The Randleman Review

Burn by Ted Dekker

Burn is the story of a gypsy woman named Janeal. Janeal is frustrated with the life of a gypsy; she wants to go out into the world and make her own way. And then she is offered that chance by a criminal named Salazar Sanso. He offers her freedom from the gypsy culture if she will help him recover a large amount of money from her father.

When Janeal’s plan backfires, Sanso deals with her harshly. Her gypsy camp, with all of her family and friends, is completely burned to the ground. And during that fire, Janeal is faced with a choice that can change her entire existence.

Burn is the story of Janeal’s life and the results of her choices made during that fateful blaze. With Dekker’s trademark stark contrast between good and evil; and his masterful suspense, Burn is a page-turner that is impossible to put down. It’s Dekker at his best. And with Erin Healy’s input into two successful novels, it’s a sure win. I’m looking forward to Healy’s first solo work, which comes out in May, 2010.

I would highly recommend Burn to anyone who enjoys a good thriller along the lines of Koontz or King. In fact, my opinion is that Dekker is better than either of those authors. And as long as he keeps cranking out the books, I’ll keep buying them.

Buy it. Read it. Now.

5 Cities That Ruled The Word

Why these five cities? Because each of them has contributed to not only their society, but their contributions are still strongly echoing today. And our society is better because of it.

Here’s a brief synopsis of what each city has contributed: Wilson contrasted each of the five cities to Augustine’s City of God, in which we find ultimate freedom and liberty. And each of these five cities has seen, and been the recipient of, significant developments in this idea of liberty.

Of course, this is a very brief and broad description, but Jerusalem represents our souls set free; and the search for spiritual significance is strong in each of us, whether we want to admit it or not.

Athens established the idea of free inquiry. Philosophy, logic and the art of reason flourished in Athenian culture. And most of today’s Western culture is still described as Hellenistic as a result.

Rome passed on to us liberty of movement, liberty under law. Civil liberty is only possible when we submit to the rule of governing laws, ensuring that freedom for all citizens. Rome set a high standard, to which we still strive today.

London was the place where the literary imagination was set free. London placed extraordinary literature into the hands of ordinary people. And those works have endured to become classics, because they have stood the test of time.

And New York, with its commercial success, has shown us the freedom to trade, and the subsequent freedom from want. And also with it, I might add, an element of materialism that is pervasive throughout American culture.

5 Cities That Ruled The World contained a very brief history of each of these cities. Should you want more, the endnotes are full of additional resources. I just may end up with some of these additional books. Wilson was successful in piquing my curiosity.

I would highly recommend 5 Cities That Ruled The World to any student of history. It is brief, but it will leave you wanting more. Your next step is to go get more.

I reviewed 5 Cities That Ruled The World because I am a member of Thomas Nelson’s Book Review Blogger program. You can be a member too. Check it out at http://brb.thomasnelson.com.

Souvenirs Of Solitude

Quite simply, Souvenirs Of Solitude kicked my butt. Brennan Manning seemed to speaking directly to me and to my life throughout the pages of this book. Several passages made their way into my journal for further reflection.

Basically, Souvenirs Of Solitude is a collection “remembrances” that Manning wrote in the 1970s. These are the kind of thoughts you might expect to find in his journal; nuggets of truth and wisdom that Manning has offered to share with the reader. And the insight within these humble words is magnificent.

I would highly recommend this book to all my friends. In fact, I already recommended it to a group of other youth ministers I meet regularly with. This book has helped me grow more aware of God as my Daddy, Abba. I’m sure it can and will help many, many others.

May your life be changed as you dig deep and find rest in Abba’s embrace…

Unshakable Faith

Author
John Perry

Book Name
Unshakable Faith: Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver (A biography).

Book Synopsis In Twitteresque 140 Characters Or Less
A biography of the lives and the relationship of Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver. Great men. Great leaders. American heroes.

Where I Bought It
George Washington Carver National Historic Site near Diamond, Missouri.

How I Paid For It
I have no idea. I’ll explain that in a moment. If I had to guess, probably my old Discover card. I know, that wasn’t a great thing to put on a credit card, because I’m probably still paying it off. I know. Quit rubbing it in.

How Long It Took Me To Read
Not long. Once I started the book, I had a tough time putting it down. Perry does a great job of making a historical biography read like story. I finished the book in under two weeks.

How Long I Owned The Book Before I Read It
Four and a half years. I bought the book and promptly forgot about it. It’s been on a bookcase in my office (in the history section) for all that time.

Who I Would Recommend This Book To
Just about everyone. Especially if you enjoy reading historical stuff or biographies. But even if you don’t, this is a great book to read simply because it details the lives of two men who overcame enormous odds to change the direction of an entire nation.

Who I Would NOT Recommend This Book To
Someone who might have been under (or might still fit in that category) a white sheet before the 1960s. This might not be all that exciting of a story to someone who is racist. In fact, I wouldn’t even mention this book to that type of person.

