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Category Archives: Book Reviews and News


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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS

The Daring Heart of David Livingstone: Exile, African Slavery, and the Publicity Stunt That Saved Millions by Jay Milbrandt. Thomas Nelson. 262 pages. 2014
***

The author tells us that if David Livingstone pursued one purpose, it was freedom from the African slave trade. Just thirty-six days after passing away deep in the heart of Africa, legislation in Zanzibar would make slavery illegal in East Africa. Yet Livingstone would die believing that he failed in almost everything in life. For abolition, he sacrificed his career, his reputation, his fortune, his wife, his children, and, eventually, his own life.
The author writes that Livingstone was first and foremost, a missionary. While his walk across Africa had had little to do with evangelism, he believed his work ultimately opened routes for the gospel.
The book uses sources to provide us with a detailed account of Livingstone’s travels. His goals ultimately were the end of the East African slave trade and to find the source of the Nile River.

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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS

Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments by Joe Posnanski. Dutton. 400 pages. 2023
***

I was given this book by my wife’s aunt (herself a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan). Her husband had read and enjoyed the book and he thought I would enjoy it was well, which I did.
In this book, Joe Posnanski counts down the 50 most magical baseball moments, those moments that have for more than a century made people fall in love with baseball. In addition to the 50 magical moments, he interrupts the countdown with five bonus baseball memories. These are five unlikely homers, five baseball trick plays, five baseball moments that melt the heart, five blunders that will never be forgotten, etc. In all, the book includes 108 moments and memories. The author also includes a reason to love baseball for every team in baseball, based on a survey completed by more than four thousand fans.
Posnanski ranks Henry Aaron’s 715th home run is the most magical moment in baseball history, a moment at the heart of why we love baseball.

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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS


Jesus, Strong and Kind by Sinclair Ferguson. CF4Kids. 72 pages. 2024
****

In this children’s book (recommended for children 5-11 years of age), respected theologian and grandfather Sinclair Ferguson uses the lyrics of the CityAlight song “Jesus, Strong and Kind”, to teach children about Jesus. The author uses one word from each verse of the song – Thirst, Weak, Fear and Lost – and then takes us to stories from the Gospel to illustrate that aspect of Jesus. The book is beautifully illustrated by Angelo Ruta.
“Jesus, Strong and Kind” was written by Rich Thompson, Jonny Robinson, Michael Farren and Colin Buchanan. Buchanan writes the Foreword to the book. There is a code you can scan with your phone to watch CityAlight singing the song, which children will get to sing throughout the book.

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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS

What a Fool Believes: A Memoir by Michael McDonald with Paul Reiser. Dey Street Books. 323 pages. 2024
****

This book, well written with Paul Reiser, is a fascinating look at seventy-two-year-old musician Michael McDonald’s life. It takes us from his Irish Catholic upbringing in the St. Louis area, through his musical career, right up to the current day once again touring with the Doobie Brothers.
He writes a lot about his father, also a singer, who he says would always be a larger-than-life hero to him. During McDonald’s early years, many times, his father would leave the home, with Michael not knowing if he would return. Sadly, his parent’s marriage would not last, ending when he was about thirteen, though they would become better friends than they were when married.
It was with a homemade guitar at the age of twelve, and inspired by the British Invasion groups, he would start his first band: Mike and the Majestics. He would go on to be a part of many other bands in the St. Louis area as time went on.

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10 New and Upcoming Books

I love to read books in a variety of genres – theology, biography, sports, leadership, faith and work, Christian living, etc. – and am always on the lookout for new books. Here are 10 new and upcoming books you might be interested in.

2084 and the AI Revolution, Updated and Expanded Edition: How Artificial Intelligence Informs Our Future by John Lennox

From the Amazon description:
“You don’t have to be a computer scientist to have discerning conversations about artificial intelligence and technology. We all wonder where we’re headed. Even now, technological innovations and machine learning have a daily impact on our lives, and many of us see good reasons to dread the future. Are we doomed to the surveillance society imagined in George Orwell’s 1984? Continue reading →


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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS

BOOK REVIEW:
Amazing Grace: The Life of John Newton and the Surprising Story Behind His Song by Bruce Hindmarsh and Craig Borlase. Thomas Nelson. 234 pages. 2023
***

This book was written on the 250th anniversary of the hymn “Amazing Grace” by John Newton. The book reads like a novel, though the authors tell us it is a dramatized biography with the feel of a film or live play.
Newton’s father was a ship captain and his mother died when John was young. Newton’s father would remarry within two years of his wife’s death.
John met Polly (Mary) when she was just fourteen. He longed to marry her, and although her parents were against it, they eventually did marry. Mary and John adored children, and though they had never had any of their own, they did raise two nieces – Eliza and Betsy.
We read about the young John being snatched from the streets of London and taken on board the Harwich to serve as a common sailor in the Navy. Although earlier he had professed faith, he was soon mocking Christianity, and made it his business to pour scorn now on anyone who took the Bible at all seriously.

