The Return

Review: Worth Living: How God’s Wild Live for You Makes You Worthy Mary DeMuth Baker Books 2016 This book works on many levels and fails on only a few.   The few for me is the repeated references to a poor childhood life, and I don’t mean poverty.   The author reminds the reader about it more than necessary in the early portions of her book.   Yes, it lends credibility and demonstrates openness, but is it not possible to write this book without it?   OK.   There’s my nit of this book right off the top.   I nearly put it down because of that one repeated reference, though.   She speaks to this issue toward the end of the book.   “If I am telling you my issues for the sake of gaining your empathy, it’s an empty pursuit.   My fulfillment must come not from your sweet empathy but from being Jesus’s beloved daughter…. Slay the drama queen.” (191)   So, if that sort of thing bothers you too, persevere, she knows how we feel on this point.   This book is worth reading.   She hi

Review: Wellth: How I Learned to Build a Life, Not a Resume Jason Wachob Harmony Books 2016 OK, I’ll admit it.   I was so wrong about this book.   I totally expected to hate it and ended up finding it full of good stuff.   To me it’s more about learning to live and discovering what really matters than it is a self-help sort of book.   This one covers a holistic approach to personal wellbeing; an approach won mostly the hard way.   The same way most of us learn, I suspect.      Thirteen chapters introduce topics ranging from diet to spirituality.   The author simply lays out some information and experience that he has found most helpful in his own life, but also adds in some of the other areas related to each topic that others have practiced successfully. He tells his story with an   openness that I fond winsome.   He doesn’t deny or gloss over some of the really dumb stuff most of us try along the way like the party scene in college or the serial hookup relationships

Review: Rescuing the Gospel: The Story and Significance of the Reformation Erwin Lutzer Baker Books 2016 This is a brief history of the Reformation and primarily the history of the part Martin Luther played.   I can hear those yawns now, but wait a minute.   This book is one that you will not want to put down once you start it.   Lutzer freely admits the book was not his idea, but one that he was encouraged to adopt.   I now understand why this other individual chose to engage him for this project.   Lutzer’s writing style is easy to read and his ability to condense the history of the Reformation period totally amazing.   I had to endure European history in school and maybe you did, too.   This is such a departure from what we remember of that course.   OK, so I like his narrative.   The book also has some illustrations from the period that give it more flavor.   Overall, it’s a good read.   Mostly. The other reformers you might have heard of---Wycliffe, Hus, Zwingl