Saturday, February 23, 2013

Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart by J.D. Greear

With a title like this, you'd think controversy would surround this book.




Greear has written a book that every Evangelical Christian ought to read. It's based on the many times he "went to the altar" and "prayed the prayer" to ask Jesus into his heart. As an evangelical, this is one of the most important moments of life. But is it biblical?

What about the fear that comes with guilt? What about when you sin after you've asked Jesus into your heart? Does that sin mean you are going to hell? Were you truly a Christian if you sinned after that moment?

Greear does a fantastic job outlining what the Bible clearly states a person needs to do in order to be "saved". (You'll have to read the book to find out...) His own experience growing up was a great resonance with my own and I've even been dealing with the questions this book answers from other Christians.

This book tackles the big questions like, how can you be sure of your salvation?, can a person lose their salvation?, What is faith? What is Repentance? Is eternal life truly only by grace and not works? What does it mean to pray the sinner's prayer? These are all covered quickly but solidly.

There are two appendices after the main body: one deals with baptism and when/if a person should be baptized. The second deals with justification and our sense of salvation assurance. Both are fantastic to keep you digging into your Bible and talking it over with your group of friends.

This is a small hardback book that would be a terrific gift for anyone who has asked, "What must I do to be saved?"




This book was provided, at no cost, for review by B&H Books.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

The Watch

Is this supposed to be a type of re-make of The Burbs? Is it supposed to be a comedy or a scary alien movie? Maybe it's trying to be like Shaun of the Dead where it's scary but funny?




This seems to be a problem with this movie. I was hoping for some hours of good laughs with the likes of Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and Richard Ayoade (The I.T. Crowd) but I was greatly disappointed.

The Watch is rated R which right off the bat is a letdown. Why is it that so many comedies have to go for the R rating in order to try to pull the audience in? Do they think the raunchy jokes, heavy sexual themes, and endless bad language attracts the laughs?

It doesn't for this viewer.

After learning that this movie was originally planned for Will Farrell to star before he and the director had a falling out, I understood the juvenile tendencies. Farrell has fallen very low in my expectations and this movie is exactly the kind of movie he would make.

The "life lessons" are shoehorned into the plot - a husband is sterile and another man is trying to be a decent father to his daughter - and it just feels like it's trying too hard.

Then let's talk about the twist...at that point it looked like Ayoade had given up.




While I'm not a fan, enough people must think these sort of gags and jokes are the rave because the studios keep churning them out.

Scream by Mike Dellosso

The hook to this book is electrifying: Mark Stone hears blood-curdling screams when he is on the phone with someone. Shortly after their conversation is finished, the person dies. Where are the screams coming from and why are all these people dying?




Then there is a second plot-line entailing somone kidnapping women and locking them in an abandoned barn.

How are these two stories connected and how in the world is this a Christian book?

Mike Dellosso does an admirable job keeping you on the edge of your seat as you read his tale. Part of the fun is trying to solve the mysteries before Stone does. (most of you who read it probably will) The characters  provide rich development while Dellosso plays out the grieving husband, (While looking at the synopsis of other Dellosso books, however, this seems to be a running theme) and wounded villain.

It was easy for me to picture this novel as a movie: I kept imagining how creepy the screams-from-the-phone  scenes would be and I'd end up with hairs on the back of my neck sticking straight up. The action is thrill-a-minute while the more quiet moments smooth out your heart rate.

By the end of this book, Stone hears the screams while he's speaking to his wife and ends up racing against the clock to save her life.

Part of the drawback for me was the "come to Jesus" moment. It occurs during a fairly intense moment of the story and I felt jarred out of the rush in order to get the "Christianese" section taken care of. Please bear in mind that this was still a great read - I was just slightly put out by this choppy moment in the story.




I can't wait to read more novels from Dellosso.