Thoughts on books...

I like books :) when they're interesting. Surprisingly, I had a fairly good deal of time to read this summer! What fun! Here are the books I read and what I think of them...


What a wonderful surprise of a book. I picked up a hardback version of it for a dollar at a thrift store because I liked the feel of the pages. I don't recommend that method for picking out books, but in this case, it definitely worked! The story is simple yet incredibly intriguing. It's an easy read meant for people like me with a very short attention span. :) However, for people that are introspective and reflective, this also provides some excellent brain work. Wouldn't recommend it for kids or unromantic men.
A friend of mine found this little jewel at a thrift store several years ago. I didn't pick it up until this summer, and what a folly that was on my part! This was one of the best books in my library! However, I only recommend it to people that enjoy Jane Austin movies (not necessarily her writing style though). It is an easy read, full of 18th century humor and romance. You will, inevitably, begin speaking and writing using words like, "thither, hence, splendid, and dastardly" after reading this.

Wow. I was not expecting what I read in this book. It is a true story, which makes me immediately think it will either be less interesting than a fiction or it will rather neat and inspiring. Well "neat and inspiring" hardly do it credit. This story is a revolution of thinking for 2 individuals and how their lives impact each other. It is also an incredible account of God's sovereignty. I confess, I found myself sobbing in the final chapters. It touched a nerve in me that was so real and frightening at the same time. I won't explain further for fear of giving away the plot, but highly recommend this book.

Oh, how I wish I had my 11th grade English teacher explaining this one to me as I read it. Chaim Potok is a renowned author of Jewish literature. This particular book is a fiction piece about a young boy with a talent for art. His passion and addiction, if you will, for art draws him from his family and ultimately from his faith. It is a frightening book of what a "good habit" can do if gone unchecked. The elements of Jewish literature were particularly intriguing.

I am not the biggest Donald Miller fan. I read Blue Like Jazz and now this one, but though both provided some comical, real-life scenarios, I did not close the book feeling enlightened or challenged. This work is his recollection of a "find himself" road-trip he took with a good friend in his early 20s. No incredible spiritual insights or stunning moments of brilliance, but fine for the 25 Filipino pesos I paid for it. A "read-if-you-have-nothing-else-to-read" book.

Before commenting on this one, I must confess, that the remaining books have not been motivated by my own pleasure of reading or the expanse of my intellect. They are rather required for school and I am just getting ahead. The one time in my life I'm not procrastinating ;) That said, The Universe Next Door did surprise me at how logically Sire organized his thoughts. For people like myself who are ignorant in the realm of philosophy and apologetics, this is simple, well-organized, and easy to understand. I was impressed with his ability to keep such complex ideas and areas of thought to such susinct chapters. Very helpful :)

John Piper is a Moody Bible Institute favorite, but not necessarily mine. I have enjoyed a few of his works. This was not my favorite, but did provide some excellent biblical insites. I appreciated his efforts to provide a very biblical basis for missions. "Missions exists because worship does not." He seems very passionate about the need for a scriptural understanding of the position of man in relation to God and why we must be impacting the world with the gospel. A bit of a slow read...seemed a little redundant, but overall profitable.

I finished this one thinking..."hm...interesting." It is certainly a short, very clear-pointed book. Mr. Harris does not beat around the bush to communicate his opinions, but neither does he seem to cloak them with the usual courtesy most authors allow for. I found myself greatly pitying this man for his incesent need to prove or rather disprove all of Christianity's reasoning. "Many doctors are moved simply to alleviate human suffering, without any thought of God. While there is no doubt that Christian missionaries are also moved by a desire to alleviate suffering, they come to the task encumbered by a dangerous and divisive mythology. Missionaries in the developing world waste a lot of time and moeny proselytizing to the needy..." This book may irritate some, make others question their faith, or like me...pity people like Mr. Harris who can't accept anything on the basis of "faith." I do recommend it for those that are prepared for a bit of a shock.

You still have time to read before the summer's gone! Go to the library! Ready...set...GO! :)

Reading is good for you.

Book Recommendation: The Cross & The Crescent by Phil Parshall

:)

Face masks and capes...

Perhaps we'll discuss a different type of hero.

Who are 5 people you would consider to be your heroes in this life? (People you have known in your lifetime.) I can name several of my own...

What happens when you realize your hero is also human...has flaws...defects...sins of their own? Do you brace yourself under that pedestal to keep it from toppling over?

I've been processing this concept for the past few months and come to a few conclusions. There have been several people in my acquaintance that I've truly looked up to...worshiped, in a loose use of the term. These people have a great deal of wisdom; they approach life with a solid mind and open heart. But as with anything in the human life, we must be wary of putting to much admiration and emphasis into another person. We're all humans...depraved humans at that.

The cliche, but none-the-less true, fact is that Christ is the true hero. Our hearts long to be in awe and astonishment of someone. Humans will disappoint and fail. Christ endures forever...Christ never fails. "The soul was made to stand in awe of a Person--the only person worthy of awe. All heroes are shadows of Christ. We love to admire their excellence. How much more will we be satisfied by the one Person who conceived all excellence and embodies all skill, all talent, all strength and brilliance and savvy and goodness" (John Piper--Don't Waste Your Life).

I believe it's okay to look up to people...to appreciate the Christ-like qualities in them...but not to the extent that we cannot recognize their humanity and depravity as well.

The fruits and nuts of the family tree...

Sorry...no pictures in this one. :)

I'm a thinker. This is a blessing and a curse. I think too long on things that don't mean 2 cents and I don't think before I act or say something stupid. Unfortunate. However, in the hours and hours of miscellaneous thought-flow, God sticks in a very directed chain of thought, and boy are those times good.

