4. Commercial Transactions
5. Profit
6. Money
7. Inequality of Possessions
8. Competition
9. Borrowing and Lending

and he then includes two chapters on
10. Attitudes of Heart
11. Effects on World Poverty.

Grudem is not blind to the abuses of business, the ways in which we idolize money and success and become gracious losing sight of the fact that we are operating with God's stuff not ours. He regularly comments throughout the book on concerns to balance the view, but the real wealth of attitude-changing information comes from not-often-talked-about fact that business can in-and-of-itself be glorifying to God. We don't have to feel "vaguely guilty" about business but can use it to both glorify God while we're doing it and advance the Kingdom through it.

My only complaint is the size of the book, and for that I wish I could give it four-and-a-half stars. The book is really small (83 pages of text) and oftentimes when it seems like he is just beginning to develop a thought or when a proposition could use a little more defense, he needs to move on to the next topic of discussion. However, he can be excused because he has let the reader know that he is working on a larger edition saying in the preface, "The Bible says much about these topics, and a thorough treatment deserves a much larger book than this, one that I am still in the process of writing."

In summary, if you are in business or are a student studying or considering studying business, read this book. It should have a profound and God-glorifying effect (if read as it is written and not taken as a license to idolize business or success and withhold God's grace from people) on your life, studies, and career.

Other Purchasing Options:
Libronix Downloadable
Kindle Reader Downloadable
Paper-&-Ink from WTS
Paper-&-Ink from Amazon
Spanish version from Amazon

Grudem also gave a series of sermons/lectures on this topic at Covenant Life Church. They are downloadable for free.

Review: Worldliness by C.J. Mahaney et al

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:57:00 -0500

Mahaney and others from Sovereign Grace Ministries attack love-for-the-world head on in this book. Based on the premise that many Christians have "cut" 1 John 2:15 - "Do not love the world or anything in the world" - out of "their Bibles" in the way that they act, C.J. Mahaney and the other authors call for Christians to renew their efforts to avoid worldliness. All too often when Christians have sought to avoid worldliness, they have done so with law. By this I mean that God's grace is viewed only as what originally ushered the believer into the kingdom, but God's grace is not viewed as instrumental in the fight against sin. Rather, individual efforts are given the bulk of the weight. This book is categorically different; there are no signs of legalism here, but the call to avoid wordliness is radical, unflinching, and must grab your attention. C.J. Mahaney writes in the first chapter, "While resisting wordliness is this books theme, exalting Christ is its aim." They hit the bull's-eye they were aiming for.

Word of caution: We rarely view ourselves as worldly; rather, wordliness is defined by those who do not meet up to our artificial criteria of what a Christian life in the world should look like. Usually something like ourselves serves as our epitome of that standard. Therefore, my temptation in coming to a book entitled Worldliness is to read it "for someone else." Without shepherding my thoughts, I would tend to think as I read, "This book is perfect for so-and-so," or "I can't wait for my friend to read this." This must not be your first thought. This book will reveal sin you were oblivious to, and it will give you the gospel-saturated tools you need to overwhelm the appeal of the world with love for Christ. Then properly and continuously applied to yourself, this book surely will serve entire churches well. The one who loves what this book calls us to - The grace and glory of God revealed at the cross - will attack worldliness most God-glorifyingly and most effectively. They will recognize, as Mahaney writes, that, "Eradication [of worldliness] is not an end in itself. Resisting wordliness is absolutely vital but it is ultimately not most significant. Jesus Christ is most important. We must fight worldliness because it dulls our affections for Christ and distracts our attention from Christ. Wordliness is so serious because Christ is so glorious." So let God use this book first and most in your own life, and then I guarantee that you will be giving it to many others, and then you can fight the sin of worldliness together, not through legalism, but motivated and empowered by God's grace.

Here's a rundown of the contents of the book:

Chapter 1- "Is This Verse In Your Bible": C.J. Mahaney introduces the topic of worldliness, explains why this book is important, and sets the gospel-tone that saturates every chapter.

Chapter 2 - "God, My Heart, & Media": Cabaniss, noting the unavoidable and ubiquitous presence of media in Americans life, warns us, "As followers of Christ, we cannot afford to take lightly the media's pervasive presence in our lives." The message of almost all of this media is the message of love for the world of which John warned us in 1 John 2:16, "The desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions." It is not a legalistic calling of media sin, but instead a pastoral urging to sharpen our biblical discernment and evaluation of our media intake for the glory of God. The danger for legalism regarding media is real and it is really dangerous. We must therefore be selective, and the "why" of our selectively it crucial. Guarding us from legalism, Cabaniss roots the what and the why or selectivity in media in the guarding of our hearts and the glory of God.

