Tabletalk Magazine

Our family has been blessed by the daily devotionals in this magazine.  It also has some very thought provoking articles as well.  I am curious to read some article in the August issue that just came in the mail. Here is a sample of some titles:
"The Unholy Pursuit of God in Moby Dick"
"Law, Grace and Redemption in Les Miserables"
"Good and Evil in The Lord of the Rings"
"Truths and Lies in The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus"
If you check this website in August, they may post some of these articles that you can read for free.  I can't be sure though. You never know what articles they will post from the magazine.

Christian Thumbnails: A Survey of the Core Beliefs of Christianity [Paperback]

I was able to download this book free from Amazon Kindle a few weeks ago, but it has since disappeared.  However it is available in paperback.  This little book has been a pleasure to read.  It is written in a concise easy to read manner.  It has been a blessing and a comfort to me to review these things.  I think you will find it equally so.

Book Review: Table Talk Magazine

We are subscribers to this monthly magazine. It is put out by Ligonier Ministries by R.C. Sproul.

It has thought provoking articles and daily devotional readings.  We use the devotional readings for our family time in the evenings before bed.  They are always very spiritually challenging.  Right now they are going through the book of Colossians.

This publication is from a Presbyterian theological point of view, so there are a few things that we don't agree with, such as infant baptism, but that is not focused on very often in these magazines.

Book Review: Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

I just started reading "Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story".  Last night I read the introduction and the first chapter.  This is going to be a very good read.  I am anxious to read more!  I think I will be blessed and challenged by this book.

It is the story of one of America's foremost neurosurgeons and how God brought him from the life of a ghetto kid to be a brain surgeon.  What an inspiration!

Book Review: Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington

I am reading "Up From Slavery" by Booker T. Washington right now.  It is an amazing story.  Booker was an extremely determined, unselfish individual.  I think all would benefit from reading his autobiography.  There are many lessons to be learned in it and I am only on chapter 5!

The value of hard work and a job well done, giving of yourself unselfishly to benefit others and a determination to overcome the difficulties life throws at you are just some of the lessons to be had in this wonderful book.

I've assigned it as required reading to my son and may do so for my daughter also. Not only does one learn lessons such as mentioned above, but it is filled with first person accounts of the history of that time period.  Reading about history from text books is dry and boring, but reading first hand, eye-witness accounts of history is exciting.  I wish my teachers in school would have assigned reading like this instead of the dry text books full of dates and time lines, wars and battles etc. This is great stuff....I highly recommend it.

Book Review: Rose Book of Bible Charts 2

I ordered this book a couple weeks ago and love it!  I happen to be a person who likes information in chart form.  It's easy to get a lot of information with a chart.

It has charts for how we got our Bible, refuting those who say the Bible is untrustworthy,  Reformation History, how Christianity has changed the world, Christian living, cults and Christianity comparison charts, worldview charts and more.

It's is a great teaching aid for teachers because you are given permission to photo copy as many as 300 copies of the charts to give to your students.

I have learned a lot of information I was not familiar with in just a few short pages and it's a lot more fun and convenient than just reading a book written in traditional book form.

More on the Tyranny of the Urgent

 I did a Google search on The Tyranny of the Urgent and came up with the Word Document linked below.  It is very encouraging.  It talks about how Jesus ordered his day to avoid the tyranny of the urgent and how He was able to say at the end of three years that he had finished the work that the Father had given Him.


I would encourage you to download this document and read it for yourself.  You'll find it encouraging and challenging.

[DOC]

Tyranny of the Urgent - Have you ever wished for a thirty-hour day

File Format: Microsoft Word - View as HTML
by CE Hummel - Cited by 28 - Related articles
We realize we've become slaves to the tyranny of the urgent. .... And He will free us from the tyranny of the urgent, free us to do the important, ...
www.uga.edu/.../Tyranny%20of%20the%20Urgent%202.doc - 

Book Review: Overcoming Life's Challenges

I was just at St. Vincent de Paul today and found two copies of this book that were brand new for .80 each.  I love the story of Joseph.  I glanced through the book and it looks like a very easy read.  I'm going to give one copy to someone I know and after I finish reading the other, I may offer it to another friend.

