Coram Deo ~

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Uppity: My Untold Story About the Games People Play by Bill White with Gordon Dillow. Grand Central Publishing. 309 pages. 2011 
****

I decided to read this book after watching the History Channel Documentary After Jackie, which featured Bill White, Bob Gibson and Curt Flood of the St. Louis Cardinals. White had an incredible career in baseball. He played first base the New York Giants, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Philadelphia Phillies from 1956 to 1969, winning six Gold Glove Awards, and was selected to the All-Star Game five times. After his playing days, he had a second career in the media, including serving as an announcer on New York Yankees games on radio and television from 1971 to 1989. Then, from 1989 to 1994 he served as President of Major League Baseball’s National League. In 2020, White was elected to the Cardinals Hall of Fame.
White was born in Paxton, Florida, near the Florida-Alabama border, in 1934. His mother was only 16. His father left town shortly after White was born and played no role in his upbringing or his life. In 1937, White and his mother boarded a train to Warren, Ohio, which he has always considered home.
White was an honor student and graduated second in his high school class of 120 students in 1952. However, until the day his mother died in 2001, despite all his accomplishments in professional baseball and beyond, his mother never quite forgave him for not finishing college.

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The Philosophy of Modern Song by Bob Dylan. Simon & Schuster. 338 pages. 2022
** ½

This is an interesting book, beginning with the title (which doesn’t really tell you anything about the book), and the cover (Little Richard, Eddie Cochran and the little-known Alis Lesley “the female Elvis”). The book, which Dylan began working on in 2010, before he was presented with the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016, features sixty-six short chapters about songs recorded by other artists, ranging from Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, Johnny Cash, Elvis Costello, Little Richard, to the Eagles, Santana, Willie Nelson, the Who, and Dion. The song selection seems odd – just four by women, many that I’d never heard of, with the highest percentage being songs released in the 1950’s, with nine being released in 1956 when Dylan was fifteen years old. Dylan never says why he selected the songs, whether they are favorites, songs that influenced him, etc. There is no introduction to the book. Instead, Dylan goes right into a chapter on “Detroit City”, a 1963 hit by Bobby Bare. Many have compared Dylan’s writing in the book to his Theme Time Radio Hour satellite radio show he hosted from 2006 to 2009.
Each chapter includes photographs – nearly 150 are included, but none have captions, leading the reader to guess at times why the photo is included. Dylan writes a rambling riff/essay based on the lyrics of the song, and then adds comments about the artist.

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Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story by Bono. Knopf. 576 pages. 2022
****

U2’s Bono was born Paul David Hewson in 1960. He grew up middle class in a Dublin suburb, the son of a Catholic father Bob (whom he refers to as his “Da”), and Protestant mother Iris. His mother died of a cerebral aneurysm when he was 14. Living with his father, and brother Norman, his mother was never spoken of again in their home at 10 Cedarwood Road. Bono writes that it stopped being a home and was just a house.
This massive (nearly 600-page book) about faith, family, music and activism, begins with an account of Bono nearly dying in 2016. The forty chapters, each titled after a U2 song, and beginning with an illustration which is explained in the Appendix, tell Bono’s story as a member of U2, a Christian, family man and activist. During the COVID lockdown the band reimagined these forty U2 songs for a Songs of Surrender album that was recently released.
Bono’s best friend is his wife Ali, his childhood sweetheart. They have four kids. He writes that family has always been at the center of who he is.
The book generally moves along in a chronological manner, with Bono writing about each of U2’s albums, events such as Live Aid and apologizing for working with Apple to put the band’s 2014 album Songs of Innocence on every iPhone free, which the band was roundly criticized for.

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Clapton: The Autobiography by Eric Clapton. Crown. 396 pages. 2007
****

In this book, Eric Clapton writes about his incredible life as a blues musician, an addict and ultimately as a happily married man and father, a man who is sober and helping others to achieve sobriety.
I read this book when it was first published, and decided to read it again after seeing the now 77-year-old guitarist in concert for the first time last year.
Clapton begins by telling us he was raised by his grandparents, though for many years he grew up thinking that they were actually his parents. He was nine years old before he met his mother. As a child, he attended Sunday school, which is where he first heard a lot of the old, beautiful English hymns, his favorite being “Jesus Bids Us Shine.” Music became a healer for him, and he learned to listen with all his being. He found that it could wipe away all the emotions of fear and confusion relating to his family.
He taught himself how to play guitar. He writes about listening to the blues music of Robert Johnson, saying that following his example would be his life’s work. He writes about his work with the Yardbirds, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominos and as a solo artist.

