Author: Fred Von Kamecke
“Reputation management” is the new buzzword on the Internet. There are companies that will alert you if someone says something bad about you online so you have a chance to challenge it. These companies are going to make a mint off the egocentric and thin-skinned. Christ and Christians have been getting a bad rap for millennia, yet the Lord abides, and the righteous endure no matter what people say, so should Christians play the reputation game?
In his book, Busted: Exposing Popular Myths about Christianity, it appears that Fred Von Kamecke is taking a shot at doing reputation management for Jesus, the Bible and matters of Christian faith. He is not on that Quixotian journey however – his approach is much more fun – he is a theological myth buster.
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Authors: Gary M. Burge, Lynn H. Cohick and Gene L. Green
Do you know why Jesus did not write his autobiography era book outlining his theology? It was because all the teachers of this time gained popularity by the number of students they attracted, not the number of books they wrote. None of the great teachers of that era wrote books–they left it to their students to do compilations of their teaching.
That’s the sort of background information you’ll get from The New Testament in Antiquity, by Gary M. Burge, Lynn H. Cohick and Gene L. Green, a trio of professors from Wheaton College and Graduate School. [Read More]
Author: Mark Mittelberg
Guest reviewer: Dan MacIntosh
Watching TV ministers apply Bible-thumping tactics when preaching the gospel makes me wonder if these well-meaning preachers have completely forgotten the principle of free will. After all, if somebody becomes a Christian, that choice is entirely up to them, and it’s ill-advised—not to mention impossible—to force-feed Christianity. Well, Mark Mittelberg, who is perhaps best known for writing Becoming a Contagious Christian, feels so strongly about ‘choice,’ he’s included a variation on that term in the title of his latest book, Choosing Your Faith. And his careful approach to evangelism comes off like the soft knocking on a heart’s door, and never leaves any Bible bruises. [Read More]
Author: Dr. Gary Chapman
Reviewed by Donald L. Hughes
The premise of this book is that people have “love tanks” that are empty in unfulfilled relationships, and that they can be filled by a spouse who knows how to communicate in a way that’s meaningful to the empty person. If this marital prescription seems naive and simplistic to you, then get on the bus.
Dr. Gary Chapman is a seasoned writer, speaker, broadcaster and marriage counselor. His Five Love Languages franchise includes similarly titled books for children, teens and singles. [Read More]
Author: David and Claudia Arp & John and Margaret Bell
Reviewed by Donald L. Hughes
Lots of books have been written on family life, but few have focused on the extended family. Fixing Family Friction takes extended family issues head-on, and this approach is likely to be helpful to readers whose in-laws have become outlaws, or who face myriad other challenges with children, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
The subtitle of this book gives away its true intentions. It is “Promoting Relative Peace.” More than just a play on words, that phrase signals the reader that the book will bring a measure of wholeness to extended families, but it is not an illusionary cure-all which so many seek. Often, relative peace is the most that you can expect from your relatives. [Read More]