The Table of Contents

Introduction
The Lessons of Life
Overcoming Treachery
                                                      Overcoming Temptation
                                                      Overcoming Disappointment
                                                      Overcoming the Past
                                                      Overcoming Bitterness
                                                      The Trust that Overcomes

Book Review: "Write Now" & "Italic Series Book D" by Getty & Dubay

I checked "Write Now: a complete self-teaching program for better handwriting" by Barbara Getty and Inga Dubay out at the public  library with hopes of being able to use it with my son to help him improve his handwriting.  I think that it would be a good text/workbook for someone who is not distracted easily.  However, the pages are a bit busy and I think this would be a distraction to him.

I have found that The Italic Series Book D by the same authors looks less busy and I will purchase that one instead.  I discovered, however that Amazon.com does not stock that one as it is out of print.  I am able, however, to get it from several different vendors on Amazon.com.

From "The Joy of Fearing God" by Jerry Bridges, Chapter 8

If you are reading this on Facebook, click on the link "See Original Post" to see the entire post.

 Here are some highlights I came across in Chapter 8 of this book.  I was reading it for our lady's book study.

•  we're responsible to grow in fearing God
• "Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name." Ps. 86:11b
• After prayer...regular, consistent exposure of our minds & hearts to His Word...invovles reading it, hearing it taught & studying it for ourselves
• These questions are helpful to ask as we hear God's Word taught:   Who are you, Lord?  What shall I do, Lord?     

I have really enjoyed reading this book.  It is very challenging.                                                                                                                            

Book Review: Uncle Ben's Quote Book

Uncle Ben's Quote Book

This is a fun book to have around.  It is filled with humorous quotes as well as thought provoking quotes.  I use it often.  It is fun to just to sit and read through the quotes.  

Here is a sampling:

One minute of keeping your mouth shut is worth an hour's explanation.

God's house is a hive for workers, not a nest for drones.

The diamond cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.

Follow up to "The Five Dilemmas of Calvinism" Review that I Posted Earlier

I read this review of the book and thought it was good.  He made some good points here.  Marsha

This review is from: The Five Dilemmas of Calvinism (Paperback)Please pardon the sluggish genesis of my review, but I would like for the individual reading this to take a glimpse at the state of being in which I was in when reading the work. 

From the outset I just want to state that I was only planning to read 

the chapter on evil when I first encountered this work, and borrowed it from the library. Thus, instead of wasting and not spending time on something LORD-centered, I decided to read the work as a whole instead. 

As I was grasping the literature's words with my mind, excitement and comfort came as I thought I would spend the entire morning reading a joyous work. 

Now, to state what eclipsed my joy with outrage (to use the word loosely); In his first chapter, brother Craig R. Brown goes through 

some Church history with us. Please note that I will state all the problems that I have with his work in chronological order: 

1. The Author quotes 2Peter 2:1 on page 14 to make the point that 

we should be prepared to deal with heresies (something along these lines is what he writes). This implied to me that anything other than Reformed Theology (which I line up with) is heresy. 

2. On pages 15/16 he presses forth the history of Pelagianism & Semi-Pelagianism and how it was condemned as heresy, and it was done rightly so of course. He gives us a brief idea of what these teachings are, and is essential to the point I'm trying to make, so please take note. 

3. On page 19 the author writes on how Arminianism's beliefs as expressed in the Remonstance were nothing new but a rehashing of the beliefs mentioned in point #2. As I looked immediately at the footnote, the book which he quotes is a work that is directed towards Arminianism in some of it's pages. This too is essential so please be patient as I build up to my climax.