Chapter 3 - "God, My Heart, & Music": Bob Kauflin, a great lover and maker of music, warns of the many danger of the love of music and commends proper use of music to us. Music is not inherently good or bad, but because music immediately engages our emotions, its effect on us can be far more profound than we realize. "Listening to music is never neutral, because our sinful hearts are involved." Kauflin comments, "A wise Christian understands that listening to music without discernment and godly intent reveals a heart willing to flirt with the world." Yet "it's not uncommon for Christians on Sunday...to worship Jesus for his substitionary death on the cross, then sing songs during the week that exalt the sins he died for" (see James 3:10). So we must ask, does the music we listen to "dull our conscience" or direct us to "glory in the cross." He is clear that this does not mean that "non-Christian" music is off-limits, nor does it mean that all that passes for "Christian" should be listened to without discernment. The chapter was very helpful to me to encourage me to be thoughtful with my listening or not-listening. Refusing to give a list of examples of acceptable and unacceptable music or bands, he instead encourages us to ask the following two questions and then gives us tools to guide us in finding and listening to music that won't encourage worldliness:
1. First, does the music you listen to lead you to love the
  Savior more or cause your affections for Christ to diminish?
2. Second, does your music lead you to value an eternal
  perspective or influence you to adopt the mindset of this
  “present evil age”?
Chapter 4 - "God, My Heart, & Stuff": Dave Harvey warns us against trusting in possessions and hoping in things by reminding us of eternity and the joy of laying up treasures in heaven. This puts stuff in its proper perspective and lets us enjoy it more fully and more rightly recognizing its insufficiency to bring happiness and recognizing things as gifts from God. He warns that "stuff stokes our desire but doesn't satisfy." Getting stuff is never enough for a heart in love with the world. We must guard ourselves against finding our identity in possessions, taking pride in possessions, placing our security in stuff, and measuring worth with money. He teaches us to fight covetousness with hope of inheriting the kingdom of God, a treasure of immeasurable worth that will never pass away. This is more difficult to implement than to talk about, so Harvey ends the chapter with some examples of how to guard your heart from love of stuff in light of grace. This chapter ending may well be the most helpful portion of the entire book, as it applies to most of the other chapters, and shows the reader how to fight worldliness with the gospel. Excellent chapter.
Chapter 5 - "God, My Heart, & Clothes": C.J. Mahaney has graciously provided this chapter as a publicly available excerpt from the book. C.J. with the gracious heart of a pastor, shepherds the reader's heart to see that God really does care about what we wear, particularly about the heart behind what we wear. He begins with modesty (the appendix contains two documents regarding modesty: Modesty Heart Check & Considering Modesty on Your Wedding Day). Going straight to the heart and addressing love-of-the-world motivations, he comments, "Your wardrobe is a public statement of your personal and private motivation...Modesty is humility expressed in dress." In order to serve men whose war with lust is more profound than many recognize, C.J. gently and effectively lays out the issue, making regular reference to Scripture (particularly 1 Tim 2:9-10), and even charging parents to get involved in the process with their children from a young age. Replete with personal anecdotes from a family of women who have learned this lesson well, this chapter will serve many churches well in their fight for increased holiness expressed in clothing choices. Dealing with a difficult topic to address, C.J. does a masterful job of avoiding (and helping the readers to avoid) the pitfalls of legalism while encouraging grace-empowered heart obedience that has the gospel as its aim (1 Tim 2:5-6).
Chapter 6 - "How To Love the World": To end the book, Jeff Purswell ends the book recognizing that the reader may feel like everything around him is off limits. He reminds the reader of the intent of the book: "To impart biblical discernment in areas that increasingly escape the scrutiny of the evangelical world so intent on 'relating to the culture.'" The prohibition to not love the world nor the things in the world must not be the only word we heed on what to love. In order to help us think rightly about the world and worldliness, he tells the story of the world: Creation, fall, redemption, consummation. This section is a an excellent summary of redemptive history that I will likely return to often. Drawing from the story of redemptive history, Purswell gives the reader 3 tasks to fulfill as we live in this world: 1. Enjoy the world (as we enjoy God, not the fallenness of the world, 2.Engage the world (through work, home, education, leisure, and sleep), and 3. Evangelize the world. In a book telling us how not to live in the world, this is a very compact and appropriate reminder of how we are to live. I would like to see this chapter expanded into a book someday...I was constantly left begging for more.