Throughout the summer, I have seen patterns in my life that reflect very similarly to some in my parents and grandparents. As I looked into it more, I realized that I had never studied or questioned the concept of generational sin. Now, be advised that these are merely the preliminary findings of an ignorant teenager. However, they have opened up some great doors of understanding for me.

First of all, there is something to be said for the way one is influenced by parents and previous generations. The all too common example people use is that of an alcoholic: a child of an alcoholic parent is statistically more likely to become an alcoholic. I think the same can be said for any prevalent sin--children watch their parents' example of sin, there is a chance they might follow such example and be guilty of the same sin.

HOWEVER...(brilliant quote I found)..."Although significantly influenced by them, believers are not slaves to their environment, circumstances, nerve endings, psyche, chemical soup, or parents."

The concept of "generational sin" seems to stem from the passage of Scripture: Exodus 34:6-7. "⁶Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; ⁷who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations."

Listen to what Wayne Grudem says about this passage: "This statement shows the horrible nature of sin in the way it has effects far beyond the individual sinner, also harming those around the sinner and harming future generations as well. We see this in tragic ways in ordinary life...the children of abusive parents often become abusive parents. Christians who are forgiven by Christ should not think of these phrases as applying to them, however, for they are in the other category of people mentioned just before this section on 'the guilty': they are among the 'thousands' to whom God continually shows 'steadfast love,' and in continually 'forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin' (vs. 7). When someone comes to Christ the chain of sin is broken (1 Peter 1:18-19)."

Unfortunately, it seems as though many people have taken the scriptures on this subject and changed them from a message of hope to one of excuse. We cannot say, "well, because of this generational sin in my family, it's not my fault that I struggle with it." WRONG-O. May I again say, if we are believers in Christ, then it is HE who has won the victory over sin and REDEEMED us from the "curse of the law" (Galatians 3:10-14).

Here is the cool part...when we believe in Christ, we are no longer heirs of SIN...but heirs of GOD. We have an inheritance in Christ.

So there are some of my random thoughts. These are some websites I read and a couple books that discuss generational sin:

www.tmch.net/gensin.htm
www.porn-free.org/generational_sin.htm
www.christianitytoday.com/tcw/2004/mayjun/4.16.html
www.voiceofonecrying.com/generational_sins_or_god.htm
Breaking Free by Beth Moore
Blessing or a Curse by Derek Prince

Into a different place...

This semester, I took a class called Contemporary Islam. It's taught by a Pakistani man whose father was a converted Muslim. He and a staff of devoted Christians run a ministry called SouthAsian Friendship Center on Devon Street in Chicago. He took us on a field trip to Devon a few weeks ago and I can't tell you how interesting it was.

• We walked into a small building on one of the side roads. They ushered us into a small, windowless room that smelled of fresh paint. We carried in folding chairs and they pulled a table cloth over the plastic fold up table. One of the staff, Sam was his name, sat behind the table. He prayed, while looking at the floor, that he would be worthy of carrying the name of Jesus Christ in his speech and that he would bring glory to the Lord. For 15 minutes, this man did nothing but explain the importance of understanding TRUE Islam when preaching a message of Christ Jesus. His work is primarily research and debate of Islam and Christian religions. The venue for this is mostly on the internet at www.answering-islam.org.
  
• We walked the street for a while. Every other shop was a clothing and jewelry boutique. Our professor talked about how gold and the quantity worn is very much a status symbol. A husband dotes on his wife by covering her in gold.
  
• My eyes were drawn to the sidewalks...every few steps, you could see dried blood stains left from the meat being dragged in and out of the shops as well as human blood from the fights.
• The most interesting part of our trip:
• After walking down the main street, we turned onto another side road and headed for what looked like a parking garage with a cast iron gate and a bright green wall. We walked through the propped open gate and the light/Light dimmed. There were heavy metal doors with a prayer schedule on the front:
• Fajr Dawn (5:15)
  
• Shurooq Sunrise (?)
  
• Zhuhr Noon (1:30)
  
• Asr Afternoon (6:00)
  
• Maghrib Sunset (?)
  
• Eshaa Evening (?)
  

We walked through the doors and up into the Mosque. We removed our shoes and placed the on the shelf, stepping softly onto the carpeted floor. The carpet was diagonal to the building--facing East, toward Mecca. There were Arabic phrases written on the walls, posters telling people how much money to give, and verses from the Qur'an. In the back was a small door leading to a room where women were to congregate in prayer. To our left was a man reclining, posterior to the floor. His eyes were shut and he was quiet. In the far corner of the several hundred foot long building was a man reclining on his side. He chanted/mono-tone sang prayers to Allah in Arabic. We were silent as we stood taking in the simplicity, yet the presence of such a place. Prof turned and mouthed, "We'll spend a few moments in prayer and then leave." Without speaking, we took a few steps apart from one another and tried our best to pray. The chanting stopped. Prof quickly turned around and ushered us out, grabbing our shoes as we made our way out the door.

Once outside, the students were fairly quiet, but our prof asked us our thoughts. Most everyone agreed that it was difficult to pray. Apart from the distraction of such a place, there was a heavy spiritual presence that left little to no room for Christ. The only prayer I could bring was asking, "Christ, please penetrate this place."

We walked through two Islamic book stores and read through some of the literature. Much of it was in Arabic so we looked at pictures :) I had a hard time understanding their books discussing converting Christians to Muslims so I walked over to the children's section. I read through the Muslim version of the story about Noah's Ark. How different it was! Enough similarity to make the connection in the story, but drastically different to attribute that miracle to someone other than Yahweh.

No agenda with this post. Observations about a different culture(s) and about my own ignorance to the world.