4. On page 20 I find that he, like other Calvinists, stated the same utter falsehood that seriously enrages me! "Paul was a Calvinist" 

Sir, placing an Apostle in the same sentence with Augustine & Luther doesn't make a difference for the very reason that his written words were inspired, theirs weren't. To say that his theology lines with Calvinism is one thing, but to say that he himself was a Calvinist is going too far. If anything the Calvinist is a 'Paulinian'. 

Not trying to build a straw-man here so I'll set forward. 

5. On page 21 he states that he spent a long time studying Church history, I'm not calling him a liar but the words that come up later in the work make me question if he got his information from biased or misinformed sources (point #3). He makes the statement and implies that if you're Arminian you're seeing God and man like this: GOD - MAN 

And that he believes that by the end of his work you'll see the relationship like this: GOD - man (If read with an open mind/heart of course). I'm not going to refute this although I don't agree with it, as I believe there are those with this view. Yet why should Arminians read this with an open-mind when according to point #1 it seems as though he doesn't think this way, and won't about Arminianism. 

6. After describing what the T in TULIP stands for he writes in page 25 that Arminianism, by contrast, proclaims free will or human ability and that we haven't been left in a state of total helplessness (after the fall) but that according to Arminianism we are born "good", as where Calvinism teaches that we are born dead in sin. This was the last I could take and decided not even to read the work any further, or my copy of The Five Points Of Calvinism: Defined, Defended, Documented that he quotes because it leads me to believe that I can't trust these sources on what real Arminianism is. I feel like I'm being indoctrinated into rejecting Arminianism without studying it further. 

Now, for my point : Yes, a lot of what the author writes is true, but it seems as though he either built a straw-army to defend his views against, or is refuting the heresies mentioned in point #2! 

What the followers of Arminius taught differs from what Arminius himself taught. Arminius held to Total Depravity & Perseverance, it was his followers who differed on this between themselves. So the statement that we aren't dead in sins or left helpless, is fallacious, otherwise why would we need prevenient grace? What [Classical Arminianism] (which I am guarding) states is that it is GOD not man who is the initiator not us (in salvation, hence the drawing), and that we don't have a "free-will" but a "freed-will", notice the distinction. I wouldn't like people misrepresenting my views, so we shouldn't do it to others. Dr. Sproul's Forward wasn't helpful either saying that "the tentes of Arminianism taste sweeter to our human sinful natures". 

I am NOT a Classical Arminian, and know that the author was not refuting this position, obviously he couldn't have been. I hold to the five points of Calvinism but will seriously consider studying both sides after this. 

-I recommend Roger E. Olson's Arminian Theology. It doesn't attack nor argue against Calvinism but clears up a lot of misconceptions, myths, and misinterpretations of Classical Arminianism.- 

{I do recommend this book for those who are Calvinists, have studied both sides, and want to strengthen their theology} I know that this review might offend some but I write some of this in sincerity (the rest in disappointment), and compared to my other reviews is probably the worst. I started writing this with seeming calmness to a little hostility but wouldn't want the author to take it too personal as I have nothing against him and recommend the book to the Christians noted. The pricing is great and some of it's points as well.} 

-Young Man 

Book Review: The Five Dilemmas of Calvinism

Some feel that the title of this book is deceptive.  Perhaps a better title for it would have been "The Five Misunderstandings of Calvinism" or "The Five Misconceptions of Calvinism".  The author is clear in his introduction that he is defending the Reformed faith, so I don't think he intended to be deceptive.

This is a great little book for anyone who is curious about Reformed Theology.  It is written in an easy to understand format.  It answers questions from a Reformed point of view, such as:

1. What is the historical basis for Reformed theology?

2. What are the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism, and what does the Bible teach?

3. If God is in complete control of everything, to the point of predetermining all human actions, how can man be held accountable for what he does?

4. If we are saved by grace and not by works, why should we do anything good?  What purpose do good works serve? Are there rewards in heaven for what we do here on earth?