This book has served me well and it will serve the church well. I thank these pastors for helping pastors everywhere shepherd the hearts of the flock through the treacherous waters of worldliness. Each author pays attention to address the calls from many in evangelicalism to "redeem the culture" or "contextualize the message" acknowledging the truth but helping to protect the reader from the unseen dangers the lurk down that path. I have already noted sanctifying fruits in my own life from reading Worldliness, and I am excited for this book to get into the hands of all of those in my church and watch God use it as an instrument of transformation.

Amazon Gift Cards, Hantla.com, & My Birthday

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:46:00 -0500

This blog is my corner of the web where through writing I force myself to to diligent in thought. It acts as a diary of sorts, documenting through quotes what I'm reading, through essays what I'm thinking, and through photos what I'm doing. I have been told by others that this has been a blessing to them as well. For this I praise God.

I certainly do not run the blog for the money. If I did, it would be a losing proposition as I'm sure the money made through ads compared with the time spent writing and working on it would make my take-home pay pennies per hour. I barely make enough to pay for hosting the site.

Nevertheless, I do have ads on the site and when you click on them (or follow some of the links to products I review), I get a very small amount of monetary remuneration. Also, many people I know and love read the blog; some of these people even buy me birthday presents. Now i get to the point of the post:

Amazon is offering a very good commission this month on sales of gift certificates. These gift certificates can be used whenever and make great birthday gifts for your favorite friend, family member, or blogger (in fact they would be the preferred gift of many friends, family members, and bloggers). You don't have to worry about losing Amazon gift certificates as you can add it to your Amazon account and automatically withdraw funds with each purchase, an excellent way to budget and keep track of Amazon spending. They probably even make good stocking stuffers. All of this and you support me and my blog for free...sort of. Just click the banner below to stock up.

Review: You Can Do It! By Tony Dungy

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:24:00 -0500

Super-Bowl-winning coach and bestselling author, Tony Dungy, tries his hands at a children's book with You Can Do It!. Written and illustrated for children in probably 1-3 grade, Dungy tells a true story from his childhood. Linden, Tony Dungy's younger brother, didn't know what he wanted to be when he grew up. He only knew he liked to make people smile. The Dungy's dad would regularly tell them, "Whatever it is that you want to do, you can do it. Trust God and dream big!" Tony knew he wanted to be a football player. His sister's knew what they wanted to do, be nurses or doctors. But Linden didn't know. His dad told him to pray that God would help Linden find his dream. The next day, while getting a filling at the dentist's office, his love of making people smile found its dream: Dentistry. The Dungy's dad told them to dream big and they did: Professional football and dentistry. And years later, both dreams came true.

Dungy writes in the afterword, "I'm glad I had parents that helped us to dream. I'm glad they taught us to pray about things that were on our mind. And I'm really glad that God answers our prayers...Our parents taught us to dream, but they also taught us something more important. Whatever we dreamed about, we should tell God because He is the one that can make those plans succeed."

It is good and right to teach children of a Christian household to pray to God, to tell Him what's on their mind, to ask him for things. God says in Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." My concern for this book lies in what is left unsaid and with how, without further guidance, God is made to look like His primary concern for us is to give us our dreams. God cares so much for His children that He died to save us from ours sins and reconcile us to himself (see 1 Peter 3:18). God is the greatest gift we could ever desire, and if you delight yourself in Him, He gives you Himself. But nowhere in the Bible does God promise to give us what we dream or everything we ask for (see James 4:3). The God of Dungy's You Can Do It! may give children the impression that God lives to make them dentists, professional football players, and nurses. It is true that the one who seeks to glorify God in everything (Colossians 3:23-24) will likely succeed, and the children should be taught to work hard and honor God in everything, even ask him for wisdom and guidance and blessing. However, the answer to these prayers is not always, "You can do it!" Sometimes, often it will be to say "no" to worldly success and the things that seem to matter here, and instead give trials. The message to a child who is being taught to honor God should be, "Seek first the Kingdom of God" (Luke 12:31) and then even in the face of losing everything, Jesus says to those who have trusted in Him, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32).

I am thankful that Dungy wants to encourage kids to dream big and try hard. I recognize that this book had a different aim than that I described in the paragraph above, and I suspect Dungy might even agree with my paragraph. He was emphasizing something different. Something I think that without qualification or explanation is dangerous or even wrong to emphasize. My fear is that much of Christianity today takes the statement "have faith" to mean little more than "have faith that God will bless you [in this world], and He will." Dungy makes many statements similar to this (For example, Dungy's dad when Linden was wondering if he would ever have a dream says, "Just keep having faith."). It is right to ask of God and have faith that He will do what's best. But if getting what we want is the focus of where we put our faith, we are missing everything of Christianity. Have faith in God to save you from your sins and give you Himself. Because of misplaced priorities and a high likelihood of communicating unbiblical and ungodly priorities, proceed with much caution; if it is to be read to a child, do so with much discernment and emphasis on what is missing from this picture of God.

