The Book’s Message There is something grand and wonderful running through the scenes of our lives. We are part of something magnificent like an invisible flowing river. We are part of a great dance. “The central passion of the human heart is to be filled with the great dance, and the chief and maddening riddle [...]

About 18 months ago, I cleared a section of my home-office bookshelf for the writings of Edward H. Hammett. I had just heard Eddie speak at a gathering of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Virginia, and was impressed by his style and content of his sermon. After the gathering, I immediately went and purchased several [...]

  The tag-line on the back of this book says, “OK, so the church is broken, now what?” As soon as I saw that line, I was drawn into a discussion. The majority of books coming out of the “emergent” movement have been very good at describing what is broken about the church. They’ve even [...]

I am always grateful for authors who aim to challenge my own established beliefs. If I only read a diet of books that confirm what I already believe, how can I learn anything? I want to be challenged to think. Such a challenge may change my beliefs, or cause me to study harder to reaffirm [...]

Book Review: A New Kind of Christianity by Brian McLaren From time to time, I am provided books by “Viral Bloggers,” provided I am willing to write a brief review and post in on my blog.  I do this joyfully because I love to read and the books are free in exchange for a honest [...]

In her book, The Book of the Shepherd, Joann Davis has given us a brief little fairytale in a land where many church folks live – a land of legalism where faith is expressed in fidelity to a list of rules and regulations, and failure results in harsh retribution.   Joshua, the protagonist in this little [...]

I’m not a big fan of “essay books.”  I much prefer to consume a book from start to finish, delving into the mindset of the author.  I like to argue with a book’s author – challenging her/his presuppositions, agendas, theology, philosophy, and politics.  I like following an author’s threads and seeing if they remain consistent [...]

A Prayer to Our Father:  Hebrew Origins of the Lord’s Prayer, Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson, Hikkiah Press, 2009.    What an amazing little book!   As a Christian with Jewish ancestry, it always warms my heart when members of these two traditions are willing to set aside their prejudice and discover their common roots.  [...]

The Seven Faith Tribes, by George Barna This “book review” (and that of dozens of others who have recently read this book) can also be view by visiting http://viralbloggers.com/2009/05/the-seven-faith-tribes-by-george-barna/ My user name on the “viral bloggers site” is “oldguydreaming.”  George Barna is the founder of The Barna Group, a marketing research firm that studies the religious beliefs [...]