5. If God has predetermined everything that comes to pass, why should we spend valuable time in prayer or evangelism?

6.If God is both sovereign and good, how can evil things happen in the world?

7.If people are born  totally depraved, where do babies go when they die?


I should say that while I appreciated the insights into Reformed theology that this book gives, I was uncomfortable with his joke about Aminians having the daisy for their flower because "He loves me, He loves me not".  I felt that was unnecessary.  It takes away from the tone of the rest of the book.

I appreciate a statement made in the conclusion:

If there is one overriding theme to this book, it is the majesty of God.  We want to put everything into a nice, neat package that we can understand.  But that is not possible. We are not God. We are creatures and He is the Creator.  We cannot begin to fathom how great and awesome our God is.  Condsidering He can and does do things that our minds believe to be contradictory helps us to see how small our capacity for comprehension really is.

 God truly is a lot bigger than most of us make Him out to be.  If we understood all His ways and how He works we would be gods ourselves.  But we don't.  So I am content to let God be God even though I don't fully understand how He works or why He does the things He does.

Homeschool: Do Hard Things by Alex & Brett Harris

Do you have trouble getting your kids to strive for excellence?  I recently acquired the book Do Hard Things by Alex & Brett Harris.  These are teen age teens who are writing for their peers.  The book is a challenge for teens to move out of their comfort zones and rebel against low expectations.  They call it a rebellution.  I assigned this book to my son last week as required reading.  I asked him how he liked it so far and he said he liked it.  He was impressed that Chuck Norris had written the forward to the book.  I guess a lot of teens like Chuck Norris, so that caught his attention right off.  I'll be curious to see how he responds to the rest of the book.

Price Increases on My Books

Lulu.com, where I published my books has had a significant increase in publishing costs recently. I have had to raise the price of some of my books as a result of this. I have not raised the cost on all the books and have instead on some of them decided to just take less of a commission from them. However, some of the books I had to increase because the price hike made it so my profit on some books was below one dollar.
I am sorry for this inconvenience. I guess the poor economy is hitting all sorts of places.

Book Review: Daily Truth for Godly Youth

Daily Truth for Godly Youth by Howard Bean is a really good devotional for teens and adults. We recently purchased this devotional and are using each evening in our family devotions.

It is very Bible based. Each day has a good portion of scripture to read, then the devotional that makes the scripture applicable to daily living.

The devotions are divided up according to topic. There are around 5 to 7 devotions per topic and there is a devotion for each day of the year. Right now, the topic is relating to the opposite gender. It has mostly to do with what to look for in a prospective marriage partner. It is very practical. The next series of devotions are focused around The Lord's Prayer. These are so good that I hate to miss any of them!

It is published by Christian Light Publishing, a Mennonite publisher. Although I am not Mennonite, I see very little, if any in this book that I would disagree with so far. It seems to be very Bible based, and just focuses on daily Christian living.

Bible Reading Journal & Schedule

I am excited about this project that I just finished. I have long wanted a Bible reading journal that included a "Read the Bible in a Year Schedule" as well as each day having a guide for things to look for in my reading. Each day, I have a space to write the date and the scripture references that I read. Then there is space to write a promise, a command to obey, a timeless principle, how this applies to me today and a place to write your own prayers. I look forward to getting my first copy and using it.

You can click on the link above to go the description page for this book where you can purchase your own copy.

What Have I Been Doing?

I have been pre-occupied lately. I have two new book projects I've been working on. The first one is a Symptom Detective. It's a book with charts for you to record what you eat, vitamins/herbs, medications that you take, the weather, activities and symptoms that you have. The idea is if you have troublesome symptoms that your doctor can't seems to find the answers to other than throw pills at it, you can do some detective work of your own and possibly track down the offending triggers by finding patterns between what you are exposed to and your symptoms. I made this book for myself, but decided others might want to use it too. So it is for sale at my Lulu store. Click on the icon of the book at the top of my sidebar to take you to my store.