Never Once Has He Pardoned An Unpunished Sin

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:21:00 -0500

God “will not acquit the wicked;” how prove I this? I prove it thus. Never once has he pardoned an unpunished sin; not in all the years of the Most High, not in all the days of his right hand, has he once blotted out sin without punishment. What! say you, were not those in heaven pardoned? Are there not many transgressors pardoned, and do they not escape without punishment? Has be not said, “I have blotted out thy transgressions like a cloud, and like a thick cloud thine iniquities?” Yes, true, most true, and yet my assertion is true also — not one of all those sins that have been pardoned were pardoned without punishment. Do you ask me why and how such a thing as that can be the truth? I point you to yon dreadful sight on Calvary; the punishment which fell not on the forgiven sinner fell there. The cloud of justice was charged with fiery hail; the sinner deserved it; it fell on him; but, for all that, it fell, and spent its fury; it fell there, in that great reservoir of misery; it fell into the Saviour’s heart. The plagues, which need should light on our ingratitude did not fall on us, but they fell somewhere and who was it that was plagued? Tell me, Gethsemane; tell me, O Calvary’s summit, who was plagued. The doleful answer comes, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani!“ “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” It is Jesus suffering all the plagues of sin. Sin is still punished, though the sinner is delivered.

But, you say, this has scarcely proved that he will not acquit the wicked. I hold it has proved it, and proved it clearly. But do ye want any further proof that God will not acquit the wicked? Need I lead you through a long list of terrible wonders that God has wrought — the wonders of his vengeance?

Shall I show you blighted Eden? Shall I let you see a world all drowned — sea monsters whelping and stabling in the palaces of kings? Shall I let you hear the last shriek of the last drowning man as he falls into the flood and dies, washed by that huge wave from the hill top? Shall I let you see death riding upon the summit of a crested billow, upon a sea that knows no shore, and triumphing because his work is done; his quiver empty, far all men are slain, save where life flows in the midst of death in yonder ark? Need I let you see Sodom, with its terrified inhabitants, when the volcano of almighty wrath spouted fiery hail upon it? Shall I show you the earth opening its mouth to swallow up Korah, Dathan, and Abiram? Need I take you to the plagues of Egypt? Shall I again repeat the death shriek of Pharaoh, and the drowning of his host? Surely, we need not to be told of cities that are in ruins, or of nations that have been cut off in a day; ye need not to be told how God has smitten the earth from one side to the other, when he has been wrath, and how he has melted mountains in his hot displeasure. Nay, we have proofs enough in history, proofs enough in Scripture, that “he will not at all acquit the wicked.” If ye wanted the best proof however, ye should borrow the black wings of a miserable imagination, and fly beyond the world, through the dark realm of chaos on, far on, where those battlements of fire are gleaming with a horrid light — if through them, with a spirit’s safety, ye would fly, and would behold the worm that never dies, the pit that knows no bottom, and could you there see the fire unquenchable, and listen to the shrieks and wails of men that are banished for ever from God — if, sirs, it were possible for you to hear the sullen groans and hollow moans, and shrieks of tortured ghosts, then would you come back to this world, amazed and petrified with horror, and you would say, “Indeed he will not acquit the wicked.” You know, hell is the argument of the text, may you never have to prove the text by feeling in yourselves the argument fully carried out, “He will not at all acquit the wicked.”

And now we trace this terrible attribute to its source. Why is this?

We reply, God will not acquit the wicked, because he is good. What! doth goodness demand that sinners shall be punished? It doth. The Judge must condemn the murderer, because he loves his nation. “I cannot, let you go free; I cannot, and I must not; you would slay others, who belong to this fair commonwealth, if I were to let you go free; no, I must condemn you from the very loveliness of my nature.” The kindness of a king demands the punishment of those who are guilty. It is not wrathful in the legislature to make severe laws against great sinners; it is but love towards the rest that sin should be restrained. Yon great floodgates, which keep back the torrent of sin, are painted black, and look right horrible, like horrid dungeon gates, they affright my spirit; but are they proofs that God is not good? No sirs; if ye could open wide those gates, and let the deluge of sin flow on us, then would you cry, “O God, O God! shut-to the gates of punishment again, let law again be established, set up the pillars, and swing the gates upon their hinges; shut again the gates of punishment, that this world may not again be utterly destroyed by men who have become worse than brutes.” It needs for very goodness’ sake that sin should be punished. Mercy, with her weeping eyes (for she hath wept for sinners) when she finds they will not repent, looks more terribly stern in her loveliness than Justice in all his majesty; she drops the white flag from her hand, and saith — “No; I called, and they refused; I stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; let them die, let them die,” — and that terrible word from the lip of Mercy’s self is harsher thunder than the very damnation of Justice. Oh, yes, the goodness of God demands that men should perish, if they will sin.

