Coffeehouse Theology – Ed Cyzewski

©2008 NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO

Theology. Here’s a word that scares most Americans, even those who are generally a part of an established church. After all, we believe that only the clergy and the deep thinkers are truly theologians. But break the word down to its bits and what do you have? The study of God. Who is it that studies God? Simplistically, I would answer everyone. Even those who make it a point to point out that they believe that there is no God have spent time studying to decide that they do not believe in God.

Those of us who have been to institutes of higher learning with the express purpose of studying God have become theological snobs of a sort with the end goal of convincing others that our ideas about God are the right ideas about God, and theirs are not unless they agree with ours. Ed Cyzewski has taken a few pages to try to break through these barriers—both the fear of addressing theology, and the prejudicial version that most people like me practice—and find the relevance of theology in the everyday life of a postmodern world.

Before dismissing the book altogether because Cyzewski gives a level of legitimacy to postmodernism (which would turn hundreds of conservative evangelicals off before breaking open the book at all), set aside your semantic prejudices and take a moment to do what the author suggests: reflect on God.

Cyzewski addresses how postmodern thinkers think about God because, he argues, we are living in a postmodern world. We have moved beyond the modern age which taught us to try to find the definitive answer to all questions by using logic and the scientific method and into the postmodern era (dated at 1970 and beyond) which suggests that you must attack any question from a variety of angles. The ultimate in postmodern thought leads us to the sad conclusion that there is no real truth. The Christian response keeps the ultimate truth of Salvation through Christ in focus while remembering that we as humans cannot assuredly claim to understand all that there is to know about Christ.

In addressing the tricky task of theology, the author suggests that we all approach our own theology within the context where we live—so Americans see God through the eyes of the American culture, Latin Americans see Him through the eyes of their culture, and so on. In order to accomplish our task of knowing God better and making Him known to the world in which we live, we must first understand our own culture. Then we can at least begin to see the strong points and shortfallings brought to the table in our culture.

According to Cyzewski we must consult three theological perspectives in order to arrive at the answers to theological questions that crop up in everyday life. The place to begin as we reflect on God is the Scripture. This is the foundation and the best witness to who God is and how He works in the world. Any other sources that we use to build our theology should be measured by Scripture. Again we should remember that we read the Bible through glasses that are tinted by our culture and should strive to overcome the limitations that our personal preferences build in to the conversation that we have with the Bible as we read.

The other “experts” that we should include as we approach theology are church tradition and the global community of Christians. Church tradition can guide us by keeping us on a stable path, as long as the tradition is not a contradiction to the Bible itself. Consulting with Christian thinkers from other parts of the world from our own will open our eyes to perspectives that we cannot see through our cultural biases.

Coffeehouse Theology at times gets a little heavy as you read, especially in the passages dealing with history and philosophy that brought us to the postmodern age in which we live. Even so, it is a readable volume that basically suggests that in order to be the best theologian (reflector on God) we can be we should expand our horizons and let our theology grow. I would have to agree with that assessment and give this book four out of five reading glasses. Pick up a copy today and discuss it over a cup at your local coffeehouse.

—Benjamin Potter, February 19, 2009

Voices Under Berlin – T.H.E. Hill

©2008 CreateSpace

Sometimes you can meet with a serious laugh. Rarely does the copy on the back cover really do justice to the book within those covers. Authors and publishers are always good to find a blurb or quote that flatters the author or the book itself. And why not? The cover is there to do two things: hold the pages together, and convince readers to buy the book. Here’s what I found at the top of the back cover of Voices Under Berlin:

The 9539^th T.C.U. does to the secret Cold War what the 4077^th M.A.S.H. did to the Korean War.

Kevin is a linguist, but not just any linguist. Kevin is the linguist extraordinaire. He can hear between the lines as he listens to the tapped lines of the Soviets in Berlin of post-WWII Germany. He’s so good, in fact, that even his co-workers and superiors think he’s making this stuff up. His transcriptions and interpretations lead to numerous foiled operations in the Cold War Russian spy network. Blackie offers superb practical jokes (often at the expense of Lt. “Sheerluck” Sherlock, ABD), and Fast Eddie disbelieves most of the reports turned in by Kevin, but learns to report them anyway.

The story is filled with gullible inept officers, madcap antics by the enlisted men, and spy/counter-spy conversations that lead to disaster or triumph, depending on who listens to the tapes and who listens to Kevin.