The second book I am working on isn't ready yet. It will be a Bible Reading Journal. It will have a page for each day of the year where you can record what you read, a promise, a command, how it applies to your life and write out your prayer for the day. In the back of the book I will have a Read through the Bible in a Year reading schedule. The Bible reading schedule is the tedious part...typing in all the reference for each day for four different books of the Bible. But eventually I will get it done and have it ready to go too. The Bible Reading Chart will coincide with "The MacArthur Daily Bible". I decided to do it this way so when I am on the road I don't have to take the bulky Bible to keep up on my daily reading...I will have the chart in the book that tells me where to read for the day and I can pack my pocket-size Bible instead. See, there is method to my madness.

Marsha's Musings: Humility & Holiness

I have been challenged as I have listened to the audio book of Andrew Murray's "Humility & Holiness". (see at end of post) It has been very convicting. The recording is not easy to listen to because of the quality and the sentences get a little long. But if you can wade through it little by little is worth your while. I went to Sermonaudio.com and downloaded the book into my MP-3 player so I don't have to sit at the computer to listen.

Two things I have been especially challenged with as I have listened to this is the fact that submission requires humility. If I am rising up within myself against the authorities God has put in my life, then I am not acting in humility. The other thing is humility means that I do not compare myself to others. Humility means that I do not look at others who are "less spiritual" to puff myself up like the Pharisee that I am not like them. It also means I do not feel intimidated by those who are "more perfect" than I, because this means that I am comparing myself to them and my pride is hurt. On a practical level it means that I do not make remarks to my family or others about people that I see or know who don't live up to my standard. It means that I don't consider myself any better than the next person, because we are all nothing compared to the holiness of God. We are all saved by grace.

A recent homeschool magazine article brought some of this home. She said that when she is out with her kids and sees someone who acts in an ungodly way or looks different morally, rather than make disparaging remarks about them, she says to her kids, "Perhaps they don't know our Lord." or "There is someone who needs Jesus."

I need to work on this area of my life. There are many other things pointed out in this audiobook and I know I will need to listen to it several times over to get it all. It is a challenge to listen to it due to the quality, but it is well worth the effort.

Right-click the link and open in a new window. This will take you to the web page where you can listen or download the section to your computer.










Below is the print form of the book. It is titled simply "Humility", but it is the same book that is read on the audio version.

Humility By Andrew Murray / Christian Literature Crusade When Jesus "made himself nothing ... taking the nature of a servant," He modeled for all believers true humility. Murray calls this "our true nobility" and "the distinguishing feature of discipleship." In twelve brief but powerful chapters, Murray journeys through Scripture and Christ's life, underscoring the utmost need for humility---as opposed to pride---in the Christian's life. With insightful, penetrating clarity, Murray calls all Christians to turn from pride, empty themselves, and study the character of Christ to be filled with His grace. Often called the best work on humility ever written.

The Five Dilemmas of Calvinism
By: Craig R. Brown
Ligonier Ministries / 2007 / Paperback


Product Description
After a brief survey of the historical development of the theological school now known as Calvinism and a comparison of Calvinism and Arminianism, Brown turns to a consideration of five dilemmas that Arminians typically associate with Reformed doctrines. The author then attempts to demonstrate that these "problems" are largely misunderstandings of Calvinism.
Written in a winsome and engaging style, Brown's work is an excellent primer on Calvinism and some of the critiques that have been leveled against it. As such, the book provides both apologetic help for Calvinists and answers for Arminians with honest questions.

I just finished reading this little book to our family in our nightly family time. I would highly recommend it for anyone who wants to learn more about the Reformed Faith. It is written in an easy to understand style. You will come away from it with a new understanding of what Calvinists and Arminians believe and how they differ. But most of all you will come away with a renewed sense of how great our God really is. It is a book that puts the glory of God first. It stimulated some good conversation within our family and caused us to pause and think.