What I Used For A Bookmark
A Post-It tape flag. These actually work out pretty good.

Some Interesting Ideas I Gained From This Book
Unshakable Faith was a gripping story of two black men, born into slavery, and their constant efforts to enable their people to overcome severe obstacles to gain equality in America. Both men, Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver, were exceptionally gifted leaders, in completely opposite ways.

Washington was a very talented educator. He was given the vision of building a school for blacks in Tuskegee, Alabama. And when he started, a vision was all he had; there was no school. Washington took a dream and built it into an institution that educated and prepared black people not only with practical skills that they could use to live and work in the South, but with leadership abilities, which could be used all around the nation. Washington was an excellent fundraiser, a superb communicator, and paid great attention to detail and organization. He was the right man for the job of starting a school for his people with nothing but a dream and the support of a few people in the area.

George Washington Carver was the exact opposite of Washington in many ways. Carver was a scientist instead of an educator, yet he taught with incredible passion. His students loved him. He was a skilled painter and artist, and spent a lot of time creating masterpieces. Carver chose specific items to study, such as the sweet potato and the peanut; he discovered hundreds of uses for these two foods.

Even though he was a scientist, Carver wasn’t very organized. He rarely made any notes of his work, and wouldn’t allow books in his laboratory. Carver wore his heart on his sleeve; he was emotionally focused, where Washington was more results driven.

As a result of their differences, both men had a strained relationship with each other. They both recognized the importance of the work they were doing, and the gifts and strengths of the other. And, in spite of their differences, they managed to work together effectively, bringing public attention to the idea that blacks should be considered equal in all aspects.

As different as they were from one another, Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver lived their lives in pursuit of the same goal of political and social equality for their race. They faced centuries of slavery and the decades of legal discrimination that followed with the same unshakable faith in God….

Humility made these men great….

The Challenge For My Life From Reading This Book
Both Carver and Washington kept their faith in the forefront of every aspect of their lives. And God used them to accomplish great things.

Washington and Carver were not black heroes; they were not Christian heroes; they were heroes for everyone and every time. Their faith made their accomplishments possible. And any of us who would look for a better world in our future will look down to find ourselves standing on their shoulders.

These men were men of unshakable faith before anything else. And God used them in mighty ways. What can God do with my level of faith? What can he do with yours?

Expectations Going In
Pretty high. I knew a little about the lives of both of these men, and respected them because of what I knew. But what I learned blew me away. Unshakable Faith exceeded my expectations in every way.

How I Would Rate This Book
This book merits at least a rating of 8, on a scale of 1-10. Unshakable Faith challenged me to hold my faith as a top priority in all I do.

This is the final part of my series of reviews about Andy Stanley’s new book The Principle Of The Path. If you haven’t read the previous parts of this series, check them out here:

Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers Review
Extended Review – Part 1
Extended Review – Part 2 – The Heart Of The Matter
Extended Review – Part 3 – My Italian Job
Extended Review – Part 4 – The Story You Will Tell

In this last post, I will take a closer look at another one of the chapters that spoke to me the most.

The Principle Of The Path

This chapter was perhaps the most inspiring (read: challenging) chapter in the book for me. This is the chapter that tells me to stop, look around, and get help.

Andy Stanley makes a very strong case here for the invaluable help from others for us to reach our desired destination. We can’t do it alone. We need the assistance of wise mentors; people who have been where we are, and have traveled further along the road to where we want to go.

The key to being successful isn’t to be smart, although that can help. Most successful people attribute their success to the collective wisdom and insight that they’ve received from others along the course of their path. Successful people are successful not because they know all of the answers. They are successful because they were willing to pay attention and apply the lessons learned from others.

We should not be shocked to discover that one of the primary avenues through which God directs us is the counsel of others.

Wise people listen and learn.

Take a look at these few passages from Proverbs, beginning with Proverbs 1:5:

A wise man will hear and increase in learning,
And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel.

Proverbs 12:15:

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.

Proverbs 13:10

Through insolence comes nothing but strife,
But wisdom is with those who receive counsel.

Proverbs 19:20

Listen to counsel and accept discipline,
That you may be wise the rest of your days.

Proverbs 11:14

Where there is no guidance the people fall,
But in abundance of counselors there is victory.

Proverbs 15:22

Without consultation, plans are frustrated,
But with many counselors they succeed.

And there are plenty of other passages we could add to this list.

Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived. His writings are full of solid, straightforward advice like this. Wise people listen to counsel. Fools don’t. Wise people live and experience the fullness of life. Fools don’t. Wise people accept the fact that they need help to make it to the right destination. Fools say “I don’t need anyone to tell me what to do.”

According to Solomon, we will never get to the place where we are so brilliant, so experienced, so wise that we no longer need input from other people. According to Solomon, the wise person is always listening. Always ready to heed the counsel of someone wiser than himself. That’s how you become wise. And that’s how you stay wise.