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Luther and the Reformation: How a Monk Discovered the Gospel by R.C. Sproul. Ligonier Ministries. 100 pages. 2021
****

In this short book, R. C. Sproul provides a brief biography of Martin Luther up until the time of the Protestant Reformation and then addresses the main issues that led to the Reformation and continue to this day.
Sproul writes that the during the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church experienced a steady change in its understanding of biblical Christianity, most importantly in its understanding of salvation. This system of salvation that developed within the Roman Catholic Church came to a crisis with the sixteenth-century Reformation.
Martin Luther was planning on a career in law, until a crisis took place in July 1505. As he was walking home from the university a lightning bolt struck the ground just a few feet from where he was walking. It was so close to him that it knocked him on the ground. He saw this as a message from God. He was terrified, and he cried out in his fear, “Help me, St. Anne; I will become a monk.” He followed through by moving to the Augustinian monastery in the city of Erfurt. His Father Hans was furious with his son for disappointing him by not pursuing a career in law.
Sproul reviews a few moments of crisis that would test Luther’s sanity. The first took place when he was to give and celebrate his first Mass as an ordained monk.

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Truth for Life: 365 Daily Devotions by Alistair Begg. The Good Book Company. 367 pages. 2021
****

This is the first of two Truth for Life daily devotional books from respected pastor and author Alistair Begg. I used the first volume as a part of my daily devotional readings in 2022, and am using the second volume as a part of my daily devotional readings this year.
Each of the daily readings begins with a scripture passage. In the reading for that day, the author aims to explain the passage, to encourage the reader from them, and to reflect on how they inspire and equip us to enjoy living for Christ in every area of our lives. At the bottom of each reading, you will see three icons. These are a prompt to say to yourself: Now that I have read and considered these verses…How is God calling me to think differently? How is God reordering my heart’s affections—what I love? What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today? Also included is “Bible Through the Year” reading plan.

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BOOK REVIEWS ~ More of this review and a review of Good News of Great Joy: 25 Devotional Readings for Advent by John Piper
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The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
***

A few months ago, we attended the Fellowship for Performing Arts production of The Great Divorce, which was adapted for stage by Max McLean. McLean tells us that this 1945 novel by C.S. Lewis was his response to the popular view expressed in William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell where the poet tried to imagine a point at which the differences between good and evil will somehow be resolved. This prompted Lewis to write of their final divorce.
Lewis tells his readers that the book is a fantasy, so don’t get too concerned about some of the theology in the book. In this book, Lewis introduces us to several characters on a bus trip from the outskirts of Hell to the outskirts of Heaven. Lewis poses a challenging question. Given the freedom to choose Heaven or Hell, what would we really do. Are the gates of Hell locked from the inside?

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Letters to a Future Champion: My Time with Mr. Pulver by Dottie Pepper. Mission Point. 195 pages. 2021
****

Letters to a Future Champion is really a unique book. It is written by Dottie Pepper, a 17-time winner on the LPGA Tour, two-time major champion, and current lead CBS golf reporter. The book tells the story of her being mentored by George Pulver Sr., a golfer, course designer and advocate for the game throughout the Northeast. The book demonstrates the powerful impact a mentor can have on the skills/job and life of the mentee.

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BOOK REVIEWS ~ More of this review and a review of Get Up, Baby! My Seven Decades with the St. Louis Cardinals by Mike Shannon with Rick Hummel
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A Sheep Remembers by David B. Calhoun. Banner of Truth. 200 pages. 2021
****

Ligon Duncan writes a warm Preface for this wonderful devotionally written book by one of my favorite professors at Covenant Seminary, where he taught for 30 years. I had two church history classes with him early in my time at Covenant, and he was also the speaker at our church years ago for a men’s breakfast. Duncan writes that the Lord called Dr. Calhoun home just as this book had been safely delivered to the publisher.
Calhoun, who describes himself as a preacher and teacher, tells us that the twenty-third Psalm is probably the best known of all the chapters of the Bible and among the most memorable words ever written in any language. In this book he tries to explain the words of Psalm 23 as David meant them, but also in the fuller light of the New Testament, a light that the psalmist partially saw. Psalm 23 is about the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Book Reviews

Seasons of Sorrow: The Pain of Loss and the Comfort of God by Tim Challies. Zondervan. 215 pages. 2022
****

On November 3, 2020, Nick Challies, 20-year-old son of Tim and Aileen, collapsed while playing a game in Louisville, Kentucky, where he was going to Boyce College and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was going to be a pastor, and was engaged to be married. Sadly, he could not be revived.
Flying to Louisville from Canada, Tim began to write through his seasons of sorrow. In this book, he traces his journey through four seasons, beginning in the fall and advancing through winter, spring, and summer. The book of short reflections by a father who lost his only son, ends exactly one year after it began, on the first anniversary of the death of Nick.

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BOOK REVIEWS ~ More of this review and a review of Up and Down: Victories and Struggles in the Course of Life by Bubba Watson with Don Yaeger
BOOK NEWS ~ Links to Interesting Articles
BOOK CLUB ~ Providence by John Piper
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