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13 Daily Devotional Recommendations for 2025

There are a number of excellent daily devotionals available for you to use as a part of your devotional reading in 2025 to complement your Bible reading. In no particular order, here are thirteen recommendations, including three new releases:

The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions by Arthur Bennett

This book was compiled by English born minister Arthur Bennett, who loved to study the Puritans. His desire was that the publication of these prayers would help introduce people to the Puritans and their writings.

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Two New Devotionals For This Advent Season

Advent is what we call the season leading up to Christmas. It begins four Sundays before December 25, sometimes in the last weekend of November, sometimes on the first Sunday in December. This year it is Sunday, December 1. For the past several years, my wife Tammy and I have read an Advent devotional to prepare our hearts for Christmas. We have read devotionals by John Piper, Paul Tripp, R.C. Sproul, Sinclair Ferguson and others. This year, there are two new Advent devotionals to choose from by Alistair Begg and Albert Mohler.

Let Earth Receive Her King: Daily Readings for Advent by Alistair Begg
From the Amazon description:
“24 Advent devotions spanning the whole of Scripture that celebrate Christmas and Christ’s return.
Follow the story of God’s Messiah from Genesis to Revelation. See how God prepared the world for Christ’s first coming and how that wondrous gift was given; and look forward to Christ’s future coming and how all things will be made new.
Alongside Alistair Begg’s insightful Bible devotion, each day features a question to aid personal reflection and a carol or hymn to enjoy meditating upon. These readings will make December a month of celebrating the wonder of Christmas and the hope of Christ’s return.”

Recapturing the Glory of Christmas: A 25-Day Advent Devotional by Albert Mohler
From the Amazon description:
“Christmas should spark worship and adoration, and R. Albert Mohler offers a book that mines the depths of the advent season, and all the theological riches God has gifted to His people. Recapturing the Glory of Christmas is a call to worship and praise. Indeed, Christmas beckons the world to come and adore the Savior King—the King exulted by the angels; the King who took on flesh; the King who deserves all glory, all honor, and all praise. O come! Come and adore Jesus Christ the Lord.”

Why not check out these two new Advent devotional books?


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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS


C is for Christian: An A-Z Treasury of Who We Are in Christ by Alistair Begg. Illustrated by Emma Skerratt. The Good Book Company. 100 pages. 2024
****

My wife Tammy and I have appreciated the ministry of Alistair Begg since first seeing him speak at the 1997 Ligonier National Conference. This is his first book for children, written for those for those 5-11 years old. It is beautifully illustrated by Emma Skerratt.
Begg writes that being a Christian is the most wonderful, exciting, life-changing thing anyone can be. But he asks, what is a Christian? What words can we use to describe what it means to call yourself a Christian? In this book, you will find 26 words that complete this sentence “A Christian is…”. Each of the 26 words begins with a different letter of the alphabet. Begg says to think of this as an A to Z of what a Christian is.

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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS

BOOK REVIEW: 
Joseph: From Dreamer to Deliverer by R.C. Sproul. Ligonier Ministries. 115 pages. 2024
****

R.C. Sproul went home to be with the Lord in December, 2017. Fortunately, Ligonier Ministries has continued to release his teaching material in a variety of formats since then. For this book on the life of Joseph, Ligonier Ministries edited and adapted Dr. R.C. Sproul’s original material with the assistance of his wife Vesta Sproul.
Joseph is one of my favorite characters in the Bible. Dr. Sproul tells us that so extraordinary is Joseph’s virtue that throughout church history, many interpreters have seen him as a type or forerunner of our Lord Himself. In this short book, Sproul takes us through Joseph’s incredible life in which we see God’s sovereign hand of providence working from the time he was betrayed by his brothers at age seventeen, to serving as second only to Pharaoh in Egypt, and being reunited with his brothers and his dear father Jacob.

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