And again, the justice of God demands it. God is infinitely just, and his justice demands that men should be punished, unless they turn to him with full purpose of heart. Need I pass through all the attributes of God to prove it? Methinks I need not. We must all of us believe that the God who is slow to anger and great in power is also sure not to acquit the wicked. And now just a home thrust or two with you. What is your state this morning? My friend, man, woman, what is thy state? Canst thou look up to heaven, and say, “Though I have sinned greatly, I believe Christ wee punished in my stead,

’My faith looks back to see,
The burden he did bear,
When hanging on the cursed tree,
And knows her guilt was there?’”

Can you by humble faith look to Jesus, and say, “My substitute, my refuge, my shield; thou art my rock, my trust; in thee I do confide?” Then beloved, to you I have nothing to say, except this, — Never be afraid when you ace God’s power; for now that you are forgiven and accepted, now that by faith you have fled to Christ for refuge, the power of God need no more terrify you, than the shield and sword of the warrior need terrify his wife or his child. “Nay,” saith the woman, “is he strong? He is strong for me. Is his arm brawny, and are all his sinews fast and strong? Then are they fast and strong for me. Whilst he lives, and wears a shield, he will stretch it over my head; and whilst his good sword can cleave foes, it will cleave my foes too, and ransom me.” Be of good cheer; fear not his power.

But hast thou never fled to Christ for refuge? Dost thou not believe in the Redeemer? Hast thou never confided thy soul to his hands? Then, my friends, hear me; in God’s name, hear me just a moment. My friend, I would not stand in thy position for an hour, for all the stars twice spelt in gold! For what is thy position? Thou hast sinned, and God will not acquit thee, he will punish thee. He is letting thee live, thou art reprieved. Poor is the life of one that is reprieved without a pardon! Thy reprieve will soon run out; thine hour-glass is emptying every day. I see on some of you death has put his cold hand, and frozen your hair to whiteness. Ye need your staff, it is the only barrier between you and the grave now, and you are, all of you, old and young, standing on a narrow neck of land, between two boundless seas — that neck of land, that isthmus of life, narrowing every moment, and you, and you, and you, are yet unpardoned. There is a city to be sacked, and you are in it — soldiers are at the gates; the command is given that every man in the city is to be slaughtered save he who can give the password. “Sleep on, sleep on; the attack is not to-day, sleep on, sleep on.” “But it is to-morrow, Sir.” “Ay, sleep on, sleep on, it is not till to-morrow sleep on, procrastinate, procrastinate.” “Hark! I hear a rumbling at the gates, the battering ram is at them; the gates are tottering.” “Sleep on, sleep on; the soldiers are not yet at your doors; sleep on, sleep on; ask for no mercy yet; sleep on, sleep on!” “Ay, but I hear the shrill clarion sound, they are in the streets. Hark, to the shrieks of men and women! They are slaughtering them, they fall they fall, they fall!” “Sleep on; they are not yet at your door.” “But hark, they are at the gate; with heavy tramp I hear the soldiers marching up the stairs!” “Nay, sleep on, sleep on, they are not yet in your room.” “Why, they are there, they have burst open the door that parted you from them, and there they stand!” “No, sleep on, sleep on, the sword is not yet at your throat, sleep on, sleep on!” It is at your throat; you start with horror. Sleep on, sleep on! But you are goner “Demon, why toldest thou me to slumber! It would have been wise in me to have escaped the city when first the gates were shaken. Why did I not ask for the password before the troops came? Why, by all that is wise why did I not rush into the streets, and cry the password when the soldiers were there? Why stood I till the knife was at my throat? Ay, demon that thou art, be cursed; but I am cursed with thee for ever!” You know the application, it is a parable ye can all expound, ye need not that I should tell you that death is after you, that justice must devour you, that Christ crucified is the only password that can save you, and yet you have not learnt it — that with some of you death is nearing, nearing, nearing, and that with all of you he is close at hand! I need not expound how Satan is the demon, how in hell you shall curse him and curse yourselves because you procrastinated — how, that seeing God was slow to anger you were slow to repentance — how, because he was great, in power, and kept back his anger, therefore you kept back your steps from seeking him; and here you are what you are!