Voices Under Berlin is written in such a way as to engage anyone who likes military fiction, spy stories, or comedy. The good guys don’t always win, but then they do, too. The one distraction—military alphabet-soup speak—is addressed by a glossary at the beginning of the book (rather than the end) with specific jargon, abbreviations, and initials listed and explained in alphabetical order for the convenience of the reader.

The novel bears a resemblance to a post-War memoir with photos peppered throughout to bring credibility to the story. I highly recommend this one for a few days of escape to a different time and exotic place. Five reading glasses.

—Benjamin Potter, February 13, 2009

Voices Under Berlin

Of Dreams and Realities – Dr. Frank L. Johnson

©2008 BookSurge (a division of Amazon.com)

The bio sheet that came with this little book of poems claims that Frank L. Johnson’s work is thought of highly in the poetry community. The selections collected here are not prime examples. The overwhelming majority of the poems—trying to focus on everyday things and events to make them thoughtful—distract the reader.

Johnson’s style, time and again, is to write in quatrains. The four-line verses are filled with near- to no-rhyme lines that are fighting for a rhyme scheme. One selection, “On Being Sensible,” is arranged in couplets, but when read, would find a better fit arranged as quatrains. Oddly, an imitative take on one of my all-time favorite poems finds its way into the book twice. The title of the poem is “Let Your Dreams Mature” and it wavers from the quatrain versing by holding its own as a single, five-line stanza. The message seems to be the same as Langston Hughes espouses in “Dream Deferred” but Johnson’s poem leaves the reader wondering whether he really gets it.

Some of the selections start well, but lose steam in the reading. For instance, “Dreaming Out Loud” gives a comical view of one brother teasing another who began talking in his dreams. This selection starts with a bang and ends with a whimper. “Henry’s Drinking” is a nice little two stanza poem which would find its ranks among the great if the second stanza were omitted.

Having said that, there are some redeeming selections in the book: of specific interest would be the poem “Show Me the Way” found on page 29, and the closing selection entitled “You Said You Couldn’t Do It. But You Did.”

In his favor, Johnson has kept the book short (only about 39 selections, rarely over a page in length), and the design of the book shows his intention. The selections themselves look more like a journal than a collection of poems, and might work better as prose to get the writer’s thought across.

I can only award the collection one and one-half reading glasses, and wish Dr. Johnson more success in later projects.

—Benjamin Potter, February 13, 2009

Too Tall Alice – Barbara Worton, Dom Rodi (Illus.)

©2009 Great Little Books, LLC, Glen Rock, NJ

Recently, I have found myself stacking up the children’s books for review. That’s okay, because I like children’s books—they don’t take nearly as long to read, and I can usually get the message. Even so, I have to put on a different set of reading glasses when reading these kinds of books. First of all, I have to ask myself, how would my kid who’s the age-audience for this book respond to this book? I recently posted a review that fell short on this category because my 5-year-old loved the book when I read it to him. Then I have to consider the illustrations—do they add to, take away from, or otherwise influence the story?

With this in mind, I picked up my review copy of the up-coming Too Tall Alice. The author, Barbara Worton is an accomplished story teller. And here she plies her trade well.

Alice is eight years old and is taller than all the other eight-year-old girls at the Cherry Tree School. She isn’t as tall as a building or even as tall as her dad, but she still knows that she’s the only girl in the back row with the boys in the school picture. Alice is not the only one who notices that she is taller than the average eight-year-old girl. She wishes she was four inches shorter—then she would not be so different.

Worton tells how Alice learns to be who she is and that being Alice is a good thing no matter how tall you are.

My take is that Worton has a winner of a story here. It teaches children to accept themselves without being too preachy about it. It’s a very child friendly story that will speak to children with a variety of differences that make them stand out.

Children’s books often have the unique distinction of being works of art. This is not to say that the story isn’t a form of art in itself, but for the purpose of bringing the story to life for young readers, or read-to-me-ers, publishers have long partnered the story writers with illustrators who attempt to produce the 1000-wo

rd form of the story. The balance that must be struck is telling the story in pictures without under- or over-doing it.

In the case of Too Tall Alice, the illustrator crosses that line by detailing every word or phrase. The result is distracting to an older reader like me. It makes for a beautiful work of art, but clutters the page to the point of overwhelming the story itself.

At the bottom of this review, I’ll give my age-targeted young reader a voice to help balance out my opinion before locking in my three reading glasses. I’d give the story five and the pictures by themselves four and three-quarters, but when mixed together this beautiful book loses something somewhere.

Recommendations? If you have a young reader and the extra sixteen dollars, I’d say get this book. You won’t be disappointed because it’s beautiful and has a beautiful story, if you can find it amid the beautiful pictures.