Put simply, wisdom means that we are willing to stop and ask for directions and help.

In what areas of your life do you need to stop and ask for directions? What parts of your life could use some help from someone wiser than you?

I know mine. I’m the first to admit my problem areas. And, I’m proud to say (in all humility, of course), I’ve been wise enough to ask for help in a couple of them. But I’m sure, if you asked my wife, she’d tell you of other areas where I need to ask for help and direction.

I just hope and pray that I stay wise enough to know that I need help and continue to seek counsel from others. Because success breeds pride. At least, it can. If you’re not guarding against it. And once pride is in you, it whispers in your ear, “You’ve made it this far; you don’t need any more help now.”

And then we stop listening.

It is next to impossible to hear the voice of God if we are not really listening to begin with. The best counsel in the world is wasted counsel if our minds are already made up.

I’m not sure about you, but when I have the attitude just described by Andy Stanley, my family calls me bull-headed. That’s not a glowing compliment.

The problem with being a fool is that we aren’t simply being a fool all by ourselves. When we refuse to heed the counsel of others and make poor decisions, those decisions affect the people around us.

At the end of the day, when you finally reap the results of your misguided (or unguided) decisions, you’re not the only one who suffers. Every decision we make that hurts us also hurts the people who love us most. And those who depend on us most will be hurt the most.

And the reverse is just as true. When we make great and wise decisions, those decisions affect the people around us as well.

So, if direction determines our destination, then we’d be wise to seek out wiser counsel before setting off on a fool’s journey.

Here’s a truth about accepting wisdom: Not a one of us will ever come to the point in our lives where we will no longer need wise counsel.

We will never outgrow the necessity for an objective view that a wise counselor can bring to the table. Remain open to the wisdom and advice of the wise people around you.

Let’s add a second layer to that truth. You will never reach your full potential without accepting the wise counsel of others.

Your knowledge, insight, and experience may put you miles ahead of the average person. But even then, you won’t reach your full potential apart from tapping into the knowledge, insight, and experience of those who are a step ahead of you.

God has placed incredibly wise people into your life and into mine. We have a responsibility to use them and their counsel of wisdom to help ourselves grow into the person God created us to be. They can help us reach the destination we are longing for.

Summary

The Principle Of The Path has been one of those earth-shaking, perception-shattering, eye-opening books for me.

Andy Stanley has opened my eyes to a principle that I see all around me and saturated in God’s Word. It’s not a new concept for me though. This principle has been floating through my head at some lever for several years. I knew objectively that the choices I make will affect my life goals and desires.

But it is so easy to live for the here and now, instead of the harder choice of living for the destination.

The Principle Of The Path is a book that I will keep handy. I plan on reading this again in several months to help me keep my eyes straight ahead, and my focus on the goal.

Hebrews 12:2:

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…

2 Corinthians 4:16-18:

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

May you have the strength, the courage, the fortitude, and the wisdom to do what it takes to make it to your destination!

This is the next part of my series of reviews about Andy Stanley’s new book The Principle Of The Path. If you haven’t read the previous parts of this series, check them out here:

Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers Review
Extended Review – Part 1
Extended Review – Part 2 – The Heart Of The Matter
Extended Review – Part 3 – My Italian Job

In these next few posts, I will take a closer look at a few of the chapters that spoke to me the most.

The Principle Of The Path

What legacy will I leave for my children and others to follow? The path I choose by the decisions I make will contribute much more than we realize to that legacy.

Life is full of decisions that must be made in emotionally charged environments. And emotionally charged environments make it almost impossible to gain the perspective we need to make the decisions that keep us on the best paths to lead us to where we want to go.

When we make decisions under the weight of an emotionally charged circumstance, we make decisions that are “me-centered” rather than God-centered. We simply don’t have the clarity to make the best decisions to keep us on the path.

Decisions made in emotionally charged environments do not represent clear thinking, and can actually lead us down the wrong path. We can make decisions that seriously jeopardize our desired destination.

Andy Stanley states:

One never accomplishes the will of God by breaking the law of God, violating the principles of God, or ignoring the wisdom of God.

There are three questions that we can apply to every decision that comes our way:

     1. Does this option violate God’s law?
     2. Does this option violate a principle?
     3. In light of the story I want to tell (the legacy I want to leave),
         what is the wise thing to do?

The first two questions are pretty easy. A knowledge and understanding of God’s Word will help us to determine if God has already spoken about the matter, or if there are principles that apply to the situation.

The third question is a little tougher. It’s the wisdom question. How do you want to view this moment when you look back on it later in life? How do you want your kids and grandkids to view your decision? Stop and think. Where might this decision lead?

God’s will for you will always line up with his law, his principles, and his wisdom. Always. And making decisions in light of these three criteria can help you gain clarity even in the most emotionally charged circumstances.

And when I make decisions with the clarity to see God’s leading, I will make decisions that will ensure that the legacy I leave for my children, and further generations, is the right one.