Spirit of God, bless these words to some souls that they may be saved! May some sinners be brought to the Saviour’s feet, and cry for mercy. We ask it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Spurgeon, C. H.
Spurgeon's Sermons: Volume 3 (electronic ed.).
No. 137 "Mercy, Omnipotence, and Justice"

on Nahum 1:3

Poisoning Yourself from the Gilded Pill of Popular Entertainment-Spurgeon

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:33:00 -0500

Writing of London's Christian's undiscerning consumption of the media of the day (opera), Spurgeon writes the following. How much more applicable is this to us today. Have you exposed yourself to any gold-covered poisonous entertainment lately?:

Ye can sit in theatres to hear plays at which modesty should blush, I say nought of piety. That the ruder sex should have listened to the obscenities of La Traviata is surely bad enough, but that ladies of the highest refinement, and the most approved taste, should dishonor themselves by such a patronage of vice is indeed intolerable.

But because the pill is gilded, ye suck down the poison: because the thing is popular, ye patronize it: it is lustful, it abominable, it is deceitful! Ye take your children to hear what yourselves never ought to listen to. Ye yourselves will sit in gay and grand company, to listen to things from when your modesty ought to revolt. And I would fain hope it does, although the tide may for a while deceive you.
Spurgeon, C. H.
Spurgeon's Sermons: Volume 3 (electronic ed.).
No. 137 "Mercy, Omnipotence, and Justice"

Repentance Must Be the Goal (Quote: Leahy)

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:51:00 -0500

Repentance was a dominant note in apostolic preaching. this has been equally the case in tiems of revival and spiritual awakening. People begin to see sin as god sees it - Rebellion agaisnt God. They become aware of consequences of sin: "The soul who sins shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4,20). That note of repentance is no longer struck as it once was...The "easy believism" of our time does not pierce the sinner's heart, nor does the emotionalism that often passes for evangelism. That note must be recaptured as a matter of urgency if our preaching is to be really effective. Men and women must be made to see the cross through their tears, with "a godly grief" that "produces a repentance that leads to salvation" (2 Cor. 7:10).

Frederick S. Leahy
Is It Nothing To You: The Unchanging Significance of the Cross (amazon)
pp. 80-81

DiscerningReader & Choosing What to Read

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:23:00 -0500

First on the list of ways that John Piper chooses what to read is Recommendations. There are thousands upon thousands of books out there, most of them garbage, many worthwhile, and a few precious gems. Nobody has the time or the mental capacity to properly read, digest, discern truth from error, and apply even a small percentage of those books. For that reason, quality book reviews from people who have demonstrated themselves over time as discerning readers can serve you very well as you decide what to read.

Secondly, knowing what is available is another difficult task. Generally, knowledge of available literature among the public is driven by publisher's marketing dollars and not the quality of the book. The internet has leveled the playing field a bit more. Books that a less mass-marketable but more edifying than those on the top-sellers list are made known to the evangelical world through blogs much faster and on a more wide-spread basis than simple word of mouth. It may not be time in your life to read a certain type of book, but keeping up-to-date on what is out there (as well as the quality and content of that material) will make you more able to quickly find and benefit from good books and spend less time wading through mediocre ones. When you are faced with a certain struggle or question, you will already know where to turn.

I commend to you, therefore, DiscerningReader.com. DiscerningReader is currently composed of reviews from a select group of reviewers that have proven themselves over time to be discerning in identifying error and commending truth. The site, designed by Tim Challies, is quickly growing and will soon include not only book reviews, but also book summaries and book previews. I recommend making DiscerningReader a regular part of your web-surfing routine.

Note: I have recently joined the DiscerningReader team as a reviewer, so you will find most of my book reviews generally posted on this blog, cross-posted on DiscerningReader as well.

Review: LiquidAUX iPod/iPhone Remote Control for Your Car

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:40:00 -0500

I have fallen in love with the Kensington LiquidAUX. It is ingeniously designed and is an inexpensive option for safely using your iPod while in the car. If you want the aesthetically most pleasing solution to integrate your iPod and iPhone controls into your car stereo, this is not it. This device is specifically designed for the individual, like myself, who had their iPod sitting on the seat next to them or on the dashboard, connected to their stereo via an auxiliary input or cassette adapter. So contrary to some reviews, an aux-in on your car stereo is not mandatory for use, making this device usable in older cars with a tape deck and newer cars with the aux-in port.

In my mind, the primary benefits of using the LiquidAUX instead of simply manually controlling your iPod while in the car are two-fold: 1) Safety, 2) Ease of use.