—Benjamin Potter, February 3, 2009

P.S. Having convinced my young reader to try the book, I will admit that I was surprised at the reaction. Her first indicator was that the print was difficult to read (which has to do with the busy-ness of the illustrations). When I asked her if she liked the book she said, "It was okay." When I asked her if she would like to read it again, her simple and quick response was, "No."

Understanding this, I'll have to stick with my original rating. Still, it is a beautiful book with a good message for young readers.

Patterson Giveaway

I've not had much opportunity to read James Patterson (although I have enjoyed audio-reads and movies made from his books), so I'm hoping to win the giveaway over at Marta's Meanderings, where the reviewer is giving multiple opportunities to readers to win a copy of the collaboration Run for Your Life by Patterson and Michael Ledwidge.

I know that posting this gives my readers a chance at this thriller, but it also gives me another pea in the pod. So hop on over and take a gander, but don't comment, so I'll have more chances than you. Besides, if I win then you'll get to read my most humble but accurate opinion of Run for Your Life at some point in the future. Everybody wins!

The Suburban Dragon – Garasamo Maccagnone, Al Ochsner (Illus.)

©2007 BookSurge Publishing, Shelby Township, MI

Booksurge is a way to re-issue some older or little-known titles that may have fallen through the cracks. The Suburban Dragon bears an original copyright date of 1992 by Crate & Fly. Sometimes we wonder why people bother to drag their old manuscripts back from oblivion. Sometimes we wonder why people waited so long.

What are three children to do on a cold and wet day? Instead of stare out the window at the rain, Mom suggests that Garret, Anthony, and Aimee let her read their favorite book to them. But the book is well-known and has lost the interest of the children. And then they are surprised by a dragon who sweeps their mother away. The children devise a plan to rescue their mother and they become knights and a princess along the way.

The story itself is very endearing and gives many ideas for how families can use their imaginations on bad-weather days. The themes of imagination, family, and love come ringing clear in this cute little book.

The artwork, more than the story, is what captures the attention of the child with whom you read this book. You will enjoy the story well enough, but buy it for the story in the pictures.

Three and one-half reading glasses.

—Benjamin Potter February 2, 2009

Baron Thinks Dogs Are People Too! – Laurie Dean, Kevin Collier (Illus.)

©2008 Big Tent Books, Savannah, GA

There are lots of things to love about children’s books. They are easy to read. They are short. They are filled with great illustrations. There are also lots of things to love about dogs. They are loyal. They are playful. They are fun.

When Laurie Dean decided to write a book for children, she wanted to write one that her grandchildren would enjoy and want to read to their own grandchildren. So she turned to an inspiration that would stand the test of time – her dog. And in doing so she hit on a combination that would fit the bill: pets, friendship, and children.

Baron is a playful dog who just wants to have a friend. He knows that he must be a friend to have a friend, so he does everything he can to be a friend to the people around him. A trip to the obedience school for dogs helps him to act more like many of the people around him think he should act, but it is his observant nature that will help him realize his dream.

This book will speak to the hearts of parents and children alike, and will appeal especially to the dog lovers in the reading audience.

The accompanying artwork has a tendency to distract the reader at times – almost overwhelming the page. But the pictures are appealing to the eye and consistent with the story. Small children will be especially happy when Mom or Dad reads this to them. I’m looking for more great books from this talented team. And give Baron Thinks Dogs Are People Too! a hearty four reading glasses.

—Benjamin Potter, January 31, 2009

Adam – Ted Dekker

©2008 Thomas Nelson, Nashville

Ted Dekker doesn’t always hit the mark for me (see my review of Skin). Even so, he hit a home run with his recent thriller Adam.

Adam is the story of a serial killer known to the FBI as Eve. He has killed fifteen young women in as many months, and law enforcement officials are hoping to catch him before number sixteen. He kills every new moon and has developed the habit of writing the word “Eve” on the wall over his victims in blood, leaving the victims in basements, cellars, and caves.

Daniel Clark is the behavioral psychologist who leads the chase of the elusive Eve. His obsession with catching the killer has cost him his marriage, and perhaps his sanity. Upon locating victim sixteen alive, Daniel comes face to face with Eve and is shot for his effort. New team member Lori Ames, a pathologist imported from Phoenix to help in identifying and catching Eve, works feverishly to resuscitate Daniel after the fatal wound. Through some miracle (which Daniel doesn’t believe in) her efforts are rewarded, and Daniel lives again to obsess over Eve.

