For All It's Worth

Dataclysm: Who We Are (When We Think No One’s Looking) by Christian Rudder                  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, can these social media engines really tell us something significant about race, dating, and sexuality?  In his new book, Dataclysm, OkCupid founder Christian Rudder sets aside the notion that only larger polls such as the Gallup Poll can adequately express cultural and social data.  Instead, Christian looks at social media outlets like Facebook, that run the gamut from rich to poor, black to Asian.  He writes, “More than 1 out of every 3 Americans access Facebook every day.  The site has 1.3 billion accounts worldwide.  Given that roughly a quarter of the world is under age fourteen, that means that something like 25 percent of adults on Earth have a Facebook account (20).”  If this proliferation of Facebook usage accounts for much of what our culture dee...

Good God, Lousy World, & Me by Holly Burkhalter How does a journalist with a skeptical eye and a quick wit find peace with God?  In this new book, Good God, Lousy World, & Me by Holly Burkhalter, advocate for government relations for IJM, she tells her story of wrestling with God, examining the fractures of sin in the world, and coming to see that hope is not lost, because believers in the world do make a difference.  Early on she talks about her perspective of believing in God by writing, “I was sick with fury.  To me, believing in God was not only foolish, but it would have felt like I was breaking faith with all those Rwandan children, women, and men he had abandoned (7).”  The perennial question, “Where is God in the midst of suffering and evil atrocities,” was one that Holly personally wrestled with as she investigated some of the deadliest situations in the world.  It wasn’t until Holly and her husband John decided to adopt a fou...

So-Called Christian: Healing Spiritual Wounds Left by the Church by Jim Turner There is self-destructive spirit within the church today that is doing untold damage to believers of every stripe.  Pastor Jim Turner in his new book, So-Called Christian seeks to explore these wounds that the church has caused its members and move toward a more healing approach to church.  What did Jim miss on his journey as a Christian about the church, namely that, “The most basic truth: that real, Spirit-begotten Love produces Unity among brothers and sisters, and that Christian Unity is the burning passion of Christ (16).”  Jim places the weight of the disease that is destroying the church not at the hands of liberal education, socialistic governments or Hollywood culture but in the heart of the church itself.  It is suffering from an autoimmune disease (23).  How does this take place?  Jim locates Man’s Sinfulness as primary at the root deterioration of...

Why You Really can Memorize Scripture by Dr. Daniel Morris I still remember passages completely many years after I learned them.  Why is it so hard now to put Scripture to memory today? Daniel begins his book at looking at the three levels of memory and seeking to draw wisdom from the various ways people fall short in their plight to memorize Scripture.  More than just failing to memorize Scripture and see its significance is the fact that many people draw the conclusion that they can’t memorize (8).  Yet, understanding the brain’s ability to memorize and working on constructive ways of memorizing Scripture help us in our discovery of God’s Word. Starting with Deuteronomy 6, the benefits of memorizing Scripture far outweigh the negatives.  Namely, in Deuteronomy 6 the people of God are instructed to talk of the Scriptures, walk with them, and teach them to their children.  It is impossible to talk of the Scriptures if we haven’t some clue of t...

Organic Mentoring: A Mentor’s Guide to Relationships with Next Generation Women by Sue Edwards & Barbara Neumann How do women grow in their relationship with God and with a mentor?  This perennial question is tackled by authors Sue Edwards and Barbara Neumann in their new book entitled Organic Mentoring.  Not content with repackaging traditional models of discipleship, Sue and Barbara set out to listen to what women engaged in mentoring relationships need, what they hope, and what works for them.  With transcripts of interviews with young women, guidance from the Scriptures, and wisdom through experience, this book is sure to be an encouragement to those worn out by mentoring relationships. With an alarming statistic to begin the book, namely ‘that 80 percent of young women abandon traditional mentoring programs in the first six months of participation,’ the authors set to dive into how culture and women are different these days (23).  One ...