This Classical Life

The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In a world with great poverty and despair, what does God expect of his people? If our neighbors are people of relative affluence, what concern should we have for the poor? Grappling with these questions and others, Richard Stearns, president of World Vision US, writes an engaging and informative treatise to all Christians to life out the gospel with word and deed in the context of the world’s poor.

Weaving in his own personal testimony, Stearns considers the problem of poverty from various perspectives. As he explains how he left his position as the CEO of a large corporation to begin a new work he felt unequipped for in the private sector, he is also expounding on the Bible’s call to love the poor and needy. Describing his first visits to the third world, he embodies the statistics about poverty that he is also providing.

In an age where our influence can spread beyond a few square miles of our homes, Stearns lays out for readers how they can help to serve the suffering and why they ought to. I found the book compelling and thought provoking, but also winsome and easy to read. This book is one that I’d commend to any Christian, but in particular those who feel ill-equipped in their call towards mercy and justice. (9/10)

**I received this book from the publisher to review. My opinion I’ve expressed is my own.**

I first became aware of Nashville superstar pastor Pete Wilson when he followed me on twitter. I popped over to his blog, and his wife’s, and found him warm and likable. So I followed him back and have been watching him from afar for many months. I was intrigued by the book he was finishing up: Plan B: What Do You Do When God Doesn’t Show Up the Way You Thought He Would? With a subtitle like that, who wouldn’t be? When I had the opportunity to receive a copy for review, I jumped at the chance.

Suffering is a part of the christian life, and this question is one that I grapple with a lot. Pete’s analysis is honest, Christ-centered and pastoral. If you want an academic discourse on the problem of suffering, look elsewhere. This book is surprisingly easy to read, something I appreciated considering the foggy haze suffering can bring. Knowing that there aren’t any easy answers to the question, I appreciated the reinforcement of basic truths that Plan B provided.

Wilson uses stories from the Bible and the experiences of his friends to explain suffering from a Biblical perspective. I might have done it differently, and spent more time talking about how things will be different someday in the new heavens and the new earth. Explaining how Christ has started to redeem the world and make all things new. However, Plan B is a hopeful book, and a good one, and will be a good resource to the church in the years to come. (8.5/10)

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

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This beautifully illustrated book details the famous sit-in at the Greensboro, NC Woolworth’s counter in 1960. The prose is moving, speckled with quotes that inspired the protesters and good detail. As a picture book ought to be, it is both easily understood and deep enough for older readers. Kate (who does have some exposure to the civil rights movement) grasped the storyline and was moved by the strength it took to stay still.

The simple, powerful prose is well matched by the illustrations. Watercolor paintings with ink, they come across as modern yet classic, and moving. With a repetitive motif of cooking that might come across a bit strong to some adults, however, I wasn’t distracted by it and consider it effective for young readers.

Though graphic about their struggles, the story isn’t scary or overwhelming to children. It would work well in any elementary grades, and even in some middle school classrooms. I’d commend it to any family who is building a personal library with any attention to covering American History or Civil Rights.

Kate, age 5 “I like this book, it told about Dr. King and his dreams, and how these boys followed his dreams by sitting at the white skin lunch table. They sat and they sat for a long time. People were mean to them. Now people all sit together. That’s why I like this book.”

**We received this book from the publisher to review. Our opinions are our own.**

When I requested this book from Thomas Nelson, I was excited to have a book of Bible maps to use as a reference. But it ended up being so much more. Photos, charts, and outlines, as well as downloadable PDFs, make this a great first stop for visual information related to the Bible. Additionally, each book of the Bible has an overview including things like the basic message and setting. I was impressed with the balance between historicity and orthodoxy, they seemed to hit the middle ground of the majority of evangelicalism and not lean too far towards fundamentalism or liberalism.

With over 500 pages, and a list price of under $20, this is the sort of resource that belongs on on each family’s bookshelf. If you serve as a teacher, you can even use duplicate these charts and maps for non-commercial use to share with your students. I can anticipate some great uses for homeschooling families as well.

If you simply want a book with large, full color maps that remind you of the ones in the back of your Bible, this is probably not the best choice. But as an all-around resource, it really shines.

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

I have been writing some children’s book reviews here and there, I figured y’all might find them useful, so here are some previews with links to the full review. All of them should be available at your local public library.

The Princess and the Pea by Rachel Isadora (5/5) …the illustrations are truly engaging and beautiful and stand on their own merit, not just as a non-white version of a classic.

The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren (4/5) A sweet story that many will probably think of as “Little House in Sweden.”

Mama Miti by Donna Jo Napoli, Illustrated by Kadir Nelson (5/5) The oil paintings and collage illustrations by Kadir Nelson are beautiful and striking, they seem to make a faraway world more real to readers, integrating African textiles and motifs.

Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Bryan Collier (5/5) Martin’s Big Words is a book that every family ought to own. It’s the best introduction to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that we have come across, something appropriate for even four or five-year-olds.