When Eve takes Daniel’s ex-wife, Heather, as victim number 17, Daniel determines to catch up to the killer and save Heather, even if he must die in the process.

Adam reads like a procedural part of the time and a suspense/thriller at other times. Dekker throws in the cleaned up “reporter’s” account in the form of periodic interruptions throughout the book that claims to be a “Nine part series” of reporter Anne Rudolph. For Crime Today, Rudolph chronicles the lifelong travails of kidnap victims Alex and Jessica Price. In essence, you get two takes on the same tale from two different perspectives.

This is a work reminiscent of Dekker’s earlier rocker Thr3e. If you’re fond of suspense or thriller writing (especially with a whopper of a twist) you’ll enjoy this read. I know I did. I give Adam 4.5 out of 5 reading glasses.

—Benjamin Potter, January 30, 2009

The Bomb that Followed Me Home – Cevin Soling & Steve Kille (Ill.)

©2007 Monk Media, New York

Disguised as a children’s book, Cevin Soling presents a cautionary tale about bringing home a stray. On his way home from school one day the narrator notices something following him. He tries to avoid being followed even by cutting through the crotchety old neighbors’ yard.

The answer from Mom (and Dad when he arrives home) to the question of keeping the object is “no.” Mom insists that the bomb might have an owner who misses it. Failing to assuage the feelings of the narrator that way, she insists – as does every parent trying to avoid a new pet – that the child will soon neglect his duties in caring for the bomb. The tale is the third in a collection of “fairly twisted fairy tales” that will surely bring a smile and even a stifled guffaw from the reader.

The artwork of Steve Kille is the perfect companion to Soling’s tale of “ka-BOOM!”

Need a quick sardonic pick me up? Then this book is for you. If you have trouble unpacking your sense of humor, I’d leave this one on the shelf. (three and one-half reading glasses for the pure pleasure of it)

—Benjamin Potter, January 12, 2009

Seven Steps to Becoming a Healthy Christian Leader – Doug Munton

©2004 VMI Publishers, Sisters, OR

Doug Munton is the Sr. Pastor of the First Baptist Church of O’Fallon, IL. He is a personable minister with a heart for helping believers be all that God wants them to be. In that respect he wrote this short book on leadership.

In a world filled with books on leadership, one might ask why we need another. In answer, Munton offers a book that is decidedly Christian in its approach. This limits the audience, but removes it from the ever-growing stack of leadership manuals published both inside and outside the Christian community that propagate principles based on a business mindset. The resulting “Seven Steps” is more a prescription for getting off on the right foot rather than a “how to” book. The title of the book is a bit misleading because one “step” doesn’t necessarily build on another. Instead the reader will find an organized look at practices of a healthy Christian leader. The idea of steps leads many to follow the philosophy that he should work on the first one until he gets it right, and then move on to the next. I reality, the advice about each practice of a healthy leader is all-encompassing. It is more of a pool to swim in than a ladder to climb.

Each chapter develops another needed practice in the life of the leader. Munton uses personal anecdotes along with engaging examples to get each point across. Many of the principles espoused are either obvious for the Christian leader, or a re-hashing of many of the principles developed (often at much greater length) elsewhere. The closing chapter is probably the most unique to this book and the most needed advice to people who would be leaders in some Christian church, ministry, or arena.

Munton’s “Steps” are as follows: A healthy Christian leader . . .

• Deepens his intimacy with God . . .
• Discovers a vision of what could be . . .
• Develops a passion for reaching people . . .
• Sacrifices for God’s Kingdom . . .
• Perseveres through difficulties . . .
• Strengthens his people skills . . . and . . .
• Enjoys the ride.

Each step includes short segments dealing with various aspects of that particular practice and is peppered with parenthetical asides giving the reader a window into the humor of the author. The book is short (much shorter than most books on leadership) at 120 pages and easy to read. It is a great thumbnail sketch of the kinds of things necessary to stay healthy in ministry. I would recommend it for anyone in vocational ministry or working as a volunteer Sunday School teacher or ministry leader.

Given its limiting title, the book is decidedly aimed at a limited audience—people outside the Christian community would find little helpful in the book, and even within the Church society, only those who desire to be the best worker in the Kingdom will be interested in reading it. I might suggest, though, that any church or ministry might be well-served by having all of its members or workers read this book.

I give Seven Steps to Becoming a Healthy Christian Leader four out of five reading glasses and highly recommend it to all who are or would be leaders.

—Benjamin Potter, January 12, 2009