Safety: I consider myself a pretty competent multi-tasking driver, but even still anything that keeps my hands on the steering wheel and my eyes on the road has to keep me safer. My wife has pointed out that I swerve a little less and keep a more consistent speed - signs of not being distracted - since using this device.

Ease of use: The LiquidAUX wireless remote that is mounted on the steering wheel has four buttons: Play, back, forward, and shuffle. The first three are obvious and any remote would be lacking without it; but the fourth, shuffle, is my favorite. In the car, I love to use shuffle to listen to random songs from either my entire collection or one of my playlists. Often I find myself reminded of an album that I love or haven't heard in a while. I wish I could take shuffle off and finish the album. To do that on the iPod, I would have to go into the settings menu, then take shuffle off (at least five seconds with my eyes on the iPod and not on the road). That's what the shuffle button does with one click. If you get to an album you want to keep listening to, hit that button, and you will continue on that album or artist. Then when you're sick of it and want the shuffling to continue, hit the button again, and off you continue on random again. All of this without even touching your iPod. So the LiquidAUX provides safety and convenience. Of course, you are still able to control your iPod the "old-fashioned way" while connected to the LiquidAUX...just make sure you do it at a red light .

The box comes with a charger device that connects from the cigarette lighter (DC Power) to your compatible iPod (basically everything but a shuffle) or iPhone. There is a small wireless remote control (battery included) that mounts to your steering wheel for easy ability to control your iPod without being distracted from driving. Finally, the charger device has a 3.5mm output to connect to your cars auxiliary in (an extension is included in case your aux-in is further than a few inches from your cigarette lighter.

My car does not have an aux-in so I was concerned that I would not be able to use this device. But the headphone jack on the iPod still outputs audio even while under the control of the LiquidAUX, so I am able to connect to my stereo using a cassette tape adapter. This does make for quite a few wires, however: 1) From charger to iPod, 2) charger to aux-in port, 3) iPod to cassette-adapter (only if you don't have aux-in on stereo). This would be my number one foreseeable complaint. But these are also features that make the LiquidAUX not confined to a single car. Take it with you in a rental car on vacation, use it in a friend's car on a road trip, or swap it between your vehicles. I could not be happier with the LiquidAUX; it is engineered excellently to do that for which it was designed.

Gnostic Empire Strikes Back by Peter Jones - A Review

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:01:00 -0500

Peter Jones claims in The Gnostic Empire Strikes Back: An Old Heresy for the New Age that the seemingly divergent modern phenomena/movements are really related. They are related to each other and all have common themes found in one of the first heresies to attack the church from within: gnosticism. The seemingly divergent modern phenomena include: 1. skewing of gender roles (militant feminism, homosexuality, etc), 2. increase of new age religion (eastern religions, mysticism, yoga, goddess worship, all in one, you are god, spirituality), 3. environmentalism (nature worship, deification of mother nature and natural selection, militant environmentalism), and 4. political correctness (tolerance of all religions/viewpoints except orthodox Christianity). Written in 1992, I am amazed at many of the insights that have proven themselves to be even more true over the last 16 years.

The book reads like a call to arms. Jones uses urgent, apocalyptic, the sky-is-falling language that can, I found, at times make the book difficult to get through. However, that language is consistent with his thesis: "[T]he New Age has a coherent agenda, orchestrated from a diabolical center, moving and reproducing ineluctably, like algae in a lake." (p. 97). He cites example after example of how these seemingly disconnected New Age/gnostic positions have begun quietly and subversively to enter the church. He writes to Christians who claim to believe that the Bible is God's true word, to Christians who view Jesus as Creator God who came physically to earth to die for the sins of His people and who rose from the dead. He writes to alert them that this orthodox position is being attacked from within, from multiple disparate groups that when analyzed with an eye to history (understanding long-'dead' gnosticism), we realize are remarkably related.

This 112-page book is well-documented with about 200 reference footnotes in six chapters. This book will serve well those who believe in the basic tenets that unite conservative "Christendom," both evangelical and catholic. It will alert those who may have been unaware of just how large and influence the New-Age-culture has had even on their own thinking to the danger.

Jones uses the example of frogs who don't jump out of a pot if it is heated slowly to a boil. For those who were unaware of the heating water, this may be the impetus needed to make them jump out and be alert, guarding their heart and doctrine from this threat. This has certainly been the book's effect on me; I have an increased awareness of just how pervasive this new gnosticism has become. However, The Gnostic Empire Strikes Back: An Old Heresy for the New Age is certainly not an exhaustive treatment of the subject, nor is it designed to persuade those who have already bought into the lies of the New-Age movement to see the error of their ways. It may very well do this, but the tone of the book will probably turn adherents off to Jones, making them unable to hear his words. Nevertheless, for Christians living in the United States, I echo the recommendations from the back cover: "I recommend this work" - RC Sproul. "These findings throw a flood of light on a dark subject" -Jay Adams. "Jones demonstrates in a thorough and engaging way that the New Age is not new at all...the church desperately needs to hear Professor Jones's call for a clearer comprehension of truth."

It's eerie to watch what Peter Jones was talking about prove just how mainstream it has become as evidenced in this excerpt from Oprah. So much of what Jones talks about is demonstrated right here. It is for this reason I recommend that Christians read this short book:

Nine Inch Nails Helping Me Concentrate While Reading Even the Bible: Ghosts I-IV

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 09:44:00 -0500

Without a word on the entire 4-disc album, Ghosts I-IV is an excellent instrumental album, ranging in feel from gentle and smooth and hard and grating. Unlike much in the ambient, industrial, instrumental genre, you won't find yourself annoyed by the predictable and repetitive. Rather, the more you listen, the more you will enjoy it. Each piece has a photo as the album art which was the The quality of the music and the recording is superb, best discerned by enclosing yourself in some high-quality headphones. At the price, you will be hard-pressed to find a better musical value. I would never describe myself as a Nine Inch Nails fan, not in the least, but I have found hours of enjoyment in these cds while reading. I find that my reading retention and length of concentration is increased while listening to instrumental (wordless) music. Apart from classical and a few standout ambient releases (the genre is mostly junk floating in a sea of even more repetitive junk with a few excellent pieces here and there. So this is a very nice, enjoyable, and unexpected find from a guy (Trent Reznor) who I never would have thought to have gone to to help me concentrate while reading the Bible and other books. For five bucks for almost two hours of music, you'd have a hard time passing this up. Still not sure? You can download the first of 4 cds for free at ghosts.nin.com.

Amazon.com Widgets

Review: Keeping the Heart by John Flavel

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:39:00 -0500

Puritan John Flavel (1630-1691) in Keeping the Heart (originally titled: A Saint Indeed or The Great Work of a Christian Opened and Pressed) has proven to be a steady and timely friend to me over the last year. This book has been a near constant companion during that time and I have made my way through it a number of times. I suppose that I am familiar enough with the book now to write a review so that others may be encouraged to spend time with this heart-shepherding work as well; however, I in no way do I feel that I have mastered its contents or the practice of them. I am convinced though that this book will prove to me to be a lifelong companion whose true worth I could only underestimate.

Using Proverbs 4:23 (“Keep your heart with all vigilance for from it flow the springs of life.”), Flavel creates a treatise designed for all professing Christians. The aim is that the contents of the heart be laid bare, so that sin which is present is seen as sin and dealt with as a believer should and that the heart be guided to be pure in its devotion and affection for God. He does this, not with law, but by constantly pointing the believer to God's grace as the grounds and means for his sanctification. Flavel is not content to merely convey information, rather, with each point he carefully takes aim at your very soul and deftly fires shot after gospel-saturated, God-glorifying shot. Make sure you read this book slowly and prayerfully, allowing each purifying blow to have its full affect on your heart.

The treatise is basically broken down into four sections:

“What keeping the heart presupposes” (Six statements describing what is basic in keeping the heart).
“Why keeping the heart is a great business” (Six statements and their exposition explaining why the life of a Christian should be described as a life of “keeping their heart”)
“Special seasons for keeping the heart” (104 specific pieces of advice particularly tailored for 12 seasons of life in which special diligence is necessary to guard the heart)
“Uses” of means in keeping the heart (Examples and guidelines on using information, exhortation, direction, and consolation in the keeping of the heart).

Keeping the Heart is a work that is difficult to navigate without seeing the “big picture” of what Flavel is setting out to do. I therefore recommend you acquire a copy that includes the “Outline” by Maureen Bradley (The Soli Deo Gloria edition includes this). Each of the statements, seasons, or uses alluded to in describing the structure of the work has many subpoints underneath it. I would recommend in your reading that you decide to either read one statement/season/use at a time (roughly 10 pages a piece, although they vary dramatically), or to use it devotionally in much smaller chunks by reading one subpoint at a time. After your first time through the work, you will then be able to quickly navigate to the heart-shepherding help that is particular to your struggle or circumstance.

You will be well-served to read Keeping the Heart, working through the 17^th century language (Flavel is not nearly as difficult as many other Puritans and the Soli Deo Gloria edition has helpfully modernized spelling, formatting, and grammar) and work diligently to guard your heart with the help of this proven guide.